Things Are Cookin'

Good morning from Oaxaca, on my last day here! I am in where I began in Cafe Los Cuiles, my favorite cafe here in the city. My mom left very early this morning and then I packed and got ready to spend my last day wandering around the city. There are couple museums that I didn't get to yet and so now I plan to check them out today. I also want to take some last photos of this beautiful city.



So yesterday, with my stomach on the mend, my mom and I took a cooking class. I found this class online, and we made our reservation a couple days ago, although we had to change it when I got sick. We arrived at Casa Crespo, a bed and breakfast a few blocks away, and met our host and teacher, Oscar. We sat down with him in his lovely home and we began by talking about the menu (which we really appreciated due to our questionable stomachs). We talked about the different options and also discussed choices that would be feasible for us to reproduce when we got home. Once we decided, Oscar collected his market bags and off we followed him to the mercado, about 5 blocks away. Once there, he knew exactly which stands to go to, to get each item for our meal that we planned (meal, not dish... we made a TON of food).

Once back at his house, we went to his kitchen and met Jose-Luis, he "business" parter/head chef/man-candy (my own classification for him). Too bad I forgot to take any pictures of him... Also in the kitchen was an assistant (I didn't get her name unfortunately), but she served as a sous chef, dishwasher and general helper with everything. It was great having her to help us! We started out by working on making some salsas, a green tomatillo, and a regular tomato salsa, that mom ground in a stone, and he also showed us how to make tortillas from the masa that we bought at the market. Later we had a mid morning snack with the tortillas and salsas by making some quesadillas with pumpkin flowers and oaxacan cheese (quesillo). Mom even ate one with chapulines (grasshoppers). GO MOM!!! It tastes like chicken.... (actually just tastes like a salty condiment. No big flavor). I explained to Oscar how strange it was to us because in America we don't eat bugs... generally we try to keep them "out" of our food. Still, the Oaxacan people consider them a staple of protein and eat them often.

Later in the class we worked on a delicious pumpkin flower soup, with poblano chilis, sweet corn, onions and garlic in a chicken broth base.... DELISH!!!! My favorite thing of the day. I MUST find a way to get pumpkin flowers in the states so I can recreate this dish. Might have to start a garden...

Then we began to work on the mole sauce for the day that was a non-traditional, not one of the 7 real moles, but interesting... with an almond base. We roasted almonds, peppers, tomatoes, spices, some bread and a few other things I can't remember, and then put them in the blender. That would go on top of the chicken we were cooking also. For dessert, we made some sorbet out of a berry called "nanche" (Oscar used an ice cream maker for that), and we also made the most amazing chocolate dish with crepes... that I made (my first attempt and flipping a crepe). This dessert had a chocolate sauce made from homemade chocolate (that Oscar made himself) and then we shaved it into powder, and cooking it in a double boiler with milk, cooked some plaintains with sugar and cinnamon and then folded it all up together into an enchilada-style pile of goodness! I only at a little bit of it but it was MAGNIFICENT! Here's a pic of what it looked like... And can you believe this whole meal was Weight Watchers???? NOT!!! I didn't eat too much, and actually didn't finish one of the dishes, but rather had a taste of each one. Wow, after 3 days of not really eating much and being sick, this was a fabulous meal and it was not too heavy. While we ate with Oscar and Jose-Luis we talked about their plans for their B & B which is also a restaurant at night, and how Jose-Luis plans to cook amazing food, using local ingredients in completely different ways. He spent a lot of time in Los Angeles and actually went to Santa Monica High School for a while, so we talked about that some. Oscar is working on a cook book now of his Oaxacan recipes and also manages www.go-oaxaca.com. Super interesting guys and a great experience!! My and I both concurred on a day well spent.

The rest of the day was spent doing some last minute shopping, having a farewell dinner with Susan, and then getting packed up. A perfect end to a nearly perfect vacation (minus the Saturday night fever).

COME TO OAXACA!!!! YOU WILL LOVE IT HERE!!!

Back in Business... (the business of SHOPPING)

Happy Monday! Lunes feliz!

I woke up this morning feeling a lot better... not quiet hungry but definitely better. I lost a lot of time this weekend in bed, and I was ready to jump back into the game. My mom and I went to our favorite neighborhood restaurant, La Olla, and had a small breakfast. I tested out my stomach with some plain pancakes, and some tea. So far so good, but by the time the meal was over, I was ready for a nap. We went back to our hotel up the street, and I laid low for a couple hours while mom went and did some shopping on her own.

Later in the day, we had a plan to meet up with Susan, my former housemate over at Perla's place, for lunch. We met and I was feeling a bit hungrier then, so I had an egg sandwich ("oh yawn" you're probably thinking...). Basically I was feeling better, and was up for some shopping and that we 3 did! I took some photos along the way.

This is a photo of a beautiful entrance to an English bookstore called Amate books (duh?). The whole front entrance is covered in dried flowers and is so inviting!













Susan took this picture of me outside of another shop. It's some kind of freaky wood sculpture of a skeleton. It was creepy taking a photo with it, even though it wasn't bones.






At some point in the shopping excursion, my mom started to feel a bit "stomachy" so she left and went back to the hotel. Susan and I pushed on and persevered through the shopping. I bought a few more things (some magnets, an alebrije, a cute pin, and some decorations for Jenn's 30th Birthday party (shhhh don't tell Jenn!).
Susan and I rushed back to my hotel when it started to rain, and we found mom with Mieka (from Belgium) sitting in our room. So then we choreographed a group photo using the timer on our cameras and we took this picture 4 times. Very fun!!! We call it "Four Blondies". (From left to right: me, mom, Meika, and Susan)Later we all went out to eat at an Italian restaurant (as much as I LOVE the Oaxacan food, my stomach has decided that it needs a break from it). Pasta with olive oil and garlic was just delicious!


On the way home we saw 3 adorable dogs, 2 golden retrievers and an Airdale terrier, and I had this strange deja vu about someone telling me about their 3 dogs of the same breed... Thinking... thinking... thinking... GOT IT! It was Oscar, our guide from our Saturday trip to Monte Alban and alebrije shopping. He had told us that he had the 3 dogs and that they go running at night. They were all out in front of Santo Domingo Church so we stopped him, met his dogs and we all posed for a photo together (minus one dog who refused to stay for the photo). Oscar told us about how his dogs are currently being trained to assist the airport workers in drug sniffing, and also in search and rescue. Cute, cute, cute... perros lindos !

Later, back to the hotel where we are now. Tomorrow is really our last day here in Oaxaca. Mom is leaving EARLY Weds. morning, and I am leaving later in the afternoon. We have a cooking class planned but we're not sure if we're going to make it. We have to check and see how her stomach is doing. We'll probably do it... and we'll take lots of photos. Check back tomorrow! Buenos noches!

Saturday Night Fever

On Saturday morning, our new guide/driver, Oscar picked mom and I up for our excursion for the day. We first drove around the city, looking at some of the neighborhoods we hadn't seen yet, and then made our way up to Monte Alban (those of you who are following along might recall that I had all ready been there, and despite my mother's prior insistence that she didn't need to go there, she changed her mind... so we went). It was completely fine because this time we did it without a guide (Oscar's English was not so good, so he mainly served as a driver on this day), so we walked at our own pace and finished in about 45 minutes. I'm glad my mom got to see it because it really is beautiful and significant to visiting Oaxaca.

Next we stopped at our hotel for a pit stop... for me... (not looking good for me) and then on to San Martin Ticajete, another alebrije village. This town was very different, more spread out and rural. Oscar took us straight to an artist's house/compound where we found loads of people working on carving the wood creatures and painting them. They were all mainly from the same family and we learned that this family, the Jacobo family is very famous in their craft and sell their "high end" collector's pieces, all over the world. Their work was BEAUTIFUL, but way out of my price range. My mom did negotiate another big purchase for her husband of some hummingbirds on a cactus flower. Very pretty!! I tried to negotiate for some smaller pieces but they didn't want to go as low as I could afford to pay. So we asked Oscar to take us to another family's shop and he did. This time I made my purchases and managed to find 3 pieces that I loved. Here is a photo of the artist, Vincente Hernandez, holding the pieces that I bought from him. I was glad to finally get some larger pieces that I loved!

After we left San Martin, we went to San Bartolo for a quick look at the Black Pottery, which is another thing Oaxaca is famous for. Mom and I bought up a few pieces that were super cheap, but by this time I was really starting to feel like crap so we made our way back to our hotel. We had dinner plans with our friends from Belgium but I had a feeling that I wasn't going to make it, considering my bones were aching and I hadn't been able to eat all day...

Fast forward to Saturday night... no details but I will say it was HIDEOUS!! I got the bug... the dreaded travelers stomach. There was a high fever and some other unmentionables, that kept me up through the night. My mom and Rosy and Luis (the caretakers of our hotel) were great in helping to get me medicine, tea, Pedialyte, etc... for my nasty ordeal. The good news is that the next day... today, Sunday, I am on the mend. My fever has broken and I feel my stomach getting stronger. Perhaps some food today?? We'll see. I'm sure that by tomorrow I'll be up and running once again. Mom is out on her own today, and I am here at the hotel, sitting in bed, catching up on email and posting to this blog.

Hope you're all well and though I am not a bit homesick, I do miss some of the creature comforts of home, and the familiar faces of the people I love. See you soon!

Alebrije (a-lay-bree-hay)

So some of you might know that the main impetus for coming to Oaxaca was to buy some "alebrijes" or painted animals that are made only here. I have collected them for a while and have always wanted to come directly to the source to purchase some, and on Friday I finally got to do that. My mom and I joined a trip with my school to the village of Arrazola, which is one of the 2 main villages here in Oaxaca where the animals are made. I was extremely excited about finally getting to do some shopping since I had been holding off till the time that my mom arrived.

Miguel, the school's driver drove us about 30 minutes outside of Oaxaca city. When we arrived we found a rather uninteresting town that was basically empty of any tourists or visitors (so sad considering how much their economy depends on tourist dollars). Each shop was very minimal, usually just a small table and some shelves at the front of the family's house. Sometimes we would follow a sign into a artist family's backyard and then into their house. We quickly noticed a young boy, about 7 or 8 years old, following us around. We didn't know him, nor did he introduce himself, but we later realized that he was our "guide" and he took us (lead us) into each house/store. I asked him his name and he mumbled out 4 or 5 names (his full name) and unfortunately I wasn't able to catch what he said. We tipped him in the end for all of his hard work... walking with us for a few hours (hee hee hee). I have a cute pic of him but it's a vertical photo and won't post correctly.

I walked with my mom and friends Christine and Jamie. The other mother/daughter team from Belgium were with us too and I could see my mom getting to know the mom better as they chatted in the van. So anyway... my initial shopping impression was a feeling of "over-stimulation". There just were soooo many of the little animals that it was hard to zero in on the ones that drew my eye to them. We went from shop to shop thinking that we should wait to buy until we saw more of them... which turned out to be an ill-fated plan because we were desensitized by the end of the shopping trip after having seen so many of the same thing (yet all unique!). My mom disappeared from our group at one point and we later found out that she had negotiated a purchase of a large beautiful peacock that she had had her eye on. The artist showed her how to take it apart and they photographed him with the piece. She was very proud of her purchase and can't wait to put it together at home. I bought a few small animals but nothing big stuck out in my mind. They weren't as cheap as I had hoped (at least not the big ones), and even though they are probably 50% cheaper here, they still can be pretty pricey... the big ones being upwards of $100. I loved the ones I bought, but still felt I hadn't purchased the "motherlode" as I had hoped, but I wasn't worried because on Saturday we had a guide taking us out to San Martin Tilcajete, another village for alebrijes.

That night we had dinner with all of my friends that I met through the school. Even Mike and Vanessa had returned from the beach and joined us. We had preplanned a farewell dinner since so many of them were leaving the next day. There must have been 12 people or so, and we all ate and drank and had a great time! I even tried some of the "chapulines" or grasshoppers that are a staple for Oaxacans. No big deal... they were tiny and mixed with spices. Couldn't really tell that I was eating insects... but I WAS!!! (see blurry photo of insects on a piece of chicken)

My mom enjoyed meeting all the nice people that I had met so far. Earlier in the day my stomach had begun to feel uneasy, and it worried me...

Oaxaca-mama...

Hola! It's been a while since I posted but everything is going great and still having a fabulous time! My mom is here and we have been super busy getting her acquainted with Oaxaca, and seeing new things that I put off seeing while I was here on my own. She got here a little early and managed to get to this hotel by herself on Wednesday (go mom!) so I surprised when I was in a cafe reading my email and I saw one from her saying "I AM HERE!". I rushed back to the hotel which I had checked into already and thankfully was only around the block from where I was in the cafe, to find her in our room waiting for me! Nice surprise! Our hotel is adorable!!!! It's called La Casa de los Abuelos, and it's run by the two cutest people, Rosy and Luis, a brother and sister in their 60's probably. I thought they were married but as it turns out they are just brother and sister (Luis told me as he made the cross in front of his face). Our "apartment" has a full kitchen and then a living room area, and an upstairs loft where the bed and bath are. It shows how much love and care they put into it because it's completely decorated with knick-knacks and pottery, etc... They renovated it and put loads of love into every touch. Here is my mom in the kitchen... We love it!!!!

The next day we went out and found a guide at a hotel to take us out and around town. His name was Raul and we arranged for him to take us out to 3 places: Mitla (an archeological site), Tule tree (allegedly the widest tree in the world) and Teotiitlan de valle (a weaver's village). All places were very interesting and Raul was very knowledgeable. In the weaver's village, Raul took us to a family's house and he spent a great deal of time showing us how they get the wool ready and how they use natural ingredients to make the dye for the yarn. Then he showed us the weaving that they do there. Their 5x7 rugs cost $800 plus!!! We didn't buy anything.

My mom and I went out for dinner and had a restful evening. She was still getting familiar with the city and we did a lot in one day. I'm going to post a couple pics and then write a new entry for the next day.
** Sorry about the photo sideways problem. Blogger doesn't have a tool for you to rotate them the correct way so any time you take a vertical photo it automatically lays down... oh well!