Random Carnival Photos

First Parade- "Sorcery in the Old Port"

Carnaval!

There has been a very obvious tingle in the air the last couple of weeks as Mazatlan has been preparing for Carnaval. Also traffic snags, and people, herds and herds of people. So far we have only attended two events, the first being a concert a couple of weeks ago at the Angela Peralta Theatre. It featured the Mazatlan Orchestra and three female opera singers singing various arias by Puccini. Please fogive me for I cannot remember the names of the ladies that sang. Regardless, it was excellent. Last night we watched the Ship to Shore Fireworks display. This is a show that comemmerates the successful defense of Mazatlán from the attacking French warship "La Cordeliere" in 1864 during the French-Mexican war. We chose to take the harbor cruise with Yates Fiesta. It was well worth it just for the view! We were in the harbor next to the ship that represented France so we had excellent seats! The pictures did not come out good, but they are kinda groovy!

For some reason I want a Martini........

Corn Casserole

Okay, I am posting this after numerous requests from my culinary fan base. Buen Provencho!

Corn Casserole

1 c. dry elbow macaroni

1 can whole corn

1 can creamed corn

1/2 c. butter

1/2 c. chopped onion

1 can RoTel (diced tomatoes and chilies)

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 c. velveeta

We have lived in very warm climates, so there is nothing I try to avoid more than to use the stove. Heats the house up way too much. What I usually do is throw it all in a crock pot on high for a couple of hours and give it a stir every once in a while. You can also pour it into a casserole dish, then bake uncovered at 350 degrees for for 30 minutes, give it a good stir, then bake covered for another 30 minutes.

Whale Tale

Ok, so David and I decided to go bottom fishing yesterday (panga boat, maybe 26-28 foot - fishing for red snapper, grouper, etc) By the way, we highly reccomend Pepe's Fishing for both deep sea and bottom fishing. Great guys and we have ALWAYS caught fish with them -(www.pepesfleet.com) Back to the story, it was an absolutlely beautiful day to be out on the water! The sun was shining, about 80 degrees, seas were nice and calm. Suddenly, we hear what sounded kind of like a muffled gunshot in the distance. We look around, then two whale tails appear splashing the water about 200 yards away. Really awesome! We watched them spew water out of their blowholes (hence the muffled sound we heard) and saw the tails splash for about a minute then they disappeared. There was silence and we saw nothing for about another 1-2 minutes. Then I hear the whale sounds just like on the Discovery Channel. Immediately I thought, no, I just want to hear that, it is really my imagination. Then we all heard them. Squeaks and other weird sounding whale talk. We notice it gets closer, and closer, and louder. Then next thing you know, the whale jabber is VERY LOUD and immediately below us, and the bottom of the boat actually seemed like it vibrated just a little from the sounds. We are staring at each other, eyes wide and jaws to our knees, when my reel took off like you wouldn't believe! I was amazed it didn't smoke. Yup, Sandy caught a whale. (it actually probably just ran through my line and got hooked, but whatever, it's my story) David, man of action, jumped in and cut the line. I couldn't do it, I was too busy staring at the reel and trying not to wet my shorts. Anyways, it was a very succesful day catch-wise! Red snapper, perch, yellow tail, sea bass, grouper, so on and so forth. We took some red snapper to The Purple Onion and told the chef to just do with the fish whatever he felt would be best. He lightly fried it and served it with three sauces on the side. A spicy cilantro sauce, a garlic sauce, and a veracruz sauce. They all three were my favorites, it just depended on which one I ate last.

Biggest one of the day (I caught it!) Notice the size 7 1/2 flip flop to give you an idea of length.

The gang at the fish cleaning tables.