Food for thought

Somebody asked us to post more food photos.  Here are some shots of a couple of recent meals.  The first pictures are from a surprisingly good restaurant that overlooks the Zócalo, called El Asador Vasco.  I say “surprisingly,” because it is located and priced in a way that screams “this will be low-quality tourist food!”  You sit on a balcony with a perfect view of everything happening in the city's central square.  It rivals some of the world's best people-watching spots, especially on a Saturday afternoon, which is when we were there.  The view alone justifies the admittedly inflated prices (that still are cheaper than an equivalent restaurant at home).

Enjoying the Zócalo from our table

A street theatre troop we saw while eating

But in addition to the view, the food is quite good.  Here is what we ate:

Natalie:  grilled meat, black beans sprinkled with Oaxacan cheese, grilled quesillo (a different Oaxacan cheese), tortillas soaked in mole negro

Harrison:  chile rellenos stuffed with meat, peppers and cheese with a red pepper sauce

Max (and Helen):  spaghetti carbonara

The second meal that makes this blog entry is Max’s and Helen’s breakfast.  It is the result of a shopping trip yesterday I took with Max.  We were both hungry when we went to the store -- a mistake.  Additionally, I had just been pelted during our second foray into paintballing, so my resistance to Max's nonstop requests was low.  First I let him talk me into buying sugar donuts.  Then, when he pointed out to me the humor in naming a cereal “Azucaradas,” which is the Spanish translation for “Frosted Flakes” but means literally “Sugareds,” I bought them too.  After all, it was nice to see Max enjoy a laugh about something in Spanish.  The result is that they had Frosted Flakes and sugar donuts for breakfast this morning:

Anyone look excited over breakfast?  Wired?

Max and Helen had plenty of energy when we dropped them off at school.  They probably were asleep at their desks within 45 minutes.