Wednesday Hodgepodge - May 3, 2017

From this Side of the Pond

1. Can you tell I'm embracing a Cinco de Mayo theme here this week? Do you like Mexican food? What's your favorite dish? How about on the side-black beans, pinto beans, refried beans, and rice? What about heat: mild, medium, or hot? Will you celebrate with Mexican food and drink on May 5th a.k.a. Cinco de Mayo?

I enjoy eating Mexican food - both the "Americanized" version of it as well as food prepared in authentic Mexican restaurants.

Typically, I order either tacos or a burrito. As for sides, I'll eat beans and rice. Not sure I've had pinto beans with Mexican food, though.

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In terms of spice - either medium or hot.

On Friday - May 5th - Sophia, Olivia, and I will have a Mexican-theme dinner. I'm not sure yet what I'll make

The day before we have our 4-H club meeting and I bought a piñata and candy for the kids/teens. At the end of the meeting - right before they go home - we'll do the breaking-of-the-piñata-and-scramble-for-the-candy activity.

It should be a fun way to end the meeting.

2. Ever been to Mexico? For work or holiday? Love it or no? If you haven't been, is this a place you'd like to visit? Can you speak Spanish?

My parents took my sister, brother, and I to Mexico when I was 16 years old. My sister was 14 and brother 12. It was a vacation that took us from Mexico City to a loop north and then south hitting such places as Taxco and Acapulco. I am so grateful to my parents for this family vacation.

There were parts that I enjoyed - exploring another country with my family, seeing the art and marketplaces, seeing the jewelry in Taxco, and going parasailing in Acapulco. It was an excellent way to practice my Spanish skills and put into practice what I had learned in high school Spanish class.

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It was fun to try different food there - although we had to be very careful because the water wasn't safe to drink. So - no all the fruits and vegetables had to be cooked - nothing raw.

It was first time that I learned that the tacos my Mom made were not like the Mexican tacos. When I ordered them, the meat wasn't ground hamburger, but rather nice cuts of cubed meat. I was convinced they didn't know how to make tacos. Where was the shredded lettuce and cheese; and chopped green peppers and onions?

3. What's one thing you may accomplish this month?

I'd like to see all the gardens weeded and looking nice before Memorial Day weekend.

4. If you were mayor of your village, city, or town, what's one thing you'd like to see changed, done away with, revamped, or accomplished? Is serving in public office something you've ever seriously considered?

If I were mayor, I'd like to see a place where older people (50+ years old) could go for art classes, swimming, woodworking, educational activities, exercise/yoga classes, and meals. This would keep people engaged in life, connected with one another, and fend off loneliness (a major issue with an aging population in a rural area).

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I'd also like to see a safe place for those with Alzheimer's Disease to go and spend the day, giving their caregivers a much-needed break. There isn't anything like this in our town. The closest services like these are at least ten miles away.

5. What's something that may be popular, but that you just don't get?

So, I had to look up what's popular these days because I think I'm out of the loop on a lot of things. Found out that pink is the color of clothes to wear in 2017. Missed the boat on that one.

There also are popular color palettes for homes. Who knew. The top one: pastel colors called "Day Dreaming." It looks like colors that would decorate a child's nursery. I can't imagine having an entire home like that.

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On the color palettes website, there was a quote: "Rescue is the new buzzword that is replacing recycling, and handcrafted and raw materials are seeing a resurgence." Here's something that I can get behind.

6. Can't let this week slip by without mentioning Thursday May 4th is Star Wars Day. As in 'May the 4th be with you' ahem. Are you a fan of the Star Wars series? Exactly how much of a fan are you? On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being "I've seen every film, own the action figures, might have dressed as Darth Vader for Halloween one year," and 1 being, "What's a Vader?" - where do you land?

Not a fan of the Star Wars series. I didn't even know there was a Star Wars Day. I would rate myself a 2 on the scale of 1 to 10. I know who some of the characters are, but have no idea who the majority are or what the story line is for the movies - as a whole or by themselves.

7. Scroll back through your blog posts and in three sentences or less tell us the general theme of your fourth blog post. Does it still ring true today? Is it a topic you re-visit on your blog from time to time?

My fourth blog post was written in June 2008 about Waldorf-inspired window stars that I made (and still do). Each of the stars are created by folding very small pieces of a special translucent paper multiple times - anywhere from a few times to over 20.

I mentioned putting them up in our windows to enhance the area where we homeschool as well as posting photos of what I made on Flickr and selling them on Etsy.

This is still something I'm doing - almost nine years later. Showing photos of the window stars I've made through the years is something that I've written about periodically.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

I was surprised when I looked back on photos from the past five years that I had none from any Cinco de Mayo meals or activities that we've done. I  did find pictures of the girls on March 7, 2008, eating treats from a bakery in a Mexican supermarket/restaurant that we enjoy going to periodically. We were doing a homeschool unit study using the American Girl series focused on Josephina.

Sophia and Olivia eating treats from a Mexican bakery when

they were 7 and 5 years old respectively.

The girls were so excited about these treats - first, because they were huge and second, because they were delicious. The bakery has such a wide range of sweet treats that the girls still like looking at and sometimes getting something from if they are hungry.

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Speaking of food, I have a few free food/deliveries from Blue Apron available to the first people I hear from.

Please send me an email with your first and last name as well as email address so I can let Blue Apron know. (My email address is - without the spaces: annmarierink @ hotmail . com .

Blue Apron will send you a special code that you use to get a free delivery! Hurry...I'll give them away on a first-come, first-served basis.