Time Warp

“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