Category Archives: Familia

Cascarones for Easter!

Cascarones – shown on a Mexican oil cloth tablecloth. The Easter bunny container is one my mom used in her decorating when I was growing up.

Easter is just a few days away and every few years I try to introduce a new fun aspect to our family Easter gathering. One year it was a brightly decorated chocolate chip cookie cake instead of the usual brownies, cakes and pies. It turned out to be a huge hit and still remains a crowd favorite with a few family members (ahem…cough…David and Emily!) who have a hard time waiting until after lunch to dig into this sweet treat! Well this year I’m introducing “cascarones” to the family!

So, what’s a cascaron? It’s basically a hollowed-out egg filled with confetti! I’ve known about cascarones for quite awhile but I can’t say that they were something we made or enjoyed when I was growing up. Doing a little more research I discovered they are a Mexican tradition that gained popularity in the Southwest, in particular, at Easter time for many families. Some say it was like a merging of Latino traditions and the American tradition of dyeing Easter eggs. Because of the confetti, they are something also frequently used for other celebrations like carnivals, New Years, Cinco de Mayo and even at weddings…although they can also be filled with rice for that particular event!

Cascarones in an egg carton – found at a local Walgreens in Hoover, AL

Tissue paper is glued onto the eggshell to keep the confetti inside the egg.

Looking even farther back in history, cascarones were said to have originated in China where they were filled with scented powders and given as gifts. Because of this they were very popular with the wealthy. Marco Polo is said to have been responsible for bringing the eggs to Europe in the 13th century, and again, enjoyed by the wealthy. They eventually made it to Mexico in the mid-1800s thanks to Emperor Maximilian’s wife, Carlotta. The lovely scented powders were eventually replaced with confetti and became known as “cascarones” since “cascara” in Spanish means “shell.”

Cascarones are made by emptying out an egg through a small hole at one end and cleaning it out thoroughly. After that, you can decorate the eggs by using Easter egg dyeing kits. When they are dry you can even take it further with more decorating but the best part is adding the confetti to the eggs. Make a small funnel with paper to use for the eggs to keep the confetti scattering to a minimum! You can make your own confetti or you can buy it. Then you take a small piece of tissue and glue it over the hole to keep the confetti in the egg. That’s it! Lucky for me though, I found egg cartons of cascarones at a local Walgreens recently. I was at the checkout counter and there they were! I decided to pick up two cartons to enjoy on Easter afternoon with my family, all the while thinking, “this should be interesting!”

You may be wondering how cascarones are used. I figured there had to be a tradition that goes along with these confetti filled eggshells. It’s said that if you make a wish before you break it over an unsuspecting person’s head, your wish will come true. Another school of thought is that the good luck goes to the person who gets the egg cracked on their head! Of course, it’s best to crack the egg in your hand so the confetti pours out on the person rather than actually hitting them with the egg!!!

A look inside a cascarone

An opened castarone with confetti falling out…

The other day, I was photographing the cascarones and I gently opened one of the eggs and let the confetti pour out for a shot. As I took the photo, I saw something beautiful. I had put the egg down with the paper covering the opening still somewhat attached. The confetti was scattered in front of it and in that instant, it reminded me of Jesus’ tomb! I immediately stopped photographing to look up any religious meaning behind cascarones. I found that eggs are thought to be a symbol of rebirth. So when the egg is broken and the confetti pours out, it is representative of the resurrection, Jesus’ empty tomb. The confetti then symbolizes a celebration of Jesus’ life and rebirth. So beautiful…I really love this…

This is the photo I took that made me realize there is religious symbolism to cascarones…

So Felices Pascuas/Happy Easter to everyone! If you celebrate Easter, I hope you enjoy a wonderful day celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus with your families. And if you made cascarones or enjoyed them in the past, I would love to hear about it! Meanwhile… let the cascarones crunching begin…and I do hope since this will be a first for my family that they will observe proper cascaron cracking etiquette!!!

Signs of my Father in an Oreo Commercial

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Me ( on the right) with my sister Helena, and my dad having a great laugh one night! This photo was taken in Puerto Rico when I was about 7 years old.

In October each year, I always see signs of my father. He was born on October 25th and would have been 95 years old this year. He’s been gone for 16 years now.

A few days ago, I was doing laundry and somewhat paying attention to the Property Brothers on HGTV in the background. I walked back into the bathroom to return the laundry basket when I caught an Oreo commercial playing. In it, a father asks his young daughter if she sees any stars “out there.” They live in the city so stars would be a little hard to see – she says, “not yet.” The dad suddenly tells her to grab her jacket and they take off to find the perfect place to view the stars. They end up in the back of their truck in the middle of a field gazing up at the stars with a package of Oreos.

As I was watching the commercial, I had a tremendously strong flashback. My family was living in Puerto Rico at the time and I was getting interested in astronomy. I had a booklet, probably from school, that showed all the constellations and I would mull over it to get familiar with them. I would walk outside sometimes and look up at the stars and was eventually able to identify the big and little dipper. The others were a little harder…

One night, my dad surprised me and out of the blue told me we were going to look at the constellations together. I was so excited! He grabbed a flashlight and I grabbed my constellation book. But instead of going outside into our front yard, he said we were going to our roof! We climbed up the wrought iron gate next to our car port and onto the flat roof of our concrete house! Now as an 8 or 9-year-old, I had climbed on the roof before – without permission from my parents, of course – so this was exciting to me! We were on the roof!!! I felt so grown up!!!

This photo is of my dad after we got our new Pug puppy, Tai Tai…you can see the wrought iron gate in the background. This was the same one on the other side of the house next to our car port. This is how dad and I climbed onto the roof of the house.

Our bathrooms had skylights so we were even more elevated as we laid down on the cool concrete to look at the night sky and dad turned the flashlight to the constellation book. Then we slowly started identifying the constellations together… (minus the Oreos!) Dad would point to one in the book and I would start searching. Dad would give me clues to finding a certain constellation and I remember him using both the big and little dipper as the home base to do our searches. I don’t know how long we stayed on the roof that night but I do remember loving the fact that it was just me and my dad and this was something that we were doing together. It was something very special.

I hadn’t thought about this particular memory for a long time. But there was a split second in that Oreo commercial that focused on a constellation book showing Ursa Major/The Big Dipper that had all these memories flooding back to me. It’s funny how you can have memories for so many years and yet the actual feelings remain dormant until something triggers them. Cue the Oreo commercial…and I’m convinced my dad had something to do with this. He always does at this time of year.

Iron Bowl Saturday at the Odom House

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Easy peasy taco soup ready for the Iron Bowl today!

Today was Iron Bowl Saturday and this is the first time in a long time that we’ve had a watch party! All the kids were home today and I honestly can’t remember this happening. Typically a few are AT the game or not in town. I know my husband was really excited about watching the Alabama/Auburn game with his children.

This called for Taco Soup and of course, he was up bright and early to put a crock pop of this delicious soup on to slow cook. Kickoff was at 2:30 so the soup would be nice and hot by then! Along with that, he made cheese dip with rotel – one with ground beef and the other plain (for me)! My daughter, Anna Marie made her now famous swiss and bacon dip and also a cookie dough dip. Oh the dips!!! So much for the diet!!!

At any rate, our family room was full of family – human and the furry kind – and the game was watched to the conclusion we all had hoped for – Alabama won! YAY ALABAMA!

Game day jerseys on!

Here are a few photos of our Iron Bowl Saturday – Roll Tide!

If you want to see the recipe for this delish Taco Soup, check my post from last November!

Game day jerseys on!

Easy peasy taco soup ready for the Iron Bowl today!

Remembering A Veteran

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My dad…in flight training

Today is Veterans Day. From the time I woke up this morning to just a few minutes ago, every other social media post today has been about Veterans and remembering their contributions to our country. It has been a welcome diversion from the recent election and with the divisiveness of what has transpired, it really got me thinking about my dad and his brothers and their sacrifice as Mexican-Americans to our great country.

I don’t actually know a lot about what my dad and his brothers went through when they each joined the service but I do know about the time period when they enlisted and served. I also know what my dad experienced when he was growing up in Carlsbad, New Mexico through letters I received from several of his classmates/football teammates after he passed away in 2001. I’ll share those remembrances in another post. But suffice it to say, it wasn’t all fun and acceptance back then. My dad didn’t talk much about it, choosing to just tell certain stories without any reference to discrimination or unfairness. I think that was his way of just working hard and getting ahead. I admire that in him because later in life, it served me well as I grew up overseas and in Puerto Rico during my formative years.

Dad’s Air Force pins an his pilot log books.

I wish I knew more about dad’s time in service to our country. I regret that I didn’t talk to him about this but then again, there is no guarantee that he would have shared anything about this time either. I’ve heard that sentiment from a number of people who I know. These are memories that have remained locked away to some of those who served.

I love looking in my dad’s pilot log books and seeing his handwriting as he documented his training…

What I do have are photos, dad’s pilot logs and a few other artifacts from those years. I also have two yearbooks from his pilot training in Texas. One in particular is very touching because dad had placed check marks beside the photos of his friends who didn’t make it back during the war. I didn’t know what these check marks were until my mother shared that with me several years ago.

One of dad’s training yearbooks….

So as today closes out, I am grateful for the sacrifices of my dad, Praxedis Sotelo Zuniga, his brothers – Felix and Lorenzo Zuniga – and all the faces in the two yearbooks made for our country. Some paid the ultimate sacrifice and that is humbling to see in my dad’s yearbook, the faces of those brave young men who did this for our freedom.

On this Veterans Day, God Bless the brave men and women who have served this great nation of ours…

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My Thanksgiving Table

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My Thanksgiving Table this year…

Tonight I’m looking at my Thanksgiving table and anticipating tomorrow when we will gather together and enjoy a wonderful meal and each other’s company. This year will be a little different.

We’ve already had our “big” Thanksgiving family gathering in Jasper – this past Saturday. Tomorrow, it will be me, Eddie and two of our children. We’ll add my brother and sister-in-law too. Hopefully a few of the nephews will be able to join us at some point. It will be a small gathering, but it will be family and I’m so thankful we have one another.

My “married” daughter – Anna Marie – and her new hubby, Ryan, will join us for a Thanksgiving breakfast tomorrow morning, which is something new to us. We’ll be having French toast! So maybe this will be a new tradition? I don’t know but whatever the case, I’m just thankful they are able to spend a little time with us tomorrow.

So tonight, I’m going over my menu for tomorrow and getting as much done ahead of time as I can. I’ll be making a turkey without my mother this year. My mother is enjoying the holiday with my sister Laurie in Chicago this year. The eggs are boiling as I write this – so we’ll make some deviled eggs tonight. We’ll also make the stuffing tonight too – sorry, but when you put it in the bird, it’s stuffing to me! (I know…I know…in the south it’s called dressing…)

A portion of my Thanksgiving table centerpiece…I found a new wine to try tomorrow too – Cherry Tart Pinot Noir!

In the end, we will be together as a family – whoever can be here – and we’ll enjoy the time together. We’ll add people to the table along with the food and it will be wonderful.

I hope you and yours have a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow! Enjoy your time together…and blessing to all.

Found these old timey cards at World Market a few years ago and have been using them as napkin rings…they add a certain something to the table, don’t you think?

Family “Swing” Picture…Modified…

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Odom Thanksgiving gathering 2015 in Jasper, AL…

Our Odom Family Thanksgiving celebration is always the Sunday (or in this case, Saturday) before Thanksgiving. As I mentioned in a previous post, the highlight for the cousins is taking the annual “swing” picture. This is a swing that was in my late mother-in-law’s backyard for so many years. It’s now in my brother-in-law’s yard and the cousins look forward to it without fail every year.

This year, I decided on something a little different. With all the loss we have experienced as a family over the past few years, I wanted to capture everyone who attended our gathering in a group photo. I told one of the cousins that we talk about doing this every year and yet we don’t… I remember telling my mother-in-law that I was going to bring my camera to the Odom Christmas gathering to take family photos the year she passed away, right before Christmas. I was so saddened because she was so looking forward to this and then she wasn’t there to be a part of it. But the best way to honor something like this is to just do it.

I made sure to have my tripod on hand this year. After everyone had indulged in all the food we had for our annual celebration, we gathered everyone outside at the swing. We did this before anyone could leave…

It didn’t take long either. Usually when you try to gather this many people, it’s like herding cats! But in this case, everyone got together quickly and waited patiently for me to set the timer on my camera and get the photo taken. We took a few photos and I think the one in this post is the best one. I love that everyone that attended, whether they were family or not, was in this picture. Because in reality, everyone who was there was family.

Odom Cousin Swing Picture 2015.

We Ate Some Turkey and then a Football Game Broke Out!

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Odom Family football game – Thanksgiving 2007 – Jasper, AL.

My in-laws used to live in Jasper, AL and had a rather large piece of property behind their house. I remember there was always a sign inside the back porch that said “Odom’s Farm.” It always felt like the perfect place for kids to run around and play and make up games and just get outside instead of sitting in front of the television set.

The Sunday before Thanksgiving in 2007 was a cool crisp afternoon. We had just finished eating turkey and all the extras when one of the kids (the cousins) pulled out a football. Before you knew it, all the cousins – young and old – were outside in the huge backyard and tossing the ball around. First it was just the guys tossing and running after each other. But the Odom girls are pretty darn competitive and quickly joined in! It was one of those spontaneous times in families…we couldn’t have planned it if we had tried and it was the perfect Thanksgiving afternoon. Even Bentley, the dog, got into the act!

Bentley decides football is fun!

Here are a few of the photos I took that day in a slideshow…when I see these, I feel like it’s happening all over again! Oh, and another thing you’ll notice…there is only one cell phone in the picture….those were the days!

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Family Traditions

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Odom cousins – Thanksgiving 2014 – on Mimi’s swing in Jasper, AL.

Family…like branches on a tree, we all grow in different directions, yet our roots remain as one. I love this quote…

This time of year, I start thinking a lot about family traditions. I’ve often thought that some day I would write them all down from what I remember doing as a child and add all things we did when my own children were little. The one constant though all this is family. Whether the tradition remains today or has morphed into something different…we do these things because we want to connect as a family and make it a part of our story.

Family traditions can bring you comfort and strengthen the bond you have with your family. They teach you the value of immediate and extended family and how to take the time to be together. Creating and maintaining traditions is easier when your children are young. It becomes a little more challenging when they get older and get married or move away. It definitely becomes a juggling act at that point! Some traditions run their course…like breakfast with Santa and going to the annual lighting ceremony at the local mall. These traditions are driven by age. Others change because the dynamics of your family change.

For my Zuniga family, Thanksgiving has always been the major holiday to celebrate. Before my parents moved to Alabama, I would make the trip to Chicago every Thanksgiving to spend the week with my sisters and parents and do so many of the things we always did together over the 10 years that I lived there. Traditional activities ranged from shopping at Oak Brook Mall and hoping there would be a little snow, getting up to watch the Macy’s Day Parade while the turkey was still cooking, then fighting to get the first taste of stuffing from the turkey. This was always a battle with my youngest sister. I would sneak into the oven with a spoon and sample the dressing when no one was looking – beating my sister to the punch – although I’m sure my mother knew! At some point during the visit, we would watch WGN’s family classic movies. Those movies were the staple of every Sunday afternoon in the Zuniga household when I was in high school. Certain sounds and smells bring it all back. Certain music does too as we would gather around the piano and play and sing along. All the Zuniga sisters were in choir and we all knew the same music. My grandmother used to say we could have been the Lennon Sisters – she and my grandfather loved Lawrence Welk!

My husband (Eddie) has always been adamant about attending the traditional Odom family Christmas lunch each year. It was the one time of the year we got to see his father’s extended family all at once. The lunch was originally pulled together for his grandmother (Mama Odom), and when she passed away, the Aunts decided to continue the tradition. Eddie made sure we were represented each year. If one of the kids had a conflict due to sports or scouting activities, he would take the kids available and make the trip to the lunch and see everyone. Now so many of the children are married with children of their own – a whole new generation of Odoms are enjoying the gathering. I do hope it continues…

My sister Kanista with my girls, Emily and Anna Marie – Thanksgiving 2004 in Birmingham, AL – having a girls lunch at Cantina at Pepper Place.

On the Zuniga side, when all my sisters used to travel to Alabama for Thanksgiving with their young children, we would spend Wednesday before Thanksgiving having lunch and shopping and then come home to get things ready for our big dinner. The husbands would take the kids to a movie and spend the day with them and give he moms a break. As the nieces and nephews got older my sisters began staying home – they all live out-of-state. Soon it was just me, my mother and my aunt (mom’s sis) and my girls having lunch and doing a little shopping. When my Aunt passed away, we just stopped going. It just didn’t feel the same. In recent years, my mother has mentioned missing the “old days” when we all used to spend that day together. I understand her longing for something that held such great memories. It’s hard to move on sometimes, especially when something was so enjoyable. We resurrected the tradition a bit these past few years with mom and my girls and added something new. We’d come back to my house and get turkey preparing lessons from mom. It’s been fun for my girls and I know my mother has been thrilled to pass along her turkey making expertise to all of us!

Making Thanksgiving turkey with Nana! My girls learn how to make stuffing!

One of the first Mimi Swing Photos I took of the Odom cousins…

When my youngest child Emily was just a year old, a major tradition emerged with the Odom children. I began taking pictures of my three children (Charlie, Anna Marie and Emily) and my twin nieces (Kate and TJ) on their grandmother’s outside swing. We would take “the Mimi’s swing” picture at Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas – any holiday when we’d all get together. But for some reason, Thanksgiving was the one holiday that really stuck. Over the years, we’ve added the older Odom grandchildren, great-grandchildren and significant others to the photos. This year at Easter, we even added my niece TJ via iPad when she couldn’t make it home. It was that important for the kids to have everyone present and accounted for on the swing no matter what the holiday. I love this swing tradition so much and especially at Thanksgiving! Seeing the way the family has changed and grown over the past 21 years is priceless to me and I know it is to my brothers-in-law too, as we all get older and look back.

The Odom cousins in Mimi’s swing – Thanksgiving 2014 – TJ, Kate, Anna Marie and Emily – Charlie always standing in the back!

One thing is for sure, family traditions evolve and change, that is a given. But I have a feeling we will always be taking a swing picture of the Odom kids at Thanksgiving. And for that, I will always be thankful…

Ten years of swing photos – I had this framed for my mother-in-law (Mimi) and it hung into her house until she passed away in 2011.

Leaning how to make mom’s Thanksgiving turkey with my girls in 2013. Mom and I had just finished stuffing the turkey!

Thanksgiving turkey making shenanigans with Nana…although I don’t think my mom knew what they were doing in the background!

The Fabulous Zuniga Men

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Photos of my dad (center) and his two brothers – Lorenzo and Felix – from my Day of the Dead altar.

Today is Veterans Day.

It’s a work holiday for my office. I decided to stay at home today and take down my Day of the Dead altars. While I was dismantling and gathering all the photos, I put aside the ones of my dad and his brothers in their military uniforms.

The Zuniga Brothers…Praxedis, Lorenzo and Felix….

All the Zuniga men were Veterans. All so handsome. All so ready to serve in some capacity. Today I reflected on these photos and those that my extended Zuniga family posted on social media. Today I took some time to reflect upon their sacrifice for our freedom.

Thank you dad, Uncle Lencho and Uncle Felix…so proud of you all.

My dad…Praxedis Sotelo Zuniga

Uncle Lorenzo Zuniga

Uncle Felix Zuniga

Uncle Lencho and my dad – Praxedis Zuniga

Gathering of the Clans

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Zuniga family reunion 2003 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The 2003 Zuniga Family Reunion in Albuquerque, New Mexico was so wonderful! We had a huge turnout that year and I loved spending time with everyone and hearing their stories. Looking back at the photos of that reunion makes me both happy and sad…we’ve lost a few family members since them. That’s why these reunions are so important and we make every effort to attend every two years. We alternate these gatherings between Albuquerque, New Mexico and Denver, Colorado. Next year we will be in Albuquerque and we’ll be celebrating the 10th anniversary of Zuniga Reunions. It’s sure to be special…

When we left the 2003 reunion, we had a little time to spend in the Albuquerque airport before our flight. My kids wanted to pick up souvenirs so we wandered into a few stores and they found a few little trinkets to bring back home. There was a gift shop that had a lot of Hispanic art and Day of the Dead items for sale that got “my” attention though. As I made my way through the store something else drew my attention too. There were these pins on the counter near the cashier. Petroglyphs. Ancient folkart…they were beautiful. Each one was on a card and had a saying. I stared at them for the longest time and then selected the one that kept drawing my eye.

It was called “Gathering of the Clans.” I turned it over and began reading…

My people came this way. They welcomed those who joined their journey. We tell their stories: The stories of the gathering of the clans.

Petroglyph Pin – Gathering of the Clans by Alice Seeley, New Mexico Artist

I remember thinking…wow! Here we were at a family reunion and this was the pin that I picked up. It was almost as if it had selected me! I bought this pin…and a few others that day. Each of their sayings hit close to home . Each spoke of family, ancestors and stories. I wore this cluster of pins for quite a while on a favorite jean jacket. They were always a topic of conversation and it always took me back to that particular family reunion.

NOTE: These pins were created by New Mexican artist, Alice Seeley. She is a painter turned jeweler and she creates these designs in lead-free pewter. All jewelry is marked with her name and the year.

Southern Señora

Sharing the Southern Hispanic lifestyle in Birmingham, Alabama!

Category Archives: Familia

Cascarones for Easter!

Signs of my Father in an Oreo Commercial

Iron Bowl Saturday at the Odom House

Remembering A Veteran

My Thanksgiving Table

Family “Swing” Picture…Modified…

We Ate Some Turkey and then a Football Game Broke Out!

Family Traditions

The Fabulous Zuniga Men

Gathering of the Clans

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