Dining in Akumal Mexico: Turtle Bay Bakery and Cuevo del Pescador

So, yea, I've taken a bit of a break from blogging for the last few weeks.  I spent a week with my folks and The Lovely Spouse in Mexico, then the folks visited us for a week, then I've been catching up with school and work.  Now I'm back and, of course, posting on the wonderful eats from Mexico.  We stayed at an all-inclusive resort between Akumal and Tulum on the Eastern side of the Yucatan Penisula.  I had never been to an all-inclusive, or to Mexico, before.  I'll be posting more on the resort in a later resort.

Today I'll start you all off with the fabulousness that is Akumal.  We were there in March so the weather was amazing.  Highs in the 80s.  Lows in the 70s.  Sunny every day.

At one point we took a taxi from our resort to Akumal Playa, or Akumal Beach.  First order of business for the day was breakfast.  Based on Trip Advisor reviews I decided on Turtle Bay Cafe and Bakery.

As you can see everything is very casual.

Very casual. And I kind of like this picture. :-)

I ordered a breakfast, whose name I can't remember.  It was poached eggs with ranch style potatoes, tomatoes, avocado, peppers and onions.  Of course I ate around the onions. It really was as delicious as it looked.

Next we hit the beach and snorkeled for a few hours. The reef was gorgeous.  We saw all kinds of fish, corrals, urchins and such, as well as lots of sea turtles. (Photo courtesy of The Lovely Spouse)

After swimming around headed out for lunch to the place next door to Turtle Bay: Cuevo del Pescador.  Obviously they specialize in fish. 

Again this was a casual open dining place.

We had our first chips and salsa in Mexico.  Chunky salsa with thick chips.  I'm kind of used to the ultra thin chips they have here in Texas. 

I ordered the ceviche and let me just say it was even more fabulous than it looks.  This was a mix of fish, squid, octopus, and shrimp.  And all 100% delicous.  Ceviche is fish cooked by using a strong acid. Most places, including this restaurant, use citrus juice.  The result is that fish that might normally be rubbery when cooked end up tender and juicy. And the citrus imparts a wonderful flavor.

The rest of my group got the fish tacos, which weren't nearly as delicious.  Always get the local specialties and/or the specialty of the house.

Here's hoping we'll be back at some point in the near future.  I'd love to spend at least another few more hours snorkeling on that reef. [Heh, that's my bum. Photo courtesy of The Lovely Spouse.]

Houston Rodeo 2012

This weekend, in spite of the rain, we visited the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. As you all may or may not remember I wrote on eating at the Rodeo two years ago. As to be expected we visited some of the same places and then some.  This year's quest belongs to The Lovely Spouse: the two pound beef rib. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The HLSR is held every March in Houston at the Reliant Center.  It emcompasses the Arena, the convention center next door and the surrounding parking lots.  In years past it has also taken up the Astrodome, but the Dome is no longer safe for visitors so the Rodeo takes place around it.

There is A LOT to eat at the Rodeo.  Fare ranges from funnel cakes and basic carnival food on up to fine dining for specific groups of attendees.  The Lovely Spouse and I tend to eat somewhere between that. 

My favorite lunch at the Rodeo is the boudain from Triple J's, pictured on the previous post.  Here's a pict of the actual boudain - that's a sausage made with rice.  The filling doesn't hold together the way most people think of sausage and a lot of people scoop it out onto crackers in the South.  At the Rodeo you just carry it around and eat it as is. Triple J's is seasoned with fresh herbs and served piping hot. 

There was also a Freebirds onsight. And a friend of ours had his first taste of a Freebirds burrito.

Notice the perfect unwrapping technique.

Another friend of ours went to a different burrito vendor and got a freshly made one.

And The Lovely Spouse set out on his mission...to find the 2 lb rib.  After much searching it was finally found in the midst of the carnival at an unassuming grill.

And check this out, that's one heckuva grill back there.

That, of course is nothing compared to what comes off the grill....

That's a big hunk o' meat.

 The Lovely Spouse was nice enough to share some of this slab of beef with us.  Turns out it's beef that's added to a rib then grilled together.  The meat is moist and quite delicious and flavorful.  If you get one be careful because it very easily comes off from the bone.  I imagine a lot of people lost theirs while trying to walk and eat at the same time.  TLS ate his while sitting here.

There are, of course, other novelties you'll only find at the Rodeo.  Chocolate covered jalapenos, for instance.  No I didn't try them, but it sounded interesting.

And another thing that looked awesome but just wouldn't fit in my tummy was deep fried nutter butters.  As you can see they also had deep fried cupcakes.  Dang, all that deep fried yumminess and me with just a teeny little stomach.  Perhaps some of you all can check them out and let me know how they are.

Not everything is deep fried or grilled at the Rodeo. I did find one vendor selling salads inside the convention center next to the retail area. Of course it was next to a Papa Johns.  LOL!

 There were also vendors for beer and wine.  The Rodeo includes a wine competition, in addition to the gazillion or so other things going on. You can get wines by the glass at the wine garden in sculpture garden by the Astrodome.

And there are beer vendors throughout.  Here's a pro-tip for visiting the Rodeo.  There is one beer vendor along the walls near the retail area in the convention center that has a great selection of beers for a lower price.  The key to finding it is to ask where to find Shiner.  If you find Shiner you find the best selection.  The other places throughout have Bud, Bud Lite, Coors Lite, Blue Moon, Blue Moon Seasonal and Leinenkugel.  And while I like the last three, there's a better selection at a lower price everywhere you find Shiner.  And if you want the best deal on beer there, wait until you enter the Arena for the rodeo competition and concert.  Again look for the places selling Shiner and you'll get a larger serving for lower cost per ounce, and a better selection of beer and wine. The other vendors all have very limited selections and smaller servings. 

Speaking of shopping...

No, I didn't buy it.  Doesn't mean I wasn't tempted.

The final novelty of the night was a revisit to my favorite fried thing place.

If you compare the current picture to the one on the previous post, you'll see they've added some new stuff.  Fried KoolAid.  Interesting.... On closer inspection I saw something called a Cherry Bomb.  It's a deep fried oreo with KoolAid.  Perfect! I can try something I know is awesome with someone new.

The results were actually quite tasty. The powdered KoolAid adds a nice cherry to the nomtastic cookie.  As you can see it was fried to golden brown and delicious.  I must also add the women at the booth were very nice. 

Next year I'll try the fried nutter butters. Unless something else distracts me. :-)

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo continues all of this week, rain or shine, until close of show Sunday, March 18.  The carnival only closes for lightning, which happened for part of the day yesterday.

...And Sympathy

Around here we are in the midst of an epically bad allergy season due to a much warmer-than-usual winter.  We never really got any frost therefore the plants that would have died back during a freeze didn't.  And it rained and rained and rained.  Great for getting rid of the drought but also great for watering all those pollen producing plants. 

So if you're suffering from seasonal allergies, I'm right there with you.  Pass the benadryl and, of course, the tea.

Taz revisted, with pictures

The last time I wrote about Taz I had only been there twice, total.  Since then I've been back quite a few times and have sampled far more of the menu.  I've also experienced their catering service, which is highly professional.

Our most recent visit was about a week ago but I didn't write about it until now due to updating stuff on the computer.  I'm still having trouble, so if anyone knows how to work chrome around McAfee on Windows 7 let me know.  LOL!

The menu at Taz is split into dishes with and without meat.  And basically follows the South vs North Indian styles of food you find at most Indian restaurants.  I tend to order meatless dishes because I used to be mostly vegetarian.  The Lovely Spouse usually orders dishes with meat.  So I've had a good variety from Taz a result.

All meals start out with an amuse of papadums served with tamarind and mint chutneys.  Mildly spicy, crispy bread with a choice of cilantro-heavy mint chutney or sweet and spicy tamarind chutney.

The Lovely Spouse usually orders a mango lassi with his meal.  This is a yogurt shake sweetened with mango pulp.  I generally don't like the pineyness of mangos but I love the lassis.  They also cool the mouth down if you order an overly spicy dish.

I ordered Upma Pesarattu, a moong bean crepe wrapped around a curry made from cream of wheat, cashews and spices.  Similar to a dosa, but with a different texture and nuttier flavor. I would definitely order this again.

All dosas are served with a wonderful coconut and spicy tomato chutneys as well as sambar, a lentil and vegetable soup. Some days after a workout I'll pick up a plain dosa for an inexpensive ($5) dinner. 

The Lovely Spouse ordered the Lamb Vindaloo.  Frequent diners of Indian restaurants will immediately recognize vindaloo as the hottest, spiciest item on the menu.  I'm not sure that's the case at Taz but I will say it's a shade too spicy for me to eat the entire dish. 

The Spouse loves it though and it's interesting to note that each vindaloo, whether it's lamb, shrimp or another, has a distinct flavor, even if the spice mixture is approximately the same for each.  They're all spicy and flavorful and served with rice and fresh naan, often still warm from the oven.

The decor is casual and continues to change as the restaurant continues to establish itself in College Station.  The owner/manager is there every day and an excellent host.  I've seen her there every single time I've been there and she's always, without fail the best host she can be. If there's a problem she'll fix it immediately and check up on her customers to make sure the dining experience is the best it can be.

In all I'll continue to be a regular at Taz.  The food is excellent and the service is great.  For those unfamiliar with Indian food there is a First Time Special and there is a buffet every day, even weekends, for lunch.  Save room for dessert because the mango fruit custard salad, rice pudding (Kheer) and Gulab Jamun (round sweet balls of wheat in sweet syrup) are delicious.  And so is the chai tea.

Reservations accepted and recommended for large groups.

Garden 2012

I can't believe it's February.  The temps are in the 70s and 80s.  And today was such a gorgeous day I just couldn't help myself.  I planted the culinary garden.   I picked up seeds and starters at The Farm Patch in Bryan, then brought 'em all home and stuck them in the ground.

It might not look like much right now.  But hopefully in a few weeks green shoots will start popping up and the starters I planted today will all have new growth.

In years past we've had a heck of a time with the garden. Much of the stuff I'm used to planting up North doesn't do so well in the heat here.  They'll start nicely in the early Spring then melt as soon as the temps get over 90 F. Last year's extreme heat and drought didn't help.  But the truth is we're still figuring this stuff out.

So this year I'm experimenting yet again.  I planted salad greens: lettuce and mescalin greens.  I planted one lone tomato just because I'm not ready to give up on trying to grow them.  I also planted some herbs: fennel, dill, peppermint, and "mojito" mint. Not sure what makes a mint mojito but I'm not overly concerned as long as it grows. And I planted some packets of seeds: okra, carrots, parsnips and beets.  I plant okra every year because it grows very well here, even in hot dry conditions.  And The Lovely Spouse wanted to experiment with root veggies.  Neither of us has ever grown them.

A few things survived the Winter: fennel, Greek oregano, rosemary (grows like Christmas trees here), arugula (rocket), and cabbage (now forming heads).

Gardening really is the ultimate exercise in optimism. We wouldn't plant things if we didn't at least hope they would grow.  Here's hoping for a wonderful growing season.  And no frost. 

[This post was created in Google Chrome.  Blogger works much better on my laptop from Chrome than it does with Explorer.  Just an FYI if you're also using blogspot.]

Mardi Gras!

I realize I'm posting this on Fat Tuesday, but these pictures are actually from Saturday.  I think I'm just getting too old to party all the time.  :-)  Enjoy!

As you can see there were lots of extra places to eat and drink brought in just for the occasion. And, of course, Galveston is a cruise ship terminal. They even had a special balcony party for cruise patrons.

Z Krewe balcony party getting people on the street to negotiate for beads. FYI, during the day there were no bare breasts (I didn't see any at night this time around either, but there were creepers waiting around to take pictures of them - ick).  However some people negotiated to exchange beads.

There was some incredible street food there.  It smelled awesome here.

RIBBON FRIES!!!! I love ribbon fries. Think of one long, continuous, fresh-made potato chip.

Yea, it's like that.  Nom!

If you don't see the beads you want being thrown from the balconies you can always purchase them from the street vendors and shops along The Strand.

I just liked this picture.  :-)

Jaggermeister had a whole bunch of promotional stuff out there.  Including this stage and a pretty darned good DJ.  No, they didn't give out any samples.

And, of course, there were parades.  Complete with floats and marching bands.  And The Mummers came all the way from Philadelphia:

Whoop!