Dulces Mexicanas (Mexican Candies)

At every kid's party that we've had, we always have pinatas. We also have a variety of nationalities at our parties. We have neighbors from Cuba, Nicaragua, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. Now throw in my family.... yeh, you get the idea! One topic of discussion after breaking open the pinatas is the variety of candy that we put in those pinatas.

Mexican candies are somewhat different that American candy. The flavors are very different and there are some weird interesting textures as well. Here are a few of my favorites:

1.) Pelon Pelo Rico
This is literally translated as "Yummy Bald Hair". It is a tamarind paste that comes in a canister with a top that holes in it. When you push down on the top the paste comes out and looks kind of like a medusa. It has a sweet & sour taste. It comes in regular, sour, and spicy.

2.) Vero Mango Paletas 

This is a chile powder-coated, magno flavored lollipop. The chile powder is a little spicy and gritty, but once you get past it the mango flavor is really yummy. Surprisingly the flavors go really well together.

3.) de la Rosa mazapan
This comes in a cirle shaped tablet. It tastes like a combination of peanut butter and powdered sugar. It is crumbly in texture and really sweet.

4.) Vero Bomba Negra
This translated is the "Black Bomb". It is a soda pop (cola flavored) lollipop. It has a fizzy taste to it and is very yummy. The fizz is something that takes most people by surprise!

5.) Duvalin
Duvalin is like a tiny cup of cake frosting. It comes in 3 flavors: strawberry & vanilla, hazelnut & vanilla, and Neoploitan. It comes with a tiny spoon to eat it with. It is VERY sweet!

Now go out there to your local Mexican store and try some of these neat candies!



Two Last Names?

     A recent discussion topic of a fellow co-worker and I lead to this post. Why and how is it that most Hispanic people have two last names? How can you have 2 of the "last" thing? To begin with in Spanish the last name is not called a last name. The word that is used is apellido, literally translated to be surname. Most Hispanics normally have 2 apellidos (surnames).  The "first" name is referred to as a nombre. The middle name is referred to as a second name (segundo nombre) and the surnames are the apellidos. Let me break this down for you Gringo style. For example our persons name is as follows:

John Lee Smith Brown

Name nombre: John
Second name segundo nombre: Lee
Surnames apellidos: Smith Brown

Let's see how John got his 2 surnames!

Dad's surnames: Smith James
Mom's surnames: Brown Allred

Dad's gives the Smith, Mom gives the Brown. The first surname comes from dad and the second surname comes from mom. It always follows the pattern of  PATERNAL MATERNAL.

What if this is a woman? The same rules apply! If this woman gets married though, it is not typical that she would take her husband's name.  Let's just say (for fun) that John Lee Smith Brown married a gal named Mary Jane Cox Hurley (Cox coming from her dad and Hurley from her mom).

When John L. Smith Brown and Mary J. Cox Hurley have kids...their surnames will be Smith Cox.

Have I lost you yet? I hope not! It is fairly easy when you play with your own names. Give it a shot, try it out. The good thing about this is that you represent your mom AND your dad when you have 2 surnames, not just the dad!
 I hope this gives you a little more insight into the Hispanic world of names.

For any of you who might be curious.... no, we did not give our children 2 last names. I would have, but at the time when Nate was born, the hospital wasn't familiar with using 2 surnames and wanted to type them together. I refused so we just did Luis' last name. When Nico came along, well, we thought it only fair that they have the same last name.
When we got married, I was young and not sure how the whole "last name" thing worked but I did as most Americans do and took my husband's last name. His family thinks it is totally funny that I have their last name and am not a blood relative! They always make me feel like I am though...and I sure am thankful!

Why Latina at heart?

    I am a southern, white, American woman that was born into a typical dysfunctional American family. I was fortunate to have more than one set of parents to influence my life. My raising wasn't anything too out-of-the-ordinary, but I always seemed to have an attraction to other cultures.
     In high school I became friends with several foreign-exchange students and a couple of immigrant students. Two of these friendships had a life-long impact on me. This led me to study Spanish as a foreign language and began my attraction to the hispanic culture. Studying spanish in school also led me to meet my wonderful husband. (That is another post entirely!)
     Have you ever liked a pair of jeans, and when you try them on, they just don't fit? They can be your perfect size, and even be a nice, expensive, designer pair of jeans. They still just don't feel like YOU.
Well, that's how I feel being in my own skin. Even though I respect the things I was taught and my up-bringing, I just never felt like it was "me".  I honestly love who I am as a person and I know it's not an identity crisis, I've felt this way as long as I can remember.
     The attraction to the hispanic culture that I have developed has only grown over the years as I became the woman, friend, wife, and mother that I am now. Most people that know me will tell you that I am "more Mexican than American", and I always take it as a compliment! Being Latina is more in the heart than in the outer shell.....and this chica (girl) has a Latina heart!

Update

     Lately I have felt the need to blog again. Why? I couldn't tell you. Sometimes I think it just helps me get some of the random thoughts out of my head.
     I have had an idea to create a blog around me and my family, but with a twist. Since we are a multi-cultural/ multi-racial family, many people don't quite "get" things that I say and do. Here I am going to try to explain the whys and hows of our mixed cultures and beliefs. Feel free to ask any questions and I will answer them honestly, just be respectful.
     Welcome, and I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoy sharing.

A 40th Fiesta!

My Bubba turned 40 last weekend. For those of you who don't know, my Bubba is my big brother (Randy).

His wish was a birthday fiesta a la mexicana.

We had a blast! We had the party at his church fellowship hall (so that meant no margaritas) but we had a great time. We served grilled steak, grilled chicken, peppers & onions, mexican rice, refried beans, tortillas, and a taco bar for the lil' ones.

After the festivities we had piñatas for the kids.

It's a party that Bubba won't forget any time soon!

Superbowl Preparations

Let me start by saying that we (meaning the Otero family) are not really American football fans. No, we like the other type of football. I hear you now asking "What? You mean that there is another type of football?" Yes, I am afraid so, but not to worry, tomorrow we WILL be celebrating and watching the Superbowl like the millions of crazed fans that do this every year. We are watching it this year (for the first time, believe it or not) in memory of one of those crazed fans. To make a long story short, the son of a very dear friend of mine passed away recently and he was a fan of the GB Packers. I know he has a much better seat to view the game than we do. So this year we are watching the game in his honor.

I have planned out a menu of Superbowl snacks that are (for the most part) WLS friendly. I'm going to share one with you so that you can enjoy it too.

Many people ask me about Mexican restaurant salsa. There are 2 main ways to make it: 1. involves using all fresh ingredients (time consuming) 2. involves using some canned ingredients (quick & easy). They are both good and the end result is the same. Here is my version. I think you'll like it.

First let me show you the participants:

You will need a large can of whole tomatoes, 2 cans of Rotel (or equivalent), cilantro, 1/2 large onion, 1 lime, 1 jalapeno, sugar, salt, and cumin (not pictured). Forgive me and my being frugal, but I try to buy store brand to save a penny or two.

First of all, get out your food processor (or blender).
Roughly chop up your half an onion.
Then chop up about a cup of cilantro. Leave it kinda leafy.

Chop the jalapeno too. (I didn't take pictures of this. I don't like to handle anything after chopping onions orpeppers.)

Open the cans of tomatoes and Rotel and pour them, juice and all, into the fp. Throw in the onion, jalapenos, and cilantro.

Now add 1/4 tsp of each of the following: sugar, salt, and cumin.


Now pulse the fp a few times.

Pulse it again.

And again. Until its the right consistency.

I personally do NOT like chunks in my salsa. I like it to have an even consistency.

This (for me) is just right.



This makes alot of salsa. Cut it in half if you want just enough for a few people. Make this ahead of time so that the flavors have time to love on each other. It will keep for several days in the fridge. I'm telling you now though, it's so good, it won't be around long enough to go bad.

Fix some for your family and friends and they will love you.


You're welcome! :O)

Tacos de Lengua (Tongue Tacos)

Yes, you read that right.

Tongue.

Bear with me people.

I promise it tastes just like roast beef. Really!

Many countries because of poverty (mainly) use all of the edible parts of an animal when it is killed. In Mexico the tongue is eaten (as well as other unmentionable parts).


My first time eating tongue tacos was when Luis and I were dating. He had prepared tongue before and offered it to me, but I never wanted to try it due to it looking weird. He never seemed offended...just determined. One day while we were out we stopped by a taqueria (place where tacos are made) and bought us a few for lunch. Luis ordered them and brought them out to the car to-go. I ate them (not knowing they were tongue) and really enjoyed them. When I finished Luis just grinned at me and asked how I liked the tacos. I said they were good. He then told me that they were made from cow's tongue. I have since prepared tongue at home and now enjoy occaisionally a tongue taco. Here is my recipe.


Take one fresh cow tongue.

Sorry, not quite THAT fresh.

That's better. One cow tongue (fresh or frozen) whatever floats your boat. Put it in a pot with a little beef broth and with a bay leaf and salt to season. Boil it for an hour or two.

Remove it from the pot when it is thoroughly cooked and looks like this. (yummy huh?)

Get yourself two of these primative-looking tools.

With the forks and maybe a knife (if needed) pull off the outer layer of skin and gristle on the tongue. See the yummy roast-beef looking meat under there?

This is what it should look like when you're done peeling it. Now shred it up with the forks.

This is what you'll have when you're finished. The meat is edible now but is very soft in texture ( like boiled meat tends to be). Put it in a pan with a little bit of olive oil. Fry it until it begins to get crispy on the edges. Salt it if needed.

Wash, then chop the cilantro and onion together. Slice the lime into wedges.

Heat some corn tortillas and pile some meat into it.

Top off the taco with a little cilantro and onion, a squeeze of lime and a dash of salt. Enjoy!

Now, that wasn't so bad was it? ;)