Cyberflanerie: Marginal Revolution, Lefsetz Letter, Rachel Laudan, The Contrary Farmer, DC Bike Blogger, Of Two Minds, Femme et Fleur, Good Food in Mexico City, Bookman's Blog

BOB LEFSETZ

A few of my current blog faves:

The Lefsetz Letter
Bob Lefsetz's illuminating ruminations on the music biz (and misc.)
Sample posts: La Super-Rica and Taylor Swift in Vanity Fair

Marginal Revolution
Extra curious and crunchy economics, food, travel, whatnot by economists Tyler Cowan and Alex Tabarrok
Sample post: Phishing for Phools

GENE LOGSDON

The Contrary Farmer
Gene Logsdon on farming
Sample posts: To Survive in Farming, Try Taoism and Deep Trouble Down in the Ground

Rachael Laudan
Food history by my favorite food historian
Sample post: My Great-Grandmother's Industrially Processed Food

DC Bike Blogger
Bike adventures in the Nation's Capital
Sample post: Three Eggs in Space

Of Two Minds
Charles Hugh Smith's observations and advice on the loomin' doom
Sample posts: Don't Let the Dessert Cart on the Titantic Pass You By and Stop Financializing the Human Experience

CAROL MERKEL

Femme et Fleur

Milliner Carol Merkel's joyous commentary on fashion, art, and travel

Sample post: Paul

Good Food in Mexico City
Nicholas Gilman, author of a yummy book with the same title
Sample post: Mushroom season in Mexico

Bookman's Log
By author and rare book dealer Greg Gibson
Sample Post: My Bold Plan and Its Daring Execution

> As ever, I welcome your comments on this blog

Writers Blogs (and My Blog): 
Eight Conclusions After 8 years of Blogging

Q & A with Independent Publisher Michele Orwin, 

Founding Editor of Bacon Press Books

Rather Good, These Peculiar Little Videos

Cyberflanerie: Nonmexicans in Mexico Edition

Patrice Wynne, owner of San Miguel de Allende's Abrazos, did this fascinating podcast interview on living and doing business in Mexico. Patrice has such a beautiful and brilliant spirit. Don't miss this!

Am I the only one who always wondered what happened to Toller Cranston? I note that his San Miguel de Allende compound is up for sale. More about the exuberantly creative Mr Cranston here.

Speaking of Mexico, Good Food in Mexico City blog alerts us to Coyoacán's fabulous mega feria de tamales.

Graham Mackintosh

Ed Zieralski of the Union-Tribune San Diego reports on my amigo Graham Mackintosh's new south of the border adventure. Feliz viaje, Graham!
(P.S. Check out Graham's guest-blog for "Madam Mayo" here.)

Metaphysical Traveler blog tips us to the Mayan leprechauns, the aluxes.
(P.S. I guest-blogged for Metaphysical Traveler recently, about table tipping a la mexicana.)

This February 7 at the Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington DC, Edward Sullivan will give a talk entitled "Dreamscapes," about art by Leonora Carrington, Remedios Varo, and other surrealists in Mexico. RSVP here.
(P.S. Listen to my podcast about some of these artists, with author of Villa Air-Bel, Rosemary Sullivan, here.)

Comments

Mexico City Melissa Garden and Las Azoteas de la Ciudad de México

It's the rainy season; almost every afternoon we get drenched. In the sunny mornings, the bees have been happily sipping at the lavender, but I couldn't find any on this rainy afternoon. Picadou (pug) stayed inside, cozy in her bed. (Acapulco it ain't.)

Here's another view, from the door, with the Ajusco in the distance.



What's a melissa garden? It is a honeybee and pollinator sanctuary. Click here to read all about the wonderful one in California.

Mexico City has long had a tradition of rooftop living. The flat rooftops are called "azoteas." Here's a classic and widely reproduced painting from the 19th century, "Las azoteas de la Ciudad de México" which shows the cathedral and the volcanos in the distance. (To my suprise-- and delight-- my publisher, Unbridled Books, included this painting in the cover design of my novel, The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire. It's a little difficult to see on-line, alas.)

Buy Your Ticket to the Aura Estrada Benefit in Mexico City

Message to all in Mexico City:

This November 25th is the Aura Estrada benefit, which will feature good jazz, canapés, free drink and a reading of Aura's work at the Zinco club on Tuesday, November 25. There will also be a silent art auction featuring works by Francisco Toledo, Boris Viskin, Daniel Lezama, Phill Kelly, Yoshua Okon and Artemio. Tickets are 1,000 pesos in advance and 1,300 at the door. Poet and translator Tanya Huntington will be coordinating the art side, and novelist Alvaro Enrigue will be there as well. Here's Aura's website for more information:
http://www.auraestradaprize.org

Guest-Blogger Nicholas Gilman on Five Favorite Funky Foods and Where to Find Them in Mexico City

Gotta eat! Today's guest-blogger is Nicholas Gilman, author of Good Food in Mexico City: A Guide to Food Stalls, Fondas and Fine Dining. A painter and teacher, he has shown his work extensively in the USA and Mexico. He studied gastronomy at UNAM, cooking at the Universidad del Claustro de Sor Juana, and is founding member of a Mexico City chapter of Slow Food International, and is a member of IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals). He was editor and photographer for Jim Johnton's Mexico City: An Opinionated Guide for the Curious Traveler. He also writes regularly about food for The News in Mexico City. Over to you, Nicholas!

My five favorite funky foods and where to find them

1. FLAUTAS
I treat myself once in a while to flautas which are not on anyone’s diet. Flautas the quintessential Mexican antojito and my favorite one. Elongated rolled tortillas (hence the name “flute”) are filled, fried golden brown, then topped with cream and salsa verde, and sprinkled with grated queso fresco and shredded lettuce. Flautas are usually served with caldo de gallina, a chicken soup better than any Jewish grandmother can make, and they are a calorie-laden guilty pleasure. My favorites come from a nameless stand on Calle Chilpancingo (fourth from the corner of Baja California by the metro Chilpango stop). A chilled mango Boing is the perfect accompaniment.

2. TOSTADAS
In the middle of the Coyoacan market you’ll find a gastronomic art installation at Tostadas de Coyoacán--- dozens of huge plates of mouth-watering tostada toppings. Shrimps, chicken, crab, mole, the list goes on. I start with their succulent lemony ceviche, topped with bright green salsa, then move on to pulpo, then maybe cochinita pibil... I’ve eaten as many as four at a sitting, but I don’t recommend this. To drink, order agua de melon from the stand next door. (Be sure to choose only Tostadas de Coyoacán-- their competitors are not as good.)

3. POZOLE
I love a warm hearty soup on a “cold” winter D.F. day (how dare I complain about the weather here...) Two blocks from Santa Maria de la Ribera’s groovy old Kiosko Moro is the extraordinary La Casa de Toño (Sabino 144), a pozolería set in a 19th-century mansion. Rich, red hominy laden pozole with all the trimmings is the house special, although sopes. tostadas and other antojitos are also offered. At $34 pesos for a pozole grande you’ve got a real bargain, too. The appropriate maridaje is horchata.

4. CARNITAS
“But eet ees confit!” my French friend exclaimed when I showed her a pit where carnitas were cooking in their own fat. They should be served unceremoniously on a plastic plate, with an array of red and green salsas, cilantro, onions and limón...and tortillas, of course. There are thousands of carnitas joints all over town, but finding a great one is a task. I was drawn by the crispy brown crust and roasty aroma of these porky treats at La Reina de la Roma, my current favorite. They’re located at Campeche 106 (in front of the Mercado Medellín) in Colonia Roma. Proper quaff would be a crisp refresco de manzana (in a vintage bottle), or beer.

5. CHOCOLATE
Chef, researcher and high priest of Mexican cuisine Ricardo Muñoz Zurita created his Azul y Oro in the middle the UNAM campus. It’s a fabulous and inexpensive Mexican restaurant, worth the schlep down there. And they serve the best hot chocolate I’ve ever tasted. His secret Oaxacan blend includes 30% almonds. Churros are gilding the lily; the chocolate should be drunk solo.

--- Nicholas Gilman

---> For the archive of Madam Mayo's guest-blog posts, click here.

P.S. Check put Nicholas Gilman's blog at: www.goodfoodmexicocity.blogspot.com. Also, he offers an extensive glossary of Mexican culinary terms on his website.