This is in response to Emily's question about what i do for Three Kings Day.

We keep it rather simple - but it is definately noted in our house. I do it the Puerto Rican way - not sure if it differs from the Mexican way - DH hasn't said anything.

My son puts a box by his bed with "hay" that he makes out of construction paper and he hand makes the box too. We go to church in the morning regardless of what day of the week it falls on. We take down all the christmas decorations on the 6th again regardless of what day of the week it falls on. The only thing I keep up is the nativity set. That stays up until February 2nd, when the Christmas season actually ends. I do a dinner at my house I order the crown cake from a bakery at my house. The friends & family who come to my house knows that whoever gets Baby Jesus does a dinner at their house on February 2nd. And so far everyone has been fine with that. When I was single I was known for my constant dinner & cocktail & appetizer parties.

Now where we live it's in a more predominant Mexican area - like our neighbors in the back for christmas eve brought over tamales and chaporado(?) and Carlos was thrilled - so I was going to ask her if they were doing anything Saturday.

On Friday night we are going to a place in Lynwood here in Cali that has an area called Plaza Mexico - we only go there once every few months to try and keep it special. But it's supposed to be a replica of an ancient city outside of Mexico City. There is a restaurant there that serves "real" Mexican food. I don't like it but I eat it and "love" it to make DH happy. I prefer the americanized Mexican food.

That's pretty much it. DH isn't big on celebrating holidays either, but I celebrate every single thing - any exuse for a party - so he tolerates me.

Does anyone else do anything for the Ephiphany?

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Betsy you sound like you have so much fun.

Hm. Well there are definitely latinos here in Virginia, but they're still sort of a silent group and aren't really accepted by the good ole southern boys yet, so we don't have too many "real" mexican restaurants or bakeries to get a rosca de reyes from. I thought I'd try to make one, but it sounds like something better left to the professionals.

Sometimes I wish DH and I had more "couple" friends but most of his friends are single, drunk, 24 year-old guys and he won't let me hang out around them anymore, now that we're proper and official. I'd like to celebrate the day with him in some way...

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Does anyone elses family involve TONS of hot chocolate (Abuelita's brand especially) during the 3 Kings? My DH's family goes on over load with it.

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Ooo Cristina, I love abuelita's hot chocolate. I better get it before the stores sell out. It's so hard to get anything mexican/latin in this town.

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Emily - I have 3 Mercados in walking distance from my house. so if you ever ever ever need ANYTHING. Please just let me know. I can send it over with no problem.

It's definately tough to "couple" date. Especially when you have a language/cultural barrier. Most of our couple outings are with family and technically it's my ex's family that I adopted.

Christina - We drink the hot chocolate regularly - except I americanize it for my son with marshmellows.

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Emily - Its the best! I only drink that brand really, the others taste so watered down.

Betsy - Marshmellows always make it better :P Yum.

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Emily - It sounds to me like you'd be much happier living in Southern California near Betsy and me than in Virginia . We've got Mexican food, stores, anything you could ever desire on every street corner! Plus, there are so many families here, too. You would have no problem at all finding other Latino couples to hang out with. Even the big chain grocery stores have a large section for foods from Mexico, Asia, and India. It's pretty cool.

Betsy - Have you been to The Chili Pepper on Main Street in Orange? Dh and I like to go there for Sunday Brunch. Or maybe it's Saturday. Well, we go there for brunch. So yummy! If you haven't been there you should definitely try it. I love how the place is decorated and the food is great, too!

Wendy, the funny thing DH doesn't want me around other mexicans. He has no problem with me being near the women, but he knows his own people and that they don't seem to put much stock in a woman saying she's married to someone else. That's not everyone, but it's a lot of the younger, single men. In fact, he specifically told me to look for a house away from anyone he knows. I'd love to live in CA though. I hate any type of winter!

Betsy, if DH ever tells me he really misses something, I"ll take you up on that offer. So far the only thing he's mentioned is some type of queso fresco, and I don't know how well that travels

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Ah yes the cheese. I never knew there were so many cheeses tht looked the same yet were for completely different purposes. It's a pretty hearty cheese for example the one we just bought doesn't expire until April.

DH is wierd about having his friends over. It's like it's 2 different worlds that they try and keep seperate. That doesn't function in my world so I've showed up at his job sites on several occasions or called his brothers for holidays etc. Man I make him crazy sometimes.

Wendy - I have not been there. I have been to Felix's in Old Orange. That's more of a mix of cuban and spanish food. Really good, been there for years.

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I asked DH about 3 kings day last night and he told me when he was little, he used to put out his shoe (mexican tradition?) and hope for presents, but he never got any. They were so poor. I have to get something for his shoe.

Betsy I got myself in BIG trouble by trying to put myself into DH's "guy world". I thought that I was doing something great by being one of the guys, and that having his friends' seal of approval would make DH love me more. Well, some of the guys got the wrong idea about me and decided that my being nice, offering to do favors, or even something as simple as putting a hand on their shoulder to say hello, meant that I was soliciting sexual advances. I had 19 year-old little boys tell me to leave DH, another told me that he was in love with me and he would carry on a secret affair. That was one of DH's best friends! Anyway, I don't even so much as raise my eyes when any of "the guys" are around because I don't know how how my eye contact will be interpreted.

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oh my!!!

Pervs.

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Wow! Emily, that's crazy! I don't know what's wrong with some men. I guess maybe it's a different culture, I don't know. I don't blame your Dh for wanting to keep you away from his friends! I wonder, do they treat other Mexican woman that way, too? Southern California is nice, there's a good mixture of all types of people, and the weather is great! It's kind of too crowded for my tastes, though. But, I think if you were ever to move here you would meet lots of nice Mexican people who wouldn't try to steal you away from your Dh .

Betsy - I haven't heard of Felix's. I don't think I've ever had Cuban food, either. What's it like? We do go to Old Town Orange once in awhile, but always go to the Pharmacy (I can't think of it's real name right now because Dh and I always call it that). We love the old-fashioned feel of the place.

Wendy - it's funny how people see things from difference perspectives. having grown up in New york and working on 34th street in the city. I find so call very slow paced.

don't know how to describe cuban food - it's alot like Puerto Rican food. Rice/beans - but our beans are different than mexican beans not as watery or mushy. And Carribeans don't cook very spicy.

I like old Orange alot - each year i want to go to the food festival & each year it passes me by.

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Betsy - Yeah that is funny . I can see how you'd think So Cal is slow-paced compared to NY. I just know I would hate NY. Well, I've heard some parts of NY are rural and it's just the city that's so busy. Dh is tired of it taking him 1 hr. to drive 15 miles every day to work. Yep, we're ready to move. As soon as the right job comes up we're out!

Hehe I don't know what Puerto Rican food is like either . I don't like my beans to be watery or mushy, either. So I would probably like the Puerto Rican ones better. What kinds of meats are used? I pretty much only like chicken, and sometimes beef if it's chopped up into little pieces like ground or fajita-style. Pork is okay, but I don't like shrimp, shellfish, or any fish other than ocassionally salmon. Oh and I don't like mangos or papaya or any of those weird tropical fruits. I like the idea that Carribean food isn't very spicy. Dh dumps tons of that hot sauce with the wooden top (I think it's called Chalupa, or something like that) on everything. I guess I'm going to have to check out that restaurant! We're always on the look-out for a good new restaurant to go to.

We've only lived here for 1 1/2 years so we still don't know everything that goes on around here, but we do like Old towne, too. We love to drive around and look at all the old houses and browse the antique shops.

Wendy, I like that hot sauce too and I would put it on everything. I know exactly which one you're talking about. I think it's called Cholula and has a lady on the label? I also like Salsa Valentina, which is the cheap version and what the mexicans I know actually use, so I feel it's semi authentic

When I was in Mexico, all the 7-11s have "salsa bars" set up so you can buy whatever kind of chips or snack you want, then open it up and dump in the hot sauce. Seriously, they had like 20 different kinds! I also thought it was funny that there was a 7-11 on every third block in Monterrey (Mexico).

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Emily - Yeah that's it! I almost said there's a lady on the label too. I haven't seen that other one before - probably because we weren't looking for it, though. There's another one, too, that the restaurants around here always have that Dh will use only if they don't have the Cholula. It has a red lid, but it's not tabasco. We probably have it in our refrigerator - I'm going to go check. Yep, we have some: Tapatio. When Dh and I first met he would take me to this really yummy little Mexican restaurant and I would dump that stuff all over my chalupas. He thought I was nuts. I just did it because I didn't want him to think I was a wimp . I sure miss that place. I haven't seen any other restaurant have those around here. They were these little deep fried corn meal boat-shaped things stuffed with roasted chicken breast, lettuce, and pico de gallo on top. OMG they were SOO yummy! That is pretty cool/funny that there were 7-11s all over Mexico like that. Dh loves salsa bars and likes to try all the different salsas. I just like one kind and it has to look just right or I don't eat it. When I was in Cancun I didn't see any 7-11's but we did see a Chinese restaurant. We thought that was pretty funny. It made sense, though. Chinese food is yummy and here in California there are always lots of Latino people standing in line at Panda Express. That place in Cancun was probably a gold mine!

I'm hungry.

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