Nothing says “America” quite like the hot dog and likewise nothing says “Mexico” quite like the taco.  I have eaten quite a few of both.  Each is quick, easy, and tasty. When I was teaching junior high English in Minnesota our Spanish teacher would prepare tacos as a treat for her students four times a year.  She would commandeer the …

We love Puerto Vallarta.  We like the area in the heart of the old city, with cobblestone streets, not the high rise hotels just south of the airport, all white and glossy, nor the new development called Nuevo Vallarta.  We stay at Los Arco’s, named for the famed monolithic rock formations out in the bay.  We return yearly because we …

Some of us are collectors.  I have a friend who collects cookie jars.  She has perhaps 400 lined up on top of her kitchen cabinets, on specially designed shelves and spread throughout her home.  She didn’t begin by thinking, “I’m going to collect cookie jars.” It just happened.  Friends, knowing her passion, give her cookie jars.  She hunts antique stores …

Aren’t we all looking for that perfect burger?  The one that exemplifies all we want in a burger?  I want my burger a bit thick, like a hockey puck…. and juicy, not perfectly round with the thickness of a CD case.  I shun those pre-made, perfectly formed frozen burgers that are typically thrown on the grill, sometimes even in the …

In fourteen hundred ninety-two Columbus sailed the ocean blue.  He had three ships and left from Spain; He sailed through sunshine, wind and rain.  He sailed by night; he sailed by day.  He used the stars to find his way. How many of us remember that little ditty?  Or maybe only the first two lines?  It cemented in our minds, …

Driving through Tijuana on my way to the border I have crossed Avenida Niños de los Heroes many times, not to be confused with Avenue of the Heroes.  But, why is there an avenue memorializing children?  I learned a fascinating and sad part of Mexicoʼs history. The story has captured the hearts and minds of most Mexicans who look on …