I wondered where you've been since no recent post. Welcome home, looks like you had a good time. Did Willy behave himself? ;-)

Tom

Hi Tom

We had a great time, went to Secrets in Cancun and Willy became a professional tequila taster, lol. We had good weather and I did some heavy bargaining for things that I bought, love the Talavera pottery and the coffee.
Just came back from Coral Gables, we love it there, so much fun! after the mango festival we hit the Cuban places, the one that we went happen to be Bobby Flay's favorite, they had so many different mojitos and we try a few, later they had a band playing Cuban songs.

The famous Cuban sandwich that was in one of Bobby Flay's episodes

In Cancun, we walked the trail every morning like when we are home we walk the Orange Blossom trail. Not much edible grows in Cancun, but I saw a wild papaya when walking.

Silvia

Hi Silvia!! welcome home!
Man that is one tall papaya tree.
Your fruit trees look fantastic! Let me know if your want to share LOL.(just kidding)
Looks like you had a great time in Cancun, Good to see your posting.
That mango festival looks awesome too. Love me some mangos
Have a great week!
Carmen

It doesn't look like you have any problems with nematodes on your fig tree. Your mango looks good for a recent arrival.

Hi Carmen! Thank you, it was a great vacation and I learn a lot about Cancun just talking to the people, I visited other cities in Mexico a long time ago and it is all different now. They said that the hurricane Wilma a few years back changed the landscape around the beach and hit them hard for 2 days.

The spa was very relaxing...

Hi Amber, the mango in my garden was planted last spring, I was happy to see the fruits this season in the meantime I have work to do sampling 60 varieties of mangoes that I bought at the mango festival.:) I tried a lot of varieties while I was there and sampled mango dishes too. After I tried all the mangoes, I will be all confused I think,lol.

I had the best fig season ever, the tree gets a lot of the leftover tomato growing soil after the plants are done, it is on a mound and doing really good. When I came back I spent one whole day making a fig jam before I left again.

When I was sitting for a while at the Fairchild gardens, I saw this interesting tree that looked like giant orchids.

Silvia

Isn't it great to vacation. How did the Mango tasting go? The figs look great!

Looks like you had a great trip. That is an amazing papaya tree! And your fig tree is awesome. I don't think I've ever seen one so lush down here.

Thanks for the pictures.

Bill

Hi Dawn

It is so good to take a vacation and experience different things,places, food,etc. It makes you appreciate everything more when you come back. I did not appreciate a lubber that was in my front porch and I had to kill with a broom,lol.
Mango tasting at the Fairchild was fantastic! so many different types of mangoes! I like so many, I still did not get to try the 60 varieties that I brought home. This week we have a French student at the house, I am busy trying to show her the garden and the food at the house, so far she liked the blueberry muffins that I made wit the blueberries from the farm.:)

Some of the International mangoes

I tried the green mango from Colombia, that they were eating with salt, lime juice or hot pepper, that one I did not care for because I prefer my mangoes ripe and sweet.:)

Silvia

I'm so glad you got to go to Fairchilds this summer! I wish I was able to go. Your mangoes and figs look lovely, and that papaya tree - Oh MY! I've never seen one quite like that!

Barbie

Hi Bill

It was a great trip both places, we love Cancun and Coral Gables.
They had an edible garden at the resort but when I went to take pictures, I only saw tons of herbs that I was not familiar with. I had the chance to experience a tea made out of medicinal herbs at the spa to get the toxins out of the body (secret mayan recipe.:), that worked for me! together with the cold spray of water after the sauna,lol. Those shrimp ceviches at the pool where to die for together with the nopalito salad, for my surprise their tomatoes were good! the fruit and veggies at Cancun come fresh from a nearby town where everything grows.
The fig at the house is so incredible productive and saving them for later in the jams is a good thing, I made some plain, with vanilla beans, and cinnamon from Costa Rica.

Cancun

The mango festival at the Fairchild

Silvia

Hi Barbie!

When we were waiting for the gardens to open, we had a plan...first we were going to see the mango trees for sale, then the tastings, and after buy the fruit. And of course we were the first ones looking at the trees, so we got the best of the recommended mangoes. We came home with 2 and I was happy. One of these days, you have to make it to the festival, it is awesome! everyone just having mangoes, so many good varieties, it is unbelievable!

My two mango trees

Silvia

Wow!! Amazing pictures Silvia!!! Of course my favorite were the mangoes :o)...but all the fruits were really delicious looking!!

Congrats on your 2 new mango trees...so what variety are they?

So excited that your mango tree is producing for you this year!!

Enjoyed ALL the pictures...thanks for sharing!!

Hi Nancy

Thank you! the festival is a mango heaven, lol. After reviewing the varieties recommended, I decided on the Angie and Rosigold for many reasons and the conditions that I am going to have growing them, the volunteer that helped me was full of knowledge and he even picked the best trees for me.
Next, I will be sampling the 60 mango varieties that I came home with. This time the festival was a little different that the last time that I went, in my opinion it was better.

Some of the Champagne variety

Some of the mangoes for sale were from their farms

Silvia

If they were herbs even you were not familiar with, they must have been very unusual. I wish I could go down and see them and get the toxins taken out of MY body. And Ana could eat the nopalito salad. Ana's crazy about nopalitos.

Bill

The herbs were so unusual and had Mayan names, after drinking the tea I felt great, no kidding and when I came back I even lost few pounds and I was not even trying,lol
The natives were I bought the Talavera pottery were even correcting my pronunciation in words like Xochimilco, I said wasn't that park in Mexico DF? I went there long time ago and I see another one like that in Cancun? and he said "this is a new one like a copy of the one in DF but listen to the word and how you correctly say" I didn't care how much he corrected me because I got the best deals from him! lol
Maybe Ana heard about the pottery? they said it is an old art from the time of the Conquistadores, it is beautiful anyway and it does not scratch and can go in the oven, fridge, etc.

When I was at Fairchild everyone was asking about this tree and taking pictures and is a fruit!

Silvia

Those varieties you got sound great, I'm sure you will love them!! Best of luck with your new trees!

I love Champagne/Ataulfo/Manila mangoes...they go by so many different names depending on what country they come from,lol...but they're all very good! Thanks for the heavenly mango photos :o)

Nancy, I had a tough decision choosing those varieties. From the descriptions, the one that I like the best was the Vallenato from Colombia especially that it can travel and keeps well in storage without refrigeration.

I started the sampling today and I picked the Valencia Pride because that is the same variety that I had in my garden in Phoenix

I smelled it first and it was a nice floral scent, when I cut it it was so juicy! I had to eat it over the sink.:) I think that I forgot it how good it tasted, you cannot buy a mango of this quality in the supermarket! I think that is why people said they don't like mangoes when they tried those available. You either have your own tree or buy them fresh from the farms to be able to sample flavor.

Silvia

Ana and I love the Talavera ceramics. We have a Mexican Talavera plate on the counter (I usually put my garlic on it) and we have Spanish Talavera, too. I'm telling Ana all of this, and now she's set on going to Cancun.

Bill, I bought the casseroles, they are really pretty. If you go to Cancun you get some good deals if you know how to bargain, pesos come in handy or cash. The rate for changing money is different everywhere same like in Italy.
There is a resort specializing in wellness, but W did not want to go to that one.:)
I had some friends tasting the mangoes, so far they are all very good but today I found one that did not like, a little bit too sour for my taste.

I have some pineapples ripening in my garden

Silvia

Thanks for the tips! Nice pineapple. I gave up growing them because the raccoons would always eat them before I could.

This is the first year we have been successful with eggplant! (I need to find a really good marinated eggplant recipe.) Other than that the garden is a sodden mess right now. The eggplants are in containers, only thing other than that we have lots of hot peppers (also in containers). We've had over 12 inches of rain this month not to mention last month and it's only halfway through the month. Can't mow, hoe or plant.

Thank you Bill, I have my dogs on patrol every day.:) I have a few pineapples ripening now and I am slowly moving them all to the front of the house because of the blind dog that I watch and don't want him to get hurt. I have apples too but they are not that pretty or tasty, nothing like the apples from colder weather. Soon I will be eating the red guavas...

Hi Rita, it is good that you have eggplants and hot peppers, I have them too in my garden and we are getting a lot of rain too, almost daily.
I love Ottolenghi's recipes and I make them often, maybe you can try one of his dishes since you have eggplant and hot peppers. Italian recipes make a good use of marinated eggplant for the fridge.
Soon we will be planting the fall garden.:)

Silvia

Here is a link that might be useful: eggplant

Thanks, Silvia, I will try it. Except, I've never seen sumac for cooking anywhere, is it necessary? Is there a substitute? I have wild sumac growing on my property but don't know how to cook it. I was told it's not the poisonous one but you never know.

Rita, don't use that sumac, just in case. You can get it at any Middle Eastern shop or the internet, it gives to the food a nice sour taste, you can substitute using more lemon in the recipe or leave it out. He uses a lot in his cooking and also zaatar which is a mix of herbs, really complex and delicious. When you buy it, they give you such a big sizes that last a long time.
Here is another good eggplant recipe if you like pomegranate, you can probably leave out the zaatar or use dried oregano.
I am going to look for an Italian marinated eggplant that I made long time ago (not using raw eggplant).

Silvia

Here is a link that might be useful: another eggplant recipe