Focus on Mexico Blog

Culture and Activities in the Lake Chapala Area

(Karen McConnaughey, Food and Restaurants) Permanent link

By Karen McConnaughey

Dancing in Lake ChapalaNot everybody loves peace and quiet all the time. Many of us need social stimulation. Culture. Shopping. Restaurants. Companionship. A life of excitement, friends, fun -- even luxury. And the leisure to enjoy it all. Can anyone say…Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico?

We have so much to do here that you might need to keep a social calendar, and also develop the talent to say, ‘no.’

First of all, Lake Chapala is 45 minutes from the central hub of Guadalajara where you will find not only whatever food you want, but all the cultural events you could hope for. This past year we even had nine live feeds of the New York Metropolitan Opera – transmitted by high definition video – on the big screen in Guadalajara’s Teatro Diana. Those present at the first presentation gave “Tosca” a big thumbs up. “I loved it!” said Chapala area resident Marian Wellman, as she stood in line with friends afterwards to buy tickets for upcoming broadcast operas. “It’s the Met! But you can afford it!” Paying only 80 pesos for a presentation that a New Yorker would have to pay a minimum of $20 USD for.

Enjoys lots of activities in the Lake Chapala area

Lake Chapala is the Raspberry Capitol of the World

(Kristina Morgan, Food and Restaurants, Miscellaneous) Permanent link

raspberry-ranch-lake-chapal.jpgby Kristina Morgan

I just learned something interesting the other day at Roberto's Rincon del Cielo, one of my favorite restaurants here in Ajijic. Roberto brought me an icy raspberry margarita and told me that LakeChapala is the raspberry producing capitol of the world!

Most of the produce we buy here at LakeChapala is exported to the U.S. and most of you north of the border are already familiar with the Driscoll brand of strawberries, red raspberries, blackberries and blueberries. Those raspberries and some of the other berries are raised right here at Lake Chapala in a large farming operation near Jocotepec on the other side of the lake.

Locals will be familiar with seeing the farmers and their children selling the berries by the kilo at the local markets and on the side of the road. The berries are fresh, just picked at their peak of sweetness and bursting with bright juice.

When you come to the Lake Chapala area you'll be able to see the greenhouses across the lake in giant white tents that seem to span a mile. Here the berries are grown and shipped world-wide. Chapala produces more berries than any farming operation in the world.

Which seems to lend itself rather well to the idea that we should have an annual raspberry festival, doesn’t it? Can you picture the raspberry salsas, margaritas, pies, liqueurs, jams and chutneys?

If you're able to visit the farm you can buy kilos of the berries for muy pocos pesos (very few pesos). When I visited it was fascinating to see ripe fruit, flowers and young buds all breaking on the same plant. Continuity of supply is clearly no problem.

Which means I can have another margarita! Gracias for showing me yet another reason to love Lake Chapala, Roberto!

 



Yummy Yummy Breakfast in Mexico

(Karen McConnaughey, Food and Restaurants) Permanent link

 Beer Garden, San Antonio Tlayacapan

Anyone who knows me knows I like to eat! :-D And, I’m blessed with a husband who likes to cook. However, occasionally we find ourselves out and about early in the day and realize we haven’t eaten anything yet. Today we found ourselves turning into the Beer Garden in San Antonio because we were hungry, we didn’t know where else to go, and it was open! Bill and I often like to say “God takes care of idiots!,” and this was no exception. Now I know we all have different tastes in food, but in my opinion, this is a restaurant I will return to on a regular basis.

The place was empty, and after eating there, I cannot understand why. It was clean, the service was wonderful, the food outstanding (and very reasonable), and the music a delight! I will admit if we want a good ol’ American breakfast, we usually go to Mom’s for eggs over easy, biscuits and gravy, etc. However, the menu at the Beer Garden was probably the most unique I’ve looked at in the area, and I could hardly decide what I wanted to eat.

I obviously haven’t tried everything on the menu, but I may work my way through the menu bit by bit. Let me give you some examples:

On their breakfast menu, I especially liked the title of their fruit section…Forbidden Fruits! The ingredients of one of their juices entitled “To diet” were “light milk, orange juice, strawberry, wheat germ, natural honey, a bit of banana and cinnamon.” The “For the Heart” juice included “Grapefruit, cactus, celery and spinach, sweetened with honey.” Can’t wait to try either of them.

However, today I was more in the mood for comfort food…I was having a bad morning, which started with getting up late and ended with a full physical before breakfast. So I immediately went to their “From the Farm” section. Reading their menu was like reading a great book with a wonderful cast of characters (did I tell you I really like to eat?!). They have unusual selections, and I’m not going to name them all, because I think you ought to go see for yourselves. Bill had Mexican-Style Eggs: Scrambled eggs with hot pepper, onion and tomato; garnished with chilaquiles and beans. He said they were delicious and the hot pepper just hot enough. I went for the Toluca-Style Eggs: scrambled eggs over a tortilla with roast chorizo, fresh cheese, avocado and cream all seasoned in a slightly hot green sauce. It was absolutely delicious…a great combination of flavors and the green sauce was perfect…not too hot, not too bland…it was just right! And, I’m very fond of and fussy about my chorizo, and this was perfectly roasted. The side dishes that came with our breakfasts were a choice of potatoes (crispy hash browns), fried beans with cheese, or cactus. And, if you want, they will use only egg whites in your selections. They’re a very accommodating restaurant.

We’ve eaten dinner at the Beer Garden with a group and had a delightful time.

I think we all had the full steak dinner (steak of your choice), caesar salad and fries for around $11.00USD. They also serve wine, mixed drinks and beer, as well as flaming desserts! They have something for everyone with a broad range of entrees including arrachera, chicken, fajitas, molcajetes, fish and many varieties of shrimp (diabla, Jamaica, tamarindo, kiwi, mango, etc.!). I haven’t eaten lunch there yet, but their menu items include Marlin-smoked taco, salmon and cheese sandwich, corned beef sandwich, shrimp burger, crepes, soups and more. The owner let me borrow a menu!

My two favorite sentences on the menu are “Dear Customer: we kindly ask for your patience in the preparation of your order as we try to provide the highest quality cuisine,” and “If you have not found the dish of your choice, please ask for it and we will do our best to put it on your plate.” Do you love it or what?

And, last but not least, let’s talk about the music. It was toe-tapping enough that I wanted to get up and dance with the owner! During the time we were there, among others, we heard the themes from “Exodus” and “Bridge on the River Kwai” as well as tunes like “Hernando’s Hideaway,” and a great Mexican dance number that we’re sure was from an Astaire-Rogers movie! Okay…it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but we loved it. After my terrible morning, it put me in an absolute euphoric mood, and you can’t ask for much more than that.

So…try it. Hope you like it. If not, please accept my apologies. If so, please let me know!

 

A Favorite in Mexico Flan Flan Flan

(Focus Programs, Karen McConnaughey, Food and Restaurants) Permanent link

Flan Flan During our last dinner with the Focus on Mexico group in October, Walt thought the dessert, Flan Cake, was so good, he had three of them, and, as you can, was proud of the accomplishment!!

posted by Focus_on_Mexico | 12:08 PM
1 Comments:

Anonymous Walt said...

    And I ate all three

A Grand Champion Haggler in Mexico

(Karen McConnaughey, Food and Restaurants, Shopping) Permanent link

Richard Case from our last group turned out to be a premier haggler, and the nice thing abouthaggling it was that both he and the vendor came away from the transaction smiling!

He definitely takes one of our tips to heart, "Treat haggling as part of the fun in the market place...a form of social interaction rather than a matter of life and death." As we like to say: "Keep a smile on your face. Be friendly. Don't get mad. Don't let the 'game' get 'personal.'"

After it was all over, Richard said, "I love negotiating! I thought it was a lot of fun. I like walking away with a win-win for both of us! Can't wait to move down here and start doing it on a regular basis." Our hats are off the Richard...it took about a half hour, but he got quite a bargain; however, since it's a surprise for his wife, we won't tell you what!