Mushrooms and fireflies and food! Oh my!

Last week my husband Erich and I spent a marvelous two and a half days of mushroom hunting, firefly watching and enjoying fabulous meals which constituted "The Gourmet Symbiosis Event of Mushroom Expert Arif Towns Alonso and Lic. Chef David Jahnke." The event, limited to 8 people, took place on the private Rancho Calixto in the mountainous region near the Magical town of Amealco de Bonfil, about 85 miles from San Miguel.  The area is gorgeous and reminded us a tiny bit of Switzerland with the forested hills and chalet-style homes.  (Click on photos for larger ones)

The ranch is owned by a lovely gentleman named Clemente who is committed to maintaining the area in as natural a condition as possible. Most of his land is a sanctuary and will never be developed, and he does not allow any non-native species there. He and his staff work very hard to preserve the forests, and he even has a herd of endangered native white-tailed deer. As the herd expands, he sends some of them to other ranches where they will be protected from hunters. We were pleased to view them quite closely as they were being fed.

The ranch is also a sanctuary for fireflies which light up for about an hour for only a few days during the mating season in July. We went for a hike in the dark and were able to see a lot of the camera-elusive little creatures. No video despite my efforts. 

But the purpose of the trip was mushroom hunting and dining. Arif Towns Alonso knows everything about mushrooms and supplies many local restaurants and stores with wild ones collected from different states in Mexico. He showed us samples of many of the edible varieties from the area, but he also showed us the toxic ones, and let us look through his reference books. To our eyes, they looked much too similar, so despite the very informative instruction, we will never try picking them on our own.  (Arif leads mushroom tours through the season.  Contact information for the people and places mentioned here will be at the end of the post.)

Samples, reference books and Arif

Good ones

Good ones

Bad ones

We made two hikes looking for mushrooms and greatly enjoyed the experience even though we did not find an enormous number of them since we were near the beginning of the season. We found more than enough for Chef David to incorporate into our meals. On our second night at the ranch, he delighted us with a terrific "demonstration" dinner where he showed us how to make each dish, all of them cooked over a wood fire and and most of them involving mushrooms. He started off with a delicious mushroom soup and then made Flammkuchen with mushrooms, a type of German pizza.  Then we had mushroom tempura with a light, crunchy coating, Wagyu beef meatballs with broccoli and cauliflower followed by Wagyu burgers topped with béarnaise sauce.  Although we were stuffed, we made room for a Flan Napolitano for dessert. Dinner on the first night was also excellent as were the breakfasts and lunches, all prepared by David.  

David describing mushrooms

How to slice mushroom

Soup on wood stove

Flammkuchen in wood fire oven

On the second day, we had the afternoon free so we went to the nearby town of Amealco de Bonfil and visited the market and a store famous for various kinds of honey.  We planned to visit the doll museum, but it is closed on Wednesdays. The town is known for its dolls, so I picked out a pretty one to buy. Our touring was cut a bit short due to an unbelievably loud thunderstorm and downpour which sent us scurrying into a café on the edge of the central square called El Kiosco where Arturo, the manager with a lovely voice, sang to us when the electricity went off. He turned a potentially boring episode into a fun experience. 

Arturo singing for us

My doll

All in all, an excellent adventure.

Contact information:

Chef David Jahnke

david.jahnke@gmail.com  https://www.sanmigueldeallendecookingclasses.com/

cooking classes in person and online.  Over 250 free YouTube videos: 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClJQ_s_1zXFw9N_EdXS95Cw/videos

Arif Towns Alonso

Mushroom tours.  https://www.facebook.com/simbiosissma

WhatsApp: 52 442 110 4306‬.     simbiosissanmiguel@gmail.com

Rancho Calixto 

https://www.facebook.com/RanchoCalixtoAmealco/?fref=ts

52-448-111-1290.  ranchocalixto@gmail.com

Cabins and camping. Firefly tours are available during the season.

The main road to the ranch, where Google Maps and your GPS will direct you, is under construction and probably will be for quite some time.  We hired a taxi in Amealco to guide us along the alternative route.  Well worth it for only 150 pesos.

View from our cabin living room

Cabin tucked into the woods

Kitchen

  

Sunday Hike, July 4, 2021

The San Miguel Hiking Group has begun Sunday hikes again and we were delighted to join the group on the 4th of July. We drove a short distance to the little village of San Marcos de Begoña and set out on foot on a foggy day. The recent rains brought all the wildflowers to life, and the spectacular Man of the Earth, a type of morning glory, were in full bloom. The ground was covered in them.  

How I longed for a real camera with a macro lens instead of my iPhone.

We were near the large lake formed by the Presa Allende, the dam which controls the River Laja, as well as smaller bodies of water formed from older dams. This is the old dam which we walked across. A little tricky due to the uneven stones.

There were many lovely scenes along the way.

A view down the canyon behind the old dam with the railroad bridge and the big lake in the distance.

All along the almost 4 mile hike were tons of wildflowers, many too small to photograph well.  

Fairy Dusters are among my favorites.

It was a lovely way to spend the morning.

[BTW, I have nothing to do with the administration or leadership of the hiking group.  I’m just a happy, occasional hiker.  To join the group and receive information about hikes you need to go to https://www.sanmiguelhiking.com/contact.html
Just fill out the little form and you will be added to the email notification list.  There is no commitment on your part - you will just receive emails about the different hikes.
You can also read the guidelines and description of the hikes and the difficulty of different levels.  https://www.sanmiguelhiking.com/guidelines.html  ]

Megan becomes Max — A Tail of Gender Dysphoria and Reincarnation

Megan, our Miniature Schnauzer, thought she was a boy. She always lifted her leg to pee, patrolled the backyard like a Marine, and "marked" every light pole, fire hydrant and rock during walks around our Canadian neighborhood. In keeping with her male self-image, she thought she was big and was ready and willing to defend herself against much larger aggressors.

Although our long-standing credo was "No children, no pets, no indoor plants," we happily took Megan into our home when I inherited her from my father as he moved into assisted living. We fell hopelessly in love with her then decided she needed a companion and brought puppy Molly, another Miniature Schnauzer, home one day. The four of us lived happily for several years until Megan became ill at age 13. Helping her cross the Rainbow Bridge was the hardest thing I've ever done and was, absolutely, the worst day of my life.

Not long after this tragic event, we moved to Mexico bringing little Molly with us. Thinking she might like a companion, we vowed to adopt rather than buy although we knew it was highly unlikely to find a Miniature Schnauzer needing a home. For almost two years, we had no luck but just a couple of weeks ago we got a call from a rescuer who knew of our quest. Sadly Max, as we call him since nobody knows his former name, ended up in a shelter after his human died of Covid. We were astonished when we met him because he looks almost exactly like Megan - the same coloring, same big expressive eyes and the same straight as opposed to the more common curly hair found on Schnauzers. But he's big for his breed, bigger than Megan and huge compared to Molly.

We adopted him and after having him for about two weeks, we are totally convinced that he is really Megan reincarnated as she always saw herself - a big, male dog. The resemblance in appearance and behavior is uncanny and despite ourselves, we keep calling him Megan. The poor guy is probably going to have an identity crisis to go along with his separation anxiety.

Megan

Max, or Megan reincarnated

Yes, it will take some work to make Max a very good boy. He pushes Molly out of the way when we pet her, plays a bit too rough with her, gets upset when we leave and commits indiscretions in the house. We put the two dogs in my office where we don't care about the rug and where I wrapped the lower sections of the furniture in plastic, but while we were out for a couple of hours, Max marked twice and pooped once. Our vet friend thinks Prozac may help, we assume for the dog or maybe for us too, but we draw the line at weekly doggy therapy sessions. Despite the problems, Max is loving and affectionate, very generous with his kisses and cuddles and once again, we have fallen in love.

Max

Megan

Gratuitous doggie photos

Molly as a puppy

Molly in the snow (I knit the sweaters)

Megan in the snow

Little Molly and Max in bed (the beds are the same size)

Notice to People Receiving This Blog Via Email

Sadly, Google is discontinuing the subscription service that allows folks to read this blog via email.  I haven't yet found an alternative service, so if you would like to receive notifications when I post something new, just let me know.  Send me an email at cjblanton at me.com (no spaces and use the @ sign) and I will send you a link whenever I add a new post. I do have a list of subscribers so you may receive an email from me about this issue. Sorry about the hassle.  

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.

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.

Hats

I am the proud owner of many a hat.
There is something to wear for wherever I'm at.

A hat for the summer,

A hat for the fall,

A hat for nary a reason at all.

I have one with big bows and one with a feather.

There is one I can wear when there's inclement weather.

A hat made of rhinestones,

A hat made of fur,

A black one, a white one, and a red one for sure.

I'm told that I am quite a vision in hats,

And I am not too shy to agree about that.

Hats for excursions,

And some just for play,

My hat is my crown, and I like it that way.

        By Pamela J. Randolph

I can't believe I sold this one.

I would eagerly marry into the British royal family just so I could wear hats.  I've always swooned over them, but I could never wear them because of my glasses.  No matter how many different styles I tried on, none of them ever looked right.  To my great disappointment, the glasses just ruined the effect.

Then around 20 years ago, I had lasik surgery to correct my vision, but it was badly botched.  Very badly botched.  At the time, I was on my way to becoming a professional travel and nature photographer, so this was a devastating development and caused me to sink into a severe depression.  The only compensation was that while my vision was not good enough to tell if my 35mm slides were sharp, I no longer needed glasses for distance.   Eventually I told myself that even if I couldn't see well, I could at least look good.  So to cheer myself up, I bought a bunch of hats.  Glorious hats.  I even had a few chances to wear them although ladies in hats were not common in Toronto.

Sold this one too.

I'm very far from being religious, but I seriously considered moving to the South and joining one of the African-American congregations famous for ladies wearing "church hats".  I think I would have fit right in.  The book Crowns is a marvelous celebration of these ladies and their (multiple) hats.

Fast forward to 2019 when we prepared to move to Mexico and had to downsize our possessions.  I sold or gave away most of my nice shoes and, I'm sad to say, a number of my more elaborate hats.  A church-going lady in Toronto bought several of them.  I never dreamed I would have any use for them in Mexico, but now I'm kicking myself for getting rid of them.  Because of Covid-19, our wonderful classical music organization has been holding its concerts outdoors during the afternoon, and it has been warm and sunny.  A perfect opportunity to wear fancy hats.  I'm very glad I kept a few of them, and I've been delighted to show them off to my fellow concert-goers.