Happy Easter to All!

April 3, 2015 By Lucinda Hutson

Make your Easter celebration one that your guests won’t forget! Here you’ll find a fiesta pineapple punch, Mexican confetti-filled eggs, spicy ethnic-inspired deviled eggs and Hoppin’ Jalapeño Carrot Cake–things they won’t find at other gatherings.

Welcome to this glorious season of new beginnings! Lush greenery and colorful flowers highlight my little purple house, offering perfect hide-aways for Easter eggs beneath their verdant foliage. My garden springs forth in all its splendor with a plethora of fragrant herbs and cheerful flowers to flavor and garnish celebratory spring dishes.

Festive Punch Delights Guests at Easter Brunch:

I love to greet Easter guests with my Herb Garden Fiesta Punch, found in my first book, The Herb Garden Cookbook. It’s flavored with fragrant lemon balm and mint and chunks of fresh pineapple and garnished gaily with purple pansies. This refreshing cooler sure gives a Mimosa some competition when it’s topped with Italian Prosecco or Spanish Cava!

photo by Cooke Photographics from The Herb Garden Cookbook

Before the Easter egg hunt, serve Herb Garden Fiesta Punch along with an assortment of pan dulce (sweet yeast bread) purchased at your favorite local Mexican bakery (or serve your choice of other pastries.) Adorn the tray with fresh flowers and/or cascarones.

Cascarones Are A Mexican Easter Tradition:

Cascarones (“egg shells“) are colorfully-dyed Easter eggs filled with confetti, popular throughout Mexico. Revelers sneak up on unsuspecting guests, cracking cascarones over their heads, and showering them with confetti… and some say, good luck! (Cascarones are also popular at New Year’s and at weddings.) Many Mexican markets and grocery stores sell cartons of cascarones during this time of year.

Buy ’em or dye ’em then hide ’em ….and have fun cracking them over the heads of those not expecting the surprise of this Mexican tradition!

Not your every day deviled eggs:

What’s Easter without deviled eggs? My recipes for deviled eggs are quite lively and filled with unexpected surprises that showcase ethnic cuisines, ingredients, and culinary traditions. Pretty plates for serving deviled eggs are all the rage today, but I like to serve them from my grandmother’s purple majolica egg dish.

Hoppin’ Jalapeño Carrot Cake for your favorite bunny:

A favorite recipe from my book ¡VIVA TEQUILA! Cocktails, Cooking, and Other Agave Adventures will surely get your fiesta hoppin’! My spicy Hoppin’ Jalapeño Carrot Cake has a margarita-inspired frosting flavored with tequila, Cointreau and lime zest. But guess what gives this cake its unique flavor? Freshly chopped jalapeños! Serve as a whole cake or as cupcakes, festively garnished with whole red and green jalapeños.

Dress Up Store-bought Items for more appeal:

Life is sometimes just too busy for cooking. Use sprigs of fragrant herbs and flowers to garnish plates and give a personal touch to store-bought foods. Don’t forget to garnish cocktails and cold drinks too.

My spring garden is as colorful as an Easter basket:

And has many secret places to hide cascarones and other Easter surprises!

May you rejoice in the Easter garden and its promise of renewal and hope!

Easter Blessings to All!

Herb Garden Fiesta Punch

March 31, 2015 By Lucinda Hutson

Everyone loves this refreshing fiesta punch and party pleaser! It’s versatile and easy to make and lends itself to many presentations. Serve from a glass pitcher or punch bowl with sprigs of fresh mint and lemon-scented herbs and purple pansies or other edible flowers. Spike it with tequila, rum or vodka, if you wish. For a fabulous brunch drink for garden parties, showers, or weddings, serve this pretty punch in champagne flutes spritzed with Italian Prosecco, Spanish Cava, or champagne and garnish with a fresh sprig of mint or lemon balm and a purple pansy. Move over Mimosas!

INGREDIENTS:

2 large bunches lemon balm and lemon verbena (add lots of sprigs of crushed lemon thyme, lemon basil, or lemon grass, too)

2 large bunches spearmint or a combination of mild flavored mints

2 large cans (46 ounces each) unsweetened pineapple juice

Juice of 3 lemons

Juice of 3 limes

3 cups fresh pineapple, bite-sized chunks (optional)

3 lemons, cut into round slices

2–3 limes, cut into round slices

Your favorite bubbly ( spicy ginger brew like Maine Root or Reed’s Extra Ginger Brew), Squirt (or your favorite grapefruit soda), or other artisan sodas or Prosecco or Cava)

Additional sprigs lemon balm and/or mint

Purple pansies or johnny-jump-ups

DIRECTIONS:

Tie up herb bouquets with kitchen twine. Gently bruise the fragrant herbs to release their flavor. Place them in a large jar, and cover with the pineapple chunks and juice, citrus juices and lemon slices. Chill overnight, stirring occasionally and pressing down on herbs with back of a wooden spoon. Prior to serving, remove the herbs (they will have discolored) and replace with fresh herb sprigs. Add lime slices and a generous splash of your favorite bubbly to the punch, and some pretty purple pansies or johnny-jump-ups (violas). Pour into glasses and garnish with sprigs of fresh lemon balm or mint.

VARIATIONS:

Add lemon grass, fresh pineapple chunks, and spicy Jamaican ginger brew (from specialty grocery stores) to the original recipe. Discard the tough outer leaves from 4 stalks of lemon grass and bruise the stalks with the back of a knife. Cut stalks into 2-inch segments and add them to the punch the day before serving. Long lemon grass stalks also make good “stirrers” for the punch.

Use limeade, lemonade, apple juice, or exotic tropical fruit juice (or any combination of juices) in place of the pineapple juice. Add fresh lime juice to enhance flavors.

Day of the Dead: Altars, Feasts and a Celebration of Life!

October 30, 2014 By Lucinda Hutson

November 1st commemorates a beloved holiday in much of Mexico– Día de Los Muertos—Day of the Dead. Not macabre or morbid, in truth, Day of the Dead is a fiesta…a celebration of life! In Mexico, primarily in regions densely populated with indigenous populations like Oaxaca and Michoacán, families hold all-night vigils and feasts in graveyards paying homage to their deceased loved ones. Earlier in the day, they clean the graves, and lavishly adorn them like altars with bouquets of marigolds, wreaths of flowers, candles, photographs of their dearly departed and a few of their favorite things–a deck of cards, a shot of tequila, a child’s toy.

I first traveled to Pátzcuaro, Michoacán to partake in this celebration over 25 years ago. Here is a photo I took of an old woman at her husband’s grave. The next year I returned to give her the photo; instead, I found her family holding vigil for her!

day of the dead dia de los muertos graveside altars

Mexican woman holding vigil at graveside for Día de los Muertos in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán.

As darkness descends, families gather at the graves. Smoky bonfires and beeswax candles illuminate the night . They graciously shared food brought picnic-style and we passed around a bottle of mezcal. Throughout the graveyard, roving troupes of mariachis sang favorite songs of the deceased, children gaily laughed and played, and families reminisced about their loved ones.

Of utmost importance is food…the feast of life…from which comes most beloved memories!

Favorite foods of the deceased are displayed on altars in the graveyards in hopes of “enticing them back” for one night: abuela’s favorite hot Mexican chocolate, Tíos piquant mole enchiladas, Mamás favorite creamy goat’s milk cajeta candies or Amelia’s beloved orange Fanta. Strongly scented foods like rich and pungent mole or the scent of homemade tamales as they steam beckon home the hungry souls.

Day of the dead Dia de los Muertos candle marigolds

Photo of deceased with her favorite orange Fanta soda, marigolds and candle.

On my own home altar, I commemorated my beloved father with some of his favorite things….

My father loved to fish and hoped to catch a mermaid, so I surrounded him with his favorite things on my home altar.

Flan for my father–his favorite dessert!

Serving Pan de Muertos is a revered tradition for Day of the Dead. This slightly sweet yeasty bread comes in shapes of crossbones, calaveras (skulls), or a body ready for the casket! It tastes especially delicious when dunked into mugs of Mexican cinnamon-scented hot chocolate, or Champurrado, a thickened corn gruel flavored with chocolate and spices (also see Champurrado to Die for to read my article about Day of the Dead!) You’ll find Pan de Muertos and Mexican chocolate at Mexican bakeries and Latino markets at this time throughout out the U.S. too.

The holy communion of breaking bread with the dead is a way to immortalize them forever!

Day of the Dead Bread (Pan de Muertos) shaped like a skull (calavera).

Pan de Muertos (Day of the Dead Bread) shaped like a body ready for the coffin!

I often add contemporary flair to my Day of the Dead fiestas!

party punch tequila punch festive fall punch

Festive tequila punch for Day of the Dead Fiesta.

Mulled spice apple punch laced with tequila or mezcal for Los Muertos!

Serve these cinnamon-laced cornmeal cookies with marigold petals for Day of the Dead along with steaming mugs of Champurrado or Mexican hot chocolate.

Cheese ball formed in the shape of a cross with marigolds

Altars, known as ofrendas, are also created during this time of the year in homes in Mexico as well as in graveyards, laden with items to entice the deceased back home to partake of the pleasures of life once again. How do the muertos find their way back home? Bouquets of zempazuchitl (golden marigolds) attract the dead with their pungent aroma and brilliant color. Along with candles and copal incense, they lead the way back home. Colorful tissue-paper banners known as papel picado intricately cut with skeletons and skulls stretch across doorways. Whimsical paper-mache and shiny tin cadavers with articulated limbs, and decorations with motifs of the dead are found everywhere.

Day of the Dead altar Dia de lost Muertos altar

A marigold petal cross leads to my outdoor Día de los Muertos altar adorned with papel picado banners and laden with sugar skulls and Pan de Muertos bread.

Sugar skulls gaily painted with colorful frosting line shelves for sale along with sugar sculpture vignettes that portray miniature skeletons in their daily tasks–a dentist pulling teeth, a secretary typing, or a woman stirring the pot. Pull a string on a matchbox sized coffin, and a corpse will pop up!

Gaily painted sugar skulls and calavera skeleton cookies for a Day of the Dead fiesta

San Antonio artist Yolanda Luna explained the true symbolism and holiness of an altar. “It dates back to when Aztecs were buried with their favorite possessions so that they would have food and personal belongings,” she said. “After death, people journey on a long road to heaven and need nurturance on their voyage.” Traditionalists also leave on the altar items important for the deceased for their return to heaven after their Day of the Dead pilgrimage: a comb, salt, water, and root veggies.

Day of the Dead altar Dia de Los Muertos altar

Peanuts, yams, and bananas provide sustenance for the deceased on their journey.

For decades, I have hosted Day of the Dead fiestas at my home, inviting friends to join me in making an altar to commemorate our deceased loved ones. They bring photos and remembrances, food and candles, marigolds and mezcal. Just as Day of the Dead historically melded pre-Hispanic and European traditions, assimilating Aztec’s beliefs with the Catholic All Soul’s and All Saint’s Day celebrated at this same time of year, it has crossed the border to embrace both Anglo and Latinos as a way of honoring their deceased and welcoming them into the living’s hearts once again.

An outdoor Day of the Dead altar (ofrenda) in my backyard.

Candle light and smoke set the mood for this Day of the Dead altar in my backyard. Photo by John Pozdro.

A commemoration for our beloved deceased. Photo by John Pozdro

A moment of silence to remember our beloved deceased. Photo by John Pozdro

Learn more about Mexico’s beloved Day of the Dead celebration in this article I wrote for Edible Austin. You’ll find hints and recipes for creating a fiesta and commemorative altar in your own home.

My altars are often celebrated in magazines, newspapers and on television shows like Home & Garden Television’s ” Home Strange Home ” or Central Texas Gardener on PBS. My home is filled with my collections of Day of the Dead decorations and folk art brought back from my many sojourns to Mexico. With the popularity of Día de los Muertos in the U.S., you’ll find Latino markets, import stores, and online sources filled with memorabilia for this holiday.

However, your altar need not be Mexican in theme. Simply set aside a small table in your home and adorn it with a photo of your beloved, some of their favorite things and foods, a small bouquet….and light a candle in their name…..

Day of the dead candlesdia de los muertos

Light a candle for your beloved deceased!

¡Feliz Día de los Muertos!

With blessings to you and those you love!

¡Viva Tequila! Blanco, Reposado, Añejo, or Extra-Añejo?

September 26, 2014 By Lucinda Hutson

Blanco, Reposado, Añejo or Extra-Añejo? Choose one! Photo Robert Denton.

Tequila, Mexico’s beloved national spirit, is made from the magical maguey plant, a large Agave with formidable pencas (spiked leaves) that often takes nearly 12 years to grow before harvesting! Jimadores (agave harvesters) then whack off the pencas to reveal a piña, a large (usually more than 100 pounds) starchy core that resembles a huge pineapple. Piñas must then be cooked in large ovens, transforming their inherent starch into the fermentable sugars needed for distillation.

You’ll read all about this process, find festive recipes for cocktails and food, and share my decades of adventures traveling through Mexico’s agave country in my book, ¡VIVA TEQUILA!

Tequila is a most versatile spirit! You’ll find it comes in four unique styles, Blanco, Reposado, Añejo, and Extra Añejo, each with its distinct profile, perfect for sipping and savoring neat or mixing in cocktails. I am not mentioning the fifth style, Joven Abocado, best know as “gold” tequila, as this is generally a “Mixto”, or one made with 49% added sugars (such as cane, piloncillo brown cone sugar, or glucose) and NOT one made of 100% agave . You’ll know if a tequila is made with only juices from the blue agave, as the label of the bottle will state 100% de Agave or 100% Puro de Agave. 100% Agave is the only tequila I recommend!

Blanco tequila in a hand-painted agave glass. Photo John Pozdro.

BLANCO

I must say, I love a good Blanco tequila, the pure fresh-from-the-still tequila from which the other styles derive. A fine Blanco will retain the discernible sweetness of the roasted blue agave, with vibrant, peppery, herbaceous, and citrus tones. If the original Blanco is not good, how can other styles made by a distillery be good? Blanco tequila is sometimes called Silver or White tequila because of its pristine clarity, and is not influenced by oak or aging. It’s generally bottled upon distillation, though sometimes stored in stainless tanks for a month. Those who like white spirits may prefer Blanco tequila. I find it much more flavorful than vodka, as enticingly aromatic as gin, and not as sweet as rum.

Flavor Profiles:

Agave fruitiness intact

Bright, crisp, mineral

Peppery, sometimes fiery

Citrus and zest

Herbaceous–mint and anise

Dry, medium finish

Drink suggestions:

Sip neat or accompanied with Sangrita, tequila’s quintessential chaser

Requisite for classic margaritas

Refreshing spritzers

Tropical fruit or citrus punches and drinks

Ice cold from the freezer on a hot summer’s night!

Shots of tequila Reposado with a Mexican charro. Photo John Pozdro.

REPOSADO

This is the most popular tequila imbibed in Mexico, with a harmonious balance of the natural essence of agave and the subtle influence of oak. The “repose” of Blanco in oak (a minimum of 2 months to 1 year in roble or encino oak) mellows its youthful and feisty character, adding hints of wood and spice and giving Reposado a color that varies from pale straw to amber. I love to simply sip a fine Reposado!

Flavor profiles:

Hint of oak with discernible sweetness of roasted agave

Earthy

Caramel

Cinnamon and spice

Medium finish

Drink suggestions:

Sip neat or accompanied with Sangrita, tequila’s quintessential chaser

Margaritas

Refreshing spritzers

Orchard fruit punches and drinks

Tequila Añejo in a Mexican snifter. Photo John Pozdro.

AÑEJO

A fine Añejo is a harmonious marriage of oak and agave. Nuances from barrel aging–depth of aroma, discernible soft tannin, and vanilla tones– mingle deliciously in a fine Añejo. This style of tequila is aged for at least 1 year but fewer than 3 years in government sealed oak barrels with a maximum capacity of 600-liters. Such aging gives a rich amber to dark mahogany color, though some of my favorite Añejos are not over-oaked and have a lighter color. Brown spirits lovers rejoice! Añejos can rival cognac, single malt, bourbon and whiskey.

I sip it only from a snifter, though others enjoy to mix it in classic cocktails like a Manhattan or an Old Fashioned, or as a floater for a top-shelf margarita. The newest trend is to filter Añejos back to clarity. I am confused as to why one would take away the color and character of aging that has taken years to accomplish. This would make the tequila better suited for mixability, but I adhere to drinking Añejo from a snifter!

Flavor profiles:

Oak-driven tannins

Roasted agave and dried fruit

Vanilla, butterscotch, caramel, cocoa

Baking spices, buttery

Full-bodied, round, luxurious

Long finish

Drink Suggestions:

Snifter!

Classic cocktails

Coffee drinks

Extra-Añejo for the rich and famous! Photo Robert Denton.

EXTRA-AÑEJO

This newest category of tequila produces character, color, and complexity found in other Añejos and fine world spirits. It must be aged for at least 3 years in oak barrels of maximum 600-liter capacity, producing tequila with very dark amber and mahogany hues. Added flavor comes from using barrels that once housed whiskey, cognac, sherry, scotch or fine wine. Price reflects this lengthy aging and such Extra-Añejos often fetch prices of $300-$1000 a bottle!

Flavor profiles:

Characteristics similar to other Añejos

Very oak-driven

Agave not as apparent

Toasty, buttery

Dark leather, wood, earth, tobacco

Velvety long finish

Drink suggestions:

Snifter only, ¡por favor!

Note: In the production of tequila, flavorings and colorings are permissible as well as the addition of distilled water to bring tequilas to commerical proof.

So you see, you’ll find a style of tequila to fit any taste or any mood– from sipping neat to a refreshing spritzer, party punch, margarita or snifter.

Now tell me…which style of tequila is your favorite?

Dinero, tequila y amor,

¡No hay otra cosa mejor!

Money, tequila, and the one you adore

Who could ask for anything more?

Welcome to My New Website!

August 13, 2014 By Lucinda Hutson

Queridos amigos!

I can’t believe after six months (and lots of tequila!) we’ve launched my new website. I offer my heartfelt gracias to Megan Clark, who gloriously captured the spirit of my lifestyle in this colorful and festive site! Thank you to Lindsay Starr, for creating graphics that bring the website to life (she also designed my most recent book, (¡Viva Tequila!). Thanks to John Pozdro for creating my previous site, and for helping so much with the evolution of the new site…and to Renee Mims for her creative ideas and assistance.

I invite y’all to pour yourself a shot of tequila…or a refreshing glass of sangría …and peruse my website.

Here’s a quick navigational tour:

¿QUÉ PASA?

In this blog, you’ll find out “What’s Happening?”... upcoming events, food and cocktail recipes, garden tours, agave adventures and tequila talk…to inspire your own fiestas! In archives on the left of the page, you will also find categories for previous blogs: Cocktails, Food, News, Gardening, and Other.

Please subscribe on my ¿Qué Pasa? page, if you’d like to be notified of future blog posts!

ABOUT ME

Find out all about me (well, almost all!)

MY BOOKS

See my books, with quick links to order them.

SPEAKING

Need a speaker for your next event? Here’s where you’ll find my speaking topics and a way to contact me for more detailed information.

LIMELIGHT

Sip a shot of tequila while you watch videos, interviews, or tours through my garden…or read about why I’m in the limelight.

RECIPES

If you want a recipe for Lively Cocktails or Festive Foods for your next fiesta, find it here!

MY GARDENS

Remember that glass of sangría you’ve poured? Sip it and take a virtual slide show tour of my gardens!

CONTACT ME

For more information.

¡Salud!
Enjoy!

and Fiesta Always!

Tequila Cough Medicine

August 5, 2014 By Lucinda Hutson

Here’s my recipe to cure a cough, found in the final chapter
” TEQUILA FOR WHATEVER AILS YOU! ” of my book ¡VIVA TEQUILA! A shot a day keeps the doctor away!

This tasty té de limón helped me feel better (or not feel the pain), soothed my cough, and put me to sleep. This recipe is for two servings: one for the patient, one for the nurse.

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups water
1 3-inch piece of cinnamon
2 fresh citrus leaves, optional
Peel of 1⁄2 lime, cut into thick strips
4 teaspoons honey (or less agave syrup)
1 juicy lime, cut in half
4 ounces tequila reposado
Ground cayenne to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Bring water to boil in a small saucepan, along with the cinnamon, citrus leaves, and lime peel; reduce heat. Simmer on medium heat for about 10 minutes until it turns a rich golden color. Meanwhile, place in each mug 2 teaspoons of honey, juice of half a lime, 2 ounces tequila, and cayenne to taste. Pour in enough of the cinnamon/citrus tea to fill each mug, stirring well to dissolve the honey. ¡Salud! To your health! Makes 2 servings.

Note: When fresh citrus leaves are not available, use more lime peel and add more fresh lime juice to the mug.

Para un catarro, un jarro, y si no se te quita, la botellita.

For a cough, a cup. The whole bottle, if that’s not enough.

Hangover Helpers

August 5, 2014 By Lucinda Hutson

In Mexico, salt, lime, and plenty of chiles (or another shot of tequila) seem to be the ubiquitous prescription for the ill effects of a hangover, which Mexicans call by the picturesque names la cruda (raw) or sancochado (half-baked). When I once asked an elderly Mexican man what to do to relieve a hangover, he chuckled, “Si trais una cruda, ponte otra borrachera.” (If you have a hangover, get drunk again.)

Some recommend a cup of hot tea, especially yerbanís (Mexican mint marigold), estafiate (artemisia), or hierba buena (mint). Others suggest freshly squeezed orange juice spiced with chiles, or a tall glass of sparkling mineral water sprinkled liberally with salt and lots of fresh lime juice. Fresh papaya, doused with lime juice and dusted with salt and chile powder, is another purported cure, especially for easing gastric distress.

Two of the most traditional hangover remedies are Menudo, a spicy tripe and chile soup, and Vuelve a la Vida, the name for a picante seafood cocktail guaranteed to bring you back to life.

You’ll find all these Hangover Helpers and more in my book !VIVA TEQUILA!