Every year, the number of Christmas cards that actually make it through our mail slot are fewer and fewer. Admittedly, I also tend to send snarky someecards.com often, and this is usually my excuse, too. But we got this one from my in-laws who live in Miami. Me encanta! Have you gotten any awesome Christmas cards this year?

There are several foods I always equate with the holidays. Tamales are one. And pan de polvo, or Mexican wedding cookies coated in a cinammon sugar mix, are another. Yes, they're eaten at weddings, but also during Christmas-time.

I decided to make a few dozen this year, and I used Eva Longoria's recipe because I couldn't find my grandmother's. In my head, I can see it clearly written on a paper plate (which is where she seemed to jot down all her recetas). But since Eva Longoria is from South Texas, and so am I, originally, I figured her recipe had to be close to the real thing.

EL's version turned out pretty good, but the only thing I might tweak is not adding the baking powder, or using less of it, because that made them a bit more cookie-ish than crumbly, which is how I'm used to having them. Of course, I had to use my favorite vanilla in the world, La Vencedora. This bottle will last for years! I got this one in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.

I even let my little girl shape a few galletitas. And she happilly taste-tested. Or at least, she did a good job of licking off all the sugar/cinammon and leaving the rest of the galleta.

The San Antonio Express-News has a piece today on the faith and devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe, which is celebrated tonight and going into "las mañanitas" tomorrow. I think it's a devotion that women especially have because they have that connection with her as a mother.

Such devotion stems from the fact that she's so accessible, said Teresita E. Aguilar of the Center for Mexican American Studies and Research at Our Lady of the Lake University. “You don't have to go to a priest, a monk, a deacon or preacher.
“She is everywhere you want her to be, in your living room, in your moments of struggles, like when you call your mother,” she said.
Monday the Catholic Church marks the 480th anniversary of the Marian symbol's apparition to St. Juan Diego on a hill called Tepeyac in the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán, now Mexico City.

I have OLG icons and veladoras and little statues throughout my house. In times of need, she is definitely my go-to santo. 

Last year, we dressed the toddler K up as Juan Diego and took her to leave an offering of roses at the Virgen de Guadalupe capilla inside the National Basilica, here in DC. I thought the outfit might still fit her, but as I took it out today I realized if I put it on her, they would look like capri pants. I'll probably tune in to watch some of the coverage of the celebration in Mexico City on Univision tonight.

 

If you have little ones and want to expose them to a little bit of Latino culture, here's a few ways to Latinofy the holidays.

5. Abuelita Hot Chocolate: 

These cinnamon-infused chocolate tablets make the best hot chocolate during Christmas time. I just break up the big piece of chocolate -- which is not easy to do -- and then I put the smaller pieces in the blender to really grind them. Then I pour some regular milk and evaporated milk into a large pot on the stovetop, stir in the chocolate, and let it dissolve. The final touch: I add more cinnamon flavor by throwing a few cinnamon sticks in the simmering milk and letting the flavor seep through. One word: delish.

4. Acostar y Arrullar the Big Baby Jesus: 

Typically, you wait until Noche Buena to do this, but we've already put our Baby Jesus (like a BIG ONE) under the tree, much to our toddler's delight. She loves this over-sized baby and is always putting her little Kai-Lan and Olivia dolls next to him to sleep, too.

3. Virgen de Guadalupe Celebration: 

It's not a Christmas holiday, but the wonderful Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe happens during the holiday season. It's the day that the blessed Virgen appeared to the peasant indigena Juan Diego in 1531 in Tepeyac, Mexico. I think it's just in my DNA to love this celebration, especially when there are mariachis who play Las Mañanitas. Last year, we visited the Basilica here in Washington, DC, and I dressed my toddler up as Juan Dieguita so that she could pay homage and leave roses at OLG's shrine.

2. Las Posadas: 

This re-enactment of Mary and Joseph's trek to Bethlehem, and their search for an inn, or posada, runs from Dec. 16 through the 24th. Growing up we would celebrate these in my hometown. I especially like the call and response song: Eeeen el nombre del cieeeeeelo, ooooos pido posaaaada/ Pues, no puede andaaaaaaar, mi querida espooooooosa. I really wish we could do this here, but in a city it can be a challenge.

1. Tamales: 

Mexican tamalitos are synonymous with the holiday season to me. In my hometown, they are often made with venison, as the winter is deer-hunting season. Now that I'm older and I have to really watch the calories, I try to only have them for a special occasion, like a holiday party! My mom brought up a suitcase full from Texas (literally, she had to rearrange her suitcases at the airport because it weighed a whopping 65 lbs.). This weekend, we shared about five dozen tamales -- chicken, pork, and jalapeno and cream cheese -- with friends and family who came over to our home (see pic, toddler had a blast). As I like to say: Los tamales compartidos son mas ricos y divertos.

  

 

We usually eat at home for lunch, but my stomach was rumbling when we were out and the child had it on repeat asking for chocolate cake, chocolate cake, chocolate cake -- an obsession since I bought one for my husband's birthday two weeks ago. She really just means frosting. Or frosting-like substances like Nutella.

So we went to Whole Foods and I got her a chocolate cupcake, got myself some sushi, and some noodles for her. She ate the cupcake first, por supuesto, then put down her fork and asked for chopsticks. She saw me eating with them and she wanted in. She always does this when we eat at Noodles & Company.

So I gave her a pair, and lo and behold, my finicky child ate! You have to play Jedi Mind Tricks as a parent sometimes to get your way.

Although they should be, not all libraries are created equally. We headed out in the rain today to return some of K's library books. Instead of walking to the one that's a block away, we drove a few miles to the one with the good Spanish-language children's books collection. The still-newish Watha T. Daniel/Shaw public library in DC is really a thing of beauty, and just a nice public space. This glass box is three floors, but that belies the feel inside. It's inviting, and whether it's the middle of sweltering summer or freeze-your-pants-off winter, it always feel like sunny spring with the outside light filling the entire space. It makes you want to come back again and again, which is more than I can say for the library near our house, with its Bomb Shelter signage next to the entrance. Not that age makes a difference -- I love the charm of old buildings. But this one has got to be updated. It was slated for an upgrade, but DC politics being what it is, that got thrown out the window. I've heard the upgrade is back on. We'll see. I would be the happiest mom on the block.

So, we've been slacking on reading in Spanish. We've been reading a lot of Mo Willems books lately, mostly the Knuffle Bunny books. Mo Willems rocks, that's all I gotta say. But -- I figured it was time we get back on track.

I got as many books as my canvas bag could fit. When a kid wants you to read and read and read to them, that's not a bad thing. But as an adult, you can go a little crazy reading the same three books over and over again. So I do it more for my sanity than for her.

At the Shaw library, they have two full shelves full of books in Spanish and a bin of board books, including a lot of translated-from-English-favorites books. But surprisingly, or maybe not surprisingly, they have a lot of books from international publishers I've never heard of. And I do look for that.

  

My daughter is all about Olivia right now, so I thought we'd ease back into the Spanish books with some translated Olivia books. It worked. After reading this book she was off to her toy box to get a drum and she banged it for about 20 minutes.

 

There are a few other great books I picked up that I'll write about in the upcoming week. There's one that I'm super excited about -- it's poetry for children, literally. And I'm not a poetry person, but even I loved. Will share soon.

 

When I was about two months pregnant with my daughter, I headed to the bookstore and bought two baby name books which I thumbed through entirely in about five minutes, then set aside. I then opened my laptop, did a google search for cool baby name sites, and never looked back and never open those books again. Nowadays, there are so many great baby sites with baby name lists that I just felt like I needed the latest interpretation of that name before signing on the dotted line (or birth certificate) -- just to make sure I wasn't naming my child after a serial killer or stripper or something like that.

   

For years I've undulated between being vegetarian and, er, regular? I do care about the animals, but the truth of the matter about me and meat is that I just don't like cooking it. I don't like taking it out of packages, handling it, marinating, none of that. But beans, beans ARE like a main dish. And in our house, we are serious about our frijoles, and these three above -- pinto, small red beans (the Central American type) and black beans -- are staples in my cupboard and have been for a while now. Sometimes I take the time to cook beans from the bag. Nowadays, that's not too often. 

I grew up just knowing pinto beans, as that's what we ate in South Texas. We'd eat them a la charra, borracho, de olla (or de la school cafeteria), or refried and topped with yellow cheese and inside a warm, homemade flour tortilla. To this day, pinto beans are still my favorites. But the thing is, we're a split household. My husband's family is from Central America, and to them, everyday beans are the small red ones. I've grown to love this bean, too, especially when it's made into gallo pinto, which is a red beans and rice mix. No, doesn't have gallo in it. It's called that because of it's coloring, like a painted rooster. For the love of my husband, I've learned to make gallo pinto, or at least an okay version of it. And well, both my husband and I eat frijoles negros because they're just plain good. He grew up in Miami and is also Cuban by default, so it's like his adopted bean. I like to pair them with ropa vieja (one of the few, on-occasion meat dishes I cook). 

The toddler K isn't much of a meat eater so far. I think she's just hard-wired to love her frijoles. But the question is, which will be her favorite? Which is your favorite -- take the survey below.

Move over Christmas with your holiday colors. La bandera mexicana is also red, white and green, and so are the staples of our cooking. I'd say about half of what I cook has these three in it: tomato, onion and cilantro. I use it in a ton of different ways, including to make pico de gallo, to add to avocado to make guacamole, or just add to a can of Goya pinto beans para componerlos, as my mom says. Buen provecho!