CASA
The March meeting of the Culinary Arts Society of Ajijic (CASA) was a very special one, as one of the members, Ginger Perkins, won her BING award so very early in the year. The BING is awarded to any CASA member who has three first place wins within a one-year period. Perkins won first-place ribbons in January, February and March of this year!
The competition categories were: Category A – Seafood and Fish Main Dish and Category B – Complimentary Side Dish.
Wayne Palfrey took the first place in Category A for his Cazon (shark) a la Calabria. Second place went to Linda Friedman for her lobster and shells and third place went to Pat Carroll for his grilled marinated shrimp.
Winners in Category B were Ginger Perkins for her BING winning Provencal Vegetable Tian, second place to Mary Ann Waite for her Potato and Mushroom Au Gratin and third place to Karen Blue for her Country Cornfetti Casserole.
The speaker for the March meeting was Ian Greenwood, who discussed the intricacies of buying fresh fish and seafood in the Lakeside region. Greenwood has owned several restaurants in the United States and now teaches cooking classes at Lakeside. Judges for the event were Beverly Lorraine Burge, David Abadia Rodriguez and Fernando Garcia Arriola.
Anyone interested in joining CASA should contact 2012 president Pat Carroll at 766-3144.
Jewels
Local jewelry group Amigas Jewels will hold a sale at Hole-in-One Restaurant in San Antonio Tlayacapan on Saturday, March 24, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The artists will display and sell jewelry featuring various techniques, including stringing, wire wrapping, off-loom weaving, metal smithing and more. Stop and have a look at the wide variety of techniques used to create wearable art and to buy yourself or someone you love something beautiful.
End of season
Ken Gosh will open his El Gallo Gallery for an end-of-season sale from Saturday, March 24 through Saturday, March 31, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Featured artists will be Gosh, Varn, Kathy Fallon and Dan Williams. Art will be priced to sell and refreshments will be served. El Gallo Gallery is located at Calle Guadalupe Victoria 30 in Ajijic.
Dancing
Enjoy a new program of dances from the Ballet Folklorico of Ixtlahuacan on Sunday, March 25, noon, at Auditorio de la Ribera del Lago.
This dynamic group is the five-time winner of the Rafael Zamarripa award for excellence and authenticity.
The show will feature live mariachi music and spectacular costumes. Tickets are 120 pesos at the Auditorium and SuperLake Market.
Los Cantantes
“Prisms” is the name of the 10th Annual Spring Concert to be given by Los Cantantes del Lago on Tuesday, March 27, 7 p.m. and Wednesday, March 28, 4 p.m. at Auditorio de la Ribera del Lago.
The concert will include lots of Mexican folk songs, Japanese haiku (in Spanish, no less), beautiful standards and a rhythm choir directed by Emmanuel Medeles.
This concert is to raise money for Los Cantantes’ young Mexican members (aged 15 to 21), so they will be able to participate in the Kathaumixw Choral Festival in British Columbia. Tickets are 250 pesos and are on sale at the Lake Chapala Society and from any Los Cantantes member.
The raffle
Los Cantantes is also sponsoring a raffle to aid the Auditorium renovation project with tickets for sale at 200 pesos each. The draw will take place after their second (March 28) Spring concert.
This will be the final fund-raiser for Pro Auditorio. Hopefully, construction will begin in April.
Black and white
Galeria Quattro (Colon 9, Ajijic) opens an exhibition and sale of black-and-white photography on Saturday, March 31, 4-7 p.m. Unusually in these modern times, the images were shot on film and developed and printed by hand in a traditional darkroom.
The images were taken in Mexico, Peru and Illinois. All of these 11”x14” and 16”x20” prints will be on sale at rock-bottom prices of 50 pesos to 250 pesos and most will be sold for about 100 pesos. Photographer Jill Flyer’s digital photographs will be sold at 30 percent off.
Darkroom prints are rarely made any more and purists say they have a depth of tone that cannot be equaled in a digital print.
The opening reception will feature wine and snacks. The exhibit will remain in place through April 30.
VIVA trips
VIVA la Musica still has a few seats available on the second bus making the Saturday, April 28 trip to see Verdi’s “La Traviata” streamed to Guadalajara’s Teatro Diana from the New York Metropolitan Opera. Tickets cost 300 pesos for VIVA members and 400 pesos for non-members. Payment must be made before the end of March. Please contact Marshall Krantz at 766-2834.
VIVA is also arranging a bus to a post-season concert to be given by the Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra (JPO) at the Teatro Degollado on Sunday, April 29. The program features Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet Overture,” Rodrigo’s “Guitar Concerto de Aranjuez” and Brahms’ “Symphony No. 4.”
VIVA is considering organizing accommodation at the comfortable Hotel Morales in Guadalajara’s centro historico for the night of April 28. This would enable those taking in “La Traviata” to stay overnight for the JPO matinee the following day before returning to Ajijic. The cost would be about 1,500 pesos including the hotel, transportation, the opera and the concert. Interested? Call Krantz at 766-2834.
There are also some seats still available for the trip to the JPO concert on Sunday, April 1, which features works by Adams, Mozart and Mahler.
Call Marshall Krantz to reserve and arrange payment for these concerts. Tickets are 250 pesos for VIVA members and 350 pesos for non-members. Payment must be made two weeks before each concert because VIVA must purchase tickets ahead of time.