My oldest daughter, Callie, has recently started kindergarten in a bilingual immersion program. It has been a steep learning curve for all of us but a huge upside has been some fantastic conversations about what she is learning like the importance of Dia de los Muertos. When she first came home talking about it I got a little twinge in my stomach. How was I going to explain this? Was she going to come home with enough information to understand this different mind set about death? Her only interactions with death was the passing of her Great Grandfather several years ago and more recently our cat of 18 years. I have been so pleasantly surprised that I didn't need to feel nervous about it at all! She gets it way more than I anticipated. "Mommy, did you know that there are two days of Dia de los Muertos? The first day is called Dia de los Innocentes." My jaw was on the floor. I had only recently learned that myself!
So that opened the gates for me to add another celebration to our house and a way to talk about other cultures.
So what is Dia De Los Muertos?
The tradition of Dia De Los Muertos is that on Nov. 1 and 2 people celebrate the lives and memories of friends and family who have passed. Families gather to take a picnic to the cemetery, or gather in their homes, with the favorite foods, drinks and items of the dead family members, making an ofrenda (offering) that might include photographs and treasured items. The families spend the day together, playing music, telling memories of the person, and celebrating their life. Pan de muertos (bread of the dead) and marigolds are commonly seen adorning these offerings. Sometimes there are toys for the children who have passed, or tequila for adults.
There is another part of the tradition in some places, where a child dressed as a skeleton is carried through the streets in a wooden casket. The children carrying the casket will shout for candy which neighbors will toss into the casket.
It might sound a bit morbid but Dia de los Muertos becomes a good opportunity to teach that life is temporary and to treasure the days that are shared together, and to understand that death is a part of life. Dia de los Muertos really is a way to keep the people we have loved alive in our memories, so that as long as we continue to remember them to future generations, they are still part of the family.
We spent some time talking about the people that we have lost that we would love to welcome back. Sadly we weren't able to finish our ofrenda but it will be done for next year! We talked about our happy memories of each person: Grandma Ryan, Grandpa Allen, Uncle Jim, Grandpa Bunt and Jessica Tyler.
I started small with some sugar skull coloring pages and they couldn't get enough! This is the current favorite. But the flower one is great too. We also watched this award winning short which we all fell in love with. It tells the story of a little girl and how she is dealing with the death of her mother and how Dia de los Muertos became a support for her grief and a new way to celebrate her mother. We also checked out The Book of Life and they haven't stopped watching it yet. I had to buy the soundtrack too :) Totally worth it for the Cheech Marin and Biz Markie duet alone!
Then I set my sights on my menu. That is after all why you're here right ?! As usual, I bit off a little more than I could handle. I had a rare experience of pretty much everything going sideways in the kitchen. To say it was a humbling experience is putting it lightly. There were no tears but several four letter words being sputtered about. The real problem was a recipe for Pan de Muerto that was a hot mess. In fact I won't even link you to the site it was such a mess. They left out key directions to make the yeast interact so there I was staring down a yeast combination trying to will it to foam and bubble. Long story short, it didn't work! Thank goodness I have a beer brewer in the house that helped me out ;) Bread is always my achilles heel. Me and dough just do not jive! But I knew that pan de muerto is key piece to any Dia de los Muertos celebration so I went for it. So here it is: the fixed recipe
Pan de Muerto
This will make 2 loaves. Serve with coffee or champurrado (more on that later). It is a lot of work but it is so worth it!
Ingredients
For the bread:
1/2 cup whole milk
2-3/4 oz. (5-1/2 Tbs.) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Two 4x1-inch strips of orange zest (use a vegetable peeler; avoid the white pith)
1 Tbs. orange blossom water
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 oz. (1-3/4 tsp.) active dry yeast
Sugar (to add to yeast)
15-3/4 oz. (3-1/2 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour; more as needed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. kosher salt
Vegetable oil as needed
For the topping:
4 Tbs unsalted butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
Put the milk, butter, and orange zest in a small saucepan over medium heat; stir until the butter melts, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool until warm. Discard the orange zest, add the orange blossom water, and whisk in the eggs.
Dissolve the yeast in 1/4 cup lukewarm water (no hotter than 110°F) add sugar for it to activate. Let stand until the mixture bubbles slightly, 5 to 10 minutes. (If the yeast doesn’t bubble, discard it and start again with new yeast.)
Mix the flour, sugar, and salt on a work surface. Make a well in the center. VERY SLOWLY pour the yeast mixture and the milk mixture into the well while mixing with your hand . Knead until you have a nice, uniform dough, about 10 minutes. The dough should be smooth but still slightly sticky. If it seems too sticky, add more flour as needed.
Put the dough in a large, lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a towel, and leave in a warm place (about 70°F) until doubled in size, 1 to 1-1/2 hours.
Shape the bread
Cut off a piece of dough about the size of a lemon and reserve. Divide the remaining dough in half and shape the pieces on a lightly floured surface into 2 rounds. Lightly oil a heavy-duty rimmed baking sheet or line it with parchment; put the dough rounds on it and flatten the tops with your hands.With some of the reserved dough, form 2 balls the size of large marbles; set aside and cover with plastic. Divide the remaining dough into 6 pieces and roll them with your hands from the center out, making ropes that are slightly longer than the width of the loaves. As you’re rolling, press with your index and middle fingers spread about 1 inch apart to make knobs that represent bones. Arrange 3 of the ropes on top of each dough round, overlapping the ropes in the center. Cover loosely with a cloth or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F.
Dab a little cold water on the top center of each round where the ropes meet and put the reserved dough balls on top, pressing slightly so they adhere. Bake until the loaves have an even golden color, about 20 minutes. Cover the loaves loosely with foil and continue to bake until their bottoms are browned and the internal temperature is 190°F, 10 to 15 minutes more. Remove from the oven and cool for a few minutes on a wire rack.
Top the bread
Brush the loaves all over with some of the melted butter. Holding one from the bottom (if it’s too warm, use an oven mitt or a piece of cardboard), sprinkle half of the sugar all over the top, tilting the loaf slightly to help coat it evenly. Repeat with the other loaf and remaining sugar. Cool to room temperature before serving. The bread is best eaten within a day of baking.Make Ahead Tips
The baked loaves can be wrapped in plastic and frozen for up to 2 monthsAny extras could be made into bread pudding but we didn't have any. It was that good!
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While you are waiting for your bread to rise, make some paper marigolds in all kinds of colors to decorate your ofrenda (altar) or just to entertain the troops :) Orange and yellow hues are traditional but have some fun with it!
Speaking of marigolds, we made a marigold cocktail for the adults. Also for the lady that was cussing in the kitchen...
Marigold Muerte Cocktail
Be careful, this one is smooth so it can be dangerous!
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| We also had the kids decorate some sugar skull cookies. They had a blast! |
Ingredients:
Sugar
Water
Marigold petals
Vinho Verde Sparkling White Wine
Limencello
Make a marigold simple syrup by heating equal parts water and sugar. Add in your clean marigold petals. Heat it until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and let the petals steep for several hours; up to 24 hours. Remove the petals and story the marigold infused syrup for up to two weeks.
Put ice in a high ball glass. Add 1 ounce of simple syrup and 1 ounce of limoncello. Fill to the top with Vinho Verde. Stir gently and serve.
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This next recipe is not traditional at all but was a welcome addition to our table. Especially given that we were celebrating my bff's Californiaversary and what better way to celebrate than guacamole! California avocados. Mmmmm.
Fall Guacamole Recipe
From Nancy Foster @ SheKnows
Ingredients:
2 ripe avocados mashed
1/2 lemon juiced
2 tsp fresh rosemary chopped
2 tsp fresh sage chopped
2 tsp fresh thyme chopped
1 Tbs chopped cilantro
1 Roma tomato chopped
1 jalapeno seeds removed chopped
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 Tbs pomegranate arils
In a medium sized bowl add all items and mix together.
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Okay, time to stop noshing and get to the main dish. This one is a slow cooker recipe which is the heaven's gift to moms and other busy people everywhere! Which thank god because with all the drama and cursing because of the bread recipe from hell we would have been getting take out!
This recipe is from The Mexican Slow Cooker by Deborah Schneider. Mole is more of a traditional meal to eat for Dia de los Muertos but my kids are seriously spice phobic. Hopefully we can work up to that one! Instead we opted for a Pollo en Crema
Pollo en Crema
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Ingredients:
6 bone in chicken breasts
1 cup water
2 tsp salt
yellow onion
1 Tbs olive oil
*1 jalapeno stemmed, seeded and cut into strips
*1 poblano chile stemmed seeded and cut into strips
1 red bell pepper stemmed seeded and cut into strips
1 large roma tomato diced
3 Tbs minced garlic
*1/4 cup chopped chipotles in adobo
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup heavy cream
Beans, rice, avocado
Place the chicken, water and 1 tsp salt in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours turning once.
When the chicken is cooked remove from the slow cooker leaving the broth in the crock. Remove the bones and skin and return the meat in large pieces to the slow cooker.
Peel the onion and cut into rings. Heat the oil in a large skilled over medium high heat. Add the onion, chiles, bell pepper, tomato, garlic and cook until the vegetables begin to soften; about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat slightly and continue to cook until veggies are just tender but still have some bite. Add the cream and bring to a boil. Add the cream mixture to the chicken in the slow cooker. Cover and cook 1 hour on low. Taste and adjust seasonings before serving with beans, rice and avocado slices.
*For a milder flavor or if you have wimpy kids like me you can leave these out and it is still delicious!
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And last but certainly not least is the Champurrado (Mexican Hot Chocolate)
I will freely admit I was nervous about this one. Hot chocolate with corn flour? But I am a believer! This is one is definitely a keeper.
Champurrado
From Yvette at Muy Bueno Cookbook
Ingredients:
3 cups of water
2 cinnamon sticks
1 anise star
1/4 cup masa harina
2 cups milk
1/2 disk mexican chocolate chopped
3 ounces piloncillo chopped or 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
It was awesome with the Pan de Muerto. Shockingly everything came out so wonderfully!
Okay that's it! Until next year when we will have a legit ofrenda because I won't be cursing at yeast. Fickle little buggers...
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