True Mexican Cooking

Last night, my coworker Adam and his wife Dulce invited some of us over for a Mexican cooking night.  Adam worked in our Oaxaca office for 7 years and just recently returned to Portland with Dulce, who who born and raised in Mexico. So this was was legit Mexican food!

We started with homemade guacamole and salsa.  We used a pestle and mortar to grind the garlic, salt, serrano peppers, avacados and lime (strictly in that order) for the guacamole and we roasted fresh tomatoes and tomatillas for the red and green salsas.  So delicious!

Dulce taught Megan and I how to make fresh corn sopes (kind of like thick tortillas) which we topped with mashed potatoes and ground beef and fried to make garnaches.  They were somewhat like small tostadas, but not so crispy.  With all of the fresh toppings, they were quite tasty!

Thanks, Adam and Dulce for having us over and teaching us the true ways of Mexican cooking.  We'll have you over soon for some good ol' Southern cooking!

roasting the tomatoes

making guac with the pestle and mortar

West and Adam hard at work in the kitchen

fresh lime margarita

we ran out of glasses, so Megan got a margarita in a sippy cup

Dulce and Adam teaching us the Mexican cooking ways

garnaches - muy bueno!

Soy Chai Tea Latte

Speaking of delicious treats that my coworkers have taught me... Bill, our VP of International Programs, has gotten me hooked on his afternoon drink of choice.  Bill let me taste his soy chai tea latte a while back and I've been thinking about it ever since.  So a couple of weeks ago, I asked him for a personal tutorial.  And this guy has his latte down to a T (pun intended).  Let me share this delicious little recipe with you...

Steep one bag earl grey and one bag of any black tea in a large mug half full of hot water for 2 minutes.  Heat half a mug of soy milk in the microwave for 1 minute.  Combine the tea and milk (add a pump of vanilla syrup if you like a sweeter drink) and enjoy!  I seriously look forward to this every afternoon and it's a good way to cut back on coffee.