Sure is a short holiday this year for the Gringos. Geesh. In Mexico, the 5th of July is National Election Day so the Narcos are all out bribing the voters and candidates. Tourists aren't coming down here for a number of reasons (economic, crime, swine flu, passports now required) and a lot of businesses here have simply closed. It's also the one day a year Mexico bans all alcohol sales nationwide. That has never been a good thing for the bars and restaurants in the tourist zones and makes for a quieter weekend at the beach- well except for the light explosives they pass off as firecrackers. An M80 is for toddlers down here.
We have family coming down for the weekend- so I know the house will be active, wet and sandy. We have the gringo traditional 4th of July foods and the Mexican favorites like Carne Asada (thinly sliced Rib Eye marinated in garlic and lime juice- then grilled). The 6th is Alonzo's birthday and he loves a half avocado stuffed with shrimp and Louie dressing- so we do dozens of those every year too. Dessert is still in the works- but I think it's Strawberry Shortcake (woooosh family version) although the season has passed here and I'm pretty much strawberried out- since they are low-carb and I eat a lot of them. I have a chocolate cake on stand-by, but I may do a Tres Leches since that's the traditional Mexican dessert cake.
Whatever you cook and whoever you are with this weekend- we hope you have a great fourth!
In the spirit of food education- I bring you the history of the Bacon Wrapped Hot Dog. I thought I knew hot dogs- but what they do to them down here is amazing. Bacon wrapped, jalapeno stuffed, cheese stuffed- and with every topping except chili- which is Texan and doesn't even exist in Baja, really. So Dirty Dogs are on this years menu:
"The Hot Dog was first introduced to Mexico in the 1943 by a couple of American entrepreneurs who purchased a concession stand at the Plaza Mexico City bull ring. The entrepreneurs figured Hot Dogs were such a hit with baseball fans in America, they should be just as popular with bullfight fans in Mexico. It is believed the bacon wrapped Hot Dog with all the trimmings began to appear in 1956. An unidentified Hot Dog cart in Mexico City's Parque de la Alameda began serving bacon wrapped dogs to employees of the newly constructed Torre Latinoamericana. At the time Torre Latinoamericana was then the tallest building in Latin America, and the fourth in height in the world outside New York. Today you will find the Hot Dog all over Mexico, depending on the region you will see variances on the types of trimmings used and what the dog is called. In California the bacon wrapped Hot Dog is referred to as a TJ Dog, Tijuana Hot Dog, Street Dog, Dangerous Dog, and Dirty Dog."
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