O'odham to National Guard 'We do not want you on our land'

Ofelia Rivas, traditional O'odham living on the Arizona/Mexico border, released a statement to the U.S. National Guard, who are to arrive on the US/Mexico border in Arizona today (Monday). I thought many of you might find it of interest. This was posted by Brenda Norrell in The Narcosphere.

To the United States National Guard arriving in O'odham Lands,

We are not compliant people, we are people with great dignity and confidence. We are a people of endurance and have a long survival history. We are people that have lived here for thousands of years. We have our own language, we have our own culture and traditions.

You are coming to my land, you may find me walking on my land, sitting on my land and just going about my daily life. I might be sitting on the mountain top, do not disturb me, I am praying the way my ancestors did for thousands of years. I might be out collecting what may be strange to you but it might be food to me or medicine for me.

4 Days Later in Peñasco!

-by El Gitano Peñasco, "The Peñasco Gypsy"

Most people seem to want to sweep it under the rug or out the door and not discuss the continued drug related killings here, but it wasn’t even a full four days from last week’s “Depistolization in Peñasco” piece that I wrote before another “AK-47” attack (‘event’ for those who call wars ‘conflicts’, etc.) gunned down and killed Juan Antonio Rodriguez Nogales in PP.

Our prayers go out to his entire family and whether Juan was a tourist, as reported by the Arizona Daily Star (ADS), or someone ‘other’ than a tourist as is being ‘suggested and/or ‘implied’ in that ADS news story is not the issue.

“Depistolization" in Peñasco!

-by El Gitano Peñasco, "The Peñasco Gypsy"

That word “Depistolization” (spelled exactly as printed in a recent news article) caught me off-guard, so to speak, and as I’ve read the article I discovered it is about a program to get the good people here in Peñasco (and elsewhere in Mexico) to turn in their M-60s, M-16s, AK-47s, IEDs and other explosives, including pistols, etc., for a small amount of Pesos.

Although I applaud the effort and am one with ‘Utopia’, something about getting honest hard working tax paying church attending people to turn in such weapons (even if they really do have them) may not be that good of an idea as I’m not convinced that the “Drug Dealers” or just your everyday run of the mill ‘blood-thirsty-killers’, ‘pistol wielding rapists’, etc. out there are going to participate.

Penuche: Brown Sugar Fudge

Let's get all sweet this week with a fudge type of candy that is popular in Mexico (especially central Mexico), with a taste similar to Dulce de Leche. Not to be confused with the coarse brown sugar with the same name, Penuche is a brown sugar fudge candy that is also popular in many parts of the United States, generally a regional favorite in New England and the South, as well as other parts of Latin America. These sweet squares are packed with pecans (or other nutmeats) for a savory crunch.

(There is another name/spelling for this that is derogative slang for a private part of female anatomy, but we won't go there...).

Penuche is classed in the fudge family because it’s prepared in a similar fashion, but it's different from its chocolate and vanilla relatives in that it uses (along with the standard ingredients of milk and butter) brown sugar in addition to white sugar. Penuche therefore typically has a creamy tan color and a caramel flavor.

This is easy to make, a favorite with kids, and it makes about a pound and a half or so of fudge.

Shame on You!

-by El Gitano Peñasco, "The Peñasco Gypsy"

There are several reports available online that place Mexico in the top ten (10) of the most visited countries (by tourists) in the world. On a planet with more than 200 nations and over 6 Billion people, to be in that spot speaks highly of the nations included in the coveted tourist ‘travel’ destination list.

In those reports the numbers vary slightly but it is a safe bet to believe that this nation welcomes around 20 Million “International Tourists” each year. Because that seems to be a fact, IMHO it supports my belief that Peñasco needs to promote itself first and foremost as “Mexico” and not that gloomy “Rocky Point’ tag embraced mostly by Phoenicians!

When people the world over think of Mexico many thoughts and images come to mind including sunsets, sunrises, beaches, mariachis, margaritas, warm people, star filled nights, a fascinating history and culture, great cuisine and incredible sauces, fiestas, deep sea fishing, etc. It is those very qualities that tourists and retirees need to know they can discover right here in Puerto Peñasco!

Sopa de Ajo Mexicana: Mexican Garlic Soup

One of my favorite Mexican comfort foods, this rich garlic soup is easy to make and excellent for any occasion when you need some comforting. Got a cold? Feeling a bit under the weather? Just feeling a little blue? On a day when it's raining on your inside or outside, this stuff is as good as a hug, with the added benefit of tasting really really good!

It's a bit time consuming peeling all those garlic cloves, but that's made easier if you smash them first with the flat side of a knife; then the peel slides right off. And of course both you and your kitchen will smell of garlic for a while, but I think that's a positive. I loves me some garlic!

In Spain this soup is traditionally served over toasted bread slices with a poached egg in every bowl. This recipe, which was given to me by a neighbor in Baja many years ago, takes a different tack with both bread and eggs. Either method is great, but I've got a real soft spot in my heart for this one.

Try it, you'll like it!

Those Dog Days of Summer

HOT DAMN! Summer is coming to an end and the perfect days of Autumn are just around the corner! It's official, because the Perseid meteor showers are upon us and Orion is here!

Every year, toward the end of July, I begin to watch for the constellation of Orion to rise above the horizon just before dawn. This year I've been disappointed; too much light, too many trees, buildings, etc. interfering with my line of sight. But this morning, FINALLY, I spotted the red star Betelgeuse (think Beatlejuice) and followed it to the rest of the asterism (a "constellation" within the bigger constellation). There he was, dim for sure, but THERE! And the bright "dog star" was just barely visible above a line of trees. It was a perfect birthday gift for my DH, and I called him outside to see it with me. (It's one of those big birthdays, you know, one of the ones that ends in a zero; a big birthday calls for a big special present like Orion!)

We're into the dog days of late summer; Autumn is just around the corner. Did I already say that? I'm giddy with excitement...

In olden times the “dog days” of late summer (corresponding with the appearance of the “dog star” Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, just before dawn) were popularly believed to be an evil time "when the seas boiled, wine turned sour, dogs grew mad, and all creatures became languid, causing to man burning fevers, hysterics, and phrensies" according to Brady’s Clavis Calendarium, 1813.

Well, it has been a kind of a phrensied year, hasn't it?

That Camino To Puerto Peñasco!

-by El Gitano Peñasco, "The Peñasco Gypsy"

Did I miss something? Because so help me I could swear that there was no shortage of people telling me a couple years back that vacationers and other travelers would be pouring into Peñasco from California by the carloads once that coastal highway from the ‘West’ was completed…

Maybe those were the same people who also insisted that once the airport was open for business flights from California and other places would be landing here and spewing out tens of thousands of tourists each month onto the streets of our wonderful seaside community with fistfuls of Pesos to spend.

Now don’t get me wrong because everything takes time and, yes, I’m fully aware of the recent landing of the first “chartered” Boeing 737 flight on July 30th from Ciudad Juarez with 110 passengers and that is ¡Fantástico!

Mandarin Chocolate Sherbet & Mandarin Chocolate Ice Cream

Something cold for you this week because it's August, we're entering the dog days of summer, it's time to crank up the ice cream maker-- and in my opinion you can never have too much chocolate...

Years ago Baskin Robbins made a sherbet called Mandarin Chocolate Sherbet, a concoction so dark in color, so rich in flavor (with a fruity note of orange) that it made me swoon. I haven't visited a B&R shop in at least a couple of decades, but I'm told that flavor has been discontinued. Too bad. But all is not lost, because I've been making its equivalent at home for many years and now you can, too.

And just for good measure, I'm giving you a recipe for Mandarin Chocolate Ice Cream, too, which I'm told by the friend who gave it to me is a dead ringer for Ben & Jerry's Mandarin Chocolate. I wouldn't know since I've never had that, but it's darned good ice cream wherever it originated!

Note that there are two ways to make the sherbet. One involves a little cooking to intensify the flavor(!), the other involves no cooking. You choose. Both are great! (Sorry there's no picture-- we ate it all too fast...)

Boom & Bust: A Trip Down History Lane in Rocky Point, Mexico

-by La Huerita

A lot has been said and written about the recent real estate boom and bust in Puerto Penasco over the last couple of years. But in fact, that was not the first boom/bust period in Rocky Point's history and it may not be its last. A little traveling music, please, as we take a short trip down history lane.

From the mid 1960s to the early '80s, as the world price for shrimp soared, RP became the center of Mexico's fishing fleet. Hundreds of commercial fishermen flocked to the town, fortunes were made and RP became Sonora's 4th most important city. Many of the big homes you see in the area today (in various states of repair) stem from that boom. It was a good long run, but the sea was overfished, the bottom fell out of the shrimp/commercial fishing business and KABOOM! Hundreds of people left town, losing their homes and businesses as mortgages, loans and account payments were called. Rocky Point slipped into a "bust" period.

Then in the late 1980s Mexico's Federal Government sent an exploration group to Penasco to see if there was oil there. As you can imagine, speculation ran wild, hotels charged outrageous prices for rooms, everything became more expensive, and the price for any property rumored to contain oil, was next to a property rumored to have oil or that had even been visited by the group went through the roof. But of course no oil was found, the group left, and Penasco slumped back into near obscurity.