Lunch in Detroit's Mexicantown

Our son, Steve, has been trying to get a date on his calendar for us to go to lunch together, and today was the day.  I've been wanting to go to Detroit's Mexicantown, so that's where we went.

The Mexican neighborhood's identity was solidified in the 1970's and 80's and was officially named Mexicantown then, but it's been home to Hispanics longer than that.  There's a plethora of Mexican restaurants in the area to choose from, but today we went to Mexican Village.  They opened at 11:00 a.m. and we got there around 11:30 when only a few other customers were there, but by the time we left the restaurant was full.  

The graphic below is from the restaurant's website.

There were so many good things on the menu to choose from.  We started with an appetizer of cheese Quesadillas with Guacamole and Con Questo Dip. That was almost enough to fill us up, but we each got the lunch portion of Enchiladas - two [beef or chicken] served with rice and refried beans.  Yummy!

The restaurant [as the above graphic indicates] is located at 18th Street and Bagley, and that's the neighborhood where my mother grew up long before it became Mexicantown. The family home she lived in at 740 18th Street no longer exists.  The address numbers have been changed and an apartment building now sits in its place.

We drove to nearby St. Anne's Catholic Church, the second oldest continuously operating parish in America, where my mother and her Irish family attended.  It's the church where she and my Dad were married 86 years ago, and where her parent's funerals took place.

Several years ago while my parents were still living and in reasonably good health, we took them inside the church that held so many memories for them. One of my mom's brothers was an altar boy there.

 

The photo below is my mom [white hat and coat], her sister, and brother [in his altar boy garments] in front of their 18th Street home.

Right next door to the church is the Catholic school my mom attended through 8th grade, and it looks like it's still in use today.

There are beautiful murals painted on walls of buildings in Mexicantown and the one pictured below was across the street from the restaurant where we ate.  I would love to go back when we have time to drive around and see all of them and visit their food markets and gift shops.  I read where they have a Cinco de Mayo celebration and parade on W. Vernor Street every year. That would be interesting to see.

Thank you, Steve, for a very enjoyable day.

2025 Memorial Weekend

I hope you had a enjoyable Memorial weekend with family and/or friends.  When I got off work at The Whitney last Saturday, we drove to Zeeland, Mi [about a 2 1/2 drive] to spend the holiday weekend with our youngest son, Jeremy, and his family.  It was a fun-filled weekend.

We enjoyed two evenings around their portable patio bonfire pit, visiting, having S'mores, and listening to Izzy play her ukulele.

Ice cream and apple pie while enjoying the fire pit!  ;-)

On Sunday morning we went to church with them at Hope Church, followed by lunch at Vee's Grill and Coney Island.  Izzy ordered a breakfast burrito bowl that I'm anxious to recreate at home, as well as Jerry's breakfast tacos.

In late afternoon we drove the short distance to Saugatuck.  A lot of other people had the same idea as it was very crowded with tourist walking the quaint streets.   We paused for some pictures on our brief walk around town.

Memorial Day was a beautiful sunny day with temps in the low 70's.   So many activities were packed into the day, beginning with cornhole.  I have never tried that game.  Have you?

Jeremy and Ellie competed against Izzy and Jerry [Papa]

After cornhole, Jeremy and the three grands played volleyball [without a net].  Ellie is on a volleyball team and is quite good.

Jeremy played a game of chess with each of his girls who are learning the game.

When chess was done Izzy and Ellie did craft painting on old 45 rpm vinyl records.

Izzy concocted a drink with lemon slices and fresh strawberries that was very refreshing and good.

~ Jeremy with Jerry and Me ~

Then it was time for Jeremy to grill steaks and chicken kabobs.

While dinner was in the making, Ellie, Landon - and even Papa - used the time to shoot some hoops.  Football is Landon's first love, but he's quite good at basketball too.

Izzy made a yummy salad with Arugula, Green Apple slices, and shaved Parmesan tossed with a Lemon Vinaigrette.  I love trying new recipes and I'm anxious to try her salad at home.  I think I'll add some honeyed sliced almonds.

There were Arnold Palmer's to drink and I took my Harney's Blueberry Green tea that I enjoy too.

As has been said, "all good things must come to an end", so around 6:00 o'clock we loaded our car, said goodbye, and began our journey back home with many wonderful memories of our time spent together.

How did you spend the holiday?

Gifts, Recipes, Repurposing and International Tea Day

Yesterday I drove down to the area where I grew up to have lunch with some high school girlfriends.  My life-long girlfriend, Sandy [since 7th grade], was there and brought me a belated birthday gift she had made for me - a cute tea-themed tote bag and a HomeGoods gift card.  Thank you, Sandy!  My Trader Joe's tea-themed tote bag that I've carried to work since 2018 is ready for retirement.  Distance prevents us from seeing each other as often as we'd like, but we have scheduled an outing to Swan House Tearoom and Jeffreys Antique Mall in Findlay, OH next month.

A friend of hers, who I've gotten to know through tea, also sent along the cutest denim bag filled with 40 handmade all-occasion gift cards.   What a labor of love!  Thank you, Lois!

Ironically, the restaurant the girls chose to go to yesterday was Mexican and I've been experimenting with Hispanic recipes since last week.  Timing was perfect.

My hubby and I try to eat more fish and poultry than red meat so last week I tried a good recipe for Fish Tacos using seasoned, baked cod and flour tortillas.  I love wild caught cod from Costco. The tacos were good, but I've got another recipe to try using blackened fried fish with corn tortillas.  I ordered two taco racks from Amazon to make preparation easier and I'm anxious to use them. Even after being married almost 59 years there's still kitchen equipment to be purchased.

On Monday, I experimented with making Creamy Chicken Enchiladas.  I used a recipe that called for canned Cream of Chicken soup mixed with sour cream, but when I make them again I'll use a recipe from Joanna Gaines' cookbook [and season 2 of her cooking show] where the cream sauce is made from scratch.

At the restaurant yesterday, I noticed Seafood Enchiladas on their menu.  Doesn't that sound  good?   Now to search for recipes in my cookbooks.

For Mother's Day, my daughter-in-law tucked a package of granola in my gift bag made by Bowerman's in Holland, MI.  It was SO good sprinkled on my Kashi whole wheat shredded cereal or steel-cut oatmeal every morning, that I ate it all up.  That sent me searching through my cookbooks for a granola recipe.  I've never made it before but it's quite simple to make.  I found a recipe that sounded good in an Amish cookbook I acquired in 1997, and made a batch this morning.  I'm not a gardener, so my kitchen is my happy place where I can prepare good food.  Have you tried any new recipes lately?  Do you enjoy experimenting with recipes?

Below is a picture of it fresh from the oven.  It turned out good, but I will make a few tweaks to the recipe the next time around.  The oatmeal, honey, almonds and cinnamon are healthy, the brown sugar and butter not so much.  ;-)

In 2012 I purchased a set of light blue Madrid Depression glass dishes at an antique mall.  Below is a tablescape picture using of some of them.

Fast forward to this past Easter, when I was assembling Easter baskets for The Whitney.  While shopping for supplies at Target, I saw cute light blue egg cups in the dollar section.  My mind immediately flashed to my light blue Depression glass dishes and how perfect they would be for holding clotted cream for scones at each place setting.  It's always fun to repurpose things and who knows I might use them for egg cups sometime too.  There were only seven in the bin so I took what they had.  I'm looking forward to using them. 

In closing, today is International Tea Day.  The United Nations observes the day to highlight the significance of tea, its cultural heritage, economic importance, and health benefits.  Enjoy your cuppa!   Blueberry Green tea is in my cup -  Chinese green tea with lemongrass, blueberry and vanilla.

This and That

On May 4th I blogged about finding a 3-pc. dish set [luncheon plate, cup and saucer] in the Tea Leaves pattern by Department 56 at Salvation Army for $5.99.  Fast forward to my post on May 8th when my girlfriend and I went to The Pink House for tea.  On one of the nearby tables was a fresh floral arrangement in a Tea Leaves teapot.  My instinct told me the lid probably got broke and they repurposed the teapot as a vase.  Our server confirmed I was right.  When I got home I decided to look on E-bay to see if I could find a teapot with lid, and I did!  With shipping it was $25.56 and I had a gift card to cover it.  The teapot arrived this week.  Now I need to find a sugar and creamer.

At least 8 years ago, and maybe longer, my church had a garage sale for our building fund.   I donated several Easter dishes, and when they didn't sell, my daughter-in-law asked if she could have them.  I happily agreed.  Fast forward [again] to last Easter 2024 when I bought a new [to me] set of 222 Fifth Sydney bunny dishes.   My mind went back to the Easter dishes I donated and I remembered a cute butter dish was among the items.  I asked Sharon if she would mind letting me have it to go with my new dishes.  [It's really just a loan because she will get it back again when I'm no longer able to entertain.]  She said she wasn't sure she still had the dishes but she would look in her basement when she got the chance.  She's a very busy gal with many responsibilities, so when I didn't hear back regarding the butter dish I just forgot about it.   This past week I got a text and picture from her saying "Look what I found".

Last night she texted again saying she would bring the box of dishes to church and I could go through it and take out anything else I wanted.  I wasn't a complete Indian giver because I didn't take 10 bunny luncheon plates and six bunny mugs, but I did take a bunny platter and 12 bunny napkin rings. I wonder why I donated them since I love holiday dishware??? Regardless, I'm very happy they're back home now.  ;-)

When my May/June issue of Tea Time magazine arrived, I leafed through it and on page 10 From the Bookshelf I saw the book, Tea Under the Palms. Since my hubby and I had Afternoon Tea in the Palm Court at The Plaza Hotel for our 50th Wedding Anniversary, I decided to order the book.  It arrived this week and I'm anxious to read it.

Another book... when I met up with my cousins last fall at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island they told me a paternal aunt [by marriage] had written a nice cookbook in 2004 to go with her specialty food store in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., which eventually transitioned into a popular restaurant.  The last time I saw my former aunt [she and my uncle divorced] was in 1958.  Her son [my first cousin 14 years younger than me], recently emailed regarding family genealogy.  In our correspondence I asked him if I could obtain one of his mother's cookbooks if any were left, and it arrived in last week's mail.   Probably one of the best recipes in the book for me will be my dear grandmothers oatmeal cookies.  Can't wait to make them.

My sweet daughter came over on Monday with a pre-planted geranium arrangement to go in a small decorative planter on my front porch and individual geraniums to plant in a larger plant box, for my Mother's Day gift.  

Tiffany, her daughter [my granddaughter], spent Mother's Day at Huntington Beach in California.  Tiffany posted this picture of her and her daughters, Evie and Juliette, on Monday.

For a bit of humor in wrapping up this post, I saw the cute teacup cartoon below on Facebook and wanted to share it.