Happy Birthday to me!!! Looking back at 4 decades of my life!

Hola amigos,

Some of you may not have even noticed that I've been away from my blog, but it's time to get back and keep going.  I owe you an explanation...more of a story about my absence.  It's not a story I'm making up, but I'd like to tell you all what's happened in the last few months to account for my absence on this page. 
I've been reflecting a lot about the past FOUR decades of my life...Oh.My.God...40+ years, I've been alive!!!!  I am so happy to be have been able to celebrate yet another year...I consider myself very lucky!
I have lived a very good life so far, lots of good and lots of bad, but a good life, indeed!
Here are the highlights of what's happened so far:
In the first decade of my life, my family and I almost lost our lives in a very scary automobile accident.  It was a miracle my family and four cousins all walked away from the wreck; two adults (my parents), two teenagers and four little kids, all walked out.  My sister and I spent the most time in the hospital but we all made it home that night!
In the next decade, my family picked up and left our beautiful Mexico and settled our roots in Seattle.  A very traumatizing event during a teenager's life...just ask my sister, I think she took it the hardest!  Left all our friends and family behind and moved to a new country; new language, new culture, new everything...
In my twenties...I survived a lousy marriage. I should've listened to my mother!!!!  Of course, most of us say that at some point in our lives, don't we? nuff said!
In my thirties, I survived cancer...yuck...nasty word! By far, the hardest of the four decades but also the best.  I graduated from college, moved around the country, I met some amazing people (got hurt by some others) and made some life-long friends. 
Even my experience with cancer that decade made it even more meaningful because, of course, the best part of my thirties was becoming a mom!  Definitely my best accomplishment. I'm so grateful to God for giving me the opportunity to live longer so I could meet the precious gift he had planned for me: my little Andy!  This little person who came into my life and changed it radically!  Up until just before my diagnosis, I was convinced I NEVER wanted to have kids...then the urge hit me like a rock!  But then I found out I had cancer and my chances of ever being able to have kids were getting squashed by each drop of chemo that entered my body.  However, God heard so many of you, my friends and family, praying for my health so He gave me the chance to beat this nasty disease.  I finished out the last decade with a beautiful, healthy, two year-old! 
What He also gave me was the courage to find my happiness and so, here I am...beginning my 5th decade as a single-mom.  Realizing that my relationship with my son's father was no longer worth keeping.  I made many mistakes in our relationship and I was determined not to continue going down a path that was making me unhappy.  I walked out of our relationship fully convinced that I am making the right decision and, as hard as these last few months have been, my heart is full of hope and conviction that I am on the right path to living a long, happy, life along my reason for living: my son! 
So here I am, fully ready to get back on the saddle of this, mi hogar and more!  I hope you'll come back and continue to read my ramblings. 
For today, this is all I have to say...sorry I've been away, it's been a rough few months but I'M BACK!  Welcome back to Mi Hogar!

The best pancake recipe you'll taste EVER!

Say what???  Yes, you heard right, THE BEST! At least for Mi Hogar, that is...you be the judge!  Here at the research lab, better known as my kitchen, we've done plenty of searching for the best, but also easiest, pancakes.

Andy is going through a phase where all he wants to eat is "cake" (pancake) for breakfast, lunch and, if I'd let him, dinner!  We used to buy the Bisquick mix from Costco because we would eat pancakes on the weekends, but I just didn't like all those ingredients I can't even pronounce in Andy's food, specially if he's eating them ALL the time.

So...I searched and tried many different batters and I have found one that is super easy to make and a lot healthier.  Just a few ingredients and the result is amazing! I found this recipe on Pinterest...boy, they sure make it easy for us bloggers! This is from Everyday Belle and she herself calls them the holy grail of pancakes...I happen to agree but, I still tweaked her recipe a little bit (please don't tell her!).   Her recipe was just a little bit too thick for my liking: the batter seemed more like cookie dough than pancake batter.  Also, the pancakes didn't come out as fluffy as her pictures...so I got to work trying to make the batter more to our taste.

Here's my take on "The Holy Grail" of pancakes:

6oz Greek Yogurt, we like the honey flavored.
1 Egg
1/2 cup Flour, you can buy it here
1tsp Baking Soda, you can buy it here
1tsp Baking Powder, you can buy it here 

That's it! Only 5 ingredients, however, if you feel like your batter is too thick, you can add milk to make it a little runnier.



 Whisk the yogurt and the egg to a creamy consistency.





















Add the flour, baking soda and baking powder and whisk together.  You really don't have to add a lot of muscle to it, it mixes super easy!


Like I mentioned before, if you feel your batter is too thick, add about a teaspoon of milk at a time to make it runnier. 

I didn't need any milk in this batch!

The first time I made this batter, we had Chobani yogurt and I'm not sure if that contributed to my not liking the end product.  I don't know what it is about Chobani, it has a cult following, I tell ya'!  I just don't like it at all, we had the honey flavored one and, honestly, it tasted nothing of honey!!!!  We like ZOI or Greek Gods yogurts...they taste heavenly!  My picky eater eats it by the cupful!!!

Also, I tried making them with Whole Wheat Flour in my attempt to make them even healthier but they were just too thick...neither Andy nor I liked them very much!  

Well, don't let me just tell you about it, go ahead, try them and let me know what you think...I think they're delicious and they're Andy approved!  So, if you trust the taste buds of a three year-old, please give these a try!

First Pancake, nice!

That's what I'm talkin' 'bout!

P.S. I thought I'd tell you that in the process of making the latest batter, I realized I hadn't taken any pictures of my research, um, the process.  While mixing the batter, I dropped my iPhone in it and it has now been acting moody on me!  I send a lot of texts in Spanish and it took my phone a LONG time to learn a lot of the words, but since THE accident, my iPhone has suffered from amnesia and it tries to auto-correct EVERY.SINGLE.WORD I type. Argh...the perils of blogging research!

Well, have a blast trying these pancakes and if you must take pictures, here's a PSA: have someone else do it!

Buen Provecho! Enjoy!

More on Puebla: About Talavera and Mole Poblano

Our post today is a continuation of our Cinco de Mayo post and our featured city, Puebla.  Again, this is from the Visit Mexico website! 

TALAVERA: Clay Turns Into Art

Stair risers made with Talavera tiles

Talavera Water Pitcher

Soon after its foundation, Puebla was well known for its fine ceramics, especially for the style that would be called Talavera. This has been due to the abundance of quality clay in the region, drawing some of the best artisans. Between 1550 and 1570, Spanish potter from Talavera de la Reina in Spain came to Puebla to teach the locals European techniques of using the potter’s wheel and tin glazing. These new methods were mixed with native designs to give rise to what became known as Poblano Talavera.

The glazing technique of Talavera was first used for the tiles that still decorate many of the buildings in Puebla. Later, it was used to make pots, plates, jars, religious figures and other items. By the mid-17th century, the industry here had become well established. Guilds were formed and ordinances passed to ensure quality. Blue was used only on the most expensive pieces due to the cost of the mineral used to produce it.

All of the Talavera pottery’s intricate designs must be hand painted by using natural dyes derived from minerals unique to Puebla. It takes several days to produce one piece of pottery. There are about 200 factory workers today. Other than the factory and shop, you can see the Talavera pottery on the colonial buildings in the historic downtown area.

Pueblan Talavera is one of the world’s select “Denominacion de Origen”, a geographic designation reserved for agricultural and food products of distinct characteristics owed to an exclusive area (like tequila from Tequila, vanilla from Papantla, Champagne from France, Pisco from Peru). The D.O. provides legal protection against less authentic products of similar style trying to take advantage of known products. D.O. applies to Puebla State and the Municipality of San Pablo del Monte in neighboring Tlaxcala State.

 
MOLE POBLANO

A typical kitchen in Puebla with Mole Poblano on the foreground

Taken from mexonline.com, a History of Mexico website. 

 Most people associate mole with either with Puebla or Oaxaca , but the origin of mole poblano, the thick, rich, chocolate-tinged sauce made so famous in the colonial mountain city of Puebla, Mexico, is still disputed, and generally involves these two versions of the legend:

The first says that 16^th Century nuns from the Convent of Santa Rosa in Puebla de los Angeles, upon learning that the Archbishop was coming for a visit, went into a panic because they had nothing to serve him. The nuns started praying desperately and an angel came to inspire them. They began chopping and grinding and roasting, mixing different types of chiles together with spices, day-old bread, nuts, a little chocolate and approximately 20 other ingredients..

The other legend states that mole came from pre-hispanic times and that Aztec king, Moctezuma, thinking the conquistadors were gods, served mole to Cortez at a banquet to receive them. This story probably gained credibility because the word mole comes from the Nahuatl word “milli” which means sauce or “concoction”. Another connection could be that chocolate was widely used in pre-columbian mexico, so people jumped to that conclusion.

What do the real experts say? “The idea of using chocolate as a flavoring in cooked food would have been horrifying to the Aztecs—just as Christians could not conceive of using communion wine to make, say, coq au vin. In all the pages of Sahagun that deal with Aztec cuisine and with chocolate, there is not a hint that it ever entered into an Aztec dish. Yet, today many food writers and gourmets consider one particular dish, the famous pavo in mole poblano, which contains chocolate, to represent the pinnacle of the Mexican cooking tradition. …the place of origin of the dish and its sauce, the Colonial Puebla de los Angeles; this beautiful city, unlike others in central Mexico, has no Aztec foundations – and neither does the dish, regardless of what food writers may say.” Taken from The True History of Chocolate, Sophie D. Coe and Michael D. Coe [Thames and Hudson: London] 1996 (p. 216-7).

Whatever the origin of your Mole, be sure to have plenty of napkins nearby when eating any mole. As you dip your warm, homemade tortilla into the wonderful sauce, you are bound to take some home with you on your shirt, your arms and under your fingernails. Now you know you’re enjoying mole!

 Would you like to see a recipe for Mole Poblano on a future post?  Please comment below and let me know!