Author: ajeanneinthekitchen

There are still many more beautiful floras de Cozumel coming your way. I took a lot of pictures of all the flowers. I love all the bright colors. They just seem to really pop out.

I love going out to different restaurants and experiencing all their fun and delicious foods. We don’t go out to eat very often while at home, but I sure do take advantage of it when we are on vacation. In fact, I flat our refuse to cook while on vacation. I cook enough at home, and even I like to take a break from the kitchen sometimes too.

While in Cozumel, we tried some very good restaurants, and all had their own unique flavors and styles. We only had the banana bug for one day, so we took advantage of that and dined in the City of San Miguel while we still had the car. We had spotted one restaurant we were going to try, but could not find parking near by so we ended up going to another little restaurant instead. It was all good though. Our second choice was a little seafood restaurant called William. It offered the fresh catch of the day, though ironically, we all ordered something with shrimp. Shrimp is very popular all over the island, which is a good thing. We love shrimp.

William is a cute, tiny little family owned restaurant with good food and big portions.

Pictures of the sea and the local fish were on the walls all around.

Of course we started things off right with a cool and refreshing margarita. Little did I know it would be a mega margarita though.

Nancy started things off with a shrimp cocktail as an appetizer that was loaded with shrimp too. She let us all sample it. It was muy delicioso!

Larry ordered shrimp fajitas.

The rest of us ordered some breaded and fried shrimp they called empanizados. These were good, but definitely not my favorite meal on the island.

After a very full day and very full tummies, we called it a day, and headed back “home” to the hotel. We had a big day of of diving ahead of us and we all needed our beauty sleep.

!Desfruitas! Everyday is a gift. Enjoy them while you can. Stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.

On one of 2-tank dive days, we decided to tour around the island. Larry and I go to Cozumel all the time and know the island pretty well, but our friends Rich and Nancy don’t know the island as well. So when we rented our banana bug for the day, we drove them around the entire island to show it of. Statues on the Streets. We lovingly refer to Cozumel as “out island” since we go so often.

We headed down south, towards Punta Sur or South Point. That is where most of the good beaches are and Mr. Sancho’s, where we stopped for lunch. Mas Comidas de Cozumel.

We made quite a few stops and took pictures, as tourists do. That was, after all, the point of the trip. As we experienced while diving all week, the currents were ripping, even on top of the water’s surface. They are beautiful to look at.

The beach pictures.

I caught Rich in action.

Nancy and I have been captured in a rare dry moment, something very unusual for mermaids.

We even found a little chapel right on the beach.

After we hit the beach, the drive continued as we followed the road northwest.

The Cozumel Airport from the road.

And up at the northern point or Punta Norte, we came across another marina. In case you hadn’t noticed, I love boats and the water. This marina was more for the private boats and yachts. The marina or caleta we did our diving from was south and was more for the fishing boats and dive boats. Most of the good diving is down south, though Larry and I have dived up north as well.

One of the beautiful views capturing the old and the new.

There is only one main road that goes around the island. We followed it all around, back towards the south, and going into the city. The city was busy and we didn’t stop for much, though as I have said, Larry and I have been there many times. Somethings change a lot and some things don’t change much at all.

Cozumel is very colorful and is rich with history. It is also a diverse little island that is filled with an abundant zest for life. it is definitely worth visiting, whether for the day or for some of the best diving in the world.

More beautiful flowers from Cozumel. These are really unusual. I saw them in both the pink here and also in white.

We sampled many delicious meals while in Cozumel. We tried to go to a different restaurant everyday, although we did go back to the same ones a couple of times, more out of convenience (either after a night dive or for breakfast) a couple of times.

One day after a short 2-tank day of diving, we rented a fun vehicle and went cruising around the island. I won’t exactly call it a car, but it was fun. We nicknamed it our banana bug.

During the busy travel times (pre-COVID), there would be up to 10 cruise ships docking in Cozumel daily. This time we saw about 10 total. This was our view from our hotel window.

One of the stops we made was at Mr. Sancho’s, a fun little day beach club that is a frequent stop for cruise ships. They offered a little bit of everything from shopping to horseback riding to beach activities, and of course a lot of good food and drinks.

Follow the footsteps to the beach and to the food.

I just love all this attention to detail. This beautiful tiled piece of art was on the floor at Mr. Sancho’s.

The aqua playground. We would pass this daily from the other side, on the boats taking us to some of our dive destinations.

And now the food.

Rich ordered ceviche everywhere we went. He became quite the ceviche connoisseur.

The rest of us ordered different kinds of tacos and nachos. We had chicken and shrimp tacos that were just loaded with meat. !Delicioso!

Our tableside view. I could easily get used to this.

Relax and enjoy the simple life. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

Yesterday, I posted on the street art found on the island or Isla de Cozumel. The Walls Are Speaking Not all of the street art is painted on the walls though. So much of the art is also presented in fun statues that are scattered all over the island as well. No matter what form the street art comes in, it tells the story of life in Cozumel.

A lot of people are unaware that Cozumel also has some Mayan ruins, though most of the Mayan ruins are found on the mainland. The ruins are found in the central part of the island at San Gervasio. Out of all the Mayan ruin sites, San Gervasio is the only one that pays homage to the goddesses rather than to the gods. These are statues honoring the goddess of fertility.

Now for some fun stuff we discovered.

As you can see we all survived our shark attacks.

It’s a good thing there was a turtle rehab center close by. This poor turtle needs some serious help.

Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead is a big tradition in Mexico, and it is reflective in a lot of the artwork as well. This art style is very popular all throughout Mexico.

Larry found my replacement.

Enjoy the art and enjoy your day. Stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.

There are so many flowers or floras found all over Cozumel. I had to capture as many of them as I could with my camera. I love sharing them with all of you as well. These are bougainvillea. They are so brightly colored and come in a wide array of colors too. We had a huge bougainvillea tree in my backyard where I grew up. They are found anywhere tropical.

Back to Cozumel, well at least figuratively, though I would love to be back literally too. Cozumel is my happy place.

I told you awhile ago that I had a lot of good stuff from Cozumel, but I put it on hold for a bit because of our company from California and our fun reunion activities and adventures. Sadly, everyone has now gone home though. But, I can still share a lot of fun things with you from Cozumel. I would love to share my pictures from underwater with you, but unfortunately my underwater camera died on my second day of diving and I haven’t had the time to see if any of the pictures I took are salvageable yet either. So instead I will share some of the fun and colorful artwork from Cozumel. The walls are speaking.

Life in Cozumel is full of vibrant colors. Lots and lots of colors. It is very welcoming and fun for everyone. There is a lot of street art everywhere you go too. Street art is becoming very popular everywhere. I think it is fun and very creative. I enjoy seeing it everywhere I go. Most of the street art in Cozumel tells a story of life on the island.

The dog decided to photo bomb this picture. Dogs are always welcome. 🙂

Even the restaurants feature the local arts to tell their story. This is the art of one of the many restaurants where we dined. I must have been really hungry though, which must have made me slip a bit. I was focused on eating and not taking pictures. This was at Paprika. We all had a fabulous meal, but I don’t have any pictures to prove it, so I guess that means you will just have to take my word on it. 🙂

I did however have some of my priorities set, since I did manage to remember to take a picture of my sangria. It was so cool and refreshing.

!Desfruita! There is still a lot more to see from beautiful, colorful Cozumel. Stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.

,Morocco, just like many Middle Eastern countries is famous for using many different and exotic spices when cooking. They are all so aromatic and layered with many levels of flavors. Moroccan food is not spicy in the typical sense where we think of it as being HOT, but it is spicy in that a wide variety of spices are used. This must-have spice mix in the Moroccan canon typically consists of more than a dozen ingredients. Among the more popular ones are cardamom, cumin, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, allspice, dry ginger, chili peppers, coriander seed, peppercorn, sweet and hot paprika, fenugreek, and turmeric. For those of you unfamiliar with Moroccan food, it is similar to Indian food, and many of the same spices are used, but it is a much milder version. Both are delicious and will be an exotic adventure for your tastebuds. But if you are a bit hesitant about the heat from Indian foods, maybe Moroccan is the best choice, at least for starters.

Because we were celebrating two birthdays, I let the birthday girls decide what they wanted me to prepare. Priscilla loves lamb, so lamb it was. I also cooked chicken for those who are not lamb lovers. I was inspired by a recipe I had seen for Moroccan spiced lamb, so that became the theme for the party. Old Friends Are The Best Friends

I used the same marinade for both the chicken and the lamb and let them set for about 8 hours before cooking. I made a marinade rather than a rub this time, which also acted as a meat tenderizer. Obviously I was cooking a lot of meat, so I doubled my recipe.

Moroccan Spiced Lamb

2-3 lbs lamb roast (or chicken)

1 TBSP garlic

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp mint

1 tsp cardamon

1 tsp coriander

1 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar – I used my Sicilian Lemon Balsamic vinegar

1 TBSP lemon juice

Combine everything together and mix well, then pour over the meat and marinate for at least 3-4 hours, or up to overnight.

Originally Larry was going to smoke all the meat, and when he pulls out the smoker, he smokes a lot of meat. So we had the pork loin as well. Not long after he started the smoker though, he ran out of pellets, so we put everything on the grill instead.

Lamb is always best when it is a nice medium rare. It was cooked to perfection, and it was so tender and moist. It was a huge it with everyone.

Because we had so much food (no one will EVER go hungry at my house), I have quite a bit of lamb leftover, so we will be eating it for a few more meals yet to come. That is perfectly OK with me though since it was delicious.

Enjoy your days. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

Estes Park is a little mountain town about 1-1 1/2 hours northwest of us. It has become quite the tourist attraction for many reasons. It is home to the Stanley Hotel, built in 1903 by the founder of the Stanley Steamer cars, F.O., Stanley. The hotel has become famous for being one of the most haunted hotels in America, as well as for being a beautiful and luxurious hotel from the bygone past.

Larry is posing with F.O. Stanley in front of the hotel.

Estes Park is also full of unique specialty shops that attract many tourists from the world over. But I think some of the main tourist attractions of the area are the magnificent mountain views, and of course, the many many elk that take over the town, especially during rooting season, which is now.

We were channeling the elks to come pay us a visit.

We took our guests up to Estes Park in hopes of seeing all of the above, and that we did, in abundance. Most of the elk we saw were hanging out at the golf course today, although some were a bit more shy, and preferred to be communing more with nature under the shade of the hilled trees just above. As beautiful and spectacular as the Stanley Hotel is, we were all far more excited about seeing the elk.

They were not phased in the slightest by the throngs of spectators watching them.

All of these beautiful does and calves were under the watchful protection of one HUGE big 12-point bull.

For the most part, he was watching from a safe distance, allowing them them to have their space. However, he got closer and closer, especially as soon as sensed a bit of danger, as well as a competitor in another bull. The other bull was much smaller, but he was younger. The big guy started getting a little testy and was actually getting a bit aggressive with some of the spectators. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but it was definitely a warning for us to stay back and to keep our distance, especially since the two bulls were staring each other down and we all sensed a fight was brewing.

Had it come to blows, I think the large bull would have easily won, but the smaller bull was still testing the waters a bit.

We definitely had a great elk show. Everyone was awed and amazed. We even heard the big bull bugling a few times. He was letting everyone know he was in charge and he was the boss. Who am I to argue? He certainly had a commanding presence.

Stay safe, especially when communing with nature and wild animals, and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.