Puerto Vallarta

Not a lot of cooking has taken place these last few days. The cupcakes I started were finished and a success. They were a key lime sticky vanilla cake that was filled with tart mango puree. Finally, the standard vanilla butter cream was the star with some orange zest and ginger. I love ginger, orange, and mango. It's tart, sweet, and then there is a slow heat on the back of your throat from the ginger. Overall a success and my mother liked them, which was the whole point since it was her birthday.

For her birthday dinner we went to Puerto Vallarta. This is a well known Mexican restaurant that has a few locations through out CT. It's never a culinary marvel, but good none the less. I had a shrimp quesadilla filled with tons and tons of cheese. They make guacamole right at your table and have excellent drinks. This Americanized version of a seaside Mexican town is much better than the real deal.

My fiance and I traveled to Mexico a couple of winters ago. The authenticity isn't worth the stomach churning details. We went to a small secluded beach off of the beaten path (mistake #1). Upon arrival, we were immediately corralled by a Mexican man in a Guns N Roses t-shirt that was straight from the very early 90s. He plopped us on two beach chairs and offered us drinks. I had a mango margarita that kept separating. The heavy mango puree would float away from the alcohol. We then had chips and salsa. Home made chips are not all they are cracked up to be. They are often hard and taste way too much like bad corn for my well trained Tostito's pallet. Finally, we ordered fish tacos. Why you ask? I still can't answer that question...

While they were being prepared I walked by their "open air kitchen"(mistake #2). It was barely a shack and it was swarming with flies and open food containers. Gross. The bathroom was a whole other story. I believe it is safe to say they didn't expect any visits from a health department.

By the time the food came our vacation mascot had arrived. A stray dog, common in Mexico, that I immediately became too friendly with. He laid near my beach chair just like a real pet until the surf came up to touch his paws. He then pounced on top of me in a scared fit and ran away. This was also my first souvenir. Mexican dog scratches on my stomach. He didn't mean it though and he was adorable before the unplanned assault.

Now it was time to consume said fish tacos (mistake #3). I immediately convinced myself I was sick upon the fish touching my taste buds. We spent several hours trying to convince me otherwise. It didn't work. The fish was fried, the tortillas were extra corn-like (just as the chips). There was a pink sauce that was on the taco that was almost good. However, I still couldn't taste anything but the dirty kitchen when eating the tacos. To try to salvage the culinary experience we visited one more restaurant. This one was a little more well known.

The first sign this place was going to be better was that they sold t-shirts. This was perfect because it had been raining all day and I was soaked. The food was pretty average. I didn't get anything that would make them jump through culinary hoops. I didn't even get anything Mexican. I ordered a giant hamburger in a very Catholic country on Ash Wednesday (mistake #4). I am Catholic myself so as soon as I remembered we visited their very famous church...