Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Memories of northern New Mexico flavor book

Longtime Los Lunas High School home economics teacher shares her recipes

Clara Garcia News-Bulletin Staff Writer; cgarcia@news-bulletin.com

Los Lunas Growing up in northern New Mexico, Linda Jaramillo Hughes learned many different things from many different people, but the traditions of her heritage and culture has been the most influential.

Hughes, who has taught family and consumer science — also known as home economics — in Los Lunas for 27 years and the Chama Valley for eight years, has used both her knowledge and her lifetime of experience to write a book filled with what she knows best — cooking. The cookbook, entitled "Recetas Y Recuerdos: Recipes and Recollections," is a look back at familiar family recipes blended with newer ideas and methods.

Both of Hughes' parents were teachers in Taos, but the most valuable lessons they taught their daughter are that of her heritage. And a large part of the Jaramillo's traditions started in the kitchen.

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"Whether it be teaching or cooking, they taught me to do it right," Hughes said. "My mom and grandmother were excellent cooks and perfectionists.

"The holidays, including Lent, were our big times in New Mexico, and in particular in our home — both the historical and cooking aspect," she added. "My grandmother's sisters would come from Colorado and Española and come every year during Lent and make their Lenten foods."

Growing up in a home where food was more than just necessity, Hughes realized that cooking was an art form. But it wasn't until she was in junior high school and took her first home economics class that she really began enjoying her craft.

"I really admired my junior high and high school home economics teachers, who even gave me recipes for the cookbook," she said. "They were special. They inspired me to do better and do things different."

In fact, Hughes enjoyed the work so much that she would win home economic awards without even trying. As a high school student, she won an award in Make it Yourself with Wool and was the Betty Crocker Best Home Economic Student.

"I still look at the trophy and smile," she said. Her specialty was German chocolate cake.

Since she was a child, Hughes has continued to learn all she could about cooking. She went to college at New Mexico State University — where she met and later married her husband, Gary — earning a degree in home economics education. She later went on to earn a master's in education from New Mexico Highlands University.

As a teacher and a student of traditional New Mexican cooking, Hughes had always dreamed of one day passing her knowledge to others beyond the classroom.

"I always wanted to do a cookbook on the traditional recipes of New Mexico," she said. "As I grew older, those are the recipes that people most ask me for — like the costillas (pork ribs).

"People remember that their mothers and grandmothers used to make them, but they took it for granted, and now that their parents aren't around, they don't have the recipes to make it."

Because Hughes didn't know all the traditional recipes, she enlisted the help of friends and family to remind her and contributed to "Recetas Y Recuerdos: Recipes and Recollections."

She said one couple, Betty and Jake Romero of Tomé, have really helped to remind her of the traditional recipes. She has called on them several times, and they have generously contributed to her cause.

Recipes in "Recetas Y Recuerdos: Recipes and Recollections" are basic traditional recipes from Taos to Tomé. Hughes self-published the book in 2005. From guacamole to lentil soup and from calabacitas to torta, Hughes' cookbook is filled with many tasty treats made the way our mothers and grandmothers used to make them.

Not only are there the old-fashioned recipes, but also several of Hughes' former students contributed to the book, such as a pumpkin recipe.

While the cookbook has many recipes for different items, you can also find different recipes for the same food. In fact, Hughes gives three totally different recipes for biscochitos (also spelled bizcochitos).

"My recipe, which has won many ribbons, has orange juice," she said. "My mom liked her biscochitos crisp, so her recipe calls for milk. My grandmother's recipe is more traditional and uses lard.

"There's not one right way to make biscochitos."

Along with the recipes in the book, Hughes has added a special narrative to most of them. If the recipe was given to her by a friend, a former home economic student or a family member, Hughes writes about the person as well as their connection to the recipe.

Following her recipe for nieve (ice cream), Hughes writes about a family memory about making the homemade treat. "Memories of my Uncle Jerry (Juan G. Martinez) and Grandpa Carlos bringing chunks of ice from the Vallecitos River to pack around the ice cream maker" are among her favorites, she said.

Because there are a lot of holiday recipes in the book, Hughes decided, after "Recetas Y Recuerdos: Recipes and Recollections," was printed to publish a second cookbook with just the holiday recipes.

On the cover is a picture of Hughes and her cousin Yolanda on Christmas morning, celebrating Pidiendo Crismes, a traditional custom similar to Halloween trick or treating when children would go door-to-door on Christmas morning shouting "Mis Crismes!" Hughes said the homeowner would open the door giving treats like gum, candy, apples or popcorn. Children would really like it when they would receive empanaditas and biscochitos.

To pick up a copy of "Recetas Y Recuerdos: Recipes and Recollections," go to Damacio's Chili Shack in Los Chavez or The Branch in Los Lunas. Each copy costs $9.95.

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