Perilous time for Mexico’s democracy

Under AMLO, it's starting to look like an autocracy In the run-up to the 2000 presidential election Vicente Fox, candidate of the National Action Party (PAN) made an unprecedented campaign appearance at a meet-and-greet rally in Chicago, home to one of the largest Mexican-American populations in the U.S. Fox, a hulk of a man about …

Continue reading Perilous time for Mexico’s democracy

In the kitchen with Grandma

To remember her cooking and the family history The exploration of some people's fraught relationship with their mothers must be a leading topic of psychotherapy even if sifting through life's what-ifs and could-have-beens while lying on a couch often doesn't alleviate present-day anguishes. Grandmothers are a different story. Our memories of them are rose-tinted by …

Continue reading In the kitchen with Grandma

Tamales: The agony and the ecstasy

Everyday Mexican cooking is easy, except when it ain't Between the pandemic lockdown and remodeling of our kitchen and terrace, we hadn't done any entertaining for more than two years, not that we were ever a couple of gay Martha Stewarts who would whip up a Beef Bourguignon, set out the fancy china and tableware …

Continue reading Tamales: The agony and the ecstasy

Is paying higher wages bad for Mexican workers?

San Miguel is increasingly pricey but expat generosity is hardly the chief culprit Last Sunday Stew and I stopped at Querétaro's "Mercado de Flores," a hangar-size paradise of all things gardening located next to the city cemetery, that sells plants, pots and other supplies at noticeable lower prices than nurseries in San Miguel. If you …

Continue reading Is paying higher wages bad for Mexican workers?