On Sat, 26 Mar 2005 00:24:00 GMT, BillB >
wrote:

>This may have little to do with what you were discussing, but it
>reminded me of a short review of a semi-historical novel I read some
>time last year (the review that is, I've never seen the novel). I
>hope that somewhere in the novel there's at least some discussion of
>Mexican/Californian food, circa the 18xx's. I wonder if anyone here
>is familiar with the novel or knows of it?
>
>
>> Ramona - The Heart and Conscience of Early California,
>> by Helen Hunt Jackson. Copyright 1884.
>

I do know the story and the novel, BillB.
But, I also know other lover's leap-type stories, so it's hard to say
anything definite about any of them.

David

On Sat, 26 Mar 2005 23:11:09 GMT, David Wright wrote:

> >> Ramona - The Heart and Conscience of Early California,
> >> by Helen Hunt Jackson. Copyright 1884.
> >
>
> I do know the story and the novel, BillB.
> But, I also know other lover's leap-type stories, so it's hard
> to say anything definite about any of them.

The blurb made it sound interesting (that's its job, after all)
but now the novel has lost a bit of its appeal. I guess that over a
century ago there was some more novelty to that novel. Though I
never watched any of the episodes, I think that a couple of years
ago there was a tele-novela on one of the Spanish UHF stations here
also named Ramona. If it ever returns I'll have to give it a closer
look to see if it's based on the potboiler.

"David Wright" > wrote in message
...
On Thu, 17 Mar 2005 13:18:18 -0600, "Old Magic1"
> wrote:

>Instead of complaining about someone else's contribution, why not
contribute
>something yourself.

As it turns out, many of us did, and as I write this it will be the
fifty-first in this thread.

One of the great pleasures in newsgroups, IMO, is to see how the
topics drift under one subject.

I hope OM1 will come back and will join in the quiet and interesting
discussion that his original post led to, eventually.

David

I believe I will DW. The discussion, although interesting, for the most part
would have been better suited for soc.culture.mexican,
soc.culture.mexican.american or soc.culture.spain NG. The key word in these
being "Culture". I know a lot of you believe one has to discuss a country's
culture in order to talk about the food. I don't believe this, it's
interesting and nice to know, but you don't need to know about Spanish land
grants or about some broad riding a horse in order to know how to cook
empanadas or any other Mexican based dish. How many of the 65+ messages were
posts of Mexican recipes that anybody in the world could make and it would
taste good. How many were of tips on cooking those recipes or how to serve
the finished product and with what side dishes and how to cook those. What
beverage would go well with a particular recipe and why? What could have
been substituted in case a particular ingredient in the recipe is not
readily available? I did see where the sopapillas could be used for
something other than dessert, but why wasn't the recipe for the stuffing
posted. I personally like to put a little honey inside of my sopapillas and
eat them with refried beans, rice and tamales. Now if somebody has a recipe
for refried beans, rice or tamales, post it and not just a link to where
they can find it. Rolly's site is a great site to learn about Mexican
cooking, but when it calls for a hand full of this or a hand full of that,
it's a little hard to measure out, since my hand is much bigger than the
hand used in her recipe. I do like the photos associated with the process,
it makes it a lot easier to understand. There was a lot of information
missed in this thread that would have been beneficial to Mexican cooking,
but instead there was just a lot of bickering about who said what, when and
OT posts. Here is a recipe for
Quesadillas that I like. Now who has a recipe that would go well with this
dish?

Cheese and Poblano Quesadillas

1 1/2 cup Grated manchego cheese
1 cup Grated panella cheese
1/2 cup Grated cotija cheese
6 Flour tortillas
1/2 cup Chipotle salsa
4 Poblano chiles, roasted, peeled, seeded & julienned
2 Tbls. Unsalted butter, melted

In a bowl, mix together the cheeses.
Lay the tortillas on a counter.
Divide the cheese mix into 6 portions and spread over half of each tortilla.
Sprinkle about a tablespoon of salsa over each.
Arrange the chile strips evenly over the cheese.
Fold the tortillas over to enclose the filling and brush the tops with
butter.
Preheat the oven to 350° F.
Place a dry griddle or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat.
Place the tortillas buttered side down in the pan.
Cook until very light golden, about 1 minute.
Brush the uncoated sides with butter and flip over.
Cook until golden, and transfer to a baking sheet.
When all the quesadillas are cooked, transfer the baking sheet to the oven
and
bake 10 minutes, until the cheese begins to ooze.
Serve hot, whole or cut into wedges.
Yield: 6 Servings

NOTE:
Manchego Cheese:
There are two kinds of manchego used in Mexican cooking - and neither is the
high-priced Spanish variety sold in
upscale cheese shops. There is a hard variety (called viejo) and a soft,
semi-firm, golden one that is an excellent melter. The soft one is used
most often for cooking. Monterey Jack or muenster can be substituted.

Anejo Cheese:
Also known as Cotija, is a salty, crumbly white cheese, similar to feta in
appearance.
Romano or washed and dried feta are good substitutes.

Panella Cheese:
A mild, milky-tasting, fresh white cheese often sold in rounds.
A ricotta, farmer's or dry cottage cheese can be substituted.

The reason Mary Sue and Susan like to use one part manchego, one part
panella and one-half part anejo is because they give a greater texture and
flavor than just one cheese, but is not a hard-and-fast rule.
They both say to go right ahead and use whatever you happen to have in the
kitchen, or experiment and come up with you own cheese mix.

SOURCE: Mesa Mexican by Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger with Helena
Siegel.


--
Old Magic 1