What Better for a cold than estofada (beef stew)?

This savory stew of carrots, potatoes and beef is from Pedro Acevedo's take away (para llevar) run from his middle-class house on the left branch of Pastita #42 going from the center of town. Reasonable main dishes, several each day, rice, pasta  beans, skimpy salads. Among the specialties: vegetarian lasagne, moles, fish (Fridays), pozole. Open Monday through Friday until mid-afternoon but call in the morning to order. Tele: 731-3328 to order or find out the dishes of the day.

Nearly the end of the fresh fig season

but you may still see a vendor with little piles of them across from Embajadoras Market. Delicious (wash before eating) and beautiful when you bite into them.

A good place to sample Mexican fast food

I like the huaraches and alambres at Kekas Coco on the left side of Paseo de la Presa as you go toward the presa. It's past Farmacia San Francisco and a child care center but before the street Subida del Molino that goes up to the Panoramica. I'm not sure when the tiny restaurant opens but it stays open in the evenings. 3:30pm is a busy time there. Tea de limon served in a big cup for 7 pesos.

Huitlachoche -- The Time Is Now

We've had several heavy rains in Guanajuato recently so I wasn't surprised that Sunday I saw huitlacoche sold being sold by a sidewalk vendor. This is the grey-black fungus that grows on corn on the cob in the rainy season. If you don't say yuck to mushrooms, it's worth a try, either at home or from the quesadilla and gordita seller at the foot of the Alameda. The huitlacoche and remaining corn kernels are cut from the cob, then sauteed in a tomato, garlic, onion mixture that has been prepared first. I wish I'd taken a photo before I sat down to eat. You can buy huitlachoche on the cob near Mercado Hidalgo, along the street leading into Calle Alondiga, and sometimes from women selling outside the Embajadoras Market.

If you're looking for Pan Integral

There's no mistaking the aroma signaling a tortilleria that makes tortillas from masa (cornmeal dough), but to find whole wheat bread, head for La Infancia on Calla Alonso where you'll find hot-dog shaped fluffy rolls, La Purisima near the Hidalgo Market offering a denser variety in round and long shapes, or for the whole wheat loaves on sale daily at El Abue Restaurant just above the Baratillo. At a bakery, pick up a tray and tongs when you enter, take as long as you want to choose,, carry the tray to the pricer who also bags your purchases, and pay at the cash register. The Mexican women I see in the evening buying for breakfast end up with a tray of mixed sweet tolls (pan dulces) shown here. I tried to use a Picture contributed by visiting New York art historian/writer/photographer Rob Meadows-Rogers. Thanks, Rob, for taking time from photographing doorways to take the image but there were technical troubles. I took this photo with my new camera.