“I’m famous for splurging at fast-food places. I’m currently obsessed with Taco Bell’s bean and cheese burritos with extra green sauce and extra cheese. Gluttony!” Fergi, singer, songwriter, actress
A woman after my own heart … my first stop after landing at LAX Sunday night will be the 24-hour Taco Bell on Century Blvd. before jumping on the 405 freeway and drive to Long Beach. Another week’s plumbing adventure awaits me NOB. Cha-Ching.
Growing up in Cuba, when someone said tortilla, right away I was eagerly ready for a thick omelet of potatoes and onions (the eggs still a bit runny in the center). It’s still a favorite, but it was nirvana when made with sweet plantains – giving you a delicious umami taste.
Today’s tortilla is a type of thin, unleavened flatbread, typically made from corn or flour. Someone says tortillas and more than one idea floats in my mind – they’re so versatile in all their possibilities.
So here’s a Mexican food lesson: If you put food in a tortilla, then that’s a taco … fry it up it becomes a taco dorado, but if you roll and fry it, it turns into a taquito/flauta … now bathe it in salsa before frying it, enchilada time … put cheese inside and grill it, it’s become a quesadilla. Continuing … keep up with me, por favor…
Cut up fryñk tortilla into pieces and toss them in a salsa you’ve got chilaquiles; add cheese and beans and melt them in the oven = nachos. Stuff a flour tortilla with your choice of ingredients, roll it tight into a bundle to become a burrito! Remember this all ~ you will be tortilla tested.
Speaking of all things taco, we finally caught up with our amigos, Darryl and Mike, at Lake Tacos, serving up the best fish tacos in town. We shared summertime adventures over tasty seafood and agua fresca de Jamaica. It’s a good time to exchange travel ideas and what’s happening near and far.
On the Trails … This week we rode yet another new trail, past cornfields growing against a glorious backdrop of mountains. Just a few weeks ago they were empty, dusty, and brown; now all are covered in lush, green jade tones. The air is so fresh and clean; I’m in sync with my horse – this is so heavenly. Pinch me, por favor.
Horseback ride #2: we strode through the town of Chapala, including the sandy, beach area of the Malecón along the lake. We’d squeezed between cars, buses, and trucks as we rode up Avenida Francisco Maderos and back to our stables. Horses are so prevalent here that it’s not at all unusual to be a part of the “urban scene.”
How to become a little kid again ~ enjoying a scoop of chocolate and fresa gelato while riding a horse down Main Street in Chapala ~ Yippee-ki-yay!
David has been busy a few hours daily taking online Spanish classes on his desktop; a free website offered by DuoLingo. He locks himself up in our bedroom and tells me he’s “inclass” at school, por favor, and has me wondering, “should I pack him a snack?!”
Dancing at the supermarket … while food shopping at Soriana’s, as we neared the frozen food section, we hear a loud, high-kicking “hee-haw song” playing; David kicks up a Two-step dance in his best interpretation of a hoedown, very entertaining, but lo and behold as we turn into the next aisle and there’s a dancing cow!
On the Menu … rich, smooth spaghetti sauce topped with leftover chili grilled shrimp – a very satisfying carbo-loaded meal. Plus with spaghetti sauce in the fridge, I know that David will not starve during my week in LA. I could cook pasta every night and that boy would be in heaven, por favor!
