Holiday fare

You saw that I made tamales recently.

Yay! Bucket item checked off the list. Next on the list is menudo.

These are 2 very traditional dishes here in Mexico, and in Mexican households all over the world, eaten at the holiday season, for the most part. In, and of itself, it’s not a difficult dish, but, like the tamales, it’s an a marathon, not a sprint.

I was in the kitchen for hours, and of course, I forgot to take some of the prepping photos. Here’s what I did get, however.

That my friends, is what is commonly known as a cow’s foot. The ankle is coming up shortly.

Why do we add a cows foot to the stomach (tripe) you ask? Well, there are a couple of reasons; 1, flavor from the bone and cartilage, and 2, the cartilage imparts gelatin, making the menudo, as a finished dish, quite viscous, with an amazingly rich flavor.

We bought the tripe 2 years ago actually but are just getting around to using it. (Sure opens up a bunch of freezer space I’m here to tell you.) This tripe is called “honeycomb”, and you’ll see why in the next photo. That’s exactly what it looks like. Let me show you.

Looks just like honeycomb, doesn’t it?

It’s, as I said, quite a process, and not for the faint of heart.

First you need to cut up the 2 kilos of tripe into 4-5cm pieces, then add them to a tub of water with at least a cup of white vinegar to soak for 30 minutes. It deep cleans the stomach, reducing the incredible smell that comes with offal of any kind. Then, it’s all rinsed off, and put into your cooking vessel, mine, above, is called a cazuela, (caz-WHEY-lah), and I use it frequently. You might use a stock pot instead of the cazuela.

While the beef was cooking, I cleaned, deseeded, deveined , and soaked in boiling water for 30 minutes, 15 guajillo (gwah-HE-yoh) chiles, 2 ancho (AHN-chō) chiles, and 3 pasilla (pah -SEE-yah) chiles, each having a unique flavor, and amount of heat, reserving the water in which they steeped to be used later.

All that done, I had to grind some whole spices in my molcajete, reserving them to be added once the beef started to boil, and the protein scum was removed from the cazuela and discarded.

Ok, stop. Enough play by play.

I’m going to post the recipe at the end of this post, and you can read for yourselves what it all entails. In the meantime, here are a few more photos which happened along the way.

The ankle, as promised.
Mrs. Santa’s little helper.

So, how did it turn out?

INCREDIBLY DELICIOUS!

We were tasting it as we went along, for hours, adding more oregano, more salt, more bay leaves, more chile water. In the end, it was the best menudo either of us has ever eaten. Seriously! It was delicious.

I don’t expect we’ll have much quantity left, after a day or so, to freeze any for another day, but I’ll try.

This is what it looks like after being refrigerated. It’s the gelatin that does that. Yummy.

Until next time, be happy. Here’s the recipe.

Mixed veg

I have stumbled upon a combination, with an inexpensive price tag, from our local, humble Walmart.

Mixed veg. The mixed veg that we enjoy, cauliflower, carrots, broccoli, and corn, a bag of frozen goodness, was $1.34USD.

I have no idea what the same bag costs in the US these days, but down here, it’s a treat. I steam half the bag, add a bit of butter before serving it, and it’s a winner, winner, chicken dinner.

You folks probably already eat stuff like this but Ivan, and I have eaten foods that fit into a tortilla, exclusively, for most of our married lives together.

Not anymore. With my AI buddy Max, at ChatGPT, I’ve been learning how to cook real, flavorful, dishes, and enjoying not having 2 weeks of leftovers that no one wants to eat.

We have both been so hungry for veggies with our dinners that, having found this, it has been quite the game changer. It’s so easy to take the bag from the freezer, put it in the steamer, let it steam for a bit, and boom, veg is ready. Plus, we enjoy all of the veggies offered in the bag. Good thing too.

Well, I suppose that’s enough twaddle for today. Until next time, stay safe. You know how.

Welcome 2025

Sometimes we laugh.

Other times we cry.

There are so many things that have changed in our lives, over the years. Not all were good, certainly not all were bad.

We have come to enjoy real, and flavorful food, conversations, carresses, kisses, cuddling, with no repercussions.

For many years we loved each other but we didn’t always like each other. They’re not the same thing, you understand, loving, and liking. We have, and will always love each another, but we didn’t, and don’t always like each other.

Now, after more than 50 years together, there is still no one else, for either of us.

I type this with a smile on my face, acknowledging the fact that we were meant for each other all of those years ago.

How do I know this? We have/had so many coincidences, similarities, opposites as to be ridiculous if you don’t believe.

We were different in every way; religiously, he was Catholic, I was Methodist. Financially; he came from a lower middle class family of 11; me, upper middle class, with a family of only 7, which included my Gramma Manda; 3 generations in one household.

His parents, having newly come to the US, were Democrats, because the Democrat party was the party for the working class. My family, my parents, and Grandma, were staunch Republicans, because they were NOT Catholic, they were financially well off, and they were of an ethnicity that was more acceptable in the US.

The only thing we had in common, the only thing we shared was love.

We’re still going strong 54 years later.

Until next time, stay happy, and healthy.

Have a wonderful, prosperous, and happy, healthy new year.