Every winter we don't have to think to hard for reasons to go to Cozumel for a few weeks of sunshine, snorkeling and good food. Here are some of the best...the snow.
The beautiful sunsets we enjoyed every single day....
The candlelight baths.
Jim especially enjoyed the iguanas as they sunned themselves on top of the stone walls around the President's summer home when we walked to town.
But the best thing we did this year was to take a cooking class with Josefina. Mayan food is a bit different from Mexican food and we were anxious to learn how to shop for it and prepare some of the delicious dishes. First we went to the Mercado or local market. There we found fresh fruits, veggies, seafood and chickens still wearing their shoes. We purchased the ingredients for our meal and then walked to Josefina's charming house where her porch was decked with flowers from her son's recent wedding. This we learned was a delightful Mayan tradition.
Josefina (pronounced Yosafina) first instructed us in using a knife to cut up the ingredients we bought at the market.
While we worked, we drank iced Jicamaica juice (hibiscus) and snacked on fruit and vegetables seasoned with "Tajin", a red, mild spice. Later we made the best Margaritas. It's a good thing we did the cutting first!
This is Josefina's assistant in the kitchen.
Her is what's left of our snacks. Mmmmm they were so good. We brought home some Tajin.
Josefina showed us how to prepare everything at the table in her dining room. Here we are making tortillas by hand. Part of the market trip was the Tortilla factory where they not only turned out the best tortillas, but delicious, thin, crisp coconut cookies.
Here we are with the dish we made, "Chilies in Nogada" which was a dish commissioned by the government to celebrate Mexican Independence Day on September 15th. The red, white and green of the dish symbolize the Mexican flag.....a very special dish.
Later, we made several trips to the Mercado to shop and in our little kitchen we made a seafood stew and mango cucumber salad.
Are you hungry yet?
Wishing you many delicious adventures!
Nana
P.S. More quilting next post!
What a fun day during your beautiful vacation! I would never have thought of taking a cooking class, but I think I'll check into that the next time we're away! Thanks for sharing it!
ReplyDeleteYou must have been so refreshed after that fab vacation in the sun. You missed alot of snow!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful looking food shop - all that fresh produce. Yummy looking food too.
Thank you for sharing some of your vacation with we northern folks.