Ole!

Mercadito Latino, a Colombian store in my 'hood, welcomed our group out of the rain last Saturday.  I have been begging my Mexican classmate to make me an authentic meal since last fall, and he finally gave in, so five of us trekked out after petits fours class with Chef C.  We bought corn tortillas, fresh cheese, chips, crazy hot sauces, and of course, a bottle of tequila!  Then off to the Franprix grocery store for the rest of the provisions: 25 tomatoes, 15 limes, beans, beef, hot dogs, and a big bunch of cilantro.

The Spread

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Almost immediately my kitchen smelled great, it is small by American standards, but there were four of us in the kitchen without too much bumping.  I played bartender for the first bit, beers and gin and tonics - D contributed a bottle of Gordon's and took over the minute dicing of the onions, garlic and tomatoes.  R made the fresh salsa and did her best with the sad avocados for guacamole. E made spicy pork and beans, so creamy and comforting with fresh cheese on top.  Then a fast saute of the meat for the tacos and we were ready to eat!  The pictures don't do it justice, it was a real feast.

The Boys: D, E and S

After one plate, we were full, but kept going back for more.  Then we made plates of nachos for dessert.  No one ever seems to want anything sweet, with the exception of "cletilas" - an effervescent mixture of tequila, clementine juice and tonic with a large slice of lime.  We played music from everyone's ipods, an eclectic mix of Johnny Cash, Beyonce, house music and the Cardigans.

The girls, Becs and me

I don't understand how, but I have neither playing cards or dice at my house, so we had to think of a game, and I remembered "Celebrity" a silly game, like Taboo and Charades and Password all mixed up.  We are a diverse group, American, Canadian, Mexican, Tunisian and Indian, but we all seem to watch the same movies and TV shows, it was funny that Michael Jordan was added by two different players.  We played for hours, adding our chefs to the mix and then ourselves, pretending to be Chef D, we just stuck out our lips, for Chef C, we rolled out pastry and for Chef JJ, we just said "Pistachio!"  Then we switched to the international game of 'getting to know you' called "I Never."  Some things you just wish you could blackout of your memory.


Around midnight, I went to bed to jeers of "Grandma", and the rest of them stayed up until 5 am, drinking and talking and pretending to be Superman in my window.  I haven't heard anything from my neighbors, so I guess we weren't too loud.  I have to say, I wasn't feeling great after the tequila, so I made some toast the next morning, and while I was making tea, I burned my favorite Poilane bread.  I ate it anyway, it might be a new hangover cure - Poilane toast with butter and jelly.

The Cure for a Night of Tequila