Amother Spooky Celebration

Halloween isn;t the only holiday that celebrates the spirits. Mexicans and Mexican -Americans are gearing up to honor their lost loved ones for Day of The Dead, Dias  des los Muertos which is November 2nd. Like this day, it centers around food, but instead of candy, more of the breads and favorites  of those gone.

Rachel Wharton wrote about it along with visiting a Mexican bakery for yesterday's New York Times Dining section. Guadalupana Bakery  in the Bed Stuy section of Brooklyn specializes in baking the skull shaped loaves as well as the daily pan dulce or sweet breads. The owners Maria and Amador Rojas learned how to bake th e classics in their native Piaxtla Mexico.Mrs. Rojas shapes the breads, dusting them with pink sugar, filling them with raisins and cinnamon along with orange blossom water or almond extract.The pan de muerto as it's called is shaped like a smiling skull. Bunny shaped cake are made for little ones lost as well.

The holy day which falls on the Catholic calendar, All Saint's Day  celebrates the lost loved ones favorite foods. Along with the breads families also make tamales and moles along with tequila and even coffee brewed the way they liked it.Mexican bakeries also make the brightly colored sugar skulls too. Most  families bring the victuals to the cemetery to eat there although some urban ones set up an altar, an ofrenda, in their homes.The families then eat the treats on that day as a kind of communion with their ancestors.

Halloween is the time to celebrate the spookiness and the spirits along with the fun of the day. Day of the dead celebrates those lost but always remembered. It's done with  special  breads and candies , a sweet way to keep memories alives