Cuentos

The fax

engaged31

Right after I confirmed my relationship to Sean, I texted my sister. “If you see something about me being engaged on FB, it’s a joke. Sorta.”

I’d explain later. The full story wouldn’t fit in a text message.

Before I’d even left the office I had a text from Vane, “you’re engaged?! Did I miss something?”

On Facebook, Taz was the first of many to respond with incredulous felicitations. “You got engaged? Congratulations!!!”

Some simply offered joyful congratulations, but those who knew me were right to wonder what was going on (probably because I never mentioned breaking up with Alan on the blog or FB). Some called bullshit. And some, like César, put it nicer, “Is this for real or just for jokes?” Alfonso/HP wondered if it was a really early April Fool’s Day prank.

“What’s the official story?” I asked Sean via text.

“Maybe. Or no comment.”

Curiously, Sean wasn’t dealing with any of this. The same news elicited no response from his FB contacts.

Continue reading →

Standard
Randomness

Me gustas…

10 things I really like these days (aside from spring, sunshine and longer days):

  1. Brightly colored tights and leggings (with short skirts and dresses, of course)
  2. Stacia’s essays on pre-motherhood
  3. Food Gawker, even if it is curiously lacking in photos of any Mexican or Latin American food. I was inspired to try a simple recipe for a lentil soup.
  4. Speaking of Mexican food, I’m still a big fan of Taza de Chocolate and her easy to follow recipes. I need to make mole al estilo zacatecano.
  5. Jordan! I’ve been sort of obsessed with my neighbor’s chubby toddler. Last year he ignored me when I’d say hello. Now he tells his mom that I’m his friend. He also calls me “pictures” because I was more than willing to indulge him and take pictures of his toy cars.
  6. Group photos and impromptu photo sessions with the cousins.
  7. Love and Rockets by los hermanos Hernández. I received three books of Jaime’s comics from Sean for Christmas and read through them faster than he expected.
  8. Watching Danny at work. He recently started culinary school. So far it’s fun to talk to him about his classes and even more fun to eat what he makes. Even the simple stuff looks pretty.
  9. Collaborating with Sean to make a bicoastal mixtape.
  10. PostBourgie has been one of my favorite blogs for a while now. Thus, I was more than a little geeked to learn that they’d be starting a podcast. They’re only four episodes in. You should check it out too.
Standard
Comida, Cultura

Paper bagging it…

Perhaps I shouldn’t have read Gustavo’s article on the dearth of comida Zacatecana in LA.

Such diversity is a natural result of decades of Mexican migration, but there’s one glaring anomaly: Zacatecas’ culinary traditions are virtually invisible in local restaurants.

This quirk belies demography. The state is to modern-day Southern California what Iowa was for a previous generation of Angelenos: a place known for its work ethic and its conservative values, and for sending hundreds of thousands of its residents to our sunny wonderland.

Now I’m hungry. Not for queso añejo (which my siblings and I always called queso de pata/feet cheese), or even asado (which I don’t really like and have never had at a wedding), but for a torta de chorizo (which I can’t have today, anyway).

My family doesn’t have a quesero, but we do have a chorisero. Every few months, we’ll get a paper bag with some chorizo links. It’s the best chorizo I’ve ever had, not the crap you buy at the store. Last time I had one, a few days after Christmas, was to prove to my Papá Chepe that I do eat.

I wonder if Mamá Toni has made any of her gorditas de frijoles lately. Those would be yummy today. Or capirotada.

Damn. I hope Mamá Toni saves me some.

Standard
Fotos

Girasoles

I came home to find these on top of my kitchen table. For a moment, I was confused. I wondered if the new roommate had bought them or if someone had given them to her. I neared the bouquet and noticed the small envelope. My name and address were written on it in neat handwriting.

I opened up the card to find a note written in the same neat handwriting.

See you tomorrow, FW.
Love,
[redacted]

I smiled. Super smiled even.

Standard
Familia

Papá Chepe’s stories

When I first signed up for StoryCorps Historias, I planned to take Papá Chepe, my 89 year old maternal grandfather.

I’ve always been a bit of a Grandpa’s girl. Papá Chepe and Mamá Toni sold their Boyle Heights home in the late 80s. They still had homes in Tijuana and El Cargadero, Zacatecas. However, when they were in LA, they stayed at my family’s home. Thus, I got to spend a lot of time with Papá Chepe and Mamá Toni growing up. I’m grateful for this as well as the opportunity to have learned more about my grandparents’ youth. I’ve interviewed both grandparents about their immigration stories, but this was the first time I recorded the stories.

In the interview, Papá Chepe speaks about being a feisty toddler, dating in 1920s Zacatecas, being a bracero and working in the lettuce fields of Salinas, coming to LA for the first time, his family and his proudest achievement. That would be donating his home in Tijuana to an orphanage. Oh yeah, he also tells the story of el blanquillo that I’ve always loved.

The entire interview is in Spanish. I apologize in advance for my pocha accent.

Historias de José Ureño

Standard