Favorite things/Cositas favoritas

Announcing El Mercadito

0 · Jun 25, 2013 · 3 Comments

Since we launched The Other Side of The Tortilla in 2009, we’ve often been asked for recommendations of authentic Mexican products that we like and where to buy them. We recognize that in some areas of the United States, it can be quite difficult to find a local source for these ingredients. We’re excited to share with you that we’ve created a collection of some of these products all in one place as an Amazon aStore and incorporated it as a tab on The Other Side of The Tortilla for you to be able to shop from our favorite and recommended products and have it shipped to you, wherever you may live.

We’ve carefully curated a selection of foods, kitchen tools, appliances, gadgets, cookware, bakeware and more to help you bring the Mexican experience to your kitchen and home. You can shop the store by either clicking on the El Mercadito tab above on the menu bar, or by clicking here to go to El Mercadito, The Other Side of The Tortilla’s Amazon aStore.

As you know, we sometimes use affiliate links in our posts to items that are sold on Amazon. This means that we earn a few cents on the dollar if our readers purchase items linked from our posts. You do not pay any more that what you would pay if you were buying the same product without clicking our affiliate link. By shopping in El Mercadito and purchasing any item through Amazon during your visit, we earn a small portion of sales, and you’re helping maintain and grow The Other Side of The Tortilla so that we can continue to bring you recipes, information on Mexican culture and travel stories from our time spent exploring Mexico.

Thank you for constantly asking questions and providing feedback to help us improve your experience as a part of our comunidad! We’ll continually update the store to bring you the best selection of our favorite products. We hope you enjoy the store!

If you’re looking for a product that you don’t see or need a recommendation, don’t hesitate to leave a comment here, on Facebook or tweet your request to @MauraHernandez and I’ll do my best to make a recommendation or find what you’re looking for and add it to the store if it’s available.

It’s never too early to start planning for Día de los Muertos!

1 · Jun 3, 2013 · Leave a Comment

This weekend, I visited PaperSource, one of my favorite stores for stationery and gifts. They didn’t have the item I was looking for, but I did find a few other cool things. Being that it’s only June, I was both surprised and delighted to find a few goodies for Día de Los Muertos already in the store! I had to take some photos to share what I found.

Día de los Muertos goodies:

I especially love the cookie cutters and stamps. Now that I’ve gotten in the mood early, I’m starting to make a Pinterest board of all the Día de Los Muertos things that I can find leading up to the holiday this year so I can start planning my altar and celebration. Follow along with me on Pinterest and let me know in the comments below, on The Other Side of The Tortilla’s Facebook page, or via Twitter @MauraHernandez if you find anything that I should add to the board!

My Día de los Muertos board on Pinterest

Siempre junto a mi corazón/Always near my heart

0 · Oct 15, 2012 · 1 Comment

Over the weekend I posted a photo online of a locket that I wear often that always seems to get compliments from strangers. It’s got a vintage map of Mexico City on the outside (er, as close to the heart of Mexico City as they could get with the maps they had available), and on the inside, a tiny photo of the home where my suegros live.

If you’re a geography whiz, you’ll notice that the map on my locket is not quite accurate. But no matter. I love it anyhow.

I seem to have developed an eye for finding these kinds of unique pieces. I found and purchased this necklace at Chicago’s annual Renegade Craft Fair two years ago, from a little booth called The Weekend Store. You can purchase one here with a map of anywhere you like.

When I wear it, I somehow feel like I’m never really that far away from my México lindo y querido.

Do you have any special jewelry or trinkets that remind you of Mexico that you keep close to your heart?

FAVE KITCHEN TOOLS: box grater with storage

0 · Mar 16, 2012 · 1 Comment

We all have a kitchen tool or gadget that makes our lives simpler or easier.

I wanted to share some of the kitchen tools that I love best, starting with this one: a box grater with storage.

This is a great tool that I often use several times per week. It’s a box grater that has a storage tupperware under it, and you can pop the grater top off and seal it with a lid that comes with the set. I love this because it makes grating cheese easy, but I’ve used it for prepping other foods too.

I try to get creative and use one item for multiple tasks, and I’ve discovered this box grater is also good for zesting citrus on the side that has the small graters, and grating cheese and onions on the large side. I’ve also used the large side for grating apples, zucchini and cucumbers.

When I pop the grater top off, I just wash it in the dishwasher. I seal up the top with the lid and store the contents in the refrigerator. This tool is not one that I might have bought on my own; it was a gift from my mom several years ago and probably one of the best kitchen gifts I’ve ever received.

What’s one of your favorite kitchen tools or gadgets that makes food prep easier for you?