This dress was a magnificent handmade work of art, with a ruffled A-line skirt, including seven layers of hand-stitched lace. The top of the dress has a doily collar with four layers of lacy ruffles that draped over her shoulders and extended to her little waist.
But it didn’t stop there! Doña Maria had also added accessories to complete the ensemble. On the child’s head, a sculptured, tulle ribbon had a few smaller but matching lace columns stitched vertically across the fabric. Peeking through the hem of the little dress, she wore a pair of matching lacy panties. On her feet, she wore a pair of knit socks, with hand-stitched lacy borders, matching the ribbon and undergarment, of course.
(Yes, I know.... Take a moment to fully picture it and let out that “Awwwww!” you have stuck between your diaphragm and throat.)
Nowadays, you almost always see this only for baptisms in the Latin American community that lives here. Mom and I make it a spectator sport to stand outside the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help to witness the intricate baby outfits at the end of a baptism.
Traditionally, for all Latin Americans, a baptism not only brings the child into the faith, but it is the formal introduction of the bundle of joy to God and the world.
For Puerto Ricans, of course, this means a party. And a party means food. Not sandwiches, although finger foods are allowed. I mean actual cooked food and a lot of it! We’re talking a buffet fit for kings. There is no traditional menu as such, except that it requires sturdy paper plates because there’s going to be rice, meat, salad, and some of the aforementioned finger foods piled up on those things and everybody is going be dressed up to the nines—though not as extravagantly as the baby.
Usually there is at least one kind of rice in the offerings; and it will be served with ham, turkey, and probably a rump or shoulder of roast pork—or just salad for those who have (largely) given up meats. (I’ve never met a Puerto Rican who has entirely given up meat, though there must be six or seven of them somewhere, probably in Los Angeles.)
This is one of our national dishes, but I’ve tweaked it for busy cooks who don’t have time to soak beans overnight. It is delicious and provides a good dose of protein to boot.
ARROZ CON GANDULES
Rice with Pigeon Peas
A splash of olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
garlic (to taste; I use 3 or 4 cloves, chopped or pressed)
red pepper flakes (to taste)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 cup medium-grain rice
2 cups stock*
1 can pigeon peas (15 oz., drained, but reserve the
liquid)
2 tablespoons small manzanilla olives (pitted and stuffed
with pimentos)
Heat oil and sauté onions until almost translucent. Add garlic and pepper flakes and oregano (about 2 minutes over medium flame).
Add rice and stir in pan to make sure grains are coated in oil (about 1 minute).
Add stock, increase flame to high, and bring to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat for 10 minutes.
Add drained pigeon peas and olives. Add reserved liquid if dried out. Cover and continue cooking for an additional 10 minutes.
Fold in pigeon peas and olives into the rice. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Let sit, covered, for a few minutes before serving.
* Depending on your preferences or dietary restrictions, you may use chicken, beef, or vegetable stock (including low or no sodium). Each will add a slightly different depth to the dish. Instead, if you prefer, use water and add one bouillon cube. If this is all you do, the finished product will have a “dirty” rice look. If you prefer a yellow finish, add a packet of sazón (with annatto and saffron).
The vegetables will disintegrate in cooking and flavor the oil—which the rice will incorporate in its entirety—as well as the stock. Both will plump up and flavor the rice. Also, if you want that authentic old-world taste, you may add a smoked ham hock to the rice in the first stage of cooking. Leftover rice goes well in tacos or to heft up a soup.
¡Buen apetito!
KALI AMANDA BROWNE was born in New York City, came of age in Puerto Rico, and has spent her entire adult life in New York. Perverse and twisted, cynical and overeducated, and still a little naïve, she has entirely too much time on her hands. Currently living, cooking, and writing in Brooklyn, she has authored
Kali: The Food Goddess: A Compilation of Delightful Recipes and Memories of Food
; the crime novel
Justified
; and a short story, “Putting May to Rest.” Her books are available at several online retailers and through Smashwords at
www.smashwords.com/profile/view/Kali
Amanda. She regularly shares her thoughts about her writing life at
http://ebooksbykali.blogspot.com
, her own life experiences at
http://kalistempleofdoom.blogspot.com
, and thoughts about food and cooking at
http://barbarabretton.com
.
ELIZABETH DELISI: PI OPENWORK DISHCLOTH
Materials
Cotton worsted-weight yarn (I used Peaches and Cream, color #130 Shaded Pastels)
Size 7 knitting needles
Crochet hook or tapestry needle to weave in ends
Finished size
Approx. 9 × 9 inch square
Pi Openwork pattern stitch
Multiple of 3
Row 1 (RS): K2, *YO, K3, with left needle pull first of 3 sts just knitted over last 2 and off the needle; repeat from * to last st, K1.
Row 2 and all WS rows: Purl.
Row 3: K1, *K3, with left needle pull first of 3 sts just knitted over last 2 and off the needle, YO;
repeat from * to last 2 sts, K2.
Row 4: Purl.
Repeat these four rows for pattern.
Dishcloth instructions
Cast on 43 stitches.
K 6 rows in garter stitch.
Row 6: K5, follow row 1 of Pi Openwork pattern over next 33 stitches, K5.
Row 7: K5, P33 (row 2 of Pi Openwork pattern), K5.
Row 8: K5, follow row 3 of Pi Openwork pattern over next 33 stitches, K5.
Row 9: K5, P33 (WS row of Pi Openwork pattern), K5.
Repeat rows 6–9 until piece is ¾ inch less than desired length, ending with WS row.
Next 6 rows: Work in garter stitch.
Bind off, weave in ends.
Variation: Use seed stitch for border instead of garter stitch.
Have fun!
Copyright 2007 Elizabeth Delisi
ELIZABETH DELISI’S time-travel romance set in ancient Egypt,
Lady of the Two Lands
(a Bloody Dagger Award winner and Golden Rose Award nominee), and her romantic suspense novel
Since All Is Passing
(an EPPIE Award finalist and Bloody Dagger Award finalist) are available from Amber Quill Press.
Fatal Fortune
(a Word Museum Reviewer’s Choice Masterpiece), the first in the Lottie Baldwin Mystery series, is currently available from Fictionwise. “Mistletoe Medium” (Elizabeth’s novella-length prequel to
Fatal Fortune
) is featured in the paranormal romance anthology
Enchanted Holidays
, available from Ellora’s Cave; and “Restless Spirit” is published in the paranormal anthology
One Touch Beyond
, also available from Ellora’s Cave.
Elizabeth’s two short story collections,
Mirror Images
and
Penumbra
, are available from BWLPP. Her contemporary romance novella “The Heart of the Matter” is featured in the DiskUs Publishing Valentine’s Day–themed anthology
Cupid’s Capers
(an EPPIE Award finalist). Her contemporary romance novella “A Cup of Christmas Charm” is featured in the DiskUs Publishing holiday anthology
Holiday Hearts 2
(an EPPIE Award finalist), and her romance novella “A Carol of Love” is still available in the series’s first anthology
Holiday Hearts
(an EPPIE Award finalist). In addition, Elizabeth has a short story in the holiday anthology
The Holiday Mixer
, available from Haypenny Press.
Elizabeth is an instructor for Writers Digest University. She has taught creative writing at the community college level, and she edits for individuals. She holds a B.A. in English with a creative writing major from St. Leo University. Elizabeth is currently at work on
Deadly Destiny
and
Perilous Prediction
—sequels to
Fatal Fortune
—and
Knit a Spell
, a paranormal romance. For more information, visit Elizabeth’s website,
www.elizabethdelisi.com
, or her blog,
http://elizabethdelisi.blogspot.com/
.
LISA SOUZA: BIRTHDAY
Many years ago, I read a few lines about a boy asking his infant brother to tell him what God looked like. Somehow, this just resonated with me and I didn’t know why until the birth of my first grandson.
I had written about him, calling him the Grandsonfetus from the moment that his parents found out the sex of this ever-growing force of nature. His due date passed, as is more than likely with a first pregnancy, and my psychic friend told me that she got the message that he would be born on the fifteenth of December. The fifteenth passed and my friend was left shaking her head, muttering that she had never been given the wrong information. Somehow, there was something at work greater than what we could know. The birthday of my late stepfather was approaching and
he
had been a force of nature and a noisy ghost.
We all waited impatiently and on the evening of December sixteenth, we got the call that our daughter had begun getting some labor pains and, this being her first baby, I figured that we had a couple of hours to think about making that ninety-minute drive to her home. I was so very wrong. My daughter’s body kicked into high gear within minutes and the pains were coming faster, which prompted us to throw on our woolly pullovers and head out into the cold December evening, like the cavalry.
That boy was born on the morning of the seventeenth of December, my stepfather’s birthday. I was at my daughter’s side, holding one of her legs as she pushed the baby out, and as I saw his little face emerge, a flood of emotion washed over me. It was pure and unadulterated Love.
The part of this story that echoes what I read so long ago is that when this little pink being was clean and lying naked on his warming bed, he began to coo and babble while moving his head to several points above him. I will always believe that he was talking to the invisible crowd that had come to see him as his soul slipped into its vessel. I had never witnessed a newborn baby making sounds like these and I mentioned it to my husband, who stood next to me. It lasted only a couple of minutes and then it was as if he began to forget that language and no longer see those faces.
Now my grandson is a five-year-old natural athlete, as was Grandpa Lenny, and he says things that remind me of that older force of nature. Did that baby delay his entry into the world so that Lenny’s soul could slip in for one more go-round? I guess I will not know the answer until I slip to the Other Side, where all of my questions will be answered.
LISA SOUZA studied fine art at the California College of the Arts, became a singer/songwriter for a decade, and then settled into a career in the fiber arts, which had never really left her hands since she could first hold a needle and thread. Once primarily a spinner who created original garments for clients, she has since narrowed her focus to life as a colorist, creating rich palettes of color in yarn and fiber. Her first book, in collaboration with Vicki Stiefel, is
10 Secrets of the Laidback Knitters
, published by St. Martin’s Press in May 2011. Find her website at
www.lisaknit.com
and her blog at
http://lisaknit.typepad.com/tiltawhirl/
.
FRAN BAKER: FEATHER & FAN BABY AFGHAN
When it comes to baby blankets or afghans, I’m a “simpler and softer is better” kind of knitter. One of my favorites is the Feather & Fan pattern in Baby Marble by James C. Brett. I love the softness and the subtle shading of Baby Marble. Plus, it washes and dries like a dream. Interestingly, I’ve found that knitters don’t often think of the Feather & Fan pattern for babies, but every mother I’ve ever given one to has been delighted. And I just love seeing a baby sleeping peacefully under a blanket or afghan I’ve made.