Sunday, January 10. Freeze Fighting. Return To La Carreta. It was nineteen degrees when I rose at nine (!), after a night of getting up to run faucets and flush toilets every hour or so. The pipes under the house are okay, but the ones in the pumphouse are unwrapped. That's not a problem if the well pump runs two or three times an hour, as I'm sure it does with an outdoor faucet running. But I'm compelled to overcompensate. Mary Ann and the kids think my concern for our water system is over the top, and they're probably right.
For the past few months, Mary Leigh has been angry with La Carreta, long her favorite Mexican restaurant. Today, all was forgiven, because she was hungry for that food. I still don't know what her pique was about. Nothing about the place seems changed to me. They still have an excellent salsa for a mainstream restaurant, and although most of the menu is highly Americanized, I always find something good. Today I had cheese enchiladas with tomatillo sauce and grilled chicken. The latter did not seem to be made to order and was very dry, but I had no other complaints. (I was mainly interested in the enchiladas, and there was too much food on the plate to begin with.
Mary Ann's plate brought an excellent new dish: duck quesadillas. These were made with flour tortillas, folded over the duck meat into triangles and fried. They came with a very good and original tomato-and-chili sauce. Mary Leigh went through most of a trio of carne asada tacos that looked and tasted good. But we probably all would have been better off stopping after we dispatched a boat-like platter of chorizo-riddled queso, scooped up with flour tortillas.
As I always do, I asked whether they had any dishes with mole poblano, knowing that they don't. I'll keep the pressure up until more of these so-called "authentic" Mexican restaurants start serving that most distinctive of all Mexican sauces.
This is the first time I've been able to discuss culinary matters with the Marys during a Sunday lunch. On all other recent repasts, they were focused on the Saints game. The high-flying team has the weekend off.
Back at home, I took the initiative--hoping there will be no repercussions from the Chairwoman of the Board--to order AT&T's new U-Verse service. This, they claim, will give us much faster internet, plus cable television to boot. I got this past Mary Ann by taking advantage of her interest in the Saints and the upcoming Olympics. Right now, we get no television of any kind. Now we'll get it all. I think I'm overdue for a return to television, after twenty years of watching nearly none of it.
La Carreta. Mandeville: 1200 W. Causeway Approach 985-727-7212. Mexican.
