Panaderia...

 I love the bakery department in Mexican grocery stores. When we first arrived here, I would always end up leaving the store with a bag full of treats and 5 more pounds! Over time, we've curbed our sweet tooth a bit, and now, I only pick up something when I see Seth's favorite in
stock. I love how you can find a little of everything and how it is all made fresh daily.

Mexican sweets are much different then American sweets. They are much simpler and are not as rich. You won't usually find a bunch of icing on top or gooey stuff inside them. A sweet will be something as simple as a light pastry with cinnamon and sugar, bread pudding, or flan.

After walking around and deciding what you want, you pick up a pizza tray and tongs and start stacking up. Once, you have your selection, you take it to the counter, and they weigh and bag it. I always love watching tourist come into the bakery department for their first time and how they are just awestruck. What I don't love is when I see them start grabbing for the stuff with their hands. That's when I make the call to intercept and explain the process to them.

My husband likes these little pizzas that Walmart serves. Me, not so much, but I'll pick them up for him every once in a while when I don't feel like making something for his late night snack.

Bread is a big deal here. A really big deal. I was actually surprised by how many different types and sizes of breads I could find here. The weird thing is that I've never really seen how they are used except to make tortas (sub sandwiches) so I'm really curious how else they are served.

Bolillos are a staple to all Mexican diets. They use them for tortas which can be served hot or cold and with all different types of meats. The bakery makes hundreds and hundreds of bolillos every day, and they are stored in multiple barrels that probably hold at least 400 bolillos each. Often when Mexicans purchase them, it is in huge quantities of 30+ which they put in garbage size bags for easy carrying.  I'm not really a torta kind of girl, but I do love to just walk by and smell the freshly baked bread. Really, who doesn't like the smell of bread? Its heavenly!