Mexican Style Tea for Our Lady of Guadalupe

At the end of mass yesterday our priest invited the congregation to gather at 5:00 a.m. to sing "Las Mananitas" to Our Lady of Guadalupe followed by a special mass.  Well, we weren't able to make such an early celebration but early this afternoon we were able to have a nice Mexican style tea in her honor.

I gathered some of the only blooming roses in our side garden and we did play "Las Mananitas" from the CD  De Colores by Jose Luis Orozco.  He has been a favorite of Mexican folklore music since we met him at a UCLA book festival about eight years ago. We own several of his CDs.  His song books are very colorful too.  I also got busy making an easy recipe Flan and bunuelos this morning.  It's the first time I've made the buenelos and it wasn't that bad.  But my shapes do need some practice.  We also made some simple quesadillas and our drink of choice was Abuelitas Chocolate.  I like to add some cinnamon sticks to the boiling mixture for an even more authentic taste. 

This was enjoyed as we had a round robin read of Tomei De Paola's The Lady of Guadalupe.  There is nothing like a good book, a nice hot drink and a sweet treat to receive some wonderful narrations.  The breaks are a must for some delicious sips.  We had not had a liturgical tea in months and I can tell my kids really missed it.

And to this day, the Mexican Indians say to newborn children, " May God be as good to you as he was to Juan Diego."  from The Lady of Guadalupe by Tomei De Paola