The first night we visited for hours and by bedtime, already had inside jokes - we told them about lutefisk because they are having a similar kind of traditional food (although I think it's likely to be much tastier) this weekend. And we found out that Cinco de Mayo is actually a Pueblan festival, rather than for the whole country of Mexico, and made jokes about that.
The sisters of Ricardo Cuevas, Saul's father, live in what used to be their parents' home. It is a mansion, with a circular staircase, a mural on the wall, many antiques, and numerous rooms designed for guests. They have hosted us for each dinner - at 2 or 3 pm - with two or three main dishes for each, and other relatives or friends. This weekend they made chiles nogadas, a Pueblan dish. A green chile pepper - like a bell pepper - is gutted of seeds and what makes it hot, then stuffed with a cooked mixture of apples, nuts, peaches, and other goodies. Next it's coated with an egg breading and deep fried, then topped with a white "nut sauce" - quite sweet. Friday, Saturday and yesterday there were lots of extra guests - the aunts had made 200 chiles. Yesterday was the biggest event of all. Besides the big dining room table, which seats twenty, there were round tables seating eight or ten set up all through their formal entryway. After we ate, in strolled a mariachi band! Wow. 2 trumpets, 3 or 4 violins, a guitar, bass and ukulele-type guitar, plus the maestro. An
d could they all sing loud and well!! They walked in playing and singing, arranged themselves on the circular staircase, and did an hour-long program. The maestro welcomed us from Minnesota, and they sang and played with great excellence. The crowd knew the group (Grandpa used to hire them every year on his birthday – the maestro’s brother used to perform with them and made it even funnier, but he died) and all the songs, and requested certain ones, and Rico and Saul were accompanied by the band on a few. It was the culmination of a week of warm welcomes!
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