Disclosure: I received an electronic copy of Home Sweet Anywhere and excerpt to share as part of the book tour. No other compensation was received for this post.
Title: Home Sweet Anywhere: How We Sold Our House, Created a New Life, and Saw the World
Around the World
By Lynne Martin
Publish date: April 15, 2014
ISBN: 9781402291531
Trade Paperback
An enchanting account of how one couple sold everything to fulfill a dream of living abroad—one country at a time
Reunited in love after 35 years and suffering from a serious case of preretirement wanderlust, Lynne and Tim Martin made a life-altering decision: they sold their house and possessions and hit the road to live internationally full-time. Now tethered to nothing but their suitcases, each other, and their next exotic location, they’ve never looked back. From sky-high pyramids in Mexico to monkeys in Marrakech, this delightful, inspiring memoir is a romantic tale of derring-do for grown-ups and a road map for anyone who dreams of turning the idea of life abroad into a reality.
Website: www.homesweetanywhere.com
Twitter: @Lynne1Martin
Preorder: http://www.amazon.com/Home-
EXCERPT – MEXICO
Our friend Maribel had invited us to join in their semi-annual tamale-making event. Twice each year, everyone, from Lydia, the matriarch about my age, to Regina, her youngest granddaughter, gathers at Lydia’s pink adobe house for the complicated, labor-intensive production of hundreds of tamales. A crowd of women – cousins, aunts, daughters, and sometimes a lucky outsider like me– performs a graceful dance in the kitchen known as a “gang cook”. Some form of built-in radar allows us to work together easily and seamlessly in close quarters, stepping out of the way when someone passes from one part of the room to the other carrying a big bowl of chicken, or one of us quickly washing a bowl and handing it to the person who’s been charged with mixing up a little salsa, without bumping into anyone else.
The men in the family are involved, too, though much of their contributions run along the lines of drinking beer, watching soccer on television and passing through the kitchen to sneak a few tortilla chips with fresh guacamole or salsa. Tim excels in this area of male solidarity, and his lack of Spanish does not interfere with his male bonding skills in the least. In fairness, masculine brawn is necessary for toting the enormous pots, which have been carefully layered with hundreds of tamales and filled with hot water. Since the pots are so big, Lydia’s small stove can’t accommodate them, and they are distributed among neighbors’ kitchens around the barrio. The men lug them to their destinations and check them regularly as the tamales simmer to perfection. Then they tote them back to Lydia’s for distribution among the family.
Tamales combine masa (milled corn), lard, and seasonings – three of the major food groups, as far as I’m concerned. The dough is flavored to complement the filling, so Lydia’s kitchen usually contains four cauldrons of the fluffy mixture: one sweet, two medium, and one blazing with chiles and spices. The tamale maker spreads a wet corn silk in her palm, plops a big spoonful of masa onto the leaf, and slap!, presses it flat, and adds a smaller spoonful of chicken, beef, fruit or fiery chiles in the middle. Then, she skillfully folds the edges together and ties up the whole thing into a neat little package with raffia string bow.
Before long Lydia’s table groaned with tidy rows of tamales, grouped by filling type. The kitchen mirth increased as we toasted each other with my most valuable contribution, a decent tequila.
