My favorite Mexican food joint in Spokane Washington

Abelardo's 11519 E. Sprague Spokane Valley
(near N. Bowdish rd.) 509-924-7485

Finally, a Mexican food joint, in Spokane that we like . After trying 5 different Mexican food restaurants, we landed on a good one. So far we've eaten at Abelardo's 3 times for breakfast and it's been great. Big burrito's that I can never finish, great breakfast burrito offerings, I had a Chorizo Burrito, friendly service, clean, good value, and Homemade tortilla chips! Yes homemade, every morning, this is the mark of people who care about food.The only drawback is they have no coffee yet although I have mentioned it a few times. I've been drinking Jamaica- a drink made from hibiscus flowers with my breakfast burritos, that's a good alternative . I have also brought my own coffee in with me with no issue as I am rather particular at times. We haven't had any other meals there but plan on it in the future, so far so good. Spokane's really coming up in the world. Thanks Abelardo's, for bringing your good food to Spokane

Books I have enjoyed on the Armenian Experience

http://www.amazon.com/Road-Home-Story-Courage-Survival/dp/068814425X/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Dog-Fate-American-Uncovers/dp/0767902548


http://www.abebooks.com/Voyages-Najarian-Peter-Ararat-Press/629605410/bd

El Bebop Kid

These are a few favorites around the homestead, you can take the boy out of Texas, but you can't take Texas out of the man

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddy_Fender

Presenting the beauty of Hispanic Culture

Part of the reason I started this blog was to compile a place to display the beauty of Hispanic culture for myself because I am so drawn to it and it has been a part of my life, and for others. I am also compiling this information for my nephew- you know who you are, so that he might be inspired to study and improve his grades in his Spanish language course. If only they would teach and show the incredible contributions of Hispanic culture , music in particular, the kids may be more inclined to learn. From what I remember of Spanish language class in school, the subject matter was rather dry, dull, and full of repetition rather than inspiration that would lead to yearning to learn. All I have to do is listen to the great musician Celia Cruz speak Spanish with such emotion, and I am inspired to pick up my Spanish language dictionary and learn more. This you tube video is to me one of the most beautiful pieces of music, haunting, leading the mind over faraway landscapes. The composer and pianist, Joaquin Rodrigo is one more of the great contributors to the genius of Hispanic culture, enjoy

Curiosities- The Rio Grande Valley of Texas

The Rio Grande Valley in South Texas is some 90% Latino and yet they opened a Taco Bell fast food restaurant and Latino's actually eat there. Yeah, yeah I know, Italians also eat at the Olive Garden -go figure-


They have a taco joint called "El Pato" (the duck) http://www.elpatomexicanfood.com you can get a peanut butter and jelly"pato" in a flour tortilla there.( This was my hubby's favorite restaurant as a kid). In all fairness I have had a few peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in a pita bread- the Armenian version of this- To quote John Cougar Mellencamp"Ain't that America?"

It seems like more people drive on the shoulder of the highways and roads than drive in the lanes of the highway in some of the rural areas, now I live in a rural area and no one does that here, so" splain Lucy?"(Desi Arnaz expression from "I Love Lucy" t.v show) Is this fear or saving gas,unreliable old trucks, or what?

The water at the beach down there is almost as warm as the hot air temperature. Having spent much time at the Jersey shore in my youth, I did not find this very refreshing

There is great Birding and Butterfly watching in South Texas http://southtexasnature.com
and snowbirding when Retirees come down from the midwest in winter to find warmth

William S. Burroughs, the famous novelist, lived in South Texas for awhile and described it as "this valley of heat and boredom" my husband who grew up there might agree, but on the other hand,as an outsider, I found it rather fascinating. Burroughs also said- there is a strong death force there"death hangs over the valley like an invisible smog"

There is a myth about the Valley reeling people in if they try and get away, people move away and then are mysteriously drawn back there according to the book "The Lost Years Beats in South Texas" It seems some of the people we've know have relived many of the stories in this book, from dying with wild cats to moving away and being reeled back in,

http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Years-William-S-Burroughs/dp/1585445479

Arizona border situation

our Latina cousin who lives down in south Texas sent us this, a sense of humor runs in our families. Sometimes all you have left in a sad situation is humor

Eco- Ganas ( ganas=striving,wanting, drive)

I have this friend who I jokingly refer to at times as" the little engine that could "(children's book reference) as she is so full of drive and ambition and wanting things in her life. She is currently growing a growing business, helping to revive a small town main street with her big dreams and vision of bringing good local food to the community We were discussing the nature of wanting and acquiring things and desiring improvements in one's life and I said to her "Bobbi, you are so funny, you have what the Mexicans call "ganas"( strong desire, drive, wanting improvements) only you don't' have regular ganas you have "eco ganas" which means all her striving is for environmentally sustainable stuff like- solar panels, a rainwater harvesting system for her house, bigger greenhouses and hoop houses. She is a thoughtful person who makes conscientious choices in her life from hiring local artisans to make her furniture, getting a reclaimed wood floor, and many others. I only wish that there were more people out there like my friend. I hope that we can evolve into striving for a better world, where keeping score can mean someone went overboard helping to solve problems in an innovative way. My eco heroes are not the people who talk the loud talk and then walk a different one, but the people trying to make a difference. Willie Nelson driving around to gigs in a bus fueled by biodiesel, Dennis Weaver who built and lived in an earthship, Ed Begley jr. who peddles his bike to generate electricity and Amory Lovins and Hunter Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute
http://money.cnn.com/2007/09/26/news/newsmakers/willie_nelson/index.htm

http://www.premiersystems.com/earthship/
http://www.rmi.org/rmi/

A way forward perhaps

Tortada?

Taco Bell has a new product- the Tortada
What is this, a torta (sandwich) with a patada (kick) attached?
Who exactly is coming up with this invented corporate gringo lingo?




Personally all the Mexicans I know loved the Taco Bell dog so just in case you've missed him you can view him in this video

La LLorona- The Weeping Woman

Double Crossed-poem for our elders

Happy Record Store Day

Today has been deemed Record Store Day- http://www.recordstoreday.com/Home In honor of Indie record stores I thought I'd talk about my favorite record store that opened up the world of Latin music to me many years ago. I was living in New york City on E. 12th st and was spending quite a bit of time on 14th street which at the time had a lot of Bodegas, and Latin influenced stores where the sounds of Spanish being spoken, and joyous sounds of Latin music along with the noise of traffic on a busy cross town street were a constant pulsating backdrop to; dress shops offering cheap colorful clothing, gadget shops, camera stores, and audio equipment stores, drug stores, and more. People walked differently around there. There was more zip in their step, song in their walk, and attitude in their expressions. I would use the subway station at Union Square Station a lot. It was there, in a store underground in the subway station, literally a hole in the wall, Latin music store, where my love for Latin music blossomed. I had always loved and listened to Latin music on the local radio stations in the New York City area. I loved the pounding spirit of life and upbeat rhythms in the music. One day I wandered into the subway station music store and asked the salesman what music he would recommend if I wanted to hear some of the best Latin music. I still have a few of his recommends. He gave me handfuls of Celia Cruz, Ray Baretto and Tito Puente, Mongo Santa maria,recordings etc.., as well as others, but since I was young and on a limited budget I walked out with mostly Celia Cruz and Ray Barretto. It has remained my favorite music ever since as well as opening up a whole new world to me. So thank you whoever you were in the record store in the subway station for giving me my Latin music education. It just so happens that my Mexican American mother in law also loved the music of the Cuban genius, Celia Cruz. How often does talent span generations like that? I am posting some videos for you to see why we both loved Celia Cruz. The second video also features the genius of Ray Barretto a Puerto Rican American

cultural crossovers-(term, not a pastry)

Japanese Tako salad-can you believe it? There actually
are no tacos in this salad,
just octopus!

not to be confused with the Tex Mex taco salad. Personally, I enjoy both tacos and salad but separately, not mixed together

Japanese Bonito Flakes, these are not pretty flakes (bonito means pretty in Spanish), but dried tuna, and just to confuse the issue even more I am talking about tuna the fish, not tuna the cactus fruit. Aye! Dios Mio

http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ecoph19.htmhttp://www.mexconnect.com/articles/356-nopales-tunas-and-pitayas

sometimes a tamale is not just a tamale

So if you think that this global cross mixing of cultures is a recent thing, guess again. It seems that a Sicilian in the 1890's moved to Butte Montana where there was a huge copper mine as well as other mines in the surrounding area, and started making tamales, but not Mexican tamales- the family called them Phillipine tamales although they are made of cornmeal and beef and any Phillipine tamales I've seen are made from banana leaves and all kinds of exotic ingredients not resembling corn or beef. Perhaps Mr. Truzzolino was just inventive and came up with a fast food item that was easily transported into the mines by the workers. In fact what the tamale looks like is more of a Chicago style tamale that was popularized at the Chicago worlds fair in 1893. The company is still alive today and making their brand of tamales in Butte Montana which does not have a very big Latino community. They also happen to distribute their tamales to our local supermarket here in Idaho which is where I was able to snag a photo and start this curious journey into the History of a Butte tamale. Aye Dios Mio, It's an interesting world out there, and probably has been for quite some time.- Apparently the hamburger, the cracker jack and juicy fruit gum also came out of the Chicago world's fair in 1893

http://www.mtstandard.com/articles/2002/03/04/newslocal/export37422.txt

Mexican food/Armenian food- commonalities

if you want to make Mexican food, first start by chopping some onions

if you want to make Armenian food, first start by chopping some onions

both cultures use cilantro, only the Armenians use the cilantro seed which is also called the spice coriander

both cultures use fideo-those little noodles, only Armenians call it another name that I only know how to pronounce but not spell, and put it in rice, it's basically a vermicelli noodle

both cultures use favas or habas or fava beans

both cultures use chick peas or ceci beans or garbanzo beans or as the local farmers who grow them here in Idaho refer to them - garbs

There will be more posts on this topic in the future, this is only a start. Please feel free to add to the ongoing list by commenting

For my fellow Armenians

Chilean Poets-Prayers for Chile

"We philosophers are not free to divide soul from body as the people does, we are even less free to divide soul from spirit. We are not thinking frogs, not observing and recording apparatus with disconnected intestines- we have continually to bear our thoughts out of our pain, and like mothers, share with them what we have in us of blood, heart, fire, joy, passion, torment, conscience, destiny, fatality. To live-that means for us continually to transform everything we are into light and fire; also everything that encounters us, we can do absolutely nothing other" Nietzsche

Armenian Filmmaker Artavazd Peleshian

http://theseventhart.info/2009/08/08/the-view-from-above-films-of-artavazd-peleshian/

Our cultural popstar divas

Selena was Mexican American, Cher is part Armenian

Happy Vaelntine's Day

decent Mexican food is directly proportional to Latino population

Or at least that is my theory. Around here, not so many Latinos, marginally good Mexican food. Spokane Washington, not many Latinos, lousy Mexican food(in fairness we tried 4 different Taco joints, holding out hope each time, only to be sorely disappointed) Tri-Cities Washington on the other hand, large Latino population, decent Mexican food. Our favorite place in Pasco is- Junior's Tacos 530 W Court StPasco, WA 99301 They don't seem to have a website because they don't need one,everyone knows it's good and they are concentrating on the food. It's in a homey reworked fast food joint,authentic food ,inexpensive and everybody friendly, bi-lingual too.

Armenian music

Mount Ararat

It is said that all good Armenians have at least one good picture of Mount Ararat in their house so how about on their blog too! It is believed that Noah's ark landed on Mount Ararat. The funny thing is the mountains of Idaho look a lot like this, maybe that's why I feel at home here

photocredit:http://Photography: http://www.andrewsevag.com/

where Tortilla Flat meets My name is Aram

I'm talking about the books by writers John Steinbeck and William Saroyan here. One of these days we'll have to make a pilgrimage to Fresno or L.A. to see all the other Armenolatinos,as both places have large Armenian and Mexican populations. By the way, does anyone really think Spencer Tracy is plausible as a Mexican in the Movie Tortilla Flat?, what's up with that? I loved the book, but the movie just didn't cut it for me.

why do Anglos have beige walls?

We had an aunt Connie who was Mexican American and lived in San Antonio. She had the most magical house, all the inside walls were painted deep colors;lime green, deep blue, orange, raspberry. She was very loving and very expressive and peppered her sentences with "Ay chiuaua's" Her food was as colorful as her walls. So upon reflection I wonder why so many Anglo's have beige walls. Does it coincide with bland food? Say something about the culture overall? represent a controlled and unchallenging backdrop to the confusion of contemporary life? I admit I am guilty of it as I have a few beige walls as a backdrop to my home's natural contemporary style. Just something to think about.

Graciela Iturbide Mexican photographer

Graciela Iturbide is my favorite photographer. She started out in life wanting to be a writer and her writing is as beautiful and powerful as her photographs.I highly recommend her books. My favorite photos are in the second half of this video