Slow Food and the Joy of Family

“Imagine wanting to take a whole afternoon to leisurely prepare supper–without a food processor, microwave oven, or cookbook. To live, after all, is to experience things, and every time we mince an onion, lower the flame under a simmering pot, shape the idea and substance of a meal, we actually gain rather than lose lived time. Such minutes are not only full and rich in themselves, but they brush a lasting patina of lived experience onto our memory” John Thorne

 Now don't get me wrong... I enjoy the handiness of a 30 minute meal on a busy weekday just like any other housewife.  But when I do have the time I am most content hovering over my giant cazuela slowly stirring a batch of jam.  Since we have had a bit more time on our hands lately waiting for the Food Truck to get up and running and really needing to work out some frustrations from a months worth of mechanical issues I decided to make some Achiote Paste... FROM SCRATCH.  Now this may sound silly as you can buy giant packages of the paste for a few pesos.  But I have made the paste from scratch before and the difference is vast... making it well worth the effort!

What`s it like Living in Mexico? - Beauty Products

One of the things I hear Expats complain about the most is that they cannot find their specific brand name products here in Mexico. GUILTY AS CHARGED!  I was there!  I had developed a specific routine based off of brand specific products that I have used religiously for years.  Moving to Mexico I slowly, and yes reluctantly, began to discover new (to me) products that are available here in Mexico and that I truly believe to be BETTER than their counterparts that I was buying in the States.

I have asked a few of my girlfriends to help me with this post and share their beauty secrets with you.  You may be surprised to find that some of the youngest girls are using some very natural products.

Sorry Fellas but this post is for the Ladies!!!

Secrets Unleashed!

Guess What?!?!...We Moved! Part 1 of 3

I have been secretive for a while now because I was afraid that announcing that we would be closing La Casa Olvera and moving halfway across the country would hurt the little business flow that we had left...well we did all that!  We HAVE closed La Casa Olvera, loaded everything and then some back into the RV and made a harrowing road trip across deserts and mountains to Baja California where we now reside.  Lulu came with us of course and the newest character to join the Olvera klan is our dear friend Larry.  We are starting a new business!  A Food Truck called Señor Chef.  It is bold and fun and just our style.  Follow along as I divulge the adventures that have brought us to Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico in this three part series!

Secrets Unleashed!

Business was great when we were La Cocina de Boris y Jessi.  Our little hole in the wall cafe was for the most part a success.  Then people started asking for dinner, for wine, for beer...for MORE SPACE!  And all of these requests seemed logical to us.  So we did all that we could to oblige them.  We opened La Casa Olvera.  We served dinner, we served wine, we served beer and the space was beautiful!  And it worked... for a little while, we added other events like the Sip and Nibble Soiree to supplement the petering out dinner service...and then that suddenly stopped too!  We could not figure out what happened, where had we failed our customers...WHERE THE HELL WHERE OUR CUSTOMERS?  Our loyal fans, our friends?  It just didn't make any sense!  That is until someone asked me if I was scared to live in our neighborhood.  WHAT THE WHAT??? “Of course...” she said, “with all the hooligans and gangsters in your neighborhood!” She said it as if I should know something, as if everyone knew about the dangers of my neighborhood except me. Visions of the sweet ladies who set up shop in front of our house flashed through my mind.  The men in our neighborhood greeting my husband by name.  The friendships that we had struck over the last year.  Cracking jokes with the shop owners.  Feeling loved and cared for every time we walked the dog down the street.  But “hooligans”...well that was news to me!  But it was not news to the rest of the Expat community.  Naysayers had unleashed holy hell on our neighborhood.  Making claims against the local government of insecurity and vandalism.  The Expats (according to this group) were leaving San Miguel de Allende in droves and we should join them!  Their claims flabbergasted us!  This had been going on for months and we had no idea that it was happening.  We loved our neighborhood!  We could not believe that someone would start such a vicious rumor.  But rumor or not no Expat would venture the half a block into our neighborhood day or night for any reason… and just like that; we were out of business.

Thankfully Larry had already planted a seed in our brains.  A seed that was developing into a luscious business plan.  A plan to move to the OCEAN and return once again to WINE COUNTRY.  We were on board (cheap pun) and ready for new adventure.  We obtained a loan and purchased a Food Truck.  Since we had most success moving our business around why not have a business that did just that; MOVED!  It would be bold, fun and we would call it Señor Chef.  We bid farewell to San Miguel de Allende on June 6th and the few friends who had stuck around.  The boys packed up the RV and headed off down the road.  Instead of towing the car this time, since we had sold the dolly, I loaded the car to the hilt and followed along with a stack of books on tape and our dog Lulu at my side.  The Food Truck was still being built.  So the plan was to arrive in Ensenada and stay at an RV Park while we house hunted.  Find a place and move in before the 15th.  Then Boris would fly to Monterrey and pick up the Food Truck and drive it back to Ensenada taking the ferry to save time, gas and money as well as shave off a trip across the desert.  Best laid plans… or so they say.

To be continued…………………...

What`s it like Living in Mexico? - Introduction

If you have been following the blog for a while you will have noticed that I like to run a few different series.  There is the "Tastes Like...", and I also like to share about the various Holidays and Festivities, as well as host guest posts from Expats experiences in Mexico.  Now I am getting ready to introduce a new series, similar to the "Tastes Like..." where I add to it periodically.  For the most part I like to share with you what we are doing, what we are cooking, some of my silly experiments in the kitchen...  But the main goal of this blog is to share with you the REAL MEXICO.  The kind of things that you typically only discover by living here.

In this new section I want to share with you various products that you can find in Mexico, where to find them, how to use them...  This is less about food and more about the culture of the day to day.  You can expect to read about Beauty Products, Laundry, Tips on Shopping, Driving in Mexico...  The kind of things you would talk about with your girlfriends.  So pull up a kitchen chair, while I fold the kitchen towels, and lets talk about the daily life in Mexico.

And please remember, just like all good gossip this is solely my opinion about personal experiences!  I will do my best to provide the necessary information for you to be able to formulate your own opinions as well.

Before & After- Getting to Opening Day

Open for Business at Long Last!

Yesterday was our Opening Day of La Cocina de Boris y Jessi.  It was incredibly successful and we are so happy with the way everything turned out.  We still have to do a little touch up paint here and there and figure out how to get our sign hanging up were it belongs...But mostly only little details that we would notice.  It did not really sink in how far we have come in so few days until I looked at the Before and After photos that we took...  Take a look for yourself!