Day of the Muertos

So.......I got to not go to work on November 1, the day after the Halloween. It was one of my newer favourite holidays; The Day of the Muertos. My friend Jill, who you guys probably remember, lost her little dude, gosh, almost 4 years ago now. And she likes this holiday. "Like" being a realative term, of course, but you catch my drift, yes? This is the third year that she has partaken in this sweet time, and it's my second with her. Each year it gets a little bigger, with new friends that want to come, more food, more tequila, more little altars, and more stories.
What we have come to do is cook jummy Mexican food like pork and chicken and salsa (thanks Katie) and guacamole and tortillas all day and people come over whenever they feel like it and bring pictures or little altars, (if they want), and then just before dinner we go around and look at people's dead loved ones and they tell a story about them....whatever they feel like. Some people tell funny stories, some tell sad stories, some tell just plain old interesting stories. It's a cool way to learn about people's that you know families, their lives, and their loved ones.
For those of you that don't know, which the 10 of you mostly do, but just in case, the Day of the Dead is a traditional Mexican celebration that takes place every year on November 1st and 2nd. All over Mexico, and who knows where else, regular life gets suspended because everybody who has a dead relative, a dead lover, or a dead friend, participates in these rituals that are over 500 years old. Some people visit their dearly departed at the local cemetery, others build altars in their homes, and some simply devote a moment of silence to the memory of the souls who come to visit and hang around with the living. The living, in order to be good hosts, and ensure that the dead feel at home in the world they used to inhabit, make offerings of flowers, candles, food, drink, and smokes.
Jill's Aunt Paula (above) made something with Parsnips that she called, "Chunk of Parsnips". I made tortillas.
Jill's mom, Carol, made some little apple pies for dead people. Carol and Paula drove up from Oregon. They were out of the car and into the kitchen, and I swear, were finished making apple pies, chunk of parsnip, and chicken pot pies in 22 minutes.
Below, are some people's people.
That's me telling some super awesome story. It went something like, "blah blah blah. blah-blah. blahhbby blahhhh blah. and blah."
I put this last picture (below) of Aunt Paula, (Jill's cousin) Lydia, Jackie, myself, and Jill in here because I look like a total boof. I don't know what that look is, but there is something real "special" going on.
Anyways, have a good week. Yay November. xo