Dia de los Muertos at the Godalming Group
The Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos in Spanish) is a holiday celebrated mainly in Mexico and by people of Mexican heritage (and others) living in the United States and Canada. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and relatives who have died. The celebration occurs on the 1st and 2nd of November, in connection with the Catholic holy days of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day which take place on those days. Traditions include building private altars honoring the deceased, using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting graves with these as gifts. Read more on the Wikipedia page.
The children decorated sugar skulls and we tried some Pan de Muerto, a sweet bread traditionally baked for the occasion and shaped or decorated with bone motifs.
Useful Links
- The instructions I used to make the skulls
- The molds (you get 2 fronts and 2 backs)
- The Meringue Powder
- The bread - n.b. I couldn't find Anise Seed anywhere so used 1 1/2tsp of Ground Star Ansise instead.
- Examples of decorated sugar skulls
- Nine pages of information, photos and video clips about the clebration of Dia de los Muertos in the Oaxaca area of Mexico.
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