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| Coastal South Texas: Mesquite, Prickly Pear and an estuary. Location |
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| Two of the four dishes delivered to the table for the $12 entree. The name of the restaurant was the El Dorado. |
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| They taste like chicken. This one is wearing lip stick. |
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| These birds are invariably found in pairs proving the proverb that one good tern follows another. |
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| Prickly pear fruit that birds drilled into and ate the seeds. |
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| Alter at Our Lady of Consolation Church. The best place to get recommendations for authentic, Mexican food are at churches that have Spanish language services. |
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| No blood. Skinny guy on the crucifix. Very subdued for a church with a large Mexican-American base. |
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| Close-up of the grain on a mesquite cutting board. |
Some thoughts on Texas. I moved from Nebraska to Texas many years ago and lived on South Padre Island ( as opposed to Corpus- N Padre) for about 8 years. ( I now live in NE Texas. The border area and the islands are beautiful but Cartels make me nervous so...) Anyway, Prickly Pear Cactus are beautiful when the bloom. Technically the cactus itself ( but for many the fruit only )are also known as " Tuna". The fruit is sweetish and due to seeds is often juiced. ( Makes amazing margaritas !) The cactus itself is de-spined and cut into strips where it is eaten as Nopales. Taste sort of like a slightly sour green bean. You can harvest yourself or Nopales are generally available in grocery stores.
ReplyDeleteYour experience in the restaurant is somewhat common ( Yay ! ). Chips and salsa or pico is almost a given in most Tex-Mex restaurants ( gratis) and then prices are generally low.
Love South Texas...but haven't been to Mexico in many years. Used to go all the time. Seems rather dangerous. Matamoros ( across from Brownsville) has gang/cartel violence fairly often. It gets downplayed but the violence to include kidnapping sometimes crosses the border. Anyone wanting news on ( Mainly Mexican) drug war etc try http://www.borderlandbeat.com/ . Beware, it is sometimes graphic in content with actual pictures of...well what sometimes happens. Im not saying don't ever go to Corpus or farther south . I AM saying use some street smarts to stay safe. As to Mexico...results may vary. Some friends still go, some don't...that includes some who have family in Mexico. ( sad).
Finally a bit of trivia. As I get older I have decided I want to be buried in a South Texas graveyard. LOL silly huh? I don't suppose the where REALLY matters much. So why South Texas Graveyard ? ? IN a Northern cemetery Usually they are designed for the guys who mow ! So, little or no flowers, few decorations...its all about ease of mowing. In a South Texas cemetery typically you can do what you want with your plot. I have seen a grave covered with seashells. Various decorations in addition to or in place of flowers. Some you can see clearly the person was...a ship captain( shrimp usually) or a cowhand or...whatever. Sometimes esp around Día de los Muertos ( Day of the Dead...near Halloween but different) sometimes you may find a cigar or a shot glass and half full bottle of Tequila. The dead are remembered and celebrated. I like that. Yes, sorta almost like Memorial Day except...they cemetery boards don't interfere...its YOUR plot...you do mostly as you ( or realistically friends and family ) want to do.
Nice pics, glad y'all are enjoying yourselves!
ReplyDeleteI sat wells and chased drilling rigs in South Texas for years, all over. There is a third country in the borderlands of Texas and Mexico that is a combination of the two, but is strictly neither one nor the other, in terms of accepted culture and social activity. The law may or may not apply.
ReplyDeleteRegarding prickly pear, you know that you're in a bad drought and it's getting worse when you see the ranchers out with propane tanks strapped on their backs, burning the thorns off the prickly pear so that the cows can eat them safely. Which they will, because everything else is brown and to all appearances, stone dead.