The Day After Thanksgiving

The day after Thanksgiving and my family are all in the kitchen in San Diego making fried corn and strawberry tamales and a Mexican omelette* with caso Oxacaño (cheese from the town of Oxaca) and homemade salsa verde with aqua fresca hormica (non-alcoholic).  No leftover turkey in sight – wait until dinner.  We have had our coffee, some leftover cornbread earlier and did chi gong exercises so now it is time to eat.

Elsten Torres is on the stereo, streaming via Bluetooth from my phone.  We are cooking to strains of  Elsten Torres, one of my favorite Latino singer/songwriters.  If you don’t know Torres, you should check him out.  A double Grammy nominee, he sings mostly in English in his own recordings, but writes in English and Spanish for  Ricky Martin, Luis Fonsi,  Alejandra Guzmán, Julio Iglesias Jr., Aleks Syntek,  John Rich (Big & Rich), and many others and recently released his second all-English album, Waiting for Clouds, which is great cooking (and loving ) music.

Speaking of Grammy nominations, they were announced this week by the Academy.  Some were pretty much expected—Doja Cat with and without SZA, Billie Eilish, Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Tony Bennet and Lady Gaga, Hans Zimmer, Little Naz X, H.E.R., and John Baptiste for everything.

There were some surprises and nominations that made me especially happy – or thankful since this is the season.  Mon Laferte, who won a Latin Grammy last week and then performed, backed by a  Mariachis Lindas Mexicanas with my good friend Nancy Sanchez in the back with a mask and a guitar. Laferte was on my radio show a couple of years ago and was a trip to interview.

Another happy surprise is Olivia Rodrigo as Best New Artist.  She was on my show last year and I have been keeping my eye on her, and recommended her song  “Drivers License” on my Hot Half Dozen recommendations.  For 18 years old, she writes sophisticated lyrics and delivers them with poise and emotion.   

Torres was not on the list this year, even though his song “Closer Tonight” is rapidly becoming a classic love song and has over 400,000 streams on Spotify.  Maybe next year.   In the meantime, we are going to go back to frying tamales for our post-Thanksgiving breakfast.

*eggs, shredded Oxacan cheese, onion, powder, garlic powder, kosher salt, avocado chunks, chopped cilantro, cooked in the same non-stick, high-sided pan that the salsa verde was sautéed in. Stir until firm at medium heat and then step away from the pan until it forms a light crust on the bottom. Serve on tortillas with salsa verde