Family Recipe - Guatemalan Chuchitos

My Grandma cooks the best, best food, therefore my Mother makes the best food. I'm lucky that I barely cook any food. A while back I was having thoughts about death, not sure why...could have been the fact that I was watching Steel Magnolias. For some reason I thought if my Grams and my Mom passed I would never eat Chuchiots. I don't know how to make them. Then I thought same goes for tamales, Pollo en Crema, Hilachas, Carne Gizada...a bunch of other yummy dishes I grew up eating that I would never taste again. Hmm maybe I should worry that I lost my Grams and Mom and I think about food!

Sure I could probably google the recipe, but it would never be the same. I only want one way. The way my Mom, Grandma and the women before them made it. I want to make it the family way. So I contacted my cousins and asked if they would be interested in learning how to make all this stuff. They were very interested. Mom looked at me kinda weid but smiled and said OK. She probably is wondering what took so long for me to be interested.

Since it was the Chuchitos that started it all, that would be the first item we would learn to make. So what exactly is a Chuchito? Well, it's like a Mexican tamale really. Guatemalans have our own tamale that is larger and softer. Chuchitos are harder and small. They are usually wrapped in a way that resembles a big candy.

So over Labor Day weekend the learning/cooking would took place. My cousin Yuzema came over Sunday night and we were of to the grocery store with our ingredients list.

(lol my eyes were bloodshot in this pic so I attempeted to fix with photoshop...i look like i have neon white eyes!!)

Only problem was there were a few ingredients we could not find! So 1 1/2 hours, 3 calls home and 2 stores later we finally made it home with all the things we needed. The next morning it was time to prep and cook.

Yuzema came over again and we got to work. My Mom found it funny that we were having such a hard time with what just came natural and easy to her. To make things worse we realized that there was no actual "recipe". Almost everything was measured based on how it tasted or looked or felt. So we had to learn those "measurements" by heart.  First you make the maza. Man...it's no joke. We really had to put in some shoulder work on this one. Work it Yuz! We labored over Labor Day... lol... alright so I was the only one that found that funny...

After we "tasted" and "felt" the consistency of the maza to our liking, it was done!

Tada! Now on to the sauce! Mom litterlary told me a different number of tomatoes like 3 times...

We had some technical difficulties with the blender but we got it to work

My cousin Doris came over right in time to learn how to assemble them. Now they usually are wrapped a little differently, remember, like the candy look. But since we were making so many it was just easier to wrap them like tamales. Doris and her belly --> aka Isabella, joined in on the assembly line.

We were very proud of ourselves when we finally figured out how to wrap them. Look at the concentration level needed here. The degree of techinicallity difficulty and the...ok so it's not the Olympics but this is major for us.

Finally we were done wrapping and they were ready to be cooked. High fives were spread all over the kitchen, hugs and tears of joy were shed...ok so only in my head but the high fives were real.

I was then left alone in the house and instructed to turn off the fire after two hours. Two hours later while inspecting one of the Chuchitos, it looked very slimy to me. Like that maza was not done cooking. So I decided to let them cook a little longer...The one part where there were specific instructions and I decide I know better.

Turns out they are so hot that even after you turn of the fire they are still cooking and once they cool the maza hardens. So our batch turned out a little overcooked but just slightly. They were still really, really good!! My mouth is drooling over this...

I think we made Mom and Grandma proud with these. We ended up making like 50 and they were gone in like 2 days. We definitely learned that most of the recipes we will attempt to learn we will have to perfect with time and practice as there are no measurements involved. It's like an art. I wont post the "recipe" here because well, it's a FAMILY recipe. You don't give the secrets away. But I have decided to put them all in a book and give them to my cousins so we can make them for our children and one day our grandchildren will say...Man Grandma makes the best, best food!

Love Always,

the Sea & Sol

I'm Going Going Back Back to Blogging Blogging...

I've been MIA for some time now for a few reasons. First, I actually needed to take a breather from the writing because I was starting to feel dry. Like I was writing to just write and not because I really wanted to express or share. After the "3 week experiment" it just seemed like the blog was lost . No focus or direction. What was the point? Also, there were some major changes in the Marisol Universe...Marisol World...Mari's World. Note to self: Come up with better saying.

One major change was...drum roll please...I got a new job! More about that in a complete post. So that means I was in some major transitions. I figured this would be a good time to break and then re-assess once I felt settled. I spent some time really trying to see if I wanted to do this. What would I write? Who would I share it with? So on. While those questions swirled la cabesa, I decided to spruce it up a bit here on Life As I (You)...Oh wait!! Yeah that's right I changed the name. The Sea & Sol is the new name.

Life As I (you) Know It! seemed too impersonal to me. So I did a little play on my name. If ya don't speak Spanish let me explain. My name is MARISOL...brake that up and you get MAR I SOL... Mar=Sea and Sol = Sun. So I kept the Sol and changed the Sea. Why? because through this blog you will Sea right to my Sol. (See right through my soul...for those scratching your heads and giving me the "you are crazy" look). I also changed from WordPress to Blogger as the host. Easier for me to manipulate.

While giving the blog a makeover I also looked for inspiration from blogs that I enjoy reading. There are a few that I look at. I guess what I love most about those blogs is they all share about their life while sharing what they know. All I know is my life and what I try to do! So that is what I will write about. With a sprinkle of inspiration from others and of course my friends.  Being the nerd that I am sometimes, I sat down and wrote an outline of the blog. No, seriously like the kind teachers made you do when you had to write a paper. I loved making those! I copied it down below so you can marvel at my genius...or laugh, whateves!

1. Over the Weekend
   
   1. Monday or Tuesday
   2. Events, Parties, Trips, Holidays, or anything relevant to this category.
2. Guest Post
   
   1. Once a month – Wednesdays?
   2.  A friend/family member, no specific topic but keep it with the tone of my blog
3. Project
   
   1. As they happen
   2. DIY, Renovations, How To’s, Research an anything fitting the category.
4. Life
1. As it happens 1 or 2 times a week.
2.  Personal stories, family stories
3.  Style files, movie reviews, show recaps etc.

So that is what the blog will consist of and how often I hope to do so. The blog will probably change with time and some of the above will and will not work.  I also hope to hear from you my friends and family. After all, I do this for me as a creative outlet but what's the point if you don't have an audience to encourage you? I expect my readership to remain small and limited to friends and fam, this blog is dedicated to you. But feel free to share this blog if you want to.

Love ALWAYS,

Marisol

Bridezilla Expo aka Cake!!!

Do you like cake? When you go to a wedding or a birthday party is it your favorite thing to eat? Cuz if it is you just gotta head on down to a Bridal Expo. So in the famous word of Marie Anttoinette...allegendly...Let them eat cake!    


So we ate cake...

Hmm...looks like the person that took our picture is definitely not a photographer. All this went down on Sunday. It was all just too much to include int he "Over the weekend..." post. So Claudia, and her MOH's headed on down to the Queen Mary in Long Beach for a "small" Bridal Expo. MOH = Maid of Honor. I'm 1 of her 2 MOH's. The good thing about Claudia, no, the great thing about Claudia is that she is not a Bridezilla. At all!. I've never been to a bridal expo so I wasn't sure what to expect but I had images of women going crazy, dressed in white and wearing veils! Doreen, having already done this whole routine before, informed us that yes, women do get crazy and dress up and go nuts. But like I said before, this one was a "small" event so the crazy was not really present. I only saw one girl wearing a veil.    

At the bridal show there were over 100 venders for everything from flowers to dj's...did I mention cake? We ate so much cake, I don't think I will be ready for another piece untill the actual wedding. There were also meatballs...    

Doreen likes meat balls...
 

There were three levels to go through so we started making the rounds on the top level. There seemed to be lots of commotion coming from the third level below so we peered down to see what the fuss was all about...there was a runway! There was going to be a fashion show later but for the moment there were games being played and prizes being given away. The guy with the microphone would ask things like "I need four men up here wearing their Fiancée's shoes...The first four to get on stage."    

    

It was at that moment I realized that there are men at these things too! I thought how funny, everything about this event was geared towards a wedding right? The flowers, food, location, photographers, DJ's, event coordinators and so much more...yet It's not called the Wedding Expo, It's called the BRIDAL Expo. As in Bride to be. As in the crazy chick with the diamond on her finger...yeah that one! What about the Groom? Well, to the few that were in attendance...bless your hearts.    

Turns out these things do really pay off to attend though. You can get really great deals on just about everything plus there are tons of things to look at, goodies to take home. and ideas to steal...uh... borrow?...use?...incorporate! Yes, Incorporate into your own wedding. Unless you think you are too cool for that. Or you are not "allowed" to. Like the  dude  in the picture below with the clip board informed us. We were so intrigued by this flower arrangement that we just had to take a picture of it (like we had of every other things we saw and nobody had a problem with us doing that.) It was the perfect example of what Claudia was looking for flower-wise so we were excited! Right as Doreen put up her iPhone to capture the image the guy blocked the display with his had and said no photos! We were like "Whaaaaa?" Doreen said "Then how are we supposed to remember you?" Apparently they work by "appointment only". Pfff.    

    

As we walked away I turned around and noticed you could see the arrangement from behind the display. We got our picture :)     

     

5 pouds in cake later we went home...It was a lot more fun than I expected.     

Have you ever been to and insane event like this? Did she or didn't she say "Let them eat cake?"     

♥Marisol     

Over The Weekend...Poolside and Gutter balls

Ahh Saturday...sunny, beautiful Saturday. Ariana and I headed on down to Pasadena to hang out with Mia and Tony, who are now engaged! Congrats you guys.

They lured us in with promises of a pool and home-made Pad Thai....drool...oh sorry. So I dusted of my bikini and realized how badly l need a new one. I also realized "I dusted of my bikini!" Meaning I haven't used it all summer...I felt a little mini 5 second depression at that thought. It's August already! Any who...we got there around 1pm or so and the sun was still burning , it was very hot and the water was nice and cold!

Very nice Mia, so lady like!

To top it off while us girls were down by the pool working on the tan, Tony was upstairs chopping up a storm. There is lots to chop when you are making Pad Thai at home. His words were literally "I'm here to serve." I think you got a good guy there Mia. After the water dip and the sun burns...we sat in the terrace and enjoyed our meal. We were all so hungry we didn't even take a picture of it once it was complete! Here's the before though, and the process...

A few hours and a stumble later we headed over to Lucky Strike for some bowling and birthday fun. Stumble? Yeah, I totally fell in my closet while trying to walk in heels and put on a bracelet. I hit the floor hard. I didn't really feel the pain untill about 48 hours later along with the giant bruise that is now living on my knee...but back to the story, Happy B-day Veronica! After we chowed on some food and drinks the bowling started. I would just like to say that I have excellent form! Great follow through. My technique is flawless...

I can guarantee a gutter ball 7/10 times!

We capped of the night at Vero's place aka my old  place....memories....where we just ended up sharing funny stories from our past. You know stuff like when Claudia thought her son was possessed and threw him, or when Veronica catapulted her baby from his stroller to look at some shoes or when my sister fell through a window into the rose bushes...so many stories. No child protective services needed. Theses were all bona-fide accidents!

How was your weekend? Has it felt like summer to you? Have you ever seen some magnification bowling lines before?

♥Marisol