Cake & Coffee

I wandered the wide aisles of Smart & Final searching for inspiration on what to bake to go with the fabulous Ambiance coffee I’d chosen. I really love a good French roast and so I’d picked the biggest can of French Roast available on their shelves. I love a strong, dark brew that gets me going in the morning, but I’m also all about flavor and some strong or dark coffees can be bitter. The taste of Ambiance French Roast though is not bitter at all, it’s rich and velvety, almost nutty; smooth on your palate and has that rich zing that we strong coffee lovers crave. So what would compliment it best?

I’d thought to go traditional and make a coffee cake, but when I got to the market, I was overwhelmed by my choices. I bought a ton of stuff for possible recipes and headed home to ponder. Once home, I brewed a pot of the coffee I’d just bought and sat down to sip and think.

Pound cake goes perfectly with coffee

I finally decided on a rich, buttery pound cake. My grandmother Lupe used to make an incredible lemon pound that she served to me slathered in butter and raspberry jam and thinking about it made my mouth water. No one in the family remembered which recipe she used though so I searched the internet. A pound cake is basically this: a pound of eggs, a pound of butter (seriously); a pound of sugar and a pound of flour. It’s not for the faint-hearted or weight watchers. Eventually, I chose to adapt a Martha Stewart classic pound cake.

Start with some really great butter and eggs

Lots of butter

The thing to remember with pound cake recipes is that because you have a LOT of butter in it, you need to make absolutely sure that you cream the butter and sugar properly. If not, you end up with a greasy mess. Take the extra few minutes and really get that butter light and fluffy. Make sure you don’t take shortcuts and just dump it all in. It really does make a difference when you incorporate everything in small bits.

Butter & sugar

No where near whipped enough

I hand-whipped some heavy whipping cream, slowly added a bit of brown sugar (tablespoon) and a teaspoon of Amaretto liquor to top the slices with. Served with the dark French roast coffee, it was perfect. I’d thought about making a fancy coffee drink, but in the end I had it just as I do every morning: simple, strong with a hint of cream. It was perfect.

You need a lot of eggs

Seriously, a lot of eggs

Lightly beaten

There is nothing like the smell of a buttery pound cake

Classic Pound Cake (adapted from Martha Stewart)

• 1 pound (3 1/4 cups) all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 4 sticks softened unsalted butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 9 large, room-temperature eggs

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter two 5-by-9-inch loaf pans.

Combine flour and salt in a bowl.

Cream butter and sugar with a mixer on high speed until pale and fluffy, for 8 minutes.

Lightly beat eggs and add to butter/sugar mixture in four increments, making sure each addition is well mixed before adding the next.

Once the eggs are fully incorporated into the mixture, add your flour and salt mixture in 1/2 cup increments, ensuring that it is all mixed in well before adding more flour.

Pour half the batter into another bowl and in one, add 1 tsp. Fresh lemon juice and the rind of that lemon. In the other, mix in three tablespoons sifted cocoa powder and a tablespoon of cinnamon. You can add more cocoa powder if you like. I wanted mine to be light.

Pour into greased loaf pans and bake at 325 degrees for about an hour or until a knife inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Let cool.

Serve plain, with fresh fruit or as I did with whipped cream and make sure to have it with a lovely cup of strong coffee.

Ambiance French roast coffee with a hint of cream & pound cake

For the cream:

1 cup of heavy whipping cream
1 tsp. Amaretto
1 tsp. brown sugar (I like just a hint of sugar)

Whip the cream until it forms stiff peaks. Sprinkle in the brown sugar and whip it until blended. Slowly pour in the amaretto while whipping. Serve over cake and sprinkle it with a little cinnamon or cocoa powder.

Stiff peaks

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Disclosure: This project has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for #collectivebias #CBias. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Layering stuff on my lasagna

Fusion.  Can I call it that?

I’m making a bastardization of a Pizza Margherita kind of, sort of only with lasagna.  Does that qualify as fusion?  Fusion sounds hip, cool and so not like what my Aunt Lupita would call “cochinadas” which basically means a mess or pig slop, I’m not sure what.  It’s what we always called our little cooking experiments.

I bought some beautiful organic basil the other day and wanted to make pesto, but didn’t have any pinenuts or any other kind of nuts, so I stuck it in the fridge.  Yesterday, I was out at Walmart doing some shopping for a science project and I found some ridiculously priced Ricotta which always gets me thinking of lasagna.  An idea for something started forming in my head.  I adore Pizza Margherita or Margarita (however you want to spell it).  It’s pizza made with fresh basil, slices of tomato and mozzerella.  Kind of like a Capresi salad which I also love on bread. So why not lasagna?  Béa over at La Tartine Gourmand makes an astoundingly delish (I’ve made it several times) green lasagna so why not something pesto-ish? I bought lasagna noodles.  Wasn’t in the mood to make my own this time since this is an experiment in extreme cochinada-making.

I assembled my ingredients in my head.  I’d chiffonade the basil to really bruise it and get the full flavor, then mince garlic and mix the two together.  I’d add olive oil and sea salt and just let it sit there for a couple of hours marinating itself.  The tomatoes i decided to roast because I wasn’t sure if they would do well in the lasagna if not. I wanted them smokey not juicy if that makes sense.  As I was working this out in my head, I decided to also roast some onions with the tomatoes in the oven.

I didn’t have mozzarella and was going to run out and get some, but found some pepper Jack cheese tucked away.  Why not?  It would cut through all that sweetness with a little spice and bite and I AM Latina.  Hey they sprinkle chili flakes on pizza don’t they?  Total justification.

So I made it, cooking noodles, layering pasta, scooping cheese, delicately adding tomatoes and onions, spreading my basil mixture.  I put it in a casserole dish with a lid on it and stuck it in the oven at 350.  In less than five minutes, the house smelled INSANE.  I literally wanted to bite the air.

You know you want some.

It worked!  The result was rich, creamy goodness with that wonderful blend of tomato and basil that I love in a pizza or caprese salad.  What would I do differently?  Next time I’m making the pasta dough myself and roasting the tomatoes and onions just a bit longer.  Other than that, not a thing.

Gina’s Lasagna Margherita

3 cups of basil, chopped in a chiffonade

4-5 cloves of garlic, finely minced

1/4 olive oil

1 large white onion, cut into rings

4-6 large Roma tomatoes, sliced

sea salt to taste

Ricotta cheese

Parmesan cheese (a handful sprinkled on each layer)

Monterey Jack, pepper Jack or Mozzarella cheese (depends on how much cheese you want)

Lasagna noodles

Fresh basil leaves for garnish

Chiffonade the basil and mince the garlic.  Mix together with about a teaspoon of sea salt and the olive oil.  Let stand for about 20 minutes.  Set aside.

Slice the onions and tomatoes.  Sprinkle with oilve oil and roast in a hot oven (350 degrees) for about 20 minutes or until nicely browned and caramelized.  Let cool and set aside.

Cook the lasagna noodles according to instructions on box or recipe. Drain.

Place a layer of noodles in the bottom of a baking dish.  Spread with basil mixture.

Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese,

Layer on onions and tomatoes evenly.

Scoop on Ricotta cheese.  Add Jack or Mozzarella.

Drizzle a little of the olive oil from the basil onto the cheese and add a little more basil.

Repeat till you get to the top.

On the top layer, cover with either the Jack or Mozarella cheese as well as a few onions and tomatoes.

Cover and bake for 30-45 minutes until cheese is bubbly and melted.

Garnish with fresh basil leaves and serve.

This goes great with a chilled Prosecco.

Se acabo.

If anyone in my family is going to do a science project in my family and expect my help with it, it had better involve food. If it’s building stuff – they’d better call on Marissa who managed in one night to help Jasmine build a scale replica (no model kit) of the San Fernando Mission with some cardboard and crushed cookies. She’s talented.

Me, I cook or bake. It’s my therapy and something I love so science and chemistry related to food…that, I can do. When it came time for me to work on a science project – I picked baking.

We started out planning. I discussed the important project with my two grandchildren, Jasmine and Aiden. We had most of the stuff required, so we didn’t need a list – just a beautiful Saturday in L.A. and a ride down to Walmart. From Eagle Rock, the closest Walmart is in Duarte (Store #2401), about twenty minutes away. The day was gorgeous and at first, the freeway was clear sailing but as soon as we hit the 210, traffic.

Neither Anabel (the kids other grandma) nor I had been to Walmart before so we were both overwhelmed by its size. I don’t know about others, but the store in Duarte is HUGE, seriously massive. I almost forgot why we came once I walked in. I didn’t know which way to turn and I could tell Anabel was feeling the same. Thank goodness for my sensible and pragmatic granddaughter who said, “Grammy, Elmers…” Um yeah.

We wandered and easily found the Elmer’s glue and supplies including the Elmer’s tri-fold board I needed for this project. I also picked up some clear glue and of course, glittery pens. I was a little disappointed not to find more Elmer’s project products there, but it was too late in the day and the stores too far spread apart to try and visit another. In any case, we’d easily found what we came for.

With the science project supplies in our cart, we had time to wander and wander we did. Anabel kept repeating, “wow, so cheap” whenever she found something she liked. I made my way over to the cooking stuff and drooled over pots, pans, cutlery and more for the better part of an hour. I fell in love with the Paula Deen line of cookware in robin’s egg blue. Whatever her current health/fan issues are, her line of cooking products is stunning. More and more things found their way into our collective shopping carts. Clothes for the kids found their way in there as well. Jasmine found some super cute little Hello Kitty pants with glitter on them and Aiden, his favorite carpenter jeans.

Robin's egg blue roaster. I'm coming back for this.

We left Walmart, tired, happy and with considerably more than what we had went in for. I ended up buying some ricotta and lasagna makings (check out upcoming post for my Lasagna Margherita) as well as sparkling water and a few other goodies. Anabel left with a cart full of stuff too and a plan to come back. My daughter-in-law’s response was “I should never let you two shop together” as she shook her head when we walked in with Anabel’s purchases. Good thing mine were still in the car and she didn’t see what I took home.

*Note: I would have taken photos of the full shopping carts but ran out of batteries halfway through the store. Next time I go to Walmart, I’m taking an extra battery!

Chemistry in Baking Science Project

Use the muffin recipe below as a starting point (Beard, 1972), or pick your favorite muffin recipe and make a “half batch” of 6-8 muffins. Note: The recipe shown below will make 6-8 muffins. You can “halve” your own recipe by dividing the required amount of each ingredient by two. Be sure and note the ingredient amounts you use!

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 to 1 tablespoon sugar (to your taste)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 cup milk
1/8 cup melted butter

Mix all of the dry ingredients together in the mixing bowl. Make a well in the center and the beaten eggs, the milk, and the melted butter. Stir to a smooth batter. Fill well-buttered (or paper-lined) muffin pans about two-thirds full. Bake at 425°F for 15–20 minutes, or until nicely browned and baked through.

Tip: do your best to start each muffin off with the same amount of batter. You can use a teaspoon to move small amounts of batter between the different cups in a pan to get the muffins equalized. On the other hand, you don’t want spend too much time on this, because the baking powder starts working as soon as it touches liquid.

Remember to use oven mitts when putting the pans in the oven and when taking them out again.
Place the muffin pan on a cooling rack for a few minutes, and then tip the muffins out. Let them cool for a few more minutes before handling (or sampling!) them.

Make one half batch following the recipe above, and then three additional half batches, substituting the following amounts of baking powder:

no baking powder,
1 teaspoon baking powder, and
3 (or even 4) teaspoons baking powder.

Remember to keep track of which batch is which!
Compare the four different half batches of muffins:

Measure the height of each muffin in each batch and compute the average height for each batch. Note: if one muffin is much smaller than all the others, don’t include it when calculating the average height.
If you have a kitchen scale, you should also measure the weight of each muffin.
More advanced students can also calculate the density of each muffin (see the Variations section, below).
Slice some representative muffins from each batch so that you can compare the texture.
Although it is definitely not the case for most chemistry experiments, for this one it’s OK to do a taste test!
Tip: for obvious reasons, it’s important to do the size and weight measurements before the taste test!

We made three versions of the muffins, one with no baking powder which came out flat and dense; the next with the correct amount which came out lovely and a third which had considerably more. While fluffy, it tasted of soap and was “nasty” according to my granddaughter.

We baked them in a marked tin.

I changed up the instructions a bit. We only made three parts of this batter. We used the original recipe and left out the baking powder till the end.

This is our board.

Once the batters were split into three sections, we kept no baking powder in one batch; 1 teaspoon in another; and 4 tablespoons in the last. We used the Tri-fold board from Elmer’s and wrote our conclusions in glitter pen. We also glued the best representations of our project onto the board. We used glue both inside the cupcake paper and outside of it to make sure it stuck. Jasmine decorated the writing (which she thought was too plain and too much like her matter of fact, analytical Grammy) with glitter.

The perfect muffin.

The grandkids and I sure had a lot of fun with this project. It sparked a lot of discussion about the chemistry of cooking and baking while we worked on it. It was relatively easy and fun and I think we’ll be doing a lot more cooking experiments because of it.

No baking powder = hockey puck.

The fluffy ones tasted like soap!

*This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias” all opinions are my own.

For more photos of our shopping trip, visit our Google + page:

What is it about menudo?

If you’re a Chicano or Mexican, chances are you think its the cure-all for la cruda (hangover).  I’ve read that this is a folktale with no substantiated proof of its validity as a cure for the common hangover.  Still, millions of Mexicans would beg to differ and Juanita’s still sells cans and cans of the stuff.

I can see why it would work.  Dehydration is key in a hangover.  Your body is dried out from the alcohol and it makes your head pound and you’re feeling nauseous and ill.  Ok, so bring in the menudo which is essentially, a soup aka water. The water content alone would help you to start feeling better as did that shower you probably took before leaving the house in search of menudo.

But what about the rest?

There’s chili in menudo – not just the chili you cook into it, but also the red pepper flakes you shake liberally onto it and the salsa you scoop into it from the bowl on the table.  Vitamin C is in chili.  That’s gotta help.  What about the onions and garlic that went into it?  Or the freshly chopped raw onion you put on top?  The oregano which is high in antioxidants.  Hippocrates used it as an antiseptic and Mexican abuelas have used it for upset stomachs.  What about that lemon or lime you’re squeezing all over your bowl? More Vitamin C and more liquid.  No wonder you feel better.

Then there’s the fat.  That cow’s stomach that is so chewy, soft and delicious is coating your insides and settling your tummy.  So while I’m no scientist, I say menudo works.  If you don’t have a pot of menudo at home, the simple act of going out for it gives you exercise and gets your blood pumping, chasing that hangover away.

Me, I just love it for its complexity of tastes and textures.  That bitterness of the oregano, sharp bite of the raw onion, the rolled up corn tortilla I dip into it with its taste of char, the bite of the nixtamal or hominy, the chewiness of the panza, the slow burn of the chili and the citrusy freshness of the lemon all combine to make me a very happy girl.  My Uncle Adam would spend every New Year’s Eve perfecting his menudo and I was always a happy taste tester.

What Latino kid doesn’t like menudo?  We grow up picking out the stomach and asking our mothers and grandmothers to only put in the corn; nixtamal soaked over night until it blossoms then cooked into the menudo.  Little by little, the panza or stomach makes its way down our throats and we start putting more of it into our bowl, delighting in the chewiness mixed with the melty soft parts.  As kids, we might sneer and get grossed out by the pata, a pig’s foot neatly quartered by the carnicero (butcher) but menudo isn’t menudo without the pata.  We grow up demanding a piece of the previously despised pata in our bowls, sticking up proudly in a mountain of nixtamal.

At the table, you see the men sucking the bones clean with gusto.  The women are more dainty about it but all the same, they want that fatty, piggy feet goodness.  Everyone seasons their menudo differently.  Tio Nacho over there likes a LOT of oregano, Tia Fulana likes more onion than most, me; sitting on the end over there has a pile of squeezed lemons on the napkin next to me because  I like it sour.

Menudo, that peasant dish made of castoff cow and pig parts is truly el rey (the king) on Sundays in Latino houses and restaurants.  What’s your favorite part of a bowl of menudo?

*The FDA requires that I disclose that this is NOT a cure.  I am NOT prescribing menudo as a cure for a hangover. I’m just pondering…that’s all.  Menudo is food, not medicine.  Sabes? 

They might not be traditional, but they are GOOD!

I woke up this morning and had my usual cup of coffee and got to work.  I didn’t make toast, I didn’t have yogurt because I am all charged up and energized about work.  The morning flew by and before I knew it, it was noon and I was HUNGRY.  Like seriously, stomach growling hungry.  I also had a sudden, undeniable craving for Huevos Rancheros, those wonderful fried eggs on top of a deep fried tortilla smothered in salsa.  Oh yeah!

I went to the kitchen and found I didn’t have quite the right ingredients.  Damn!

So, I re-grouped (I’m never without some crazy resource in the kitchen) and raided the fridge for leftovers.  There was some rice, some salsa, eggs, avocados and tortillas.  Okay, I can do this.  My tummy wasn’t taking no for an answer.  I would have my huevos rancheros, but with a twist.

Here’s what I came up with – a tostada shell topped with rice and fried onions that had been drizzled with fresh lemon juice, the fried egg on top of that, salsa on top and some slices of avocado. Not traditional, but way yummy.

Kinda-Sorta Huevos Rancheros (For two people)

Two corn tortillas, fried until crispy

one cup of cooked Spanish rice, heated

1/2 an onion, sliced, fried then drizzled with lemon juice

1/4 cup of salsa

avocado slices

2 eggs, over easy

To assemble the tostadas:

Scoop the rice onto the fried tortilla in the center

Top that with the fried onions

Add the over easy egg

Garnish with salsa and avocado or whatever you like

I was thinking sour cream would have been good too.

*tip – fry up an extra tortilla or two to scoop up the yummy fillings that fall off onto the plate.

Antojida.

I love that word. An antojo is a craving.  Being antojida means you are seriously jonesing for something yummy.  Today, for no apparent reason I got one of those completely random antojos for some chicken flautas with guacamole, sour cream, Spanish rice, and some salsa.  I was working on something, so I kept pushing off the images floating in my head till finally, I couldn’t stand it anymore.  I put down the laptop, put on my shoes, put up my hair, grabbed my handbag and ran out the door.  Grocery list?  Pfft.  I knew exactly what I wanted.

• Chicken
• Tortillas
• Chipotles en escabeche
• chiles gueritos
• tomatoes
• avocados
• fresh thyme
• sour cream

I ran into the market (I do everything fast) and grabbed one of those little hand baskets.  I was in and out of the market in ten minutes and home in another five.  I did notice it was a gorgeous day in Southern California, but I didn’t linger to enjoy it.  I was on a flauta mission.  I couldn’t make up my mind which salsa I wanted more, so I made them both.

For the flautas:

Boil the chicken with sprigs of fresh thyme, two cloves of garlic, a quarter of an onion and some sea salt to taste.  Today, I used breast filets rather than a whole chicken because I was in a hurry.

Once the chicken is cooked, pull out the pieces and let cool.  Once cool, shred into strips.  Reserve the cooking liquid/broth.

Heat corn tortillas right over the flame or on a comal (griddle).  They won’t roll if they are cold.

Fill a heavy skillet half way with cooking oil and heat on medium.

Add some of the shredded chicken.  Not too much or your flautas will be unwieldy and too thick.  Think flute-like and elegant.  That’s what flauta means – flute.  Roll the tortilla up tight.  You can use toothpicks to hold them together.  I don’t. I use tongs and put them directly into the hot oil, one at a time.

Let the flautas brown completely on both sides until the tortilla is golden brown and crip.

Drain on a plate with paper towels to absorb the oil.

Serve with salsa, guacamole, sour cream and rice.

They look mild, but they are HOT!

For the salsa de chile guerito:

4 chile gueritos (yellow chiles)

2 cloves of garlic

4 Roma tomatoes

1/4 of an onion

salt to taste

cilantro

Boil the chiles, onion, garlic and tomatoes in a heavy sauce pan until very soft.  Keep in mind that yellow chiles are HOT.  They look mild, but don’t let that pale yellow color fool you.  If you don’t like heat, dial it back and use two chiles instead of the four I use.

Strain and cool, reserving the water.

Peel the tomatoes and chiles.

In a molcajete (blenders make it foamy and the texture is all wrong so if you don’t have a molcajete, try a potato ricer), crush the chiles, onions, tomatoes, and garlic until you have a smooth yet rather chunky mixtures.  Add in some of the water that the chiles cooked in until you get the consistency you want.

Add salt to taste (alternatively use Knorr Pollo) and cilantro leaves.

Salsa de chile guerito

For the salsa de chipotle con lima (Chipotle salsa with lime):

1 can of chipotles in escabeche

cilantro

chicken broth

salt to taste

two cooked chile gueritos

two cooked Roma tomatoes

2 cloves of garlic, minced

juice of fresh limes (about 1/8 cup)

Peel the cooked tomatoes and chiles and crush in a molcajete or using a potato ricer.  Pour into a bowl, adding the minced garlic.  In the molcajete, crush the canned chipotles until you have a thick paste.  Add that into the bowl with the tomatoes and chiles, using some chicken broth to thin it out a little.  Add salt to taste and some fresh cilantro (about a handful). Add the lime juice and stir to mix well.

Hot, smoky, tangy and oh so yum!

For the guacamole:

This is super simple guacamole.  The purist kind.  All you do is mash avocados and put them into a bowl.  You don’t want any other flavorings, not even salt.  The salsas you serve and the chicken itself will provide lots of flavor so leave the avocado pure.  That’s it!

Time to dig in!

]]> http://donalupeskitchen.com/2011/12/chicken-flautas-with-two-kinds-of-salsa/feed/ 0 http://donalupeskitchen.com/2011/12/the-sound-of-music/ http://donalupeskitchen.com/2011/12/the-sound-of-music/#comments Wed, 28 Dec 2011 22:32:20 +0000 Gina Ruiz http://donalupeskitchen.com/?p=1347

This post has nothing to do with food and everything to do with Doña Lupe’s Kitchen.

It’s about The Sound of Music.

You know, that movie with Julie Andrews as a singing nun who falls in love, gets married to a guy with a ton of singing kids and then escapes from Nazi Germany?  That movie.

Why is it so important to DLK?

I’ll tell you…

I don’t remember my Grandma Lupe doing ANYTHING for herself.  EVER.  She devoted her life to her family, her God and religion.  She gave back to her community.  She rallied the Guadalupanas at her church into providing a communion dress for a poor girl in the area.  She baked bread for the church bake sales, cleaned the church, and gave, gave, gave.  Never once did I ever see her do anything that wasn’t completely selfless, except for the occasional moment she took out in the patio to eat an orange.

She never just sat still.  Always there was needlework in her hands, she was embroidering pillow cases for someone, edging towels with crocheted lace, making baby blankets even while watching T.V.  I don’t remember her ever just doing something because it was FUN.

Til the Sound of Music.

My grandmother had a library of Catholic books in her home.  You know, things like the Lives of Saints, the Bible and not much else except for the books by Marie Killelea ( a Catholic author who wrote about her daughter Karen’s cerebral palsy and faith) and The Sound of Music.  My grandmother LOVED the story of the Von Trapp family and I think, in some way found it related somewhat to her own life.  She, like Maria Von Trapp, had wanted to become a nun and instead married.

She loved the message of the book. She loved that Maria Von Trapp had chosen duty – serving God even though she wouldn’t become the nun she’d thought she’d be.  She loved the faith of the family and that they prayed often, had their own chapel built on their property when they finally settled.  She loved the book.

I found the book because I was desperate.  I was and am an avid, hungry reader.  I’d already been through the Lives of Saints and had read about Saint Maria Goretti’s stabbing like 900 times.  There was nothing else and then I found it, this little book.  Grabbing an apple and heading out to the patio, I buried myself in the lives of the Trapp Family Singers for a couple of hours.  I fell in love with the book too, not for religious reasons, but because it was an adventure.  That same summer that I’d found the book, the movie came out and my grandmother decided we’d all go see it.

I take my grandkids to the movies all the time, no big deal.  MY GRANDMOTHER GOING TO A MOVIE WAS AS IF THE WORLD HAD STOOD ON END AND TIPPED US ALL OFF IT!

IT WAS HUGE!

She didn’t go to movies.  She didn’t do fun stuff.  She went to markets, J.C. Penny’s to get sensible underwear and pajamas for us.  She didn’t go to movies!

It was the one and only time I ever sat in a movie theater with my grandmother.  We laughed, we cried, we had a good time.  We went home and talked about the movie for days.

To this day, when I see the movie on television, I think of my grandmother and miss her.

It was on this Christmas Day.  “Merry Christmas in heaven Grandma”, I whispered as I saw the opening credits.  I watched the movie and remembered my Grandma.

Remember The Hurt Locker?

My son, Albert works with real life Hurt Locker types, the Navy EOD (Explosive Ordance Disposal) or to simplify it further, a bomb squad. Yeah, those guys. They work hard in incredibly dangerous conditions and save countless lives in the process. They are, each and every one, American heroes.

I’m well familiar with having a family member in Afghanistan as my son has been there more times than I can count and someone else very close and special to me had been stationed in Iraq for years. I know the drill. Our guys there do without a lot of things we take for granted. Magazines, books, candy, personal hygiene products and even something like Tapatio sauce in some instances.

Imagine being out in the desert and not having decent shampoo or soap. These are our guys out there gente. Our sons, our daughters, our men, husbands, fathers, lovers and they do without. They have the basics, they are fed and clothed but it’s not enough. Doing all they do, sometimes giving up their very lives and yet, they don’t have the simple luxury of a magazine to flip through in a spare moment.

You may be thinking, “but what can I do?” Times are hard, the economy bites but still, you must have some magazines laying around; a bag of candy; some paperbacks sitting on a shelf collecting dust. Each one of us has SOMETHING we can give whether it be an extra tube of toothpaste, that package of cookies you really don’t want to eat anyway, a copy of Sports Illustrated that your husband won’t miss. Maybe you have some gift card sitting there wasting away that can be used to buy magazines or something.

My son has provided this note:

For those of you that would like to send care packages to our troops in Afghanistan here is the address and some info.

JTF Paladin South/CEXC KAF
APO AE 09355

“You can send it just like that and goods will be distributed.  I work for CEXC, which is run by the NAVY EOD here. These guys are awesome and their job here is saving lives and they do an excellent job at it.  Things that have been requested are: hygiene supplies, snacks/candy, books and magazines.

Things that can’t be sent: Drugs, alcohol, or pornography. Thank you to those that send stuff and thanks for supporting your troops!!!”

I’m a proud mama and I want to help him in his drive to get his guys on the base there what they need.  So what do you say?  Will you help?  Send something to our guys this holiday season.

Mil gracias from my son and I.

Today is December 12th, which means it is the anniversary of the day that the Virgen de Guadalupe appeared to Juan Diego on the sierra de Tepeyac.  For Mexican Catholics, it’s HUGE.  For Mexican non-Catholics it’s still huge.

For me, growing up with a grandmother named Guadalupe who had an absolute and firm devotion to the blessed virgin, this day is not only sacred, holy and special; but it is also wistful, a little sad and filled with memories of a wonderful grandmother.  I still remember the huge framed painting of the Virgin’s appearance to Juan Diego that had pride of place in my grandparent’s house.

As an Aztec dancer, this day also meant I’d be at Placita Olvera at midnight in a press of people, dressed in a traje de gala (Aztec regalia), waiting to dance/pray at 2:00 a.m.

I didn’t dance this year, but I dragged myself across town to watch and say hello to my fellow dancers.  As usual, there was a huge press of people. Banda, Aztec huehuetl drums and mariachi music filled the small plaza.  I didn’t stay long because I’m getting over a cold and couldn’t handle being out.  Still, I pushed my way through, said hi to a few people, knelt down and said a prayer.  It wasn’t the pilgrimage of thousands that Tepeyac sees every year and it wasn’t my usual start dancing at 2:00 a.m. and don’t stop till the next day at 9:00 p.m. odyssey, but the day was observed.  My grandmother would have liked that.

In previous years, when I danced we’d go from Olvera Street; splitting up the group to accommodate all the different Catholic churches that had requested us to dance; to various churches/masses.  I used to laugh and say I got all my churching in a twenty-four hour span because before we’d dance, we’d have to stand in the back of the church or the aisles and listen to the whole mass.  EACH TIME.

After each mass, the church people would offer up menudo, tamales, champurrado but we were always in too much of a hurry to make it to the next mass to take them up on it.  Sometimes, we’d have a chance to grab a tamale for the road but mostly, no.  We were packed into cars or vans with drums, feathers, beads and regalia fighting us for space and headed over to the next place.  Tummies growled, but we didn’t care.  We were dancing for Tonantzin, the Aztec diosa that the Guadalupe represents to the indigenous.  With each mass, we got hungrier, colder, more tired but we kept at it.  We danced in parades, in church aisles, in a driveway where someone had seen an image of the Virgin, in front of statues and altars.  We danced.

For us, dancing is a prayer and we’d always start with the special one for that day Tonantzin.  Our rattles kept time with the drums and our rapidly stomping chachayotle clad ankles did too.  We danced Cruz (cross) and we danced to the four directions.  Antigua, the dance to the ancestors was always my favorite next to Tonantzin.  We danced through the dawn and all the next day.  Late that night, we’d end up at Zamora Brothers in East Los Angeles.  All us dancers would turn up, the circle completed.  No more masses, no more parades.  This was the end and we were all together; exhausted, hungry, tired and cold.  We proudly showed off our blisters and talked about how beautiful the churches were we’d seen.  We’d gather the last of our reserve strength and dance one more time, for the Virgen de Guadalupe.

Then we’d eat.  Zamora Brothers always put out a great spread for us.  Menudo, carnitas, chicharrones, ponche, champurrado and tamales.  We’d don our serapes or wearable blankets, put shoes on our cold and tired feet and eat.  We’d eat, talk, laugh and eventually, go home and sleep till noon the next day.

Feliz dia de la virgen!

This is our grocery store haul.

When I was a kid, those red boxes of Duncan Hines cake mix were like the Holy Grail.  My mom didn’t cook or bake, but my grandmother and Aunt Jessie did.  They mostly baked from scratch, but there were a few recipes that they used boxed cake mix for.  For me and my sisters, when we weren’t at Grandma’s house we relied on boxed cake mixes (when we could afford them) to satisfy our sweet tooth.

I won my first baking contest with a boxed mix.  We had moved yet again and on the block we lived on was a small community center, library (I adored that library!) and park.  I don’t quite remember how I found out about the baking contest, but I was determined to enter it.  I was ten years old.

I somehow talked my mother into letting me buy a Duncan Hines cake mix (yellow cake) and used what we had in the kitchen to bake a pineapple upside down cake.  I carefully pressed in the brown sugar and added rings of pineapple and maraschino cherries to my buttered pan, then poured in that lovely golden cake batter.  I remember the looks on the judges faces when they ate my cake and somehow, a ten year old kid with a boxed cake mix beat out experienced bakers and grownups.  I went home with the blue ribbon!  My Grandma Lupe treasured that ribbon and kept it till the day she died.

Now I’m teaching Jasmine and Aiden to bake, and while we often bake from scratch we also use boxed mixes and dress them up.  Recently, Foodbuzz, Comstock and Duncan Hines offered me an opportunity to try out some of their new products and I jumped at it.  Jasmine, Aiden and I excitedly went to the market, used our coupon plus some of our own money because they saw a bunch of other stuff, and came home with way too many baking goodies.

We made a plain  yellow cake, marbled with a little chocolate batter topped chocolate frosting which was what Aiden wanted and the next day, made brownies with a filling of Comstock cherries.  They went fast. The kids were wired for sound with all that sugar but they had a blast.  There is nothing like seeing the faces of two little kids excited about cooking or baking.

I loved taking a step back in time to my share my childhood memories of baking from boxed mixes with my grandchildren.  They had just as much fun and excitement as they do when we measure out flour, cream butter, and other “from scratch” stuff.

*Note: As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received free samples from Duncan-Hines and one from Comstock in the form of coupons.  Duncan-Hines also provided a few extra coupons to give out to family and friends which we decided to use as Christmas stocking stuffers.