Happy times with mom

The first time I went to visit my mother in Mexico was the first time that I tasted squash blossoms. We had gone to the house of one of her friends for lunch and the woman sauteed the flowers before using them as filling for quesadillas. Delicious. She then explained to me that this had been an experiment as she had never bought the flowers before. But she had had them in soup.

I somehow tasted the soup before I left and fell in love. My mother brought me a can of the Campbell's version on her next trip back to the States. For years I was OK in not having a recipe for the soup. After all, where was I going to get the flowers? Duh. Berkeley Bowl. So for many months I have been on a mission to find a recipe. Most of the recipes I found are written in Spanish. That's OK but they often lacked measurements. I finally found one posted in English -- with measurements. But the directions were rather garbled. What I present to you is what I concocted based upon all of this.

Sopa de Flor de Calabaza

1 cup butter
1 cup fresh corn kernels
2 cups zucchini, diced
2 cups of squash flowers, stem and stamen removed and chopped (I used 12 and was a little short. I'd recommend about 18)
Epazote (Berkeley Bowl was out so I substituted a little oregano.)
1 onion, finely chopped
1 cup tomato puree
3 cups chicken broth
2 jalapenos, seeded and diced
Salt
Pepper
1/2 cup cream

Melt 1/2 cup butter in a pan. Add corn, zucchini and flowers to pan. Saute until vegetables begin to release juice. Add epazote. Simmer on very low heat.

In another pan melt 1/2 cup butter. Add onion and cook until onion is soft. Add tomato puree. Cook for about five minutes.

Stir tomato-onion mixture into other pan. Add chicken broth and jalapenos. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Let soup simmer about another 20 minutes or so.

Turn off heat and stir in cream.

Oh, and of course I'll be taking some of this over to my mom's house. Along with some other items. But you'll get to see those later in the week.

The end of the inner monologue

La Princesa's rejoicing on Saturday was quickly put to an end on Sunday evening. The pair had been invited for Christmas Eve dinner at the home of a friend of La Reina. It was a pity that the only person present that La Reina liked was the hostess. La Princesa spent the rest of the evening making sure that the wine in her glass did not drop below a certain level. This was because she knew if the glass ever emptied and then she tried to refill it, she would have to hear, "You're having another drink?" La Princesa made this decision after La Reina pulled her aside to inform her that she was rattling. Now La Princesa can be quite garrulous in party situations. Even more so if she is surrounded by strangers. But this time she was not suffering from the diarrhea of the mouth. It probably did not help La Princesa's case when all the dinner guests proclaimed her beauty and youthful look. (She had conceded to some of La Reina's rants by choosing to wear earrings and lipstick for the evening.) Over the years, La Princesa decided that this really irritates La Reina -- hearing how beautiful and/or charming others find La Princesa. It's all kind of like the stepmother in Snow White. When others are complimetary, it is more likely that La Reina will be critical.

So La Princesa contented herself with the beauty of the home. As she looked around, she thought, "This is a home worthy of the Empress of the Universe." Oh, and the views!







Finally the wretched evening came to an end. The next thing to deal with would be Christmas day.

They were visited by La Reina's nietos. Then three friends of La Reina showed up. They were all younger than La Princesa. La Reina knew them from salsa dancing in the main square on Sunday evenings. It was agreed that all were starving. So it was off to Fajita Republic. (I told you that we might hear about this place again.) This time La Princesa remembered that she was armed with a camera.








After the meal, it was back into town to walk the malecon. There was also another brief stop at La Bodeguita, but no one could stay awake long enough to stay for the band.



Tuesday La Princesa quickly packed her bags. She was going home. But she had learned a couple of things along the way. She now understood why La Reina loved the place so much. She also knew that it would probably be another ten years before she returned there. At least as long as La Reina was present.

More of the inner monologue

La Princesa finally was feeling somewhat normal by Saturday. This was after being awakened numerous times over the previous days to hear La Reina saying, "You've slept enough already. It's your vacation. You should be doing things." La Princesa was doing things. To be exact, she was getting some much needed sleep.

So Saturday La Princesa arose from her slumber. Unfortunately there was not a handsome prince involved in this process. She then consented to go into town.

They strolled the malecon, including the new one. It was the same as La Princesa remembered but different. The malecon had had to be rebuilt after the city was hit by a hurricane a few years ago. There were new sculptures along the way as well.













Oh, and there were the industrious men creating sand sculptures on the beach for the holiday season.







What saddened La Princesa the most was the destruction of the old for the modern. Old squares are being torn down to make room for parking garages. One hopes that this will never happen to the main plaza.







And then there was this stately building. It will be replaced with a highrise.



Along their walk, the two agreed to go out to dinner later in the evening. They made reservations at Daquiri Dick's. La Reina chided La Princesa for taking photos of the food during their meal. La Princesa simply stated that she had friends who would like to see the food. Thankfully the manager -- who knows La Reina -- agreed with La Princesa. The daquiris consumed with the meal also helped matters.







Now we all know that La Reina likes to call the shots. This meant that after dinner, the two had to head to La Bodeguita del Medio, a Cuban restaurant that features a Cuban band. And of course, the band knew La Reina as well.



La Princesa sat sipping on her mojito and thinking, "This is the kind of place that I could grow to love. Well, in other company perhaps." Because mojitos can make all things look good.



By the end of the evening, La Princesa started to believe that there would be hope for this trip. Would she be right?

To be continued...

Inner monologue

This is a fave phrase of my cousin in the DC area. You'll say something to him because you could have sworn that he just said something to you. He'll nod his head and say, "Ummm. No. That was your inner monologue."

So I thought of this all because this is how I maintained my sanity in Mexico. Well, I mostly maintained it. I spent days telling myself stories about La Princesa -- who knew that one day she would be Empress of the Universe -- and the evil Reina -- who many years ago was known as La Puta.

In the tale the La Princesa traveled to Mexico to visit La Reina because La Reina had commanded it. One thing La Princesa knew about La Reina is that she is one of the most self-centered women on this planet. In fact, in La Reina's mind she was like the Sun; the rest of us orbit around her as she wills. But La Princesa had been to see these great magicians over the years, known as therapists, and while La Reina demanded that all dance to her song, La Princesa did not let it bother her -- as much -- anymore.

Before going to the resort, they had to stop at the prison. This place is otherwise known as La Reina's home. Not only did one need keys to enter but to exit as well. La Princesa thought, "What have I gotten myself into? I will be trapped in this place at this woman's beck and call. And what about when I need a nicotine fix? Because La Reina does not allow nicotine in her home."





Luckily La Princesa quickly learned where the spare keys were hidden that would allow her to escape to her smoking lounge.



Then it was off to the resort so that they could get ready for dinner with La Reina's friend. You know. The one who owns a winery in Sonoma. There were cocktails with dinner and wonderful conversation. At least, this is what La Princesa would like to think but things were kind of hazy for her. She had been up since 3:30 a.m. and was fighting a sinus infection as well as hemorrhaging. This never makes for a pleasant combination. This would also be why La Princesa did not think of taking pictures at dinner with her snazzy new camera in this most wondrous of places -- The Fajita Republic. (You ask why this name is mentioned? Perhaps because we will return to this lovely place latter in our tale.)

The next day, La Reina proclaimed that they should go to the beach. Never mind that it was overcast. But before heading to the beach, they saw the magnificent creatures contained at the resort. And during this time, La Princesa thought of Daniel.









La Princesa left La Reina on the beach while she retired to the balcony to continue reading her books -- Echo Park and The Kite Runner. Because this was what La Princesa thought was a perfect vacation -- reading and napping. When La Reina returned, La Princesa refused to go out. This may have had something to do with the pain behind her eyes caused by the sinuses that contained way too much fluid.





The next day they had to leave the resort. La Princesa's stay there had been cheated by the evil airline. It is hard to say which is more evil -- the airline or La Reina.

Upon returning to the prison, La Princesa once more refused to go out. There was still that throbbing pain behind her eyes. La Princesa bemoaned her fate. What could be worse than to have a sinus infection than to have one in a dust-filled city? She prayed for the mercy of the powers that be.

In the prison, she discovered the joy of cable TV. There was TNT and even better -- there was E!. La Princesa learned about the feud between Rosie and the Donald. She learned of the improprieties of Miss USA, Miss Teen USA, and Miss Nevada. She saw the blurred photo of Brit Brit, once more, that had helped to name "junk" as the number one thing on the 2006 edition of "Best Week Ever" on VH1 the previous week. While watching the various shows, she found herself muttering things like, "Besa mi culo," and "Te chinga," everytime La Reina bellowed her name.

And then La Princesa discovered something else -- her knitting project that she had set aside when the school year started. La Princesa was thrilled that TSA now did not think of knitting needles as a threat. She spent endless hours knitting so that she could get the back of the cardigan off of the #2 needles she desperately needed to start the dress for her cousin's little girl. Her hands continue to fly even though she was wracked with pain. She would make progress. Despite La Reina's attempts to interfere with her efforts and to ruin La Princesa's first "vacation" in two years.

Another consolation for poor little La Princesa was that it would all be hers one day. There is this funny thing in property transactions in Mexico. When one acquires new property, one must name a beneficiary for said property. And La Princesa knew that she was the beneficiary of the prison.

To be continued...