DAY OF THE DEAD 2023

Dia de los Muertos...Day of the Dead.  We always like to continue this tradition.  It's a major holiday in Hispanic culture and becoming bigger and bigger here in Texas in general.  It's a day to remember those who have passed (both two legged and four).  You set up an "offrenda" where you put candies and food and things your loved ones enjoyed.  Families even get together at cemeteries to eat and reminisce.

I set this up with some of the Day of the Dead decorations we have.  I think I enjoy this as much or maybe more, than Halloween.

On another table, we had some pictures of our parents and our kitties, interspersed with more decor.  On this one though, I put some things for us to enjoy and the two wrapped packages were gifts for 2nd Man.

Found some garland that has wonderful marigolds all along it, the official flower of Day of the Dead.  Side note, marigolds are sort of the flower of Dia de Los Muertos because it is believed their distinct smell, when paired with a candle, allows the souls of the departed to return for a brief period of time and enjoy the pleasures of life once more.  That's kind of an interesting backstory to that.

Here is what I got 2nd Man...well, for both of us, some candy, because, well, we didn't Trick or Treat, so we have to have our own candy, right?

Found these chocolate coins and thought they would be perfect scattered around.  They are REALLY good, ha.

Then I got these...M&Ms partnered with HEB to have a special edition of Peanut M&Ms. They are in custom designed bags and the only colors inside are yellow, orange and a special purple color.

I found these online...they are papier-mache and filled with gummy candies (we left a few inside so you could see them).  The gummies are from Spain and the ball was made in Germany.  I wanted these because the plan next year is to fill them with favorite candies.

And then the two gifts I got him:

The official cookbook from the Disney PIXAR film Coco.  The book had great reviews with some really nice recipes inside.  Then a Lodge, cast iron comal (flat, round griddle pan) that has a Day of the Dead design on the bottom.  Every year, they come out with a new piece and since you can never go wrong with Lodge, I figured we needed to keep the tradition going.

And speaking of tradition:

We end the evening by watching the wonderful movie Coco.  We do that once a year at this time.

So much fun, and so touching...