Four, Five, Six Times a Mole

Wow, it's been a while! Mostly, this is because I have had a spectacularly busy August, filled with many travels, which left me short on time.... not a lot of chances to hunt down the final weird things I must still consume, but mostly, no time to blog! The only noteworthy thing I have to mention from the past 2 weeks is that I am still addicted to Gin and Tonics.... I especially liked them last weekend, at my school reunion. I set a personal record for Largest Number of G&T's Consumed In One Night. Of course, my previous record was only 2..... but I doubled that record.... and then some! How did I get through so many previous summers without the perfect summer cocktail? My mind reels!

Here I am at my school reunion, on G&T #5.

But now that I am back in town, and not traveling again for a lovely 2 months, I have some time to get back on track! And as soon as I returned home, I decided it was time to try, yet again, to slay that evil Mole Beast.

Those of you who have been reading this blog for a while know that mole has given me troubles. First, there was that mole that was a fucked up conglomeration of bullshit. That was followed by 4 more mole attempts, all of which were determined to be "not mole enough"..... especially that one that didn't contain chocolate! Finally, I found a recipe that seemed right, for Mole #6. It was this Mexican Chicken Mole.

Admittedly, I didn't exactly follow the preparation from that recipe. I used the right ingredients (except I used some Trader Joe's chicken strips instead of the severed limbs of actual birds), but the recipe shockingly kept telling me to use a microwave?!? Really?!? Shame on you, Cooking Light! I'm all for making the task of creating a mole less daunting, but microwave? Let me go on record that I am NOT a microwave person. I refused to have one for many years, until I got married and my husband brought along his ancient microwave. I did manage to ban it from the kitchen, so it is very inconveniently located in the farthest corner of the house, hidden away in a storage closet! I do use it for heating up the occasional leftovers, but that is all! Never is a microwave used in actual meal preparation in this girl's house! That would be the first step on the slippery slope which would end up with me subsisting on Lean Pockets! :-)

Here I am, heating up leftovers in our storage closet.

Now that I got that off my chest..... the mole! Finally, I made a mole that my Mole Loving Husband declared tasted, "pretty much like mole!" And you know, it wasn't bad! I can say that I liked it enough that if anyone ever sneaks mole into my enchilada again, as they did at Border Grill that one time, well, it wouldn't ruin my entire dinner. I liked it enough that I could make it again to please my husband and not feel like a martyr. Which is a success, according to my standards!

I also finished that strange "stone ground" chocolate with the guajillo chili powder in it. I did get to the point where the flavor was fine, but I never quite got past the non-creamy texture of it. So, my next spicy chocolate step is to buy myself one of those NICE chocolate bars..... the kind that my husband once said I didn't deserve, because I couldn't appreciate it.... like, one of those Vosges ones. Lemme just see if I can appreciate it now!

For the near future, I am of course keeping my eyes peeled for either floral flavored foods, or green tea flavored treats. Whenever I see them, I will eat them, I promise! Just not sure when they will appear. But more importantly, I HAVE to do it. I HAVE to buy more of those seaweed snacks, and put myself on a strict regimens. I have to adopt a new motto.... A Seaweed Snack A Day Makes the Gag Go Away! This is the week for that.... I promise!