K.Esquivel-LWFC

that the revolution had started up again, but
he discarded the thought;
it had been too calm in the country lately.
Maybe it was the engine of one of the
neighbor's motorcars.
But motorcars didn't produce such a
nauseating smell. How strange that
he could smell it even though he'd taken the
precaution of walking all
around the bedroom with a spoon containing
a chunk of burning charcoal
and a pinch of sugar.
That was the most effective remedy against
bad smells.
When he was a child, it was what they
always did in the room where
someone had had the stomach flu, and it had
always worked to fumigate
the atmosphere. This time it hadn't done a
bit of good. Worried, he
went over to the door that communicated
between the two bedrooms;
tapping with his knuckles, he asked Rosaura
if she felt all right.
Receiving no answer, he opened the door:
there he found Rosaura, her
lips purple, body deflated, eyes wild, with a
distant look, sighing out
her last flatulent breath. John's diagnosis
was an acute congestion of
the stomach.
Her burial was very poorly attended, because
the disagreeable odor
Rosaura's body gave off got worse after her
death. For that reason not
many people chose to attend. The ones
determined not to miss it were
the buzzards-a flock of them circled the
funeral party until the body
had been buried. Seeing they weren't going
to have a banquet, they
flew off disappointed, leaving Rosaura to rest
in peace.
But Tita's hour of rest had not yet come. Her
body may have been
crying for sleep, but she had to finish the
walnut sauce first.
That's why, instead of thinking about the
past, it would be a lot
better to hurry up with the cooking so she
could take a well-deserved
breather.
After the nuts have been peeled, grind them
on the stone with the
cheese and cream. Finally, add salt and
white pepper to taste.
Cover the filled chiles with this nut sauce and
garnish with the
pomegranates.
FILLING THE CHILES: Fry the onions in a
little oil. When they start to
get transparent, add the ground meat, cumin,
and a little sugar. After
the meat has browned, stir in the chopped
peach, apple, walnuts,
raisins, almonds, and tomatoes until it's
seasoned. When it's ready,
add salt to taste and let the liquids cook off
before removing from the
heat.
Roast and peel the chiles separately. Slice
them open on one side and
take out the seeds and membranes.
Tita and Chencha finished garnishing the
twenty-five trays of chiles
and put them in a cool place. The next
morning they would still be in
perfect condition when the waiters would get
them out and carry them in
to the banquet.