A couple of weeks ago, in mid March, Annika and I took a trip to McAllen to visit the folks. I worked while Annika got to spend quality time with the Abuelos, Tios and Tias, and Primas. She just loves being outside even if it was hot.
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After 3 tours or roughly 6 years of living at high altitude and in eternal spring, we decided to spend 2 weeks in South Texas during the month of June to remember what heat and humidity feels like. Every day during our visit the high temperatures were at or above 100F and on one special day McAllen, Texas hit a record all time high of 111F. We found shelter from the heat by spending some days at the beach in South Padre Island, driving to Blue Hole in Wimberly, Texas, and visiting a friend's swimming pool. Cigars, scotch, and dominos were still played outside but we just had to wait till the cooler late afternoon. Annika of course loved Abu's cooking, Vince's special pancakes, and took kindly to a medium-rare tenderloin steak.
It was great to visit the family but thinking our next trip will not be during summer months -- basically April through September.
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Video with the Cubans below or click here to view.
Drone footage of South Padre Island below or click here to view.
Video of Blue Hole in Wimberly, Texas below or click here to view
We spent the holidays in South Texas, Christmas in McAllen and New Years in Austin. While "winter" in South Texas can range in temperatures from 30F - 90 F, the change was welcomed. Once again Annika loved Abu's cooking and once again she loved "mi boat". Oh and my lovely wife got me a new toy for Christmas!!
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Videos Below
Annika and I spent a week in McAllen to visit the family. Annika of course devoured every meal made by her Abu, and enjoyed running on the tall Texas grass, naps with Abuelo, playing with her cousins, and more of Abu's food. Even though I had to work during the week, I was still able to enjoy quality time with my parents (playing dominos and smoking cigars) and family.
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Before heading to Bogota, we spent a few weeks in McAllen, Texas where we enjoyed spending time with the family and celebrating Halloween and the birthdays of Julia, Andrea, and Andres.
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YES. This one does.
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Many thanks to Marco and Graciela for allowing us to stay at their place, La Isla, at South Padre Island. We got to enjoy the beach and spend time with the family even though the remnants of Patricia brought some heavy rain.
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Friday the 23rd
Saturday the 24th
Sunday the 25th
It was getting pretty close to a year since Abuelo and Abuela have seen Annika. With Julia's blessing, Annika and I flew to McAllen to visit the folks for a couple of days. Vivian and Richard were kind enough to rent a place at South Padre Island so Annika could hopefully enjoy the beach. Unfortunately Annika did not approve of how sand felt on her feet. Regardless, a good time was had and after a couple of days with the Cubans, she warmed up to them with smiles.
We will be returning to the RGV in September to further expose Annika to screaming Cubans and to give her another try at the beach. Hoping for better results.
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Yesterday Romeo and I headed to the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge to photograph some of the Valley's birds. According to Romeo, we saw a Grosbeak, Thrasher, Titmouse, Killdeer, Kiskadee, and Cardinal. I, on the other hand, had no freaking clue but I was able to make out a rabbit and a Javelina! We were so close to the Mexican border that AT&T sent me a text message welcoming me abroad and to dial +1 when calling to the states. To view the entire album click here
Julia and I spent a long weekend at South Padre Island with my family. The current at the beach was strong but the waves were fun for boogie boarding. The days many activities included a day trip to South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center where we saw a lovely Crocodile (or Aligator) feast on a raccoon, a Saturday with the Brownsville family, and a drive to the dunes to photograph the landscape and beautiful sunset. Links to our videos: Sal Boogie boardingJulia and Sal boogie boardingCubanos en las olasCrocodile feasting on a raccoon
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This past Christmas I was lucky enough to spend time with family that I haven't seen for quite some time. My brother Andresito who is currently living in Puerto Rico, my nephew Luisito currently studying medicine in the D.R., and my cousin Luis Felipe and Uncle Luis from Miami all flew down for the holidays. It was great to see everyone and one could only hope that many more reunions like this continue especially with our upcoming move to Quito, Ecuador. To view the entire album click here.
We celebrated Noche Buena 2011 at my sister's house. The entire family, and then some, came to her house to celebrate and more importantly to eat lechon. A little guide on how to make lechon using a caja china.
1. Get a pig! Luckily we had someone kill and clean a 65 lb. pig for us.
2. Split the spine between the two front legs using some improvised tools. My dad used a knife and a hammer. Splitting the spine will allow the pig to lay flat inside the caja china to help cook evenly. This is also the time to trim any excess fat.
3. Clean the pig. We use naranja agria to clean the inside and outside of the pig. Use paper towels to dry.
5. Cover pig and keep cool overnight. Toast and hope that things will turn out well tomorrow.
6. Light the coals on the metal lid of the caja china. I believe we started off with just less then half a bag of charcoal. You don't want to use too many as the ideal temperature inside the caja china is 275F - 300F.
7. Once coals are lit and the inside is around the desired temperature, remove the lid and place the pig inside the caja china with the ribs facing up. Put lid back on top of the caja china. Make sure the lid is on correctly as you do not want any heat escaping.
8. Maintain the temperature at around 275F - 300F by continually adding charcoal when necessary and distribute it to all corners so that the loin and shoulders, where the meat is thickest, are evenly cooked. Best to not have the coals in the center but spread around in a ring. Also try not to open the caja china while cooking as heat will escape.
9. Because cooking a pig can take 6- 8 hours and requires a lot of work to maintain desired temperature, activities are needed. This year we opened a bottle of cognac.
10. After cooking for about 2-4 hours depending on the size of the pig--for ours it was around 3 hours--flip the pig. Remove the lid and set the top aside being careful where you place it as the charcoal on top are still hot. Be careful when removing the lid as hot vapor may escape. Using gloves or towels, grab one side of a front and hind leg and flip over.
11. Place lid back on top. Remember to make sure the lid is on correctly as you do not want any heat to escape.
12. Continue to add charcoal in ring-like fashion when needed to maintain temperature.
13. Cook for another 4 - 6 hours depending on size. We cooked ours for about another 5 hours. If the skin is not crispy, you could add more charcoal in the center to help cook and crisp the skin. Once done, remove and enjoy!
Special thanks to my dad and Richard for cooking the pig! Oh and Vivian for allowing the Cuban invasion of her home.
When visiting my family in McAllen, we always stop by Delia's for some tasty tamales.
Upon arriving we are greeted at the door by an armed Constable who politely asked us if we pre-ordered our tamales. If not, he would have asked us to leave. We then wait in line to confirm our order.
After confirmation of our order, we were then instructed to go to station 2 where they wrote the types of tamales on our bags.
With bags in hand we were then instructed to go to yet another station where the tamales are placed in their respective bags.
Such an orderly process to get tamales cause lord knows during Christmas time in the valley, Delia's tamales are a hot commodity. Fights have been known to break out. More pictures of her tamales a bit later!
Julia and I flew into McAllen to celebrate my 40th birthday with family and friends. It was a celebration of salsa, cigars, and dominoes. To view the entire album, click here.
