MEXICAN INTERLUDE

Dear Family,

It started out pretty innocent: we were going to take Suz and her kids down to the Church History Museum to show the the exhibits on Pioneer Day. We walked through it and viewed all the pioneer exhibits and then went upstairs to the children s section where we found Mexican costumes that the kids could pu on and dance to Mariachi music . They donned the dresses and danced in front of mirrors with projected life sized Mariachi dancers on a screen demonstrating the steps. Well that went on for two hours and I patiently sat there not understanding a word anyone was saying but watching the kids have a ball.

Suz and her family lived in Mexico City for a year and she was back in time just enjoying the dancing and the music.

Then Suz said, "let's get a Taco!" so we drove down to 8th South and Main where there were about six Mexican Taco stands. Here is Suz,with pure delight, ordering a bunch of $1.oo Tacos and Mexican soft drinks. Apparently the missionaries down there are told to eat this and wash it down with a coke! It was yummy for a while. We fed 7 people till they were full for $14.00.

Here is the one I had which is a pork rind beef taco which was tasty going down but had a certain deleterious effect on the old GI tract.

We looked for tamales but each stand said, "Sorry, we have no Tamales today!" I think those words are in a song somewhere. Then Suz announced she could make Tamales. A mother of one of her Mexican cooks showed her how to do it.

I got on the smart phone and barked, "Find Mexican Market Salt Lake City, Utah"and sure enough one was found and the smart phone directed us there step by step. It was the Rancho Market on 33rd South.

That was a cultural experience. We were in Mexico for all intents and purposes. Suz with her fluent Mexican Spanish found all the ingredients, tamale dough (masa), the meat, the corn husks, the spices, the salsa and sauces, Mexican whole beans, spices and Mexican treats for the kids.

Here is Suz making a tamale which involves seasoning the dough, making a pocket on a moist corn husk and filling it with a meat that I prepared and further seasoned. We made a bunch of these and of course trashed the kitchen. We steamed the tamales for two hours and when we tried them, they were the best ones I ever had!

So Suz went out whole hog as they say and made, from scratch, re fried beans, Mexican rice, we had my beef tamales, special hot sauce and salsa. Here is a shot of the Mexican dinner Suz prepared from raw ingredients.

We had Mark and Mary over and also Doug and his boys devoured the Tamales. They have a taste for hot stuff. I guess when they were little, punishment for being really bad was a drop of tobasco sauce on the tongue and instead of any disciplining, they developed a real liking for hot foods. Well anyway, this was a lot of fun but the tamales were so much work and preparation, I do not think I will do that again for a while or at least until Suz gets here again.

It was a little Mexican experience here in Salt Lake,

Love, Mom and Dad