Hodgepodging Cinco de Mayo en el Tres de Mayo

 Finding Truman
Well, not exactly, but doesn't it look like just the place
to have found Truman Capote to ask him why he
wrote that horrid book, 'In Cold Blood' ??!
I had nightmares for years because of that book.
Photo in San Miguel de Allende

The Mexico photos in this post were taken long before the advent of
the digital camera. 

But not quite this long ago.

***

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1. Can you tell I'm embracing a Cinco de Mayo theme here this week? Do you like Mexican food? What's your favorite dish? How about on the side-black beans, pinto beans, refried beans, rice? What about heat-mild, medium, hot? Will you celebrate with Mexican food and drink on May 5th aka Cinco de Mayo?

 Do you prefer with or without the eyeball?

Fish market in Mexico City

I do love Mexican food, but rarely get to a good Mexican restaurant. Chicken enchiladas are my favorite, and I'll take the black beans. Heat? Medium. And no, unless I can get to Minneapolis on Friday, I'll not be celebrating with Mexican food. 

I don't want to see the eyeball. Please don't put the eyeball on my plate.

2. Ever been to Mexico? For work or holiday? Love it or no? If you haven't been is this a place you'd like to visit? Can you speak Spanish?

Yes, we once took our first two children (remember Hansel & Gretel from the last post? Our daughter calls them 'your first litter') to Mexico and stayed with friends (parents of one of our foreign exchange students) there for ten days or two weeks, can't remember which. It was WONDERFUL, and was an amazing vacation, staying in their home and then visiting villages where they took us tourists. Only once were we stopped by soldiers, who wanted to search the vehicle. Our hosts weren't too worried. And it's great that we had such a marvelous time, because years later when we went to finalize the adoption of a little girl from Mexico, we were arrested by the federal police and held for 26 hours. Did I mention that we were separated and interrogated separately? It was the most terrifying ordeal of my life (I think), and now I have no desire to go back. Apparently there was some feud between our lawyer and the head of the federal police. Our paperwork (reams and reams of it) was all in order, but the federales were angry at the lawyer for exposing corruption in their ranks. The baby we were going to adopt was stuck in the middle of it. I think she would be about 28 years old now. I can speak a wee bit of Spanish, but more useful than 'Where's the toilet' would be phrases like 'Call the consulate' and 'I want a U.S. lawyer' and 'Big Mac with a small order of fries.'

 Before Whole Foods was even a thought

Mexico City Market

3. What's one thing you may accomplish this month?

Getting some new things added to my Etsy shop - which is kinda exciting for me - and nerve wracking.

 Two brothers who stayed with us in Wisconsin,

one for a summer, the other over Christmas vacation

It was their family we stayed with while in Mexico.

 

4. If you were mayor of your village, city, or town, what's one thing you'd like to see changed, done away with, revamped, or accomplished? Is serving in public office something you've ever seriously considered?

We live in the middle of nowhere, a couple miles from an itty bitty village. I'm not interested in any public office. If nominated, I will not run. If elected, I will not serve.

 'Darn! I was sure I had my wallet!
Will they notice if I just quietly walk out without paying?'

5. What's something that may be popular, but that you just don't get?

I simply don't get almost all American television, with the exception of PBS. Loud, violent, obnoxious, and boring. I'll spare you my full opinion.

 Hotel in Guanajuato

6. Can't let this week slip by without mentioning Thursday May 4th is Star Wars Day. As in 'May the 4th be with you' ahem. Are you a fan of the Star Wars series? Exactly how much of a fan are you? On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being 'I've seen every film, own the action figures, might have dressed as Darth Vader for Halloween one year', and 1 being, 'what's a Vader?' -where do you land?

Maybe a 2. I saw a couple of the Star Wars movies, but Star Trek was more my thing. I didn't miss an episode when I was growing up.  Have you seen Captain Kirk lately? There's a bit more to beam up, Scotty.

 Xochimilco

7. Scroll back through your blog posts and in three sentences or less tell us the general theme of your fourth blog post. Does it still ring true today? Is it a topic you re-visit on your blog from time to time?

Good grief, I've got over two thousand blog posts! That is ridiculous.  I've never had that much important stuff to say, but apparently can blather on at length. Anyway, the fourth blog post was a recipe for a gluten-free beef stirfry. Not a lot has changed since then. I still make a lot of stirfrys (ies?) and still cook/bake gluten-free.

8.  Insert your own random thought here. 

 Somebody proud of his school artwork

(Thanks to John for the photo)

Will get to see this sweet little guy soon.

and lastly

They know how to find the comfiest places to nap.
Tommy & Smokey

***

 MOTHER'S DAY IS MAY 14

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Gluten Free Lemon Cookies and Hansel and Gretel

 Gluten-free Very-lemony Cookies

There's something that comes over me in the springtime, kinda like a cold front comes in with the weather. It's a craving for all things lemon. I've posted recipes for lemon pie, lemon pound cake, lemon cupcakes, etc. in the past, but this pale little gluten-free lemon cookie is just what I wanted (or actually, multiples thereof, because they're small).

Again, as in a recent gluten-free recipe, I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free One-to-One flour mix. For any of you who would like a tender but not soft lemon cookie, try out this recipe. I love them, and keep them in the freezer between cravings. There is a reason for this.

The original recipe came from twopeasandtheirpod.com.  I had looked at other recipes, but this one just looked better. And I wanted to use my gluten-free flour mix.

In my opinion, there's no point in making a single batch, so what you see is the doubled recipe, and I added more lemon zest than called for, and didn't bother to put the glaze on the cookies. Who needs it?

Gluten-free Very Lemony Cookies Recipe:

2 1/2 c. Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free One to One flour mix

1/2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

1 c. butter (yes, TWO WHOLE STICKS, in case you wonder why these are delicious!)

1/2 c. powdered sugar

1/4 c. granulated sugar

1/4 c. packed with lemon zest (I mean packed!)

1/4-1/3 c. fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 375

Line jellyroll pans with parchment paper or silicone mats.

In a flexible bowl (I use a plastic ice cream bucket), combine flour, baking powder, salt, and whisk to combine. Set aside.

In bowl of stand mixer, combine butter and powdered sugar. Beat on medium until creamy and smooth. In a small bowl, mix together lemon zest and granulated sugar. Add to the butter mixture. Blend until smooth. Add the lemon juice and beat until well combined.

With the mixer running on low, gradually pour the dry ingredient mixture into the mixing bowl until all is combined. Chill the dough 30 minutes or overnight.

Roll dough into little balls. Mine were somewhere between a shooter marble and a ping pong ball. If you don't know what either of these is, you probably aren't making this recipe anyway.

Place balls on baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes. After 12 minutes, I had to flatten them with an upside down coffee mug, because they didn't flatten out on their own. Then I baked them another 3 minutes and let them cool on the jelly roll pans before removing.

My personal preference is to eat them right from the freezer. Cold and delicious!

Favorite kitchen appliance, 

my blood red KitchenAid mixer.

It's actually a deeper red than this photo shows.

Plate given to us by a foreign-exchange student

I have to tell you a story about this plate. For several summers, we hosted foreign exchange students from Mexico. One young boy (11 or 12 years old.) brought this plate as a hostess gift. Later in the summer, his parents and siblings came to visit. When one of the other children saw our son and daughter (we just had two at the time), ages 12 and 9, he said, 'Look, Mama, they look just like Hansel and Gretel!'  We thought that was so funny and cute. :-)

 Hansel and Gretel

in their early years

Hansel and Gretel

a bit older

Let me know if you like those lemon cookies!
(Take at least two. They're small.)

 ***

 MOTHER'S DAY IS MAY 14
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...and more! Check out all my handcrafted soaps at
 
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