Lucia and her Tortillas

Lucia's Tortillas: It should be the name of a children's book. :)  My grandmother's tortillas bring back some of my favorite childhood memories. Just about every Sunday our family van would make the 90 minute trek to Paris (Kentucky, that is) to see my grandparents and gazillion cousins. When I say gazillion, I think it's somewhere in the ballpark of 65-70.  {{Here are a few of my favorite family blogs: my sister Luci, cousin Maria (Maria is also the heart behind Going Natural Woman), cousin Anna, and cousin Trisha.}} We weren't all gathered there at the same time, but most Sundays there would be at least 20-30 kids running around. Bliss, just honest to goodness wholesome fun.

Obviously things change as we get older and I get emotional just typing how much I would give to have one of those days back with my grandparents. My cousin, Anna, wrote about our sweet grandfather here and a few of the fond memories of our grandparents home. It was almost a year ago he died at the age of 97.

My grandmother is the matriarch by every sense of the word: an older woman who is powerful within a family. That's her. She's witty, charismatic and bold. She grabbed my freshman 15 love handles in college and asked in her thick mexican accent, "What you been eating!?" And then of course without wasting much time she would fry up some bologna, eggs, or potatoes and fill a tortilla for me. The last time I visited we were sitting at her kitchen table. She doesn't say much these days, but half way through her meal she realized she forgot to say grace. She was in the middle of taking a sip of her coffee, stopped, made the sign of the cross (with cup in hand!) and said a silent prayer.  Such a beautiful moment for me to witness...even through her ugly illness she can remember to give thanks.

A couple of years ago, before her Alzheimer's really took hold, my sister spent the day at her home perfecting her tortilla making skills. Sister Maria Fidelis jotted down the ingredients and gave them to me. It's a little treasure that I hold close to my heart.

Last week the skittles and I spent a few hours in the kitchen making Memaw's tortillas. While they weren't exactly as she would make them, they were soooo yummy. They crushed store bought tortillas (and we go through a lot of them). I love when I hear my little Lucy say, "Are we making Memaw Zuniga's tortillas?"

I went to three different stores looking for a tortilla press. Thinking this would cut down on the rolling pin time for each tortilla, I laughed at how my grandmother would react to a store bought press. I couldn't find one anywhere, so I figured it was a sign that I needed to go through all the steps just like she did for us each time we would visit.

Hers were perfect.

Mine were a little imperfect.  (She always pressed them with a towel to get the air out...)

My memory aromas go into full throttle as they were cooking. She always wrapped them in a towel to keep them warm and not dried out.

We filled the tortillas with this yummy recipe...divine.

So, if you're in the mood for some delicious homemade tortillas, you now have the world's best recipe.