Oh, good store bought salsa, how I miss you....

We are really sucking this year about posting regularly- sorry about that, loyal blog followers. The truth is, we really haven't gone out and seen much of what this beautiful country/city have to offer yet. We've been lazy; I apologize. We've been busy with school; I realize no excuse. Yes or yes (to use a favorite Paraguayan phrase) we are doing something next weekend around the city so we WILL have something to post about.

In the meantime, I will tell you one of my living abroad woes- the lack of good Mexican food. In Paraguay, it was basically non-existent. I made better Mexican food at home with my Penzey's spice mixes than the Mexican restaurant. I was hoping, since we were coming father north, and with Bogota being known for their restaurant scene, that good Mexican food would be available.

So far, nothing. We have eaten at two different restaurants, and they have been nothing to write home about. Salt and salt, and a splash of heat with no flavor is what we've found. There are two or three more restaurants we are going to try; I've been told they are better, but I'm not holding my breath.

Colombians are not a big fan of heat or spice in their food. Now, I don't like to breathe fire or anything, but a little kick every once in a while would be nice. Having flavor to food would be nice as well. Items labeled picante here, would be considered mild in the U.S.

Anyway, I resorted to making my own salsa in Paraguay since the ones available were not to my liking. However, since I would like chips and salsa to be my easy, go-to snack, whipping up a batch of salsa isn't what I want to do when I want an easy snack. I was hoping to find some good salsa here. In Bogota, I have found three different brands of locally made salsas. Only one so far has been acceptable. Just barely passable. For some odd reason, all the salsas are sweet. I'm not sure why you would add sugar to salsa, but that's what they do here.

And, as much as I hate to say it, the tortilla chips from Paraguay are better than the ones here. I actually resorted to making my own tortilla chips last weekend when I had some people over to watch True Blood (very easy, yet time consuming since I only have on baking sheet- just cut up some corn tortillas, spray with a little cooking spray and sprinkle with seasoned salt, or whatever other flavorings you would like; then bake for about 12-15 minutes).

Wish us luck when we try the other restaurants!