Tales of the Traveling Tote #42 and a Giveaway

Welcome to our 42nd quarterly 

edition of 

Tales of the Traveling Tote, 

where we take our 

MacKenzie-Childs Totes

all over the place. 

Those who have been with 

me for many years now 

know we travel from Utah 

to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico 

at least once a month 

during the winter and 

spring months.  

In February we were 

down there by ourselves

for Valentine's Day.

Hubby filled the tub with 

roses and petals like he 

did a few years ago 

for my birthday.  

It was a lovely day. 

I am contacted all of the 

time by people wanting 

to know restaurants to 

try in Cabo, and we 

have a whole list, but 

that usually doesn't include 

tacos shops.  

So Miss Madi K and I 

decided to take you on 

a personal 

TACO CRAWL!

You can pay $75 a person 

for a guided Taco Crawl, 

but we decided we wanted 

to create our own.  

I have to start the crawl 

with my absolute favorite 

taco shop, featured on 

Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, 

Asi & Asado. 

This one is situated outside 

of town along the tourist 

corridor, so you will need 

a car or taxi.  Our property 

manager told us about 

this place and it is always 

a favorite with our guests. 

Some tell me they could 

eat here every day, but 

what would be the fun 

in that!!!

My favorite taco here is 

a grilled shrimp with cheese.  

They grill their meat over a fire 

and have a wonderful 

salsa bar.  

We also love their 

guacamole with blue chips,

their queso and beet salad.

Our next stop is 

La Taquiza.  This 

location is just past 

Asi & Asado, but there 

is another busy one in 

downtown Cabo. 

Instead of a salsa bar, 

they bring out a 

selection of toppings.

We are in love with 

their queso which 

comes in a stone bowl 

with a roll of crisp cheese 

and flour tortillas. 

Their birria tacos were 

amazing and my favorites. 

They came with their 

own selection of sauces. 

Mother Flower is a small 

shop which is new to us, 

and we really liked it.  

Their tacos come with 

toppings and sauces 

already on.  I loved the 

spicy shrimp one.  

One of their highlights 

is their unique Chili Verde 

served with toppings 

and homemade flour 

tortillas.  

Another favorite of ours 

is La Lupita.  This one is 

so popular you will need 

to get a reservation.  They 

have live music at night. 

They have so many 

fun and unique tacos, 

you will have to come 

back more than once.

My favorite here is their 

smoked Waygu tacos 

that come out in this 

little smoker.  There 

are so many fun choices 

here and it is a fun 

atmosphere.  This one 

is down by Medano Beach. 

Final stop on the taco 

tour is a super popular 

place downtown in Cabo, 

Taqueria el Paisa.

This is the best Pastor 

taco I have ever had. 

I also loved the mixed 

Steak and Shrimp 

Chorreada. 

I have to throw in here 

Las Guacamayas.  

It is also downtown, 

on the same street as 

El Paisa and La Taquiza.  

Mother Flower is just a 

block over, so all of 

these would be great 

for a walking tour. 

Although I don't usually order 

tacos here, I love their 

Shrimp Stone Bowl.  

I wouldn't recommend 

doing all of these in 

one day!  We had so 

much fun researching 

for this and can 

recommend these 

above all of the other 

taco shops in town.

Glad you could crawl 

along with us.

Now crawl on over to 

the other ladies featured

for 

Tales of the Traveling Tote.

Jackie and Miss Madi K @ Purple Chocolat Home (you are here)

 Debbie with Miss Aurora @ Mountain Breaths 

Emily with Miss Courtney Childs@ The French Hutch

 Patti with Miss Kenzie @ Pandora's Box  

Jenna with Miss Coquille @The Painted Apron

Linda P with Miss Lola @ Life and Linda

Rita with Miss Luna C @ Panoply 

Sarah with Miss Merri Mac @ Hyacinths for the Soul

Ricki Jill and Countess De Monet @ The Bookish Dilettante

Crawl on over to 

Patti's blog for a 

chance at this fun 

giveaway!!

And come along in June to 

see the fun places we have 

traveled to.  

A Retro Valentine's Day Party

Welcome to our 

Retro Valentine's Day Dinner.

Our group of friends get together

at least once a month and this 

month we decided it would be 

so fun to do a Retro Dinner - 

specializing in items our 

moms used to make.

To make it a little more fun,

we all chose to wear something 

retro too.

Hubby and I decided to be 

retro Ken and Barbie. 

I bought retro aprons 

for the ladies and they 

went so well with those 

who wore pearls!

We had the dinner at 

Rachel's new home, 

and she set a beautiful 

Valentine's table with 

fresh pink tulips.  

She even purchased some 

new plates that looked 

like something her mom 

would have had. 

A gorgeous Valentine's Day 

runner and lace placemats 

finished the look.

Love these napkin rings too.

These vintage looking goblets 

were ones we all bought at 

Pier 1 years ago on a 

shopping trip. 

The beaded detail on 

the runner is so pretty.  

Half of the fun was texting 

back and forth about the 

memories centered around

the foods we grew up with.  

One friend was 

going to make a beef consomme 

Jell-o mold which her mom always

served.  She didn't, but said she will 

for another party.  

We laughed over the things 

we would never have 

served to our kids!

MENU

Ritz Chicken Casserole

Sloppy Joes

Cheese Board

7 Layer Salad

Tuna Casserole

Sherbet Punch

Popcorn Cake

Cherry Berries on a Cloud

Tammy made Sherbet punch.

My aunt used to always 

serve this on Christmas Eve. 

We all had forgotten how 

delicious it is.  I need 

my kids to have this!

Barb's mom always made 

a Popcorn Cake for their 

birthdays.

And Rachel made one of 

our favorite desserts still - 

straight out of Betty Crocker - 

Cherry Berries on a Cloud. 

(Notice even the Corning Ware)

Hubby came home and 

said that was one of his 

favorite parties.

Now we are talking about 

making retro cookies that 

we grew up with.  

We finished the evening 

with some fun 

Valentine's Day 

conversation starter 

questions and had a lot 

of fun answering those.

How we treasure these friends. 

I found this quote by 

Elder Neal A. Maxwell - 

"None of us ever fully utilizes the 

people-opportunities allocated 

to us within our circles of

friendship.  You and I may

call these intersectings 

'coincidence.'  This word is 

understandable for mortals 

to use, but coincidence is not

an appropriate word to describe

the workings of an omniscient God.  

He does not do things by 'coincidence'

but by 'divine design.'"

Let us treasure our friends, 

and gather often.

I will be posting this on 

Tablescapes Thursday 

and 

Love Your Creativity

Valentine's Pavlova

Valentine's Day is fast approaching and I had 
to have a dessert or two to celebrate.
I decided a heart-shaped pavlova with 
gorgeous red fruit would be perfect, 
and beautiful!

A pavlova is a meringue crust with a 
soft filling, like sweetened whipped cream,
and is usually topped with fresh fruit.  
I have shared a couple of other pavlova's 
over the years.  One is a Christmas one with 
peppermint that is a family favorite.  

Now mind you, we are still staying in 
Cabo, and so the hunt for my ingredients 
began.  I stood in the store with my 
limited Spanish (it gets me around, but 
ingredients can be new) and looked up 
"Fecula de maiz" and sure enough it 
was cornstarch.  We have found a couple 
of grocery stories that we really love, 
La Comer and Fresko, and La Comer 
had what they called a gourmet area, where 
I readily recognized Cream of Tartar.  I 
was surprised and thrilled.  I could have 
substituted vinegar, but even with vinegar, 
there just isn't a big selection here. 

I have made meringues with regular sugar rather 
than super-fine, but the sugar here in Mexico 
is super coarse - as in my chocolate chip cookies 
have a crunch from the sugar.  So I decided to 
whirl the sugar around in my blender and got 
some pretty nice super-fine sugar.  
As you can tell, things are a little more 
complicated here and the Mexican culture's 
taste in baked goods is different than ours.  
Our builder's wife immediately told me I 
would need to import flour as theirs is softer 
than cake flour, but we found a little organic 
store close by that carries King Arthur flour. 

I am not sure I can bake without parchment 
paper, so I brought a supply down with me.  
To make the heart, I folded the parchment 
paper in half and made half a heart, then 
turned it over and copied the other side.  
Then I made sure to turn my parchment 
paper over to the back side so that I didn't 
end of with markings on the back of my 
meringue - yes I have had that happen before.  

With the leftover meringue I piped 
some smaller hearts for accents. 

Meringue is really fun and easy and I haven't 
met someone who didn't love that melt in 
your mouth texture.  
Pavlova Recipe
Heat oven to 230 degrees.  Line pan with 
parchment paper.  
Start with a squeaky clean mixer bowl and 
whip.  Whip 4 room-temperature egg whites 
(with not a speck of yolk in them) until soft 
peaks form.  Then spoon 1 C. of super-fine 
sugar in, one heaping tablespoon at a time.  
Stop and scrape the sides of the bowl as 
needed.  The meringue will get glossy 
white and beautiful.  After you have 
added all of the sugar - don't rush this - 
beat in 1 Tablespoon cornstarch and 
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar that 
have been blended together with a fork. 
Continue to beat until 
the sugar crystals are almost gone - test 
by rubbing a little between your fingers.  
Spoon the meringue onto the parchment 
paper within your design.  Swirl it and 
make it beautiful using the back of a spoon.  
Use the remaining 
meringue to create meringue cookies if 
desired. 
Place the pan into a 230 F oven for 80 minutes.  
Then turn off the heat and allow to stay in the 
oven for at least two hours or even overnight.  
I took mine out after several hours and let 
it cool, then covered it with plastic wrap 
so I could assemble it the next day.  

Top it with whipped cream or whatever filling 
you desire and then the fruit.  Refrigerate 
until served.  I like it to sit for a while to 
help soften the meringue, but then I would 
top it later with the fruit.  
This pavlova turned out so beautiful and 
white - I think it loved the Cabo climate!  Haha.

 

Chocolate Peppermint Pavlova 

Spring Berry Pavlova

I hope you have a lovely 
Valentine's Day.
Thanks for stopping by.  Give this a try, 
it will melt in your mouth.