We all know the horrors of Styrofoam for the environment. Its decomposition rate is akin with never, it often ends up polluting the ocean and is toxic when burned. Though I love takeout as much as the next person, I am conscious of the serious, negative impact of Styrofoam, and especially, restaurant to-go containers. I have been known to wash the clamshell containers and bring them to a restaurant if ordering to-go, to bring my own plastic storage containers for restaurant leftovers and much to the chagrin of my husband, have also been known to haul the clamshell containers back to the U.S., where Styrofoam is recyclable in the county where our cabin is.

Personal Chef and caterer Oscar Limón  moved to Sayulita in June of 2001 and offers his services to a broad clientele. Oscar's menu offers many dishes that are not sold in Sayulita and he encourages his clients to try new things.

Well, Andrea Villarubia can take the heat and Sayultia summer days often find her in her kitchen, making such delectables as mango cobbler, using fresh cut mangoes and based on Paula Dean's peach cobbler recipe from foodnetwork.com. Andrea skipped the added sugar in the fruit filling and declared the cobbler "super yum."

One of the best things about settling in as a part-time resident in Sayulita and joining the Sayulero staff has been the friendships that I've made. Sayulita attracts those creative, smart, fun, warm, and welcoming and one of the very best among them is Sayulita-born Yésica Doreli Ramos Gómez.

Hot, Hot, Hot. The forecast for the northern U.S. and Sayulita (and most of North America, for that matter) is hot and humid, for at least the next few days. My answer? Margaritas, or derivations thereof. Though likely not original, I had the idea for Watermelon Margaritas one similar summer evening while entertaining friends from England and serving an all-American (in the Americas sense) menu.

I actually first had guanábanas, or soursop, in Jamaica; we made juice with the large, green lumpy fruits to have with fresh fish grilled over an open fire on our new friend's farm. I have been in love with the fruit ever since. Guanábanas are in the same Annona or custard apple family as are saramuyo (sugar apple or sweetsop) and chirimoya (cherimoya, anona or custard apple). All three fruits are green with an armor-like skin; the white, soft flesh is patterened with large, black, oblong, undigestible seeds.

Though I have certainly learned a lot about coffee during the visits I have made to a coffee plantation to the north of Sayulita (in La Yerba, Nayarit), I have also learned from my friend's family about just how good food can be when fresh and simply prepared, in the traditional manner.

Why ever leave our lovely little Sayulita? There really aren't many reasons to do so, but those pesky bureaucratic details of the lives of residents do necessitate at least a couple of trips to Bucerias during the season. Bucerias, the next major town to the south of Sayulita on Highway 200, is about halfway between Puerto Vallarta and Sayulita. After visits to the bank, the immigration office (to renew visas) and the municipal office (to pay property taxes) and much standing in line, my husband agreed to a "reward" visit to the spice store, The Little Bee.

Poco a poco; we're becoming more Mexican all the time. Learning to use what we have, doing more daily shopping, using more food items right away when freshest instead of relying on our (small) refrigerator, eating more vegetarian meals