Category Archives: January 2016

Chocolate Habañero Cake with Chocolate Avocado Buttercream

Screen Shot 2016-01-18 at 5.58.45 AMIngredients

  • 2  Cups  all-purpose flour
  • 2  Cups  sugar
  • 3/4  Cups  unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2  Teaspoons  baking powder
  • 1 1/2  Teaspoon  baking soda
  • 1  Teaspoon  kosher salt
  • 1  Tablespoon  finely ground coffee
  • 1  Tablespoon  ground cinnamon
  • 1/2  Teaspoon  ground allspice
  • 1/2  Teaspoon  ancho chile powder, or to taste
  • 1/2  Teaspoon  chipotle chile powder, or to taste
  • 1/4  Teaspoon  habañero powder, or to taste
  • 1 1/4  Cup  whole milk
  • 1/4  Cup  vegetable oil
  • 2  large eggs
  • 2  Teaspoons  vanilla extract
  • 6  Ounces  unsweetened chocolate, chopped
  • 1/2  Pound  unsalted butter, cubed, softened
  • 1  ripe Hass avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, and cut into chunks
  • 1  Teaspoon  vanilla extract
  • 1  Cup  confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Continue reading Chocolate Habañero Cake with Chocolate Avocado Buttercream

Editor’s Letter

JaneBy Jane Bauer

“House-watching is an art. You have to develop a way of seeing how a building sits in its landscape or streetscape. You have to discover how much room it takes up in the world, how much of the world it displaces.” ― Edmund de Waal

Happy New Year and welcome to our first issue of 2016! This month our writers explored building; from sustainable materials and methods, to how to decorate your home once you’re done. Continue reading Editor’s Letter

The Eye Lecture Series: Next lecture…Real Estate in Mexico

Bringing articles to life, we have planned a lecture series; here’s what’s coming up. All are welcome and the lectures are free.

The monthly lectures all take place on Wednesday, from 4:00 to 6:00 PM at Limon Bistro in Mansiones Cruz del Mar.

Real Estate in Mexico
Wednesday, January 13th, 2016

Panel of experienced specialists and brokers describe everything from buying a pied-à-terre condo to buying land and building from the ground up. Mexican real estate transactions are a complicated “landscape” for foreigners—come hear from the experts! Continue reading The Eye Lecture Series: Next lecture…Real Estate in Mexico

New Trend, New Building: Huatulco’s First Home for the Elderly

Screen Shot 2016-01-01 at 11.23.58 AMBy Deborah Van Hoewyk

As the first U.S. and Canadian baby boomers age through retirement—those born in 1945 are now 70—Mexico is jumping on the assisted living bandwagon, offering facilities, activities, and medical care at far more affordable rates than in the States, and somewhat more affordable than in Canada, but with way better weather! Puerto Vallarta, Lake Chapala, San Luis Potosí, Mexico City—all boast northern-style assisted living facilities that are marketed north of the border. Continue reading New Trend, New Building: Huatulco’s First Home for the Elderly

The House of Tiles

Screen Shot 2016-01-01 at 11.15.13 AM.pngBy Marcia Chaiken and Jan Chaiken

The House of Tiles, better known in Mexico as La Casa de los Azulejos, is one of the many architectural and design gems in the historic section of Mexico City. Less grand than the nearby Palace of Fine Arts and often hidden from view by the crowds that swamp the pedestrian street Francisco Madero, the building has a history as checkered as its tilecovered facade. Continue reading The House of Tiles

Splish, Splash, You’ll Be Takin’ a Bath!

By Deborah Van Hoewyk

You will be if you volunteer on January 16 for the hot – and wet – seat on the Dream Festival’s spanking new dunk tank (see story in this issue for info on the Festival). You know what a dunk tank is, one of those big water tanks with a seat for a willing victim? The “audience” throws some kind of ball at a target attached to a trigger mechanism. When you hit the target, the trigger releases, the seat drops, and the victim plunges into the tank. Continue reading Splish, Splash, You’ll Be Takin’ a Bath!

Bamboo: Sustainable Super Grass

Screen Shot 2016-01-01 at 11.00.05 AM.pngBy Kary Vannice

I’m sure you remember that children’s story about the three little pigs. The one where the wolf huffs and puffs and blows their straw house down. Well, no offense to the pigs, but they used the wrong grass! There is, in fact, a grass that is just as structurally strong as the brick house that fended off that nasty wolf.

You’re probably wondering in what crazy science lab they are cooking up this new super-grass. But humans have been building structures out of it for centuries. Continue reading Bamboo: Sustainable Super Grass