Chambeando en Mexico:

I watched my mom for the past years try and attempt to make Ethiopian food for my brothers Sammy and Zem. She probably made injera (a sourdough type of flat bread that is floppy and a staple food for all Ethiopians) at least 20+ times since we adopted Zem in 2011. Needless to say, she did not master it. There is something about being an Ethiopian woman who was born and bred to make injera, it's in her blood.

I have learned, much to my dismay, that Mexican food is the same way. One does not learn to make tortillas in one try. Salsa making is more like chemistry than cooking. And I just happen to have a (future) mother in law who might be the best cook in all of Mexico.
So what is a guera (a nice name for white girl in Mexico) to do?
I keep moving forward. Practice makes perfect right? 

I have had a constant uphill battle with a popular breakfast dish called chilaquiles. In basic English, tortilla chips cooked in salsa till they are soft. You top the dish off with shredded chicken, a fried egg, avocado, lettuce, cilantro, queso fresco (a crumbly dried cheese) lime, and Mexican cream.
There are two kinds, chilaquiles verdes (green) or chilaquiles rojas (red). When making chilaquiles you must know your ratio of tomatoes, garlic, and peppers. There are also many different kinds of peppers one can use, depending on the flavor and spice you are looking for.
Most recipes I have seen and tried to duplicate use the common jalapeno, or chipotle chiles.
If one is making chilaquiles verdes, you use jalepenos obviously because they are green and tomatillos (a green tomato). The other day I was feeling so confident in my chilaquiles. The night before I had a long talk with a good friend who is Mexican and has "chilaquil" making in her blood. I told her my problems...it was pitiful. But she encouraged me. "Well, how many people are you making it for?" "Oh maybe 4 or 5." I say. "Do you want to make them green or red?" "Lets go with green." (There really isn't too big of a difference I have found, but my taste buds aren't Mexican.) "Okay green. You will need 8 tomatillos and 4 jalapeno chilies." I had it! It was easy, how could it not? She just said how many to get, tomorrow was going to be the long awaited day, the day I beat chilaquiles, the day I truly became Mexican! (Not really but it my head this was going to happen.)
I arrive at our local Oxxo to buy the necessary ingredients with all my friend's advice in mind. I walk up to the produce and see one small tomatillo all alone among the bright red tomatoes. My world was shattered. How was I to figure this out. Red tomatoes are a little bigger than tomatillos, the ratio would for sure be off. So I gulped and grabbed 5 red tomatoes and 3 jalepenos. I guessed. That's right I guessed. My white girl, American brain guessed at how many tomatoes to jalepenos just like I had been the countless times before.
The next morning I fried my tortillas in the pan, roasted the tomatoes, garlic, and jalepenos and then blended them. I shredded the chicken. Fried the egg, cut the lettuce and prayed. I really did pray, I prayed this meal would bless my fiance whether or not they were good. I pray a lot about that these days as I struggle towards my goal of expert cook.
Well, my chilaquiles got an 8 out of 10 that day. Not bad! Next time we will aim for a 10. Next time I will beat chilaquiles. And once I master these soggy tortilla chips I will move on to another dish, and then another and another until my finger tip nerves are burned off from flipping tortillas and I don't have to look at a recipe book.  

Chilaquiles Verdes 

Chilaquiles Rojos