Home From the Mayan Riviera in Time For My Upcoming Instant Pot Class and the Resurrection of The Week In Yum




Tulum Ruins
Hello there, my peoples! Just want to check in to let anyone who is paying attention that I am alive and well and am home after, what feels like, non stop travelling since the New Year. I have soooo much more to share about my two trips to Mexico City and my recent week near Playa del Carmen - yes, I have been to Mexico three times so far this year. Yes, I love Mexico.




In the meantime, my upcoming Peruvian supper club at the Depanneur has sold out but There are still spots left for my next Instant Pot Class so if you are in the Toronto area, click that link and grab one before it sells out. These daytime classes are a bit of a new addition to the Depanneur and they are proving to be quite popular.

So, I had to let my Friday roundup feature, The Week in Yum, lapse for the last couple of years because I was insanely busy cooking. I was working with the Kingston Social for their first 6 months, I was teaching regularly, doing recipe features for Vitalize, writing for Auburn Lane and spent last year working a ton with a local caterer, Sublime to try to become a better cook and a better writer.

This year, I vowed to do more travelling, more cooking for myself and getting back to keeping up with own blog so the first step is to bring back The Week in Yum.                                                           


The Week In Yum: Playa Del Carmen, Mayan Rivera 





The lovely Urhias, owner and operator of TaxiGo
I am going to share a few photos from my trip to Playa with my sister - I didn't stay IN Playa but was on a resort about ten minutes north of the town. Mid trip, we  hired a driver, the AMAZING Urhias of TaxiGO  . For the price of a couple of people doing one tour of one sight, you can hire him for the whole day and he will take you wherever you want to go, will make suggestions if you are not sure or if he thinks there is a more interesting option, he'll wait for you while you tour, shop or eat and then you can text him or contact him using WhatsApp and he will pick you up and take you to your next destination. I only wish we had hired him for a second day to take us to the beautiful lagoon he recommended that we, unwisely, said no to in favour of going to Akumal beach. Lesson learned, listen to Urhais.


Catamaran day was a highlight for my sister

We also booked a catamaran over to Isla Mujeres with  Cancun Adventures which was a first for me. I don't usually book those types of tours, preferring to grab a collectivo to the dock, pay for a ferry myself and just go over to the island on my own steam but I was with my sister and it was a treat. I have to say, the catamaran ride was lovely, the crew were fantastic and it was a really nice day, all in all. The only negative was that we were the first to picked up and last to be dropped off by the passenger van (included in the price) so what should have been about a 50 minute drive turned into two hours both ways. A small price to pay for a really lovely afternoon on the water and a chance to explore Isla Mujeres after almost 24 years. To say the island has grown and changed would be a massive understatement and I am still processing the changes to this once sleepy little place that I used to call home for 4 to 6 weeks almost every winter in my twenties.

I am just going over all of my photos and notes so keep an eye out here and on Auburn Lane for more stories about my travels. In the meantime, enjoy a few photos to get you started.


My sister's first time at Tulum

Catamaran trip over to Isla Mujeres
The beach at Tulum is a hidden gem

What used to be a couple little shacks with souvenirs is now like a little town square at the ruins of Tulum

this Danza de los Voledores is INSANE

Urhias recommended lunch at Ziggy's on the beach in Tulum. Amazing spot

another Urhias recommendation was this little known underground cenote that is off the beaten path

We had the place almost to ourselves the whole time, unlike the more popular centoes which are $$ and crammed full of people


the beachfront in front of Ziggy's was the only spot without seaweed that we encountered 
tequila shrimp from Ziggy's



My old favourite on Isla Mujeres was one of the only things that stayed, more or less, the same

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