Wednesday, March 08, 2017

Water That Saved The Life Of A Princess

My mother recently bought a new fridge.  You'd think she has five people living with her for all the bitching she does about the size of her current one.

"It's just too small," she said.

"Too small for what, Mom?  You're one person," I said.

"Well, I just can't get in there.  I have to move things around too much to find anything."

If you've ever seen the inside of my mother's refrigerator, you'd smack your forehead. She's got enough lettuce to feed all the rabbits in North America, flavored water, loaves (as in more than one) of bread, leftovers, eggs, fruit, yogurt.  My grandmother used to buy the little half-dozen container of eggs for her and my grandfather.  My mother buys 18 eggs at a time.  What the hell??

She just wouldn't hear of "making do" with the fridge she had so we made a trip to Sears and she bought a new one.  Side-by-side doors, vegetable crisper, water and ice on the door.  She loves it.  LOVES.  Like, actually talks about how in love she is with her fridge.  


Weird.

Anyway, she was deciding on what to do with the old fridge when my brother piped up and said he wanted it.

And, as usual, he turned it into something amazing.  
In true Carpenter Avenue Classics style, he added a little handcrafting and a smidge of automotive art to what was once a plain 'ol Kenmore, making it a unique place for chilling.

In addition to the car door, which includes a window and the handle to get into the fridge, the vintage sign used for the front of the fridge depicts a Mexican brand of sparkling mineral water called Topo Chico.

I'd never heard of Topo Chico before my brother made this fridge.  Topo Chico ("Little Mole") is a brand of sparkling mineral water sourced and bottled in Monterrey, Mexico.  The product has been bottled since 1895 and is sold in Northern Mexico and all of the United States.

Apparently, it's pretty legendary.  Topo Chico has been written about in Thrillist, The Kitchn and The New York Times.

According to the Topo Chico website:

There was a beautiful Aztec princess who suffered a terrible disease, so strange that none of her father’s doctors, Moctezuma I Ilhuicamina, successor in 1440 of the King Itzcoatl had been able to cure.
Desperate, the King turned to the older priests in the kingdom to find a cure for his beautiful daughter. They told him that according to the timeless stories of travelers, in a far away northern land, there were strange and hidden waters which flowed at high temperatures, waters in which one only needed to bathe in or drink from to regain vigor, joy, strength, and refreshmennt.
Encouraged by this news, Moctezuma I ordered an immediate expedition to take his daughter to this amazing place. After traveling long and rugged roads, the expedition and the Princess reached a fertile valley flanked by mountains. To the east, they saw a mountain with the form of woman’s face (now “Cerro de la Silla”) and also found a mole-shaped hill, from whose slopes flowed the prodigal waters.
After spending some time there, taking baths and drinking from the water, the daughter of Moctezuma I, his priests and chiefs returned to the Anahuac lands optimistic, strong, happy and refreshed. The news about the recovery of the Princess spread throughout the kingdom and has passed from generation to generation up until modern times.
Water from a mystical spring?  I'm going to need to try this stuff.

In the meantime, if you're interested in buying this refrigerator to store your Topo Chico in, let me know.

I've got a connection at Carpenter Avenue Classics.  Wink-wink.



2012: Looking For A Coffee Fix
2011: Container Port, You Are No Friend Of Mine
2010: Encased In Plastic
2009: No Lifeguard On Duty
2008: Palm Sketches
2007: You Know Who You Are
2006: I Fear The Family
2005: Sorry, no post on this day. The blog didn’t start until May 2005!

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