rosca de los reyes

rosca de reyes

mexican hot chocolate

ay, ay, ay, i got the little plastic baby in my piece

on tuesday night some friends and i celebrated what we call epiphany and what latinos and hispanics call dia de los reyes (the day of the three kings or wise men). in mexico and other countries, children wait excitedly to see what the three kings have left under the christmas tree for them. they eat a traditional sweet bread called rosca de reyes, and drink the equivalent of hot chocolate.

the celebration is really the acknowledgement of the baby jesus. i am not sure exactly how this tradition got started, but there are little plastic babies in the rosca. when you cut the bread, if you get one of the plastic babies in your piece, something magical happens.

okay, not so magical. justino and i both got the babies in our piece and that meant that we are in charge of making a large carne asada dinner for our friends. usually the people with the baby have to make tamales, but everyone settled on the much easier carne asada. whew that is a relief for me.

we had to wait until 10:30 at night to celebrate since everyone was working. hence the tired face. it was fun to celebrate though and get another perspective on epiphany. i really love being able to be a part of the way other people celebrate. it brings a new understanding to some long held traditions.