Why I love Southern CA...

I'm going to meet my friend who is visiting from Texas tonight and we are going out for margaritas and Mexican food.

Before I ever stepped out of my small town and my Grandma's kitchen, I never knew that other parts of the country and their Mexican food contained GROUND BEEF! Oh the horror! It seriously defies all that I consider to be my Mexican culture but of course... I was sadly sheltered from A LOT!

Anyways... local Mexican restaurants do not, I repeat, DO NOT have any dishes with ground beef unless you order a hamburger (which why for the love of all that is good and holy would you do that at a Mexican restaurant...) . I love my podunk Mexican restaurants here in Southern CA. With my brief stint in Northern CA I can go on and on about the Mexican food I encountered there as well and it is equally delish although I found a few places that served ground beef and those places I just avoided ;)

So tonight I'm looking forward to my lovely margarita with lots of salt, my plate of carnitas with healthy doses of cilantro, tomato, onion and jalapeno w/ rice and beans and if I'm as hungry as I'm making myself... I'll start with a cup of Albondigas (meatball soup) and ask for a side of fresh cilantro and lime.

Sidenote* I need to try and make my own Albondigas, I think a call to Grandma is in order.