It’s Noche Buena…Feliz Navidad!

It may sound strange, but as I’ve mentioned before, Christmas Eve is actually the day that we get together and celebrate. Normally, our whole family gathers at someone’s house and we have our typical Noche Buena dinner. A traditional Puerto Rican Christmas Eve dinner has the following dishes:

• Arroz con Gandules – Yellow rice with pigeon peas
• Pernil – Roasted pork shoulder
• Pasteles – Green banana with a pork filling

We might also make some other side dishes, but those are just extras. The required dishes are the arroz, pernil, and pasteles. Without them, basically, it’s not Christmas Eve.

Typically, in most houses, you’ll also find coquito. Coquito is an alcoholic drink based on rum and coconut. It’s our holiday drink, so many refer to it as the Puerto Rican Eggnog. But, though some do make it with egg, most don’t. So, it’s really a very different drink.

A couple of years back, I posted this recipe for coquito. But, it’s not even the recipe I use anymore. Many have asked me recently how to make coquito, so I figured I’d share the recipe I currently use. I made some last night and went ahead and made a video as well.

How to Make Puerto Rican Coquito

Recipe for Coquito (Puerto Rican Eggnog)

• 1 14 oz can of condensed milk
• 1 12 oz can of evaporated milk
• 1 15 oz can of cream of coconut
• 1/2 cup white rum
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

You will need a blender, an empty bottle, and a funnel. Mix all of the ingredients in the blender and blend at high speed. Then, pour into the empty bottle using the funnel.

That’s it! It’s a really simple recipe and takes all of 2 minutes to make. I think the longest part is opening the cans. If you end up trying the recipe, I’d love to hear how you like it.

I hope that all of you have a great Noche Buena (Christmas Eve) and a Merry Christmas! I intend to enjoy some great food, loving family, and some delicious coquito!

Starting today, SpanglishBaby, is hosting 7 days of Mamás Blogueras (Blogging Moms) and highlighting posts about our bi-cultural holiday traditions. I’m honored to be 1 of the 7 mamis being featured! You can find my post up today: Embracing Puerto Rican Christmas Traditions.

A little excerpt for you:

Growing up, we always knew Navidad had arrived in our house when our father began playing his musica navideña. He would break out his tapes (yes, I said tapes not CDs) and play endless Puerto Rican folkloric music.

Click over to read the full post and enjoy reading the remaining 6 posts from other Latina moms.

This year we did things a little different.

Instead of having our traditional Noche Buena meal with the (extended) family, we decided to stay home and celebrate with our own family. That is to say, that it was just the three of us this year.

But, we will be heading to my parents’ for dinner today and the menu will be the traditional Puerto Rican Christmas meal.

I have to say that outside of the guilt/pressure to do things a certain way and please the family, I pretty much enjoyed the quiet and relaxed day we spent together.

We  baked some cookies, made a reindeer, an angel, and Santa cards.

We talked about Santa and pondered how he might enter our house. The answer, according to my three year old, “He’ll ring the doorbell.”

She also sang Happy Birthday to baby Jesus after we explained it was his birthday.

And in a new modern mami tradition, we put out cookies for Santa at night and left him the card we made.

It was a little different. We did not share the day with the abuelos. We did not eat our arroz, pernil, or pasteles.

But, in the end, I think it all worked out.

Enjoy your family folks and have a great Christmas.

Make a Smilebox greeting

Before I sign off for the holidays, I couldn’t leave without sharing the recipe for coquito (let’s call it a Puerto Rican version of eggnog – but better! lol).

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Coquito – from http://www.elboricua.com/coquito.html

30 ounces coconut milk
14 ounces condensed milk
1 cup Bacardi rum
½ cup water
pinch of salt
½ tsp. cinnamon

Mix all ingredients in the blender. Taste and [add] more rum if you like it stronger. You need to add the water because it will get thicker later in the fridge. Pour into a bottle and refrigerate well. Make ahead for richer flavor. Serve in small glassware.
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You can also read up on the traditions of a Puerto Rican Christmas and another great dish – pasteles.

My baby girl had her first pastel earlier this month when we had the all day cooking fest.

I’m not sure if she liked it, but she ate some of it, actually, most of it got on her clothes, but such is toddler feeding.

Anyway, FELIZ NAVIDAD!