Life in San Miguel de Allende
Every June, the good people of San Miguel de Allende present Dia de Los Locos, or Day of the Crazies. Popular lore has it the original celebration was started by the town’s gardeners to honor San Pascual, the patron saint of agriculture.
The mile-long procession begins at the church of St. Anthony, where the parish priest blesses everyone. The reason for the costumes? Life is too short to take yourself seriously all the time, says the prelate, so dress up in a goofy costume and go have some fun.
Now, that’s my kind of old-time religion.
The procession snakes its way through the center of town. Each neighborhood sponsors a group and adopts a theme, whether it be elves & faeries or Disney characters & rock stars. Spectators line the roadways where they catch candy tossed by the revelers.
It’s a high-energy, fun-filled day for both participants and viewers, and one of the most anticipated events of the year in a town filled with amazing festivals and activities.
Man, the folks of SMA sure know how to have fun!
La Moneda Chocolates Shop
My pal Len discovered this gem in San Miguel de Allende’s Colonia Guadalupe. La Moneda is a tiny chocolate shop located near the intersection of Calz de La Luz and Hidalgo. It is owned by Veronica Gomez, a chocolatier who learned her skills from a pastry chef in Mexico City.
Veronica and her daughter Avi (that’s her in the picture), take great joy in creating a host of fun chocolates using everything from tequila and marshmallows to raspberries. The hand-made confections are absolutely delicious (and at a reasonable cost).
Drop by and sample some of their wares; they are open from Thursday to Tuesday 9:30-5pm (closed Wednesdays).
La Moneda Chocolates, Julian Carrillo #3, Guadalupe, SMA.
You can find them on Facebook at La Moneda-Chocolates.
Recipe: Chicken Parmesan
I cooked this for friends a little while ago and they begged me for the recipe. It takes a little time to prepare, but the results are absolutely amazing! This is a great dinner meal when serving guests, and leftovers can also be frozen for quick lunches.
Ingredients (serves 4)
2 chicken breasts, deboned
Salt
2 eggs
1 cup breadcrumbs
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tsp fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
8 ounces mozzarella cheese, sliced
1 can tomato sauce
1 Tsp Italian seasoning spice
1 tsp salt
½ tsp ground pepper.
Garlic bread
Cooked spaghetti
Directions
1 Preheat oven to 400 F.
2 Mix the tomato sauce, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper together. Set aside.
3 Cut each breast into three pieces and pound thin.
4 Mix together the breadcrumbs, 1/2 cup of the Parmesan, and pinch of salt.
5 Pour the olive oil into an electric skillet and turn to medium.
6 Beat the eggs in a shallow bowl and coat the chicken pieces. Dip the chicken pieces in the breadcrumb mix and place in the skillet. Gently fry the chicken cutlets until they are golden brown on each side, about 3 to 4 minutes per side.
7 Arrange 1/2 the tomato sauce in the bottom of a baking dish. Place the cutlets on the sauce then top with the rest of the tomato sauce. Sprinkle the tops with sliced basil, then lay slices of mozzarella over each cutlet and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese.
8 Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the mozzarella begins to brown.
Serve with pasta and the garlic bread. Enjoy!
Subscribers to Prime Unlimited Can Read All My Books For Free!
TV Review
Fargo: Season 5
Streaming on Prime
I’ve enjoyed Fargo since the release of the movie in 1996; Frances McDormand plays the intrepid Fargo Police Department Detective Marge Gunderson and Steve Buscemi is the sleazy low-life criminal Carl. Produced and directed by the Coen Brothers, it won two Oscars.
The TV series, which began in 2014, has had its ups-and-downs as various artists take turns bringing the quirky, violent personae to the small screen. Season 1, with Billy Bob Thornton’s psycho Norm Lalvo meeting a grisly end in a bear trap, was a treat.
Season 5 (which was released in 2023), holds a special cachet, as when it was filming in Calgary, Jon Hamm (the star of Mad Men), was staying in a house that we subsequently rented. What’s more, Jon left his copy of the first five episodes in the bookshelf, and I spent many hours curled up in the living room couch reading the scripts.
So I was filled with great expectations when it finally came to Prime. The series stars Juno Temple as Dot Lyon, a suburban housewife with a dark past. Jon Hamm plays Sheriff Roy Tillman, obsessed with kidnapping her.
Getting back to its original roots, Season 5 is unapologetically noisy, nasty and absolutely redolent with black humor. Sam Spruell, playing contract killer Old Munch, takes his character to another planet, and Jon’s Sheriff Tillman is so way over-the-top that he earned praise from one critic for being a ‘thick slice of Hamm.’
You get the picture. This is classic stuff, and I highly recommend Fargo Season 5!
Book Review
The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco
By Michelle Chouinard
How can you go wrong with a title like that?
Capri Sanzio is the founder of SF Killer Crime Tours; she spends her days conducting excursions to the stomping grounds of infamous serial killers.
She is also the granddaughter of William ‘Overkill Bill’ Sanzio, a predator who dated prostitutes then hit them with a rock, stuck them with a knife, then slit their throats (hence the nickname).
So it comes as no surprise when a copycat killer starts offing his victims in the same manner decades after his death. Unfortunately, the first victim is Capri’s former mother-in-law, a rich socialite who was threatened to cut off tuition payments to Capri’s daughter Morgan.
Enter dashing SFPD Homicide Inspector Dan Petito (he has a dimple, natch). Petito quickly focuses on Capri and her daughter Morgan as prime suspects. Capri is justifiably indignant, and vows to find the real killer.
Lots of red herrings ensue; the result is a delightfully entertaining murder mystery that’s part cozy, part police procedural and totally charming. I highly recommend The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco!