Dia de los Muertos

Day of the dead…is really a day for the living, those here on Earth, grieving someone we loved.  It is a celebration begun over 3000 years ago by indigenous peoples of Mexico to demystify death.  The tradition is to build an altar to entice the dead to visit one day a year.  

I was intrigued by the concept as I have patiently waited seven years for my beloved Grandma to return to me in my dreams.  She is in my waking conscious and I invite her to my dreams but she doesn’t come.  I feel her spirit all around me and she is never far from my mind or my heart.

When I started reading about Dia de los Muertos, I decided to build an altar.  I used a brass tinderbox I turned upside down and opened up.  I filled it according to the traditions and included ofrendas, offerings.  I placed a small framed portrait of her, pictures of her with my kids when they were little, a diamond ring she gave me, a cranberry cordial glass, a handwritten note from her and these traditional ingredients for a Dia de los Muertos altar:

Candles – to light her way

Marigolds – the scent attracts the dead.  Mine in the yard had already bloomed but I was surprised that during this week Trader Joe’s had bouquets of them.

Salt – representing life.  I put it in a crystal saltcellar she gave me.

Sugar pumpkin – tradition is a sugar skull but I had a sugar pumpkin instead.  I added a small painted ceramic skull.

Pan de los Muertos – I baked my own and crafted it with bones on the top

Skeleton – representing the dead

Christmas Ornament – The holiday that was special with her.  We shared the joy of decorations, baking and gift giving. 

I went to bed hopeful.  She didn’t come.  It made me sad and disappointed.  I started to second-guess my ofrendas thinking I should have left a glass of champagne for her.  She was giggly when she drank.  She told a story how when she sailed to Hawaii she became so seasick all she could keep down was crackers and champagne.

Hope is a strong emotion and I have not lost it because of this.  I will try again next year.  I enjoyed looking at the altar and adding to it.

I told my mom about the altar and that she didn’t come.  She very calmly said, “Maybe you have to be Catholic.”  I am not so I will cling to the historical indigenous people’s belief before the Catholics came in and changed the date to the day after Halloween, All Saints Day.  

I see my Grandma in my world.  I see her in a rose, the flight of a hummingbird and when I smell coffee brewing in the morning.  I can still feel her hugs and hear her laughter.  Until next year, rest in peace my dear Grandma.

Below is a link to the site with the bread recipe I followed.  I was skeptical as a baker when I read you do not proof the yeast but add all the ingredients.  It was perfect.  I made five six-inch loaves, decorated with bones and glazed with orange.

http://www.celebrate-day-of-the-dead.com/  Celebrate-day-of-the-dead.com

17 months and 59 years later

It has been 17 months between blogs and I have a lot to say. No excuses for not writing. I miss it more than my two followers did! So, I am back. I will catch you up, post a new recipe and write more often.
I had a great run in 2013, my 6th year competing at the California State Fair. Competing is not for the faint of heart and I took my share of criticism from the judges. I learn from it and make changes to entries and compositions. I took 1st place in the Fleischmann's Yeast Best Baking Contest for my Mom's Sweet Cardamom Bread and 3rd place in the Ghirardelli Chocolate Championship for my Après Dinner Mints. I had my 15 minutes of fame on the local channels, Sacramento Bee and at work! It was a Splendid experience, a shameless plug for the clothes I wore on camera. 

In November, I wrote my first book titled for now, This Bird Does, a memoir about growing up with grandparents, divorce, love, death, and God.  Woven throughout the narrative is the connection I have with food. I signed up for Nanowrimo at the suggestion of a friend who knew how much I love to write. The contest is a challenge to write 50,000 words in the month of November. The prize is finishing. It wasn't as hard as I imagined because I wrote about my life and I am the expert. It was fun and I will do it again. Now I am editing and rewriting before I even consider publishing it myself. It gave me a huge sense of accomplishment and I felt the encouragement from friends and family that I will always remember. 

I signed up for Twitter, I tweet, and I follow and I am followed.  I don't do Facebook or instagram.  I added my twitter feed at the top so you can read my tweets or follow if you would like. The challenge of twitter is to get your message across in only 140 characters. I'm learning and enjoying following.

    Pyrex bowls, circa 1954

 I received this email from a dear friend last summer:

 Move over Paula Deen! (love her, by the way)
OK, first I noticed the green Pyrex bowl - the bread bowl as my mom called it.
"Heads up", I said. "This lady is the real thing. She has my mom's green bowl. Something good is coming from this lady."
AND IT WAS YOU. ON LIVE TV!!!!! And, on your BIRTHDAY!!!
What a way to celebrate! You go girl!
Congrats on your First Prize win. Couldn't be happier for you. I hope all of your family and friends saw you Saturday am. A moment that I will never forget.........love u

The green bowl. I decided to take it on TV because I knew it would show up well on camera. It came from the stacked primary colors Pyrex set my mom received as a wedding present in 1954. When she downsized to move, she gave them to me. The only problem was there were only three; yellow meant potato salad growing up, green; I know now as my friend's mother's bread bowl and blue the best cereal bowl ever.
But no red bowl. Broken years ago.

At work a month ago, at a potluck, there was the red bowl sitting on the conference room table filled with veggie straws. I tried to hold back my excitement. I couldn't stop looking at it. I picked it up and held it thinking what it would mean to complete the set. I offered the owner $20 on the spot. I knew they existed on EBay but mostly in sets. I expected to find the red one at a yard sale or thrift store. He said he had to check with his wife. The next day he brought it in and gave it to me, refusing money for it.  I couldn't believe it!  An act of kindness that I will never forget. Completed set 59 years later.

I promised a recipe. This is my new favorite. I found a recipe for green tea cured salmon. I made it and liked it. My BFWF, Best Friend at Whole Foods, Drew, sent me some LapSang souchong tea for Christmas.  It is black tea smoked over a pine fire.  I thought if I used it, the salmon would taste smoked and it does.  It is incredibly easy, looks beautiful and tastes amazing. I reciprocated by sending him my homemade mulberry leaf tea, a natural zombie repellent.  I read it on the internet so it must be true.  

  

Smoked Tea Cured Salmon

One salmon fillet (I use wild caught from WF, about pound)

½ cup kosher salt

½ cup LapSang souchong tea

½ cup organic brown sugar

Mix the salt, tea and sugar together.  I use a Pyrex dish, 9 x 11, place plastic wrap on the bottom, enough so you can wrap the fish up. Place the fish skin side down on the plastic wrap and cover with mixture so that no fish is exposed.  Wrap it up and place a heavy object on top to flatten.  I use a cast iron Dutch oven.  Put it in the refrigerator for 48 hours.  Remove from dish and plastic wrap.  Rinse under water to remove the salt, tea and sugar.  Dry with paper towels and slice thin.  I don’t cut all the way to the skin.  Serve with capers, crème fraiche and water crackers.