Mole rojo - 103 - and an update on progress

When I started this project back in October 2009, my original intention was to see if we could eat Mexican food (almost) once a day for the eight months prior to my summer trip to Argentina. I calculated that there were roughly 30 days in a month x 8 months before travel, which equaled 240 meals we'd try and prepare and eat before leaving.

Now I look at the countdown and see that there are 102 more meals I need to eat and write about before my departure date of June 15. In pocas palabras, as they say in Spanish, I have less than 60 days to eat and write about Mexican food 102 more times - IF I stick to my original plan.

That's not to say that I can't eat Mexican food twice a day, which I do most days when you figure in the leftovers and an occasional Mexican breakfast of huevos con migas or quesadillas. Most days at lunch time I sit at my desk and eat Mexican sobras - leftovers from the night before.

And there's the problem: no, I'm not gaining weight from eating so much Mexican food. In fact, just recently I've lost 6 pounds. Es el trabajo. It's my job. Without going into too many details, over the past 7-8 months I've seen my workload increase tremendously. I used to come home and enjoy cooking as an escape or something to look forward to outside of the college, but for the past several months I've been coming home exhausted. On the days when I can find the time and the strength to fix a meal with Javier, I find myself too tired later (or I'm grading papers) and can't find the energy to do the blogging - which, by the way, I love to do.

So, I'm behind in my goal, but will seguir adelante (continue forward) in the hopes that I get near to my goal. If I don't make it by June 15, then I will try and locate Mexican food while I'm in Argentina; I will see what I can find down there to fix for others while I'm staying in a home; or I'll just finish this up once I return. Please continue to read as we continue to cook, eat and enjoy Mexican food every day.

For today, enjoy the picture of the MOLE ROJO. I made this last Sunday for a classroom presentation I was doing for one of the the Literature courses on campus which had just finished reading Como agua para chocolate. I really did enjoy making it, this time with more of the chiles guajillos for a deeper red color. We all had fun eating it last night at the classroom presentation I did on the history of Mexico and its most famous dish, MOLE.