LOCATION: Housesitting in Jocotepec, Jalisco, Mexico

WEATHER: Hot, High 88

Today’s highlight was checking out the neighborhood birrieria with Rose and Ray, the housesitters that are going to take over when we are finished here.

Before beer-loving readers get excited about this, a clarification. Birria is a stew made either from goat or beef. A birrieria is a restaurant that features birria. Jocotepec supposedly has the best birria in Mexico. Some say the best in the world. And, this particular restaurant is supposed to be the best. Its name, El Tartamudo, means The Stutterer, who was the original owner, and also a bullfighter.

No menu. The waiter told us that there were 3 kinds to choose from – ribs, spine, and something else I did not catch. All goat. We ordered a rib stew; Rose and Ray a mixed.

To eat it, you spread some of the meat and juice (very very tasty), along with some diced onions and lime juice, all on a warm corn tortilla.

I’ve spoken to other Gringos who scrunched up their noses when I asked about birria, but we really liked it. If we have time while we are here, we will go again.

We walked back home with Rose and Ray, and oriented them a bit to the house.

After a quiet afternoon, we walked Frida to the malecon.

DINNER: Since it is still hot, I thought a cool dinner would be nice. I made a salad with leftover smoked, rice, steamed asparagus, all over lettuce.

BOOK: I finished the book our book club is reviewing at our next meeting – “The Code Girls” by Liza Mundy. It is a true story of the work a group of strong women did to break secret codes during WWII. 8 out of 10, I would say.