Tamales de Ceniza

With the holidays approaching and cold weather as well. Most Hispanic family have a unique way of making tamales. Some are made with fruit , vegatables ,different kinds of meats and even mixed with anything you desire. 

The ones that we have all had at one time or another are the traditional Mexican tamales made with pork or chicken in a spicy green and red sauce. Served with Atole or Champurrado. 

The best way for me to eat the tamales was to chop them up, lightly cover them with sour cream and add some more hot sauce .

The ones  some people are not familiar are Tamales De Ceniza. They are mostly made in the rural areas or very small towns. These tamales are not for everyone if you don't mind some of the ingredients that are needed to make these Tamales. That one ingredient is Lard Aka Manteca. That is the only thing that I stay away. But as a child living in Mexico , lard was used on the daily bases in my household.

 

1 kilo de masa
de manteca de cerdo
1 cucharada de ceniza
1 cucharada de royal
sal
1 kilo de frijol bayo
4 chiles de árbol
20 hojas de milpa fresca
1 queso fresco
1 cuarto de tomate verde

Only difference about the tamales is the flavor. When you bite into them you will feel the thickness of them, but also what ever filling they use. For me it was just beans topped with sour cream and showered on a green tomatato hot sauce  because of the thickness , they tend to be somewhat dry when you eat them. Hopefully whatever version of tamales you eat, the main thing is family time when the holidays arrive. I kind of grew up quick and was born at the point that my parents actually looked more like my grandparents instead. I wish I can get a do over on life but I know it's not possible.  Enjoy your family to the fullest. 

Tortas Ahogadas

While waiting for the wife here at the doctors office.  I just remembered how much I miss the tortas ahogadas. It's a carnita AKA pulled porked sandwich dipped in a tomato sauce with raw onions marinated in lime juice on top with a spicy Chile De Arbol sauce.  

My mom made a lot of traditional Mexican food but somehow I was mostly into typical American food.  But as I got older and started in my 20s drinking and hanging out late with friends. Sunday morning was spent mostly at my house. As my parents always had Carnitas on Sundays. Bread , tortillas and chilaquiles. Those days I pigged out myself because of a slight hangover from the night before but the Tortas Ahogadas always stuck out the most. Sandwich dipped, topped with onions and the hot sauce.   Just typing this makes my mouth water. Many states have their own version or try to imitate the ones from Jalisco.  Some are pretty good but some are not. 

So when in Jalisco or if you see that they make these tortas. I strongly recommend them especially after a night of drinks and tequila shots. Common cure for a hangover.

Columbus Day !

Today is Columbus Day ! For some it's just another day at work , for me it's an off day with the family. I look at it as an opportunity to go out with the family rather it's a museum or even a pumpkin patch and  get ready for Halloween. But the real reason for me is to start planning my future get aways    

As we all know by now the most expected travel times are November and December. If your planning to travel now is the time to  start looking. Most airlines rates tend to be high during the holidays.  My travel plans are going to Jalisco. I live in Chicago and I'm surrounded by 2 airports Midway and O'Hare. I have the option of flying to Guadalajara non stop or with a layover.  Sometimes Non stop is cheaper then a layover in Houston. How is that possible ? Well Volaris airlines flies out if midway , Aeromexico and the other major airlines fly from O'Hare .
How much of a difference is a few hundreds. I have flown Mdw-GdL for about $300 rt.
Flying out of O'Hare is more of a mission to get a great deal if you don't mine flying each way on a different airline and making a few layovers can save you money if your on a budget , but only if adults are flying and traveling with no kids.  I did that once and was last time I did that.

1st time blogger

We'll this is my first post ever, usually my government jobs keeps me busy. So trying to travel here and there is always a mission since my employment did not suffer any shutdown as we are independent from from tax payers money. But I hope they get back to work because It does affect national parks that we chose to travel and see with our family ,and by the time we get there it would stink to feel like the Griswold family, closed .