Of course, I knew it was only a matter of time before Joy realized that the big wooden thing with spokes and pedals might be interesting. Sure enough, when I brought it home from my guild meeting today she began poking, prodding, and giving various parts a whirl (with adult supervision, of course). Lookout now, Rosie.
If you thought whirling an archaic textile production devise sounded like fun, just wait. Joy also had her first slumber party tonight . . . sort of. Her buddy Anna (and Anna's mom) came over for a little while so Phillip and I could slip off to a restaurant. The "party" actually didn't last long--Joy went to bed shortly after they arrived, and Anna's dad came by to take her home to sleep, too. We won't tell either of the girls that most slumber parties last until 3:00am and involve lots of junk food and chick flicks. They'll figure that out on their own before we know it.
In case you're wondering about the "Pibil" in this post's title, it refers to a dish we sampled at El Portal this evening. Phillip served his mission in the Yucatan region of Mexico (Cancun was his first area), and he recently learned that El Portal in Pasadena specializes in cuisine from that region. We decided to give it a try, and we certainly weren't disappointed.The atmosphere was classy but comfortable, and the food was great. I had panuchos (chicken tostadas) which were messy but tasty, and Phillip ordered the "Yucatan Trio," a combo platter with three distinctive Yucatan entrees: a Yucatan-style tamale, Poc Chuc, and Cochinita Pibil. The last two are pork dishes flavored with different marinades. As for the third dish, I usually don't get hugely excited about tamales (which are often a little flavor wrapped in a lot of bland), but this one was really tasty. Heck, even the free salsa they gave us when we sat down was good.
Of course, all this begs the question whether their non-Yucatan dishes (enchiladas, tacos, and the like) are as good as the Poc Chuc and Pibil (tell me THAT isn't fun to say). By golly, I guess we'll have to go back and find out.
4 comments:
What do you make at the guild? How much are those wheels? How fun, girls night of fun. Alex loves that resturant too. He worked for Indymac out there in pasedena. He served his mission in Mexico also, and says the food at that resturant is as authenic as you can get without going to mexico to eat.
my grandma {& dad} are from Monterrey in Nuevo Leon...which isn't in the Yucatan, but she made cochinita...and very few mexicans from other regions have ever had it, let alone heard of it. It was always a family favorite of ours...I have the recipe but have yet to try it on my own.
Risa
"Guild" is just a fancy name for people who get together once a month to spin, chat, and snack. At the guild meetings we mainly spin whatever fiber (wool, cotton, silk, etc.) each of us has on hand. Once a person finishes a batch of fiber into yarn they knit it, or crochet it, or weave it, or just leave it in their closet until they can think of something to do with it. Then they move on to their next project.
Risa, I may need to get that cochinita recipe from you . . .
oh how fun!! a date night, one of these days we need to do that again!! i'm glad you found a restaraunt as awesome as it sounds!
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