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.

A Comfy Oscar Party

Oscar night means Oscar parties. For many of us  - including those who weren't nominated  - it means watching them at home,with a favorite meal or snack to nosh on.Nothing beats enjoying favorite nibbles while watching favorite stars win.

Pizza is always a fun party food.It's so much better coming straight from the oven.If you don't want to  go through all the steps, there are the instant ones like Celeste's that offer pizzas for one. These are big enough to be shared for two.For those who love the idea of a fresh from the oven pie, try Pilsbury's pizza dough. It's already made and just needs to be rolled out, topped and baked, Top with such toppings as an all meat that includes salami, pepperoni and capicola, or a veggie one that has peppers onions and olives.another variation is English muffin pizzas. These are super easy to make and super fun to eat.These can be made in a toaster oven although they do come out crisper if they're baked in the oven. Want something a tad more glam? Think bruschetta. This is an easy make that just involves cutting up plum tomatoes and mixing them with basil, olive oil and garlic. You can add a dash of balsamic vinegar for some tartness. serve o toasted rounds of Italian and French bread.

A fun home party food is pigs in blankets. Take regular hot dogs and cut them into thirds. Wrap a crescent roll around them and bake  for thirty minutes. dip into sauces such as forty karat mustard , made extra golden like Oscar himself with the addition of curry. Also try a homemade honey mustard one made with wildflower honey and a spicy barbecue one. One of the easiest and tastiest - and my favorite is homemade guacamole and chips.Use the blackest ones  to create the dip. These are the ripest and will produce an ultra creamy dip . I like to use vine ripe tomatoes for a dash of color
and a jolt of needed sweet and tart. Remember to drizzle some olive oil in to give the texture some smoothness. Of course, the night is all about movies and that means popcorn. Go old school with air popped , then bathed in real butter. A sweet fun variation is kettle corn.It's an easy recipe that just involves adding sugar to kernels and oil and then popping over a low flame.Use white sugar for a popcorn ball taste or brown sugar for a caramel corn one.

Oscar nights mean Oscar treats, full of fun and flavor.Make your faves or try something new and adventurous. sit back, nosh, and root for your favorites to win.