Watching "Night Line" after the 10:00 PM news is generally a given for me, but I was tickled to pieces when I heard a familiar voice and saw a familiar face this past Wednesday. The anchor teased us into the story with cool and beckoning words: Frozen Margarita!
If you know me, then you know I love Margarita's! Sure, I was interested in the story, but what made it better was the connection to my childhood. Mariano Martinez from Little Mexico is the inventor of the Frozen Margarita machine. There he was, on national prime time Television in the flesh and live from Carmel, California, talking about his humble roots back in the barrio of Downtown Dallas, known as Little Mexico.
For many of us born here in Dallas, Texas and those of us of Mexican descent, Little Mexico was our tierra, our land, our place. Now that it no longer exists, it has become almost mythic, a touch stone, a mecca. Hearing Mariano's voice, seeing him on national TV and not forgetting where he came from, made me so proud. My father and he were great friends and one special time, back in my blossoming youth, during a lunch at Mariano's restaurant, I was in the company of great men. Did I know it then? Yes, I think I did.
Being it is Friday and all, let's not forget another one of my other favorite adult beverages....the Mexican Martini. My husband is one of the best bartenders on the planet and I love it when he makes these for me! On Father's day this past year, I asked my husband to bring along his mobile martini machine - ie shaker to my father's home in Oak Cliff. With many of his children assembled, I raised my martini glass and began to toast my father, and before I could get one word out, he quickly took the reins (as he is apt to often do) and told us all. " I am 68 years old and I can honestly say I have never tasted a martini before!" "Drink it Dad!" was the chorus we cried! We all watched as my sister handed him his Mexican Martini and he took a sip. "Not bad, not too bad at all." We told him to eat the jalapeno stuffed olive next, which he really did like.
My dad is the most interesting man and does prefer his Dos Equis with lime. Not that he does'nt like his Corona either!
Enough about alcohol though, it is bikini season and one thing I know about is this; there is no such thing as a "skinny girl Margarita". All us Margarita drinkers have curves and I am damn proud of them. Now matter if I get them from eating too many tamales or drinking too many Margarita's, my curves remind me of how lucky I really am. From all the great home cooked meals, to my lifetime of knowing and having great cooks in my life, to the laughter, the fun, the shared life that I have been blessed to call mine, I salute you, Mariano for giving us one more way to celebrate our lives, our heritage and especially in 100 degree heat, a frozen beverage that is Mexican in origin and the number one cocktail in the universe!
Bravo, y Muchisimas Gracias. Salud!
Friday, July 22, 2011
Friday, July 8, 2011
Bloggapalooza, Feral Hogs and Havelina Tamales
TGIF, and Greetings, Yall!
Hope everyone had a Happy Fourth of July and is surviving the summer. This one seems to be going fast and furious. Come July, I am really not in the mood to do much of anything. I kind of like it that way. For some, moving at a constant pace, checking off the To-Do Lists and doing all the "What have Ya's" make many feel productive and relevant. Not me, although I can be an over acheiver and a bit of a stickler for detail, when summer comes around in Texas, I just want to chill. I want to be, well , lazy.
We talk a lot here in the shop about pigs, pork, hogs and havelina. It seems everyone has a story to tell about how so and so made the best tamales out of the hog head, the havelina head or how so and so would make tamales from a feral hog. My sister wants to somehow use the meat from the feral hogs she sees roaming around out at the ranch. Not me. I like my meat USDA, stamped by Uncle Sam. I am a slight, germaphobe and really don't like the idea of any kind of slaughtering procedure or any meat that is remotely "gamey". Yes I realize I am a bit of a contortionist. Of course, because I retain the right to be as picky as I want, and to demand certain standards in what I put in my mouth. I am a meat eater, yet I don't like venison, duck, rabbit, pidgeon, frogs, feral hogs or havelina....
I have eaten venison tamales, just to say I have....but I did not like them. I once ate a rattlesnake on a stick, I have eaten fried alligator and enjoyed both. When I was fifteen I was in Mexico with my family down in La Piedad and there were sows on the street who stood four foot high and weighed hundreds of pounds. They were like small cars!
Don't hate me because I am not a fan of the kill it, skin it and eat it club! Once, a friend of mine took me up in his buddy's helicoptor in Wichita Falls. His buddy was a rancher and used his copter to coral his herd of cows. It was so fun and quite shocking to be flying above the animals as they ran to the gates of their pens. So yes, I am a mental case, I meant contortionst. People are always saying you have to like this, if you like that, that you can't pick, you can't choose.
I like a lot of things, feral Hogs, Havelina or sweet tamales, not so much. Just give me the beef, baby!
And I just wanted to write the word bloggapalooza.....does'nt it just sound funny?
Hope everyone had a Happy Fourth of July and is surviving the summer. This one seems to be going fast and furious. Come July, I am really not in the mood to do much of anything. I kind of like it that way. For some, moving at a constant pace, checking off the To-Do Lists and doing all the "What have Ya's" make many feel productive and relevant. Not me, although I can be an over acheiver and a bit of a stickler for detail, when summer comes around in Texas, I just want to chill. I want to be, well , lazy.
We talk a lot here in the shop about pigs, pork, hogs and havelina. It seems everyone has a story to tell about how so and so made the best tamales out of the hog head, the havelina head or how so and so would make tamales from a feral hog. My sister wants to somehow use the meat from the feral hogs she sees roaming around out at the ranch. Not me. I like my meat USDA, stamped by Uncle Sam. I am a slight, germaphobe and really don't like the idea of any kind of slaughtering procedure or any meat that is remotely "gamey". Yes I realize I am a bit of a contortionist. Of course, because I retain the right to be as picky as I want, and to demand certain standards in what I put in my mouth. I am a meat eater, yet I don't like venison, duck, rabbit, pidgeon, frogs, feral hogs or havelina....
I have eaten venison tamales, just to say I have....but I did not like them. I once ate a rattlesnake on a stick, I have eaten fried alligator and enjoyed both. When I was fifteen I was in Mexico with my family down in La Piedad and there were sows on the street who stood four foot high and weighed hundreds of pounds. They were like small cars!
Don't hate me because I am not a fan of the kill it, skin it and eat it club! Once, a friend of mine took me up in his buddy's helicoptor in Wichita Falls. His buddy was a rancher and used his copter to coral his herd of cows. It was so fun and quite shocking to be flying above the animals as they ran to the gates of their pens. So yes, I am a mental case, I meant contortionst. People are always saying you have to like this, if you like that, that you can't pick, you can't choose.
I like a lot of things, feral Hogs, Havelina or sweet tamales, not so much. Just give me the beef, baby!
And I just wanted to write the word bloggapalooza.....does'nt it just sound funny?
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