Category Archives: Mexican

Sugar Skulls are a Girls Best Friends!

Day of the Dead sugar skull red earrings found at Charming Charlie – they had red ribbons on them but I took those off!

I am always on the lookout for cool and interesting Day of the Dead jewelry. I have a growing collection at this point and pull it out every October to wear a few pieces through Day of the Dead. Not that I haven’t worn some of these pieces throughout the year…I just like to preserve most for the actual celebration period to keep them special.

Turqoise calavera earrings with fuchsia floral eyes…found at Charming Charlie.

Interestingly, the first place I began finding sugar skull jewelry was at Charming Charlie. I found a pair of red skull earrings with the small dangling silver chains. They had red bows on them too but I removed those – that made them a little TOO over the top for me! I also found a small pair of turquoise sugar skull earrings with fuchsia flowers for eyes. I wore these last year with a sugar skull scarf I found at Claire’s Boutique many years ago. Finding DOD items at Claire’s Boutique was another surprise store!

Brown sugar skull with rhinestone and yellow accents….makes the sugar skull look like he can fly!

Charming Charlie’s has great sales on their jewelry so I always head to that section first and a few years ago I found these funky brown sugar skull earrings…the rhinestones make the skulls look like they have a body and the yellow pieces remind me of wings. I picked these up for $4 on sale – actually I bought a few and gifted some to friends who have a special interest in DOD.

The last item I found that particular day was a necklace with white sugar skulls, silver, turquoise and cloisonné beads. I like it because it’s very subtle and the colors go with a lot of things I own.

Long sugar skull necklace with cloisonné beads, and silver beads.

On our way back from a family reunion in New Mexico a few years ago, I hit the gift shop at the airport and found so many interesting things. The jewelry was kitschy like the black Day of the Dead stretch bracelet I picked up. I also got a few sugar skull and beaded stretchy bracelets that have turquoise accents. I generally wear these every year during our local DOD festival.

Day of the Dead bracelet I found at the airport gift shop in Albuquerque, NM.

Earthbound Trading at Brookwood Village Mall always has some unique DOD items. As for jewelry, I spotted some Sugar Skull lapel pins a few years ago and bought one of each design. I left with 6 and wore them on my jacket to the DOD festival. They got a lot of attention that year at the festival!

Sugar Skull (calavera) pins found at Earthbound Trading Company store at Brookwood Mall a few years ago.

My Frida Kahlo stretch bracelet was discovered in a little shop in Forest Park. Unfortunately, I don’t think that shop is there anymore… I love the many faces of Frida on this bracelet. I used to wear it quite a bit but decided to put it away for a while. It may be time to “resurrect” Frida…

Frida Kahlo bracelet…

These pieces are mainly “novelty” type items however I DO like finding interesting artistic pieces too. I’ll share those pieces and the stories behind those in a future post.

Preparing for Day of the Dead – 2015

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Some of the items on my Day of the Dead living room altar include a Day of the Dead book, carnations, butterflies and photos…

Day of the Dead is tomorrow and I just finished up my altars at home this afternoon. I feel like the celebration snuck up on me this year with all the traveling I’ve been doing lately. Last year I decided I would use real marigolds on my altars in the dining room rather than the silk ones from the craft store. Well, that didn’t happen… I also wanted to go through all my photos and bring some new ones out of some of my family that’s gone. Again, that didn’t happen…I am in the process of moving my ginormous stash of photos and slides to my daughter’s old room so things are a little disorganized at the moment.

A copy of a photo of the some of the Wilson children…front and center is my mother-in-law, Johnnie. Behind her are her brothers Jim and Bob and to her right is her sister Joyce. Uncle Jim was the last remaining Wilson sibling and he passed away this October.

All this feeling of disorganization went away last night as I added the last photos to my altars and a few new touches. Funny how things just come together when you need them to and this evening I am so pleased with the result. I just want these altars to be a special tribute to the family that is now gone, especially the recent losses we have experienced. Earlier this year we lost my cousin Chila – Orcilia Zuniga Forbes quite suddenly. Just a few weeks ago, we lost my husband’s Uncle, James Edward Wilson who was 93. So sad to be adding more people but at the same time, it’s good to remember them, their accomplishments and the love we had and continue to have for them.

My cousin, Chila – Orcilia Zuniga Forbes – who passed away suddenly a few months ago. I love this photo of her that is on the Meyers Trust website in tribute to her service on this foundation.

I set tea-light candles out on the altars this afternoon and took photos of everything. Tomorrow, I will light the candles and spend some time with my altars remembering the good times and wonderful lives of our family members who are no longer with us physically.

This photo of Uncle Jim kept getting reposted on Facebook shortly after his death. I love this picture…a gentle and good man in the presence of animals.

More Day of the Dead Purchases

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Sugar skull items found at Target this year…

Dia de los Muertos/Day of the Dead is about 3 weeks away and I’ve ramped up the search for cool and colorful items!

I can always count on World Market to have a great collection of sugar skull items. In fact, they call it the Los Muertos (The Dead) Collection. After several years of picking through their collection, I think I have most everything I really want. But when I went by the store a few weeks ago, I was surprised to find orange and black sugar skull mugs and small plates! I’m thinking these will be great this month for weekend coffee and a light bite of breakfast.

Sugar skull coffee mugs and small plates from World Market this year!

Target has started carrying a larger collection of Day of the Dead items which thrills me! Of course with Target you can take your chances and wait for things to on sale OR you can go ahead and pay full price – which is really not terribly high – and get it when you see it. I chose the later…plus, I had about $40 in Target gift cards I had been holding on to so…

Sugar Skull wreath from Target.

I really do love the sugar skull wreath with the colorful florals the best. That was my first purchase and it goes on my front door this weekend. They had some wooden sugar skulls on stands and some lanterns but those didn’t interest me as much. Then a few weeks later I ran in to Target to pick up a few things for supper. Naturally, I wandered over by the Halloween items and found individual hanging male and female sugar skulls! LOVE the top hat on the male! Had to have!

Mr. and Mrs. Sugar Skull! Found at Target this year.

The $1-$3 dollar bins at Target are always a treasure trove. They have great seasonal items and I used to love getting the little Christmas buckets to use in class when I taught 4th grade Sunday School. I always walk through and without fail, find something I can use. Most recently, I found these sugar skull socks. I know what I’ll be wearing to the local Birmingham Day of the Dead festival next month!!! I think they glow in the dark too!

I’ll be wearing these Target glow in the dark Sugar Skull socks to our local Day of the Dead festival this year!

Walgreens surprised me while in Austin, Texas two weeks ago. I found this cute sugar skull bobble head. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised in Texas…so when I got back to Birmingham I went to the Hoover store and found a few things – just not the bobble head. The one item I decided to add to my collection was the beverage holder or Koozie!

Walgreens Sugar Skull bobble head…

I love the fact that several people I know send me texts or emails when they see Day of the Dead items at stores. I always check them out to see if it’s something I can’t live without. I’m sure there are plenty more items out there that are just waiting for a home. Three more weeks to find them!!!

Walgreens sugar skull koozie/can holder found at Walgreens in Birmingham.

The Footprints We Leave Behind…Remembering My Cousin Chila

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With my cousin Chila at the Zuniga Family reunion in Denver, Colorado – July 2013

My cousin, Orcilia “Chila” Zuniga Forbes, passed away on Friday, August 28, 2015. Here are some of my memories of this remarkable woman.

My cousin Chila passed away two weeks ago. It came as a shock to our family and we still can’t believe it most days. She was truly remarkable. Quite a number of stories have been published about her over the past two weeks, discussing her education, career, non-profit work and accomplishments. I’m sure more will be shared over time and I look forward to hearing them. She leaves quite a legacy and quite a few footprints…

Cousin Chila at the 2013 Zuniga Family Reunion – wearing her running shoes…

One story I particularly love tells of how Chila was always so “neatly coifed, perfectly made up, stylishly and professionally dressed, stockings, running shoes. Yes, running shoes.” The story goes on to say that she was always quite literally “on the move.” Those shoes probably helped in some small way, but I know there was more her success than the shoes.

I’ve been considering all the footprints Chila left behind with those running shoes. At 77 years of age – that is just too young. I remember her as the picture of health…calm, collected, striking in appearance and always having marvelous experiences with her sister – Wiro – and brother-in-law, Chuck. It was always a joy to spend time with her at family reunions – she was so interesting and I loved the conversations we had together.

Chila - the oldest of 8 children of Lorenzo and Anita Zuniga - here with her brother Lorenzo Jr. (Boy), sisters Boogie and Wiro (Hortencia) and sister-in-law, Maria Varela.

Chila – the oldest of 8 children of Lorenzo and Anita Zuniga – here with her brother Lorenzo Jr. (Boy), sisters Boogie (Ophelia) and Wiro (Hortencia) and sister-in-law, Maria Varela.

One very inspiring conversation we had goes back to 2002 when I went to Portland, Oregon for a conference. This was the year after my dad died. A few days before I flew out, my mother reminded me I had a cousin in Portland. I quickly typed an email to Chila and hoped for a reply. To my delight, Chila immediately contacted me and outlined times she was available to meet and offered to include me in plans she already had in the works if I was available. I was thrilled! Spending time with a Zuniga cousin was so important to me since my dad had died. I needed that connection to my Mexican family.

Chila and her husband Richard picked me up at my hotel. I had never met Richard so this was an added bonus. I loved watching Chila and Richard together during that trip. They were like two pieces of a puzzle that fit perfectly together. They seemed so happy together.

Chila said she was taking me to a wine dinner that night and we would be sitting with the winemaker who was a friend of hers. What a treat! Richard dropped us off downtown and would return to pick us up afterward. We were early so we decided to walk around the block and found a bench where we sat and talked. The conversation quickly turned to my dad. He has passed away June 1, 2001 and Chila began telling me a story I had never heard before. She said after my dad – her Tio Chito – left Carlsbad, New Mexico and got out of the Air Force, he went to Catholic University in Washington DC. This part I knew, of course. What she said next has stayed with me all this time. She told me “your dad was the reason I went to college.” She added that until the time my dad left Carlsbad, they (she and her siblings) didn’t know they could also leave or get an education. Chila definitely took this encouragement to heart, first getting a nursing degree followed by two masters degrees and a doctorate. Landing at both the University of New Mexico and Oregon State University, I can only image the footprints she left in both places. She didn’t keep this story about my dad to herself either. She shared it with so many people and even spoke about this encouragement in a video I found called Destination Success (in Spanish). Such a treasure to find this video and hear her words!

Chila and Boogie sing with the Mariachi at our Zuniga family reunion dinner in 2013. This is one of my favorite photos from that reunion…

Last year, I was doing some research on Day of the Dead/Dia de los Muertos and I bookmarked a website that spoke of “footprints” and the passing of a loved one. The author writes, “the Mexican definition of soul, is the footprint we leave behind for others to connect to, in that we are present, still after death, in how others remember us. Even the person who passed away can change and grow within the stories we hold of them.”

I know I was lead to rediscover this bookmark last week. I had already been going through pictures from past Zuniga family reunions when I found one of Chila from 2013. She was neatly coifed (as the story goes) from her head down to her running shoes. That photo made me stop in my tracks and smile. Chila left 77 years of footprints and they have taught me quite a few things. They have propelled me closer to my Zuniga family roots beginning with that story about my father. They have encouraged me to see what changes I can make to do more to help others. They have inspired me to continue to educate myself and encourage others to seek education….just like my dad encouraged his niece so many years ago.

Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same. – Unknown

Chila and her sister Wiro sing with the mariachi at our family reunion – Denver, CO – 2015.

With Chila, her brother Nino (Orlando), son-in-law Hal and daughter Eryn – at our family reunion in Albuquerque, NM 2011.

La Familia Zuniga at our 2003 family reunion in Albuquerque, NM…

While singing with her sister Wiro with the mariachi, Chila stops to give me a smile… Wiro’s husband Chuck stands by to take photos – Zuniga Reunion 2013.

Me with Chila at our reunion in 2003.

Chila chats with my little sister, Kanista at our family reunion in 2003. Cousin Chuck is on the laptop.

Chila with her little brother, Ricardo Zuniga.

Chila with her little brother, Ricardo (Googs) Zuniga. (2003)

My mother, Barbara Zuniga with her niece, Chila. Zuniga family reunion 2013 in Denver, CO.

Chila with her brothers and sisters…from left to right – Googs (Ricardo), Wiro (Hortencia), Boogie (Ophelia), Chila (Orcelia), Lala (Oralia) and Boy (Lorenzo, Jr.) – missing from this picture – Eddie and Nino (Orlando).- Family Reunion 2003 – Albuquerque, NM

Tales of HICA Tamale Sales, Partnerships and Missing Fingerprints

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This is a promo photo I took before HICA Exec Director Isabel Rubio and I appeared on Fox 6 News in Birmingham to talk about the tamale sale.

To pick up from my last post and how the HICA tamale sale got started…here are a few memories and stories from the early years.

As the HICA tamale sale began to grow, the search for community partners began. We needed kitchen space where we could make more tamales since we had outgrown the kitchen at Grace Episcopal Church. Word was out about tamales so demand began to grow! In 2005, HICA partnered with The Culinard and we were able to use their facilities to make tamales. We had a successful year despite scorching a rather large pot of pepper tamales! That just about broke my heart because I LOVE pepper tamales!!!

The next year – 2006 – we got really aggressive with our media. I got a call from the Birmingham News one day asking if a reporter could come by my house and watch me make tamales. It was a great opportunity to get the word out about the sale so of course, I said yes! I immediately called my mom and we pulled together all the ingredients and got everything ready. Now when you make tamales, you usually make a “ton” because they are so labor intensive. In fact, in many families tamales are made in an assembly line fashion – as many as 60 dozen at a time! So mom and I got to work to get things in order for the demonstration.

This is a print of one of the articles that appeared in the Birmingham News about the tamale sale. The picture is of me in my kitchen loading tamales my mom and I made into my tamale pot to cook. Photo was taken by Bev Taylor of The Birmingham News. My husband framed this article for me as a Christmas present and it hangs in my kitchen.

Kellie Hewitt-Taylor of The Birmingham News was supposed to come to my house to interview me and take photos. Instead she interviewed me over the phone due to a family emergency and sent photographer Bev Taylor to come by and take pictures. Kellie said the story would run in the Wednesday Hoover Neighborhood section of the news. Isabel Rubio, HICA’s executive director, and I were excited about getting this exposure figuring it would help boost sales a bit from the previous year. Well, be careful what you wish for…

I picked up the Wednesday paper and found a small black and white photo of myself filling my tamale pot with tamales on page 2 or 3. I thought – “this is nice! I’m sure this will help sales…” When I got to work, a co-worker called and said, “Hey! I saw your picture in the newspaper today!” I knew she didn’t live in Hoover so I was a little puzzled as she went on and on about the great color photo of me. I was thinking – wait…the picture was in black and white! Now I was REALLY confused!

Turns out the story now only hit the Hoover neighborhood section that day, it hit ALL of the neighborhood section in Birmingham! WHOA! Our sales that year jumped to over 6K and we weren’t prepared for that. But it gave us an opportunity to partner with some local Mexican restaurants to help fill the gaps in addition to what our volunteers were making.

Freddy Rubio works the tamale numbers on tamale pick up day to make sure HICA stays up to speed with the orders and the restaurants partnering with us to provide tamales.

For tamale pick up day that year I just remember the tamales coming into the HICA office in a steady stream. All of us there volunteering that day spent a lot of time wrapping these piping hot tamales with Saran wrap and foil and labeling them by type. I swear to you…I think my fingerprints burned off that day! At the end of that day we were exhausted but thrilled at the success of the sale. I know I was SO ready for a margarita!!! Surprisingly, I also wanted a tamale!

Pork tamales wait their turn to get saran wrapped and foil wrapped for pick up.

The HICA tamale sale PRE-SALE has been extended until August 31st. So, if you are in the Birmingham area, you can place your order online until that date. Place your order today and when you come to HICA to pick up your order on December 18, let me know if you read about the tamale sale on my blog!

Orders wait to be picked up. This is also a great time for HICA to tell their story to the community so we provide our latest newsletter and brochures of information about programs the tamale sale supports.

A volunteer helps wrap the piping hot tamales with saran wrap – these are tamales that have come straight from one of the partner restaurants. The aroma that day of delivery was heavenly to say the least!!!

This was also the first year HICA rented freezers to store tamales for pick up day. In this picture, volunteers load the freezers with freshly wrapped tamales awaiting pick up.

Tamales…Deliciousness in a Corn Husk!

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Tamales…so much deliciousness in a corn husk! (NOTE: You don’t eat the corn husk!)

These little tasty meals have become synonymous with a local nonprofit I’ve been involved with for over 10 years by the name of HICA…as in “OH! You’re on the HICA Board?! I love your tamales sale!”

HICA’s tamale sale is back this year after a little “siesta” last year. If you live in the Birmingham, Alabama area, you can pre-order right now until August 1st through the HICA website. After that, the next window to order will be November 22 through December 11 through the website. You can choose from three types of tamales: pork with red sauce, chicken with green sauce and (my favorite!) pepper & cheese tamales. The cost is $30 per dozen or $18 for 1/2 a dozen. (Remember…this is a fundraiser!) Tamale pick up will be at the HICA office on December 18th.

Not having the tamale sale last year was a big decision for the board and fund development committee. HICA had just purchased a building – a new home – in Homewood, AL, and there was so much happening to get the building settled and also pulling together our 15th anniversary event – or quinceañera – with the Birmingham Barons last June. We just didn’t see how we could pull it off successfully with so much going on so, after much discussion we decided to cancel the sale in October and notified our tamale supporters of this decision. We know people were disappointed but they understood and we promised to bring the sale back this year. Personally, I’m so glad it’s back because pulling this fundraiser together is a true labor of love for those of us who’ve been involved over the years and have seen it grow.

HICA Volunteers making tamales one year in partnership with the Culinard.

HICA started the tamale sale 13 years ago around the Christmas holiday time as a fundraiser for the organization. That very first year, supporters, board members and Hispanic community members got together in a volunteer’s kitchen and made hundreds of tamales into the wee hours of the morning to sell to the community at large.

The idea was to bring a little bit of Mexican culture and food to Birmingham. In addition, tamales are a tradition around Christmas time to Mexican families. Many people who have been exposed to the HICA tamale sale over the years have embraced tamales as their own tradition now too!

I have so many stories to tell about the tamale sale which I will do throughout this year leading up to the tamale pick up date on December 18. I’ll also share a few tamale recipes along the way. But for now, you have 8 days to pre-purchase your tamales! Go ahead…you know you want to!

HICA has been grateful to the Piggy Wiggly in Homewood for many years for supplying grocery bags to contain the tamale orders.

Here are a few fun facts about tamales from the HICA Website in case you need a little more encouragement to try them:

Tamales date back to the time of the Aztecs
Tamales can be sweet with fillings such as cinnamon and raisin or fruit.
There are around 1,000 types of tamales available all around Mexico. Every region has its own variety of tamales.
In Mexico, tamales are often eaten during festivities, such as La Candelaria Day (Feb 2), Mexican Independence Day, Day of the Dead, Las Posadas and Christmas.
A Mexican tamale called the Zacahuil is three feet long and weighs about 150 pounds.
Tamales are not only part of Mexican culture, they are also part of Latin American culture.

Mexican Wedding Cookies – My Favorite Christmas Cookie!

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Every year I have my annual Christmas cookie swap party. Everyone brings 12 dozen (yes! you read that right!) of their one favorite cookie and you leave with 12 dozen different cookies. I have the party the first week of December so that everyone can enjoy and share the cookies during the month of December for family gatherings, to use as gifts, or just eat them all themselves!

The cookies I make every year without fail? The Mexican Wedding cookie! It is my all time favorite cookie and it was my dad’s favorite cookie as well. I remember my mother always making these cookies for him and how much he loved them. He had a sweet tooth for certain things and Mexican Wedding cookies was one of those things!

My mother passed her recipe down to me and I am proud to say I can make them almost as well as she does. This year I decided to document the process in photos. They are an easy cookie to make and oh so good! But as I was making them, I was curious about their origin. I mean, where did they get their name and why were they also called Russian Tea Cakes?

So I did a little research online and found a great history from Chef Miguel Ravago, co-founder of Fonda San Miguel in Austin, Texas. I noticed his mother’s recipe, that he shares in the cookbook – Baking From the Heart – includes cinnamon. My mother’s does not, but it got me interested in trying this at some point. It reminded me of another favorite Mexican cookie – bizcochitos that I also love and can’t get enough of when I visit my family in New Mexico! My cousin Nelinda makes a bizcochito to DIE for!

Chef Ravago says the origin of this cookie is Arabic and was taken to Mexico by the Spaniards. They are called Polvorones de Canela – polvorones meaning “dust” because the cookies are covered in powdered sugar and canela – meaning cinnamon. He recalled how his mother would always have these cookies baked every week to have after church to enjoy along with a Mexican chocolate drink. But polvorones are also part of most Mexican weddings – they are gathered into a pyramid at the receptions making a gorgeous white centerpiece and stacked very high so everyone can reach them. At weddings these cookies are best enjoyed with a glass of anise liqueur – according to Ravago’s grandfather.

Here is my mother’s recipe: 1 cup butter or margarine; 1/2 cup sifted confectioners sugar; 1 tsp. vanilla; 2-1/4 cups of all-purpose flour (do not use self-riding flour); 1/4 tsp. salt, and 3/4 cups finely chopped nuts (I use pecans). Mix butter, sugar and vanilla thoroughly. Measure flour by dipping method or by sifting. Stir flour and salt together; blend in. mix in nuts. Chill dough.

You then heat the oven to 400 degrees. Roll dough in 1 inch balls. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Cookies do not spread. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until set but not brown. While still warm, roll in confectioners sugar. Cool. Roll in sugar again. This recipe makes about 4 dozen 1 inch cookies.

I still don’t know why these are called Russian Tea Cakes…but they will always be Mexican cookies to me.

I doubled my recipe so this is really 2 cups of butter!

Adding in the confectioners sugar…

Next comes the vanilla…I love the smell of vanilla, don’t you?

Adding the all purpose flour to the butter, sugar and vanilla mixture.

The mixing is complete…the temptation to start spooning out this mixture for snacking is great…

Chopping up the pecans into smaller bits to add to the mixture.

Adding the pecans to the mix

Mixture is ready and the confectioner sugar is on standby for the rolling to begin!

Rolling the mixture into one inch balls to bake for 10-12 minutes at 400 degrees.

Ready to go into the oven!

Bake at 400 degrees…

They definitely don’t change much after baking…but they definitely smell terrific!

The confectioners sugar clings to these warm little nuggets!

The finished product! Actually, after they cooled a bit, I rolled them again for added sugar high!

My Mexican Christmas Tree

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Two of my Mexican tin ornaments…

I have always loved Mexican tin ornaments…so shiny and colorful! I began collecting them many years ago but never really had a way to display them. Our family Christmas tree has always been decorated only with Hallmark ornaments. And I’ve been collecting Hallmark ornaments since they first came out in 1973 – but that’s a story for another post…

I know it was a few years after we moved into our house in Hoover, AL, that I decided to have a Mexican tree in my family room. It started slowly…we had a small tree we used in our apartment while we were waiting for our house to be built. It was the perfect size for our family room. So I put together and began decorating. I used poinsettia stems and the tin ornaments the first year. And I added chili pepper lights in green and red too – for a little zing! I remember the first year only having a few strings of chili pepper lights. A friend of mine who loves day after Christmas shopping, found a few more sets one year and called me to see if I wanted any. I said “YES!” and said picked them up for me. I used those lights until just two years ago when so many had gone out I decided to just use multi-colored lights because I couldn’t find chili pepper lights anywhere in town.

The purple sugar skull ornament that I found recently at Myers Plants and Pottery in Pelham, AL

Every year, I try to add something new to the tree. Every time I’ve traveled to New Mexico, Colorado and California, I’ve brought back an ornament. One year I found a few small sombreros and decided to use them as a tree topper. Worked out better than I thought it would! Locally, I’ve found ornaments at World Market and Target. This year, I went by Myers Plants and Pottery in Pelham, AL, and found two sugar skull ornaments to add to the tree – one in white and the other purple. Finding these at Myers was a total shock! Then again, this is the place where I’ve found amazing Talavera pottery pieces too so…

My daughter Emily places poinsettia flowers around the tree before we began decorating with the ornaments.

This year, my daughter Emily helped me with the Mexican tree. We worked together so seamlessly and had it done in no time. After I added the multi-colored lights, she quickly began filling in the spaces with poinsettia flowers. We worked on the ornaments together and each one filled the perfect spot. I remember when my kids were little and would clump ornaments into one spot. After we were done, I would “re-distribute” the ornaments around the tree to even things out. That wasn’t the case today. Emily knew exactly what looked good and where to place things. As a final touch, we picked up the tree skirt and together worked it around the base of the tree. Then we placed the pewter manger under the tree. On either side of the manger, we placed a Mexican mariachi nutcracker and a Mexican Santa doll. Next year, we’ll add red pepper lights back to the tree. My sweet husband found a few boxes while he was out running errands earlier in the day and brought them home for me!

I’m looking at the Mexican tree now as I write this…so peaceful…so beautiful…so colorful…and so Mexican!

Feliz Navidad!

Unpacking the poinsettia flowers, pewter manger and sombrero tree toppers for the Mexican tree.

First step after adding lights is to add the Poinsettia flowers…

Wreath tin ornament on the left that I bought in San Antonio, Texas…sugar skull ornament on the right. I found this one at Target a few years ago.

No Mexican tree would be complete without the Virgen de Guadalupe ornament. In fact…I have several on the tree.

I have several of these ornaments on the tree. I made several of these last year as thank you gifts to my HICA – Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama – board members. The Monarch butterfly is a symbol of immigration.

This white sugar skull ornament came from Myers Plants and pottery in Pelham, AL.

My Mexican Mariachi Santa ornament!

My pewter manger that sits under my Mexican tree every year…

Did Somebody Say SALSA?!!

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Chances are, if you’ve been to any Zuniga-Odom gatherings over the past fifteen years, you’ve sampled my mother’s famous salsa. And chances are, you’ve left that gathering wanting the recipe! It never fails to leave an impression and now when my friends and extended family see my mom at one of my parties, they KNOW there will be salsa! What can I say…it’s delicious and addicting too!

I went over to my mother’s house the Tuesday before Thanksgiving to watch her make her famous salsa. She was ready to get started as soon as I walked in the door. In fact, she had been cooking all day and even sent me home with Puerto Rican chicken and rice a few hours later. Our Odom family Thanksgiving dinner is on Thursday, and as I said, if mom is there – so is her salsa!

Mom had been to Mi Pueblo Supermarket in Pelham earlier in the day to pick up her salsa ingredients. The most prominent items were the 20 or so Roma tomatoes she had all washed and cleaned in a silver colander. She immediately began cutting them up and chopping them into small pieces.

As she chopped, I asked her about the recipe and where it came from. She reminded me about a time about 15 years ago when we went to dinner at the home of a young woman I had met a work who was of Mexican decent. Her mother lived with her and she had cooked up a huge spread of wonderful Mexican food for all the guests. Mom reminded me that she watched the mother make salsa that day and how delicious it was and how she wanted to recreate the recipe for our family. After the evening with our friends, she came home and talked to my dad about the salsa and ingredients. She said to me, “After we got married, your dad taught me how to cook, PERIOD!” (My mind flashed back to our Christmas eve enchiladas…but I’ll leave that for another blog post.) So, naturally she wanted to run the ingredients by him and get his stamp of approval. Then, she went on to add her own personal touches and “Barb Zuniga’s Salsa” was born!

After chopping up all the tomatoes, mom chopped up 2 medium-sized sweet Vidalia onions and added them to the tomato mix. Next, she chopped up about 1-1/2 bunches of cilantro and mixed it in – oh my…that stuff smells soooo good!

She then opened 1 can of Hatch Chopped green chiles mild (4 oz. can) and 1 (3.3 oz.) can of La Costeña Green Chiles – diced, and added them to the bowl stirring everything together.

Next she started adding a pinch of this and a dash of that…and that when I said to her “you’re cooking the old-fashioned way! I need some more specifics here!” She slowed down and said, “yes, I guess you could say you need to add about 1/4 teaspoon of salt (as she sprinkled salt over the mixture from the container) and about 1 teaspoon of garlic. Next she squeezed about 1 tablespoon of lemon juice over the mix. And finally, about a tablespoon and a 1/2 of sugar “to give it the right flavor!”

As I took pictures of the proceedings, I couldn’t wait to grab a tortilla chip and sample the salsa. We both did and it tasted perfect to me. Mom wasn’t convinced and said “needs a little more salt” and proceeded to sprinkle a bit more salt into the bowl. She said “you gotta have that kick but also a little sweet taste!” We sampled again…more perfection and deliciousness…

She quickly filled 2-1/2 Ball Mason jars with the salsa. Once we open these jars on Thanksgiving day, the flavors will have blended together so well that I don’t think we’ll be able to keep the family away from the salsa and chip bowl!

There are many salsa recipes out there but I have to say…my mom’s recipe is my favorite!

Mom chops up the cilantro for the salsa mix.

Mom mixes in the cilantro to the chopped Roma tomatoes.

Mom poses with the finished product…3 jars of her famous salsa!

Southern Señora

Sharing the Southern Hispanic lifestyle in Birmingham, Alabama!

Category Archives: Mexican

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Did Somebody Say SALSA?!!

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