Si Abuelita fuera mi compania, entonces I make Mexican Chocolate Snicks

With a little substitution of a word from part of a song I learned in my high school Spanish class, I introduce Version 3, the final and perfected version of my Mexican Chocolate Snick which I’m planning to mail to a birthday girl today as a surprise. These are made with “melted” Abuelita Mexican Chocolate disks (formerly Ibarra until Nestle bought the company) in the batter and with chocolate wafers in the middle and on top for the full chocolate experience. (I put “melted” in quotes because the big Abuelita disks don’t fully melt as they are full of sugar and cocoa nibs, but the chocolate melts.)

Cinnamon and Demerera Sugar make the difference!

I baked a few without the chocolate wafers to test the Mexican chocolate and cinnamon cookie flavor in the hood. One of my neighbors, upon receipt of one with the chocolate wafers inside and out, bit into it and said, “Best ever.” I asked if she’d ever had anything Mexican chocolate before and what do you think she said?

The Bird of Seattle, aka the Crane, lit up for the night and resting at the Colman Dock

I like the big construction cranes and have been photographing them in Seattle for a few years, posting the photos in albums on my Facebook page and opening an Instagram account to feature the cranes. During the COVID-19 lockdown, when I didn’t want to be exposed to the virus on a bus ride downtown, I had to quit that activity so I posted food photos on my Instagram instead. Nowadays, I’m happy to resume my unusual hobby.