Mexican Cooking Lesson

Oh what fun!! There were seven of us menopausal women, each of us having hot flashes in the very warm kitchen. Linda, Kathy, Patty, Carol, Marie and me. All but Carol, a Canadian, and I, were permanent residents of Mazatlan. Marie, a Mexicana, lived in Tuscon most of her life and had move to Mazatlan recently.
Maureen, the teacher--from near Philly--had a big pitcher of hibiscus tea waiting for us. It's called Flor de Jamaica, red and full of antioxidents. I saw a bag of it at the Mega and it will be going back to the US with me next week. White wine sangria was next--wine, cut up fruits and club soda. This may be when we all started to glisten. We made two types of salsa, peach and mango, with the typical salsa ingredients, red pepper, cilantro, onion, and lime juice. Those were used for the topping on our chipotle, mayo and goat cheese canapes. For the fish course we made Mexican crab cakes. Mo used walnuts in the breading, ground by Carol in a molcajete. Delicious--more of the salsas served on top of them. The meat course was chicken Milanese. Down here you can buy the chicken already cut thin and flattened. You know I will be going over to Cornelius, Oregon to look for them at El Grande. You put goodies, herbs, veggies, cheese etc in the middle and either roll them and fold them, pan fry them or bake them. Very versatile and yummy.

For dessert Mo made Mexican rice pudding. I thought this will never work. I remember my grandmother baking it for at least an hour. This was done on top of the stove in a half hour and it was rich, creamy and delish. she served it warn with a sprinkling of raisin and craisins and cinnamon (canela in Espanol)

Despite and the flushing and sweating a Wonderful time was had by all. If you ever get to Mazatlan, take a cooking course from Maureen Gerrity. She's a great teacher--giving us helpful hints for variations along the way.

I forgot. We made a stirfry of corn, red peppers, onions and my new favorite thing, chayote. It's green, wrinkly and delicious. It tastes a little sweet and cucumber-like. Will be a staple in the Wise household.