Celebrating Dia De Muertos

This is one of the days to celebrate DIa De Muertos, Day of The Dead.It is a huge holiday in Mexico and amongst the Mexican Americans here. Those that have left life are celebrated with their favorite foods and sugar skulls. It's also a perfect time to celebrate Mexican food as well.

This is how I spent the holiday. I made my Mom's classic chili which is celebrating her love of cooking. Hopefully she would have enjoyed my version of it, including the tweaks of turning it into crockpot chili and adding just a teaspoon of dark wildflower honey.

As you can see, not much was left.It was a lovely mix of kidney beans, Boca crumbles , tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. Instead of onion and garlic, I added onion and garlic powders for a milder taste, considering both can be overwhelming. Of course I added chili powder - a good two tablespoons along with two to three teaspoons of cumin. 

We only had crackers. I would have loved to have served it with harina de maiz - cornmeal. My Mom always served her chili with it - or as we knew it  - polenta. It would have been nice to have a pan di muertos, the sweet bread used to celebrate Dia de Angelinos, Day of the Angels, celebrating children and babies who have left this Earth too soon.It is a sugar crusted orange flavored bread also made to celebrate adults who have left us.

Dia di Muertos is not a day of tears. it is a day of celebrating the ones who we loved. Make their favorite dishes, cook their favorite recipes. Enjoy them now with fond memories and stories.