A man and four children were killed when their vehicle was hit by a train in León, Guanajuato, on Saturday in an attempt to beat the train to a level crossing.
The collision occurred at about 4:45 p.m. in the neighborhood of Jesús María when the driver failed to cross the tracks before the train. They were killed on impact. Their vehicle was pushed about 100 meters down the track.
Witnesses said the driver was a 26-year-old who was traveling with his sons Tadeo, 8, and Daniel, 10. The two other minors, friends of his children, were identified as Alejandro and Brando, both 12.
They appear to have been on their way to the community of San Juan de Abajo to watch the final of the Mexican football season on Sunday, the news website ADN 40 reported.
The Ferromex train was halted while the bodies were recovered from the vehicle. The train was hauling cargo from Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, to Mexico City.
Nearly three times as many pilgrims arrived at the basilica in 2018 and 2019.
Some 3.5 million pilgrims made their way to the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City over the past 12 days to pay their respects to the Virgin of Guadalupe 490 years after her purported apparition on the nearby Tepeyac hill.
While numbers were well down compared to 2018 and 2019 when almost triple that number converged on the pilgrimage site, the faith of the devotees of the venerated virgin was undiminished.
One pilgrim was Javier López, who walked about 40 kilometers from his home in Texcoco, México state, to reach the basilica on December 12 – the virgin’s feast day.
Accompanied by his family, López told the newspaper El Universal that he wanted to give thanks to the virgin because his mother was still alive despite having cancer and getting sick with COVID.
“She performed a miracle, … my mother didn’t die despite having cancer and getting infected with COVID-19 halfway through the year. She allowed us to have her [with us] another year,” he said.
“We’re tired but with the energy to see the virgin’s face,” López said, referring to the image of the virgin on a cloak supposedly worn by Juan Diego, a Nahua peasant who reported seeing an apparition of Mary on Tepeyac hill in December 1531.
To reduce the risk of coronavirus contagion, pilgrims were not permitted to camp in close proximity to the basilica on Saturday night, but many bedded down on nearby streets in cold conditions.
Marco Antonio slept a few hours on Calzada de Guadalupe with his wife and son in the early hours of Sunday morning before they made their way to the basilica, where pilgrims were required to wear face masks at all times and keep a safe distance from each other.
They walked from Ixtapaluca, a México state municipality some 40 kilometers southeast, to ask the virgin to do what she could to ensure the safe and successful birth of the family’s second child. Marco’s feet and hands were raw from walking and then crawling to the basilica but he assured reporters his faith was greater than the pain.
“… We’re happy we could come another year and that she gave us health,” he said.
The basilica, one of the world’s most visited pilgrimage sites, was closed to pilgrims last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Inside a San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, home whose owners are signed up with Housesit Mexico.
Thousands of people have discovered the fun and benefits of house-sitting and pet-sitting exchanges as ways to explore Mexico.
Some even find their “forever home,” like Alexandra Gordon, who settled in the Lake Chapala area with her husband after exploring a handful of other places in Mexico. House-sitting enabled them to “live like the locals” in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, and San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, before deciding that lakeside was where they wanted to be.
“It really worked for me,” Gordon said. “I saw what a fabulous experience it was, and I made really good friends wherever we were.”
In 2016, she had the opportunity to buy www.HousesitMexico.com. With her background in media communications, she spent six months redesigning the site and service and then relaunched it in November of that year.
Since then, Housesit Mexico has successfully filled more than 1,000 house-sitting assignments — something Gordon is very proud of.
Housesit Mexico members Jack and Valerie Pearce ended up buying a house in the Lake Chapala area while house-sitting there.
“There’s a real need for this kind of service … from the house sitters and the homeowners and pet owners,” she said. “It’s truly fulfilling a need, and people are getting a lot out of it, which is really a pleasure for me.”
Housesit Mexico is set up to be secure, easy and informative. You can browse for free without access to contact or personal information while you decide if you want a membership. When you’re ready, three types of annual memberships — for sitters, for owners or a dual membership at a reduced rate — give members access to detailed information about the properties, sitters, FAQs and reviews.
Sitters post profiles, references, pet- and house-sitting resumes and comments from satisfied homeowners. Photos are crucial for both sides of the house-sitting coin. Communication starts with the site’s private, in-system messaging, and then people can communicate directly in whatever way they want.
“It’s like a mutual aid society, and it creates value and friendships for everyone involved,” Gordon said.
Close to half the homeowners on the site have a combined membership, she said, enabling them to both find a sitter as well as travel and be sitters themselves. Gordon personally reads every submission and sends out hundreds of personal emails to members, as well as a weekly digest of available house-sitting opportunities.
It’s been Gordon’s experience that people become house sitters or pet sitters for three main reasons: to vacation and explore a certain area, to investigate where to retire and as a full-time occupation.
Housesit Mexico’s owner Alexandra Gordon went into the house-sitting business after experiencing it for herself.
She makes it clear that although sitters are not usually paid, a housesit is not a “free trip” and comes with responsibilities that must be taken seriously. Typically, there are pets that need care.
“There’s a person-to-person exchange of services in return for a place to stay; that’s what house-sitting is,” she explained. Different types of homes require various levels of maintenance, and most involve pets, everything from dogs and cats to parrots, poultry and koi.
“It’s such a relief for people to have their ‘furry family’ taken care of,” she said.
Gordon strongly encourages homeowners to ask for references and then to make a phone or video call to at least one.
“It’s really important to spend the time to talk to one another before accepting a house sitter,” Gordon said. “A homeowner can do a house tour and show their pets; sitters should be personable and come across as real people. There’s nothing like talking to someone yourself.”
While the site has listings for house-sitting opportunities all over Mexico, Gordon said the most popular places reflect where English-speaking residents live (or want to go on vacation): San Miguel de Allende, the Lake Chapala area, Puerto Vallarta, Cancún, Isla Mujeres. Fall, winter and spring are the busiest times.
House-sitting often comes with responsibilities, such as taking care of homeowners’ pets.
Gordon keeps a balance between the number of sitters and listings so that no one is overwhelmed by a huge response. The “How It Works” section on the website explains the process carefully.
Carolyn Simpson has lived in the Lake Chapala area for more than 20 years and has used a wide array of house sitters for her frequent travels back to the United States.
“My experience with Housesit Mexico has been the best; with friends, it was the worst!” Simpson said. She especially likes that most people looking for sitting jobs have done it a lot. “They have a lot of reviews, so you can check their experience. And we talk on the phone, so we both get an idea of what it’s going to be like.”
Some of Simpson’s past sitters have become friends and visit her and her dog when they’re in the area. Another couple, from Oregon, who house-sat recently, ended up buying a house during their stay and are now neighbors.
“A Brazilian couple who work online and have house-sat all over the world — Europe, China, the U.S., South America, all over Mexico — come to visit and take my dog for a walk,” she said. “It’s been a wonderful experience! I’ve met so many different people who are house-sitting for so many different reasons.”
Otherwise retired, Gordon said that the business has been going very well and that there hasn’t been a single “disaster.” And even though the pandemic slowed down travel during 2020, she used that time to focus on customer service and fill the listings they had with sitters already living in Mexico.
The pandemic also forced more people to learn how to use video communication like Zoom, Messenger and Skype, which translates into better introductions for homeowners and potential sitters.
“I feel like I’m creating an enormous amount of good karma,” she said. “I get a lot of wonderful comments and thanks. It’s a wonderful way for me to be involved with the country I’ve adopted and to be a help to so many people.”
Police in 18 San Luis Potosí municipalities lack training and don’t have the weapons they need to do their jobs effectively, according to the state public security minister.
“There are municipalities that don’t have accredited personnel, they don’t have weapons; there are 18 municipalities that we’re inviting to carry out the relevant procedures,” General Gúzmar Angel González Castillo told the newspaper El Sol de San Luis.
“They are very long procedures and perhaps that discourages the mayors,” he said, explaining that they have failed to begin them even though the state government has offered its support.
Officers in the 18 municipalities haven’t completed firearms training and local authorities haven’t purchased the weapons they need, González added. He also said that police in some municipalities mainly patrol on foot due to a lack of police vehicles.
The security minister didn’t name the 18 municipalities but indicated they are in different parts of the state. Some border “states with problems,” he said.
San Luis Potosí has 58 municipalities, 18 of which are deficient in policing.
San Luis Potosí borders nine states including Mexico’s most violent in terms of total homicide numbers – Guanajuato – and the most violent in terms of murders per capita – Zacatecas. San Luis Potosí was the 16th most violent state in the first 10 months of the year in terms of sheer homicides with 650.
The San Luis Potosí government has deployed state police to municipalities that lack trained police and the weapons required to combat criminal groups, while soldiers and members of the National Guard also have a presence.
According to a report by the newspaper Milenio, both municipal and state police in San Luis Potosí are at the mercy of organized crime because they are poorly paid and don’t have sufficient training, vehicles, weapons, bulletproof vests and other equipment.
“With these shortcomings they have to confront organized crime [groups] … that have better weapons, bulletproof vests, better vehicles [and] ostentatious salaries in some cases,” the report said, adding that criminals also outnumber police.
“… We don’t have weapons, we don’t have anything … and people here do virtually whatever they want,” one municipal officer said.
In Villa Juárez, a municipality east of San Luis Potosí city with a population of about 3,500, there are 11 police officers and none is armed.
“It’s quite risky because you don’t have anything with which to defend yourself,” a policewoman told Milenio. “… We don’t have police cars, we don’t have uniforms,” she added.
As a result, officers use their own cars to patrol the streets of Villa Juárez and sometimes have to pay for gas out of their own pockets.
In the neighboring municipality of Cerritos, Aran Jazel Delgado, a policeman, was killed last week during a clash with criminals.
His partner, also a police officer, called on authorities to provide equipment to police to avoid more deaths as officers respond to a turf war between the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel.
“We lack weapons, magazines, vehicles, helmets, [bulletproof] vests, … we need everything,” she said.
The truck lies on its side after last week's crash in Chiapas.
A horrific accident last week in Chiapas which killed 55 migrants and injured over 100 more has revealed an extensive network of human traffickers operating in Mexico.
Deputy Security Minister Ricardo Mejía said 1,600 investigations are underway to uncover traffickers who allegedly charge 60,000 pesos (US $2,860) to transport migrants to the U.S. border.
The trafficking route starts in Chiapas and usually moves through Veracruz, Puebla and Tamaulipas.
In Tamaulipas, authorities report detecting nine trailers carrying more than 700 migrants so far in 2021. Hundreds more migrants were discovered this year, in often inhumane conditions, aboard trucks in Puebla, Veracruz and Chiapas.
The head of trucking group Canacar in Veracruz, Antonio Exsome Zapata, said most of the trailers that move migrants are stolen and their license plates and other signage are copied.“What we have already investigated is that they are stolen units but they copy the identity of the unit … they carry logos of known companies so that they get lost among the units that are circulating, and go virtually unnoticed … that leaves us defenseless,” he said.
In last week’s accident, the truck passed through a state police checkpoint just 500 meters before it crashed but was not stopped despite officers having infrared cameras that could have detected the presence of people in its trailer, the newspaper Reforma reported.
However, the head of the National Guard, Luis Rodríguez Bucio, said the truck didn’t pass through any immigration checkpoints before the crash.
Some migrants who survived the accident fled the scene. Many migrants are willing to risk it with traffickers in order to avoid immigration officials, who could imprison or deport them. Others opt to join caravans to walk from the southern border, and jump on empty trailers whenever they can.
The parliamentary leader of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), Rubén Moreira, said the authorities were to blame for the accident in Chiapas for refusing to properly identify the problem. “This should call us all to reflect … we have to look for a different way out of this whole problem. They died because the authorities don’t give them protection and because there are traffickers … no one raises their voice to say that drug trafficking is taking charge of this illicit trafficking,” he said.
Fernández was known for his marathon performances.
Vicente Fernández, a Grammy award-winning singer and actor known as “The King of Ranchera Music,” died in his home state of Jalisco on Sunday at the age of 81.
His family announced his death in a post on Fernández’s Instagram account, saying that he passed away at 6:15 a.m. on December 12, the feast day of another Mexican icon – the Virgin of Guadalupe.
“It was an honor and a great [source of] pride to share a great career with everyone and give everything for the audience. Thank you for continuing to applaud, thank you for continuing to sing,” the family said.
It didn’t give a cause of death but Fernández had been hospitalized since August after he suffered a fall at his Guadalajara ranch and required spinal surgery. The singer, who had suffered a range of health problems during the past 20 years including prostate and liver cancer, was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare autoimmune disease, while in the hospital.
The news of Fernández’s death triggered a great outpouring of emotion both in Mexico and beyond, especially in the United States where his music has long been loved by Mexican immigrants yearning for their homeland.
Vicente Fernández - Volver Volver (Video de Película)
“I extend my condolences to the family, friends and millions of fans of Vicente Fernández, symbol of the ranchera songs of our times, known and recognized in Mexico and abroad,” President López Obrador said on social media.
Thousands of the singer’s fans flocked to the hospital where he died and his ranch to mourn, leave flowers and offer their condolences and encouragement to his family. A service attended by more than 10,000 people at which a coffin in which Fernández lay on display was held Sunday evening at an auditorium in Tlajomulco, located in the Guadalajara metropolitan area.
“I believe that the Virgin of Guadalupe took him on her day,” Virginia Calderón, a fan, told the newspaper El Universal after leaving flowers outside the hospital. “There will never be another voice like his.”
Born in 1940 in Huentitán El Alto, a town in the municipality of Guadalajara, Fernández spent most of his childhood on his father’s ranch on the outskirts of the Jalisco capital before moving with his family to Tijuana after their cattle business fell on hard times.
He worked in a range of menial jobs in the border city before returning to Guadalajara and singing for tips at the Plaza de los Mariachis, a square in the historic center with bars and restaurants where musicians perform.
“From the time I was young [I sang] but really my career started when I was 19 years old on a [television] show called La Calandria Musical in Guadalajara. After that I would go [and] sing at the Plaza of the Mariachis and would perform serenades for tips,” he said in a 2010 interview with San Antonio news outlet KENS 5.
El Chente’s voice ‘was synonymous with Mexico itself.’
In the early 1960s, Fernández moved to Mexico City, where he performed in a restaurant and sang at weddings. He met María del Refugio Abarca in the capital and the couple married in 1963 before having three sons and adopting a daughter.
After a series of rejections, Fernández finally got a recording deal and had his first hits in the second half of the 1960s with songs such as Perdóname, Cantina del Barrio and Tu Camino y el Mío, a ballad about unrequited love.
In 1972, he appeared in his first film – Tacos al carbón – in which he played the role of a street taco vendor whose life changed after he won a car.
Fernández would go on to appear in over 30 movies and record more than 100 albums that sold tens of millions of copies. His 1976 hit Volver, Volver cemented his status as the greatest ranchera singer of all time.
“When I started my career, I always had the confidence that I would one day make it, but I never imagined that I would reach the heights at which the public has placed me,” he said in the 2010 interview.
Among his most successful songs are El Rey, La Ley del Monte, Mujeres Divinas, Por Tu Maldito Amor,Las Llaves de mi Alma and Lástima que Seas Ajena.
Vicente Fernández - Por Tu Maldito Amor (Video Oficial)
Also known as El Charro de Huentitán (The Cowboy from Huentitán) or simply Chente, Fernández won three Grammys and nine Latin Grammys as well as countless other awards and accolades including a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Known for marathon performances that he continued to give well into his 70s, “El Rey” of ranchera – a genre with deep connections to the values and traditions of rural Mexico – used to say he would continue singing as long as his audience wanted to listen to him. A swig of tequila often gave him a jolt of energy toward the end of long concerts.
The mustachioed singer invariably performed while dressed in an embroidered charro outfit and wearing his trademark sombrero. His performances in stadiums, concert halls, bullrings and cockfight pits, both in Mexico and abroad, were backed by full ensembles of mariachi musicians.
“Over a six-decade career, his voice became synonymous with Mexico itself,” National Public Radio national correspondent Adrian Florido wrote in an obituary.
“His velvety baritone was instantly recognizable, and his songs worked their way into the daily lives of Mexicans and lovers of Mexico the world over – the soundtrack to wedding parties and quinceañeras [15th birthday parties] baptisms, birthdays and funerals.”
However, his life wasn’t without controversy. In 2019, for example, Fernández was criticized after revealing that he refused a liver transplant out of fear the organ could have belonged to a gay person or drug addict.
Still, his legions of fans maintained their love for the “The King of Ranchera Music” until the very end.
Writing in the newspaper El País, DJ and music producer Camilo Lara described Fernández as a “badass charro” and “a kind of John Wayne of Jalisco.”
“… Chente had an extremely long career that turned him into the biggest mariachi superstar. Nobody knew how to connect with the Mexican migrants in the United States like him,” he wrote.
“… Chente didn’t stop singing until the applause ended. He was always very generous in his concerts. I don’t believe that his death means that the applause has ended. Perhaps he just withdrew to rest while he finishes another bottle of tequila.”
The video, published on TikTok, went viral, earning 133,000 likes on the online platform.
The news website Televisa reported that the taco that so impressed the German appeared to be a campechano — a popular style of street food taco in Mexico that often combines both pork and beef — topped with green sauce.
The video has accumulated more than 900,000 views and thousands of comments.
Some Mexican users were touched by the German’s display of emotion: “I hereby declare this gentleman Honorary Mexican!” replied Joe González.
“This guy is a Mexican born in another country. Adopt him right now. We definitely claim him!” Mave Rodríguez wrote.
Other users said that a small stand on the street was the best place to sample the dish.
The humble but beloved taco is central to Mexican cuisine. It is generally a corn tortilla — sometimes wheat — filled with meat, raw onion and cilantro, accompanied by a spicy chile sauce.
The dish predates the Spanish conquistadors’ arrival in Mexico. One suggested etymology for the word “taco” is tlahco, the Náhuatl word meaning “half” or “in the middle,” referring to where the filling would be placed in the tortilla.
Durango and Aguascalientes regressed to medium risk yellow from low risk green on the federal government’s new coronavirus stoplight map, while Baja California Sur and Coahuila switched to green from yellow.
The risk level remained unchanged in the other 28 states.
There are 27 green states on the new map, which takes effect Monday and remains in force through December 26, and five yellow states.
The yellow states are Durango, Aguascalientes, Baja California, Sonora and Chihuahua.
Baja California easily leads the country for active coronavirus cases on a per capita basis. The northern border state has almost 90 current infections per 100,000 people, the federal Health Ministry reported Sunday.
Sonora ranks second with about 45 active cases per 100,000 residents followed by Chihuahua with just over 40. The only other states with more than 30 active cases per 100,000 people are Baja California Sur, Coahuila and Aguascalientes.
Mexico’s accumulated case tally stands at almost 3.92 million after 855 new cases were reported Sunday while the official COVID-19 death toll increased by 52 to 296,672. There are an estimated 19,160 active cases across the country.
The Health Ministry said Sunday that the hospital occupancy rate for COVID patients has declined 90% compared to the pandemic peak in January.
Only one case of the highly mutated omicron variant has been detected in Mexico, but given that the strain has been identified in at least 30 U.S. states – including three of the four states that border Mexico – it is likely more prevalent here than is officially known.
Silversmith Gualberto Mota Martínez is unusual in that he's from southern Mexico and made his career in the north. Leigh Thelmadatter
It is hard to overstate silver’s historic and current importance to Mexico. Despite centuries of sacking, Mexico still is the leading producer of silver ore in the world.
But with the exception of Taxco, Guerrero, Mexican silversmithing is unknown, and that is a shame.
Silver crafting was important in the colonial period, but afterward much of it died out. Some did survive, but most silversmithing done today does not have an uninterrupted history.
Most is the result of revival efforts, although some is new. But so far, only the silver of Taxco has received international attention.
One area where silverwork is growing is in the north of Mexico. Many mines still operate here, so silver is produced and exported, but this is not where the real money is.
Silver necklace and earrings by Cintya Tyaro, incorporating artisan mini-sarapes made by textile artisans. Courtesy of Tyaro Jewelry
The profitability lies in the final product, and artisans and others are looking to capitalize on this. Here are three examples of silverwork stories to give a sense of what is out there.
Alfredo Pérez Aguirre is a silversmith in the Pueblo Mágico of Jerez, Zacatecas. This state straddles the cultural divide of north and central Mexico. It is cowboy country, but the state is also home to baroque architecture as seen further south. Its silver tradition also reflects this mixture.
Pérez did not come from an artisan family, but his mother did own a jewelry store. He learned on his own to fix rings and the like, and it was only a matter of time before he was making his own jewelry designs.
People from Jerez have a preference for more ornate styles from their colonial past, and so baroque-style moon-shaped earrings is what Pérez is known for. These earrings have their origins in the Middle East and were brought to Mexico by the Spanish, who spent centuries under Muslim rule before they came to the New World.
This colonial style was originally done in gold, but because of cost, silver is preferred now.
About 70% of Pérez’s business is still done in the local community, with the rest thanks to regional fairs and international contacts he has made.
An example of Mota’s silverwork, which uses Taxco techniques but is inspired by Durango’s culture. Leigh Thelmadatter
Only 3 1/2 hours away lives Gualberto Francisco Mota Martínez, who goes professionally by “Gualas” (a Hispanization of the surname Wallace).
The city of Durango is not far from Zacatecas city, but there is a significant difference in culture. Some old buildings in the city show similarities to those in central Mexico, but you have to look harder for them, and even these are far less ornate.
Durango was conquered and settled by the Spanish later, in part because of the lack of silver and gold deposits, and so handcrafts in general here are more recent in origin and often as a result of modern influences from farther south.
Gualas’ southern influence is from his training as a silversmith in Taxco, starting as an apprentice when he was a child. The experience allowed him to learn from a number of maestros, not just one, something that taught him to be flexible and creative.
He was eventually invited by a government project in Durango to teach silverwork to disabled people in the state. The project lasted two years, enough time for the maestro to fall in love with the state.
Gualas’ techniques are all from his Taxco childhood, but his northern surroundings have had a profound impact on his designs, using inspiration from local and regional architecture and pottery and other handcrafts such as masks. Interestingly, his designs have found more popularity among international buyers than with Mexicans, but it is this absorption of images from one’s environment that is important in an artist creating their own aesthetic.
From left to right, Margarita Avila and Cintya Rodríguez at the Los Pinos Cultural Center in Mexico City. Leigh Thelmadatter
The last northerner is not one person but a small group of women artisans who share the same origin story: Alejandra Arrellano of A3, Margarita Avila of Margaret Plata, Silvia Bermúdez of Silvia Aragón (no online presence right now; phone is 871 727 5163) and Cintya Rodríguez of Tyaro Jewelry.
All four are located in the industrial city of Torreón, Coahuila. None had any background in the making of fine jewelry until they found courses in Saltillo sponsored by the state government. These courses were created specifically to get a silver crafting industry going in Coahuila, diversifying from simply exporting unworked silver.
The courses they took produced 10 graduating classes, and all four women met each other there. I met them through an event in Mexico’s capital called the Original, sponsored by the Culture Ministry in Mexico City. The women were promoting themselves there collaboratively.
“It is highly satisfying to see pieces finished, to see in physical form the ideas we had in our minds,” says Rodríguez.
All four have different, mostly modern, styles and designs, but all four are influenced by the culture of Coahuila. One particular sign of this is the inclusion of the sarape in a number of pieces. The women do not take sarapes and cut them up; instead they contract with Coahuila sarape weavers to make mini-sarapes specifically for them to be framed in silver. The completed pieces carry certificates of authenticity for both the sarape and the silverwork.
Sensitive to their niche market, these artisans specialize in unique and limited edition pieces, rather than trying to compete with mass producers. In many cases, only five reproductions of a single design will be made and no more.
Alfredo Pérez Aguirre, left, with a detail, right, of his traditional Jerez “half-moon” (although round) filigree earrings. Leigh Thelmadatter
For all four women, it is extremely important that customers know that their work comes from the north of Mexico and not from Taxco. As with other northern craftspeople, it is important to distinguish themselves because the north is not known for fine handcrafts … and simply because they are different from Mexicans in the rest of Mexico.
Leigh Thelmadatter arrived in Mexico 18 years ago and fell in love with the land and the culture in particular its handcrafts and art. She is the author of Mexican Cartonería: Paper, Paste and Fiesta (Schiffer 2019). Her culture column appears regularly on Mexico News Daily.
Divine in its simplicity, lemon shortbread is a perennial fave.
The first record of cookies as we would recognize them is found in 7th-century Persia (now Iran), which was one of the earliest countries to grow sugar cane. Then, with the Muslim conquest of Spain in 711, previously expensive and hard-to-get sugar made its way more freely through the continent, and bakers began to use it more abundantly.
At that time, cakes and filled pies were the norm; cookies as we know them hadn’t really made an appearance in European society yet. What we think of as “cookies” originally had a very pragmatic use: made from small amounts of cake batter, they were for testing the oven temperature before baking cakes. That’s it.
Needless to say, bakers reveled in the availability of sugar, and by the 1300s, cookies, in some form or another, were commonplace in every level of European society. In the 16th century, England’s Queen Elizabeth I made history with gingerbread cookies fashioned in the images of important guests at a party.
By the 1800s, cookies began taking on qualities we’re more familiar with, specifically the creaming of butter and sugar, as opposed to the more liquid cake batter with its water and oil content.
The real burning question I know many of you have (especially fans of the TV show The Great British Bake Off) is why they’re called “biscuits” in England (and most other English-speaking countries, including parts of Canada) and “cookies” in the United States where, whether crisp or soft, it’s still called a cookie.
Get the flavor of Reese’s cups in homemade cookies with these easy peanut butter bars.
Hah! There’s really no answer; that’s just the way it is. The word “cookie” comes from the Dutch word for cake, koekje, and began to be used in English in the early 17th century. Historians speculate that Dutch immigrants brought the word to New York and it spread through the continent.
Here in Mexico, they’re galletas whether crispy, soft or somewhere in between.
Lemon-Masa Shortbread
These are so good you may want to double the recipe.
1 cup masa harina
1 cup flour
1 cup butter, softened
¾ cup confectioner’s sugar
½ tsp. salt
Zest of 2 lemons
2 tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup granulated sugar
Preheat oven to 325 F. Lightly grease or line with parchment two baking sheets.
In small bowl, whisk masa harina and flour. Set aside.
Beat butter, confectioner’s sugar, salt and zest at medium-high speed until very smooth and creamy, about 5 minutes — longer than you normally would do for most cookies. Scrape sides of bowl as needed. Stir in vanilla.
On low speed, mix in dry ingredients until dough comes together. Portion into 1½-inch balls.
Gently roll in granulated sugar to coat before placing onto prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between each. Lightly flatten top of each cookie with a fork.
Bake 12–16 minutes until set and the edges start to brown slightly. Remove from oven; allow to cool on the baking sheet. (Cookies are fragile when warm.)
Cool completely before serving. Store well-wrapped at room temperature for several days; freeze for longer storage.
Get a taste of Italy with chocolate biscotti.
No-Bake Peanut Butter Bars
Basically DIY Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Yum!
3 Tbsp. butter
1 cup peanut or other nut butter
Pinch of salt
½ cup cookie crumbs (graham crackers or gingersnaps) or shredded coconut
Heat butter in a skillet, letting it melt, bubble and turn brown. Add peanut butter; turn off heat. (If nut butter is unsalted, add a pinch of salt.) Stir until peanut butter melts. Stir in crumbs. Sweeten to taste with confectioners’ sugar. Spread mixture onto a parchment-lined 8-by-8-inch pan.
In a small pot, melt chocolate chips and coconut oil/butter, stirring constantly. (Or microwave in 20-second bursts, stirring between each one.) Spread melted chocolate over the peanut butter layer, then sprinkle with toppings of choice. Refrigerate until set, about one hour. Cut into squares with a knife. Store in refrigerator.
Chocolate Coconut Almond Biscotti
1¾ cups flour
¾ cup cocoa
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsp. vanilla
1Tbsp. water
1/3 cup shredded unsweetened coconut, toasted
¼ cup slivered almonds or chopped pistachios
Preheat oven to 350 F. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, cocoa and salt. Using an electric mixer, beat in eggs and vanilla, then the water. Keep beating till dough is smooth and soft, or dump onto a floured counter and mix by hand. Add nuts and coconut and mix well. Dough will be stiff, but try to work it to the point that it’s smooth without any cracks.
Divide dough in half. Form each half into a 2½-inch wide, 3/4-inch tall log and transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Bake for 12 minutes; turn baking sheet and bake 12 minutes more. Dough should be firm but give slightly when pressed.
Cool 20 minutes on wire rack; cut diagonally into about ¼-inch slices and place standing upright back onto cookie sheet. Bake again for 8 minutes; rotate cookie sheet and bake 8 minutes more.
Remove from oven and cool.
These muddie buddies make for a quick treat during TV time.
Muddie Buddies/Puppy Chow
Not cookies but still a delicious treat.
1 (12-oz.) box of Chex, Crispix or similar cereal (about 11 cups)
1½ cups chocolate chips
¾ cup creamy peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1½ cups confectioners’ sugar
Salt
Place cereal in a large bowl. Melt chocolate chips and peanut butter: Microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring between each, until nearly completely melted, then stir to melt completely. On stovetop, stir in a small saucepan over low heat.
Once melted, remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour chocolate-peanut butter mixture over the cereal; stir vigorously to coat. Refrigerate until chocolate is cool, 10–15 minutes.
Spread coated cereal in an even layer on sheet pan. With a fine-mesh sieve, sprinkle some of the confectioners’ sugar evenly over the cereal, add a pinch of salt, then toss with a spoon or your hands, until evenly coated. Repeat with remaining powdered sugar.
Store in airtight container at room temperature for 3–4 days or in fridge or freezer for months.
