The Starving Artist :: Mirlitons or Chayotes

:: If you're afraid of butter, 
use cream. ::
- Julia Child

For as long as I can remember, Mr. Bordelon grew mirlitons on an arbor he constructed just in front of his carport.  There was always an over abundance of these "Aligator Pears", and as Mr. Bordelon was a generous man, he provided the neighborhood with more mirlitons than most of them cared to eat.  For the entire month of November, his wife, Miss Adelaide, secretly called "That Lady" by MaMere, which is a whole other story, pickled, chopped and stuffed the heck out of them.  My sister and I can attest to Miss Adelaide's competence with this wrinkled vegetable.  Throughout our childhood, we ate at least one meal a week at any given neighbors' home and without a doubt, Miss Adelaide Bordelon would have been crowned Miss Mirliton had such a title existed.  

Miss Adelaide's Mirliton Casserole
Servings : 8

Ingredients

• 3 mirlitons
• 1/2 lbs of large shrimp, chopped (crabmeat is equally delicious)
• 1 stick of unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup bread crumbs, unseasoned
• 1/4 cup of Italian salad dressing
• 1/4 cup of water
• 1/4 cup of olive oil 
• 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 large white onion, chopped
• 2 tbls of minced parsley  
• 1 garlic toe, smashed
• 1/2 cup of shredded cheese, any type
• 2 large eggs, beaten 
• Cajun seasoning to taste

In a large pot, boil the mirlitons for 40 minutes, until soft.  Remove and allow to cool.  Preheat your oven to 350.

Mix the breadcrumbs and melted butter, and set aside.  Mix all other ingredients in a large bowl, allowing room for the chopped mirlitons.  Once the mirlitons have been mixed in with the other ingredients, add half of the breadcrumbs and melted butter.  Stir everything together one last time and place in a greased casserole dish.  Sprinkle the top of the casserole with the reserved portion of breadcrumbs and melted butter.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes.

YUM!

Create the life you want!

The Broad 

Vegetable Soup
Gumbo Style

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Sunday Morning Edition 2, No.5 (2013) : Merida on Motos

The Real Lives of the Expats Living in Your Travel Guide

[Source : Gagful]

Tom now realized why there were so few delivery trucks in the Yucatan. 

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We Are Travelers : How We Get A New Orleans/Merida Exchange

:: Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.::
- Jack Kerouac  

When I was in New Orleans a week ago, I received a special gift, a sticker that reads, "Be a New Orleanian wherever you are."  This weekend that sentiment seemed more true in Mexican than ever before.  I am a New Orleanian that has had, for as long as I can remember, been in love with Mexico.  It began with the caramel color of a boys' skin and continued to grow as I traveled throughout this magnificent country.  Since my trip back to New Orleans in August, I have been a bit obsessed with reinvigorating the sister city agreement between New Orleans and Merida.  

My first approach was to test the waters at the New Orleans Yacht Club and Southern Yacht Club where Sailor Girl Lola hangs.  It seemed like a natural beginning as we have a magnificent port in Progreso and many marinas that could accommodate the sailing crews.  The plan was two-fold, investigate the possibility of navigating a ferry through the channel to the Gulf of Mexico, and inspire races to Progreso.  The ferry doesn't look to be promising as the cost alone to move through the channel is outrageous and the travel time is close to 10 hours just to get from the port to the Gulf.  There are long term races already in place between the yacht clubs and destinations to the Caribbean side of the Yucatan Peninsula that foster humanitarian aide.  The idea of sailing to Progreso isn't appealing to anyone that has made that migratory race part of their lifestyle over the last twenty odd years.

As fate has her own style of showing the way without much of a demand on us, I found myself this weekend sitting on the veranda of a Chuburna beachfront property, enjoying the view, cup of rich coffee and conversation with friends, when a neighbor wandered our way.  Eduardo Cervera was responsible for re-initiating the sister city agreement between Merida and New Orleans.  Read this last sentence once again.  Extraordinary! 

Eduardo worked for the Mexican Consulate in the Yucatan and requested the ambassador assignment to New Orleans during Marc Morial's mayorial tenure.  He faciliated the agreement between the two cities, brought the esteemed El Ballet Folklorico del Statdo de Yucatan and oversaw the completion of a mural in the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center of New Orleans by Yucatecan artists that outlined the rich history between the two states around hennequin transport.  Back in Merida, he was part of the planning and dedication of a park in North Merida to the sisterhood between the two cities.  New Orleans delegates of the Morial tenure never made it to Merida.  After the Yucatan donated countless dollars to the recovery efforts post-Katrina, and then New Orleans mayor, Ray Nagin, visited in 2009 to resign the sister city agreement during a world trade convention held in Merida.  All Nagin fiscal activities were under sever scrutiny at the time and thus his trip was cut short. 

Timing seems to have been against Eduardo's efforts.  As he recalled fondly the time he lived in New Orleans, he told us the story of his parents journey and countless other Yucatecans, that took ships headed to New Orleans or Havanna for shopping expeditions.  The road to Mexico City was often unpassable as hurricanes wiped out bridges crossing small rivers and there was no highway at that time.   As I have also discovered in conversations with locals, many families studied English and pursued academic degrees at Tulane.  This might explain my early love of Mexico as I grew up six blocks from that campus and my mother studied there.  Other notable connections include the diaspora of Aftrican American Orleanians fleeing to the Yucatan after the Civil War, when restrictions on their movements were curtailed by legislation imposed by the Anglo population.  Why did they move to the Yucatan?  The history between the Yucatan and Louisiana is knotted like a hennequin hammock.  I'll leave you to investigate further the role of hennequin, nylon, the Cast Wars and Governor Felipe Carrillo Puerto influences that in part dissolved the ties between the two sister cities.  It will be a fascinating research project.  Let me know what you find out! 

Create the life you want!
The Broad

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Sunday Morning Edition 2, No.2 (2013) : The Outside Reflects The Inside

The Real Lives of the Expats Living in Your Travel Guide

[Source :: My Hawaii Traveler]

Tom contemplated which of his Tropical Hawaiian shirts would be appropriate for the the party he and Martha were going to since the invitation stated this was going to be a formal event. 

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The Starving Artist :: How To Make Gumbo

:: A gumbo must always contain rice, and it must always be thickened with something.  Most gumbos are, in fact, double-thickened - first with a dark, oil-based roux (although Gumbo Z’Herbes is sometimes roux-less, as are some 19^th century recipes), and then using either okra or filé powder, but neither both, but never both (to connoisseurs, this as uncouth a practice as blending a Bordeaux with a Riesling). ::

- Stanley Dry, The Southern Gumbo Trail

A few weeks ago I shared my recipe for Shrimp Remoulade.  Today, I'm about to do something I've never done before - share my gumbo recipe!  I haven't even shared this with my children, and they started eating gumbo before they were out of diapers.  My sister and I can't recall a time without gumbo.  Mom liked to prepare chicken and sausage gumbo, while MaMere preferred seafood gumbo.  

The thing to keep in mind is that there are as many styles of gumbo as there are cooks in in the kitchen.  Whenever I went to a new Louisiana style restaurant in Austin, the first thing I would order is their gumbo.  If it was good, everything else of the menu was bound to be just as delicious.  From the Lake Charles, Louisiana style duck and andouille sausage at  Evageline Cafe in Austin, to the almost black roux prepared for chicken and okra gumbo at Nubian Queen Lola's Cajun Soul Food on the East side of Austin, gumbo always offers opportunity to be original.

Over the years I've added Gumbo Z'Herbes, a green gumbo just perfect for my vegetarian friends, a turkey gumbo after Thanksgiving takes care of leftovers, and a duck gumbo during hunting season.  I'll share with you my Gumbo Z'Hebes recipe and MaMere's King Cake, straight from France, just before Mardi Gras 2015.

I swear I should open a restaurant and art gallery!

BENNÉ’S CHICKEN & SAUSAGE GUMBO

Servings : 16 

Chicken & Sausage Preparation

• 2 pounds of the Italian sausage.  My preference is andouille but that was hard to find in Austin and impossible to locate in Mérida.
• 2 pounds of skinless chicken breast.
• Chop all the meat into 1" pieces.

Just know that you can't go wrong.  Unless you burn the roux, your gumbo is going to be identifiable as gumbo!  Every restaurant in New Orleans that serves gumbo, and that would be just about all of them, has a signature taste.  The underlying flavor, the roux, is what sets gumbo apart from soups and stews.  As impossible as it may sound, when one of my gal pals muled my pots down to me, someone with the airlines managed to crack my cast iron skillet in half.  Needless to say, this was the first time in my life I've prepared this portion of the dish in a stainless steel frying pan.  The meat browned just fine.  Once you have yours browned, put it into a deep slow cooker on low.  Add half of all the vegetables, one bay leaf, and one cup of chicken broth.  Add one cup of water to your fry pan.  Heat the pan up, loosen any bits of the meat left behind.  Add this to your slow cooker.  Allow all these ingredients to simmer in the slow cooker for 8 hours. 

Roux Preparation

• 2 cups of sifted flour
• 2 cups of cooking oil *Stay healthy, Ya'll!
• Black Pepper
• 1 smashed garlic toe
• 1 Tsp. of finely chopped onion
• Flour sifter

The roux took a bit longer in the stainless steel frying pan.  Surprisingly, the flavor was excellent, but I still prefer a cast iron skillet.  Pour the oil into the pan and place on low heat.  This was a bit tricky on my new stove as it has a very limited heat range control where low heat for simmer doesn't seem to exist.  As the oil is heating, sift the flour into the oil, taking time to mix the flour into the oil.  The trick with roux is to keep the oil and flour moving.  

The first photograph on the left is the oil and flour mixed.  Things that can go wrong are represented in the upper image on the left. Just lower the heat, or in my case, turn off the burner for a bit.  You don't want to burn the roux.  The third photograph shows you the color changes as the roux is progresses.  Just before I get to the dark chocolate phase I add black pepper, minced garlic, and chopped onions.

Vegetable Preparations

• 2 large white onions, chopped
• 2 large green bell peppers, chopped
• 2 cups of fresh chopped okra 
• 2 cans of chopped tomatoes
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 Tbls of dried oregano
• 1/2 cup of fresh parsley

Liquids

• 2 cups of chicken broth
• 4 cups of water 
• a splash of vinegar ffom a jar of pepperoncini peppers. 

Now, let's mix it all together!  Grab you large stock pot and put in the remaining vegetables, herbs and liquid ingredients, except for the vinegar, turning your fire to simmer.  At first heat, add the roux and the chicken and sausage mixture.  Once it comes to a slow boil, add the vinegar to taste.  Serve over rice, sprinkled with chopped parsley.  Anyone have a great recipe for French Bread?

New Orleans welcome to  Mérida, your sister city in the Yucatan.  
Bon Appetite

Create the life you want!

The Broad

*Here's how to contribute to  Global Food Fight Friday on the News From A Broad FB page.

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Seems Like Someone Wants Romance : Am I Right?

:: Do you want me to tell you something really subversive?  Love is everything it's cracked up to be.  That's why people are so cynical about it.  It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for.  And the trouble is, if you don't risk anything, you risk even more. ::

- Erica Jong

At the end of the month I run a check on the NFAB blog statistics.  I can see which countries are following, the number of spams, and the most read post.   By far, the most popular post, and I mean of all time, has been Boyfriend For Life : Let's Go!  Times A Wastin'.  Romance is a sexy topic!  I'm living in a beautiful city that fills my mind with new ideas daily.  Sometimes when I'm driving, I turn my head towards the passenger seat and almost speak out loud!  It's crazy what love thoughts will make us do.

If my son and I had been put in charge of creating the courtship process it would totally be allowed to profess your love immediately.  Fortunately for the world, we are not involved in the grand design of the heart.  There are some very good reasons, most of which deal with DNA imperatives and practicality, that we don't just walk up to total strangers and profess undying love.  Those same DNA codes that cause us to snap on our frontal lobes also compel us to move towards the shiny thing that ends with a dream were all the lights at a four-way stop are  green and none of the drivers knows which one makes the first move.

I never developed an appreciation for articles on relationships.  When you read the ones directed at women the advise is laced with what men want and how to contort yourself to fit his needs.  When you read articles directed at men, they are instructed on how to score the hottest babe.  When you analyse the archives of Top Ten Ways to Attract a Partner, women and men are guided as follows:

• Be gender friendly but don't behave like the opposite gender.  
• Women, dress like you are ready for sex but not to the point of being a slut?!?!
• Men, don't cry too often.  
• Women, don't know how to fix everything from your broken water faucet to your transmission.
• Don't go overboard with the public display of affection. 
• Don't over dance, don't be too accommodating, don't groom excessively, don't talk constantly,  don't, don't, and don't!  

Good Grief!  

Darlins', come on!  Get into the back seat of my car.  Boyfriend For Life is arriving on the 9:30 p.m. flight tonight.  We have big plans, but we're open to being carried off by a whim!  Maybe we will walk the city, taking pictures of everything that tickles us while he will be talking my ear off.  We could head towards Campeche or Valladolid for a few days and I will be hugging on him every chance I get.  Perhaps we will do an overnight at a hacienda or stay at home sipping a glass of wine in the garden both looking as handsome as our favorite movie stars. 

What have I been doing before his arrival?  Cleaning my house?  Obsessing over every interaction?  Going for a make-over?  No.  I've been living my life, my ordinary and precious life.  I've gone to the state fair, attended some fundraisers and shared a glass of wine with friends.  I've figured out where to buy groceries, hired someone to help me contract with a garbage pick-up service and headed to my lovely office for work.   I've planed my next party and bought tickets for a music festival.  

I think my son and I have half of the better idea.  Being real is much more appealing than someone playing a game, even if the game is directed by The Universe. 

Create the life you want!

The Broad 

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Hanal Pixan :: Not Halloween

::He who has gone, so we but cherish his memory, abides with us, more potent, nay, more present than the living man.:: 

- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Here is my La Catrina costume for 2011

If you have spent much time in other parts of Mexico, you immediately sense that nothing of the food, music and celebrations of the Yucatan connects it to the other states.  In the Yucatan, Hanal Pixan, translated from Mayan as Feast of the Souls, is an eight day celebration.  Hanal Pixan is not a version of El Dias de los Muertos, which was the Spaniards attempt to outlaw the ancient tradition of Hanal Pixan and its' equivalent amongst native peoples.  According to long time expat residents and locals, as Mérida increasingly attracts tourist from within the country and around the globe,  this historically private affair of honoring the deceased is taking on a more public face painted to mirror the rest of Mexico.   

The Walk of the Dead traditionally ushers in El Dias de los Muertos throughout Mexico. In this informal parade the participants are dressed similar to the La Catrina character made famous by lithographer Jose Guadalupe Posada.  Parade participants paint themselves as skeletons dressed in upper-class garb.  This is a new component for Hanal Pixan, and a direct imitation of El Dias de los Muertos.  Since I either missed it due to its' brevity or it didn't take place in my hood as planned, I can't compare the Yucatecos version to that of Puebla. During the Hanal Pixan families celebrate by making altars or ofretas in their homes.  Candles of symbolic color, burning copal incense, gourds filled with water or hot chocolate, buckets of marigolds, a cross made from the cut leaves of an aguave or palm, fresh tortillas, and carved animals are circled around a photograph of the deceased.  

Many altars begin with the image of a lost child.  The Angelitos arrive on October 31st and leave on November 1st, allowing the adults, living and deceased, to party until one or the other is called to the grave.




There are many more components to this eight day traditions but I will leave you with these images taken of the ofretas as seen in the main plaza of Mérida centro.  The offerings were enshrined in little huts, some rather simple while others filled with intricate details.  For all the work in construction, they disappeared only a few hours after set-up.  Poof!

Create the life you want!
The Broad

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Swim Faster Dear : Buying A Home Under Any Azul Sky

 :: Signora, between Austria and Italy, there is a section of the Alps called the Semmering. It is an impossibly steep, very high part of the mountains. They built a train track over these Alps to connect Vienna and Venice. They built these tracks even before there was a train in existence that could make the trip. They built it because they knew some day, the train would come. ::   
- Martini, Under a Tuscan Sun

If you have ever read Under a Tuscan Sun and watched the movie, you know that the author and her counterpart are not living the same adventure.  Last night I watched the movie again thinking that now that I am a broad living abroad I might find it ridiculous. 

The book is a good read, and I think that our own snowbirds can relate easily to the authors' experience.  Writer Frances Mayes and her boyfriend, now husband, bought a villa in Italy that they restored during working vacations.  They are full time residents in San Fransisco and part-time homeowners in Cortona.  Frances is a food critic and has written several  books based on her life in Italy.  In the movie, she is played by Diane Lane.  In this version, Frances is recently divorced, takes a trip to Italy where she impulsively purchases a villa that is restored over time while living full-time in Cortona.  Single Broads Abroad are likely to have a keener connection with Lane's portrayal of  Frances.

Like Lane, I heard myself asking, "What the hell have I done!"  This wasn't simply a case of buyers remorse as I didn't purchase my house until living here for three months.  Everyday of those first six months I wanted to jump into my car and go home.  One of my very dearest friends arrived a year before I did.  I read happy emails and happier blog post, but when I was the first person called on Christmas day I knew for certain that the happiness was a rouse.  We finally discussed the deep sadness and the unexpected flurry of tears over seemingly inoccouse events.  This frenetic desire to go back is not the same as disliking where we are living.  These are divided experiences; like two pairs of gloves, a different color for different occasions.   Welcome to the Twilight Zone Broads Abroad. 

Partnered Broads Abroad are no longer as independent.  It could be that you are now down to one vehicle.  Remember those times back home when one of the cars was in the shop?  Now imagine living in another country, sometimes quite isolated and with poor public transit, or living in a country that doesn't allow women to drive unless escorted by a male relative!  Yikes!  I'm grateful for having decided to live in Mexico.  

Spending increased time with a spouse can be a shocking experience.  You may wonder if this person even knows you!  With so many of us recently retired, we may be momentary lost as to what to do when a partner wants to be alone or spend time with new friends without us.   As darling as I know you are, this will be one of those times in your partnership when you have to be ultra forgiving.  Keep in mind that Single Broads Abroad are responsible for every aspect of living, with none of the benefits of sharing resposibilities, anxieties nor the joys of life abroad.  As much as my grandparents loved one another, when PaPere started hanging around the house more, like every blasted day, MaMere was ready to carve him into small bits and feed him to the neighborhood feral cats.  It's true!  PaPere hadn't gotten his groove on.  With his routine disrupted, he forgot that he liked to watch football, play golf, and hang with his fishing buddies. If my grandparents had move aboard at retirement, I guarantee you that PaPere would be doing nothing but remembering his former life, and feeling a bit anxious as to how he was going to develop the same depth of bond he shared with his cronies back home.

The majority of your friends back home will not understand what you are asking for, that is if you are asking for anything.  What they hear, and this is if you share, is that you are unhappy, homesick, and freaked out!  The only choice they have is to suggest you return.  And your heart wants to return but this is where that other pair of gloves comes in.  You love your life in your new country.  Everything is fresh and exciting.  From figuring out what a product is used for to how to dispose of your garbage, to the cultural issues, these are all brave new frontiers that bring life back into your life.  

The stress and grief levels of becoming an expatriate have been compared to the depth of loss associated with the loss of a spouse.  Everything in our lives has changed.  Research on expatriates reveals that if you can make it through the first two years, you will probably only return to your home country for end of life issues.  For now, as I begin the second year, I imagine returning when my first grandchild is born.  Admittedly, after my visits to Austin and New Orleans this summer, I was most unhappy living so far from my family and friends.  I miss deeply the connections, the benefit of touch, and the activities, including favorite foods.  During the two months following these trips I was blessed to be busy with work, to have girlfriends here and back home that I could confide in, and more frequent contact with my children.  I made it through and have decided that my visits home, at least for now, need to be shorter.  I've fallen back in love with my house and my life here in Merida.  I've even managed to fall in love with my little rescue dog, but that is a story for later. 

By raising the doorway passages and refirbishing the antique French doors of my little Mexican house, I am creating the welcoming experience for the people and activities that will make this encore life thoughtful and thus, fabulous!

Create the life you want!

The Broad

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Phase II : Life With A Mason

::Still making headlines all across the country, the Ghostbusters are at it again. This time, at the fashionable dance club, The Rose. The boys in gray slugged it out with a pretty pesky poltergeist, then stayed on to dance the night away with some of the lovely ladies who witnessed the disturbance. This is Casey Kasem. Now, on with the countdown.:: 

I feel so blessed to have a family in Mexico that loves me.  Manuel, aka Lolo, has hired the albañil to begin Phase II of the renovations on my little casa.  There are some words in Spanish that I simply can't hear, and the new albañils' name is one of them.  I believe his name is Virgilio, and his main focus for the next week is to lay tile on the kitchen and garden entrance floors.  No sooner had Virgilio completed his first day of work, Lolo and Charlie (Cha-ley), the albañil that constructed the concrete archways for the doors, arrive and the fiesta begins! It has been one of those six month stretches where the learning curve is altomente peligroso.  With much help from my girl pals and Lolo et al, I've succeeded and a celebration seemed in order.  Go Team!  Let's Rokit! 

Beautiful Broads Abroad, I wish you could all bring a hammock over for a slumber party!   It seems that every minute there is something fascinating to watch or learn in this little hood of mine.  Take the other day for example.  There was nothing more lovely than observing  three men cheerfully load and unload a flatbed truck with the 3 cubic meters of tiles to be used in the kitchen.  I don't know how to explain this, but Mexico has a way of making me feel extremely feminine.  

Back in the USSR (jajajaja!), right or wrong, I always made it a point to be as competent, complimentary and collaborative as possible in my relationships.

I can't tell you how shocking it has been to learn that there are people who seriously believe that most women are gold diggers and/or ball busters.  How I miss Austin!  The more interesting aspect of this bewildering view of women is that it is generated by women who are supported by their husbands.  Hello!  I work seven days a week, eight hours each day.   I acknowledge that every culture has its' issues to deal with regarding the way the genders are perceived, but at least in my little Mexican family I am respected as a sacred and knowledgeable person. 

In addition to the tiles given to me from the renovation rubble of a friends' castle/convento home, I purchased a few mixto patterns that will transition well with the pre-existing floors of the other two rooms.  Virgilios' preparation of the kitchen floor for the antique mosaico encaustic tiles, known here as pasta tiles,  created a successful co-dependent relationship between concrete dust and every last pore of EVERYTHING in all parts of my little house!  Concrete dust will now be the mistress of La Colmena Azul for many weeks to come.  Lolo's arrival could not have been better if planned.  Booze is a great equalizer and truth serum!  A beer, a shot of tequila, and an opportunity to hear tales of the odd history of my hood was a welcomed momentary release from adulthood. 

Lolo has been an expatriate.  He lived in San Antonio, TX for a bit but didn't care for it very much.   Here he has family, connections, and a deep belonging that satisfies him.  I have inherited a family that watches out for me and teaches me how to really live in Mexico. 

Have I mentioned that I seldom drink?  

I have the lowest alcohol tolerance of anyone you have ever met.  As the sun slips behind La Ermita,  Lolo tells Charlie a story I haven't heard before and I ask him to repeat it in English.  You see, when Lolo and Yoyo were doing the initial remodel, they had all kinds of hood visitors popping in asking questions and making comments.  A note of advice to English speakers - do not assume that you are not understood by Yucatecos.   I now know how I am perceived within my expat community.  Conversely, locals should not assume that their brethren will take advantage of the expatriates.  I now know which neighbors attempted to have me pay for work to their properties.  The language cloak of invisibility doesn't always work!   

Seems everyone loves a good yarn.  The furniture delivery people had told me that ten years ago my house had been a cantina.  What I hadn't until now, was that the other part of my house, owned by the Ice Cream People was the brothel!  OMG!  I just knew there was a brothel under my nose!  Is that the funniest thing you have ever heard or what?  It gets better!  My sweet Abuilita, the one across the street that is going to teach me how to raise Yucatan stingless bees, asked Lolo if I was opening a "house of the women."  Howllllllaaoooooo!  She must have gotten this idea into her head the day I brought twelve of my beach amigas into the city to celebrate my birthday.  Hear that chicas?  We should have named my house The Best Little Bee Hive in Yucatan!

Create the life you want!
The Broad

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