Family, Food & Cheer

“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.” ~J.R.R. Tolkien

Well, as someone who has always dreamed of hoarding as much gold as I can find, I suppose when it comes to my Martinez family, I will agree that a merrier bunch around food and cheer may be harder to find.

Photos displayed of Martinez and Ramirez loved ones.

Food & Family

It probably comes as no surprise that, for me, food has always been an important thing. Growing up, every occasion was marked by food. It’s not that unusual, of course. Most families serve food at special occasions: weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, deaths, celebrations. And memories are created at those special occasions.

But what I remember is that when we all came together, food was always an extra important element. I won’t say it was more important than the people, but I will say it was important.

Many stories from my dad or from my aunts and uncles always included something about food. A memory of working in the fields as migrants included what they ate. A story about someone’s first car included the local drive-in where they took it for their first spin. My dad’s homecoming from war had the meal his mother made as a central figure in that favorite memory of his.

Food Memories

My own memories of childhood vacations and trips to visit family also have food in them. I can see so many boxes of Church’s fried chicken on any family member’s kitchen table; I can smell the tortillas or tamales cooking during Christmas; I can taste the cold Nehi while having a picnic on the beach with my parents; I can remember the treat of going to Red Lobster with my grandmother after a shopping trip at McCreless Mall in San Antonio.

If I close my eyes and really try, I can remember how the kitchen sounded as my grandmother cooked, her happy voice trailing off as she lovingly (or not) yelled at someone to get out of the way-too-small kitchen.

Making New Memories

My Martinez family got together last week to celebrate our annual family reunion get-together. They aren’t always big affairs, and they usually occur in the summer months, but it was decided to plan a party in January this year to celebrate the 80th year anniversary of my grandparents’ wedding date.

We held this year’s festivities at the St. Leo the Great Catholic Church Community Center on the Southside of San Antonio. I consider St. Leo’s (as its called) my family’s church, and it was nice for all of us to be close to the old neighborhood.

We had about fifty family members from the Martinez and Ramirez (as we invited extended family from my grandmother’s side) families present. And all of us were hungry.

My Tia Belda, with her grandson Marcus Aurelius Martinez, the newest member of the family.

Food & Cheer

We had our party catered this year, and once we knew we wanted to have good Tex-Mex fare, we looked for a restaurant or caterer who would do a good job.

We decided on El Sol Mexican Restaurant for the catering. The price was great, the food was really, really good and working with Adam Garcia of El Sol was a joy!

I chose El Sol because when I asked on Facebook for some catering recommendations, while many local restaurants were suggested and tagged in my post (on a public forum), Adam Garcia personally reached out and said he’d be glad to cater our family event. He was patient as we decided what we wanted, and he and another employee personally set up everything, served us and were very friendly throughout our meal. It was a great experience!

I highly recommend using Adam and El Sol for any catering event.

We chose the combo plate that included cheese enchiladas, carne guisada, rice and beans, which came with (really good) tortillas, salsa and all the plates, etc. for serving and eating.

Thank you, Adam! You made our family day that much more special!

The Best Food Makes the Best Memories

Maybe food isn’t always in my best memories, but it usually has a part to play. Last week, the best thing I ate was good food, prepared by good people, and shared with some of the people I love most in this world.

If that doesn’t make for a good memory, I don’t know what does. After all, these kinds of memories are worth more than gold.

~Elda Eats XO