More Liana

I took that photo in Mexico City, last year or the year before. Sorry, I meant to post that along with the photo. Yes, during the rainy season--which is just ending here in this part of Michoacán--there are women who forage for mushrooms in the wooded areas around Pátzcuaro. In the market there, I find heaps of beautiful chanterelles and a couple of other varieties of mushrooms. And then *poof*, the rains end and so do the mushrooms, until the next year. These are some I bought over there:

That's the one I use, the H24 Citronex. They also have plug-ins--these:

A friend brings me curry leaves from Los Angeles. I have a big plastic bag of them in my freezer. I use them to make a 3-chile dal, among other things.

Turkeys are NATIVE to Mexico.

Use your Residente Temporal (or Residente Permanente), whichever you have. That should work.

Natasha, what an amazing system you have! I'm glad your cats have voted and that you agree with them, and that I could help. Have you ever ordered online from Walmart? They'll deliver Special Kitty to your door--and put it in the place you want to store it. I often buy several boxes, since the Walmart where I shop--like your Walmart--is sometimes out of it. When they have it, I grab it!

Costco sells Scoop Away in 19 kilo bags. I get a guy at the exit to take it to the car and put it in the trunk. I can lift it out, and I wheel it on my 2-wheel grocery shopping cart to the place where I keep it and push it into place.

Happyjillin, you might want to try Resistol 5000, if you haven't already. It's really excellent for wood. There are several different types, the one in the photo is for general use. I use it fairly often, most recently the other day for re-gluing a shelf support with the back glued-on part of the support dried out. (It's a very small 19th century chinoiserie shelf.)

Guess what, Pedro...it's not a gourd. Most people think it IS a gourd, but the jícara is a fruit that grows on the tecomate tree. The fruits are cut in half and the flesh, reportedly somewhat poisonous, is scooped out of each half. The insides of the shells are scoured, the jícaras are allowed to dry, and then they are carved or painted or left plain. They do grow in southeastern Mexico, and they also grow in the beach areas of Michoacán. Here's a photo I took in September 2020. I have a bunch of them in a couple of sizes, and I've bought them all in Oaxaca. Some are beige with darker brown carvings, like yours, and others are beige with black, and still others are painted brilliant red with designs in other colors. Some are left whole, with the pulp drained out, and turned into sonajas (rattles). I've never experienced with any of them the rapid absorption that you mention. All photos are copy-write Mexico Cooks!

I have been buying Special Kitty at Walmart. It comes in a 9-kilo box, it has a little fragrance, it clumps really well, and the cats like it. All four of them.

I bought 3 kilos of Kirkland butter at Costco Morelia yesterday, after a long stretch of none being available. Thanksgiving at our house is a very butter-heavy day, so I was quite happy to find it available.

Harry, I have used this one for about 10 years. I really, really like it, you might also. I buy it at any Walmart in Mexico. https://www.amazon.com/Carapelli-Verde-Virgin-Cold-Pressed-Ounces/dp/B07TLPCBM1

Sonia, I've had difficulties with two different banks in getting my fingerprints to "read" on their fingerprint readers. I understand that my fingerprints have pretty much worn away with the passage of time! Weird, no? But apparently true. On October 5, I have an appointment with INE to update my credencial. Can you offer me any advance pointers or alternatives if my fingerprints refuse to register on their readers?

I sent my ballot to California, via diplomatic pouch, in plenty of time for the 2016 presidential election. The California elections people never received the ballot, and the embassy in Mexico City said it had been lost somewhere along the way. I re-sent it via fax, an expensive proposition. Caveat emptor, so to speak, but it arrived in time to be counted.