Friday, November 22, 2019

Being Outside and a New Grocery Store

Greetings People of Earth!  How are things where you are?  Things are better here.  Jim is a pale northwesterner who has spent a lot of time in the sun.  This, in turn, gave him a face full of actinic keratoses.  They're a harbinger of things that will be worse.  For years the dermatologist has been zapping them individually with liquid nitrogen, but as of a year ago there were too many.  Different treatment was required.  Late October Jim started putting Efudix on the affected areas.  It's a chemotherapy drug and it's quite unpleasant.  It's painful, to put it mildly.  Anyway, while treating this (21 days, plus 7 more recovery) one must stay out of the sun.  So, we've been like vampires, living in the shadows.  I didn't take any pictures.  If you're curious, there is a six minute youtube that's pretty good at showing the process.  Today Jim was able to go outside, after applying a significant amount of spf 110 on his face.  He's still a little red, but it's much improved.  I'm not sure when we know how successful the treatment was.

There was hiking!  Yay!  It felt really good to be outside.  We elected to do a non-hilly route and enjoy the day.  It was a success.



Later we went to a new grocery store, Cardenas.  They're from California, and cater to the Hispanic demographic.  They're pretty close to a Food City who also has the same demographic.  I think Cardenas has better produce and more stuff over all.


From the produce area, I don't know what these are.


Cactus leaves.  They're not part of my food culture, so I have not tried them.  Here is what you can do with them.

 

There are a lot of tortillas being produced here.


One can buy masa already prepared.


There's a lot going on in the photo.  Foreground we have some pretty good sized spatchcocked chickens on the grill.  Look further back in the middle at the lady next to the pile of green.  She's peeling roasted green chiles.  You can buy them by the bag.  This is a very good thing, peeling them is kind of a pain.  Update to post:  Actually she's peeling avocados.  Someone else, someplace else is peeling the roasted chiles.


These are Jackfruit.  They're interesting, and large. Update to post 2/14/24:  Cardenas only lasted 6 months.  I found an article that they'd pulled the plug.  The store has reverted to being a Fry's.


Now that Jim is once again a free-range human we can get the bikes out and hike and be outside.  Happy we are about that.

12 comments:

  1. Let me tell you, what a beautiful day! We don't see many skies that blue in winter! That cactus looks to have been attacked by a machine gun. Do woodpeckers do that, or some other variety of bird?

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    1. those spots on the cactus pads are where the spines were.

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    2. I'm assuming you're talking about the saguaro. I think cactus wrens do a lot of the damage nest building. Although, it seems odd that they would build that close to the ground. Saguaros never look good once they get old, they always have some form of damage to their skin.

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    3. Looks like the Nopal cactus paddles that are ubiquitous here in Mexico. They use them in all kinds of dishes (eggs, tacos, etc). I am not a huge fan because they have a slimy texture inside, reminiscent of okra. When preparing them, they do cut off the spines, leaving the little pock marks. I would love that grocery store!

      Glad to hear that Jim is on parole and hope the treatment is a success!

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    4. Allison - "Saguaros never look good once they get old, they always have some form of damage to their skin" tee hee Are you referring to the main theme of this blog?

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    5. I was talking about the cactus pads in the grocery store as that is what I thought Joanne was referring to.

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    6. I wasn't sure, so I thought I'd cover all the cactus possibilities.

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  2. The unknown produce pic looks very similar to Kiwi fruit.

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  3. I've heard that procedure is very painful. Glad it is behind Jim. We have a Cardenas market here too, surprisingly. I've tried the cactus ... only needed to taste it once. The masa is wonderful and makes it SO easy to make tamales. Love that part. Glad you are out and about hiking. I've missed your trail pictures!

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  4. I get actinic keratoses but just a few now and then. hard to avoid living in places where the sun can be brutal. of course I was was born down here and lived here all my life so I guess my skin is a little tougher. glad that y'all are out and about again. I've tried cactus (nopalitos) but didn't care for it all that much.

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  5. Good to see you two out again! A long sleeved shirt and big brimmed hat with neck shield might help Jim avoid most of the sun. Then again, I'm sure you already know that.
    cheers
    mark

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  6. Wonderful that you both still roam.

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