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Theodore P. Druch

 

Once the proverbial sleepy Mexican fishing village, San Patricio Melaque, about 135 miles south of PuertoVallarta on the Pacific coast of the state of Jalisco, has grown to become a major destination for Canadian and American snow-birds looking for authentic laid-back Mexican ambience without the hustle and bustle of the larger and more popular resorts.

San Patricio, named for St. Patrick, was originally a Hacienda deeded by the Mexican government to one of the San Patricios, Irish Catholic soldiers who had deserted the US Army during the Mexican War, claiming harsh treatment at the hands of their WASP officers. They fought hard and bravely for Mexico and were rewarded with land and other financial benefits.

Over the years, as a locally famous getaway for Mexican vacationers, the Hacienda grew into a village, and the village into a town, and every year, its Irish origins were celebrated with a Fiesta on St. Patrick’s Day. Every year, as well, the real connection with the ‘Auld Sod’ grew ever more tenuous and, though the present celebration is a noisy ten-day affair, you’ll see green on no one but tourists, and if anyone toasts Ireland, it probably won’t be a Mexican.

My wife Maria and I first visited San Patricio in 1999 when we were traveling in a 1976 Pace Arrow Motor Home, camping at the Playa Trailer Park on the beach. We arrived on the day after St. Patrick’s Day, and wandering about the Plaza de Armas, the town square or zocalo, we watched as the decorations were being taken down, vowing to return one day for the Fiesta itself.

Ten years later, after peregrinating around the world, we returned to Mexico to settle in Puerto Vallarta, and now, on March 15, 2009, we found ourselves back in Melaque for the last three days of the Fiesta de San Patricio.

The trip down Hwy. 200 from Puerto Vallarta is beautiful in the spring. Meandering curvily through the rolling hills along the coast, the largely shoulderless road is slow, but the snail’s pace affords leisurely views of the mountains to the East, the ocean to the West, and the brilliant yellow pom-poms of the Golden Primavera trees which sporadically brighten the roadsides. Along with the red, purple, orange, and white Bougainvillea spilling over the fences and the roofs of the small towns and villages through which we pass, large, pink-blossomed trees complete the color cycle, and the four-hour drive is a feast for the eyes.

Melaque is the collective name for three towns which have melded into one along the wide curve of the sparkling bay called Bahia de Navidad – Melaque, San Patricio, and Villa Obregon. Together they probably number around 15,000 inhabitants. At the same time, the hotels and resorts which have developed here over the years probably account for at least that many visitors.

The Playa Trailer Park is still here, right on the beach at the corner of Alvaro Obregon and Abel Salgado. Two blocks east along Obregon and we are at the Plaza de Armas and the Flor Morena, a restaurant we had discovered ten years earlier.

Walking along then, we had noticed a long line waiting in front of a little one-car-garage sized hole-in-the-wall with only six small tables in front and an open kitchen in the rear. Hungry, we opted to find a bigger place and wandered around the square. We passed at least five other restaurants, but they were all nearly empty.

Why?

There must have been a good reason, so we headed back to the Flor Morena and waited in line with everyone else. It had been worth it, and now we were pleased to see that it was still here, still the same, and still serving the best traditional food in town.

Owner Bety Torres Briseno has been feeding the hungry here for sixteen years, and they keep coming back for more, especially the Pozole, hominy soup filled with hunks of vegetables, shrimp, chicken, or stringy pork. The pork does double duty as a tamale filling, wrapped with the softest corn wrapping in Mexico, and the enchiladas, rolled in corn tortillas, are simply delicious. These, fajitas, and tasty tostadas, plain, simple fare, have kept Bety’s clientele loyal. We were sold too, and ate here every evening among a friendly crowd of locals, and the bill was never more than $5 US.

Sun-drenched and hot during the day, even this early in the year, Melaque slows to a creep, the tourists retreat to the beach, and many shopkeepers opt for a long siesta, re-opening in time for the late afternoon parades which wind around the zocalo and surrounding streets. These are pathetic affairs compared to the St. Paddie’s extravaganzas of New York or San Francisco, but the band members, marchers, and riders on decorated cars and pick-up trucks, seem to be having the time of their lives.

The blue stuccoed church on the zocalo, strung with garlands of blue and white paper flowers is the backdrop for nightly performances of Indian dances by people ranging in age from children to the elderly and dressed in costumes of white and red.

Once the dancing is finished, a bandstand is erected in the street to hold the evening’s musical entertainment, which usually consists of a well-known local band. They set up their sound equipment across the street on the high Gazebo in the square, beneath which are a public bathroom and a bookstore, with the toilets doing the biggest business at 5 pesos a pop; there’s a lot of beer being guzzled.

None of it is green.

Across another street, a large vacant lot is set up with a kiddie carnival, and the rides are spinning about, children squealing with joy, although the most popular concessions are large trampolines upon which they leap away happily with not a single mechanical contraption in sight.

Once darkness falls, hand held rockets are fired into the sky, long orange spark-trails ending in a bright flash, and a loud bang. About a dozen are launched every fifteen minutes, accompanied by clanging from the open-work brick bell tower. This continues all evening, interrupted only during the eight o’clock mass.

In the closed courtyard next to the church, professional cueteros (fireworks experts), are hard at work all day preparing that night’s castillo, a tall tower at least 30 ft high, outfitted with wickerwork wheels upon which various kinds of rockets are mounted, ready to display a colorful spectacle of spinning fire.

At 8:30 every evening, the castillo is carried out to the center of the zocalo, stood upright, supported by guy ropes attached to the lampposts, and readied to be set off at 10:30. By now, the crowds are getting heavier as celebrants pour into the plaza in anticipation of the show. Cement flagstones pave the square between large, raised, freeform planter areas surrounded by low, wide concrete lips, perfect as benches, especially when we’ve remembered to bring our foam cushions along, and their snaking lengths are rapidly filling with folks looking for a good vantage point.

There are a few drunks weaving about, but this is mainly a family affair and small children race back and forth playing noisily, constantly chased by parents and older siblings trying to keep them from disappearing into the gathering crowds. The band performing on the main stage is often drowned out by others playing on the fringes of the plaza, and groups of Mariachis also wander around, looking for those who’ll pay them, though, if business isn’t good, they’ll perform for the sheer joy of performing, adding their wails to the general cacophony.

By 10:30, the crowd has reached a fever pitch of anticipation, and the sudden sparkling of the fuses which light the castillo elicit loud cheers, quickly turning into oohs and aahs as the fireworks-rigged wheels begin to spin in brilliant colors, huge clouds of smoke filling the windward side of the zocalo. Fireworks fly off, exploding with loud reports, and children, holding torn up cardboard boxes for protection, race back and forth beneath the huge falling sparks which turn the pavement below into a brilliant Roman candle.

For the most part, the display is harmless, though occasional embers do start fires on clothing, but they are easily extinguished, and no one seems to suffer more than minor burns, a price willingly paid for the thrill of racing, shrieking, through the fiery thunderstorm.

The excitement, the light and the color render null and void the burden of a lifetime of warnings and, in the exhilaration of the moment, even I, codger though I am, run back and forth beneath the pillar of whirling, whistling fire, sans cardboard, pretending to just be trying for the best shots with my camera.

Once all the various wheels of the castillo have exhausted their burden of fire, the topmost piece blows off to fly high into the sky, trailing sparks as it traces a narrow arc, and falls back down into the hands of the most intrepid spectators. Grabbing the still burning firebrand by sticks hanging down, they risk serious burns as they race with it around the square, trailing a cloud of pungent smoke until it finally goes dark.

The excitement of the Castillo has barely abated, when men carrying wickerwork bulls called torillos, outfitted with more fireworks, race around the zocalo followed by the milling crowd, showering the multitude with even more sparks, and popping firecrackers, as aerial fireworks boom overhead, sending colorful flaming flowers and huge showers of silvery glitter raining down out of the sky. At least ten torillos are unleashed upon the crowds every evening of the fiesta, and the whistle of fireworks, the boom of exploding rockets, and the happy shouts of people, racing beneath the showers of fire as they rampage through the zocalo, echo through the night      .

The days between are for long walks along the beach, reading, or just snoozing; marking time until the next night’s castillo will set the ten-year-old within free again for another few moments of glorious childhood.

(This article is excerpted from my book, Footprints on a Small Planet, available at Amazon.com)

 

 

 

Originally published here.

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Theodore P. Druch

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CONTENTS

CHRISTMAS INFORMATION

GRANDMA’S WRAPPED TURKEY

WEIGHTS, ROASTING TIMES

TURKEY

GRANDMA’S BAKED HAM AND APPLES

AUNT PAT’S BUTTER TARTS

MOM’S MINCEMEAT COOKIES

GRANDMA’S SHORTBREAD

LIGHTSIDE

WARNING

FOOD INFORMATION

RESPONSIBLE DRINKING, BAR MIXES

CHRISTMAS INFORMATION

The word Christmas comes from the words Cristes maesse, or “Christ’s Mass.” Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus for members of the Christian religion.

Many of our Christmas traditions were celebrated centuries before the Christ child was born. The 12 days of Christmas, the bright fires, the Yule log, the giving of gifts, carollers’ who sing while going from house to house, the feasts, and the church processions can all be traced back 4000 years.

In 350 AD Julius1, a Bishop in Rome chooses December 25th, as the
observation of Christmas.

Both Australia’s and New Zealand, Christmas occurs during summer and is celebrated at the beach.

Christmas celebration was outlawed in Boston from 1659 to 1681, however residents of Virginia and New York celebrated the Christmas holiday freely.

Christmas was declared a U.S. federal holiday in 1870.

Many public buildings once commonly included Nativity scenes.  By doing so the practice led to lawsuits, claiming the government was endorsing a religion.

In 1984 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled a city-owned Christmas display, including a Nativity scene did not violate the First Amendment.

For a complete history on Christmas, Kwanza, Hanukkah, Ramadan,
Christmas Customs, Carols, crafts, click on the link below:
http://www.ask.com/web?q=christmas+history&qsrc=8

Christmas Around The World. History from most countries.
http://www.santas.net/aroundtheworld.htm

GRANDMA’S WRAPPED TURKEY

Place dressed turnkey, breast up in centre of greased, wide,
heavy foil.  Bring ends of foil up over breast.  Overlap fold
and press up against ends of turkey.  Place bird in shallow pan.
Open foil last 20 minutes to brown.  Bake at 450 F, (230 C)
according to timetable.

Weights Roasting Times

Ready To Cook Weight.               Roasting Time.
8 — 10 lbs.                         2 ¼ – 2 ½ hours.
10 — 12 lbs.                        2 ½ – 3 hours.
14 — 16 lbs.                        3 — 3 ¼ hours.
18 — 20 lbs.                        3 ¼  – 3 ½ hours.
22 — 24 lbs.                        3 ½  – 3 ¾ hours.

TURKEY

1 whole turkey fresh or thawed (12 -13 lbs.) 

1/2 cup of butter 

1 cup of mixture of fresh chopped herbs (thyme, tarragon, sage, summer savoury etc.) 

Salt and pepper 

1 whole peeled onion

Mix the butter and herbs and set aside.

Clean the turkey inside and outside and drain dry.

Using your hands, slide through the skin and the meat of the breast and thighs as much as you can.  Now take knobs of the herbed butter and spread it all over underneath the skin and onto the breasts and thighs.  Also rub some of the butter all over the outside skin as well.

Sprinkle salt and pepper all over the bird and inside cavity.  Put the whole onion into the cavity of the bird. 

Put the bird onto a disposable aluminum-roasting pan and put it into a hot BBQ, cooking it using indirect heat.  Ensure the BBQ is about 325 -350 degrees throughout the cooking process. Adjust temperature if needed. 

Baste every ½ -hour for about 2 hours until temperature reads 180° at the thigh level. Tent the turkey with aluminum foil loosely around the pan if the skin is browning too fast.

Let rest 10-15 minutes before carving.

Cooking time two hours

 

GRANDMA’S BAKED HAM AND APPLES

2 large slices of ham steak.
2 teaspoons……………..(10 ml)………………….prepared mustard.
4 tablespoons………….(60 ml)……………………brown sugar.
2 tart apples.
1 ½ cups…………………………(375 ml)…………………apple juice.

Place the ham in baking dish and rub with mustard.  Sprinkle
with 2 tablespoons (30 ml), of brown sugar.  Core the apple
and cut into thin slices.  Cover the ham with the apple slices and sprinkle with rest of brown sugar.  Add apple juice. Bake at 300 F, (150 C), for 30 minutes or until tender.
YIELD:  4-5 servings.
TIME:   40 minutes.

AUNT PAT’S FAVOURITE BUTTER TARTS

1/3-cup ………………………(80 ml) …………………butter.
1-cup………………………………(250 ml)…………………brown sugar.
2 tablespoons…………(30 ml)……………………milk or cream..
1/3 cup……………………….(80 ml)……………………currants
1 egg beaten well.
1 teaspoon……………….(5 ml)………………………vanilla.

Mix all ingredients together.  Put in unbaked tart shells. 
Bake at 450 F, (230 C), for 8 minutes.  Turn down to 350 F,
(175 C), and cook until brown.

MOM’S MINCEMEAT COOKIES

¾ cup…………(185 ml)……..shortening

1 ½ cups………(375 ml)…..sugar

3 eggs beaten

3 cups………(750 ml)…….flour

¾ teaspoon…..(3.75 ml)……salt

1 teaspoon…..(4 ml)………soda

1 cup……….(250 ml……..canned mincemeat

3 tablespoons..(45 ml)…….water

1 cup………(250 ml)……..walnuts

GRANDMA”S SHORTBREAD

1-cup butter 

2 cups all-purpose flour 

½ cup fruit sugar

In a large bowl, cream the butter.

Add sugar to creamed butter and cream the mixture together.

Slowly mix in 1 ½ cups of the flour.

Place mixture on clean surface and knead in the remaining flour.

Spread mixture in an 8 x 8-inch baking pan. Alternatively, you can form them into 2 big cookies, each ½ inch thick, and place on a non-stick baking tray. Using a fork, punch holes all over mixture. Bake at 300°F for 40-45 minutes.

 

LIGHTSIDE
A priest dies and is in line at the Pearly Gates. Saint Peter asked the guy ahead of him his name.  The guy replies, “I am Sam Horton, taxi driver from New York.” Saint Pater gives him a silken robe and golden staff and said, “Enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”

Now it’s the priest’s turn. He booms out ” I am the Right Reverend Anderson.” Saint Peter gives him a cotton robe and a wooden staff, and says to the Priest, “Enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”  Taken back the priest asks, ” That man was a taxi driver why does he get a silken robe and golden staff”.

“Results,” Said Saint Peter. “While you preached, people slept.
When the taxi driver drove, people prayed.

WARNING
DEEP-FRYING CRAZE
With the coming of Christmas people can do themselves serious
injury attempting to deep-fry their turkey. In the past deep-frying has burned down houses and put cooks in hospital.

Deep-fried turkey is juicy, and better tasting. However with
this high-risk method of cooking, besides the above, your turkey can end up charred by the resulting inferno.

There is an advantage of deep-frying due to its speed. Cooking
time is 3 1/2 minutes per pound. A big turkey is done in less then an hour. If you are going to deep-fry your turkey use a commercial pressurized fryer, rather than vats on a stand.

FOOD INFORMATION

Improper food storage (inadequate refrigeration temperature or hot holding temperature). Safe refrigeration temperature is less than 41 degrees Fahrenheit, and safe hot holding temperature is greater than 140 degrees Fahrenheit.

* Improper washing of hands and fingernails.

* Improper cooling of foods. Safe cooling of foods is getting the foods to less than 41 degrees Fahrenheit within a four-hour time period.

* Cross-contamination (such as from uncooked meat to salad ingredients).

* Improper cleaning and sanitizing of eating and cooking utensils, work areas and equipment.

* Contamination of food, utensils and equipment from flies, roaches and other pests.

Tips to prepare turkeys safely:

* A whole turkey should be cooked at an oven temperature of 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

* An 8-12 pound unstuffed turkey should be cooked for 2-3 hours.

* Preparers should use a meat thermometer. Every part of the turkey should reach a minimum internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

Frozen turkeys should be kept frozen until ready to thaw.

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RESPONSIBLE DRINKING
If you have teenagers, or in fact any adult, impress on them
the risks of driving while intoxicated.  Statistics demonstrate
many fatal road accidents are caused by drunk drivers.

If you’re having a Christmas party, provide food with drinks.
Offer non-alcoholic substitutes such as fruit, soft drinks.

2 drinks taken within an hour by a person 100 pounds produces a 075 reading.  One drink is equal to about 1.5 oz. of whisky or 2 bottles of beer. The rate of elimination for each hour after drinking has stopped is 015.  A 200-pound person, after 1 drink produces a reading of .019, so you can see there is a bigdifference due to weight.

As a host it is your duty to make sure no one leaves your party impaired.  Have some one drive them home.

BAR MIXES, Drinks

EGGNOG

4 eggs, 4 cups milk, 4 tablespoons lemon juice ½ cup cream. 

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 1/3 cup sugar.

Beat eggs until thick and lemon colour

Add sugar, nutmeg, and lemon juice

Add ice-cold milk and cream

Beat with rotary beater until frothy

Makes: 6 large glasses

Christmas Juice Punch.
2 quarts apple juice.
2 quarts cranberry juice.
8 oz. lemon juice.
8 oz. Sugar.
2 bottles ginger ale.
Combine everything except the ginger ale.
Stir well.  Add ginger ale plus chunks of ice before serving.

BLIZZARD.
3 ounces bourbon.
1 ounce cranberry juice.
1 teaspoon lemon juice.
2 teaspoons sugar syrup.
4 ounces crushed ice.
Combine in blender until the drink is thick. 
Serve straight up.

Originally published here.

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Bruce Chambers

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At the present time, the federal government requires pre-employment drug tests and then random testing after being hired for all commercial truck drivers. The law specifically states that drivers with a commercial driver’s license (CDL) are subject to drug testing as are truck owner-operators with a CDL and motor carriers who employ drivers with a CDL.

A recent study by the Insurance Institute for Traffic Safety showed that 15% of all interstate truck drivers had marijuana in their system, 12% had stimulants (non-prescription), 5% had prescription stimulants, 2% had cocaine and less than 1% had alcohol in their system.

Alcohol

Regarding alcohol use, a driver does not have to be drunk to be impaired. Even very low blood alcohol content (BAC) levels impair driving performance by reducing the driver’s reaction time and slowing his decision-making process. At the current time, the federal government prohibits commercial truck drivers, railroad and mass transit workers, marine employees, and aircraft pilots from operating vehicles with a BAC at or greater than 0.04%. The number of accidents caused by intoxicated truck drivers has actually decreased in recent years. Statistics show that approximately only 1-3% of trucking accidents are caused by an impaired truck driver.

Marijuana

Many people have the false notion that driving after smoking marijuana is safer than driving after drinking. This is simply not true. Marijuana can affect concentration, perception and reaction time as long as 24 hours after it is smoked. That is much, much longer than alcohol affects a driver’s behavior.

Marijuana has been found to be a factor in over 12% of fatal trucking accidents. In recent years, out of the truckers tested randomly for drugs and alcohol, a whopping 45% showed marijuana in their system.

Methamphetamine

Due to the very long hours they often have to work, truck drivers are always looking for ways to stay awake and alert to meet deadlines. It has been reported that 17 out of every 20 truckers say it is very easy to find methamphetamine at truck stops along their route. Truckers have recently been succumbing more and more to the powerful drug due to the fact it can keep people awake for several hours and sometimes days at a time. Surveys and roadside tests have indicated that one in five truckers use stimulants on some of their trips.

Perhaps there is a need for more drug testing of our nation’s truck drivers. Though most truckers are tested randomly after their date of hire, many of them even say it is not often enough.

Originally published here.

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Lynn Fugaro

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