My Post #100 – More Mexican than Nopales!

I became a blogger a little over six months ago, and my most liked posts have been, so far, from third to top:

3rd place – Molletes – From Spanish Bun to Mexican Specialty (Category: History and Regional Cuisine)

2nd place – Paddle Cactus – Nopales (Category: Ingredients)

And 1st place – Mexican Breakfast – Cacti in the Garden and on the Plate (Category: Mexican Culture)

There is an expression in Mexico that says: “… más mexicano que los nopales” which means “… more Mexican than nopales (Mexican paddle cacti)” to refer to something or someone truly representative of Mexico or Mexican tradition, since nopales are ubiquitous not only as a plant, but also as a meaningful symbol in Mexico’s history, and even its flag.  I guess since two out of my three most liked posts so far are about nopales, I am doing a decent job at offering a picture of My Slice of Mexico!

To celebrate, I am revisiting the Mexican breakfast featured in my most popular post (photos), this time including links to my recipes for each item on the plate:  Frijoles refritos (refried beans), Chilorio (Sinaloa style spiced pork), Huevos rancheros (ranch style eggs), Nopalitos (sautéed paddle cactus) and Chilaquiles (crispy tortilla pieces in sauce)

---

Thank you to all who visit my website and read and comment on my posts; it is just the best feeling to be able to learn from people from all over the world!

---

Kristian @ Tales from the Mind of Kristian has kindly nominated me for the

Sunshine Blogger Award:

Thank you Kristian, I think both your poetry and prose are always very clever and captivating!

Although I cannot accept the award since I have invited/nominated several bloggers for other challenges recently, and I could not possibly think of another ten, I will gladly follow the first four rules, since past challenges have turned out to be a lot of fun to join.

The Rules:

Thank the person that nominated you – Thank you again, Kristian!
Link the post back to them
Display the picture on your post – see above
Answer their questions – see below
Nominate 10 bloggers.
Provide 11 questions for your nominees.

1. Name a place you want to go to but never have been – Japan.
2. What is an ideal vacation/holiday for you? Being stationed at a nice hotel, walk all day learning and sightseeing (city or countryside), eat good local food, and repeat for about 5 days.
3. What is one thing that you have learnt since starting your blog? That the electronic superhighway is a great way to “travel” around the world, and learn about and from other bloggers.
4. If you could invite three historical figures for dinner, who would you choose? 1)Cleopatra, because … Queen! A female leader when feminism was not even a thing.  2) Leonardo da Vinci, the ultimate Renaissance man, creator of many devices and designs, such as his mechanical knight in 1495.  3) Octavio Paz, an amazing Mexican writer, Nobel Prize recipient and diplomat, who was in Tokyo in 1952 as the head of the diplomatic envoy (chargé d’affaires) to re-establish the Mexican embassy in Japan after WWII.
5. If you could wake up tomorrow in someone else’s body and for 24 hours be that person, who would it be and what would you do? Ugh, creepy, nobody of present time for sure, but in the past, I think I would like to be Porfirio Díaz Mori, who was a remarkable Mexican general, got elected president and then became a dictator in the late 1800s; I am positive that if he had decided to stick to his decision to retire (at the age of 80!) and followed through the promise of a democratic election in 1910, the Mexican Revolution war would not have exploded so violently shortly afterwards. Maybe during my “visit”, I would have redacted and signed a formal letter of resignation.  Of course, there is the Butterfly Effect that I always say is better not to mess up with, so … Perhaps I would just skip the “body snatcher” opportunity altogether.
6. If you’d just met someone who interests you, what’s the question you would most like to ask them? “Where are you originally from?”
7. You’ve just found a small amount of cash in the street and no way to find its rightful owner, what do you decide to buy with it? Shortly after I started grad school in Canada, a stranger and I both spotted a wad of cash on the floor in one of the university buildings near the cafeteria, with no way to know who it belonged to, and without a second thought, we took it to the cashiers so the rightful owner could inquire about it later.  That very second, I started to love Canada.
8. Where were you this time last year? Toronto, helping my daughters with their move for the start of the new school year.  And that is where I am heading after I publish this post …
9. Where would you like to be this time next year? Same as above.
10. Name someone you admire and what you admire about them – My husband, for his amazingly high intelligence (not only logical, but also all the other eight!)
11. How long on average do you spend per day reading other people’s blogs? Ha ha ha (hysterical laugh).  Some days, hours! But other days, no time at all, so in average, I would say one hour a day. 

Thank you to What’s for Dinner? Sunday Link-up for featuring my Chilaquiles  and to its gracious hostess,  Helen @ The Lazy Gastronome .  This time I am joining  her Sunday link-up #164 with this celebration post, with enough recipes for the whole week. Happy cooking!

---