On Food & Culture
Holiday Buñuelos meant delicious excitement when I was growing up and our family celebrated new year’s eve. Amá would celebrate every new year by making buñuelos. They’re crisp and light. I serve them with no-dairy chocolate. I recall having a sense of wonder at how […]
You can honestly call this famous Mexican candy iconic. Pumpkins are native to Mexico, and the oldest domesticated pumpkin seeds were discovered by archaeologists in the Oaxaca Highlands of Mexico and dated to over 7,500 years ago. Sweetened and served either syrupy or crystalized, dulce […]
The mesquite tree has been part of the Texas landscape for at least seven thousand years. The technique for making the candy balls is the same grinding of mesquite that Cabeza de Vaca chronicles in his 1542 journal about Texas, where he describes our Texas […]
“El que tiene mas saliva, traga mas pinole” Dichos Mexicanos are sayings or proverbs that are handed from generation to generation as a way to preserve and teach important aspects of cultural wisdom, insight and philosophy. I’m combining this archived recipe for pinole with the […]
Holiday Mexican sweets were front and center this week at my AARP holiday cooking demo! I promised to share the three recipes here, in one place, so I’ve collected them from my archives. (Apologies to my longtime friends, ’cause you’ve seen these before). Thank you, […]
Capirotada bread pudding is a delicious, beloved Texas Mexican traditional dish. But cumin and garlic? They were never part of any capirotada bread pudding recipe I had ever tasted. Certainly cilantro, pecans, piloncillo, cheese. So I really perked up when Laredo-born artist, César Mártinez, told […]
Holiday baking! Mexican piedras, rocks, are great for holiday sharing and gifting, especially as we are forced to isolate, stay home, during these horrible Covid months. So, give yourself a treat and bake these traditional Mexican piedras, delicious for breakfast or a midday snack. And […]
Pinole is roasted corn, ground into a fine powder and sweetened with piloncillo, unrefined Mexican cane sugar. The Tarahumara community in Chihuahua, just south of El Paso is famous for the endurance of runners over long distances and pinole is their go-to nutrition. The Tarahumara […]
Jicama and strawberry? Qué? I get skeptical looks about that combination whenever I suggest it, but the crunch of jicama melds beautifully with softened strawberries. Jicama is native to Mexico and Central America and tastes a little like a water chestnut and maybe also a […]
Dulce De Leche Quemada means burnt milk candy. I dug up this recipe from my archives because it makes for a good stay-at-home project. It’ll take several hours to cook and kids and adults will love them, extra yummy with roasted pecans. As far as […]