More Liana

23 hours ago, apolanco said:

Information for Social Security recipients who are/were expecting to receive a Form 7162 for payment beneficiaries living outside of the United States, I communicated yesterday with the FBU (Federal Benefits Unit) in Guadalajara who provided the following statement:

"The mailing of the SSA 7162 questionnaire are suspended due to the contingency due to COVID 19.  We do not know when they will send them again."

Apolanco, thank you very much for posting this important information!  

I like Aguascalientes brand.  It's not crema acidificada (sour cream) though--it's standard Mexican table cream, and delicious.  It comes in several sizes:

The same way 43 students disappeared in Guerrero, on September 26, 2014.  No solutions, no re-appearance, no bodies, no clues.  The article below is more guesswork than anything else, take it all with a huge grain of salt.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Iguala_mass_kidnapping

22 hours ago, Lily H said:

"About 1.4 million American retirees receive Social Security payments abroad, though that figure may not include those who split their time between another country and the United States."

I think this statement is confusing and misleading.  It sounds like a nit-pick, but it's really incorrect.  Most Social Security payments to retirees living in Mexico are made to their USA bank accounts, not to a Mexican account.  At one time I received Social Security to my USA bank; now I receive that benefit to my Mexican bank.  Two different things altogether.  

The number of American retirees who receive Social Security payments abroad would be better stated as, "The number of American retirees living abroad who receive Social Security payments..." etc. 

I have received nothing.  I used Get My Payment and, prior to the announced cutoff date, followed their instructions to the letter.  I still get the message "Payment Status Not Available".  I have written to my senator without response.  I don't know what to do next.  $1200USD may not be much to some of you, but it is a lot to me and I am eligible for the payment.  

Mexican breweries are scheduled to resume production as of June 1, 2020.  

https://www.infobae.com/america/mexico/2020/05/17/industria-cervecera-mexicana-ya-tiene-fecha-para-regresar-a-la-produccion-de-las-bebidas-alcoholicas/

The most common name in Spanish for these masks is "cubrebocas".  Mouth covers. 

Many people don't "get it" that the nose also needs to be covered.

I use my Bancomer debit card OR my BBVA Wallet.  Both work fine.

23 hours ago, bournemouth said:

The plumbago photo doesn't appear in  your first post that  I  can see, but does in  your second post - there is a link on your first post  but it goes nowhere - server problems maybe??

The link broke after I posted the first plumbago photo.  

I have used medicines from Farmacia Similares in various towns and cities--Ajijic, Guadalajara, Morelia, Pátzcuaro, Mexico City, etc--for nearly 20 years.  In the beginning, I studied the ingredients listed on each medicine's box to make sure that they were the same as on their corresponding brand-name medicines.  I have never seen that the ingredients on brand-name medicines that have been prescribed for me are different from those listed on the boxes of generics from Farmacia Similares.  I have been 100% satisfied in all of my dealings with them and in all that time, I haven't purchased meds from any other pharmacy.  I ALWAYS take advantage of Monday's 25% discount--this past Monday, I bought 2 boxes of a medicine I regularly take and the discount from the regular low price was 64.50 pesos.  

In addition, for any minor ailment I have (I am susceptible to earaches, for example), I see the on-site doctor at any of the Farmacias Similares.  For an earache, the doctor prescribes what I need, I pay the 40 peso fee, and buy my medicine right there. 


Dr. Victor González, the founder of Farmacia Similares, has done a tremendous service for all of us who live here.  Inexpensive, reliable medicines are a boon.  I am grateful for his making my life better.

 

In my post above, I posted a photo of hydrangea (it's still there in the post) and another of plumbago.  The plumbago photo has disappeared.  Here's another of plumbago.  The flowers are very different from hydrangea and the leaves are nothing like hydrangea--and plumbago is a vine, while hydrangea can grow to be a large bush.

It's a hydrangea, known in Spanish as hortensia.  Look at the shape and pointed edges of the leaves, and look at the individual flowers which will continue to open to form balls of flowers.  This is the time of year when hydrangea macrofilla is in bud and in bloom.   I just took the picture (the pink and blue flowers, green leaves) in my patio.

Cape leadwort (aka plumbago) is a different plant.  Look at the leaves, they are nothing like the leaves of the hydrangea.  

1 hour ago, Ginger said:

I got mine deposited in my Bancomer account this week.  I have filed taxes for 2019 and 2018.  Not sure which form is 1099.

This is great news for those of us who have our SS direct deposited to a bank in Mexico, Ginger.  I also have my SS monthly benefit deposited to Bancomer, but have yet to see the deposit of the stimulus benefit.

If Soriana has both light and dark brown sugar--the kinds normally used in the USA and Canada--I'm impressed.  I've never seen either in any Mexican supermarket or municipal market.  If you find them, could you take a picture of both packages?  I'd like to see what you've found--so I know what to look for should I go to Soriana.  Thanks!
  

In case anyone wondered, "brisket" in Spanish is "pecho".  It's a big cut of meat; you want either the point or the flat but probably not the whole pecho..  Point cut corned beef are rounder and they generally have more marbling or fat. This is the reason why a lot of people find them to be more flavorful, tender and more juicy.  Flat cut corned beef (also called round cut), on the other hand, are leaner and easier to slice, so it looks better for presentation.

Do any of you remember Sharon Scherner and Sheila de la Fuente, her wife?  They lived in Ajijic and then in Chapala from about 1998 until 2002, when they returned to the States.  Sheila passed away in Eugene, Oregon on April 20, 2020.  She is survived by her wife, Sharon, and their daughter, Tara Scherner de la Fuente.

In the photo below, Sheila is seated.  

Her obituary:  https://musgroves.com/tribute/details/187977/Sheila-de-la-Fuente/obituary.html#tribute-start 

In Morelia I normally buy Bachoco large white-shell  eggs at Walmart in the 12 or 18 egg box, today's price is 29 pesos for 12.  Lately I've been impressed by the size: enormous!   And the yolks are deep golden yellow.  

I've also purchased white-shell eggs by the kilo at the municipal market nearest me: small to very small, and more expensive than at Walmart.   Yolks are pale yellow.

I've also purchased organic free-range pinkish-brown-shell eggs by the kilo at the same market: even smaller and even more expensive.  Yolks are even paler yellow.
 

7 minutes ago, Carnivore said:

For a number of years we have purchased ground beef from Walmart.  We buy 80/20 grind for both burgers and pasta sauces.  We've always been very satisfied. Yesterday we bought two packages identified as 80/20. Approx. 500 to 600 gm prepackaged.  We formed the contents into our normal 5 oz. burger patties but noticed that there was virtually no texture to the meat and it seemed to be quite "wet".  We barbecued two patties for burgers last night.  The burgers were totally tasteless,  mushy and wouldn't stay formed.  After a single bite of each burger,  we gave up and ended up adding the "burgers" to the food that we make for our dogs this morning.  If it doesn't affect them adversely they'll likely be fed the remainder of the whatever it was that we purchased.

Has anyone else experienced a similar problem lately?  This was only our second visit to Walmart in the last month. As a result of our experience yesterday we probably wouldn't risk another visit to buy meat!

Tony's son Caesar always has far superior meat but yesterday we had other items we needed from Walmart and simply wanted to avoid visiting an additional store.

That 80/20 Walmart ground beef used to be wonderful; like you, I purchased it and praised it for years. 

About 6 months ago (or more) I stopped buying 80/20 ground beef from Walmart for exactly the reasons you described.  It was (and continues to be, from your description) disgusting--about a half step up from "pink slime".   I started buying 90/10, and it was equally gross.  I have bitched and moaned to in-store management and to on-line customer service, but to no avail.  I have no idea what the heck they're selling, but it is NOT ground beef.  <shudder>

I still occasionally buy ground beef from Walmart, but only the Sonora or the Angus.  It's far too expensive, but at least up until now it is actual ground beef that one might want to eat.

15 hours ago, MtnMama said:

Can't remember how much bacon is but since the pigs are raised on the family milpa...

It would be very unusual to raise an animal "on the family milpa".  The milpa isn't usually grazing ground.  Maybe the pigs are raised on the family farm--that's a different thing.

6 hours ago, lakeside7 said:

During these past few weeks I have learned of the passing of 3 friends

Gerry Berry, Marilyn Thielking and Suzanne Fprrest. All in their different ways, shared their Time Talent and Giving  made a contribution to the betterment of Lakeside

I'm so sorry to hear that each of them, especially my friend Suzanne Forrest, has passed.  Thank you for letting us know.

25 minutes ago, MichaelB said:

What the economy did for us the Mexican government takes away. I guess AMLO needs a fatter paycheck?

https://www.proceso.com.mx/627208/la-burla-de-las-gasolinas

Yeah right, a higher salary.  AMLO is taking a pay cut, as are all public officials.  Plus, aguinaldo has been cut.  Listen to or read this.  
https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/nacion/anuncia-amlo-baja-de-sueldos-altos-funcionarios-promete-no-aumentar-deuda

Joining the chorus:  pay your housekeeper 100% of her salary until this thing is over.  

I haven't seen all-purpose white wheat flour in Morelia's supermarkets for over a month.  The municipal market near my home has it, though--same brand that I always buy, packaged in a factory-packed, factory-labeled plastic bag rather than in the paper packaging as it's sold when available at a supermarket.  You might try the Chapala market, if there's a vendor who sells dried chiles, beans, rice, and other dry goods.

I recently wrote this as a PM.  

They both are regular sugar, albeit a different color from white sugar.  Piloncillo is raw cane sugar; mascabado is more refined than piloncillo, but is also cane sugar.  The antioxidant and B-vitamin content of both piloncillo and mascabado is negligible in the quantity that most people eat sugar; you'd have to eat a LOT of it--to the danger point in cane sugar consumption--to get any nutritional value.   The biggest difference between piloncillo, mascabado, and white sugar is their moisture content.  White sugar has far less moisture than the other two.  

Standard "brown sugar" as used in the USA and Canada differs from piloncillo and mascabado in that it has far more moisture than either of the latter--because molasses is added to it for the moisture factor.  That's why it's so difficult to substitute either piloncillo or mascabado in a recipe that calls for, for example, "1/2 cup packed brown sugar".  "Packed" means scooped out of its bag and into a measuring cup, then packed down until the brown sugar can be tipped out of the measuring cup in a solid clump.  Piloncillo and mascabado will not "pack".  

Neither piloncillo nor mascabado is "better" than either regular white sugar or typical USA-style brown sugar.  They're basically identical in composition.

Added:  Mexican white sugar comes in two different varieties, estandar and refinada.  Estandar is slightly beige in color; refinada is pure white and a slightly smaller crystal than estandar.  Estandar is less expensive than refinada.  I buy estandar; it's just fine for all my uses.
 

13 hours ago, Stymie said:

Curious about my favorite eatery .   Shut or open for takeout

Its name is Chile Verde... chili--a USA-made thick soup--is not the same as chile.