Dia de los Muertos

Dia de los Muertos - the Day of the Dead - is a holiday observed in Mexico on November 2. It’s a family time for remembering and honoring dead friends and relatives - a period when the souls of the dead can return for a visit. It’s celebrated with humor, not sadness. 

Monday is my day to reset for the week and get my ducks in a row - make some plans for health and home, and how I will step up for the Natural Living Challenge.

And this is the time of the waning Third Quarter. Today's moon energy is yang, a time for reciprocity, generosity, collaboration and connection; a final time of action before the next moon cycle.

Agenda:

1. Read "Simplify Your Space"

2. Giving each thing a home

3. Health habits

4. Natural Living Challenge

5. Make Pan de Muertos (Bread of the Dead)
6. Make skeletons
7. Make sugar skulls

1. Read "Simplify Your Space"

I'm reading a book by Marcia Ramsland (2007), with the subtitle Create Order and Reduce Stress. Chapter One is Simply Start Out Right, and after that each chapter is a room. I think I'll jump around.

Bathroom tips:

• Plan a reward, such as a new rug or towels
• Be ruthless with clearing bathroom shelves because the fewer items, the easier it is to keep the shelf clean
• Check all medicine discard dates regularly

2. Giving Each Thing a Home:
I've been doing my clearing tasks in the morning, and I've moved it to first thing after breakfast. Using the 10-tips, my plan this week is to clear the bathroom and hall - specifically:

• Clear out the linen cabinet
• Research new recycling rules
• Move gutters from fence corner
• Discern tablecloth repair
• Sort the craft cart.
• Dust and clear bathroom shelves and basket.

My weekly rhythm + extras is:

• M: Deep dive in linen cupboard - cleaning and medicine shelves + craft cart
• T: Recycling + Research new recycling rules
• W: Move the gutters from fence corner + craft cart
• Th: Clear the tablecloths and reduce by half - can I repair any of these?                                                       
• F: Dust and clear bathroom shelves and basket  + craft cart
• Sat: Refrigerator          
• Sun: Books - make an appointment with Smith Family - Encourage Wade to donate some books, and reorganize kid books.

3. Health habits:

This whole year I've worked at building better health habits, and a routine flow that brings me to them consistently. I started out with chair yoga routines, and then the Stand Strong cycle. Now I've decided to loose weight, and I've lost 3 pounds (and kept it off through Halloween!).

"Your weight is a balancing act, but the equation is simple. If you eat more calories than you burn, you gain weight. And if you eat fewer calories and burn more calories through physical activity, you lose weight."

This week's tiny step: Do not skip my exercise - do at least some stretches. Try to reach 5000 steps each day.

4. Natural Living Challenge:

Yesterday I set this intention:

I intend to buy in-season produce every month or so, and preserve it for the winter, in order to reduce my reliance on an industry that is heating the planet, diminishing biodiversity, and poisoning my good friends the bees and butterflies.”

This week I will freeze peppers, pickle beets, and harvest sunflowers for the birds. 

5. Make Pan de Metros (Bread of the Dead):

Pan de muerto, or bread of the dead, is a rich sweetbread flavored with anise and orange peel. It is most often formed into a simple round loaf with crisscrossed bones of dough on top, and colored sugar sprinkles.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 c. milk
• 1/4 c. butter in small pieces
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1/4 c. very warm water
• 1 egg
• 3 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. each, grated orange rind and anise seed
• colored sugar sprinkles

Yield: 1 loaf or 6 rolls-

1. Bring the milk and butter just to a boil and remove it from the heat. Stir in the sugar and salt and stir. Let it cool to lukewarm

2. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm water. Let it stand 5 minutes. Add the warm milk mixture, grated orange rind and anise seed.

3. Separate the egg yolk and white. Add the yolk to the yeast mixture, but save the white for later.

4. Add flour and blend well. Knead the dough on a floured board until it is smooth. Return to bowl and cover with a towel. Let rise in warm place for 90 minutes, or until doubled.

5. Preheat the oven to 350º. Knead the dough again, then divide out about 1/4 of the dough and set it aside. Form the remaining dough into a smooth round loaf (or smaller rolls), and place it onto a greased baking sheet. Beat the egg white lightly with a bit of water, and brush over the loaf. 

6. Divide the reserved dough into one small ball and two larger pieces. Form the larger pieces into long thin bones. Press down the ends of each bone to look like the joint knobs. Cross the bones over the loaf so the ends reach to the pan, and brush with more egg white.

7. Shape the smaller piece into a disk or skull shape and press it firmly into the center of the loaf. Brush with the last of the egg white.

Cover the bread with a towel and let it rise for 30 minutes.

8. After 30 minutes, sprinkle the loaf with colored sugar, and bake at 350º for 35 minutes.

6. Make skeletons:

Almost every year we make new skeleton sculptures to put on the ofrenda. It's tricky, but so much fun!

These were made with white fimo over wire, hot-glued to a wooden base, and painted with black details. 

The fun part is adding the clothing and details that explain what the skeleton is doing.

7. Make sugar skulls:

Candy makers in Mexico sell thousands of sugar skulls before the Days of the Dead. They form the skulls by pressing white sugar paste into a mold, then they pipe pastel icing onto the candy, and decorate the eyes and mouth with bits of shiny paper or foil. Sometimes they write a name on the forehead.

We make our skulls from almond paste, lime juice, and powdered sugar, decorated with frosting and metallic origami paper.

Ingredients:

• 8-oz can of almond paste
• juice of one lime
• 6 c. of powdered sugar
• Colored icing in tubes
• foil paper

Makes 4-5 skulls-

1- Mix together almond paste, lime juice, and most of the powdered sugar in a bowl. Knead together with your hands. Keep adding sugar until the candy is very stiff.


2- Knead the candy again on wax paper, and divide it into 4-5 pieces. Chill.

3- Shape into a skull, add bits of foil paper for eyes, and pipe on frosting decorations.