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Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Credit where credit is due.

Reading blogs from other Merida bloggers is more than just entertaining...it is educational as well.  Tonight we tried two lessons from two of the Merida bloggers that we read regularly.  So, with thanks and apologies for the photo quality, here are the results:
Some time ago, Lee from Imagine Merida posted about using Google Maps to compare lot sizes of multiple properties. Admittedly, Lee's results were far more attractive, but this is our low-tech attempt.  (We only managed to print, cut out the lots, and paste them to a folder!)  Each of these is a place that we either (1) looked at with LeAnn, (2) visited on a Wednesday MELL tour, (3) visited socially, or (4) rented for one of our Merida visits.  Our lot is the third from the left.  Although it is not as big as the two largest, it compares favorably to each of the places that we've rented in the past (the four furthest to the right), and each of those was very comfortable.  This exercise really helped us to get some perspective on the lot that we picked, so thanks, Lee!

Then, Pat Q posted about flan.  I've been trying to learn to cook something other than the dozen or so dishes I've been making for years, so this seemed like a perfect opportunity to try something I had never done.
The recipe was easy to follow, and melting the sugar wasn't nearly as complicated as I expected it to be.  This was the result...I can't speak for whether the appearance is normal, but the flavor was excellent.  I will definitely try this one again until I get it just right, so thanks Pat!  (And practice pointers are most welcome.)

8 comments:

  1. Flan looks good.. you may want to increase your sugar a little bit to get more caramel.. it looks better if it drips over the sides. If you ran out of water in your pan in the oven, increase that a little more too. Taste and texture is so important in Flan... so if it tasted good, and was not too puddingish, Yeah!

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  2. I think your paper cutouts look more interesting than my Photoshop images. What was the property all the way to the left? Yowza! Thanks for the mention!

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  3. Pat, the taste was great but the consistency was not as smooth as I hoped. Can you over-beat the eggs, or is it more likely that I didn't beat them enough? Once we finish this one off, I will try again (we have a reliable source of eggs here!) Lee, that is a pre-reno shot of a property owned and renovated by another expat. The resulting property is enormous and beautiful...yowza indeed!

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  4. I use the electric mixer for about 3 minutes. I do let the egg mixture sit while I make the caramel, so maybe it rests. I have also used condensed milk at times as well as full boat milk....

    It is really important that you have plenty of water in the pan in your oven and let it heat up while the oven is preheating so that you are actually steaming the flan.

    I loved the vignette you did of the lots, it looks like something I would frame and hang!

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  5. Hola Darren & Wade! We have been bitten by the HHI bug and are planning the big move like so many others. We've been in the "planning" stage for about a year and have finally started to plan a trip. We haven't actually been to Merida yet but already know we love it from blogs just like yours :) I was looking for a contact us button but couldn't find one so I hope you don't mind the comment, it's kind of related to this post :) We have been looking feverishly at listings for a rental property in November and would love to hear your thoughts/opinions :)


    Thanks!

    chrisandbrian

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  6. Hi guys. We would be happy to help out however we can. Just let us know how to contact you and we would be glad to give you a download on our rental experiences so far. (As a hint, they nearly always start with a call to LeAnn Roberts at MexIntl!)

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    Replies
    1. Hi Darren and Wade, thanks for the quick response :) That is great advice to contact LeAnn, we have been in touch with her already! We sent her some of our favorites and I think we have narrowed it down to Casa de las Flores. Feel free to email us: chrisandbrian29 at gmail dot com. We'd love to hear your experiences about rentals and Merida in general.

      thanks in advance!

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    2. Hi Darren & Wade, can you believe how time flies?!?! Just another reason why Merida is so appealing :-) Thought we would touch base again as we hadn't heard back yet and thought our attempt at cloaking our email from potential bots may have been more trouble than it was worth :-) We've since our last comment sent LeAnn our deposit and booked our flight so now all we can do is wait and try to contain our excitement :-) We'd still love to hear from you guys (and your fellow Merida bloggers) on your experiences in Merida. chrisandbrian29@gmail.com

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