Zih Day Two: My Haircut and the Market

Sunday, March 27
Woke up to another beautiful day. And we packed it in with a lot of exploring the town.

On our way to town. This is a trash basket.

We just came across a random barber and I REALLY wanted a haircut. It came out to 50 pesos, or about $4.16!!!! Better haircut than most I've gotten in the States.

Inside the market, Alli wanted some sweet bread.

Although all the meat looked appetizing, we forced ourselves not to get any. Mostly because it looked gross.

Doesn't this photo make you crave some Coke?

The people of Zih are very hard-working and keep their storefronts swept up.

Casting his net out.

He went THAT way!!

Dinner at La Casa Vieja.

Alli made about seven dog friends each day.

We followed this pack of girls, who were monitored by their two moms, on the way back to our hotel.

Chocolate Lava Cakes

I helped Alli make these Chocolate Lava Cakes and I put some Vanilla Ice Cream on top. They were nice and gooey in the middle. I miss them.

Latest Food Tries

My wife, Alli, and I made these cookies for a Christmas party during the holidays. Focaccia bread with caramelized onions, pear and feta

The Grouchy Chef

Now that Alli is out being a doctor most days, I (Mark) have decided to give cooking a try. Alli calls me the Grouchy Chef because when she asks me questions while I am cooking I get really flustered and can't cook and think at the same time. But I don't look THAT grouchy, do I?

I bought a "Food and Wine" magazine, mostly because I liked the layout and photographs, but have really tried to make some interesting things.








My first go was an Omelet with Herbs. It was ok, I think I put too many herbs in it, but it wasn't bad.

















We had some ribs in the freezer, so I went all out, because ribs are one of my favorites. We went to the farmer's market and picked up some veggies and fruits for the next couple weeks. This recipe was for Blueberry-Glazed Ribs, so I made this Blueberry Syrup and after putting the ribs in the oven for an hour and a half, you brush this mixture of blueberry and other stuff onto the ribs and broil it until it browns. These were some of the best ribs I've ever had to be honest.


















We have a lot of leftover Blueberry Syrup, so I put it in lots of different things like vanilla ice cream.


















Next, I made a Summer-Vegetable Casserole that had potato, zucchini, tomato, yellow bell pepper, and onion in it. The dish was pretty good, but was more of a side in my opinion.


















When we were at the farmer's market, we also got some red grapes so that we could make this Harvest Cake with Grapes and Sangiovese Syrup.












It was a little lemony and sweet enough for me to enjoy it.

You serve it with a grape syrup that you make by boiling grape juice.

Finally, there was a bunch of Greek recipes by a chef of a restaurant in New York called "Kefi". We went there when we were living in New York and loved it, so I really wanted to make a few of his dishes. So we made these Greek Salad Sandwiches, and they were AWESOME.


We made the dough from scratch, and then you fry it. You spread a tzatziki suace (which we also made) and then top it with the greek salad (which would have been great even by itself).

There will be more dishes soon!