Monday, November 4, 2013

November 3, 2013 Day of the Dead party at Cynthia and Ricardo’s

November 3, 2013 Day of the Dead party at Cynthia and Ricardo’s

Suzette made a wonderful omelet with the last five white mushrooms sliced and slices of French Emmenthaler cheese I bought at Costco yesterday and garlic greens and marjoram.  We enjoyed it with slices of French baguette from Fano and cherry preserves and hot tea

Cynthia texted us with an invitation to join them and a group of Day of the Dead Dancers at5:00 at their house.  Saturday I had gone to Costco and bought a leg of lamb from Australia ($4.99/lb.) plus a bottle of Morgan Beaujolais and eggs and to Pro’s Ranch market and bought three lovely large pomegranates ($.69/lb.), plus some limes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes (3lb./$.99) and milk ($1.97 per gallon). 

When I got home and after we ate dinner, I remove some of the fat and sliver skin from the leg of lamb and squeezed the juice out of 2 ½ of the pomegranates and but that in a one gallon freezer with about ¼ cup of olive oil and the sectioned lamb into the fridge.  The next morning we decided to make shish kebabs, so I cut the lamb sections into 2 X2” cubes and added the leaves of three sprigs of oregano from the garden to the bag.

Then at around 4:00 Suzette returned from Costco with a bag of 8 red bell peppers and we cut up two yellow onions and two red bell peppers and filled 15 inch long skewers with alternating pieces of onion, bell pepper and marinated lamb.  When the skewers were filled with six pieces of lamb each, Suzette dusted them salt and black pepper and we place them on a colie sheet and covered them with saran wrap and drove to Cynthia and Ricardo’s house.  There were about fifteen people on their back yard patio, including members of Ricardo’s band and dance related friends who had participated in the Day of the Dead March, many of whom had dressed elaborately and made up their faces to honor Day of the Dead.  It was a festive atmosphere. We met several folks who sat near us at one of the outdoor tables, including Marisa?, who had been an art teacher and Ashley , who worked for Big Brothers and Big Sisters.

Cynthia made an elegantly simple but delicious, vegetarian root vegetable posole that she served in bowls with a pile of fresh shredded green cabbage and a dollop of crema (it was not spicy, so the delicate flavor of the vegetable broth shown through). Rick?, one of the band members who is a great pie maker, made sweet potato pie, Suzette and Ricardo grilled the lamb shish kebabs.  Cynthia made a fresh kale salad dressed with lemon juice and olive oil.  There were also two loaves of Bosque bakery bread and two platters of fresh tamales, one filled with vegetables and the other filled with either chicken or pork ant roasted beets and lovely spinach balls made with spinach, onions, egg, bread crumbs, and baked.

We brought a bottle of 2010 Eguía Reserva ($7.99 at Costco on sale) Spanish Rioja tempranillo red wine from Elciego .

We enjoyed a lovely meal and evening talking to several of the folks, but a 7:30 we both were overtaken by a wave of tiredness and said our goodbyes.

Here are photos of Cynthia with her Day of the Dead makeup and Marisa’s beautiful gingerbread Day of the Dead Skeletons.

Bon Appétit

 

 

 

 

 

 

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