After taking turns drawing random countries out of the bag, we decided we wanted to just pick one. While the girls were in Tahoe for Thanksgiving, Louis and I decided Mexico would be a fun one to do. Definitely no shortage of Mexican goodies at basically ANY store and we both love Mexican food, the only real issue was trying to find something that we both hadn't had a million times- no regular ole tacos ya know!
Mexico
Country in North America
Mexico
is a country between the U.S. and Central America that's known for its
Pacific and Gulf of Mexico beaches and its diverse landscape of
mountains, deserts and jungles. Ancient ruins such as Teotihuacán and
the Mayan city of Chichén Itzá are scattered throughout the country, as
are Spanish colonial-era towns. In capital Mexico City, upscale shops,
renowned museums and gourmet restaurants cater to modern life.
Cool facts about Mexico:
-
The official name of Mexico is Estados Únidos Mexicanos (United Mexican States)
- A Mexican tamale called the zacahuil is three feet long and weighs about 150 pounds.
- The largest wildcat in North America is the jaguar, which can be found in Mexico's southern jungles
- The first printing press in North America was used in Mexico City in 1539
- The Chihuahua is the world’s smallest dog and is named for a Mexican state
- Millions of monarch butterflies migrate to Mexico every year from the
U.S. and Canada, though logging operations are rapidly destroying their
habitat
- The border between Mexico and the United States is the second largest
border in the world (only the U.S.-Canadian border is longer).
- Mexican children do not receive presents on Christmas Day. They receive
gifts on January 6, the day on which Mexicans celebrate the arrival of
the Three Wise Men
- Mexico City is built over the ruins of a great Aztec city, Tenochtitlán.
Because it is built on a lake, Mexico is sinking at a rate of 6 to 8
inches a year as pumps draw water out for the city’s growing population
- Mexico’s flag is made up three vertical stripes. The left green stripe
stands for hope, the middle white stripe represents purity, and the
right red stripe represents the blood of those who died fighting for
Mexico's independence. The picture of an eagle eating a snake is based
on an Aztec legend
- The red poinsettia (which the Aztecs called cuetlaxochitl) originated in
Mexico and is named after Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United
States ambassador to Mexico (in the 1820s).
- Only ten countries in the world have a larger population than Mexico’s 109,955,400 people.
- Mexico City has the highest elevation and is oldest city in North America. It is also one of the largest cities in the world
- Mexico is second only to Brazil in the number of Catholic citizens
- Snakes appear repeatedly in Mexican mythology, from the serpent god
Kukulcan which can be found the side of the Chichen Itza pyramid to the
feathered serpent god, Quetzalcoatl
- In the fourteenth century, a group of Chichmecas (warrior nomads) called
the Aztecs (or Mexicas) settled in Mexico when they saw an eagle
(representing the sun) standing on a cactus (a symbol of the heart)
clutching a snake (a symbol of the earth or Quetzalcoatl)—an image which
is now depicted on the Mexican flag
- Mexico is located in the “Ring of Fire,” one of the earth’s most violent earthquake and volcano zones
- The Aztecs played ritual ball game known as tlachtli in which the losers were often sacrificed to the gods.
- Mexico is home to a very rare rabbit called the volcano rabbit which lives near Mexican volcanoes
- The descendants of the Aztecs speak a form of the Aztec language called
Nahuatl. Many of its words, particularly for types of food, passed into
English...such as tomatoes (tomatl), chocolate (chocolatl), and avocados (ahuacatl)
- When Spanish Conquistador Hernan Cortés arrived in 1519, the Aztecs
believed he was their returning god, Quetzalcoatl, and offered him the
drink of the gods: hot chocolate.
- Spanish conquerors brought bullfighting to Mexico, and, second to Spain,
Mexico now has the most bullfighting rings in the world. Bullfighting
takes place from November to April, and the Plaza Mexico is the largest
bullring in the world
- Mexico introduced chocolate, corn, and chilies to the world.
- While the charreada (a competitive sport similar to a rodeo) is Mexico's
national sport, fútbol (soccer in the U.S.) is currently more popular.
- Texas was a Mexican province which declared its independence from Mexico
in 1836, resulting in war with the United States (1836-1838).
- In 1910, under the guidance of Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa, Mexican
peasants revolted against the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz to gain
equality and land. The civil war lasted 10 years and took the lives over
1 million people.
- The largest pyramid in the world is the Great Pyramid of Cholula in
Mexico. It is also the largest monument ever constructed in the world
- The Chichen Itza Pyramid in Mexico was named one of the new Seven Wonders of the World
So, for dinner we had some fabulous food that while not
completely different, was not something either of us had really had before, despite my sweet husband living down there for a few months in his younger years.
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| horchata blanca, homemade salsa I canned this summer, el pato- technically an American product, but it is a Mexican tomato sauce. |
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| how pretty fresh produce always is |
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| the makings for our dessert: it was a strawberry freezer cake basically. |
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| the plethora of Mexican goodies: various Mexican hostess type snacks, chips and salsa, Mexican coke and pepsi, Jarritos and Jumex fruit nectar drinks. |
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| That toast thing that says Rebanadas was two pieces of super toasted bread, almost like melba toast, but then with a frosting in between. The taste was actually pretty good, but the smell.....my gawd the smell.....almost like feet or something, I don't know, but they need to get that stank under control! |
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| the sugar wafers tasted just like the ones here in the states except way more vanilla-ish, pound cake was good, less sweet than what you'd buy here. |
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| horchata blanca....I could drink this stuff by the gallons. If you're not sure what it is is basically a drink made out of rice, water, milk and cinnamon. It tastes like rice pudding almost. Louis doesn't like it, but he diesn't like rice pudding so it didn't surprise me. |
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| And for dinner we settled on salpicon. It is a beef salad with lime juice, avocado and tomato. It can be eaten as is or put on tostadas, tacos, or whatever. |
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| homemade refired beans and mexican rice. |
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| it was awesome! |
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| Mazzy loves cake! |
