Dulces/Día de Muertos 2009

Buying candy for Día de Muertos.
Yesyerday we went downtown to the main market to buy candy for Día de Muertos. There are many places here where candy is sold my grams. This is really a candy lover's paradise. We bought lots of candy for the kids who would go to our house asking for them, but we also bought some for my kids. They love "panditas" (gummy bears), and other candies for which I do not know their English names.
Then we went home to prepare the Altar de Muertos. We weren't going to put one up this year, but at the last minute we did.
So here are the photos. The altar ones are kind of blurry, but it was dark and I couldn't see how they came out at the moment.

This is the store where we bought the candy.

These are called "perfumados".

Lots of gummy candy.

These are covered with chilli powder.

In the back are the packaged candies.

Attacking the gummy bear bag.

My son's favorite.

Oh, Pandita, how sweet art thou!!

Our personal stash.

This is the altar. It looks a lot like last year's, but this
year I included my father in law, and an ex-student of mine
who passed away a month ago.

Sugar cane and tangerines.

A small cup of expresso coffee for my dad,
and some mole for my father in law.

The black and white photo of my father in law, Edmundo.
The big photo is of my dad, Louis.
And the smallest photo is of José Antonio Leal who was
my student in 5th grade. A great kid
who is missed by so many of us.

Some of the kids who came asking for candy.

Great looking mummy.

And what do you think about these little girls
dressed like "Merlina" from the Addams Family?
I think theEnglish name of that character
is Wednesday.
They are really cute!

We sat outside to wait for the candy asking kids, and since it was a bit chilly I got out my coffee maker, and made some coffee. Soon some of our neighbors came over to have a cup, and in no time we had a nice crowd of people chatting and enjoying the evening.
Hope your Día de Muertos was just a nice as ours.
And hope you have a great week!!

Crafts.

When I started writing on this blog, my plan was to post photos of my crafts (knitting, sewing, etc.), but I got into posting mosly about Mexico. I mean, the themes in Mexico are never ending. And I think I haven't posted not even one theme about my crafts. So today's post will be about this.

First, I am actually participating in a Craft:along. Every month three different crafts are posted so the participants can make. I really enjoy doing these things. Here are some of the things I've made.

Some crazy-stitched coasters.

Felt pouches which I gave as gifts
to my friends from Puerto Rico and New York.

Individual placemats. These I gave to my brother
and his wife for their new house.
I recieved an Amy Butler pattern as a gift
since it was chosen best craft of the month!!!!!

Knitted scarf which soon will be
sent to Hungary.



My waterproof lunch bag.




And lime cookies (yes! I baked them myself).

At the moment I'm knitting a balaclava
which will also be sent to Hungary as a Christmas
gift.

I also participated in My Mama Made It Gift Exchange. I recieved some really nice sewing notions from Sofia in South Carolina.

She gave me a pouch she made, and the pattern
for making more. She also sent me two pre-cut pieces
so I could sew them. I love this gift.

I've also been visiting many sewing blogs, and I've found some I am really loving. Incredibly, there are so many giveaway. I participate in many of them. You see, it is very difficult for me to buy the many beautiful things for sewing that are online. I earn a salary in pesos which is great here since most things are soooo cheap, but what may be cheap for most people over there (U.S), is terribly expensive for us here. So I participate in the giveaways.
For example I just participated in a fabric giveaway at Sweet Tidings.
I also enjoy seeing what other people are creating. and get ideas for gifts to give over here.
So this is my crafty post. I will try to post more of my crafts every once in a while. And I hope I can have more giveaways (this time I promise to send the gifts sooner).

I wish you all a great beginning of week.....

Abasolo.

A few weeks ago we went to a small town that is about 25 minutes from our town. The town's name is Abasolo.
It just so happens that many states and towns in Mexico just had elections. The elections were for mayors, senate representaitves, etc. My husband has a student whose father was elected as "regidor", a position which works closely with the city's mayor.
Anyway, he decided to have a BBQ to celebrate his recent election and birthday. He has a small piece of land about 5 minutes from the town, which he uses for family gatherings. There is no electricity or water, but it does have a cistern. And the road to the place is dirt. It is very rustic, but I found the place and hills next to it beautiful.
Here are the photos.

This is the place where the party was celebrated.

My sons and I went walking and took

this photo of the place from a distance.

Lots of plants.

The sky was a bit overcast, but it was still
a nice warm afternoon.


Lots of insects, autumn flowers, and of course, cacti.

We have been fascinated with lichens
for some time. I love the color of these.

And the view....look at that sky. Isn't it beautiful?

You can see the color of the sorgum, wheat, and corn fields
in the background.
For me, Autumn is roasted corn....
with lots of chile sauce...mmmmm.

I love October and Autumn.
How's your Fall season coming along?
Hope it's great!!

Quesadillas.

Oh, my. My posting has been very poor lately. I don't like to use excuses, but there has been so much work at school!
I really should make time.

So I've decided to leave the Morelia photos for some other time, and talk about food.
During this time of the year, lots of yummy food (for us) start to appear. Some of these dishes date from pre-hispanic times.
My favorites are pumpkin flower and huitlacoche quesadillas. Pumpkin flower, I'm sure you've seen. Huitlacoche? Ha, most probably not! Huitlacoche is the fungus of the corn. Yes, the fungus! In English it is called corn smut, and you can read more about it here.
Anyway, I'll show how both delicacies are prepared. (Kelli, I owed you this post).
First I'll start with Flor de Calabaza (pumpkin flower) quesadillas.

This is the way the flowers are sold at the market.
First you have to wash the flowers.

Then you have to pull the flower away from the base
of the flower, including the pistil. If you leave this part,
it will taste sour.

Here are all the discarded parts.

Then proceed to chop up the "flowers".




Sauté some diced onion (here we use white onions)
in oil. You can use olive oil if you want.

When the onion is transparent, add the flowers.
The flowers will wilt pretty quick, and lose some moisture.
Season with salt, pepper, whatever you like to use.


You let the liquid evaporate a little (not too much,
you don't want it dry) and it's done. This is how it looks.



Now the huitlacoche....

These are the "diseased" corn grains. I also wash them,
and remove the "threads".

A closer look at he stuff.

The "grains" are chopped.

As with the flowers, dice onions, sauté them, but with the
huitlacoche you will also add chopped tomatoes and green chile.
Hitlacoche is dry, so the tomato will give it moisture.
Some people add epazote, a very strong
flavored leaf or herb used in many Mexican dishes.

Our neighbors were having "carne asada" (BBQ)
so I shared the huitlacoche and flor de calabaza,
and they shared meat and sausages.
The stuff in the pot is huitlacoche. You can see
the epazote leaf near the top


A quesadilla of each (tortilla with string cheese, and a
spoonful of each dish). These are put to the heat so the
cheese melts.

Mmmm, we love it! But I can understand
if YOU don't.

Hope you enjoyed this "cooking lesson". If you have pumpkin flowers on hand you should try it. It is really good!
Have a nice evening, adios......