Mantilla (Bunuelos)

Mantilla

Fragile vintage lace

Smells of grandma's perfumed hair

In church on Sunday.


Recipe: Bunuelos (Thin and Crispy Mexican Pancakes)

Bunuelos are very thin and crispy. They are quite delicate and remind me of a delicate lace mantilla. This is similar to my grandmother's recipe, but not quite the same...she won't let me share the family secrets. :) (Adapted from Elena's Famous Mexican and Spanish Recipes, Elena Zelayeta, 66th printing, 1965.)

Makes 2-3 dozen Bunuelos.

3 c. sifted flour
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
4 eggs
1 c. milk
1/4 c. butter, melted
1/2 c. water
1 tsp. Vanilla

Sift all dry ingredients together. Break eggs into dry ingredients. add milk and butter. Beat mixture well. Add as much water as needed to make a dough that can be handled without being too sticky.

Knead dough well and roll into balls the size of walnuts. Rub each ball with a little oil (canola will do) to prevent them from sticking to one another. Cover the dough balls with a cloth and let alone for 20 minutes. Lightly flour a board or your counter top and roll each dough ball into a VERY thin large round (use your hands if you need to do so). Let stand 5 minutes, then fry them in hot oil until golden brown in color. Drain on a paper towel or brown paper.

You may serve them with a little powdered sugar or some honey. I like mine freshly made with a bit of honey drizzled on top. You may also sprinkle with some cinnamon.

Salsa (Melissa's Spicy Salsa)

Salsa

Heaven on a chip

I bit a jalapeno

Ah, the blissful burn.



SPICY Salsa:
4 small dried chiles (pico de pajaro)
1/2 medium onion diced
1 tsp garlic chopped
1 medium can of diced tomatoes
1 small can of tomato sauce.

Cut off ends (tops) off of chiles. Discard tops.
toast chiles in a small pan then cool momentarily.

***IF YOU DO NOT LIKE VERY HOT SALSA...REMOVE THE SEEDS FROM THE CHILES BEFORE YOU PUT THEM INTO THE FOOD PROCESSOR!!! Seeds=more heat. Pico de Pajaro chiles rank at about a 7-8 on a heat scale of 1-10...don't say I didn't warn you.****

Put toasted chiles into a blender or food processor.

Add onion, chopped garlic, diced tomatoes (15oz can), and small can of tomato sauce.
Blend/process the heck out of it. Add salt and pepper to taste.

This is a simple smooth salsa; not chunky like pico de gallo.


If you'd like a chunky salsa, you can mix this salsa with more diced tomatoes (either canned or fresh), some cilantro, jalapenos or other chiles and some lime juice.

Tortilla. (Flour Tortillas)

Tortilla

Hot, fresh, slathered, rolled
Sweet butter runs down my arm
I lick it all up.


Flour Tortillas.

I grew up in Arizona and come from a long line of excellent cooks. Some of my earliest memories are of being in the kitchen with my mother while she made homemade tortillas. The entire house would be filled with the aroma...and I, her little helper would be rewarded with either a quesadilla (a cheese crisp--a tortilla filled with cheese, folded in half, and toasted) OR a tortilla fresh off of the comal (the cast iron griddle used to cook the tortillas) and slathered with butter...Ah! Heaven.

A recipe similar to my mother's follows

4 cups of flour
2 teaspoons of salt
6 tablespoons of Oil (Mom now uses olive or canola oil, as lard is BAD for you...)
1 to 1 and 1/4 cups of lukewarm water.


Sift the dry ingredients, add oil and work it into the flour. Stir in a cup of the water and form into a ball; use more water if needed, until bowl is clear of all dough. Let dough sit for about 5 minutes. Knead on a floured board and make balls of dough roughly the size of an egg. Let sit for about 10-15 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll out each ball with a rolling pin until each is the size of a salad plate.

Put griddle or skillet on stove on medium heat.

Put the rolled out tortilla onto heated griddle/skillet. The dough will go from nearly see through to opaque...about 1-2 minutes, flip the tortilla to the other side, cook another minute. Stack on a clean dish towel or place into a tortilla warmer. Repeat process.

They taste best freshly made. They will keep for a week in a tupperware container or wrap them up in a clean dish towel then put that into a plastic bag--tie the bag.

Can be used for fajitas, sandwich wraps, quesadillas, or any number of things. I love them best heated with a little butter spread on it and then rolled up. :)

Joyful Simplicity. (Fall Stuffing)

I love the fresh scent of desert sage after a rare rain storm.

I would spend at least an hour outside after the clouds parted and

the sun came out of hiding.



Just so I could smell the sage.



When the smell began to fade

I'd grab the garden hose and demand the smell's return.

When I'd had my fill of sage

I'd head for the fig trees.



The sweetness of the figs made the climb worth it.

The scritch-scratch of the fig leaves that itched me

Made me hope that Adam and Eve had been smart enough to cover

Their nakedness with something other than fig leaves.



I'd shimmy down the tree after reaching the fruit.

Ashy knees and cuts along my shins, my dress dirty with fig innards.



We'd build castles with branches from the lemon tree and

the pomegranate tree next to it.

The young branches could be bent, twisted and tied together

to make flying buttresses

elegant archways

sturdy shelves

and large doorways.



The trees yielded natural brooms to sweep the entryways

and the floor of our castle.



For the brave, the blackberry tree could be conquered.

It's hidden treasure:

A spot in heaven

(Nana and Tata's roof)

A vast window that showed us the possibilities that waited for us

beyond Tolleson's boundaries

If we chose to accept the quest someday.



For now the brave descend,

returning to earth.

Carefully sailing beyond the murky sea that poured from the

Sea dragon's mouth onto the earthly scented sage.

I forgot to turn off the hose.


Recipe: Fall Stuffing.

I mentioned sage in my poem. Sage brings back many memories involving my grandfather and spending time with family...especially around my favorite holiday: THANKSGIVING. I offer you my prized Cornbread stuffing recipe--it contains sage. :) Enjoy.


Fall Stuffing.

Serves A WHOLE LOT of Hungry Thanksgiving Guests.

5 1/2 to 6 cups of corn bread, crumbled (--not too small, just break up the corn bread a bit. I usually make this from scratch, but you can use store bought)
1 pound of sweet turkey sausage, casings removed.
1 cup of onion, chopped
3/4 to 1 cup of chopped celery
1 3/4 tsp dried sage (you can use fresh, just use a little more)
1 1/4 tsp dried rosemary (again, you can use fresh)
1/2tsp dried thyme (I prefer fresh)
1 apple, cored and chopped. I use either granny smith, fuji, red delicious or gala apples
3/4 to 1 cup of dried cranberries (Craisins)
1/2 cup of chicken or turkey stock.
3 & 1/2 tablespoons butter (unsalted) melted. (You can use a butter substitute. I've used Smart Balance and other non-trans fat spreads)
1/4 cup -fresh minced parsley, if you use dried, use less--about 2 tsp.


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large roasting pan or large oven proof casserole/dutch oven, add corn bread pieces.

Remove casings from turkey sausage. In a skillet, brown turkey sausage on medium to med-high heat, breaking up the meat. Add onions. Stir a bit. Once browned, add celery, sage, rosemary, & thyme. Stir for 3-5 minutes to make sure flavors blend.

Pour the turkey sausage mixture over the cornbread pieces. Then mix in the chopped apples and the cranberries. drizzle the butter and stock over the top of it all. Mix again, carefully. Bake for about 25-30 minutes.

I usually don't put my stuffing into the turkey. If you choose to do that, stuff it loosely, and cook until the internal temp of the stuffing reaches at least 160-165 degrees F.

LOL? WTF?...Free Writing, 11.07.08.

The ignorance can be stifling.
Listening to the scantily clad co-eds speak
Parroting the intolerance
And insensitivity
I’m sure they heard from their own parents;
I momentarily felt as though
I’d been transported
To the days whites
Relegated coloreds—
My tanned and brown ancestors, included—
And the very poor—
To the cotton fields
To the orchards
To the vineyards
To separate fountains
To separate toilets;
To the days before
MLK
JFK
RFK
FDR.
To the days we toiled
Sweaty and aching
To eke out an existence
Beneath the heels of the upper crust.
I snapped out of my momentary haze
Only to realize I was not in the time of
FDR
JFK
MLK
Or
RFK.
I was in the age
Of
IDK
And
LOL.
These children
Trying desperately to be
Women
Trying to articulate an argument
Could not come up
with anything
Other than
Poverty is a choice
If you work in a sweatshop
That is what you deserve.
If you want something go out and get it.
The poor choose their lot.
The poor deserve their poverty.

These little girls
In J. Crew tees and Hollister jeans
Chewing on manicured nails
Perfectly dyed hair tied back in ponytails
Have never gone to bed hungry
For lack of money
Have never gone without clothes
For lack of money
Have never had opportunities withheld
For lack of money.
Have never lacked an education
For lack of money
Have never heard “No.”
For if they had
The would have noticed the girl in the back
of the classroom
In well worn sneakers patched with duct tape
In Goodwill jeans and a hand-me-down shirt
Holding a used textbook in calloused hands;
Worry lined face reddened with the anger
that causes ther to clench her fists and
tighten her jaw--
In outrage mixed with shame
Over
Ignorant words that wound
Her heart
For they spit on the gift of life
bestowed by her very own parents.

These girls walk a gilded road
And dance along without
Noticing the rarely trodden paths
That are hidden among the brambles.

They lead
Beyond the horizon.
There lies
A rusted iron gate
Locked to those
Without the key.

Just past the gate,
there is
A haven
For the poor
For the oppressed
For the hated
For the forgotten
For those who have

Never

Known

"Yes."

Shielded by brambles
Guarded by thorns,
Not everyone notices the pathway.
But those who open their hearts
Those who open their minds
Those who hold out their hands
Find the key
After embracing
Humanity.

It is given to them
As a token
For
Compassion,
And goodness
Offered up
Without
Want
Of
Reward.

The tasks are simple enough.
Live Love.
Just love.

(A work in progress. I will come back and refine it some more. –MCS)


Recipe: My Favorite Banana Bread. (Betty Crocker cookbook)

Nothing makes me madder than ignorant idiots that have no real clue about how badly other in the world have it. I hate when people don't think of the poor. Those lousy attitudes remind me of over-ripe bananas. They are black (the bananas) and look like they are beyond hope...who wants to eat a smushy banana that looks like crap? But take that banana and mix it in with other good things and you get something delicious. (I know this is a stretch, but go with it. Humor me.) I hear those ignorant statements and try to do something to enlighten those who are clueless. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. If there is anything good that can come from ignorance it is this...those statements make me all the more adamant about living a loving life...about caring for the poor, about living the golden rule.

The Best Banana Bread I've Ever Had.
Makes 2 loaves.

1 & 1/4 cups of sugar (you may use Splenda)
1/2 cup butter/margarine (I use Smart Balance 50/50 sticks)
2 large eggs
1 1/2 c. mashed VERY ripe bananas (about 3 medium)
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 c. chopped walnuts

Move oven rack to low position so that tops of pans will be at center of oven. Heat oven to 350 F. Spray loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray.

Mix sugar and butter in large bowl. Stir in eggs until well blended. Stir in bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla; beat until smooth. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt until just moistened. Stir in nuts. Divide batter evenly between pans.

Bake 8 inch loaves about 1 hour, 9 inch loaves for 1 hour 15 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in pans on wire rack. After 10 minutes, loosen loaves and remove from pans. Cool top side up on wire rack. Let cool at least 2 hours before slicing. Wrap tightly. May be stored at room temp for 4 days or in fridge for 10 days.

(Adapted from Betty Crocker cookbook)