Even though I have been to Isla Mujeres seven times, there are still little places that I have not had an opportunity to try (and this is a tiny island).  I almost always stay in Centro which is the town at the north end of the island where the ferry from Cancun deposits you.   This way you can walk to the beach, for groceries, to restaurants and local shopping in less than 10 minutes.  Poc Chuc is on the corner of a couple of Centro’s main streets and I have walked past it oodles of times.  On the last afternoon of my last trip to Isla, I finally got the opportunity to sample their offerings and was absolutely delighted. 

The decor is a happy collection of Caribbean colours and motifs.  The furniture seemed to have been freshly painted and you could see right into their cozy kitchen.

I ordered the Chicken Mole not having enjoyed it for 15 years since a trip to Cozumel.  Sister #3 says that there are over 40 ingredients in a good mole and my first taste would confirm that.  Cocoa and peppery tastes were prominent in the sauce poured over a tender leg and thigh that was served with rice and tortillas.  All this for 70 pesos or the equivalent of $7 CDN and get this-the cerveza was cheaper than a coke.   Someone else ordered Chilies Relleno and shared tastes with me so I was doubly content. 

Not the Mole

Kath’s quote:  “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”-Benjamin Franklin

Don’t worry be happy…..

Who’s having more fun?

It snowed this weekend and I mean all weekend.  There are things that I like about the snow…big fluffy flakes that meander instead of falling straight down, snow angels and the reflected light from Christmas lights and moonshine.  But truth be told, I detest winter driving and my car-starter that my husband went to so much trouble to get me is not working and the arrival of winter means that I have to start wearing socks.  So just for one last time, I choose to reflect upon summer and especially one special picnic that I put together at the end of June.

D&I host a young families group, one Friday a month in the winter.  Our first summer wind up, we all went up to our cottage but as our numbers are ever expanding (by families and by babies) we wouldn’t all fit in to our 500 sg. ft. cabin this year.  So I arranged a picnic at Assoniboine Park instead.  The Park is very close to us and regular visits have been a part of our family life for 25 years. 

Families brought along various toys and contributions for the supper and it was easy and so relaxing.  After a big long play on the expanse of green space, we assembled under the trees for our dinner.  Afterwards we created a cavalcade and walked over the footbridge to Sargent Sundae on Portage for another family tradition.

The simple plans turned into a highlight of my summer and it is so lovely to remember the bright green of the new leaves on this particular day. 

Kath’s quote:  “I doubt whether the world holds for anyone a more soul-stirring surprise than the first adventure with ice cream.”-Heywood Campbell Brown

Love endures.

I am not certain how long the Garwood Grill has been on Pembina Hwy. but our Mom says that she and my Dad used to enjoy going there.  My Mom has lived in her home in EK for 55 years and so it is likely that this was when she and my Dad lived on Chevier Blvd. in the 50’s.  Could this be so?

I know that I have been enjoying their “home-cooked” recipes for 25 years.  Particularly memorable are the Burgers and Denver sandwiches and their Clubhouse can hold their own against the Wagon Wheel and Rae and Jerry’s.  I have even indulged in the past on their Classic Pork chop Dinner.  All carefully prepared using from scratch ingredients.

Lately though Sunday breakfast is what draws Sister #3, an honourary Sister and me (when I am free from family responsibilities).  Eggs over easy arrive perfectly cooked, the Canadian back bacon is thickly sliced and the hash browns arrive “crispy” as ordered.  Coffee is frequently refilled and service is more than pleasant.  The Garwood is a real “old school” jewel in Fort Garry. 

Kath’s quote:  “He smiled rather too much. He smiled at breakfast, you know.” -Charles Wheeler

Love endures.

These days the world is a connected and smaller place and we are all very culinary sophisticated.  So I was unprepared for the answer when we recently asked Daughter #2’s BF if he liked Dim Sum.  Of course it became my mission to right the wrong of someone having never tasted one of our favourite foods.

In our younger years in the restaurant days, we had a friend from China named Tommy.  He was a famous eater due to volume and the hot sauce poured onto everything including scrambled eggs.  He turned us on to many Asian culinary delights including Dim Sum.  But it took us along time to get the hang of the art.  Once when daughter #1 was just a baby I took her to the ladies room to change her Nappie (sounds better than diaper in a food blog) and when I got back, our table was covered with food!  D said yes to every item that came by on the cart.  Instead of savouring the morsels and then anticipating the arrival of the next one, we were out the door in 10 minutes, stuffed to the gills.

When my office was next to Chinatown, Dim Sum Garden was a weekly treat and we turned many people onto Dim Sum there.  We had an “A” list of our favourite items that we recommended for their introduction: no to the desserts and NO to the chicken feet.

The first taste….

And so it was with great delight that we took the BF to Dim Sum Garden (our family’s personal favourite).  We like their version of sticky rice and find their prices most reasonable.

Inside a packet of sticky rice

Kath’s quote:  “If you never try a new thing, how can you tell what it’s like? It’s men such as you that hamper the world’s progress. Think of the man who first tried German sausage!”-Jerome K. Jerome

Love endures

We gathered recently for a good old fashioned working bee.  Daughter (in law) #3 had made too much perogy filling for another get together that she had hosted and invited a gang over to use it up.

We set up different work stations: one to stir the dough for the outside, another to cut the dough, a multi-person station to fill the wrapper and another to package the finish product. 

Not what ours looked like

Son #1’s first ever home-made perogy!

Now here’s where we went amiss. I had a whole stack of won-ton wrappers at home in my freezer and I brought them along to speed the project along.  Had we also set up a boiling station, I think the end result would have been more successful because my perogy portion got overly soft and a bit gummy before I could serve them as a meal.  Hindsight is 20/20 as they say.

We even got out our Baba aprons.

What a lovely way to pass an evening.  Son #1, Daughter #1, Goddaughter #2, Sister #3, Daughter (in law) #3 as I had mentioned and me.   There was pizza, wine,  good conversation and great laughs and we all went home with a packet of our accomplishment.  I’m thinking they knew what they were doing in the “olden days”.

My Mom is the Peroqy Queen-ask anyone who has ever tasted her’s.  Now I am pretty sure that everyone thinks that their Mom holds this title.  If so, send me your Mom’s recipe and I’ll test against my Mom’s:

2 1/2 c flour

1/2 t salt

3/4 c warm water

2 T oil

1 well beaten egg

After mixing, let the dough to rest in the fridge or an hour or so before rolling out.  I have also used a pasta roller for this process with great success. 

Kath’s quote:  “Food is a subject of conversation more spiritually refreshing even than the weather, for the number of possible remarks about the weather is limited, whereas of food you can talk on and on and on.”-A.A. Milne

Love endures.