Life From Scratch Travel Diary

How to make tamales - Food Gypsy

Mexican Quickies – How to Tamale

In Mexico, every cook has her own tamale recipe, her own sauce, her own masa mix, her own flavours. I didn't get any family secrets from Juantia (who bore holes though me with her icy stare), but Gleacelda galdly gave me a few moments of instruction in how to make tomales in her (pretty darn good) English. I kept up with my extraordinarily bad tourista Spanish/action charades.
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Cantina Habanero, Burger - Food Gypsy

Mexican “not-so-fast-food” – Cantina Habanero

Just off the beaten path and worth every step (or stagger); Cantina Habanero boasts the best burger in Puerto Morelos, Mexico. South of Cancun on Highway 307, Puerto Morelos is a cozy fishing village developed enough to be convenient yet small enough to be Mexican, where I stumbled upon a vision, in search of a cure.
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Roatan, Crawfish Rock - Food Gypsy

Mornings on the Beach

The sun is thin, rising behind the mountains to the east that are the ridgeback of Roatan, a 40 mile stretch of land surrounded by reefs. The home beach - West Bay Beach is a sunset beach, shaded by the mountain in the early morning, it makes it a cool walk, swim or... run. It has been my practice for the last two weeks to go to the beach as the sun comes up and... move.
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Island Expeditions Kitchen Crew, Belize - Food Gypsy

Belize – An Adventure in Cooking

A trip to Belize is not a short jaunt from Canada no matter which side of the country you live on. Despite being just south of Mexico, flight fares are steep and options are few. Until one day a well traveled friend suggested looking at this trip from a different direction. Pick up a cheap flight into Cancun and then book a regional flight from Cancun into Belize City. Genius.
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Bananarama Beach, Roatan - Food Gypsy

The Best and… The Rest

"In the 1920s, Ernest Hemingway learned something about "bad luck" and getting kicked by life. He was struggling to make his mark as an author when disaster struck. He lost a suitcase containing all his manuscripts.
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Gypsy in Roatan - Food Gypsy

Strangers, Family & Friends… in Paradise

Roatan hits me like a heat wave. The island itself enchants and as we land sweet tropical air fills me with ease, it was a bumpy ride. We arrive after a full day in transit. Our last night in Havana was supposed to be a sexy romp in old Havana but a stay at the Historic Plaza Hotel can put anyone off “sexy".
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Havana, Cuba in the rain - Food Gypsy

A Butterfly in Cuba

Tourists lounge by the pool. Taut nubile bodies in high-cut bottoms and slack pale bodies with no right to “Speedo”. Bless Brazilian women. Bless European men. He strides by with the same confidence as she - her naked, round rear half exposed in the sun... him... flashing as he walks.
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Happy Hour, Mexico - Food Gypsy

Mexico, the Return

Cancun. Just a few miles south, Puerto Morelos. It’s become a second home. For the first time in my life – I bought a one way ticket that took me to Mexico. It felt like freedom. In the heat, I am waiting on a friend. He said he’d be here and he will.
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Fur kids, Dragonfly - Food Gypsy

The green, green grass that was home

Let it never be said that being a grown up is all fun and games. With the responsibilities we take on there come times when we must make very uncomfortable choices. We know they are the ‘right’ choices... but there lingers for a time a deep sadness and doubt before moving on to acceptance.
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