Mickey’s Christmas Carol

Just in time for the holidays Disney has released the 30^th anniversary special edition of “Mickey’s Christmas Carol.”  The original has been digitally enhanced and this classic story sparkles like never before.  This animated version of Charles Dicken’s classic features all of your favorite Disney characters with Mickey as Bob Cratchitt and Scrooge McDuck as Ebenezer Scrooge.  The movie delivers a heartwarming and timeless message of kindness and generosity and it reminds us that the real meaning of the holiday season lies in sharing, giving and spending time with family.

“Mickey’s Christmas Carol” is the perfect movie to watch with the whole family during the holidays as the story retains enough of the original tale to keep adults interested while making it simple for young children to understand. This Blue-Ray + DVD edition includes a digital copy so you can watch on the go on any device and contains five bonus winter themed Disney shorts. For me this movie brought great memories as we used to watch it with my family when I was a child and it was wonderful to be able to share it now with my children and add it to our holiday Spanish movie-watching tradition as all of the content, including the shorts, can also be enjoyed in Spanish or French.

Winnie-the-Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year

This Blue-Ray + DVD combo brings together two holiday stories: the 1991 TV show “Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too!” and the 2002 “Happy Pooh Year”. In “Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too!” Pooh sets off to deliver his friend’s wish list to Santa and his absence reminds them that holidays are about your loved ones and not about the presents under the tree. This delightful story celebrates friendship, generosity, and the spirit of giving.  In “Happy Pooh Year” Rabbit’s New Year’s resolutions are not working out as he had envisioned and he gets frustrated with his friends, which makes them try to change to keep him from leaving resulting in everyone swapping personalities.  My little guy could not stop laughing as Piglet bounced around, Eeyore happily ate all the honey and Tigger sulked.  After watching the movie my children where kept busy for a couple of hours playing the “Covered in Snow” interactive game and a “New Year’s Eve” countdown and song selection with on-screen lyrics. This is a great holiday movie to have for any Pooh fan delivering many wonderful messages and lessons. “Winnie-the-Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year” can also be enjoyed in Spanish or French.

The Giveaway!

We’re giving away one copy of “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” & “Winnie-the-Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year” to one lucky winner. All you have to do is leave us a comment letting us know who your favorite character in from both of these movies is. Then, enter the Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

In Guatemala there are many dishes that are traditionally made for the Día de los Muertos celebrations, one of my favorite is the molletes. Very different from the Mexican molletes, Guatemalan molletes are similar to French toast. They are stuffed with custard and accompanied with syrup made with panela or raw sugar and rum. However, you can leave the rum out for a kid-friendly version. Molletes and torrejas are sometimes used interchangeably but they are different dishes as the torrejas are not stuffed.

For my family, as well as for many other Latino families living in the United States, sharing traditional dishes like the molletes truly brings us together and makes us feel closer not only to our country, Guatemala, but also to our family there.  When I remember my family or think about my country, one of the first things that come to mind is food, because food is not only tied to traditions but also to memories, to family, to culture and to your own identity.  I am hopeful that food will help me keep my culture alive in my children and will preserve our beautiful traditions like remembering our loved ones that have passed away.

I had never made molletes or torrejas until I moved to the United States and I was really surprised at how easy they where to make, even though they do take a little time.  As all the family was gathered together in the kitchen making them I told my kids stories of my grandmother who passed away and how her molletes where so delicious.  We talked about traditions in Guatemala and about our family there. The kids loved hearing all about Guatemala, about their great grandparents and enjoyed helping out and eating all the manjar that was left over

Ingredients for Molletes

• 3 eggs
• 2 tablespoons of flour
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 10 small molletes (lard or sweet bread rolls, you can find them in Latino food stores)
• 2 cups of vegetable oil
• ¼ cup raisins
• red sugar for garnish

Ingredients for Custard or Manjar

• 2 ¼ cups of whole milk
• ½ cup sugar
• 6 tablespoons of cornstarch
• 1 cinnamon stick
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Ingredients for Syrup

• 2 cup panela or raw sugar
• 3 cups of water
• ½ cup rum
• zest from one lime
• ½ teaspoon allspice
• 3 cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• raisins

Directions        

• In a sauce pan over medium heat bring 2 cups of milk, sugar, cinnamon and salt to a boil.
• While milk is heating up mix together cornstarch and ¼ cup cold milk in a bowl.
• Once milk has reached the boiling point reduce heat.
• Take ½ cup of the hot milk and add to the cornstarch, mixing well.
• Pour cornstarch and milk mix back into saucepan and heat stirring constantly until custard thickens.
• Remove from heat and add vanilla mixing well.
• Let cool.
• To make the syrup place the panela or raw sugar, water, lime zest, allspice, cloves, cinnamon stick and rum in a large saucepan and bring to a boil.
• Lower heat.
• While the syrup is heating up cut off the top of each of the molletes (rolls).
• Remove some of the bread creating a cavity in the center of each mollete.
• Place 3-4 raisins inside each mollete .
• Fill with custard and place the lid on, pressing lightly to close it .
• Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
• Add the yolks, flour and sugar and beat for 2 more minutes.
• Heat up the oil in a large pan.
• Dip the stuffed molletes into the egg mixture and carefully place in hot oil.
• Fry for a minute or less on each side until golden.
• Remove from pan and place on a colander, place colander over sink and pour boiling water over them.
• Pat them dry to remove excess water.
• Place the molletes in the syrup and cook over low heat until they are soft.
• Serve warm or cold.