Saturday, September 19, 2009

On the way to Puebla

A few weeks back we took a trip to Heroic Puebla de Zaragoza. This was one of the first cities founded by the Spanish in 1531 that was not built on top of ruins of local civilizations. When visiting this city it is apparent that it was a European planned city because the streets are square, they are not set a odd angles with strange intersections but laid out in a grid formation.

Colorful Puebla.



Puebla University, I hear it is a very good school.



Beautiful brick work


along one of the store fronts in front of the Zocalo (city center or downtown) is a bronze model of the city, this was unexpected for me.
The kids posing in front of one of the sculpture

This is a very interesting sculpture. It is a cylinder with half moons on each side and it is sculpted like leaves a trees.


The Cathedral of Puebla.


Photos of the colorful city.



The Drive from Mexico City to Pueble is one of the most beautiful drives I have ever taken. It was mountainous and green and spectacular, unfortunately or is a narrow highway without a shoulder going up or down the mountain so I was unable to get many photos of the mountains, but I managed a few of the volcano. The highway between Mexico City and Puebla bass next to volcano Popocatepetl and volcano Iztaccíhuatl and these are beautiful indeed.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Eating out in Mexico City - What I have to say about the Restaurants

I am not much for reviewing restaurants. I may say it is good and a friend may say the opposite. I think that Restaurants for the most part are ever changing, from one day to the next and from one item to the next, so I don't often write about them here on my blog. However, I have been eating out here in Mexico and some places I have enjoyed very much, but what I find when I do a search on the net for a place to eat is laking, the results tend to come up a little short so I have decided to say a little bit about the places I visit and provide a few photos too, photos never hurt.

Today I am going to tell you about a Thai place we went to in La Condesa called Mibong. I learned of this place through my Spanish tutor who happens to be a big Thai fan just like my husband.

We set out with the address in a Taxi and after the taxi drove around for a while (Condesa is full on one way streets, not easy to get around in) he dropped us right in front of the restaurant.
I had Pad Thai, it was very nice, the noodles were cooked perfectly the chili has a very Mexican flavor to it and the sauce has a nice peanut flavor to it. This is not the Pad Thai I am used to eating in Michigan but it was a great dish done well.

My Husband ordered a fried rice dish that our 5 year old daughter stole from him and ate us so I can't tell you first had how good it was but she seamed to love it, good enough for me.
We also tried a seafood soup that they offered and it was very nice. We all got to have a few bites but in the end this was the big hit for my 3 year old son and he got to eat most o it. The kitchen is small and well used but clean!
The menu has much to offer with both sides full of many appealing looking items listed.

MiBong
Thai, Malaysian, Vietnamese
Campeche 396-B
ph. 5211-2078
Sun – Wed: 1 p.m. – 12:30 a.m.
Thurs – Sat: 1 p.m. – 1:30 a.m.

Monday, August 31, 2009

He is turning 4 and he is eating Batman's head


Not a whole lot to say, just wanted to post the cake I made for my babies 4th Birthday...well I guess he is not my baby any more he is my big boy and he is into cars, robots and super heroes.
I actually made this cake at 3AM because I just could not sleep.  I was done about the time the kids got up for the day.
  and of course he wanted to eat Batman's head

I used cocoa powder and blue food coloring in chocolate frosting to come up with the black.   once I had black I added some to white frosting to make the silver.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Loving Michigan


I know I have been MIA yet again but the kids and I are off in Michigan visiting family for the summer. We will be back in Mexico next week with a schedule again and regular blogging will take place once again. Until then Enjoy the summer, we are.

Monday, August 3, 2009

It was not Sulfur Soup at all



I enjoy asparagus very much. I like it blanched, plunged into ice water, drained and topped with course salt. I like it roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper and then covered with a few shavings of Parmesan cheese, I like it raw and even steamed with butter. But the idea of asparagus soup always turned me off, I thought that it would taste the the harshness that asparagus has from the sulfur particularly when it is over cooked. I imagined a big bowl of green sulfur soup, after all one much cook the daylights out of the asparagus to make soup out of it.

The other day I looked it the fridge to see what I could put together for dinner and I had a kilo of asparagus, some onions that are in desperate need of being used, cream and some left over Asian chicken stock which was had a light and wonderful garlic ginger taste to it. The only conclusion i could come up with was asparagus soup.

Like almost everything I make I figures I would start with caramelized onion because everything and anything will turn out wonderful with nice sweet onion. I figured I would add some richness by cooking the onions in butter.

I cleaned the asparagus and and chopped it into pieces and added it to the onions just before they browned with a little salt and pepper. I reserved some of the tips of the asparagus and blanched them for pretty photos later.

Once I sauteed the asparagus and ions for a few minutes I added the Asian chicken broth and broth, a bay leaf and a little thyme to it all and brought to a boil and cooked for about 30 minutes, until the asparagus was tender.

Once the asparagus was cooked, I removed the bay leaf and blended the soup (in batches) with my blender until smooth.

I place the soup back on the heat and when it came up to a boil I added a half cup of cream and a squeeze of lime juice. Tested for seasoning, had to add a little more salt and enjoyed.

The soup did not have a touch of sulfur taste to it at all it was rich and creamy and simply one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten.

Ginger Asparagus Soup~

1 kilo Asparagus
6 cups ginger chicken broth (you can make your own or heat up purchased broth and add 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger)
1 medium onion
3 tablespoons butter
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh thyme
1/2 cup cream
Salt & pepper
juice of 1 lime