A holiday blessing from one Taos Pueblo home

HOliday GIVING

Atribal member’s open letter to the community about holiday trees, feasting and prayers for world peace, healing and unity of leadership:

Family, friends and community of Taos, We are what our traditions are made of, memories of childhood holidays with love of one’s past or present are what makes us who we are.

When you’re keeping traditions from generation to generation and passing down all the special instructions and tasks, it all works to make us all stronger, creating empathy for others, sharing with others and just doing your part to make somebody’s day. As winter sets in and holidays start approaching, the normal day-to-day activities become unusual as your mind becomes filled with wondering about how can I help others and give of myself? My special giving is: Going up to the mountains, getting Christmas trees for the elderly of Taos Pueblo and leaving them out by the Veterans Memorial. The next morning they are all gone! If there’s any left, I and my special loved one have our trees for the holiday. The feeling is awesome! My Taos Pueblo culture and traditions always play a vital role in how I give back to all. The Taos Pueblo Deer Dance has always been my favorite traditional dance. It can happen at Christmas Day or Jan. 6. This year my thoughts are: Prayers for all humanity to come to “Peace, Healing and Unity in Leadership.” Feasting in our village houses is a highlight in which we share favorite food dishes with family and friends. Our Taos Pueblo oven bread, pies, cookies and red chile are what we’re known for, so let’s all sit down and share some delicious red chile and oven bread during the holidays, especially for this year’s holidays. Blessings to all my families at Taos Pueblo and friends abroad.

Sincerely,

Mary Bernal,

TAOS PUEBLO TRIBAL MEMBER

CLOCKWISE: Taos Pueblo prune pies for the holidays. Oven-bread for feast days. Bernal family outdoor oven on Taos Pueblo. PHOTOS BY MARY BERNAL

Mary Bernal traditionally dressed for Deer Dance at Taos Pueblo in 2019. PHOTO COURTESY CHARLENE MARCU The Bernal Family House, decked for feast day gatherings on Taos Pueblo.

Caring and sharing

TASTY TAOS TRADITIONS OF BISCOCHITOS, EMPANADITAS AND TAMALES

Christmas plates all ready for delivery as prepared by Menice Santistevan.

MENICE SANTISTEVAN

By Tamra Testerman

The biscochito has been the official state cookie of New Mexico since 1989, thanks to the work of Taoseña Menice Santistevan and State Representative Ed Sandoval of Albuquerque, who sponsored the legislation. On the day the bill passed in the House of Representatives, Santistevan was there with 75 dozen biscochitos she baked for the occasion.

Santistevan said the social aspect of gathering together is the most important. “We can do the work alone, but it’s much easier and more fun to share with family and friends. To me, biscochitos are a special treat and a kind gesture to share not only with family, but neighbors and friends during joyful events and during hard times. I enjoy baking them because they make people happy and they make them feel special. Sharing them is an act of kindness and love.”

Menice said every baker has their own biscochito recipe and a secret ingredient. “What I know is that a good biscochito must begin with lard. Butter or Crisco just does not have the same results that lard does. Using good ingredients is key to any good dish, and biscochitos are no exception. If one is going to spend the time and effort to bake them or any other item, using good, fresh anise and cinnamon are also key to enjoying good results.”

Holiday care packages for soldiers serving far away from home are often remembered more than the holiday itself. Retired Army Military Intelligence Officer Vivian Santistevan, Menice’s sister, recalled the biscochitos her family in Taos shipped to her where she was deployed, “wrapped many times in bubble wrap to preserve the precious cargo.”

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MENICE SANTISTEVAN’S BiscOchitos

Biscochitos are the official cookie of the state of New Mexico. They are prepared for special occasions and especially during the Christmas season. Menice Santistevan said this is her recipe that she has perfected since she was in eighth grade. Enjoy!

2 cups lard 1 cup baker’s sugar 3 eggs 1 tablespoon good quality anise seed, crushed 6 cups unbleached flour 3 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt Cinnamon sugar

Cream lard with sugar. Add eggs one at a time and beat until fluffy. Add dry ingredients slowly and beat until well combined. Roll out on floured board and cut into fancy shapes. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture and bake on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack. Makes about 6 dozen biscochitos. Enjoy! Biscochitos freeze well.

LINA’S SAVORY

TaMALES

Lina Garcia is the queen of tamales at Abe’s Cantina y Cocina in Arroyo Seco. Every Christmas, Garcia prepares more than 300 dozen tamales, all handmade, and there are always people on her “tamale waiting list.” She’s still taking orders, by the way, so call the cantina at (575) 776-8643. The following is her personal recipe.

(MAKES 27 DOZEN)

8 bags (32 oz. each) Bueno frozen posole and water to cover 2 tablespoon salt 24-qt. pressure cooker 1 tablespoon garlic salt 1 cup masa harina 2-3 cups meat broth; about 2 cups to start for a hard dough consistency 6 bags Bueno corn husks, steamed or boiled until soft, about 10 minutes

Cook the meat/broth the night before. Soften the corn husks and set all aside.

Cook posole covered in water for about 4 hours at medium high, with 2 tablespoons salt, until soft but not mushy. Cool completely. Grind posole with hand grinder or food processor until coarse – not fine, or it will turn to mush.

Add 1 tablespoon garlic salt and 1 tablespoon salt, 1 cup masa harina and about 2 cups meat broth. Mix together until a hard dough forms. Add up to 1 cup more meat broth if the posole absorbs a lot of fluid, but don’t let the dough get mushy. Put about ½ cup posole masa on the center of the corn husk, add about 2 ounces of chicken/green chile or pork/ chile caribe mixture on top of the posole masa. Roll the husk up lengthwise and fold up the ends. Stand tamales on end in the pressure cooker with a little water and cook on medium-high for 2-1/2 hours. Follow the directions of your pressure cooker manual.

Enjoy topped with chile of choice.

RECIPIES

Empanaditas, sopapillas and more

In addition to biscochitos and tamales, Menice said empanaditas are also very special and traditionally made during the Christmas season only. In the past, families butchered a pig (a traditional event called a matanza) as part of the preparation for making many delicious foods for this time of year.

“We use pork in tamales, posole, chicos and empanaditas,” Menice said, “all traditional dishes prepared during this beautiful season. Christmas is such a beautiful and holy time. It is a time for family and special religious events such as Las Posadas. Families and friends gather to celebrate the season with traditional foods which are prepared only once a year, which makes them that more delicious.

“My father, Lawrence Santistevan (a former mayor of Taos), loved Christmas and we did everything we could to make it special,” Menice said. “This included going to the mountains to pick a Christmas tree, making farolitos to light the path for the Christ child on Christmas Eve and attending midnight Mass. I still have my mom, Tomasita. She is a skilled cook and is an inspiration. Food was always at the center of our celebrations, and we shared these special treats with friends and family. My grandmother Fedelina Chavez made her special coffee cake and gave one to each of her grown children and to neighbors and friends. She and my mom (Tomasita) made beautiful angel cakes from scratch and they both made fabulous sopapillas to enjoy with steaming bowls of posole and chile. These days, I prepare the sopapillas to enjoy with my family during our Christmas Eve meal.”

Menice also said time and patience are the most important things about making empanaditas. “For me, it is a two-day process. I prepare the meat filling on the first day. The next morning I get up very early and make the dough that is the perfect vessel for the scrumptious, slightly sweet and deliciously spiced meat filling. Empanaditas may seem like a daunting task the first time you make them. It is most fun to make them with other family members so that the time goes by with laughter and storytelling. If one person makes the empanaditas and another person oversees the frying, it goes much more smoothly.”Each family or cook has its own recipe and favorite ingredients, she said, noting that making empanaditas takes practice and patience to learn the perfect ratios and technique for sealing, making an inward twist for a beautiful edge, assuring a completely sealed turnover.

Have fun, plan ahead and enjoy the season

“Try to find pine nuts to use in your filling,” Menice recommended. “This is a traditional ingredient and it adds a rich flavor. Making delicious treats for sharing at Christmas time is such a rewarding feeling. Take your time, think of the people you are baking for and, last but not least, arrange your delicacies in a beautiful box or plate and wrap with Christmas bows, candy canes and anything else you enjoy. The most important thing to remember is that you should have fun, plan ahead and enjoy the season, especially this year.”

Menice’s sister Vivian agreed. Vivian makes the tamales for the family. “It’s about flavor, not how many you can make or how pretty they are,” Vivian said. “My secret is, no lard goes into the masa or the filling. I think this makes them healthier and taste better. I use corn meal flour, 5 pounds makes about 6 dozen. Add 1/4 cup of salt, 1/4 cup of

MENICE SANTISTEVAN

garlic for the masa and 1 cup vegetable oil, 8 cups chicken broth. I use vegetable broth for the vegan/vegetarian tamale masa. Knead that all together until it is smooth. It’s important to find the right size cornhusks. If they are too small, they split. I tie them at both ends. I use pork and red hot chile, the hotter the better – the masa cuts the heat.

“The process is time-consuming,” Vivian warned. “You don’t just wake up and say I think I’m going to make tamales today. The masa must sit for 24 hours.”

Vivian also said it is the holiday kitchen conversations that she treasures. “I was in the Army for 22 years. I could have lived anywhere in the world after I retired, but I came home for these sacred holiday traditions and the beauty of Northern New Mexico and my family.”

ABOVE: Meat empanaditas created by Menice Santistevan of Taos. LEFT: Biscochitos, piñon fudge, snowballs, prune and meat empanaditas, pecan bars, dried cranberry and white chocolate cookies.