A Last Gasp of Summer Travel: Michigan Cottage with Dearest Friends + Tacos

my last travel post for the time being

My family has had a cottage on the shore of Lake Michigan for almost 100 years. Not just the land, like the actual cottage. It is a place that is incredibly special and dear to the hearts of all who have entered its doors. Its red and white color scheme is evocative of the buildings we saw everywhere in pastoral Sweden earlier this summer, even though historically, this area of Michigan drew Dutch immigrants to it, including my own family back 3 or 4 generations. The interior is (mostly) original wood shiplap walls and leftover rugs and curtains and furniture from when my grandparents lived there year-round. There are literally 100 steps down to the beach that count as your workouts for the week. Let’s just say: the charm is charming. 

As happens to most musicians, my oldest (and closest) friends and I have drifted apart, but only in location. This group has known each other going on 20 years now, and whenever we do see each other it’s just like we left it. These are the best friendships. So when we were all together for the most recent wedding celebration last April, I insisted that we have everyone go out to the cottage at the next most convenient time. Which was last week, over the Labor Day weekend. And I can’t wait for all of us to get together again like this.

Highlights of the week: 

• My husband and I had to get a bat out of the house, Alien airlock style, before everyone else arrived. Terrifying.  #cottagelife 🦇

• Beach time, but I barely read this book because toddlers. 

• Klondike Bars.

• An outing to Dutch Village 🇳🇱 — a hilariously campy Dutch amusement park with rides, klompendansen performances, wooden shoe carving, Delftware demonstrations, Dutch cocoa tastings, stroopwafel making, cheese making and a great Dutch cheese shop, among other fun activities and learning experiences.

• Dutch cheese board.

• Walks out to the lighthouse = rare family photo opportunity.

• The best sunsets. 🌅

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When spending extended time with friends, my priority lies with actually spending time with them, not cooking the whole damn time. So what does one do in a less familiar, less well-equipped kitchen? You crock pot. It’s a verb now.

If you find yourself in a situation like this (7 adults, 2 children, and 2 crock pots), I find that the best way to please everyone is with tacos 🌮 Ingredient overlap is the most consistent and not having to buy a million things that don’t have a lot to do with each other really goes a long way when you’re feeding a crowd. Get the fillings done ASAP, slowly cooking while you spend your day on the beach, in the woods, or wherever you might be. (I honestly wanted more crock pots so that I could get all the meats done on the same day, but that’s not where we were.) Get someone to be your tortilla-master, heating them up in a hot, lightly-oiled skillet, then keeping them warm, wrapped up in a clean dish towel. Get others to prep your garnishes, set the table, and then start eating!

In 2019, during my first year in business as a personal chef, I cooked the entire menu for an 88-person backyard wedding that was all Mexican food, cocktail hour through reception — there were tajin fruit skewers, agua frescas, horchata, a hibiscus tequila cocktail, 4 or 5 dipping salsas, 2 table salsas, 4 taco fillings, taco garnishes, frijoles charros y arroz, and homemade tortillas. As you may have guessed, everything was from scratch. It was a beautiful event, and these clients still remain close to my heart. I researched and tested the piss out of this menu, and I still occasionally hear compliments from my clients’ wedding guests when I see them in person. I’m incredibly flattered by this. 

But the recipes that I used were most definitely not my own. I am not of Mexican descent, yet I tried to source the majority of my recipes for that wedding from people who are of Mexican descent or had thoroughly and appropriately gone out of their way to learn and respect Mexican culture (I’m looking at you, Rick Bayless 🙌). Of course, this wasn’t always possible with the nature of needing to cook meats by the incredibly inauthentic crock pot, so some recipes were sourced from bigger blog names which you’ll find below.

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Crock Pot Taco Meats

🐓 CHICKEN TINGA (adapted from Pinch of Yum)

Ingredients

• 1T olive oil

• ½ sweet onion, roughly chopped, approx 1 cup (although, according to Rick Bayless, you should always use white onion in Mexican cuisine)

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1-2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped

• 1 tsp dried oregano

• ½ tsp ground cumin

• 14 oz can crushed fire-roasted tomatoes

• ½ tsp kosher salt

• 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs

Directions

• in a food processor, blend all ingredients except chicken 

• in the slow cooker, cook on HIGH for 4 hours

🐖 CARNITAS (adapted from Isabel Eats)

Ingredients

• 2 ½ pounds pork shoulder

• 1T lime juice

• 2 tsp kosher salt

• 2 tsp ground cumin

• 1 tsp chili powder (can sub smoked paprika)

• 1 tsp garlic powder (can sub 4-5 garlic cloves, whole and smashed)

• 1 tsp oregano

• 1 tsp onion powder

• ½ tsp ground black pepper

Direction

• place the pork into the slow cooker

• mix the remaining ingredients in a small bowl, then pour over the pork, rubbing it on all over and in any pockets

• cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours

• when tender, shred the meat with a fork and cut larger shreds with kitchen scissors

🐄 BARBACOA (adapted from Gimme Some Oven)

Ingredients

• ⅔ cup beer (Negra Modelo works great)

• 4 cloves garlic

• 2 chipotles in adobo (or more, to taste)

• 1 small white onion, peeled and roughly chopped

• 4 oz can diced green chiles

• ¼ cup lime juice

• 2T ACV

• 1T ground cumin

• 1T Mexican oregano [LINK] (or regular oregano)

• 2 tsp salt

• 1 tsp black pepper

• ¼ tsp ground cloves

• 1T avocado oil (can sub EVOO, but will smoke because it has a lower smoke point than avo oil)

• 3 pounds beef chuck roast, fat trimmed and cut into 2-inch chunks

• 3 bay leaves

Directions

• combine ingredients from beer through cloves in a food processor or blender, blend until completely smooth 

  • the cottage does not have a blender — I just chopped everything super fine and it came out great, the blender just makes that faster and probably intensifies some of those flavors

• in a skillet (preferably cast iron), heat the avocado oil over high heat, sauté the beef until all sides are browned or charred

• add the beef, blended sauce, and bay leaves to the slow cooker

• cook on LOW 8 hours

NOTES:

• tsp = teaspoon / T = tablespoon

• ACV = apple cider vinegar

• EVOO = extra-virgin olive oil

Favorite Garnishes For Tacos

• chopped white onion

• chopped cilantro

• lime wedges

• pickled red onion

  • in a 12 oz glass mason jar, combine thinly sliced red onion, 1 tsp kosher salt, 1 tsp sugar — fill halfway with white vinegar and the remainder with cold filtered water — shake until salt and sugar are dissolved, let sit at least 10 minutes before using

• pico de gallo

• hot sauces of choice (Cholula, Valentina, El Yucateco are faves)

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These recipes are also great for any night of the week, any time of year, and any occasion IMHO. No cottage / Airbnb required.

If there is any interest in a future post about the complete Mexican wedding menu or cooking for backyard weddings in general, please leave a comment below or direct message me! I’d be happy to share all the recipes that I used or tested. The Mexican representation above isn’t great, but I did find some really fantastic recipes from several authentic Mexican food blogs.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for being here.

❤️ Sarah