Mexican Christmas Traditions

Wordless Wednesday: Atole y Coyotas

1 · Dec 15, 2010 · 4 Comments

Last night I ate dinner at Merendera Las Lupitas, one of our favorite spots to eat in Mexico City. My favorite part was what came at the end of the meal: an atole and coyotas, which are a traditional dessert that originated in Sonora. They're usually made with masa harina de trigo and stuffed with piloncillo. The coyotas at Las Lupitas are the best I've ever had. I'll see if I can't get my hands on a recipe to share with you soon. For more on atoles, check out my recipe for champurrado, an atole made with chocolate. And if you're visiting Mexico City, you can find Las Lupitas right off of the Plaza Santa Catarina in the Coyoacán neighborhood.

What's your favorite kind of atole? Have you ever had coyotas?

Un rico fin de semana en Cuernavaca

6 · Dec 14, 2010 · 3 Comments

This past weekend, I spent some time with my suegros at a friend’s weekend home in Cuernavaca with a group of my suegra’s best friends from college. Cuernavaca is located in the state of Morelos, Mexico. They were all at our wedding in Los Cabos nearly two and a half years ago, so it was wonderful to see them all in one place again. And the last time I was in Cuernavaca was two years ago when we stayed at the Camino Real Sumiya for a short New Year’s vacation, so I was overdue for a visit.

Cuernavaca is nicknamed the city of eternal spring because of its pleasant year-round climate and is located about an hour outside of Mexico City. There’s a little bit of something for everyone: museums, resorts and spas, ecotourism that includes national parks, and an abundance of historical architecture including a palace that belonged to Hernán Cortes. According to the Mexico Tourism Board, the palace is the oldest example of viceregal architecture on the American continent. The first time I saw it two years ago, I was in awe – to think of how long ago the palace was constructed and that it still exists today left an incredible impression on me.

At the home where we gathered in Cuernavaca, there was an abundance of food, dancing, chatting, food, swimming, fireworks… and more food. The fireworks weren’t ours, though; we just enjoyed someone else’s from afar. My suegro told me that it’s fairly common in Cuernavaca to see fireworks when there’s a wedding. In the food department, we had a little bit of everything: fruta, huevo con chorizo, barbacoa, tamales, paella, pollo, botanas, tortitas de bacalao, quesos, jamón serrano, flan, paletas, just to name a few things.

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¡Conectando con mi gente!

4 · Dec 10, 2010 · 8 Comments

I like to be constantly connected to mi gente, so when Sprint offered me a chance to try out its 4G network with a Samsung Epic phone for conducting official Tortilla Test Kitchen business, I was excited.

Many of you know I’ve been an iPhone devotee because I love all of the photography apps that make it so easy for me to share my creativity, what’s cooking in my kitchen or what events I’m attending that are of interest to the fans here on The Other Side of The Tortilla. But my iPhone doesn’t always work as a phone, and I can’t always pick up 3G coverage everywhere in the Chicago area where I live and play. I have to be honest that my love for the iPhone has been waning due to the fact that I drop calls or lose my 3G signal all the time, leaving me sometimes unable to connect at all or at a seemingly glacial pace. So the rapidity of the 4G Sprint network was a welcome change of pace.

It’s so important to me to stay connected and be able to charlar con mi gente, especially when it comes to answering cooking and ingredient questions from Tortilla fans on Twitter and Facebook. So when I discovered the Epic had mobile-to-mobile video chat capability with certain phones using Android apps, I was ecstatic! A fun new way to connect with fans? !Sí, por favor!

I offered my Twitter followers and Facebook fans with eligible phones the opportunity to video chat with me using the Samsung Epic on Sprint’s 4G network and one fan was kind enough to let me video tape our chat.

Watch me give Carrie the lowdown on chile chipotle and the difference between cajeta and dulce de leche.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI9DiHTAJnA[/youtube]...

¿Verde de envidia?

3 · Dec 10, 2010 · 3 Comments

This weekend I’ll be off galavanting around Cuernavaca to visit friends with my suegra, but so as not to leave you too verde de envidia (especially if I end up eating at El Faisán before returning to Mexico City on Sunday), I thought I’d give you a few events going on in a few of my favorite U.S. cities that will make you feel like you’re in Mexico – at least for a few hours.

If you know anything about Mexican music from the 1980s, then you know the Mexico City guacarrock band, Botellita de Jerez. True story: we played the Botellita de Jerez song “Abuelita de Batman” at our wedding in Mexico and it was a hit with all our guests! For a blast from the past, watch the music video of the song below.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4F3ttV9Avs[/youtube]

Now, there’s a film, “basada en hechos más o menos reales” as they say about the true story of Botellita de Jerez, and it’s called “Naco es Chido.” I’ve been dying to see the film but haven’t had the opportunity to view it yet because I was out of town when it screened in Chicago this summer during the Hola México Film Festival. Botellita de Jerez will be in San Diego and Los Angeles this weekend, with a special screening of the film in Los Angeles followed by a performance by the band....

¡Hoy es mi cumpleaños!

4 · Dec 9, 2010 · 4 Comments

One of my favorite things about my birthday is being sung Las Mañanitas, the Mexican birthday song.

Last night at midnight, my suegros and my cuñada called to sing it to me, and this morning I woke up to messages on Twitter and Facebook with video links or lyrics to Las Mañanitas and birthday wishes galore. Thanks to all who made my day so special!

Last year I was lucky enough to spend my birthday in Mexico so I was serenaded in person at midnight and received flowers. This is one of my absolute favorite traditions in Mexican culture and I can't wait to someday sing it to my own children. A friend on Twitter was telling me that her best birthday memories are of her mamá singing Las Mañanitas to her. Every year, my mom calls me at exactly the time of day that I was born so many Decembers ago to sing to me and wish me a happy birthday. Now, my suegros call me every year and sing me Las Mañanitas, and I must admit it gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling inside and I love it. José's birthday is next month, so on his birthday I will sing it to him, too.

If you've never heard the song before, here's your chance. My favorite version is by Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán, as you can hear below, but I'm happy with any version sung to me on my birthday!

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