I've never been able to say no to requests. If a friend or loved one asks me..."Hey, do you think that you could make this for me?"...I have a habit of happily accepting before I really know what I'm getting myself into. (
See: A dish for a fraternity potluck on a $10 budget.) The latest example of this would be my brother-in-law's request for homemade horchata. I thought, "Sure, why not? It's just a drink."...Yeah, well, about that...I've actually never even had horchata before. Not at a taqueria. Not at a market stand. Not even the store-bought bottled version.
Never......So, I need to recreate something that I've never tasted, you say?? Challenge
accepted.
First, I looked up a few recipes to compare and to find out exactly what it is. I was able to figure out a few important things: 1) Horchata has different versions and even names, depending on what Latin country you find yourself in. The kind that seems the most popular is the Mexican variation. 2)
Rice and
cinnamon give this particular horchata its flavor. And 3) The steps to make it are reeeeeeaaally simple...Soak, blend, strain. Like I said,
simple...It just takes
time. This is one of the reasons why it's usually a good idea to just go ahead and make this "agua fresca" in large batches.
Lastly, I needed to actually taste some horchata so that I could have something to compare my own to. Walking to the taqueria down the street would've been ideal, but I resorted to a powdered mix that I found at the store, like pouches you'd find for Kool-Aid or lemonade. When I fixed up a couple of glasses, though, Jeremiah said that it was too thin and watery, and this store-bought horchata was a little too heavy on the cinnamon. (Surprise, surprise. It tasted artificial.) I kept my fingers crossed that this underwhelming, not-so-tasty stuff would pave the way for
my horchata to really shine. (Set a low standard. This was my foolproof logic.)
It's 5 o'clock somewhere!
You may or may not notice that it is actually Wednesday.
Sundays are for brunch, day baseball, family dinners... You're supposed to slow down, relax, and enjoy the last day of the weekend. Just like Freddie Mercury used to croon, "I'll be lazing on a Sunday afternoon." 
Sometimes, after a long holiday weekend, you wake up on Monday morning and wonder what you should have for breakfast. You wonder if you should go all-out eggs, bacon, and toast...Because you have to start the day/week off right, right? And how could bacon and a fried egg ever be wrong?...Or, maybe, you should go the lighter route with some fresh fruit and oatmeal.
I grew up on the military family housing for McLellan Air Force Base, when it was still an active base in the 90's. We lived in a cozy, single-story home that looked like pretty much every other house in the neighborhood. But we had a deck. A big wooden deck out front that everyone could sit on when the Sacramento Valley heat made staying indoors unbearable. It'd get way too stuffy, and fresh air was the only remedy.
I've never been able to say no to requests. If a friend or loved one asks me..."Hey, do you think that you could make this for me?"...I have a habit of happily accepting before I really know what I'm getting myself into. (See: A dish for a fraternity potluck on a $10 budget.) The latest example of this would be my brother-in-law's request for homemade horchata. I thought, "Sure, why not? It's just a drink."...Yeah, well, about that...I've actually never even had horchata before. Not at a taqueria. Not at a market stand. Not even the store-bought bottled version. Never......So, I need to recreate something that I've never tasted, you say?? Challenge accepted. 
