Kalisa, my many times mentioned friend, neighbor, and cook extraordinaire, outdid herself in December.

It was a challenging but definitely delicious year!
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Food, Holidays, Travel & Tourism, tagged Christmas tablecloths, food porn, holiday dining, home cooking, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos, terrace dining on January 3, 2021| 14 Comments »
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Celebrations, Culture, Food, tagged coronavirus fallout, COVID-19 fallout, El Día de Acción de Gracias, food porn, friendship, home cooking, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos, Thanksgiving on November 28, 2020| 4 Comments »
What an unusual yet lovely (and delicious) Thanksgiving 2020 was.
After the fact, I realized this was only the second Thanksgiving I’ve shared with just one other person. Childhood dinners were filled with parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Even the Thanksgiving I spent in Denmark, the international school I attended prepared a turkey with all the fixin’s dinner — to the delight of the American students and curiosity of the other international students and Danes. Once married, we hosted or joined family and/or friends — and that has been my tradition ever since, even here in Oaxaca.
Keeping Covid-19 protocols in mind, Kalisa, my (now famous) friend, neighbor, and cocinera extraordinaire and I decided we would persevere in an attempt to carry on with an albeit downsized celebration of just the two of us on my terrace. For the main course, we ruled out turkey, discarded chicken as not special, and settled on repeating the success of rabbit — concluding it would go well with my cranberry/pear relish and sage dressing. And, who knows? The indigenous peoples may have proffered rabbit to the starving and clueless foreigners.
So, we made our own pilgrimage up to Pochote Mercado Orgánico in Colonia Reforma to again purchase the criollo rabbit Kalisa would be preparing. A couple of days later, at Mercado IV Centenario, we happened upon camotes/sweet potatoes to be used for her “pumpkin” cheesecake. Unlike my first several Thanksgivings here, when bags of fresh cranberries could only be found at Mercado Hidalgo, I was able to purchase all the ingredients for my cranberry/pear relish at Mercado Benito Juárez. As for the dressing, I still had some Bell’s Seasoning brought from the USA a couple of years ago, and the rest was easily found. Looking at our menu, it occurred to me that perhaps we needed something green. That was easily solved with some baby lettuce from my garden (alas, no photo).
And so it was, a Thanksgiving where two friends gave thanks for our very present blessings — friendship, health, abundance, and being welcomed into the beautiful and loving arms of Oaxaca.
By the way, the place settings were for photo-op purposes only. We retired with filled plates and glasses of wine to the south end of the terrace where we could sit and eat 8 feet apart.
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Food, Travel & Tourism, tagged food, food porn, home cooking, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos, pizza, roast chicken, roast rabbit on November 24, 2020| 8 Comments »
It’s been a whole month since I’ve delved into the food porn photo archive. With Thanksgiving only two days away, what better time for a few of my dinners from the past ten days.
And, what better time to express my gratitude for having such a great and talented friend and neighbor who delights in sharing her culinary artistry with others. ¡Muchisimas gracias Kalisa!
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Food, Travel & Tourism, tagged comfort food, food, food porn, home cooking, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos, pozole, terrace dining on October 23, 2020| 2 Comments »
Last night’s socially distanced dining on the terrace featured pozole!
My kind of comfort food. Thanks, Kalisa!
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Food, Gardens, Travel & Tourism, tagged Casita Colibrí, food, food porn, home cooking, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos, terrace dining on October 20, 2020| 16 Comments »
Given that the socially distanced dining on the terrace ice was broken earlier in the month, the entertaining continued with the arrival of L, my BFF since we were twelve. Kalisa — neighbor, friend, and cocinera extraordinaria – rose to the occasion and the three of us have been eating extremely well.
Lest you be concerned about the intervening dinners, the quantities were huge, doggie bags were taken back to our respective apartments, and leftovers continue to be happily consumed.
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Food, Gardens, Travel & Tourism, tagged Casita Colibrí, coronavirus fallout, COVID-19 fallout, food, food porn, home cooking, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos, terrace dining, terrace garden on October 3, 2020| 6 Comments »
Last week, after seven months of Casita Colibrí being a visitor free zone, friends from California came to dine. Socially distanced seating was set up at the south end of the terrace.
The counter at the north end of the terraced was used as the staging area for food and drink.
We took turns selecting the fabulous fare prepared by my previously mentioned friend and neighbor, Kalisa.
Masks stayed on, except when eating, and early evening quickly turned into night as we talked and laughed and enjoyed each other’s company. It had been so long!
Kalisa, the visiting couple, and I had so much fun, we did it again two nights later. And, yes, there was mezcal both nights!
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Food, Restaurants, Travel & Tourism, tagged cocineras, cooks, coronavirus fallout, COVID-19 fallout, food, food porn, home cooking, Kalisa Wells, leftovers, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos on July 12, 2020| 12 Comments »
Up until last week, under semáforo rojo (red stoplight), dining at Oaxaca’s much celebrated restaurants had been prohibited and food-to-go became a new and popular option. The Facebook group, Taste Of Oaxaca! soon was filled with restaurant takeout and/or delivery menu options. It was really quite wonderful to see how creative restaurants and chefs became in trying to maintain their businesses, keep staff employed, and meet the needs of their clientele. However, I was blessed with an alternative — mi amiga y vecina (my friend and neighbor), Kalisa, whose passion is cooking and sharing her flavorful fare.
While living in the age of Covid-19, at least I’ve been eating well — and this is just a small sample! By the way, rumor has it that tonight I will be going up and over the rooftop with my bowl in hand for pozole rojo. Yummm…