365-28 black and white flame

365-27 waiting for summer...

As the sun sets, it casts a warm glow on these torches waiting for summer and BBQ nights to burn once again....

365-26 Chico

Sofie's mate Chico couldn't be left behind --

365-25 Sofie girl

After much fidgeting our mutt sofie girl finally settled down long enough for a photo

365-24 Uncle Julio beckons

Outside my work office window, the twinkling neon lights of Uncle Julios beckons daily to go over and enjoy some enchiladas and margaritas....

365-23 it's movie night

Can't have movies without popcorn -

365-22 Almost Out!

Hate when my candle is at the end of it's life cycle - -

365-21 and Project 52

365-20 spring rolls

These were so yummy and i was so hungry i forgot to take a picture until i had practically eaten the whole thing. These were fried spring rolls - the wrapper was light and crispy with a delicious veggie filling and sauce. This room service selection was pretty good!

365-19 Look out below!

I love looking down from high places - as long as there is something to hold on to! This is the view from the elevator going down

365-18 Wimpy's

Nothing wimpy about this burger!

Wimpy's Burgers was the pick of the day for lunch.

365-17 Street reflections

Not sure what where the reflection is coming from here - the office windows or vehicles. I like the effect.

365-16 Houston

View from the 28th floor on a sunny afternoon

365-15* Upside Down

I've been out of town for work reasons. Took photos but couldn't post them. Now i get to play catch up! I believe the assignment for last week was upside down - so here i held my camera upside down to take a photo of the underside of this flower arrangement -- and beneath that a side view.

365-14 Are you ready for Valentine's Day?

It's a month away, but every where i go now i see hearts and bears -- and when shopping in a Mexican market you'll see the Virgin de Guadalupe in there too...

365-13 Blingy Boots

These are some blingy (and pointy) boots. Made for interesting window shopping.

365-12 Piñatas

For all those parties during Christmas  through Candlemas there is an ever abundance of piñatas. For each party there must be  a piñata full of traditonal goodies - oranges, peanuts, cookies and of course candy.

365-11 You can tell its still Christmas season!

In some U.S. Mexican Catholic homes Christmas doesn't stop on Dec. 24 and 25. It continues on with another celebration on Jan. 6 to celebrate Kings Day - when the three kings found and paid homage to the Christ Child. This is when the Kings bread or Rosca de Reyes is served (similar to the one served during Mardi Gras) and includes a small baby Jesus inside the bread.
The person who gets the baby Jesus in their slice of bread gets the honor of hosting the next Christmas season party on Feb. 2 (day of Candelaria or Candlemas) to dress and take up the baby Jesus from his honored place in the manger. He will then be kept in another place of honor all year until next Christmas Eve when he will be put down again to symbolize his birth.
At the local Mexican market you had your choice of baby Jesus statues in case you didn't have one already --

365-10 Elote or Corn-in-a-Cup

We had a hankering for Elote or Corn-in-a-Cup. you might ask what is the big deal about corn in a cup? it's not just as it sounds. It's roasted corn (while still on the cob!), then the corn is sliced off the cob and served in a cup. You then add some mayo or sour cream, parmesan cheese, salt, lime juice and hot sauce (salsa valentina usually). It is the best corn you've ever had!! You may have seen local food carts that sell these in some mexican markets, fairs or gas stations.

You can also make this at home by grilling your own corn-on-the-cobs and following the steps above or frozen corn (following cooking instructions and then add toppings) or use canned corn.

365-9 It's snowing!!

I know by now most people are probably sick of snow but this is our first snow of the season. Supposed to snow all day and into the night --- once it's done i'll have had my snow 'fix' for the year.

365-8 She said Yes! to the dress

In October i posted the news of my daughters engagement. Well she found her dream dress! We had planned on spending the day going to a couple of dress shops. She knew what she wanted as she had seen it on a Spanish soap opera (La Dueña) and had reearched it online. She managed to find it at this one shop so we went there first. In addition to the ruffled one she had set aside 3 or 4 others that she liked and planned to try them on just to make sure. Well she tried on the ruffled one and it looked beautiful on her. Then she tried on the second one -- it looked nice too, but not as nice as the first. So that sealed it. She really had her heart set on the first one anyway and when you know what you want and it feels right, why go through anymore.
Now we just need to take care of all the other details.

365-7 Sunrise!

the sunsets and sunrise have been gorgeous of late. I need more practice to really do it justice -- and a better spot to catch the view. Manager to get up early enough to catch this one today --

365-6 present

Today is Dia de Reyes or the day of Kings. The day when the Three Kings finally arrived to pay homage to the Baby Jesus. In Mexico this is celebrated by children leaving out their shoes in order to receive gifts from the "Reyes", just like when they left gifts for the baby Jesus. Mostly the gifts are coins, candy, small toys - because really how much can you fit inside a shoe? I wish we would have had this custom here when my kids were little - would have been way less expensive.

Today upon arriving at the office i found a gift of sorts - a feather on my desk. I'm sure it was inadvertently left by the cleaning crew -- but it's a neat feather and will go into my craft supply box. Perhaps it will find its way onto some mail art.

365-5 Texture

Just for kicks, while sitting at the light the other day waiting for it to change from red to green - i took a picture of this. Could it be a rug, pillow, car upholstery? nope, it was my skirt material...

365-4 Creepy house for sale

This house has been on the market for awhile - before it was put on sale i didn't even know there was a house here there was so much brush and trees covering it all up. Very creepy. It will take someone with loads of money to clean up the land and build a new house here. i doubt this one is any good, it has not been taken care of.....i did like how the green stands out from the dark, grey, dismal color...

365-3 Aromatic memories.....

Do you have moments when sometimes just the smell or aroma of something will trigger a certain memory (i.e. pine=Christmas) or if of food, you can "fill up" just on the smell of it.....Coffee is one of those for me....i love the smell of fresh ground coffee. i ground a bag at a time and the scent of it just fills me up and i've had my coffee 'fix' for the day. What does it for you?

365-2 Here comes the sun

You know it's going to be a great day when you can see the sunshine coming through...

365-1 Buñuelos!!

Buñuelos are a crispy, sweet, cinnamony treat that is served during Christmas and New Years in Mexico. Whenever we would go visit relatives in Mexico during Christmas time - we were served mountains of these along with tamales, hot punch, chocolate or coffee. This year i found an easier way to make the Buñuelos and thought i'd give it a try. Instead of mixing a dough and rolling out in nice perfect rounds (not easy to do), you can use a ready-made flour tortilla and whip these up in no time!

You'll need a package of ready-made flour tortillas, oil for frying (about 1/4 cup) and some cinnamon and sugar for sprinkling on top.

Add the oil to a fry pan and heat until very hot. Then gently slip in one tortilla. You can also cut the tortilla in strips and fry several strips at a time. These work great to serve with ice cream. This go around i made the nice big round ones. You'll need to flip the tortilla to get it browned on both sides. This is easiest with a pair of tongs. These cook really fast so you'll need to keep an eye on them so they don't burn.

Once browned on both sides, set on a paper towel to drain and while still hot sprinkle some sugar and cinnamon evenly over the top of the Buñuelo. Some stores will sell the cinnamon and sugar in one container already mixed. This can be found in the spice section of the store. Serve while still warm. Enjoy!