Del Tequila y el Mezcal.

My daughter Alana and I started a tradition of making tamales for Christmas several years ago. It brought us closer to each other at this very special time. Over the years we got quite good at it; from the beginning I got the recipe for "Tamalitos de Especia" from my mother's "puño y letra" -- her own handwriting. I always loved these little tamales we had during our childhood visits to my abuelitos and tías over the holidays in Papantla, Veracruz -- my parent's hometown. Marinated pork with olives, walnuts, capers and spices among other secret ingredients was the stuffing for these culinary jewels wrapped in corn husks. Alana was in charge of selecting what kind of tamales we would make every year. Of course there was the "Especia" ones along with the cheese and tomatillo sauce we always made for Bob --my father-in-law-- who was a lifelong vegetarian. Over the years we made chicken mole, black beans, carrot and zucchini, strawberry and chocolate...

Hola, This is the premiere post of Del Tequila y el Mezcal , a blog about the things dear to a Mexican expatriate living in the US since 1985. It is my hope that you will find my writings here interesting, amusing and useful. I will write about tequila and other spirits; food and music; people and places; events and experiences that make me long for my homeland, friends and family. The year is wrapping up and December celebrations are in full swing. For our family it started with our daughter Roxanne getting married to Matt on December 2nd. It was the culmination of over a year of planning and events. And  the big day went just perfect! We couldn't be happier for them. She looked so radiant, beautiful and happy marrying such a nice man. Congratulations Roxanne & Matthew Spence! The family from Mexico City and Hamburg came to the wedding and we had some early holiday celebrations. Last year December we were in Mexico City for my ahijado Luis Eduardo and Christina...