Life in Mexico
We finally made it to the Monarch butterfly sanctuary!
There are five sanctuaries spread across the states of Michoacán and Mexico; Rosario, Chincua, Cerro Pelon, Herradura, and La Mesa.
The butterflies rest in Mexico from November to March, then begin a 10,000 km journey every spring to North America and back. The trek takes several generations, yet they unerringly return to their winter home year after year. (Nobody knows how long they’ve been making the journey, but butterflies date back 200 million years, to the age of dinosaurs).
Visiting the sanctuaries is a day-long trip. Along with our friends Victor and Wilma, we rented an apartment in the historic centre of Morelia for a week, then picked a day to visit the Chincua sanctuary (the butterflies need sun and heat to venture forth).
It took just under three hours to drive to the sanctuary, then another hour to hike through a pine forest. When we reached their enclave just past noon, the air was filled with a swirling carpet of orange and black as they flitted from tree to tree.
I know, driving halfway across Mexico in order to look at bugs for half an hour might sound extreme, but the trip was worth it.
I want to thank the friendly people of Michoacán for their hospitality, as well as the volunteers across North America who care for the welfare of the Monarchs. Visiting the sanctuary was a magical, mystical experience that I cannot recommend highly enough.
TV Series Review
The Dinner Club
Streaming on Amazon Prime
This is a six-part, food-porn series featuring a Michelin-starred chef who accompanies famous actors around Italy as they explore local cuisines and generally crack themselves up with insults and practical jokes.
Carlo Cracco owns Cracco’s in Milan, considered one of the fifty-best restaurants in the world. He is known for his culinary originality as well as wit and charm in several culinary-themed series, including Hell’s Kitchen Italia.
The Dinner Club is his latest foray into television, featuring six friends who are also actors and comedians. Unless you’re Italian, you won’t have any idea who they are (I certainly didn’t’), but they are all tremendously entertaining as Carlo leads them around Sicily, the Po valley and Tuscany. They sample local cuisines, then return to Carlo’s home where each in turn cooks a special meal.
While the fact that the series is totally in Italian (with subtitles) may turn some people off, I urge you to give it a try. I found it delightfully-addictive watching due to the tremendous amount of fun they all have while eating, drinking and enjoying one another’s company.
My latest novel is now available on amazon!
“A great page-turner!”
Amazon 5-star review
The year is 1944. Paris has been under German occupation for four years. The French Resistance knows that an Allied invasion is imminent.
Veronique Grenelle is growing up in an impoverished inner-city neighborhood, scrambling to feed herself and her family.
The Resistance recruits the vivacious young woman to befriend Lieutenant Gunther von Clause, an aide-de-camp to the German Army’s Military Governor. She gradually gains his trust and affection.
James Gallagher, a lieutenant in the US Army’s Military Intelligence unit, frequently parachutes behind enemy lines to deliver funds and instructions to the Resistance. He meets and befriends Veronique, who falls madly in love with the dashing American officer.
D-Day approaches, and Veronique finds herself in a bind; should she pursue her heart or her duty? In the end, her decision will not only determine the fate of Paris, it will reverberate down through her family for generations to come.
Book Review
Eight Hundred Grapes
By Laura Dave
If you enjoy the work of Elin Hilderbrand, the queen of the summer read, then you’ll love Laura Dave’s writing. Most of her books begin with a spunky young woman who turns her life into a complete dumpster fire, then climbs out of the mess for a happy ending.
Eight Hundred Grapes features bride-to-be Georgia Ford who discovers the week before her wedding that her hunky British fiancé has a secret; a four-year old daughter by a famous actress who he never got around to mentioning. She immediately leaps into her car and races back to Sonoma County where her family owns a vineyard.
She quickly discovers that all is not well in paradise. Dad is seriously depressed, mom has taken up with a new lover and her twin brothers are going bananas. Not only does she have to sort out her own mess, but act as priest, therapist and dominatrix to her own family.
Dave has a great talent for creating quirky, charming characters and a frantic pace of twists and turns that make her books impossible to put down. Several of her works are in the process of being made into movies by Reese Witherspoon, but I highly recommend reading the originals!
Recipe: Keftedes & Tzatziki Sauce
These Greek lamb meatballs are easy to make and taste great! Use them as appetizers or load them into pitas (or flour tortillas) along with chopped tomatoes and lettuce to make a great meal!
MEATBALLS
Ingredients
1 lb ground lamb (you can also use ground beef)
1/2 red onion, grated
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
2 Tsp fresh mint, chopped
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp cardamom,
1/2 a cup breadcrumbs
1 egg
1 Tsp olive oil
¼ cup of chopped feta cheese
1 tsp salt
freshly ground pepper
Add all the ingredients into a large bowl and mix well. Cover the bowl with some plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for at least 15 minutes.
Roll the mixture into balls, the size of a walnut.
To fry, use a large, deep skillet and pour in olive oil to a depth of 1/2 an inch. Heat the oil to medium-high. Add the lamb meatballs in batches in a single layer and fry for about 7 minutes, turning occasionally, until browned and crisp on all sides.
To bake, preheat the oven at 400F, place the lamb meatballs on greased baking sheet about an inch apart. Bake for about 20 minutes, turning the meatballs upside down midway through cooking time.
TZATZIKI SAUCE
Ingredients
½ cup finely grated cucumber
1 cup thick whole milk Greek yogurt
1 Tsp lemon juice
½ tsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, grated
¼ tsp sea salt
1 tsp chopped dill
1 tsp chopped mint, optional
Instructions
Place the cucumber on a towel and gently squeeze out a bit of the excess water.
In a medium bowl, combine the cucumber, yogurt, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt, dill, and mint, if using. Chill until ready to use.
Assembling the meal.
If available, you can use pita breads, but I find flour tortillas work great! Place a layer of tzatziki on the bread and then add meatballs, shredded lettuce and tomatoes. Enjoy (and keep plenty of napkins handy).
Film Review
RESPECT
This is a biopic of Aretha Franklin, singer, civil rights activist and actor, who dominated R&B and soul for much of the 20th century.
The lead role is played by Jennifer Hudson, herself an accomplished actor and singer who not only won an Oscar but performed at President Barack Obama’s inauguration.
Biopics can sometimes drag on a bit, trying to be faithful to the actual life of its subject, but director Liesl Tommy spends a great deal of time following the artistic maturation of Aretha as she evolved from a gospel singer to R&B, soul and pop. The fact that she is portrayed by an incredibly accomplished singer makes the depiction of her life that much more authentic.
Aretha had a troubled life, being raped and bearing a child at the age of 12 and then later struggling with alcohol, but the movie doesn’t shirk in its honest portrayal of her struggles, avoiding the hagiography that often mars biographies. It is an enjoyable, musical movie that I highly recommend you watch!