El Huarache Taqueria, Silverdale

What kind of person turns down a chance to go out and eat Mexican food? Nobody I know. I know for certain we never did.

The Boy and I just came back from having lunch at Pedro's. The newest taqueria here in Port Orchard. The owner before him had a nice hand when it came to cutting carne asada. He's a butcher, as is his brother, who runs a nice little tienda and carniceria in Bremerton. No matter, the other place folded and Pedro, a true sweetheart of a guy, now runs the place. Great food, nice lunch specials. 3.95 a plate. Great chips, fresh salsa. The Boy was satisfied and with a plate of tacos under my belt I know I am, too.

We were pretty friendly with Mexican food, weren't we, M? Seemed that was our favorite food to eat whenever we had a chance to grab supper. El Gitano in Sedro-Wooley. Azteca in Bremerton. Puerto Vallarta in Port Orchard. Vuelve ala Vida, Tacoma. El Huarache's in Silverdale. How did it work out that way? Wasn't like we had plenty of opportunities to eat supper out. That joint in Silverdale was a lark. A cold, wet night lark. What was it? An exchange at the mall? A payment? I can't remember which, but we played that "old married couple" game while we were there. I didn't so much carry your bag but was there to be The Goof while you did your transactions. It was play acting at it's finest. I now associate the scents and fragrances of large department stores with you. Thanks a lot.

But we came out that joint, what was is? Come on, help me, here. Yes, Macy's. We came out laughing, practically arm in arm, but we knew better than to do that. Vultures, vultures, everywhere. And we were two of them, hungry ones. What to do but to go out and eat. Up the block to a reliable noodle joint but the place was packed. No time to jump in the car again so a quick run across the street yielded two places to choose from. Teriyake didn't cut it, and the taqueria won out. Mexican food again. Good for us.

I don't know why it but it seems that that kind of food was a leveler. No pretensions, no cloth napkins, no wine lists. I didn't have to feel like I was somehow The Detective's subordinate in a place like that, but rather, it felt, in those small ethnic joints, that he was mine. I couldn't take you to symphonies, I couldn't take you to five star restaurants, but damn it, I could go with you to taquerias and all was well.

It was hot in there and the windows were streaming. The place was packed, and as these things go, on a busy Friday night, we got put back by the kitchen door. I didn't mind and neither did you. We made comparison studies on the fish tacos, which we had just made in my kitchen only recently. Of course, the house tacos won out hands down. But the rest of the plate was satisfactory as was the rest of our meal. Face it, they could have served us carrion on paper plates and we wouldn't have cared. It was stolen time on a rainly Friday night and the only thing we had left to look forward to was dodging traffic on the way back to our cars. That and a long drive back to our respective homes.

I love to eat out but tend to cook at home most of the time these days. M, I suppose I can blame the economy but I would rather sing praises to you. It seems that as much as I like to eat out that cooking at home now has a new charm, thanks to those numerous cookbooks and that recipe bug you infected me with. But more, whenever I do find time and extra cash to eat out with I tend to look for things to eat that I can't make at home as nicely or with the same amount of charm. There is something about tacos served up in a small concern like that that make them taste oh so much better than they do at home. And while I won't go so far as to say that my Mexican food at home is not as good as a nice sit down restaurant or a decent taqueria, let's just say that there's a place for that kind of eating and when I eat that way I appreciate it one hundred percent.

I know we made wonderous chow in my kitchen together. But now I can walk into any Mexican restaurant in the world these days and know that whenever I do I walk in there with you. Lord knows I've had a lot of Mexican out. But the memories of those Mexican meals I shared with you are packed solidly in my pocket right along side those hard pineapple candies we tended to grab as we headed out the door.

Your WHMB