2014 EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival: Jardin de Fiestas (Mexico Pavilion)

Wow! Guess what I learned?! There are some items marked gluten free in the Passports! They did NOT do this for the 2013 Food & Wine. I have not yet inquired what this designation means (are items prepared separately?) but I will try to find out.

Passport page for Jardin de Fiestas

Taco al Pastor (gluten free; corn tortilla)

Quesadilla de Hongos (mushrooms) con Queso (Flour tortilla: NOT gluten free). It is vegetarian. I did not try this, but Timoteo dice que es "the best mushroom anything I've ever eaten"

Flan de Chocolate (vegetarian; this is not designated in the passport as gluten free, but I don't see why it wouldn't be gluten free; there are typically no gluten ingredients in flan)

With caramel in the bottom:

I don't even like flan, or chocolate, but this was amazing. I only had a bite- I cannot think of what might contain gluten in flan, but this new gluten free designation now makes me wonder about items that are NOT marked gluten free. I will find someone to ask and learn more. 

Next stop: China Pavilion

Dia de los Muertos

Photo source

Today is el dia de los muertos. Dia de los Muertos translates literally to "Day of the Dead". Here in the US, it is a misperception that the Day of the Dead has to do with zombies, or that it is supposed to be spooky or scary. El dia de los muertos is a festive traditional Mexican holiday in which families remember loved ones who have died before them. Rather than being a somber occasion, it is a celebration of life.

As with many cultural holidays, el dia de los muertos winds up being a feast. Families often prepare the favorite meals of the deceased. There are certain foods associated with the holiday, such as pan de muerto (a sweet bread), and calaveras de azucar (sugar skulls). Some sugar skulls are beautifully decorated with intricate color and detail. These candies-turned-artwork have inspired "sugar skull" artwork in other forms as well (paintings, tattoos, mosaics).

Sugar skulls. Image source.

Sugar skull artwork. Image source

In Mexico, families prepare meals, pack picnic lunches, and go to the park or cemetery to visit the graves of their loved ones. It is a festive occasion, a national holiday, in fact, when the whole community celebrates and remembers the lives of those who have passed on before them. Many times they will display a photo of the deceased, light candles, and bring flowers. You can read more about the holiday here.

Personally, I think it's a really neat tradition. I would love to one day be in Mexico for dia de los muertos.

Anyway, I thought I'd give a little background on the holiday, and then show you my way cool dia de los muertos STUFF from San Diego. There is a lot of Mexican influence in San Diego, and it was fun to see some of the dia de los muertos art in the local shops and museums. I have always liked the artwork.

We came across one dia de los muertos display in the Old Town section of San Diego. You might be able to see in this photo that there are framed photographs of the deceased displayed at the bottom. Each photograph included some information about that person and his/her role in the community. I thought that was nice.

Next- check out my very cool apron (I love, love, love it). We found this at a booth at the Ocean Beach Farmer's Market.

Here is the lovely lady who made this apron. She designed the pattern and hand made the apron. It is a nice apron- fully lined, with two pockets, and machine washable (hang dry). The artists name is Sunny, and she has an eBay store here.

Then, to my surprise, when I arrived home, I received a souvenir package with a tile that I had looked at in one of the shop windows.

I hung it above my stove:

I love it. Thanks, Ed!

p.s. Next year, I want to try to make sugar skulls, or (gluten free) pan de muerto : ) We'll see!

Raw Vegan Dinner Party

Another delicious dinner to share. This is not a fancy photo, but will post more photos and recipes in a later post. For now, I just wanted to share the big picture- because it was delicious, and I'm excited about it:

This was an all raw vegan meal! It was really fun to make so many Mexican-themed dishes.

The menu included: 

• Chili rellenos
• Empanadas
• Mexican "rice"
• Salsa verde
• Mole sauce
• Star fruit salsa that I forgot to include in the photo
• Margaritas (yes, raw)

The mexican rice and the star fruit salsa were each new recipes. I'm really happy with how they turned out- in fact that is what I will be having for lunch today :)

This was one of two raw vegan meals that I made during my brother's visit (the other was pad thai). I really wanted him to try some of the things I've been making over the past year, so he could taste how amazing raw food can be, and also experience for himself what I've been babbling on about and posting photos of for the past 12 months. I think he enjoyed the food- at least, he said he did : )

The raw vegan mexican-themed dinner with Joan and Vince was a lot of fun, and to top it all off, we watched Jeopardy! which is always more fun with 3 people playing along. (I think Bailey knew all of the answers, but he kept them to himself. He's a smart dog.)

I'm sad that my brother is on his way back to his home state now, but I am still smiling from the great time we've had this week. I'm so glad we got to spend time together during his visit.