The Guadalajara Reporter

Ribera Arts Review - April 27, 2013

The Culinary Arts Society of Ajijic (CASA) held its regular meeting and competition on April 15 at Min Wah restaurant.

The categories for April were Thai Main Dish (Category A) and Thai Complimentary Side Dish (Category B).  The judges were Ismat Jivani, Maru Kent and Pedro Palmer. The guest speaker was Marie-Lyse Jacobsmuhlen, who lived in Sri Lanka for a number of years and hosted a televison cooking Show.  She provided a detailed overview of the different spices used in Thai and Indian Cuisine, along with a demonstration.

Winners in Category A were Annie Green, who took the first place for her Thai Shrimp and Potato Curry, Monica Molloy in second place for her Pork & Seafood Spring Rolls and Wayne Palfrey in third place for his Coconut Curry Mussels. 

Winners in Category B were Nancy Traill in first place for her Yam Neua Thai Waterfall Beef, Mary Ann Waite in second place for her Green Papaya Salad with Chicken Meatballs and Rick Feldmann in third place for his Yum Woon Sen (Glass Noodle Salad). 

People’s choice awards went to Green in Category A and there was a three way tie in category B between Traill, Feldmann and Beth Cathcart (for her Thai Stir Fried Noodles with Shrimp).

CASA is offering a new award for best presentation in each category. The winners were Molloy in Category A and Traill in Category B.

CASA has opened its membership to welcome new members.  If you enjoy cooking and want to expand your knowledge of the “art of cooking” please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call President Pat Carroll at 766-3144.

The next meeting and competition for CASA will be at Min Wah Restaurant, Monday, May 20, 4 p.m. Please visit the CASA website at www.ajijiccasa.org for more information.

Tallboys

The TallBoys Band will be playing the evening of Saturday, April 27 in the lovely garden of Restaurant Number FOUR in Ajijic. There will be an oyster special – Raw or Rockefeller – plus the discounted TallBoys menu along with Margarita and beer specials. Show up, do a little dancing, enjoy some wonderful food, good friends and drink at the best party in town. Call 766-1360 for reservations.

ASA

The Ajijic Society of the Arts will meet Monday, May 6, 10 a.m. at La Bodega Restaurant (Calle 16 de Septiembre 124). The speaker will be former Los Angeles resident Brad Mowers, who now works  at Lakeside as a fiber craftsman, spinning, dying and cording, making paper using only natural fibers. His specialty is making dyes from native plants. All are welcome. Arrive a little early. The coffee is on at 9:30 a.m.

Tarahumara Mother’s Day

Singer Louie Andrade and La Bodega Restaurant are holding a special Mother’s Day event to benefit the traditional Tarahumara women of the Copper Canyon on Wednesday, May 8. 6 p.m.

It has been a long winter in the Copper Canyon and the free hospital that Libby Townsend’s Tarahumara Project supports is filled with children who have serious lung problems and malnutrition. 

The event at La Bodega will have a 30-peso cover charge to go directly to the Tarahumara Project. The project will also receive 20 percent of all other sales of drinks and meals.

Spectacular Tarahumara arts and crafts that amazed folks at last year’s Feria Maestro del Arte will be on sale, with all proceeds going to the project.

No tickets are necessary, but be sure to call 766-1002 for reservations.

One woman

Local show woman Sydney Gaye will take over the mike at the Red Piano (corner of Morelos and Colon in Ajijic) on Saturday, May 11, beginning at 6 p.m. The show, “Amazing Grace,” is a comedic musical, with Gaye in character as a New Orleans stripper coming face to face with the realities of business, love and war.

The dinner show, with a great barbecue meal and dancing costs 250 pesos. Call 766-2876 for reservations.

Sculpture

Efren Gonzalez, local artist and manager of the Ajijic Cultural Center, will hold an art auction on the Ajijic Plaza on Friday, May 17, beginning at 6 p.m.

The auction will benefit the project to complete the sculpture donated to the town by master sculptor Miguel Miramontes.

Besides a tent up to shade everyone from the sun and heat, there will be refreshments served. Come out and help.

Those artists who wish to donate work to be auctioned should contact Gonzalez at (376) 766-5381.