Category Archives: Holidays

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!!!

Remembering Easter 2008

Thanksgiving at the Beach

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Ocean view condo for Thanksgiving 2005

In 2005, we spent Thanksgiving at the beach. It was a first for the Odom family. We had always spent the day at my husband’s mom and dad’s house in Jasper. But my mother-in-law, Johnnie, had been wanting the family to spend the holiday at the beach and we finally all came together and got it planned.

I don’t remember the name of the place we stayed but I do remember that we all booked rooms close to each other so we could come and go easily. When we arrived the first day, it was a sunny and windy day and we decided to head to the Pink Pony Pub for drinks and appetizers. Besides me and Eddie and our three kids, we had Eddie’s brother Terry and his wife Rhonda and their twin daughters, Kate and TJ. Eddie’s older brother Allen and his wife Rhonda were also there along with my mother-in-law’s sister, Joyce and her daughter, Debbie. We had quite a large group, much to our delight!

Fun at the Pink Pony Pub!

My best memory is of the family gathering at Pink Pony Pub. We sat outside and just enjoyed each other’s company. Our family tradition of taking a Thanksgiving photo on my mother-in-law’s swing was transferred to the deck of the pub that particular year. I remember the kids being adamant that we would take a picture to keep with tradition. I loved that they wanted to do this and not skip tradition just because we weren’t in Jasper. Then we took family group photos together. The one of me, Eddie and the kids is probably one of my favorites. We all huddled close together and hugged not just to keep warm but because we were all excited to be at the beach and together. I took the photo of my brother-in-law, Terry and his wife Rhonda and their girls – TJ and Kate. For the rest of the family, they posed around the table where we enjoyed food and drink.

Family photo on the beach – we used this for our Christmas card photo that year!

Terry, Rhonda wit Kate and TJ

Johnnie and Glen and their boys – Allen, Eddie and Terry

Aunt Joyce and Debbie

“Swing” photo on the deck of Pink Pony pub this year

Informal group shot!

The kids’ table!

Apparently there were oysters?

Love this shot of Johnny and Joyce squeezing lemon simultaneously in their tea.

Rhonda and Johnny

Eddie!

Trying to get a photo with my kids!

There we go…they look so little!

There is another great memory from that Thanksgiving at the beach and it was watching the kids play on the beach from our balcony. They had a kite they were flying and then they also did some writing in the sand. It was just great watching them all enjoy the beach from afar. I didn’t have the best digital camera at the time so the photos I took are a little grainy when I tried to zoom in, but it’s still nice to have them to bring back those memories.

Cousins…

Kids playing on the dunes next to the Pink Pony Pub

Charlie

A shell from TJ

Writing in the sand…

Flying kites

Emily in the ocean

Charlie flying the kite

Chatting with Anna Marie and Kate

Charlie and the kite

Johnny and Joyce take a walk on the beach.

Allen goes fishing

Love this photo…sisters on the beach and notice my mother-in-law Johnny is fidgeting with a disposal camera! She always had one handy!

We also enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving turkey and dinner that year at the condo thanks to the cooking of both of my sisters-in-law! That was always a joke with the three of us since I didn’t do much cooking and they did…they used to just ask me to bring drinks, paper products and desserts! That was fine by me! They were both great cooks so why would I want to compete with that?!!! I remember telling them one year that all the sisters-in-law named Rhonda did the cooking and the ones named Teresa brought the fun! Ha!…and I still stand by that comment!

Thanksgiving turkey 2005

Glen (Paw Paw) and Charlie

Time to eat!

My boy…Charlie

After all the turkey…

We’ve lost several family members since this Thanksgiving in 2005 so holidays tend to be bittersweet for us. Still, we still do things to keep their memories alive when we gather. Having these photos is so precious to us all and taking this trip in 2005 is still one of our great memories. Now after 12 years, many of us have returned to the beach this Thanksgiving to make new memories. And of course, I am taking the photos…

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours…

Mexican Mother’s Day

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My mother – Barbara Zuniga – pregnant with me. I think this photo was taken late 1958 or very early 1959.

Today is Mother’s Day…in Mexico! It’s always on May 10th, unlike in the US where it falls on the 2nd Sunday in May. Living in the states…we have always celebrated Mother’s Day on the 2nd Sunday but this year I was aware of more posts than usual from my Mexican friends on social media.

It made me think about Mother’s day celebrations in Mexico, so I did a little googling this afternoon to see what I could find out about Mexico’s celebration. In truth, it’s much identical to the US celebration – children honor their mothers with gifts of flowers and food on this day, much like we will do on Sunday here in the US. Restaurant reservations are at an all time high – just like here. Looking back on the origins of the day are rather interesting though.

In 1922 the idea of having Mother’s Day in Mexico was brought into the country from the US with mixed reviews. However, it is said that the government, media and Catholic Church got involved and set the date as May 10. In 1940, the wife of Mexico’s President Manuel Avilla Camacho declared May 10th a holiday and made it a state sponsored celebration. An interesting custom emerged from this too from the government. Disadvantaged women were invited to stores to pick a free gift. In 1942, the government did something even more interesting. They returned the sewing machines to women who had pawned them and then were unable to repay the loans. This cost the pawn market approximately $160,000! It was seen as a great gift though since these women used the sewing machines to help provide for their families. This was reported in Time Magazine.

The box of photos my sister and I went through last fall at her home in North Carolina – many of these photos I had never seen before. I believe the box belonged to my late Aunt Gail – my mother’s sister.

Today though…I’m thinking of my mother and the life she has lived. I’ll do this again on Sunday when we have lunch together, but today I’m getting a head start if you will. When I visited my sister, Kanista, last year in North Carolina, she pulled out a box of old pictures to go through together. There were several photos I had never seen before. One in particular was of mom at an event in Cambodia – pregnant with me. She had on a cute two piece maternity outfit with her hair pulled back and wore cute little sandals. There were people dancing in the background having a good time. I know my dad took this photo of her. She’s smiling and looking off into the distance. I wish I knew exactly how far along she was in this photo…how soon I would make my appearance.

People always tell me I look like my mother…it’s such a compliment because when I look at photos like this, she is just so beautiful to me. Still is… Feliz día de las Madres!

Me and Mom – Mother’s day last year – 2016

Day of the Dead Décor – It’s Everywhere!

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Every fall I look forward to discovering new Day of the Dead/Dia de los Muertos items to add to my growing collection. This year it seems stores had their items out even earlier than usual.

The first place I always hit is World Market. Usually, they have quite a huge spread of items but this year the collection wasn’t as large. Mind you, this is always my “go-to” place for DOD items so in fairness, it could be that I’ve collected most of their items already! At any rate, over the course of 3 visits, I picked up some cute things including a Mariachi skeleton pillow, sugar skull measuring cups, sugar skull measuring spoons, 2 sugar skull nutcrackers and two ornaments – one sugar skull and one hot sauce bottle! I haven’t checked other stores in my area to see if they have a more robust collection in their stores…there is still time and I may do that, but I really do love the things I’ve picked up so far.

Sugar skull measuring spoons and measuring “skulls” from World Market.

Mariachi pillow from World Market! So cute!

Target is another place to pick up cute DOD items. This year, their selection was also a little limited. Again, I think I bought everything they had last year, including a door wreath which will go up on my front door the last weekend in October. I bought a sugar skull vinyl tablecloth along with a DOD banner and a sugar skull dog statue. The tablecloth reminds me of the beautiful colorful Mexican vinyl tablecloths that my cousins always use in their decorating. On another trip, I found a sugar skull cup and a kit to make sugar skull pumpkins. I bought two pumpkins over the weekend for Halloween decorating so I’ll convert those using the kits this weekend.

Finally, last week I was in Michaels and saw an adorable DOD door wreath. I considered buying it as I walked through the store and then I turned down an aisle and found an entire display of DOD items! It would have been easy to go nuts and add everything to my cart but I took a deep breath and selected just a few things – a DOD “coffin”, 6 small sugar skull plates and a Catrina statue – an iconic DOD item that is seen every year at the local DOD Festival in downtown Birmingham!

Honestly…it seems as though you can find DOD and Sugar Skull items all over the place these days. I always look forward to pulling out all my stored items as I prepare to make my annual altars and decorate my house. I think this year I’ll need to add another storage container for all my new items!

Do you have any favorite DOD items? If so, please share them with me. I would love to see them and know what you do to celebrate Day of the Dead!

Warm Up Your Christmas with a little Coquito!

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Coquito – Puerto Rican eggnog – is a tradition at Christmas time!

Coquito…it’s a cool word to say, isn’t it? Well, it’s even better in a glass over ice!

Coquito [koh-kee-toh] – is Puerto Rican eggnog and it’s delicious! It’s made with rum, coconut milk, sweet condensed milk, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Some people add eggs and others don’t – it’s a personal preference here. You’ll find coquito being served and enjoyed around Christmas each year. It’s in high demand!

There are a number of recipes you can find online but I must confess, I’ve never tried to make coquito. I lived in Puerto Rico from ages 7-12, so I was a bit young for this drink! But I did know about it’s popularity. I had some at a friend’s pig roast several years ago and was hooked. Still, I didn’t try to make my own. Then recently, I found out that a friend of mine, Luis Delgado, was making coquito and selling it by the bottle! I got to know Luis several years ago when his restaurant – Miami Cafe – was a food vendor at Fiesta, the Hispanic and cultural event I have worked with for the past 13 years. Miami Cafe in Alabaster served up everything from Cuban sandwiches to chicken wings with a Carribean flair. His food was wonderful and I enjoyed eating at his little place the few times I was able to go. Luis’ love of cooking comes from his grandmother as a little boy growing up in Puerto Rico. He was always asking her questions about how to make different recipes and she gladly shared everything with her grandson. He carried this love of cooking to Miami before eventually moving to Birmingham. At the urging of friends who loved his food, he opened Miami Cafe. Since his restaurant closed, he is now catering. I attended an event at Birmingham International Center (BIC) a few months ago about doing business in Cuba and as I glanced at the food, I knew immediately it was Luis’ cuisine!

Back to the Coquito…I tried Luis’ coquito just last night and OMGEEEEE!!!!! Believe me when I tell you that it’s to die for! I poured it in a bigger glass than normal – you usually use a shot glass – so that I could share it with my husband. I took one long sip and swooned, it was so good! Then I handed the glass over to my husband. After one sip he wouldn’t give it back to me! So much for sharing!

If you are in the Birmingham area and you are interested in buying a bottle of this deliciousness, contact Luis Delgado on Facebook and place your order and let him know you read about it on Southern Senora blog. Coquito is $35 a bottle and well worth it to enjoy with your family. Of course, after one glass you might not WANT to share!

A glass of coquito garnished with two cinnamon sticks! Best served over ice and sipped in front of a Christmas tree!

Turkey Leftover Makeover

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So…what do YOU do with your turkey leftovers? In the past we’ve just divided everything up with the family and had turkey sandwiches or re-heated the entire meal for the next day at lunch or dinner.

This year, our family gathering on Thanksgiving day was smaller and we had an awful lot of leftover food in the fridge! It’s hard to watch it go to waste on Saturday, especially when my son decided to go out to eat with friends and my youngest daughter was in Auburn for the Iron Bowl game!

Eddie and I were at home together finishing up some cleaning and decorating when the game began at 2:30 p.m. As we watched the game, I decided we needed to do a little something different with the turkey and not just heat it up – blah! Boring! I remembered a Pampered Chef ham wreath recipe I had used many years ago. I looked it up online but couldn’t find the exact recipe so I used what I found as a basis and just made the rest up as I went along.

Getting the ingredients to the turkey wreath ready…

I chopped up 2 cups of turkey, added 2 stalks of chopped celery, half a chopped onion, and grated parmesan cheese (I only had half a bag so used it all). After mixing it all together, I added mayo – enough to get things to stick together, and also mustard to give it a little color – and finally, salt and pepper. I would have preferred to use Dijon mustard but I haven’t had any in my fridge for ages. (Note to self…buy some Dijon mustard! My friend and chef, Nick Hartmann likes to add Dijon to steak!)

Filling is ready…now to get the Pillsbury crescent rolls positioned…

Next I took a can of Pillsbury crescent rolls (8 total) and arranged them in a star design – with the large part in the center on a cookie sheet. This is always a little tricky to me because they aren’t necessary the same size and when you see how it’s done in a photo…well, it’s perfect and that’s just ridiculous! I used to make the ham wreath every year at Christmas and it was NEVER perfect! After this was done – as perfectly as I could make it – I added the turkey filling by large spoonful. Finally, I wrapped the thin part over the mixture covering as much as possible.

Crescent rolls are arranged in a star design with the large end in the center. It never looks as perfect as it does in the pictures…

I cooked the wreath in a preheated over set at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. I would have liked to have added cranberries to give the wreath a little hint of sweetness, but my husband doesn’t like cranberries that much. I had leftover cranberry sauce from Thursday so I just added it next to my portion once the wreath was ready to devour. So good with a buttery chardonnay!

Mission accomplished! Big thumbs up from the husby…leftover makeover was a success!

Arrange the ingredients by spoonful onto the crescent rolls.

Fold the skinny ends of the crescent rolls over the mixture…I had to get a little creative with some of the longer ends.

The finished product! After being baked at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

A close up of the finished product with a side of cranberries!

Finishing Touches Day

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Ornaments from my mother in their original boxes – I like to decorate with these each year by simply placing them in crystal/glass bowls.

Yesterday I spent the entire day getting our house decorated for Christmas. At times it can be a little overwhelming with all the boxes and decorations all over the place. But I remind myself that this is my day to get it all together and the day is long! Plus, I have those sappy Hallmark movies to keep me going!

O the Saturday after all this decorating takes place, I work on the finishing touches. Things like bows on lamps, centerpieces on the tables and hand towels in the kitchen and powder room. Another favorite things to do is to pull out all the ornaments from my mom that she collected from before I was born and simply put them on display in crystal bowls.

This is one of my favorite of the old ornamets…beautiful detail!

Decorating doesn’t have to be complicated and this is one of the things that makes me the happiest each year when I add the finishing touches. First of all, I love that the ornaments are still in the original boxes. You can still see the prices on the boxes. I have three boxes of “Shiny Brite” ornaments…mind you, not all the ornaments are original to these boxes but they are definitely old ornaments that we used to use when I was little. (Did I just say “old” in reference to myself?! Yikes!) These boxes have a 49 cent price tag on them. And who remembers Woolworth’s store? The box I have for a few more ornaments has a $1.49 price tag on it. These are called “imported tree ornaments” – but I don’t see “where” they were imported. Regardless, it’s still nice to have this box. I love to put them all in a large crystal bowl and set them on my coffee table in my living room each year. I always tell my kids about the ornaments and of course, when they were little they used to roll their eyes a bit… Now, I think they are paying more attention to these things and why they are important to me and our family history.

Shiny Brite ornament box with the 49 cent price tag stamped on the box.

To preserve these memories a little bit more, I’ve put some of the smaller ornaments – chipped paint and all – in shadow boxes. One box has small ornaments that my mother used to use to decorate her hutch every year. She would put these small ornaments into glasses all over the hutch and I always loved how creative she got with the decorating. She was (and is) so good at “merchandising” as they say in the retail world. I also have a shadow box with small ornaments from my grandmother (Louise Stone) and my aunt Gail (Gail Stone Thomas). I love putting these boxes out each year. It’s a great way to display a part of your family holiday history. Finally, I have a small egg shaped vase in my corner curio with ornaments from my great-grandmother – Maude Weaver – on display. The paint on these ornaments is almost all chipped off but it adds quite a bit of antique character to the them…

Small ornaments that my mother (first shadow box) used on her hutch each year and ornaments that my aunt and grandmother (second box) used in their Christmas decorating.

Finally, the one shadow box that makes me a bit nostalgic is the one I created with ornaments that were about to be thrown out after my mother-in-law (Johnnie Odom) passed away. All her sons were cleaning out her house and there was a box of ornaments that she had put aside with a handwritten note saying – “some ornaments the 5 girls might want to keep.” By this time, all the girls had gone through everything and picked out what they wanted. When my brother-in-law Allen showed me the box, I told him I would take them. I mean, there were several things I remembered vividly from her annual Christmas tree – the star she used at the top of the tree, the plastic snowman and Santa Claus, the felt reindeer…these aren’t expensive ornaments by any means. But they are priceless to me and now my children. It’s amazing how different things look when you preserve them in a special way…like in a shadow box. The Christmas after Johnnie passed, I displayed the shadow box and all the grandkids loved it. Plus, I added her handwritten note to the box. Their reaction made me feel like I had done something good for them and I love displaying it each year.

Ornaments that my mother-in-law – Johnnie Odom – used on her tree. These were about to be discarded but I couldn’t let that happen. Included in the box is a handwritten note about these ornaments to her 5 granddaughters…

Meanwhile…finished touches day is just about over…and tomorrow we decorate our family tree to round everything out.

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Southern Señora

Sharing the Southern Hispanic lifestyle in Birmingham, Alabama!

Category Archives: Holidays

Why I Love Holiday Tablescapes

Cascarones for Easter!

Remembering Easter 2008

Thanksgiving at the Beach

Mexican Mother’s Day

Day of the Dead Décor – It’s Everywhere!

Warm Up Your Christmas with a little Coquito!

Turkey Leftover Makeover

Finishing Touches Day

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