Terrific Tuesday

We had marvelous plans for today. It was Abe’s day off and we could think of nothing better than checking out some new places off the beaten path here in San Antonio, Texas. We would wake up early, and we would faithfully mail out the girl scout cookies to my family in California. Then we would set out to the Army Surplus to rummage the racks of pea coats and window shop in the glass cases of “hardware". Then we would be off to explore a new gourmet shopping venue in Serna, Texas called Specs. We dreamt of casually strolling the isles of je ne se quoi, maybe a tasting, cheese and wine, or just a trendy treat. All of this was to add up to an afternoon of delight. 

Not to be so. Our day turned out to be neither terrific nor marvelous. We woke up late, still a little sick and it was raining with a bitter cold that could deter even the most determined. We definitely are no ordinary shoppers though, as we could be classified “a stubborn bunch”. So, the morning wore on, and I, as most extraordinary shoppers do, began to justify in my mind the kind of coats to be found in the Army Surplus, and a desperate need for stinky cheese.. I decided that for our health’s sake, we should all brave the elements and mosey on down the way and check it out anyway. All for one, and one for all, right? We put off the trip to the post office and drove down there to the Army Surplus. What do you know? It was no longer there. So much for nice wool navy blue matching pea coats.

Once we decided to ditch our plans for the morning and just go with the flow of traffic a while, things started looking up. We stumbled on a Boricua Market, and picked up some much craved foods, just like grandma made them back home. How can you go wrong with a couple of junta’s of pork and yucca pasteles, a Puerto Rico style tamale, and a fresh jar of Sofrito? Sofrito is a blended aromatic base of onion, cilantro, garlic, salt and pepper. It’s our cultures building block to almost every recipe. No stinky clean up in the kitchen to make it, either!  Fabulous! They even had a ‘ready to fry’ box of bacalaito, cod fritter mix. Tasty! Oh, and I can’t forget the batata, which is a sweet potato candied paste we picked up at the register. That store was a yummy reminder of childhood. After our little shopping spree, in now my favorite market, we headed home to put away our finds. It was then time to pick up the kids from school, and we realized that it had turned out to be a pretty terrific Tuesday after all.