Weekend negotiations. I love them so much more than I like the ones that happen at the office. I don’t know what happened to me this week, but I didn’t do any chores around the house, laundry is piled high and there are at least five coffee cups in the sink and the mail is still piled not even opened.

For me that means that today is the day I’ve got to start digging out of this mess. And what’s so hard about it, is that the temperatures are mild outside, the wind is strong and it’s just too perfect to be bogged down with housework. Hence, the negotiations started.

“Just get the kitchen finished, get a load of laundry in the machine and tidy the living room.”  I told  myself that if I got those things done, I could do a bit more tomorrow and be fine. My motivation was the new bottle of Cheri’s Prickly Pear Syrup in the fridge.

I don’t know what made me think about prickly pears, but I found myself searching Phoenix for the past month trying to find either a prickly pear petal (tuna) or prickly pear syrup. I searched at the local grocery store, the organic store and finally found the syrup at a high end grocery store. If you’re flying thought Tuscon or Phoenix Arizona you can find prickly pear syrup at the gift shops in the airport. It’s worth grabbing a bottle.

Cheri’s Prickly Pear Syrup was just under $8 for 12 oz. I have plans to see how many different ways I can use this ingredient. Todays agenda was to reward myself for getting the housework done with a Prickly Pear Margarita. I love margaritas and have had several experiments over the years. You can review previous posts here, here, and here.

The recipe I found on the Cheri’s website was straight forward and easy. That bright pink color is amazing! The margarita has a punch, but it drinks light because there’s no simple syrup in the recipe.

PRICKLY PEAR MARGARITAS
Cafe Terra Cotta Restaurant
3 oz. Jose Cuervo Gold Tequila
2 oz. Triple Sec
4 oz. Lime Juice
1 oz. Orange Juice
2 oz. Cheri’s Prickly Pear Syrup
On rocks: Mix ingredients, pour over ice into 4 glasses.
Makes 4 servings.

I’ve always been enchanted with Mexico. It’s the colors, the sounds, the people and of course the food! My dad calls it my ’spice.’

After college I moved to San Antonio, TX and it was there that I was able to explore and learn more about this amazing culture. There were Mariachi festivals, luminarias, tamales and tequila, and so many other influences.

Living in Arizona now, there are still a lot of opportunities to explore the culture. Now that the weather is cold, wet and windy (60 degrees!) one treat that I look forward to is Aztec Hot Chocolate.

Recipes can get as simple or as complicated as you want. Some ingredients I’ve seen included in this drink are honey, cloves, cinnamon, chili powder and anise. As simple as it is, here’s what hit’s the spot for me.

Aztec Hot Chocolate

Equipment

Hot chocolate Frother 

Ingredients

Quality Hot Chocolate

1/2 Cinnamon stick

1/2 dash of Chili Powder

Make hot chocolate according to the directions on your container. Add cinnamon stick and a dash of Chili Powder.

Note: I use McCormicks grocery store Chili Powder for this drink. I find that when I use some other Chili Powders they can be too smoky or too spicy depending on the brand.

Rick Bayless Margarita- The tequilla really sings in this lime margarita.

Orange Margarita- Drink this one by the pool.

Change. Some of us are better at than others. If you were to ask me four years ago if I was adaptable to change, I’d say yes. Because it’s good to welcome change, but in reality, I didn’t like it very much.

Fast-forward four years later and I think I can honestly say that I’m better at rolling with change than I ever thought possible and I’m getting where I welcome it.

Not like it, I’m just more welcoming. I guess there’s a whole faithful element to all of it too, but my brian hurts too much to contemplate that right now.

A friend recently made a huge change and moved to Minnesota for a total career change. While talking to her today, she said, “I’m having a mojito and watering the lawn.” Is there a better way to water the lawn? Seriously!

Well, I don’t have to water the lawn, but I do have to do laundry. So, I’m doing laundry and drinking a Calimocho. Ha!

Iced tea got a lot of discussion this past week on Andrea’s Recipes. I can see how it is one of those things where everybody has their own secret or technique for brewing tea.

I found this Blueberry Iced Tea recipe in a Southern Living magazine. It was very refreshing. I used less blueberries and half the sugar and the result was a milder blueberry taste.

Have you heard the advertisements on Food Network for Ingrid Hoffmann’s new show Simply Delicioso. I hope her show in English is a success.

I used the basic tamale casserole recipe and added and subtracted a few things to get what you see below. It’s yummy.