Holiday in Mexico

Kennedy asked:


We are going on a trip to Mexico and taking our 2 1/2 year old. The flight is 8 hours long, have you even taken your child on an 8 hour flight? Any helpful hints?
Any suggestions while in Mexico besides don’t drink the water?

Devin

aran3 asked:


There is usually a small wood version of a hall tree used for holding women’s purses in restaurants in Mexico (specifically Mexico City). Does anyone know what it is called in Spanish?

Julio

Jessica Nielson asked:


Whether you are shopping for wines or looking for hand crafted Spanish items, you will find something that intrigues you when you take your holiday to Canary Islands. The shops always have something for everyone. The shopping is great, but the nightlife is another fantastic attraction on the island. If you want to see some Cuban dancers or listen to Latin music, you could visit Emporium. This is a cute little Habana Café. The music is mixed and the DJ makes sure everyone has a good time. This place always has something to listen to or watch.

Then there is the Sunset Beach restaurant and bar. This is a family run business and the people are so nice. They enjoy new visitors and welcome everyone with a warm smile and tasty drinks and food. They have a sun terrace where you can sit in the sun and enjoy the warm breeze. Charlies is another hopping place at night. They have live music and big crowds. If you want Irish music, you could visit Craic n’ Ceol or if you want to see an English pub, you can goo to Dolphin Inn or Cutty Sark. If you want karaoke, you will enjoy The Jellyfish bar. They have dartboards and pool table as well.

The restaurants are just divine. The cuisine is superb. You will find Irish cuisine at Lenegher’s, Italian at Sausalito and Spanish, Indian, Mexican and Italian at El Boulevard. If you are looking for a Scandinavian cuisine, you will find Viking Husel exceptional. Pizza is served at Portbello as well as Italian cuisine. The restaurants are always open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Some of the hotels have restaurants that are just as nice to dine at anytime. You will have quite an array of delights to choose when you take your holiday to Canary Islands.

Sightseeing is interesting on the island. You could spend days just walking around to see all the different areas of the island. It is beautiful to look at the volcanoes and the craters. The weather is always sunny and warm, which makes for a nice walk and a picnic. You can see more things on the island when you walk. The beaches are great for night walks. The sunsets and sunrises also look incredible from the beaches. You can walk for miles and enjoy the scenery that surrounds you.

You can take horseback and camel rides around the area. The beaches are so nice for horseback riding. The camel rides are intriguing if you never had the experience before. Many people take their holiday to Canary Islands because they enjoy the peacefulness of the island. The secluded beaches and the beautiful scenery around the volcano is something you cannot see every day. All there is to do is enjoy the days and relax with some great music and a few god drinks at night. Once you see how beautiful the island is, you will not want to leave such a beautiful place.



Ella

Michael Peterson asked:


Find yourself on a vacation in Acapulco on a cheap holiday vacation where you can save on airfare, accommodations and receive some discounts on meals and attractions. You are going to find yourself looking at the Sierra foothills behind you with the beautiful coastline in front of you. The beauty of Acapulco will delight you. You could go to the Pie de la Cuesta village and enjoy the CiCi water park or swim in the ocean with the dolphins. If you have a change you might even find some good times watching the divers leap from the cliffs in La Quebrada.

When you plan your cheap holiday vacation, you will want to remember that the restaurants in the area serve different types of foods such as Italian, Japanese, Spanish, French and Mexican. If you have the opportunity to choose some restaurant discounts, you will want to choose a restaurant that has the taste that you would like. You will enjoy the area restaurants for their cuisine and friendly service in a warm atmosphere. If you like the idea of dining at a piano bar, the Casa Nova has fine Italian cuisine with a beautiful view of the foothills with a piano bar.

Some of the hotels in Acapulco offer different amenities and specials. The Etel Suites is a highly rated hotel. It only has twelve guest rooms, but the attention you receive makes you feel at home. They also supply high speed Internet. A pyramid styled hotel is the Fairmont Acapulco Princess. It has over a thousand rooms with many different room and hotel amenities. It was designed after the Aztec pyramids and has a golf course, beachfront, swimming pool and a basketball court. You can also enjoy the fitness center and spa or play a game of tennis indoors or out.

Your cheap holiday vacation to Acapulco is not complete unless you see some of the area attractions. The Zocalo is a town square true to the traditions of Mexico. If you enjoy culture and exhibits, the Casa de la Cultura is another place to visit. However, no visit to Mexico is complete without seeing the bird sanctuary by a fresh water lagoon. The Laguna de Coyuca has a restaurant and different waters sports as well for visitors to do. Fishing is great by Playa Tamarindos as well as recreational water sports, you can plan entire day in this area.

Your cheap holiday vacation will also include some exciting nightlife experiences. You might enjoy Baby’O where the drinks are sweet and the entertainment is meant for a king or queen. If dancing is what you need, Salon Q has a large dance floor with plenty of room to get out and unwind. Pepe’s Piano Bar has a nice, cozy atmosphere were the piano supplies the music and sets the tone for the evening. You are going to enjoy this cheap holiday vacation and have many memories to share with family and friends. It is also an exciting time day or night.



Jonathan

Jane Butel asked:


Most do not know the important role New Mexico has played in culinary history. Researchers and archeologists agree that New Mexico was one of the earliest settlements of the Mongolians and Tibetans when they came over the Bering strait to settle the Americas. The area has attracted visitors from before recorded history, who in turn created the pure, often spicy flavors known in New Mexico’s foods.

Primarily chiles are both king and queen. Chiles themselves have been more developed in New Mexico than anywhereespecially since World War II, when Dr. Jim Nakiyami, a Professor at New Mexico State University gave his leadership to developing many, many new varieties of chiles.

And, most do not know that the first American wines were made in New Mexico. The priests, Jesuits and Monks brought the first cuttings of grapes here in the 1620’s from Spain, thus predating the California wine industry by 140 years.

With Prohibition in the 1920’s the wine making died out, not to get started again until 50 years later in the late 1970’s. Now there are over 50 wine makers throughout the state making world class, award winning wines. The wines go very well with the chile laden traditional dishes as well as any kind of food or enjoyed alone. New Mexico is often credited with being the fountainhead of the Mexican taste. For it is there that the earliest settlers from Asia; who were the root population of the Western areas of the Americas, first settled and lent their primitive cooking methods and simple, straight forward ingredients to create a simple, frontier cuisine that continues to win the hearts and souls of all who try it.

From New Mexico, the earliest settlers went south to populate Central and South America, taking their culinary customs with them. So there are similarities in the native cuisines of all the Americas.

No matter whether the chiles are the unripe green ones or the ripe red ones, they both provide the great benefits of capsaicin which is so amazing as an antioxidant.often cited as the world’s greatest anti-oxidant. And anti-oxidants basically are good for us as an inhibitor of cancer cell development among other claims.

Chiles enhance your entire body’s functionsmaking your heart healthier, also your entire vascular system, enhancing your digestion, your skin and your waistline. They excite your endorphins more than any other food and on a scale of “runner’s high”.

So you gotta try them. Don’t let the spiciness or hotness scare youthe hotter the healthier, however to begin with start mild and work up to hotter. You will be glad you didbut get ready, they are habit formingnearly an addiction, so you will more than likely get hooked on the wonderfully exciting flavors.

However, if you do get uncomfortably hot and spicy chiles, just remember that you can tame them down quickly by eating or drinking anything sweet, dairy or acid such as lime juice or wine.

In this simplistic cuisine, created out of less than 10 major ingredients, corn is the real staple with the chiles being the personality. Beans are very important as are various members of the gourd and lily families to the cuisine.

Actually the combination of chiles, corn and beans is considered one of the three most healthy cuisines in the world. The other two are Eastern and Western Mediterranean.

Perhaps the New Mexican native’s favorite traditional dish is Red Chile Enchiladas while most visitor’s to our state prefer the Green Chile ones. In New Mexico, when an enchilada (which by the way means “in chile”) is served as a main course, it is served flat, not rolled.

What most people think of as Mexican food elsewhere in the world, really is New Mexican food. And now, it is the most popular taste in America, outselling all other cuisines nationally. Tortillas outsell bread and margaritas are the most popular cocktail. Amazing, from such simple roots.

The flavors are purer, simpler and more robust by far in New Mexico than in Old Mexico, where the European influence was stronger in the development of their cuisine.

Some popular traditional New Mexican dishes are Carne Adovado, which was developed originally by the Spanish as a way to preserve pork after butchering. Red chile being the world’s best anti-oxidant retards spoilagea hint the Spanish learned from the Indians. The dish is a simple preparation of slow roasted pork that has marinated in a red chile and herb marinade. Amazingly good, if well prepared.

A truly native dish is posole, the bowl of many blessings–a dish made from lime (as in agricultural ground lime) soaked corn kernels. It is stewed with well browned pork bits, chiles and herbs. It is quite flavorful. Posole is a reverant dish due to the fact that posole is the Mother process for preserving corn and corn in the Native religions is the Giver of Lifetheir Eve so to speak.

New Mexico style chile rellenos are another native treat. They are traditionally stuffed with cheese and crusted with a meringue or corn crust and fried. They are quite good as a main dish or side dish.

A truly native ingredient is the blue corn, which was developed by the Ancients. It is smoked with pinon wood as they did not have access to agricultural lime for preserving the corn.

Sopaipillas were first made in 1620 in the courtyard in front of the San Francisco de Neri church in Old Town Albuquerque. They were first made as a treat for the Indians who attended church.



Valeria

Chris K asked:


I am planning on passing through New Mexico on my way from California to Florida in June. The last time I went across the country, I found myself completely confused by the weird alcohol laws, ESPECIALLY in Texas. The particular town I plan to stop in is Las Cruces, so any good tips would be appreciated, too. Thanks!

Callie

Martin H asked:


A friend of mine is a native Mexico resident and he wants me to be his US partner.Any info is appreciated.Thank you.

Maggie

Susanne Pacher asked:


June 30, 2006

The Plateau area is one of the trendiest areas of Montreal, so I decided to explore it a little further after my discoveries of Old Montreal. From my hotel I hopped into the subway at Place d’Armes and took the blue train north to Sherbrooke. I enjoyed a wonderful stroll through the St-Denis neighbourhood, considered by many to be the most typical of Montreal’s neighbourhoods. Hundreds of street cafés, restaurants and funky boutiques line the street.

The streets in the area are characterized by duplexes or triplexes that have the typical Montreal exterior staircases in the front, many of which are used as comfortable places of rest and relaxation by the local residents. Many of the houses also feature small balconies on the upper floors, most of which are accompanied by small bistro tables and chairs for the outdoor enjoyment of the apartment residents.

The rooflines of in this neighbourhood are also very unusual: dormers and fake mansards add interest to the architectural mix.

The atmosphere is very relaxed, artsy and bohemian. I continued my walk west on a small street call rue Roy and came across a Mexican restaurant called “La Iguana” that also has a small outdoor sitting area. Every since my earlier trip to Mexico this year I have developed a taste for authentic Mexican food and La Iguana with its Mexican flair pulled me in.

I sat down at a comfortable table in the corner with a perfect view of the restaurant and the street outside. Unfortunately, the sky was clouding over and shortly after another tropical thunderstorm was unleashed on the city, the third one today.

To find out more about this restaurant I asked the owner, Fred Saunders, who jointly owns the restaurant with his wife Julie Chiasson, to join me for a bit. Over a mojito he started to tell me about La Iguana and how it all came about. Fred and Julie have travelled numerous times to Mexico together and fallen in love with the country and its flavours. Fred mentioned that they have visited many places on the coast, including Acapulco, Ixtapa, Playa del Carmen as well as Cozumel. Fred and Julie both enjoy scuba diving and have been enjoying underwater adventures in Mexico for the last four years.

They started dreaming of creating their own Mexican restaurant and finally three years ago, they opened “La Iguana”. Fred mentioned that it is open seven days a week for dinner and also opens Friday for lunch. Every Thursday to Saturday they feature live Cuban music that entertains the crowd with hot Latin rhythms. Fred mentioned that La Iguana also provides a catering service and a musician rental service for two to 21 musicians, a new service which they started a couple of months ago.

Fred further explained that the restaurant receives many guests from various hotels and tourism establishments. Just a week earlier, La Iguana hosted the British racing team which was in town for the Montreal Grand Prix. Fred mentioned that they referred to their experience at La Iguana as the “best Mexican food they have ever had”.

La Iguana is actually quite a small restaurant. It seats 64 people in total, including the tables on the sidewalk and the enclosed terrace which is also heated in the winter. Fred indicated that there are many nights when he has to turn away 50 to 60 people since he simply does not have the capacity to accommodate all the guests. For this reason he and Julie came up with the idea of opening another “La Iguana”. The second location will be downtown, and even beyond that Fred and Julie’s dreams extend to opening more locations, later on even in Ontario and different parts of Canada. Their dreams are to open a chain of “La Iguana” restaurants that will bring their concept of Mexican food to Canadians from coast to coast.

Big plans are in store for the new edition of La Iguana which is scheduled to open next spring in downtown Montreal. The new restaurant will be more spacious and feature a grill, allowing guests to order a whole fish hot off the grill. In addition it will also house a museum with authentic artifacts that will be provided by the Mexican Embassy. In addition, the new location will showcase live iguanas and live parrots to create an authentic Mexican atmosphere.

Talking about the history of La Iguana, Fred shared with me that right from the start the restaurant got good reviews. Their interesting dishes and plentiful portions might have something to do with it. Fred indicated that their fajitas and burritos are extremely popular. Ceviche, an authentic Mexican dish with seafood marinated in lime juice and coriander has also become a favourite. La Iguana’s Camarones Acapulco consist of a half a pound of giant shrimps in garlic butter with orange zest and flambéed with Grand Marnier. This signature dish is a crowd pleaser and looks like a sun with yellow rays.

Fred describes the cuisine at La Iguana as upscale Mexican and adds that the wine list is extensive with bottles ranging in price anywhere from $28 to $800. In addition, he and Julie have gone on research trips to Mexico and come back with 35 different types of Tequila that are all privately imported, another unique feature of La Iguana.

Well, with all this talk of tasty delicacies I was getting hungry and I wanted a chance to sample some of La Iguana’s food first-hand. I decided to order the La Iguana Special: a large platter featuring stuffed jalapeños, guacamole, potato skins, cheese quesadilla, chicken wings, nopales (cactus) and flautas (egg rolls), served with sour cream and a spicy sauce. This dish gave me a great overview of La Iguana’s cuisine and I savoured the tastes of Mexico. Then Fred surprised me with Shrimps Acapulco, one of La Iguana’s signature dishes featuring huge shrimp in a Grand Marnier sauce. My appetite was more than satiated but I just had to try La Iguana’s fried icecream for dessert which was a sinful and delicious way to cap off a very satisfying meal.

After some relaxing and listening to the live Cuban music I thanked Fred and headed out into the warm summer night. I walked down Boulevard St. Laurent, or “The Main”, Montreal’s principal north-south connection that divides the city into an eastern (mostly francophone) and western (mostly Anglophone) part. The many restaurants were filled with people and street life was animated. I walked through the pedestrian area on Prince Arthur Street, another popular restaurant area, to head south to Sherbrooke Street, one of Montreal’s main east-west thoroughfares. From there I made it to St. Catharines Street, the headquarters of Montreal’s famous Jazz Festival.

Montreal’s Jazz Festival is in its 27th year and over the course of two weeks from June 28 to July 9, 2006 more than 400 concerts will have been held, the vast majority of them free. B.B. King’s 80th Birthday Event was held on June 28. It is the largest jazz festival in the world and a true signature event for the city, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors. The festival is centered around Place des Arts and the Complexe Desjardins and with my packed schedule over these next few days tonight was my only chance to get a sneak peak at Montreal’s Jazz Festival. The crowds in front of the main stage and on St. Catharines were filling the streets as far as the eye could see and the audience were swaying to the rhythms of Afrodizz, Montreal’s best Afrobeat group, in front of a huge audience at the Scène General Motors .

What started 27 years ago as the dream of jazz aficionado Alain Simard has become the world’s biggest jazz festival that has featured stars like Ray Charles, Chick Corea, John Lee Hooker, Dave Brubeck, Muddy Waters, Dizzy Gillespie, B.B. King, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Chuck Mangione, Tony Bennett, Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, George Benson, Holly Cole, Al Jareau and hundreds more. This years lineup included a tribute to Paul Simon, appearances by Dave Brubeck, Brad Mehldau, Etta James and The Neville Brothers. More than 2000 musicians will be coming to town to excite the crowds.

With African rhythms swirling through my head I strolled back slowly to my hotel, reflecting on Montreal’s superb qualifications as one of the world’s major festival cities. I needed to catch enough rest for my early morning bicycle tour of Montreal.

For the entire article including photos please visit

http://www.travelandtransitions.com/stories_photos/montreal_laiguana_jazzfestival.htm



Justine

peterhutch asked:


-The Apple is a fruit of the temperate zones and only reaches perfection in their cooler regions. It is a fruit of long descent and in the Swiss lake-dwellings small apples have been found, completely charred but still showing the seed-valves and the grain of the flesh. It exists in its wild state in most countries of Europe and also in the region of the Caucasus: in Norway, it is found in the lowlands as far north as Drontheim.

The Custard Apple Tree is erect with a rounded spreading crown and trunk, and flowers not completely open. All parts of this plant, apart from its culinary uses, have great medicinal values, that many of us are unaware of. The decoction made out the leaves of this plant serve as vermifuge.

The custard Apple Plant

The custard apple plant is an evergreen shrub and reaches a maximum of 6 mts. The plant bears flowers in the mature branches and the fruits develop in the mature branches and are usually round. The flesh is white and creamy with a sugary taste. The seeds are black in colour with a shine. The seeds are not consumed as they are slightly poisonous.

Mexican Custard Apple

This fruit, native to the Andes, can be oval, cone-shaped, or heart-shaped; it has a thin, inedible skin with markings that resemble large scales. The skin color varies from brownish-red to green, turning to yellow and almost black as the fruit becomes ripe. Its off-white flesh can be separated into sectors, each with its own shiny black seed, may be granular like a pear, and is sweet, juicy, and flavorful.

Medicinal Uses

The chief dietetic value of apples lies in the malic and tartaric acids. These acids are of signal benefit to persons of sedentary habits, who are liable to liver derangements, and they neutralize the acid products of gout and indigestion. ‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away’ is a respectable old rhyme that has some reason in it.

Medicinal Uses—The chief dietetic value of apples lies in the malic and tartaric acids. These acids are of signal benefit to persons of sedentary habits, who are liable to liver derangements, and they neutralize the acid products of gout and indigestion. ‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away’ is a respectable old rhyme that has some reason in it.

The acids of the Apple not only make the fruit itself digestible, but even make it helpful in digesting other foods. Popular instinct long ago led to the association of apple sauce with such rich foods as pork and goose, and the old English fancy for eating apple pie with cheese, an obsolete taste, nowadays, is another example of instinctive inclination, which science has approved.

Sitafal: The Sugar Apple

Annona squamosa belongs to family Annonaceae and it is known as Sugar apple or Custard apple in English. A shrub or small tree up to 6 m high, Custard apple is edible fruit with white pulp that contains many black shiny seeds in it. It is commonly found in deciduous forests and also cultivated in many parts of India. Pulp of the fruit is eaten fresh or converted into juice or shake. Fruits are normally eaten fresh. It is known for various medicinal properties too.

Grape Apple Salad Recipe

In the catalog of fruit salads, grape apple salad recipe is hitting the top score. Grape apple fruit salad recepie gives you an ultimate opportunity to savor the wonderful taste of beautiful colored fresh grapes and apples. Read further to learn the steps as to how to make the receipe of grape apple salad.

Custard Apples having Protiens

Custard apples are a well-balanced food having protein, fibre, minerals, vitamins, energy and little fat. They are an excellent source of Vitamin C, a good source of dietary fibre, a useful source of Vitamin B6, magnesium and potassium, and with some B2 and complex carbohydrate.



Naomi