Revolution in Mexico ...

I went to see the 1910:A Revolution Across Borders exhibit today at the Witte Museum ... it was great... I loved that the exhibit showcased the role of South Texas during the course of the revolution. I ran back to the online newspaper archives to read about events from Nov 1 - 30 1910 as they were reported in San Antonio ...

As this is Christmas Ben and I made tamales that were so good they made me remember being at my grandmother's at the age of 9 kissing the feet of the baby Jesus so that I could eat her tamales and drink champurrado (a mexican hot chocolate). We also made champurrado ... and 3 batches of rompope for all of the holiday parties ..my arteries will need a scrubbing out after this year ...


We used a 5 pound pork butt braised in the oven with cumin/ oregano and 3 anchos with salt and pepper (maybe I used 2 garlic cloves? )
let it cool ..or make ahead and shred




then we blenderized 2 pasillas and 2 anchos that had been soaked in hot water with some hot water and salt to make a paste




This is pasilla chile ... these are good in mole and carne guisada .. they are not usually very pica (spicy) and add a great depth of flavor



This is a chile ancho ... this is the work horse of the chile universe .. I always have some on hand in case I need to add needed depth to tomatoes or meat or stew things I might make ...

we added about 1/4 c of that to the shredded pork

Then we used Mark Bittman's masa recipe (I am chagrined that I had to turn to a New Yorker to get measurements that made sense to me .. most of the recipes on the net were way too heavy) ... maseca plus manteca plus chili paste plus water (no stock on hand)

3 1/2 cups maseca



( a quick note ... masa made from maseca tastes like home ... it may not be as authentic as fresh masa ...which can be found at La Michoacana Grocery Store and perhaps your HEB and most definitely is available at La Bandera Molina in both fina and quebrada states... but for me, it is comfort food)
2 cups manteca -- I use La Michoacana's (the Mexican grocery store ... we need more grocery stores of this size!) freshly rendered stuff .. you can render your own .. manteca is the key to great or eh tamales

2 cups stock (we used water and the blenderized chile paste referenced above)


I whipped the room temperature manteca first with the kitchenaid (I use non hydrogented manteca) and then I added the maseca and water ..like cake batter .. and then when a small pinched ball of masa could float in a glass of water it was done and ready to spread

We soaked a bag of dried corn leaves overnight in a big bowl .. we used a heavy pot lid to weigh down the leaves in the bowl so that they stayed submerged

There is a rough side and a smooth side to the husk .. pull one out of the water and run a finger across both sides figure out which is which ... with the rough side in the palm of your hand and the smooth side facing up .. with the broad end of the leaf pointed toward your wrist and the pointy end extending past your fingertips ... get a big soupspoon full of masa and spread it to about 3 or 4 inches from the broad side :



Place 1 or 2 teaspons of meat down the center with the filling running perpidicular starting at the wide edge, finally fold one side over to cover the meat and fold the other side over, its more like an third fold and less like a roll, last, fold the the tail up .. the tail should end where the tamale starts, once you have the fold done

We used the spaghetti pot .. put a stainless bowl in it ... poured in like 3 to 4 cups of water ... and then rested the french steamer on that ... we dumped in a bunch of the soaked tamale leaves to make a base ... and placed the tamales in a sort of grid .. we could only steam like 12 to 20 at a time ... covered the tamales with more hojas .. and then put the lid on

We steamed em at med flame for an hour ...

Champurrado

1/2 c maseca ... toast lightly over med heat in big pot then add

4 cups milk ... I like whole milk for this

2 disks mexican chocolate


Whisk vigorously until milk has a little foam

pour into mugs and serve with tamales after you have kissed the feet of the baby Jesus of course




Feliz Navidad, ya'll





And here is what I have to say about the health benefits of manteca ...

Enos Gary owner of 1534 McKinley

I found the owner from 1940 - The Enos Gary's --- who is this guy? And what does an Entre Nous club do exactly? Hmmmm


He was the Principal at Brackenridge High School - where Grandpa Ozuna graduated
He was also an alumni from UT Austin Class of 1933 - Go Texas!


Gary sold the house in the 1940's to the Baptist Missionaries. The house was a parsonage from the 1940's (Oct 19th 1944 a petition to city council for a tax waiver) to at least 1963.

Boost like the Dickens!

Ben Hammond's House THEN (San Antonio Light and Gazette Jan 9, 1910) :







NOW:


View Larger Map

Hammond was one of the first developers of Highland Park. One of the first developers in San Antonio. He had big plans for the city. Hammond and Avant and Peck street derive from the first round of developers of Highland Park, San Antonio.

I wonder if he survived the crash of 1929?

History of the House Part II

I love San Antonio - we have a wonderful Conservation Society that holds lots of useful information and people regarding the neighborhood. I found out that you can discover the builder of your old San Antonio home by searching through the Bexar County Clerk's login search. The url is http://www.countyclerk.bexar.landata.com/Default.aspx. Select the Register button, once you have registered you will be able to select the Login-Search Button. Select the 1837-1863 Historical Records Search. If you know the original owner of the house - select Grantor/Grantee. Enter the search parameters of interest (I used last name and dates of interest.)

Gilman 1924-1928
a Mechanics Lien is the most useful in establishing the builder:

The Mechanic's Lien that was discovered for the house was a lien placed by HILLYER DEUTSCH and JARRATT CO to ensure payment.

HILLYER DEUTSCH and JARRATT CO was a lumber company - they are noted specifically in Donald E. Everette's book, Montevista - Architecture and Society in a Gilded Age. On page 99 he notes that a home on East Lynwood designed by the Kelwood Company used lumber from Hillyer Deutsch and Jarrett. The similarities beween the Spanish style Monte Vista homes and this Highland Park home are striking. On the other hand the lumber company supplied the material for the project managed by Contractor Amos Sweitzer and built for Mrs. Maude B. Hall on 104 East.

Valeriano Ozuna

RIP 1867 - 1938


This is my great-grandfather, he was baptised on Feb 15, 1867 at Sacred Heart in Von Ormy, Texas (born Jan 30 1867) and died in San Antonio, Texas. I would not call him a man of the world. He was a very hard worker at the Perrin Ranch and later in San Antonio at the Belgian Farm (the supplier to San Antonio's truck markets) running the irrigation pumps. He lived in a very small home on San Patricio street, his neighbors were the Pecan Shellers and other laboring people. Tuburculosis is endemic at during the 1920's - 1930's, his two daughters and brother died prematurely from complications.

My daughter says his face looks kind. I am peering into his face looking for family resemblances. I don't see it yet, maybe one of the nephews will grow a mustache soon.

In the photo, his tie is painted on. I don't think he owned a tie. He is something of a mystery, I don't know a lot more than I know about him. My Dad gave me a set of papers that chronicle my great-grandfathers city lot acquisition, his relationship with tenants (not very good), and his partial ownership of a dance hall on 1220 Montezuma in 1924. He was one of the founders of the Club Patritico Colonial Nicolas Bravo, formed as a benevolent association. The main purpose was to have all Hispanic children in San Antonio attending public school.

I still think its pretty cool that I found his photo a put him in the blog.

I was thinking about Fiesta Week and machine guns ...

I liked the way the people in the 1910 era San Antonio threw themselves into Fiesta Week, they hosted a lot of parades with a lot of money as prizes. One of the first places in town to get outdoor lighting was the parade stands at Alamo Plaza. In 1917 the governor of Texas took the week off and spent it in San Antonio so that he could soak up the party atmosphere. I especially liked the fact that the festive atmosphere in the Spring of 1917 led to the Sons of St. Vitus (the burlesque parade) allowing a loaded Singer machine gun to be fired into the air.

Take a look at the google map I created - click on the parade routes, I have pictures of the floats for some of them. For some of them I added the people responsible for making the parade a success. Who knew Porter-Loring of funeral home fame was such a party animal?


View San Antonio Fiesta Parade Routes 1917 in a larger map

This ad is so pretty it had to be shared

May 8th 1910 San Antonio Light and Gazette