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Passport Book or Passport Card will be required by June 01, 2009.
Passport Books are valid for international travel by air, sea or land.
Passport Cards are valid when entering the United States from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda at land border crossing. Passport Cards are NOT valid for internatonal travel by air.
Passport Books/Passport Cards are valid for 10yrs. for adults & 5yrs. for miners (16yrs. & under)
For more info & fee: http://
travel.state.gov/passport/ppt_card/ppt_card_3926.html
Passport:
Apply for U.S. Passport (First time Applicant & for minor)
Lost or Stolen U.S. Passport (report and/or replace)
Renew your U.S. Passport
Changing or Correcting Info to your U.S. Passport
http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738_2.html
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| July 29th, 2010 04:10:02 am |
 There's an ongoing dispute about the origin of chimichangas that is not likely to be decided any time soon. Are they Mexican or American? Wikipedia (which covers the dispute thoroughly) says the most likely scenario is that the chimichanga, or chivichanga, has long been a part of local cuisine of the Pimera Alta of Arizona and Sonora, with its early range extending southward into Sinaloa. But Tucson, AZ likes to take credit for their invention, too, and they're darned serious about their chimichangas (they like 'em big and fat in Tucson).
My favorite story (and the most colorful one) is this: Monica Flin, the founder of the Tucson, Arizona, restaurant El Charro, accidentally dropped a pastry into the deep fat fryer in 1922. She began to utter a Spanish expletive "chi..." (chingada), but quickly stopped herself and instead exclaimed chimichanga, the Spanish equivalent of "thingamajig".
However they came to be, the chimichanga has spread out from the Tucson area big time (the picture is from a restaurant in Illinois!), and aren't we glad about that!
You can put just about anything you want in one of these deep-fat-fried burritos and it'll taste good. Note that when you're looking for recipes you'll discover that cheddar is the cheese most often used, and that's totally not Mexican. I love Mexican cheeses, so I'm most likely to use a nice queso chihuahua instead. Use whatever you like.
Anyhow, here's my recipe for chorizo-filled chimichangas (Mexican chorizo, not Spanish!). I hope you'll like it!
CHIMICHANGAS DE CHORIZO
Serves 6
Ingredients
- 6(12-14inch) flour tortillas
- 1 lb Mexican Chorizo
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 1/2 Cup red chili sauce or enchilada sauce
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 2 Cups shredded queso chihuahua, divided (or other cheese, your choice)
- 2 Cups shredded lettuce or cabbage
- 2 Cups finely sliced green onions (including some of the green tops)
Directions
Warm tortillas by wrapping them in aluminum foil and heating them in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes, or wrap them lightly in paper towels and microwave on high for 6 or 7 seconds per tortilla. Keep warm while you prepare other ingredients.
In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, brown chorizo until crumbly; drain out the fat, but leave the chorizo in the pan.
Add the diced yellow onion, chile or enchilada sauce, salt and pepper. Saute 2 to 3 minutes until onions are transparent. Remove from heat.
In the center of each warm tortilla, spoon 1/6 of meat filling. Sprinkle half of the cheese (1 cup total) over the top of the filling (reserve remaining cheese). Fold tortilla over the filling, tucking in the ends to make a secure fat tube or rectangle, and fasten with wooden toothpicks.
In a large pot or deep fryer over medium heat, add at least 4 inches of vegetable oil. Heat oil to 375 to 400 degrees F. Fry the chimichangas, 1 or 2 at a time, 3 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oil, drain on paper towels and place on serving plates.
Top with remaining cheese, lettuce or cabbage, green onions, and any optional ingredients that you prefer (chopped tomatoes, olives, jalapenos, crema Mexicana, etc.), and serve immediately while they are still hot.
I like to serve these with a side of guacamole, a good salsa Mexicana and some rice. Be prepared to feel sleepy when you've finished them... ;-)
Buen provecho!
If you have a favorite recipe for a Mexican or Mexican-inspired dish, I'd love to add it to our recipe box! email lahuerita2@gmail.com (and put "recipe" in the subject box so I'll know what it's about) |
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| July 28th, 2010 04:10:02 am |
 Remember in the movie Men in Black when Frank (the alien pug) admonished Agents J and K for their lack of imagination regarding the size and location of a galaxy? The galaxy is here! he said. You humans! When're you gonna learn that size doesn't matter? Just 'cause something's important doesn't mean it's not very, very small.
Tide pools are like that. Often very very small, they are whole galaxies unto themselves. If you peer into one long enough to become engrossed with the swirl and intricacy of life unfolding within its boundaries, you will realize that you have entered into a whole universe previously unknown to you, with each tide pool its own busy little galaxy.
Rocky Point is one of the best places Ive ever known for the exploration of tide pools, and for the most part they are quite easy to access. Furthermore, because of the extreme tides you can access all of the major intertidal subzones without difficulty, from the Spray/Splash Zone of barnacles and lichens to the High and Mid-Tide Zones of hermit crabs, sea anemones, crabs and starfishes to the Low Tide Zone which teems with both vegetable and animal life of astonishing variety.
The Mid Zone is the most active because it is fully covered and uncovered each day, with many creatures moving in and out in search of food. It is perhaps the most fun for kids of all ages. Here you can watch the drama of hermit crabs battling to defend their territories, star fish, sea stars, sea slugs, mussels, sea urchins, tiny brine shrimp, squid and more, all pursuing the minutiae of their daily lives.
If youre lucky you can watch colorful sea anemones arguing over territory, their white fighting tentacles reaching out to sting each other over and over until one cries uncle. Once the war is over the loser usually moves.
Its a great temptation to pick stuff up for closer examination (what is more exciting to kids than picking up a shell and discovering a crab living inside?) But make sure your children are careful about what they touch, because some of those wonderful creatures are toxic! And when the exploration is finished, be sure anything picked up is put back where it was found. Life is precious, even to the exotic inhabitants of those intertidal galaxies.
 Some of the best places in Rocky Point for tide pooling: Cholla Bay; the southern end of Sandy Beach; Playa Bonita/Hermosa; Playa Mirador; the southern end of Las Conchas. There are other good places, too, awaiting your discovery.
The best places to learn about Puerto Penascos tide pools: CEDO (Intercultural Center for the Study of Deserts and Oceans) and CET-MAR Aquarium, and the beautifully illustrated book The Edge of the Sea of Cortez: Tidewalkers' Guide to the Upper Gulf of California, with more than 1,000 photos; and of course your own explorations.
Come discover the fascinating universe of tide pools in Rocky Point. Awaken your inner beachbum
Photograph of sea anemones fighting by Mila Zinkova in Northern California, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Article by La Huerita, originally published in Mexico Living Magazine (now Baja Good Life) |
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| July 23rd, 2010 04:10:03 am |
 -by El Gitano Peasco, "The Peasco Gypsy"
Fox News is reporting on their website today, July 22, 2010 in a large bold font headline that State Department Restricts Diplomat Travel in Mexico, Warns U.S. Citizens. That bit of news is followed by a warning to everyone to use "extreme caution" and that in an 8 page advisory released about a week ago diplomats and their families are told that certain cross-border travel has been banned altogether.
The piece on Foxs website goes further, telling their readers that The eight-page advisory released last week outlined a host of dangers for U.S. travelers and residents in Mexico -- firefights, carjackings, kidnappings and more. The State Department said that as of last Thursday, mission employees and their families for the most part are forbidden from driving across the U.S.-Mexico border en route to or from any post inside Mexico.
The State Department said the restrictions were imposed out of concern for "road safety" along the border, where travelers have been targeted for robbery, "followed and harassed" and "caught in incidents of gunfire between criminals and Mexican law enforcement." The State Department said drug gangs are also setting up roadblocks to prevent the military and law enforcement from responding.
The article goes on about U.S. Troops being deployed to the U.S. side of the border, the use of car bombs (of the IED variety used in Iraq and Afghanistan) and the folks of Fox (TV) news have had several segments recently telling their audience that the terrorist are joining forces with the Mexican Drug Lords in a further attempt to disrupt the U.S. Government...
The State Department warning and ban also includes, for the first time, our neighbor city of Nogales and it may likely take but one more event in Peasco before we, too, are put on the ban list. But without that ever happening the simple truth of the matter is that U.S citizens are hearing this news all too often (on Fox, CNN and elsewhere) and are scratching the Northern section (if not all) of this great Nation off of their 'to-do vacation, holiday-merry making and retirement lists.
Sadly, the U.S. demand for drugs will not decrease nor will the miserably failed U.S. led four-decade-old global War On Drugs. The Drug Lords will continue to gain wealth; many citizens on both sides of the border will continue to live in fear and it wouldnt surprise me one bit if Phoenicians and others begin to slowly and quietly unload their properties here at bargain basement prices, which will further affect the already fragile economy of Puerto Peasco.
Viva Puerto Peasco y Mxico!
elgitanopenasco@gmail.com |
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