Jenn McKinlay: Yes, yes, I know it's April Fool's Day, but you all know I live with pranksters and tricksters and my entire day is going to be spent making certain no one cellophaned the toilet bowl and that the vomit on the floor actually is cat vomit and not rubber vomit. Good times!
So, I thought instead, I would acknowledge what else April 1st is and it turns out it is National Burrito Day. Okay, now they're speaking my language! What is not to love about the burrito? As an Arizonan, I feel that this is an important date to acknowledge, plus, I think I can finagle the fam into ordering burritos for dinner tonight and you can, too. Sabroso! and you're welcome.
Some history: "The first mention of a burrito on a U.S. menu was in the 1930s at the El Cholo Spanish Café in Los Angeles, though burritos had likely been making the rounds in the states before then. California is still well-known for its burritos, with the Mission burrito—arguably the most popular style of burrito in the United States—originating in San Francisco." -- Today I Found Out
In the rabbit hole that is the Internet, the above burrito information comes from a site that is devoted to "awesome facts and trivia"! I lost hours on this page - consider yourselves warned.
Other things I learned on the burrito deep dive is that it is speculated that the burrito gets its name from a food vendor Juan Mendez from Chihuahua who immigrated to California and sold food from the back of his donkey (burro) cart and he used large tortillas to wrap the food - this reminds me of the origin story of the Cornish pasty, but I digress - thus, the name for the burrito came into being, supposedly.
Hooligan 1 did his first tour of duty as an employed person at a Chipotle restaurant. Who knew that the life skill he would take from there would be how to wrap a burrito? I was too consumed with his new nickname: Guava-Man to appreciate what he was learning. There is an art to it, so if you need a quick lesson, here you go:
Now I just have to figure out how to unwrap the Hub and Hooligans' April 1st burritos and stuff them with edible (don't want anyone to choke) fake spiders or something...hmm, maybe I'll just swap out the regular hot sauce for some high octane hot sauce. Bwa ha ha!
What about you Reds and Readers? Are you a burrito fan? Or do you have any Fool's Day pranks planned for today?
Well, no and no . . . no April Fool’s Day pranks [but I am laughing over the edible fake spiders!] and no burritos. But we are having quesadillas and tamales for dinner tonight . . . .
ReplyDeleteI want a tamale!
DeleteEverybody should have a tamale!
DeleteGIGI: Now you're making me sad. I have not eaten a good tamale in many years!
DeleteTamales are the best.
DeleteWe have a tamale vendor at the farmer's market here. Their tamales are the best! Which reminds me I have a package in my freezer...
DeleteI won’t be having a burrito today, but you’ve made me long for a sancho from Taco Tico in the city where I went to college and where my son now lives. It’s been so long since I’ve had one since I haven’t been able to travel for so long.
ReplyDeleteI will probably try to think up a prank for my husband, but since he’s out of town, it will have to be over the phone. I sure hope you survive today without encountering too many booby traps, Jenn. Please tell us about it tomorrow.
I second Kathy's request for a status update tomorrow!
DeleteWill do!
DeleteNo, I don't like wet bread and burrito wrap will get wet, so no. I do like the burrito bowl.
ReplyDeleteNo April 1st prankster here.
The burrito bowl is genius.
DeleteWe have a great idea for a prank, but may not get around to it...our neighbors have been babying a tiny tomato plant on the first floor. Wouldn't it be fun to replace that baby with one of our giants? Imagine how puzzled they would be lol...
ReplyDeleteHa!
DeleteDo it! That’s hilarious!
DeleteYes, do it!! And report back!
DeleteNo pranks around here, but I do love a good burrito - as long as it doesn't have rice inside. In my view, rice doesn't belong there.
ReplyDeleteDid you hear about VW's bungled too-early prank? They said it would now be called Voltswagon and go all electric. It affected their stock, people got made, and more. No early pranking, companies!
mad, not made. Haven't had enough coffee yet.
DeleteOh, man, I have to go look that up! I think it’s a hoot and an oops!
DeleteNo to pranks. Yes to burritos! I love them! I think I'll have a breakfast burrito to celebrate! Unfortunately, all I have are those thick tortillas the guy in the video recommended against.
ReplyDeleteYeah, he was very particular. I do think warming the tortilla is key.
DeleteNo to April Fools pranks and the forecasted snow storm is just missing us, shifting further east and south, so yay!
ReplyDeleteYes to burritos, but until recently, it has been real hard to find a good one burrito in Ottawa. But two or three "authentic" Mexican hole-in-the-wall eateries have recently opened up here.
Breakfast burritos are still nowhere to be found.
The first burrito I ever ate was at a Chipotle in Denver CO in the 1990s. I am told that is where the chain started. Ottawa got its first Chipotle eatery in 2015, pretty late, and the lineups where huge at the beginning. Not so much now.
DeleteBut when I tried my first Mission Burrito in San Francisco in 2005, I fell in love. And then I had a breakfast burritos in So Cal, yum yum.
Burritos abound in AZ naturally. Hub and I joke that we can never move because we’d never find decent Mexican food - you’ve given me hope.
DeleteJENN: Fingers crossed I get my AZ burrito and other Mexican food fix in 2023.
DeleteI heard that Tucson is the tentative locale for LCC2023! I was last there in 2000 for my first Left Coast Crime.
The only way I would be pulling off an April Fool's Day prank was if I started telling everyone I voluntarily ate a burrito. :D
ReplyDeleteYou are so funny, Jay. They're delicious!
DeleteLOL!!! Achievement unlocked.
DeleteI really hope there will be no pranks today. The only place I am going to is my Doctor's.
ReplyDeleteBurritos, yes most def. I have been eating them since college days back in the '60s, when I discovered both bagels and burritos.. Happy times. Btw, if anyone else used closed captioning on the burrito talk, was it in Italian like mine? Maybe Missions April Fool..
No pranks at the doctor - it’s a rule, I’m pretty sure.
DeleteThe patient who was using the uni sex bathroom without changing it to occupied did 'prank' me but I suspect is was an not intentional April Fool. Otherwise all is well. thawed snow in Tampa today.
DeleteNo pranks and no burritos here. But I did watch the video -- is the guy someone I should know and therefore trust?
ReplyDeleteNo idea. I just liked that he was so particular about his burrito wrapping.
DeleteBecause I am not a huge bean fan, no burritos. Although I do like breakfast burritos. And no pranks - The Hubby and I are the only ones home and we're not fans.
ReplyDeleteOddly, The Boy knows how to wrap a burrito, even though he's never worked anywhere he would have learned that skill.
You can make some amazing burritos without beans.
DeleteDefinitely skip the beans. Our local joint makes a California burrito the is all carne asada, tomatoes, and potatoes. So good.
DeleteJENN: I ate one of those California burrito while in San Diego last year.
DeleteDifferent from a SF Mission burrito (my fave) but it was definitely yummy!
Hard to prank someone when you live alone but I suppose I could prank the dog. Wet, sticky snow coming down here so that's really enough prank for me. No burritos today for me.
ReplyDeleteSame here, Judi. And the cats don't even . . .
DeleteI feel as if my cats are the pranksters. One of our old girls peed on the floor so Hub started his day by stepping in that. Cat FTW!
DeleteNo pranks here - or maybe there is - it's snowing. The cosmic prank. Love burritos and make them frequently. Heck anytime you can wrap and carry dinner - it's good in my book.
ReplyDeleteMy agent said it snowed at her house today. She felt the say way - very cosmic prank!
DeleteOvernight temps in the twenties in Cincinnati, and a dusting of snow on the ground. The sheets I draped over the budding hydrangeas fell off. And the buds on the flowering trees froze. Not April Fool!
ReplyDeleteCraziness!!!!
DeleteThat snow! Cosmic prank, indeed! I was really hoping it would stay farther north (sorry, Grace!).
ReplyDeleteWe've always had migrant workers in the area for vegetable fields and orchards--and many have come and stayed--so there are any number of hole-in-the-wall Tex-Mex restaurants--and while I do like a good burrito, I'd rather have a plate with a little bit of everything on it--tostados, chimichangas, tamales--you name it. But my favorite places to eat burritos and a good Tex-Mex breakfast are sadly all in Tucson. Sniff.
FLORA AND KAIT: Sorry about the April 1 snow! The snow came up north but is just a few miles/km east of Ottawa, so we are spared for once.
DeleteYou can never go wrong with a sampler plate.
DeleteThis is really making me think… Have I ever had a burrito? You know, I’m not sure… And I can’t imagine I haven’t, but I can’t remember one. do you pick them up? Or eat them with a fork?
ReplyDeleteAlso April fools day. I truly hate it. I completely do. I am such a dupe, I fall for every one. It is humiliating.
That made me laugh, Hank. I also fall for every single one.
DeleteBut never a burrito? How is it possible? Yes, you pick them up. It was the precursor to the now-ubiquitous wrap.
HANK: No, no, never use a knife and fork!
DeleteThe burrito is eaten tightly wrapped...that first photo Jenn used is a bit deceiving...all the fillings would fall out of those tortillas. The video with the foiled wrapped burrito is better.
I will never let the Hooligans near you on April Fool's Day, Hank. I promise.
DeleteI don't love burritos but I do love tamales.
ReplyDeleteNo pranking here except for the weather. It was 39' here this morning and tomorrow it will be 35'. Spring is pranking us. Had to turn the heat back on. Can't leave the windows open because of the pollen.
Agreed: Tamales trump burritos every day of the week.
DeleteTamales have my vote!
DeleteGreen corn tamales are my fave. I ate one every Wednesday (night shift at work) for five years.
DeleteThe best April Fools prank I ever managed was to convince my first husband that Yul Brynner was my great uncle. My grandfather's name was Brenner, and he was also bald as a cue ball. I said there had been a family rift so they never spoke. It took a few minutes, but when he was finally convinced he got excited and decided to call his social-climbing sister-in-law so he could brag to her. I had to pull the brakes then. He never forgave me, but he was such a liar that I think he was jealous and annoyed that he fell for it!
ReplyDeleteWe love burritos, and I absolutely agree with NO RICE. I refuse to eat at Chipotle's, for exactly that reason. What a waste.
Chipotle will make your burrito any way you like, even without rice!
DeleteDo they now? I wonder if the guys who worked locally just pretended not to understand.
DeleteAwesome prank! LOL. And, yes, rice is a waste.
DeleteNo April Fools today. That’s all in the past. And there were some good ones.
ReplyDeleteI had my first burrito in Oxnard, CA in the late 60’s. It was so good. I don’t eat Chipotle, too much cilantro.
Cilantro is very divisive. I like it but in moderation.
DeleteOh, Jenn, you are so lucky to be in mecca for burritos and all foods Mexican and Tex-Mex in general. Here no one serves posole or sopapillas. My burning question: have you ever tried making your own tortillas?? I still remember the BEST tortillas I ever had were in Mexico in a restaurant where a woman at the back of the restaurant was making them on a huge cast-iron griddle. And of course I can't fold a burrito... see sheet folding.
ReplyDeletePosole and sopapillas! Such fond memories of my (gringo) housemate making New Mexican brunches in grad school.
DeleteNo, I have not. I do love watching the ladies at the local bakery however. They're amazing!
DeleteLove burritos, especially those from the Mission in San Francisco.
ReplyDeleteNo pranks here today unless I can figure out how to slip that enormous rubber cockroach into Julie’s food. I’ve been doing that for almost 25 years and she falls for it every time
Rabbit rabbit
Ann! That is hysterical! Just the thought of it gave me the quivers.
DeleteLOL - rubber cockroaches are a staple in the frat house!
DeleteYes to burritos. We used to make them before my Dad left, for Saturday dinner. I don't remember using rice but we did heat our tortillas, in a damp kitchen towel, in the oven. Definitely no knifes and forks which means my grandma would not have had a burrito. I think she use utensils for everything except toast, rolls and the rare sandwich. NO to April 1st pranks. I could never pull one off. Didn't take it so well when I got pranked.
ReplyDeleteOh, I won't mention our weather but I am wearing a sleeveless too today. But being this being Spring, rain is predicted for Sunday. :-)
DeleteTop...not too.....
DeleteDefinitely warm the tortillas - that's the key!
DeleteLife has been such a prank lately that I'm not adding to it! I grew up in Tex-Mex land. Enchiladas are my go to. Oddly enough I never had a burrito until college when they served them in one of the cafes in the student union. And I've never eaten at Chipotle either.
ReplyDeleteI love enchiladas!!!
DeleteI think I've decided on dinner tonight. Thanks for making me hungry. I love burritos.
ReplyDeleteI had a California burrito, Mark, in your honor. :)
DeleteJenn, I love the guy on the video. But I want to know WHERE I can get tortillas like that. Even here in Texas I don't have a good source. I have actually never made a burrito. Tacos, tostados, quesadillas galore, but no burrito. Even at Chipotle I get the bowl. When Chipotle went into the London market, I was tickled to hear my English friends pronounce it as Chi-POT-el.
ReplyDeleteMy hubs is definitely a prankster (oldest of five kids.) I had better be on my guard today. Just no cockroaches, please.
We saw Chipotle in Paris - so weird! H1 thought about asking for a transfer. LOL.
DeleteI love burritos, and that video has definitely inspired me. Flash-fried meat + veggies + sauce wrapped in a bread product is a busy mom's best friend when it comes to dinner time.
ReplyDeleteNo April Fool's or poisson d'Avril at my house! Poor Ross worked for sixteen years at an elementary school. He dreaded April first like some men dread a colonoscopy. God bless him, he acted surprised and said "You fooled me!" every single time he heard, "Mr. H-V, your shoe's untied" and "Mr. H-V, there's dirt on your face." Five-to-ten-year-olds aren't known for their inventive humor.
Needless to say, our home was a prank-free zone. :-D
Aw, what a sweet story, Julia. Ross was a good sport!
DeleteLOL. What a good sport Ross was. That is a true gift.
DeleteBest burrito was picked up at a roadside stand in 1976 near Padre Island, TX. We crossed our fingers that we didn't get food poisoning!
ReplyDeleteI like how you chose to live dangerously. In my experience, street food is always worth the risk :)
Delete