Successfully peeling a mango

Living in Mexico has many benefits and plentiful mangoes are one of them.

There are many ways to successfully peel or cut up a mango. We had mango on a stick in Puerto Vallarta. They actually made it look like a big flower and somehow managed to get a stick into the pit.

Some people don’t peel it. They simply slice on each side of the flat pit. Then they score it into squares and flip it inside out so that they can eat the squares of mango off of the skin. Interesting eh?

I start by peeling it with a peeler – that should be straight forward you think . . . . But it is a little slippery – so off it scoots across the counter. Thank goodness my counter is clean! The best thing to do now is just to grab this slippery, slimy thing and finish the peel job. Then slice the fruit away from its large almond shaped pit. I can handle that! Once off the pit, it is easy to cube that delicious, juicy fruit. The hard part is not eating it all as you prepare it!

Don’t forget to find a volunteer to suck on the pit. It’s juicy, fun and tasty but the juice is guaranteed to dribble to your elbows and you invariably get mango caught in your teeth.

Have you ever tried mango cubed into a green salad? Romaine lettuce, toasted pecans, cubed apple, diced jicima, cubed mango and a sweet/sour vinaigrette dressing. It is the best!

Feel free to share your favorite recipe or thoughts on eating a mango as it is still mango season in Mexico. I’m going to go peel one now. Wish me luck! Anyone want the pit?

Enjoy the Adventure! Suzanne

P.S. My book: Only in Mexico You Say? The Humorous Side of Living in Mexico is available now on my site http://www.onlyinmexicoyousay.com/

Playa del Carmen And Hurricane Dean

Hurricane Dean has passed us now. It hit about 4 hours south of Playa del Carmen early Tuesday morning. It went through Mahual and Chetumal; unfortunately leaving those areas in very bad shape. Let's face it, all kidding aside there is never a good place for a category 5 hurricane to hit.

In Playa del Carmen we got a night of high winds and a little rain. I was a little disappointed that the power did not go out, but my husband lit some candles and did his candle making class anyway.

Playa was really over prepared (is that even possible?) just in case of a Hurricane Wilma repeat for us. We are counting ourselves very fortunate this time.

So Tuesday afternoon we untied our trees, took the boards off of our office windows, and had several good meals to eat some of the food we had stocked up on! It will be awhile before the cookies are all finished though.

Enjoy the Adventure! Suzanne

P.S. My book: Only in Mexico You Say? The Humorous Side of Living in Mexico is available now on my site http://www.onlyinmexicoyousay.com/

Offering adventure vacations with Hurricane Dean

Would you like to come now for an adventure vacation? Hurricane Dean is getting closer! At this point it looks like Chetumal will get the brunt of it and not Playa del Carmen but who really knows? I am sure you would have thrills no matter where in the Riviera Maya you choose to holiday.

Actually it is very interesting to go down to the beach right now as our tourists are lazing around soaking up the beautiful sun and swimming in the so far calm ocean. They have to sip water and lemonade though as an alcohol ban went into effect yesterday. Mexico has decided that it is best to try and prevent people from being drunk during a hurricane. Anyway we have the beaches that look like it is life as usual in the sunny tropics and then you go into town and find all the locals in lineups for gas, water and plywood. It appears to be two different worlds.

Playa already has emergency personnel in town so I am feeling like we are in good hands. I am impressed with Mexico every hurricane.

What has our family been doing? Well for starters our daughter baked cookies. Smart girl as they are non perishable - last hurricane I made cream pie - not smart when the power goes out early.

What will we do during the hurricane? My husband Shawn has decided he will teach a candle making course during the hurricane - he has wax, toilet paper rolls and special string for wicks ready. Our son figures we can start a game of Robert Kiyosaki's Cash Flow and just be finishing it up as the hurricane ends (as the game can last a long time). I don't really figure that is the case as all of us have gotten out of the rat race in the game in less than an hour on more than one occasion - which will leave lots of time for our candle making course.

Enjoy the Adventure! Suzanne

P.S. My book: Only in Mexico You Say? The Humorous Side of Living in Mexico is available now on my site http://www.onlyinmexicoyousay.com/

Hurricane Dean - is it still coming?

Yes, it appears hurricane Dean is still heading our way. My shopping for non perishables in the hopes that I will be so prepared it will decide it is not worth coming is obviously not working so tomorrow I will try shopping for clothes.

The town has been very busy all weekend as people rush around to get prepared. They forecast it will hit Tuesday around 2 am. This blog post could be titled “nothing feels like you’re living in the tropics like a good hurricane!” …… others should be so lucky to get this adventure!

By the way, don’t forget to send the cams and reality TV show people down! Remember I get a cut of the profits on that one. I bet there are a lot of advertisers that would sponsor that – the duct tape people for instance…. Seal it all with duct tape … and don’t forget the companies who supply non perishable milk in cartons - like a girl scout motto - always be prepared with milk!

Enjoy the Adventure! Suzanne

P.S. My book: Only in Mexico You Say? The Humorous Side of Living in Mexico is available now on my site http://www.onlyinmexicoyousay.com/

Another hurricane for Playa del Carmen?

Possibly hurricane Dean will hit Playa del Carmen on Monday or Tuesday next week. How do I feel? The words, “Oh no not again” pop into my mind repeatedly. I went shopping yesterday and stocked up on non perishable food and a friend bought plywood to board his windows so maybe that will ensure we never see it. You think?

I just remembered to check my hurricane checklist so now I am headed out for candles and batteries. Drinking water is taken care of by our home delivery.

Let’s see, once again it is possible we will be without electricity, phone or Internet. How did people of the olden days manage life? I mean really!

Some people leave town when they hear a hurricane is coming – not me, I’m going to pull out the games! After all we survived hurricane Wilma just fine (for details of that adventure see my book below)!

I’ll keep you posted for as long as we have Internet connection. After that you can trust I will be munching on cookies, drinking margaritas, catching up on my books and playing my games!

Enjoy the Adventure! Suzanne

P.S. My book: Only in Mexico You Say? The Humorous Side of Living in Mexico is available now on my site http://www.onlyinmexicoyousay.com/

Ways to stay cool in Mexico in the summer

Well, it is the middle of summer and it is hot and humid in our beautiful little town of Playa del Carmen. Stay away we tell our friends at this time of year - you wont like it - it is too hot! Still they come. Well, in case you ever move here and have the same thing happen to you, I offer some ideas........

Have your company wash your car so that they can cool off with the hose - Spend a lot of time at the beach - go to air conditioned movies - put in a pool - put in air conditioning - go shopping at air conditioned malls - take them to cenotes (fresh water swimming holes carved into the limestone that makes the Yucatan Peninsula) - drink lots of water in between the margaritas - throw water at each other - suggest everyone take lots of showers - suggest everyone wash your windows so that they can get wet - take them to Xcaret or XelHa (local adventure parks) - or tell them not to come because you are coming to visit them!

Just a few ways to enjoy the hot and humid summer in Playa. Have any other ideas? Send them to me immediately as more company is coming!

Enjoy the Adventure! Suzanne

P.S. My book: Only in Mexico You Say? The Humorous Side of Living in Mexico is available now on my site http://www.onlyinmexicoyousay.com/