Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with cars, history and biscochitos

Image of Hispanic Heritage Month celebration — **CELEBRATING HERITAGE** — Sandia commemorated Hispanic Heritage Month with a variety of virtual and socially distanced, in-person activities. Events during the month, celebrated Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, included: virtual kickoff hosted by the Hispanic Outreach and Leadership Awareness and Hispanic Leadership Council employee resource groups; “Hispanics at Sandia: A Look at History” livestream; Diversity Cinema showing; STEM art contest featuring creations by local students; and art display by Sandia employees. HOLA partnered with Sandia’s inclusion, diversity, EEO & AA organization to publish a cultural recipe cookbook titled “Delicious!” on the SRN.

Image of Hispanic Heritage Month car show — **SHOWING OFF** — On Friday, Oct. 1, a socially distanced annual car show was held at Hardin Field. The winners were: Herman Seijas, first place, 2002 Ford Excursion; Izrael Quintana, second place, 1968 Chevy Camaro; and Brett Ellen, third place, 2019 Acura NSX.

Blue corn biscochitos

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Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month by baking blue corn biscochitos with this recipe from Montenique Rodriguez.

“I got this recipe from an old coworkers’ daughter who loves to experiment in her heritage and make the foods from it. The blue corn gives an earthy flavor. I think it is great for kids to experiment with foods to learn their culture. This is a big hit for Christmas in my house!” Montenique said.

Ingredients

Cookies

1 lb. shortening (preferably

Snow Cap)

1 egg

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups blue corn flour (Masa Brosa brand)

1 Tbsp. cinnamon

Sprinkle of salt

1/2 tsp. baking powder

2 Tbsp. vanilla extract

2 pinches of anise (optional)

Biscochito bath

1 cup sugar

1 Tbsp. cinnamon

Preparation instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. In a large bowl, combine shortening and egg with a fork until well mixed.

3. Add brown sugar and combine thoroughly.

4. Add 1 cup of sugar and mix until well combined.

5. Add 1 cup of all-purpose flour and mix well with hands. It will be sticky.

6. Add 2nd cup of all-purpose flour and mix again. Make sure to get all the flour at the bottom.

7. Add 1 cup of blue corn flour and mix well.

8. Add 2nd cup of blue corn flour and mix well. If you feel you need more flour, only add more blue corn flour.

9. Add cinnamon, salt, baking powder, vanilla extract and anise. Combine thoroughly with fork.

10. Lightly flour counter surface and roll out with rolling pin to medium thickness. This takes patience as it may stick to the rolling pin.

11. Use cookie cutter or glass cup and place on foil-lined baking sheets.

12. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden.

13. While cookies are baking, mix your biscochito bath until well mixed.

14. While cookies are warm, not hot, roll cookies into bath on both sides and store in desired container.

Dietary considerations: Egg

Sandia LabNews