I spotted Tio’s Mexican Restaurant as I was heading south on St. Mary’s Rd. (754 to be exact). one afternoon and made a mental note to put it on my “must try” list.  Unfortunately, my list is very long and there are only so many times that I can justify going out for dinner.  But, if a new friend suggests that we meet at a restaurant that she thinks that I would enjoy, the decision is made for me.  I just had to go out again, didn’t I?

Even though the sun is changing locations in the sky and sticking around for longer in the evening, it is still not spring time in Winnipeg.  This, I believe is the perfect time to savour the tastes that remind you of warm places like Mexico!  For me, the combination of tomatoes, limes and cilantro transport me to a place and time where the sun is warm and always shining.

It was cold and blustery, the night that we met, but the tidy and cheerful décor was warm and inviting. The helpful server was truly glad to take care of us and shared her stories of warm places that she has traveled to.  Dinner started with chips and salsa and we ordered guacamole just for good measure.

Tio’s makes their guacamole to order only when avocadoes are in season, which I think bodes well for their commitment to quality.  We agreed that the recipe needed a little bit more zing so we added a pinch of salt and more lime juice.

My supper mate chose the Combination Plate and was cheerfully accommodated when she requested a mix of chicken and beef items, instead of one or the other.  Her platter of a beef burrito, chicken taco and chicken enchilada came with a cheese quesadilla, Mexican rice and re-fried beans.

I went with the Shrimp Tacos and both of us had to take leftovers home for lunch the following day.  The next time we meet for chips and salsa again, it will be in Mexico (I am counting the sleeps)!

Post Script:  I obviously wrote this a little while ago because I have been to Isla and my tan has already washed itself down the shower drain.

Kath’s quote: “Grilling is like sunbathing. Everyone knows it is bad for you but no one ever stops doing it.”-Laurie Colwin

Love-that is all.

My cyber friends on the Isla message board often say  ” A rainy day on Isla, is still better than a fair day, anywhere else.”    This is pretty close to the truth for my time on the island and my enjoyment of it.  On this particular morning, it was a bit muggy and you could anticipate the rain.  But because we (the Royal “we” of those lucky enough to be on Isla), often watch rain storms over the sea, completely avoid the island and pour as soon as they make landfall over Cancun (te he, we are a smug lot sometimes), I was as optimistic as the rest of the beach babies that morning.

I had a lovely swim to eliminate the humidity and then was just getting comfortable to read my book.  When the rain came, I stood under a palm tree, quite sure that it would soon pass.  Sisters 2 and 3 were swimming in the ocean and decided, what the heck, no use coming out.  It reminded me of when they were little and we would all holiday at Grand Beach.  I am the eldest daughter and so hyper-responsible and I would anxiously watch them from the shore with my Mom, hoping that lightning was not part of the storm.  Back in present day, after we were completely drenched along with most of our things, we decided that the rain was not going to stop and began slogging down the streets of Centro carrying all of our wet stuff.  Once I got out of my wet suit, I was still content to mosey around town doing all that I love to do.

Often times, rainy days mean a visit to our friend Hortencia and her family.  She is our dress-maker friend that has a stall at the north-east corner of the local market.  We could shop at other stalls or on Medina or Hidalgo, but we have know Hortencia and her lovely growing family for eight years now and we really, really care about her, so we make a conscious decision to buy whatever we can with her.  This year, we got to spend two really special times with Hortencia outside of her stall at the market.  One was when she took her adorable grand-kids to north beach for swim and another when we had the distinct honour of being invited to her home for mole (these stories to follow).

The other person that we were intent on meeting up with on this day was Jackie.  Jackie is a foodie, also from Winnipeg, who discovered my blog and decided (without ever having been to the island) to book a month vacation at the Sailfish condos!  I was delighted to inaugurate another Islaholic but I was also hesitant.  It is hard to be objective about someplace that you love.  If she focused on the north winds, the smell of sewage in Centro and the piles of rubble that often seem to turn up on Isla, how will I bear it?  Well I can tell you that she loved Isla and I had no reason at all to be concerned.  Anyway, we had hoped to meet up with Jackie and her travel companions for an evening at El Varadero but we were concerned about dining on an partially exposed dock out in the rain, and so we postponed our get together for another day.

In the mean time, we wanted to ensure that we would find an inside table, without walking too far in the continued rain so we headed to Angelo’s for pizza. We are hearty stock from Winnipeg, knowing how to deal with the extreme cold but damp and chilled is a different story.   Sister #2 and her hubby were making the trip to Centro from punta sur in the pouring rain, on their scooter!

This me in my cropped pants and flip flops.  Sometimes there is no avoiding the puddles on Hidalgo, so I am prepared to wade through them.  Hey, if there is pizza at the end of my trek, I am prepared to do lots of things. 

I think that Angelo does an amazing job and not because I am one of those travellers who like to enjoy my favourite foods from home when I venture to a new place.  I think that Angelo does a great job when measured alongside Italian restaurants in Italy!  Dishes are always made from scratch, using fresh whole ingredients, they are blended with a light touch and the recipes let the natural flavours of tomatoes, garlic, basil and olive oil shine through.

Now I will not profess that every meal that I have eaten at Angelo’s (and there have been a great many of them) has met this same standard but his seafood pasta dishes are as delectable as ones that I have supped on, on the Italian Riveria (I am teaching a blogging course in Tuscany this October if you are interested in knowing more).

We almost all opted for pizza with the exception of one hearty eater who enjoyed both the Spaghetti Bolognaise and a pizza.

Ham and pina.

Sister #3 and Dona shared this one and still had enough to have it for lunch the next day on the beach.

Doesn’t this look good, right about now?

Kath’s quote: “The definitive recipe for any Italian dish has not yet appeared. We are still creating.” Luigi Barzini

Love-that is all.

The beautiful reason for our celebration.

Here are a couple of her second cousins (but that all gets so confusing) that they will be called “Aunties”.  With gorgeous women like this in our blood lines, I suppose that it is no surprise that she is stunning as well.

You are already know that we are a family that love to celebrate milestones together.  The birth of a new member of our family hasn’t occurred since four years ago (and Colton was a tough act to follow), but waiting a while for something wonderful to happen, makes the event that much sweeter.

One of our nephews and his much-loved wife were not quite sure that this miracle of life would happen for them (as she shared in her thank-you time at the shower) so that too, made this celebration extra special.

Many family members have a great deal of experience hosting parties and events and others, not so much.  I personally did not care to throw birthday parties for the kids when they were growing up (I hope that they couldn’t tell).  I would get pretty stressed out and I now I wish that I could do it all over again.

I think that this was perhaps the first shower that our niece had hosted and that she might have had the jitters.  But there was absolutely no need, because the afternoon was absolutely perfect!  The food, I believe, was contributed by a number of family sources and it is no surprise that it was stellar.  Later that evening at the supper table, I remarked that I wasn’t hungry because I had eaten six fancy sandwiches at the party.  That is a testament to how good all the food was.  J2 sheepishly share that she had eaten six sandwiches too, but was ravenous for supper.  She has a perfect excuse because she is in the second trimester of pregnancy with our first Grandchild!

The hostess had planned a party game and there was a slide show of photographs from the babies’ new- born photo session.

My favourite gift of the day.

So besides opening presents and visiting with everybody, the time just sped away.  Upon departure, everybody was invited to take shower favours:

Photos of the baby for our fridge and a homemade brown sugar scrub for the shower.

My  niece has graciously sent me the recipe (and the site where it was posted) so that I can  share it with you.

Here is the simple recipe for making this delectable brown sugar scrub:

• 3 cups brown sugar
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 6 Tablespoons honey

Stir all of the ingredients together and that’s it!

Here is a life lesson that I can share with you in hindsight: Get all worked up and stressed out over celebrating the milestones in your family.  You are making memories that will life a lifetime.  If working hard and going to scads of trouble to demonstrate how much you love someone, is not of worth, then what is?

Kath’s quote: “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle.   The other is as though everything is a miracle.”―Albert Einstein

Love-that is all.

Recently, I had the opportunity to work alongside a lovely woman by the name of Linda Whitworth who is on a multi-city tour promoting the health benefits of cooking with barley.  The grain which is commonly (and lovingly, in our house) associated with beer making has been recognized with the health claim that barley fibre can positively contribute to your wellness by reducing your cholesterol level.   I look at this as a bonus because cooking with barley, simply tastes good!

There are many ingredients that I might not ever cook with, were it not for my work as a food stylist.  Barley is a good case in point. I keep barley in our pantry for a single family recipe Hamburger Soup.  But now that I know the difference between pearl and pot barley (the former is “polished” longer than the latter), and have had the pleasure of baking with barley flour, barley and barley flour will always have a place on my shelf.

First up were Yoghurt Barley Fruit Scones.  I made mine with raisins but I would love to try them with blueberries next time.  I tucked one away for D to try with his supper.  He asked me to please, please make these all the time.

I had to make another substitution as I could not find rhubarb around at this time of year so I made the Rhubarb Pecan Muffins with tart cranberries instead.  The topping on these muffins was amazing (and another cholesterol reducer too with the inclusion of quick oats).  I plan to mix up a bag of this crumble topping to keep on hand in the freezer to put onto a variety of muffins.  I am making banana muffins this afternoon.  I often call my muffins “cupcakes” and serve them for dessert.

The recipe that Linda made on set was this gorgeous Black Bean and Barley Salad.  It was so simple, so healthy and so delicious-win, win, win!

But my favourite of the day was the Barley Jambalaya.  It was so good, that I literally can’t stop thinking about it and just talked myself into making it for mandatory Sunday supper this weekend.

The recipe links here are from the newly launched website that Linda was in town to promote: http://gobarley.com/.  Be sure to bookmark it as it is chock full of amazing recipes.

Kath’s quote:

Keep open house, let fidlers play.
A fig for cold, sing care away;
And may they who thereat repine,
On brown bread and on small beer dine.”
from the 1766 ‘Virginia Almanack’

Love-that is all.

This morning it is -36 degrees (with the windchill) and even though I was going to write about barley recipes this morning, I really need to go back to my time on Isla.

Even though I typically sit under a palm tree once I arrive at North Beach, I am always anxious to get there.  So on this second day, I pack up my Sudoku, book, sunscreen, etc. and head down to where I know that my brother and my Isla family will be accumulating.  There was a time when we would all be assembled at Sergio’s Playa Sol, a place where we met many of our Isla friends.  Now though, most of the gang gather at the back of the beach where the palms provide shade and they lug down their own beach chairs.  I played musical chairs for a while and then decided that I could not stand it anymore and headed to Chedraui (later that afternoon) to see if I could purchase one.  I did not stay long at the beach for fear of harming my freckled skin and instead wandered through Centro, checking out who had built or painted what.

This assessment takes me many days to accomplish.  You can likely see that my eye and camera is drawn to anything turquoise.  I am quite literally obsessed with the colour ever since I began traveling to the Caribbean many years ago.  My family is very patient with me as I have found a way to incorporate the colour into almost every room in our home.

I already know that I would like this mural size wave from Ikea for my birthday…….

The afternoon passes quickly with unpacking (I am always too excited to spend the time in my room on arrival day) and work that must be completed even though I am on vacation.  I am not complaining, having my own business gives me many more days of leisure than I deserve.

My mobile office for week #1 (so don’t cry for me Argentina).

My adventure at Chedraui was an interesting one.  I decided to walk there and it was a long and hot one.  When I arrived, I will admit that I was a little bit grumpy.  I headed to the spot where I knew that beach chairs had been in the past, crouched very low and lo and behold, found one solitary chair at the back of the shelf.  I set it up, right then and there, to ensure that it was in working order and then wandered off to make my next purchase of an alarm clock for our room at Casa el Pio.

I love that time has little or no meaning for me on Isla.  I can usually judge the time of day by the height of the sun or the grumblings of my tummy BUT I do not enjoy waking up in the middle of the night and not knowing if it is an hour after I turned off the light or 4 or 10 in the morning!  So this purchase was intended to enhance my sleep, not disrupt it.  It too, was the last one on the shelf.  In fact, I had to put the “floor” model in my cart, as they had scads of the make that cost almost 4 times the price, but only one at what I would deem a reasonable price.  So I determinately head to the check out, pleased with my seletions.

When it comes time to ring up the chair, there is much discussion amongst the clerks that there is no price tag on the chair.  A number of them go to the shelf to acquire what they explain to me is the code in order to ring it in.  They return with a supervisor who tells me that it is impossible for me to buy the chair and says that in fact, the chair is not for sale.  Well for 1) I have trekked down here in the hot sun and am in no mood to be denied, for 2) I do not want to spend two weeks stealing brief sits in a chair while others are swimming or off to the bano and for 3) the chair is right here in my hands!  After literally a dozen staff members are involved in the dispute, half of them taking my side and smiling brightly to reassure me that they are going to help me buck the system and buy the prize, I am successful in purchasing the chair.  And for a great price-less than the rental of a beach chair for a day on Playa Norte.

As I triumphantly leave the store, I decide to treat myself to a cab ride back to Centro.  On Isla, the cab drivers give you a brief and friendly honk of their horn to inquire if you are wanting a ride and this occurred as soon as I stepped out of the store.  It did not deter him that he was on the far side of the street, headed in the other direction, he simply spun around to make my loading the cab with packages easier to accomplish.  Unfortunately, when I emptied my cart, it started rolling down the incline at the front of the store.  Luckily, I was able to snatch it before it ended up in the traffic on the street but not without consequences.  Someone else’s empty cart, also started to roll and was headed right towards the cab.  I was already occupied retrieving my cart and could not stop this one and the cab driver was furious at me because the cart chipped the paint on the car (even though I had successfully prevented my cart from causing a major vehicle pile up).  So my feelings of triumph were short lived and all I wanted to do was get back to my casa and open a cerveza.

By the end of the afternoon, I was feeling better and wandered down to the shore.  I always try to capture the sun going down on the island.  The sunsets themselves are magnificent but it is more than that.   I can understand how the Mayans lives were dictated by the sun and I suppose that this is my way of acknowledging and respecting this.

When evening arrives, we have to make our most taxing decision of the day-where to go for supper? Sister #3 and I have debated which place on the island has the best frutti de mare pasta.  In her opinion it is Angelo’s but in my mind, the winner is Brisa Grill.  So, we head there for the test.

Our friend clinking cervezas with me here, is named Donna back home but on the island we call her Dona.

I do admit, that I remembered the seafood as being more plentiful.  Sister #3 is not disappointed, just content with her preference of Angelo’s.

In the mean time, I was more than pleased with my choice of pesto shrimp linguine.  I savoured the meaty prawn at the forefront of this photo and sliced into into to so many forkfuls, that it was like eating a baby lobster tail.

Others in our group sampled the coconut shrimp.  We informally perform an assessment of the Island’s best of this dish too.  I give Brisa’s Grill high marks for their unusual presentation.

My brother who is not as avid a seafood eater, opted for the ribs.  Quite honestly, he was still hungry when he finished eating this portion.  I suppose we should not fault a restaurant built right next to the ocean and the shore, to do a mediocre job of ribs.

I cannot specifically recall what we did that first evening but I would imagine that it involved a stroll down Hidalgo to wave or chat to friends.

Kath’s quote: “Sometimes I pray to Cod for the veal-power to stop playing with my food words, but I fear it’s too bread into me. For all I know, the wurst may be yet to come.”-Mark Morton

Love-that is all.