The Mesquite Tree

Mesquite Tree with pods opened in Phoenix, Arizona

Taking a moment today after working too hard, I look up through the leaves of a mesquite tree to see that the pods are opening and dumping their fruit. The mesquite is one of the coolest trees in Arizona. With roots that go as deep as 60 feet, there is often more wood below ground than above. Used for cooking, mesquite can lend great flavor to any cookout; just check out Cattle Exchange Restaurant in Canadian, Texas, for proof of that. The fruit from the pod is used by the Apache and is ground into flour or fermented to make an intoxicating drink. The gum from the tree can be eaten as candy or used as cement to repair pottery. Who knew?

Lunch at TeePee

Had lunch today at Tee Pee Mexican Food in Phoenix, Arizona, George Bush had lunch here in 2004

Yeah, this is mundane, uninspired, and on the verge of pathetic, but I was so busy all day that finding a photo was low on the list of priorities.

Lunch here, though, is excellent. Tee Pee Mexican Food has been a local Phoenix favorite now for more than 40 years. The place is not upscale; it is retro by every measure. The food makes up for any lack of ambiance, although if noise from a busy clientele is your version of ambiance, then this is the place you must get to. Tee Pee may be best known for its Chili Relleno, which is ginormous. I love the enchiladas and green corn tamales; the green chili burrito comes in a close third, while the homemade salsa will force you to eat way too many chips before your meal arrives. Be warned, the plates are delivered sizzling at finger-burning temperatures.

Tee Pee is located at 4144 E Indian School Road in Phoenix, Arizona, and is open seven days a week. During lunch and weekends, the wait can be quite long, upwards of an hour for weekend dinner guests. George Bush ate here last year; I give him credit for finding good eateries.

Other must-visit Mexican restaurants while in Phoenix:

Los Dos Molinos – 8646 S Central Ave – Awesomely spicy hot food served up New Mexico-style from old cowboy movie star Tom Mix’s former home. Closed July for vacation.

Barrio Cafe – 2814 N 16th Street – South Mexican cuisine is the specialty here, and you will not be disappointed by stopping in; the food is terrific. An example item from the menu: Filet mignon in a chipotle/tamarindo red wine sauce served over a grilled nopal cactus pad and chorizo.

Carolina’s – 1202 E Mohave Street and 2126 E Cactus Road, Carolina’s offers great Mexican fast food and has been the winner for many a year of the New Times’ Best Tortillas title in Phoenix, Arizona

Grocery Shopping

Grocery shopping at Henry's Market Place

I went shopping today at Henry’s Marketplace, one of our favorite grocery stores. Henry’s is part of the Wild Oats chain the difference being less an emphasis on purely organic foods and significantly lower prices.

We buy approximately 80% of our food items from Henry’s. Today, a typical day, we purchased the following: tomatoes, green bell peppers, fresh spinach, radishes, fresh beets, red cabbage, red leaf lettuce, jicama, white corn on the cob, peaches, nectarines, apples, red bananas, fresh blueberries, raisins, frozen strawberries, shelled walnuts, carrot juice.

This wasn’t all of our shopping today; we also stopped at Food City for small 5″ corn tortillas, Menonita cheese, jalapenos, avocados, and Herdez salsa. Our last stop was Indo Euro Foods for paneer cheese, green chilies (Thai style), curry leaves, and a bag of puris.

Combine these ingredients with the potatoes, brown rice, carrots, green beans, ginger, garlic, mint, cilantro, red onions, orange juice, flaxseed oil, soy yogurt, garbanzo beans, Kala chana, grape seed oil, olive oil, lemons, soy milk, oatmeal, eggs, and one of the widest ranges of spices you may ever see in one kitchen, all of which we already have, and we have most everything we need to prepare breakfast and dinner for the better part of the next week.

Update: in the spring of 2009, Whole Foods acquired Wild Oats, and the world of grocery shopping grew darker. Then, in 2017, Amazon bought Whole Foods because life didn’t suck enough.

Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya

Photo from inside the theater watching the Bollywood film Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya starring Salman Khan and Sushmita Sen

Following a busy day where Caroline took a mid-term and the final on the same day (got an A for the class) along with her eval for taking an English class, we later had dinner with Kirk K. at The Persian Room for nearly three hours before we headed south to Tempe to see the Bollywood film Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya starring Salman Khan and Sushmita Sen. Maine Pyaar was a nice little romantic comedy, although I probably wouldn’t recommend it to someone seeing their first Hindi film.

I learned today that some interesting concerts are coming up. On September 10th is Aruna Sayeeram, a Carnatic vocalist, and the following night is Amjad Ali Khan, who is said to be a master of the Sarod. On October 15th is a return performance of Veena Sahasrabuddhe, whom Caroline and I saw perform a couple of years ago; she is GREAT! To learn more about any of these concerts, check either the Fine Arts Association of Arizona or AZ India.