From Fools and Sages: Guamu-chiles & Gum

Luigi the chi-poodle

There are few memories that I can recall from my childhood here in mexico. One of them was eating these Pea looking fruit things that grew on trees called "Guamuchiles" I remember I used to climb on trees to get my hands on them. My grandpa from my fathers side had a big tobacco plantation and there was a lot of guamuchile trees around the perimeter. I really looked forward to eating them again after so long and have my husband try them as well.

Just my luck, they weren't in season then but now they are starting to sprout!! As soon as I saw them hanging from the tree I made it my mission to get some. This morning I went to the nearest tree and pulled one down.

You just eat the white part. The green inside is the seed.

I'll admit, they aren't that great right now. They aren't ripe and are a little bitter. The familiar taste brought back memories of me climbing those trees so long ago. I can't wait until they are ripe and sweet. There used to be a tree in my families property here in Botadero but it was blown down by hurricane "Keva" years ago along with other fruit trees and palms. So, I grabbed one of the seeds and decided to try and grow a sprout like I did with that lima bean back in 5th grade. Maybe if I get a good sapling I'll try and plan a new tree in the backyard again.

My aunt recently went to Talpa. I am not exactly sure what goes on over there but it has something to do with a religious get together/shopping spree. The one thing that I know about Talpa is that my aunt used to bring me back these gums in shape of hats and they smelled really good! I love the smell of these things so I gave her $50 pesos and asked her to bring me as many as that could get me. It turned out to be a good amount! which I was hoping for so I could send some to my mom and she can give some to my sisters. I was surprised to know that they now have little hats, sandals, water jugs and baskets made out of gum. They are adorable and super cute.

One of the million things that I was concerned about here in mexico was getting bitten by scorpions. It's not "scorpion" season yet but every 2 weeks there seems to be one hanging out in the kitchen. Luckily here in Nayarit we get a lot of those cute house geckos that eat scorpions and bugs. They are quite interesting creatures and they deserve their own post. Today though I almost stepped on one... this one looks like its about a week old and its adorable.