Happy Friday!  I hope you are surviving

winter in your part of Canada.  One of the best

ways to do that is to make some hearty fare and share

it with friends.  Tonight that is happening at my house.

We have invited friends over and are going to be

sharing a Mexican feast (and, who knows, maybe it will

turn into a fiesta!)

The menu is still a bit unfocused but I know for sure we’re having

chicken mole and a Mexican cauliflower dish, perhaps

some salsas and guacamole with tortilla chips.

Which brings me to a small dilemma; for a while now I have been

thinking I really needed a mortar and pestle so I bought one:

Now what?  The thing has been sitting on the counter for over

a week and I am afraid to take it out of the box.  I have heard that

it will need to be seasoned  (interweb here I come) but that’s

not the scary part – the scary part is actually using it.  I’ve seen photos

of people making guacamole in one but won’t that just make a big mess?

I guess I could throw some dried chiles and bash them around a bit

but how many crushed chiles does one really need?  Any suggestions for

usage of the mortar and pestle would be greatly appreciated!

(By the way, do you say “pessle” or “pestle”?

Have a great weekend!

Dot

PS: Does this happen to you?