Mexican Foods I can't live without

I have two Mexican foods I can't live without.

Specifically, I'm not talking about things I can get in a Mexican restaurant.  (sidenote.... would you believe it's taken me almost 3 years to find a mexican restaurant that I love to eat at here in San Antonio?  Yep ....  pathetic!)

First ... is Mexican vanilla.  I love this stuff.  So much.  I use it in everything I bake with.  My mom had some when I was growing up.  Then, she & I went on a cruise with my grandma, and we bought a huge bottle each in Cancun.  That was 4 years ago!  This summer my parents came to visit, and we took a trip to the Mexican Market here in San Antonio -- and my dad bought me another huge bottle of Mexican vanilla, just in time because I used my last drop of my first bottle last week! 

My parents one morning in the winter of my younger days made a hot chocolate that just dazzled my taste buds!  "Make some more!" -- and I was led to believe it was a very time consuming process to make.  LIARS!!!  Fast forward to last year, when I find a bar of Abuelita -- and I melt it with milk.  Yummm!  Brought back that morning of my dazzled tastebuds!  I wanted to buy the big box of Abuelita, but I can't read Spanish.  Nothing is written in English on this box.  But knowing Katie is in her second year of Spanish I figured I couldn't go wrong in asking her to help me translate if Mike wasn't around (who does speak Spanish fluently).  I unwrapped a beautiful chocolate disc ... and there in English was the directions!  "Melt in four cups of skim milk one tablet" ... wait.   How many is one tablet?  One big disc of this thing?  Break it in 1/6?  Is that a tablet?  WHAT IS A TABLET ABUELITA COMPANY?!!!  cried my poor paranoid self.  I have to have the EXACT directions!!!  Finally, I just threw the entire disc of chocolate into my milk and watched it melt.

Absolute deliciousness.  Pure heaven.  Cinnamon in chocolate heaven.  Yummmm...

So there you have my two favorite things Mexican ... Mexican vanilla and Mexican hot chocolate.  Give it a shot if you find it in the grocery store. :)