9.

Today, Mum and I ventured into the great big world to celebrate el Dia de los Muertos. In short, it's a Mexican holiday that celebrates life and those that have passed on before us. In primary school, we used to decorate sugar skulls and have our faces painted and although tempted to join the queue of five year olds waiting to be turned into mini Catrina's, I stayed behind my camera today and nibbled on some churros instead. The bright colors always make me feel cheery and we couldn't have asked for more perfect weather. I tend to think of death as being grim, but this holiday always gives me a fresh perspective on things, ya know? Here are a few shots of my most favorite alters and the decorations and gifts people have left. Espero que disfruten!

3.

In between doing the gazillion loads of laundry that have somehow accumulated over the last few days (seriously, how many socks can one wear over a weekend???) I managed to whip up a tasty tidbit for lunch and thought I'd share.

1. To start things off, I dug out some corn tortillas and tossed them on a cast-iron comal. For anyone who isn't familiar with a comal, it is a flat griddle used to cook tortillas. All you have to do is let it heat up, chuck on a tortilla, flip it a few times, burn your fingers once, and walah! you've got the base for any number of delicious meals (quesadillas, burritos, soft tacos, etc.)

2. Since I am fairly impatient, I like to nibble on a little something something while cooking. We usually have queso fresco lying around so if you break off a few wedges, pop them in a warm tortilla, it is so absolutely perfect.

3. Here it is, the grand poobah: leftover bow-tie pasta reheated in a bowl with potato quarters, spanish rice, cooked/diced green beans, steamed spinach, parmesan cheese, and crushed red peppers. It was a tasty way to clear out all those leftovers from the fridge and hunker down for my noontime telenovela.

Until next time, até logo!