Feliz Noche Buena!

As I sit here in my mother in law's living room in cold, rainy Georgia, my heart and soul are 400 miles away at a small house in East Elm Street in sunny and hot Tampa, Florida...My grandparent's house. Home of the Bernaldo family for as long as I've been alive. My father's parents, who are two of the funniest, sweetest, loving people I have ever met. I am lucky enough to call them Buelie and Papa. Buelie is a strange name to call your grandmother unless you are of latin decent like I am...then Buelie is kind of a household name. If you took Spanish in high school, you might remember Abuela means grandmother. Well my older sister had a hard time saying it when she was little and Buelie kind of stuck. Believe me, the name totally suits her. On Christmas Eve, every year, my entire family (aunts, uncles, cousins, and even family friends) gather at my grandparents house for a feast and a party. The Spanish word for Christmas Eve is Noche Buena which literally translates to "good night". And it really is...it's actually the best night of the year. Buelie starts cooking about 3 to 4 days in advance. She makes a ton of food...roast pork with mojo is the main dish. And mojo is not the junk Austin Powers lost! It's a marinade made with sour oranges, lots of garlic, onions and a bunch of spices. It's heaven, really. She makes the mojo and then soaks the pork in it. Oh my...it's soo good I could kick myself. Black beans and rice compliment along with yuca, which is a root kind of like a potato but more tasty. You soak the yuca in mojo, too. There is always a loaf of fresh Cuban bread from the bakery which just melts in your mouth. It's the meal everyone in my entire family looks forward to all year. Then after the bellies are full, my crazy music loving family moves to the living room and Buelie starts passing out the pots and pans...why you ask? Because they make wonderful instruments of course! I am serious...we play anything that makes music. My grandfather, dad and aunt play real guitars and we follow along with whatever we are given. And we sing. We sing every Christmas song we know the words to....and that's a lot! We each take a part in the 12 days of Christmas, we do the background "pums" when someone takes the lead on Little Drummer Boy. We all sing our only Spanish Christmas song "Feliz Navidad" at the tops of our voices. It's so much fun...no matter how cheesy it sounds! And after we have sung, gifts are opened, hugs and kisses and exchanged and everyone goes onto their other family members' celebrations. But nothing tops the crazy traditions and amazing food that is Christmas with the Bernaldo's. I am so lucky to be a part of my family and I will miss spending Noche Buena with them this year. But very soon they will call and the phone will be passed around to everyone. And I will feel like I'm right there, with all my family surrounding me. If only I could make a plate of food appear!