Monday, March 22, 2021

Gardening and Cooking

One of the benefits of living here in Mexico is the availability of delicious, very fresh produce.  Although almost everything we could want is easy to find in stores, we decided to grow some food of our own in a rooftop garden.  We had these custom planters installed on December 22, 2020 and began harvesting lettuce and kale on February 18.  Stuff grows like magic in the abundant sunshine.

Just planted - December 22, 2020

First Harvest - February 18, 2021

Today - March 22, 2021

In addition to my husband's work in the garden, we have been taking cooking classes with a wonderful local chef named David Jahnke.  We were taking in-person classes, but when Covid put an end to that, David started giving online classes.  So far, we have taken about 120 classes!!!  He teaches all cuisines, not just Mexican, and we have been having a great time trying all sorts of new recipes.  Now with the garden producing fresh ingredients, we have been incorporating them into our meals.  Here are some examples:

Mandarin Spinach Pasta Salad with spinach and mandarin oranges from our garden.


Salmon salad with lettuce and edible nasturtiums from our garden.



Tamarind soup with kale from the garden.  Chef David's recipe.

Tamarind soup ready to serve.


Jalapeño Poppers stuffed with cream cheese, cheddar and panko.  Chef David's recipe.  Nothing from the garden, but good.  I used a blowtorch to roast the peppers so they could be peeled.  Faster than on the stove flame, LOL.

Friday, March 5, 2021

Cañada de la Virgen

At last - an adventure to report.

On March 4 we donned our double masks which included an N95, and joined 5 other expats for a special visit to Cañada de la Virgen which is about 15 miles outside San Miguel de Allende.  It is a recently-excavated archeological site of the Otomí people, and our guide, Albert Coffee, is an archaeologist who helped with the excavations.  This date is special because it is when the sun sets in direct alignment with the slot in the pyramid and is considered to be the Otomí new year.  

The pyramid complex is controlled by the Federal government, but the surrounding spectacular land and canyons are privately owned by the family that produces Cañada de la Virgen organic meat.  They are committed to preserving the land, flora and fauna and have done a good job of keeping the area unspoiled.  

As you enter the ranch, the pyramid is visible in the distance. The shape of the buildings reference the mountains on the horizon. (Click on photos for larger ones.)

The buildings in the pyramid complex are constructed to provide a solar/lunar calendar to indicate the times for planting and harvesting, and the engineering and astronomical skills of these ancient people are amazing.  We could not go inside the site itself because the government closed it at 3pm, but Albert has a good relationship with the ranch owners, and they gave him special permission to enter their land later in the day.  You can read about the site here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ca%C3%B1ada_de_la_Virgen and also see a good video here: https://albertcoffeetours.com/canada-de-la-virgen/ .

Before heading off to the site, we enjoyed a lovely late lunch on a patio with great views of the surrounding land.  The pyramid is that little bump on the horizon.


Albert told us a lot about the history of the complex and then we were driven part way up to the pyramid.  While some folks got a ride up the gate, Erich and I chose to walk up the ceremonial path with Albert, who is a walking encyclopedia.  We arrived with plenty of time to watch the sun as it set behind the pyramid.  If we had been able to stand inside on the ceremonial patio, the sun would have been perfectly aligned.  From our vantage point outside the gate, it was a little off to the right.  Our only cameras were older iPhones, but we managed to capture the scene as the sun slowly set.