Mardi Gras

Despite the shiny eyes, these are not Zombies.  Last weekend, this blues band, brought an early Mardi Gras to Oaxaca.  It is a diverse group, hailing from the US, Mexico, El Salvador, and Israel.  (It's nice to have another Israeli in town.)  The cover included a bowl of gumbo, cooked by the band leader Eric (in brown), and some mezcal to wash it down. The mixed crowd of young Oaxaquenos and elderly expats, had a very good time.

The link below is a short video from the event.  A surprise comes at about one minute into the clip.
      Click to watch video

The Baker's Son

A new bakery opened in town. I was thrilled by their breads,
befriended the baker, and renewed my dormant baking practice.

My emphasis was on whole-wheat, sourdough, bread.  It is dark, dense, and has a tangy flavor.  The challenge is to increase the fluffiness of this tasty loaf, and I was making a slow and steady progress toward that goal.  However yesterday, Doron provided me with Zen moment.  He sent a photo (Left) of his beautifully crafted loaf, which is mostly white flour.  It looked so good, and sounded so yummy, that I had to copy it.   My loaf (below) lacks Doron's artistic scoring and decoration, but I am not ashamed.  It came out nice and airy, note the holes in the crumb.  It has a thin but crispy crust, and an hunger-inducing aroma.  Can't wait for tomorrow's breakfast.