November began full of excitement driven by the yields of our new crops of avocados, spiny chayote and pumpkins, but by mid-month we were concerned as to what do with the produce. Our staff volunteered to load them on a pickup truck and sell them on the roadside of our nearby highway. They returned in less than twenty minutes; the first customer bought the whole lot (likely to be resold). Our attempt to sell the pumpkins was not as good. It appears that pumpkins sell well in October but not in November. The upside is that we have customers already for next year’s crop. Our staff has become proficient at making and preserving pumpkin puree. They have also learned to make incredible pumpkin ravioli and pumpkin lasagna earning the raves of our guests. The raviolis are also featured in our daily restaurant menu along with our green papaya salad and green papaya soup.
The second half of the month was focused on Thanksgiving with the shopping, prepping, cooking, and entertaining the event for fifty guests. Fresh turkeys are not easy to find so we opted for three frozen turkeys. All told with the defrosting, brining, and cooking the birds was a work in process for the better part of the week. The event was very successful.
The agricultural staff started the winter planting, which is not only garlic but “Calcots”. We are already known for our Garlic Fest which is going into the eighth year. We saw an Anthony Bourdain show about a trip to Spain and a Festival in Catalonia called a “Calcotada”. A calcot is a special type of green onion. About 18 moths ago we tested growing the calcot. We did very well with our test and produced an incredibly sweet onion which we made into onion chutney. This time we are expanding our planting with the hopes that is we do well then in March or April we will do our own calcot festival.
Now we are ready to launch into December!
Open House
Our little newsletter is reaching nearly 1500 supporters throughout the world. About 40 percent of the people are permanent residents in Mexico. The remaining 60% are temporary residents that come to San Miguel during our high peak season. Most of the people in this later group missed our open house free events during pressing season (August to October). For the benefits of those that are not here during that time we will be conducting a monthly open house free of charge from December through April. On December 6 we will hold the event, showcasing our process for making olive oil, as well as a taste of FLS cuisine throughout the day. We will also offer complementary transportation from and to Liverpool. Reservation is required.
Posada
We are taking the opportunity of the start of the very religious posada season with a celebration in our main residence with friends, and neighbors to come together in joy, reflection, gratitude and Mexican posada cuisine. It will be a dinner for a very small group of people, accompanied by a newly found musical vocalist talent making a hopefully memorable event.
Relaxing Sundays-Holiday Fest
Once again San Miguel has ranked among Conde Nast’s top ten best small cities in the world, this time number three! As many of us living in SMA this is a mixed blessing which drives growth, tourism and all the good and bad that comes with it. During weekends in particular, the town center has become very congested. We hope to offer our friends a special place to escape the “Centro” crowds. We are planning on having a series of special events every Sunday. As a test we will have Holiday Fest on Sunday December 22. We have researched and our staff has cooked special holidays dishes from around the world. While the event will start at two in the afternoon, we do encourage earlier arrivals to come and enjoy the place and our facilities such as the pickleball, bocce, petanque courts and with prior reservation, the pool at the cottage. So, check out the menu and we look forward to your support.
Olives online!
As requested by many, our olives are now available online for shipment to the U. S.
Christmas Giving
Our products are shipped from SMA to ensure freshness. The products are shipped Monday morning. Orders for Christmas should be in by Sunday December 8. You may order at no additional charge, personalized olive oil bottles with any picture you like. Pictures and orders must be in by Saturday December 7. E mail any questions or for more information.
Tasting and sampling
All our products are available at our farm store and renovated Welcome Center located inside The Opal Mine jewelry store on Calle Hernandez Macias #99 from 10 am to 6 pm.
Thank you
We wish you happy holidays, seasons greetings, Merry Christmas and the very best for the New Year.
Susan and Victor
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