May 2023 Newsletter

Life in Mexico

When you see all the nice, shiny sedans that grace the streets of Manzanillo, it’s easy to forget that only a few years ago the average car was a total rust bucket.

Nowhere was the old beater more loved than Mexico. VW Bugs with no fenders, Chevy pick-ups with the bumper dragging on the asphalt and Ford panel vans held together by duct tape all competed for ugliest ride on the road.

There are lots of good reasons to drive a jalopy.

• If the brakes fail, you can always stick your boot through the floorboards.
• They are virtually theft-proof.
• Mercedes from Mexico City will swerve to keep out of your way.
• Filling up the tank doubles their resale value.
• You don’t have to worry about some dingus scratching it in the Sam’s parking lot.
• You may have been conceived in the back seat of that Jeep.

So, next time you see a classic piece of crap from Cihuatlán heading for the Dairy Queen drive-thru, toot your horn and give them a thumbs-up!

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Recipe: Seafood Bisque

Manzanillo is blessed with an abundance of great seafood. Every day, amazing sea bass, shrimp, marlin and tuna are delivered right off the boat to the many fish outlets in town. Our favorite is El Pirul, located at 52 Benito Juarez across the street from the main market in Santiago (look for the two green steps in front). Remember to go early; they’re so popular that they run out of fresh fish by noon!

Ingredients

1lb of white fish

12 uncooked shrimp.

1Tsp olive oil

1Tsp butter

½ onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

½ tsp of fennel seeds or 1 Tsp of Italian seasoning

1 tsp salt.

1 can of peeled tomatoes

1 cup of cream

¼ cup of brandy or port

chopped chives or cilantro

Directions

Cut fish into 1 in. cubes and peel shrimp.

Fry onion, fennel and garlic in oil and butter until onion is clear.

Add tomatoes and juice and bring to a boil.

Reduce to simmer for 20 minutes. Turn off heat.

Add cream and brandy. Return to simmer.

Add fish and cook on low for 4 minutes.

Salt to taste.

Sprinkle on chives or cilantro.

TV Series

The Diplomat

Streaming on Netflix

This is a new series from the folks who brought you West Wing. Someone blows up a UK air-craft carrier in the Persian Gulf and naturally everybody thinks it’s the Iranians being no-goodniks. The US president announces he’ll gladly send some nukes to blow up Tehran and the British PM thinks that’s a heck of a great idea.

Problem is, there’s no American Ambassador in London to hand over the hot potatoes. So career diplomat Kate Wyler (Keri Russell), who is on her way to a plum job as ambassador in Kabul, reluctantly agrees to fill the empty embassy on the banks of the Thames.

I don’t get that part either, folks, but this is Hollywood. Kate’s husband Hal (roguish Rufus Sewell), deviously gets himself drugged and kidnapped by Iranian spies just to show everyone they’re really quite nice.

Kate gets mad enough at her husband that she wants to divorce him, but the CIA informs her she’s being short-listed as VP in the upcoming election and that would set a very bad precedent for White House decorum (ahem).

This is an addictive show that is equal parts extremely silly and entertaining. I highly recommend The Diplomat.

Movie Review

A Tourist’s Guide to Love

Streaming on Netlfix

This is a delightful, overlooked rom-com that is worth popping a bowl of popcorn and relaxing for the evening.

Harried travel exec Amanda (Rachael Leigh Cook) is hoping that her boyfriend of five years will finally pop the question and ask her to marry him; instead, he announces he is off to Ohio to join a big accounting firm!

Amanda dumps him like hazardous waste and wallows in misery until her boss sends her on a recon mission to Vietnam to scout out a possible acquisition.

The acquisition in question is a family-run tour group captained by Sinh, a hunky heart-throb. Amanda goes head-over-heels as Sinh woos her with charm, grace and a dynamite pho.

Naturally, her doofus boyfriend eventually shows up out of the blue and pleads with Amanda to take him back. Will she follow her heart? (If you don’t know the answer to that, then you should probably just watch a hockey game.) I highly recommend A Tourist’s Guide to Love!

Book Review

Fifth Avenue Glamour Girl

By Renee Rosen

Over the last decade, the author has written an excellent series of novels that depict spunky young gals making their own way in the 1940s and 1950s. Set in Chicago, New York and other major American cities, they tell the tale of perseverance against misogyny and the many roadblocks women faced (and still face) in corporate America.

Gloria Downing is eager to escape a family scandal and fulfil her dream of working at Saks Fifth Avenue. She befriends a young woman named Estee Lauder who has her own ambition to become the name of face cream to America.

Together, Gloria and Estee set out to achieve their aspirations. They quickly discover that there is a price to pay in a world unaccustomed to powerful women, however. How much are they willing to sacrifice to attain their ultimate goals? I highly recommend Fifth Avenue Glamour Girl, as well as the rest of Rosen’s works.

We’re off to France!

We had a tremendous time last year in Europe, and we’re repeating the experience with a trip once again to Antibes, where we’ll be staying in the seaside community of Juan Les Pins, then journeying to Paris and London before flying home later this summer to Canada.

 We’ll be posting on Facebook and Instagram, so we hope you look forward to all our exciting adventures, meals and travels!