• 29Sep

  Can you tell I’m hungry?

  food 3 Comments

  I’ve blogged about food in Mazatlán before.  It’s been a somewhat frustrating topic for me.  Since I’m a vegetarian it can really be like rolling the dice to go to a new restaurant for a meal.

  The good news is that lately there are more and more options for me.  And not just minimally acceptable, but actually delicious.

  For me, a meal should look as though the chef actually cares about food, enjoys delighting people, and presents a well arranged and appetizing plate.  And of course, it should taste good!

  Here’s what we’ve discovered recently:

  The boutique hotel Casa Lucila that opened up last year at the South end of the Malecon across from the Pedro Infante monument has a wonderful restaurant, Le Sorelle.  We’ve eaten there three times now and it has been wonderful each time.  There are lots of vegetarian options for me.  Last time we went, Paul had a fantastic steak.  The prices are “nice-dinner” reasonable…I think we had drinks, dinner, salad and shared a dessert for around $50 with tip.  They serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

  Zorba’s the Greek just moved from Playa Sur to Olas Altas below the Belmar Hotel.  We had been meaning to get over to Playa Sur to check it out based on recommendations, but hadn’t gotten around to it.  Imagine our suprise when he opened up in our neighborhood!  The other day we stopped in for lunch - Paul had a gyro and I had a greek salad.  My salad came with pita bread.  Both were wonderful.   I will even admit to a moan or two when I tasted real kalamata olives!

  Zab Thai is absolutely one of my favorite restaurants ever.  It’s in a strip mall behind the Pemex in the Golden Zone.  I always try to plan our shopping trips to Home Depot or Mega with a meal at Zab Thai.  Everything is good, but me, I always get the Pad Thai with tofu, extra spicy.

  Pizza Moreno on Libertad in Centro is another favorite of ours.  I am in a rut there with their roasted garlic and roasted red pepper pizza…but last time I tried the Penne Primavera and it was excellent. David makes wonderful garlic bread, and their salad is a generous size with tons of vegies and delicious dressing.  Paul raves about their Italian sausage.  They’ve been making improvements over the summer and now will be able to accomodate up to 60 people.
  

  Quite a few restaurants take a break for the month of September, and some also for October, since the tourist season really doesn’t get going until November.  So we do appreciate these excellent restaurants that stick it out in the hot season.

  Tags: Vegetarian food in Mexico

• 26Sep

  Knitting update

  knitting 9 Comments

  I’ve talked about how I enjoy knitting on the blog before…so I thought I’d show my finished sweater.  I think it’s funny that for me here in Mazatlan this will be something I wear in the winter!  It’s made out of a beautiful cotton yarn that I brought with me when we moved here.

  

  
  

  I still haven’t found a source for yarn here in Mazatlan, or I guess I should say yarn that I’d consider using.  Not to be elitist, but I just can’t handle acrylic yarn.  When you spend a lot of time making something you really want it to turn out gorgeous!

  With my son and his wife in Mexico City expecting a baby this winter, I’ve been frustrated with not having yarn to knit with!  And the fact that I bought blue yarn when I was in the US this summer as they’d been told they were having a boy, and now it turns out they are having a girl!

  So the solution to the yarn situation is that they are going to buy some yarn in Mexico City and send it to me!  I think it is a great solution because they’ll have input into the colors and washability and all that.  They hope to go this weekend - they went last Sunday to Crochet, a nice yarn store in Polanco, but it was closed.

  But I still have the itch to knit, so I have started a hat for the baby using the blue yarn I had bought this summer.  It’s a very feminine hat, so I think I can get away with the blue, and I think I’ll make some socks or booties to go with it.  A picture from the hat pattern is below.  Isn’t it adorable?  Oh, and the baby, too?

  

  One thing I have noticed is that even when I get frustrated with something that’s unavailable here, an acceptable workaround always reveals itself.

  Now, time to gather my knitting and get ready to watch the debate this evening.

  Tags: knitting, Knitting in Mexico

• 25Sep

  Hot. Humid. Magical.

  weather 6 Comments

  It’s been hot and humid the last couple of days.  Our house isn’t air conditioned - just the bedrooms (one of which is our office) and if there’s no breeze it can really get hot.  With the workers working in the back we have the windows and doors on that side shut so it is hard to get that cooling through-breeze.  Every day I comment how I can’t believe they can work on the roof all day long - it is incredibly hard work, in my opinion.  Today I trimmed the plants in the courtyard, hosed & swept, and cleaned 11 ceiling fans and I was soaked to the skin!  And exhausted…I guess I am a total wimp compared to the albañiles working outside!

  Yesterday we finally caved in and put the air conditioning on in our office/tv room and retreated there for breaks.  Today was even warmer and more humid.  The dogs even know when the air conditioning is on and follow us around hoping to be invited into the coolness.

  Right around the time the sun went down we were outside catching the breeze and noticed a strange red flashing.  It turned out to be some amazing heat lightning.  I went up to our roof to take a bit of video.  I hope you like it!

  Tags: Living in Mazatlan, weather

• 22Sep

  Another late summer evening

  maz odds + ends, maz people 7 Comments

  I’m out on the patio upstairs, the sun is down but it’s still mostly light.  I brought my book and a glass of wine intending to sit and read in the coolish breeze.

  But as soon as I sit down the evening captures me.  Someone is playing scales on a muted trumpet and the notes lilt up and down, mesmerizing me.

  People pass by, scraps of conversation lifted on the breeze.

  Cars pass by, mostly soft whooshes but once in a while an unmuffled roar.

  A dog in the distance, who-hooing, not dogish at all.

  The trumpet continues playing, I might be at a jazz club listening to someone warm up.

  I miss the old man across the street, air conditioned now, not sitting outside in his white plastic chair talking to everyone who passes by.

  The trumpet keeps playing.  A magical moment, I am glad I was here for it.

  Tags: Living in Mazatlan, weather

• 21Sep

  Shrimp season is here!

  food, maz odds + ends 6 Comments

  

  In Mazatlán, shrimp is king!  It is a working city, and a lot of the work has to do with fishing - and of course shrimp is a big part of our fishing industry here.

  The shrimp boats are these crazy kind of winged creatures - I can’t say I really understand how it all works but I believe the “wings” are structures that help them haul in the nets.

  During shrimp season there are always a few of them on the horizon.  The other morning I counted 15!

  We have read in the paper that the price of diesel has risen so much that the shrimpers weren’t sure they’d make enough on their first run to pay for the fuel to go out again.  Paul wondered (being originally from the Midwest) whether it was kind of like the farmers always complaining about their crop yields.

  Anyway, the shrimp are now in, and the shrimp ladies who set up their ice/buckets/shrimp sales offices on the street now have nice fresh shrimp to sell.

  Tags: food, Shrimp Season in Mazatlan

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