“Abuela’s Kitchen” YouTube Channel has done far more than I ever imagined.  You probably don’t know the process of how we go about video taping a dish because I really haven’t shared it.  It begins with discussing possible dishes.  It’s really a family affair.  Most of the time we discuss it face to face and on busy occasions we talk it over the phone.  When we have face to face contact, Abuela, my mom, my Uncle Art and myself sit around over coffee, tea, water and Coke ( you can probably guess who has what).  Everyone brings up different dishes.  Abuela, being a Ghost-Social Media addict, begins to bring up all the dishes left by those that comment on any of the platforms.  My mom brings up dishes she remembers growing up (she is a true foodie) and Uncle Art nods away in agreement or disagreement.  I write down all their suggestions.   We consider the season we are in, your requests and of course, what we want to taste in the near future. 😛  We finally arrive at a consensus after much deliberation.  Sometimes we throw away all deliberation if Abuela is adamant about a particular dish.  So we all give in.

On a usual Monday, I shoot her a text about 9:00 a.m. telling her I’m about to leave to pick her up.  If everything is a go, she won’t respond.  If she calls; something has come up.  9:30 am I head out on my 20 minute drive to get her.  I pull up and turn off the car, go through my phone knowing it will still be a while before we leave.  Before I know it, she is at the fence waving with her 2 … 3 dogs at her side (Solovino a Chihuahua that recently stopped by her house and never left.).  I get out of the car, we have our usual exchange of words, “Que Honda Abuela?”.  “Aqui nomas corriendo limpiando el cochinero.  Pasale a lo barrido.”  She zooms past me into the kitchen where she is cooking all kinds of crazy things.  She drops everything she is doing. If she is cooking, she doesn’t care if the food is half cooked.  She begins to show me what she already has bought for the dish we will be video taping.  I patiently watch as she shows me every single item and explains how the dish goes.  She hands me the bags, and dashes to her room to get her cleanly pressed apron.  Her loud-crazy birds start squawking like crazy and she begins to fight with them, “Callense animales!”  The exchange goes on for a while.  Then she exclaims in a surprised voice, “Las Cocas!!!!”  She runs back into the kitchen and pulls out cold Cokes for everyone who will be at the taping and puts them in a plastic grocery bag.  We head to the car, pack it up, get in and start it up.  “Ayyyy se me olvido XYZ!!!”  And out jumps Abuela.  She is running around like crazy, meanwhile I’m freaking out about her falling as she runs around.  And then we are off to the store to pick up whatever we still need.

The day is a memorable adventure, but my FAVORITE part is our drive.  I’m driving and she is in the passenger side talking her little head off.  We have all kinds of conversations and array of topics.  I have learned so much about her life when she was young, about my Great-Grandmother- another wonderful lady that I had the honor of actually spending time with as a kid.  I have learned more about her home town of Purepero, Michoacan, about my Abuelo, about her life experiences, and even current events.  And she keeps me up to date on the family.  All this in our weekly 20 minute drives  (not counting random lunches or hang outs).  But those particular 20 minutes, just her and I, have opened up a whole other world to me that one day will be gone.  Those 20 minutes have become our time warp… our time… that will live in me forever.<3

These buñuelos require some work.  Once a year is definitely enough but boy are they delicious.  This is another of the family’s  favorite recipe from Abuela.

Dough

1/2 Pack of regular size flour bag.
3 Hefty pinches of salt.
3 Tomatillos

1. Mix flour and salt together
2. Take out the pulp from the tomatillo into a small pot with water..
3. Strain the tomatillo water.
4. Add tomatillo water to the flour mix, a little at a time.  You will need enough water to bring the flour together.
5. Need dough well.
6. Make little balls as if you were making Flour Tortillas.

Cooking Buñuelos
You will need a large dish towel.

1. Heat up a pan with Lard or cooking oil.
2. Take a dough ball and pat it back and forth between your hands flattening it as if you are making a corn tortilla.
3. Begin to slowly and gently pull the edges out.
4. Place on your knee and continue to pull around the edges, rotating and pulling until you can’t anymore with our ripping.
5. Place in your pan.
6. Prick with a fork so the buñuelo doesn’t bubble up.
7. Flip when browned on one side.
8. Spin it around in pan slowly so it cooks evenly.

Making the Syrup

1. Place 3 piloncillos in a pot. (Piloncillo is brown unrefined sugar.)
2. Add 2 cinnamon sticks.
3. Add enough water to cover the piloncillo.
4. Bring to a boil until the piloncillo melts into the water.

Mixing Syrup with Buñuelos

1. In a pan, add the syrup and let it boil.
2. Then crumble the buñuelos into the syrup.
3. Add as many buñuelos as you want to get the consistency you like.
4. Let the syrup and buñuelo simmer together.
5. Serve in a platter.

Enjoy!
Abuela’s Kitchen

Video link for more help.
https://youtu.be/z9oGRbE2woY

Abuela makes this dish every Thanksgiving.  It’s gone before we can blink.

Ingredients
1-2 Boxes of Regular Saltine Crackers
1-2 Large Can of Jalapeños
1 Medium Can of Mixed Veggies
1 Tomato
1/2 Onion
Lard
2 Lbs of Longaniza

Instructions

1. Mash crackers into crumbs.
2. Slice up the tomato and onion.
3. Slice your Longaniza into pieces.
4. Heat up a large pot with Manteca.
5. Add Longaniza to the pot and fry it.
6. Once Longaniza is fried, add tomato, onion and cook together.
7. Drain out half the water from the veggie cans, then pour veggie can into pot and let it come to a boil.
8. After it’s cooked for about 3-4 minutes, start adding cracker crumbs into pot a little at a time and mix as you add it.
9. Once it’s as thick as you want it, add the jalapeño juice. (If you want it to be spicier, add more than a can.)
10. Mix well.  YOU ARE DONE!!!

Recipe is enough for 8-10 people.

ENJOY!

ABUELA’S KITCHEN

Link to Chorizo Stuffing video for more details.
 
https://youtu.be/C1fbLVM_WFQ