A friend of mine who works in Long Beach ,and lives near, told me about how her family had a house in the north of Mexico near the Rio Grande. The river was the border between the US and Mexico. The river changed course and the family home was suddenly in the U.S. My friend told me about a Mexican restaurant in Orange county where you could pick your chicken and they would ring its neck and cook it for you. She said it is authentic Mexican food. I have asked her to take me there but we have never gone. It sounds pretty far from what you are describing.