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Heatwave has me thinking of cold nights, family traditions
This heatwave has me wanting to stay indoors wishing for cold mornings and comfort food. At work, I play Christmas music and on my computer screen the scene of snowy neighborhoods and colorfully lit homes is on display. Anything to make me forget about triple-digit weather.
All this thinking of the holidays reminds me of childhood. When I was a kid, mom used to make buñuelos every New Year’s Eve to celebrate the año nuevo. A buñuelo is a fried fritter of sorts. It’s light and flaky, breaks into a hundred pieces as you try to eat it, and best of all is smothered with a delicious homemade syrup.
At least that’s the way mom made them. In other homes with bigger families, you can walk in on a cold winter evening, during the last night of the year, and witness large bandejas, or tubs, filled with layers of buñuelos. Covered with a large towel to keep their freshness, you didn’t have to know what is inside the bandeja because the smell gave it away. So did the trail of cinnamon and sugar surrounding the tub.
Latina moms are good at making anything shaped into a tortilla. Their hands are built for creating these delicacies. Their feet are strong and can take hours of standing. They have backs of steel. Most powerful are their hearts and minds because their labor is driven with a purpose to provide for…
