Good Mexican food - but not in NJ!!!

I made a pit stop in Rocky Mount, NC to have dinner with my friend Ursula and her kids this evening on my way to Greenville for Annual Conference with the Methodist Church of North Carolina. Due to a programming malfunction with the satellite navigation system, it took me longer than expected to arrive at her house (meaning my finger must have errantly selected the wrong street in the list I had to choose from) but when I arrived she greeted me with good news - we'd go have Mexican for dinner if I thought I might want some! I thought I couldn't get to the restaurant fast enough - and I was so touched that she has been following my blog. Her son Chris was happy to munch on a chip and pose for the camera. Trust me, there is some really great fresh salsa sitting just on my side of the chip basket! Chris is in a good mood as school is over for the year and World Cup starts on Sunday - yeah, I know it starts before that, but Chris is only interested in Germany. For those of you who were classmates of Ursula you might be wondering about how Germany figures into the equation - and there are no obvious answers, b/c she is wondering too. Regardless of the enigmatic whims of teenagers, he and his sister were good company and excited to share their respective summer plans with one of mom's 'old' friends.

See, the good Mexican food is in NC!
Thanks, Ursula, for a great pits stop - I'll have to give that satnav another go the next time I come down from Jersey!

I should have known better

Back in April I mentioned that I was on the hunt for some decent Mexican food here in NJ. I've been to a couple of places with my sister-in-law, but nothing has hit the spot so far. Recently, I've been on a kick for fresh pico de gallo - but made by the local grocers. I know I could make it myself - but honestly, chopping tomatoes is NOT my forte. In Richmond, there was a really great local supermarket called UKrops that sold some very tasty pico de gallo they made fresh every day. Unfortunately, even if I were in RVA right now, I doubt I could get any - UKrops sold the franchise to a larger market chain several months ago. Believe me, deep sadness is known among loyal UKrops customers. Over the weekend, I heard on the radio that a local market was selling fresh salsa and thought I'd give it a try. As I approached the 'prepared produce' selection I realized the salsa being advertised was not prepared by the grocers, but by a distributor located here along the East Coast. Despite the fact that it was made more than a hundred miles away, I decided to check it out as it was the only game in town. It isn't exactly bad - but it didn't make the margin of "good" either. My first clue should have been that the tomatoes weren't really really red, but a deep shade of pink and the lack of cilantro was very disappointing. So the search continues.....