Cooking With Grandma Cecilia
By Larry J. Rodarte © The Diaz Observer, May, 2006
With the recent fire at Uncle Fred’s house, Cousin Mary (Chelo) Castañeda felt compelled to visit Grandma Cecilia’s home before it was demolished. She, too, was an occupant of the house on 29th.
“I lived upstairs and that’s where my first baby (Esperanza) was born,” said Chelo, who moved there around 1952.
“When Gilbert would go to work, I’d go down and see “Ma Cela” and “Pa Novo.” He would always be sitting in his corner in the dining room; I don’t know if he was praying or what. Ma Cela was always in the kitchen or she was washing clothes.”
Young Esper, or Joanie as she was called then, took her first steps in this house and would keep Grandpa Senobio company, while Chelo learned to cook with Grandma in the kitchen.
“I would ask her how her beans came out so light,” Chelo fondly remembers. She would tell me to always boil your water first, and mix your pinto beans with navy beans. Add your garlic and onion, and the water would come out light like a cream color.”
In the three years Chelo lived upstairs, she said Grandma was often on her knees in the Kitchen using her matate (A long slab made of rock like a molcajete) to grind her food ingredients. This is how she would grind her corn to make the masa for corn tortillas.
“She would tell Gilbert it was hard for her, so sometimes he would grin the corn, and I learned too. I also used the matate to grind the chili for the mole she taught me to make. Grandma Cecilia never did it any other way. She never had a blender,” said Chelo. Part of Grandma’s culinary secret was revealed to her granddaughter when she taught her to toast her Chile Japones, to give it a better flavor.
Grandma Cecilia had an entrepreneurial spirit way back. She made her famous Queso Mexicana the way her mother taught her in Huandacareo. Chelo said she remembers being five-years-old when Grandma would make this cheese and sell it to clientele around St. Joseph Church.
“Somehow she would kneed the cheese perfectly round, without a pattern, all with her tiny hands. Then she would wrap it in wax paper. People would buy her cheese all up and down 6th St. She had her regular customers.
“This cheese on top of her delicious beans would make your mouth drool. They were so delicious, I was in my glory,” Chelo said.
It’s not known if anyone in the family knows how to make the cheese, but many of the older generation sure remember this delicacy with fondness.
Uncle Ralph recalls how she made it.
“Ma would take the milk from the cow and add some sort of pill to it. This would make the milk curd (coagulate). Then she would put a cloth over a strainer and take the curded milk and squeeze the rest of the milk out of it. Then she would make it into the round patties.”
When asked if he liked Grandma’s Queso Mexicana, Uncle Ralph simply said: “Oh man, are you kidding! You put that stuff on your beans, mmmm!”
Theresa (Stricker) Pawlowski, said her mother knew how to make it, and recalls how she would often give it to her brothers when they would visit. The Stricker kids loved it so much that Theresa remembers them hoping their mom would only give away a little to the Tios.
And she and her siblings fought for it. On the farm after milking a cow, Grandma and Grandpa would let the milk sit out overnight. The crème of the milk would rise to the top. Grandma would spoon it out and also use this like sour crème on her beans. It was called hocoque, and was also a favorite.
“My brother in-law Pablo would sit at the table while my sister Cruz would be making tortillas,” explained Uncle Ralph. “He just loved to put Grandma’s Queso Mexicana, in the tortilla with chile.”
“Grandma made and sold her cheese for many years,” explained Chelo.
“Even after we were married, Gilbert would take Grandma up and down 6th St. selling her cheese.”
Chelo also recalls Grandma’s faith: “Every morning Grandma would get up early and walk to St. Joseph to attend mass, and she went faithfully everyday.
She would meet Maria Lopez on Washington St. by St. Rita’s church, and they would walk together. I felt so guilty cause I didn’t know how to drive and Gilbert took the car to work. The moment she returned home, she started her cooking.”
The fondest memories for Chelo on 29th St. were the Sundays when everyone would come over. “Uncle Steve and Uncle Ralph and their families would come together.
Uncle Joe and Cousin Anne would come; we had a ball. Yes, there were a lot of memories in that old house — a lot of memories. I loved living so close to my Grandma.” Chelo said.
“I lived upstairs and that’s where my first baby (Esperanza) was born,” said Chelo, who moved there around 1952.
“When Gilbert would go to work, I’d go down and see “Ma Cela” and “Pa Novo.” He would always be sitting in his corner in the dining room; I don’t know if he was praying or what. Ma Cela was always in the kitchen or she was washing clothes.”
Young Esper, or Joanie as she was called then, took her first steps in this house and would keep Grandpa Senobio company, while Chelo learned to cook with Grandma in the kitchen.
“I would ask her how her beans came out so light,” Chelo fondly remembers. She would tell me to always boil your water first, and mix your pinto beans with navy beans. Add your garlic and onion, and the water would come out light like a cream color.”
In the three years Chelo lived upstairs, she said Grandma was often on her knees in the Kitchen using her matate (A long slab made of rock like a molcajete) to grind her food ingredients. This is how she would grind her corn to make the masa for corn tortillas.
“She would tell Gilbert it was hard for her, so sometimes he would grin the corn, and I learned too. I also used the matate to grind the chili for the mole she taught me to make. Grandma Cecilia never did it any other way. She never had a blender,” said Chelo. Part of Grandma’s culinary secret was revealed to her granddaughter when she taught her to toast her Chile Japones, to give it a better flavor.
Grandma Cecilia had an entrepreneurial spirit way back. She made her famous Queso Mexicana the way her mother taught her in Huandacareo. Chelo said she remembers being five-years-old when Grandma would make this cheese and sell it to clientele around St. Joseph Church.
“Somehow she would kneed the cheese perfectly round, without a pattern, all with her tiny hands. Then she would wrap it in wax paper. People would buy her cheese all up and down 6th St. She had her regular customers.
“This cheese on top of her delicious beans would make your mouth drool. They were so delicious, I was in my glory,” Chelo said.
It’s not known if anyone in the family knows how to make the cheese, but many of the older generation sure remember this delicacy with fondness.
Uncle Ralph recalls how she made it.
“Ma would take the milk from the cow and add some sort of pill to it. This would make the milk curd (coagulate). Then she would put a cloth over a strainer and take the curded milk and squeeze the rest of the milk out of it. Then she would make it into the round patties.”
When asked if he liked Grandma’s Queso Mexicana, Uncle Ralph simply said: “Oh man, are you kidding! You put that stuff on your beans, mmmm!”
Theresa (Stricker) Pawlowski, said her mother knew how to make it, and recalls how she would often give it to her brothers when they would visit. The Stricker kids loved it so much that Theresa remembers them hoping their mom would only give away a little to the Tios.
And she and her siblings fought for it. On the farm after milking a cow, Grandma and Grandpa would let the milk sit out overnight. The crème of the milk would rise to the top. Grandma would spoon it out and also use this like sour crème on her beans. It was called hocoque, and was also a favorite.
“My brother in-law Pablo would sit at the table while my sister Cruz would be making tortillas,” explained Uncle Ralph. “He just loved to put Grandma’s Queso Mexicana, in the tortilla with chile.”
“Grandma made and sold her cheese for many years,” explained Chelo.
“Even after we were married, Gilbert would take Grandma up and down 6th St. selling her cheese.”
Chelo also recalls Grandma’s faith: “Every morning Grandma would get up early and walk to St. Joseph to attend mass, and she went faithfully everyday.
She would meet Maria Lopez on Washington St. by St. Rita’s church, and they would walk together. I felt so guilty cause I didn’t know how to drive and Gilbert took the car to work. The moment she returned home, she started her cooking.”
The fondest memories for Chelo on 29th St. were the Sundays when everyone would come over. “Uncle Steve and Uncle Ralph and their families would come together.
Uncle Joe and Cousin Anne would come; we had a ball. Yes, there were a lot of memories in that old house — a lot of memories. I loved living so close to my Grandma.” Chelo said.
