“My Spanish Rose” began, in a way, in the late 80’s, while I trailed my grandmother around her ancient kitchen, in the heart of the Pecos Wilderness in a small village called Rociada, NM.  It is there in my “abuelitas” kitchen that my love for all things baking began. She must have had a list of tasks to do for the day, but I never saw it. It was just what she did, everyday, a new adventure. It was there, standing in front of her wood stove that I have my first memory of making candy.

My grandmother and I, standing there in that hot (due to the stove) kitchen, stirring up some new concoction, with the creaky screen door standing open, a few feet away from her majestic flower garden that was her pride and joy…among the flowers stood her favorite the Rose. No electric stove, no thermometer, and definitely no dishwasher to clean up after. The flavor of the day, and indeed, the only flavor ever made was “chokecherry”. That was the only place I had ever made it, and it’s the only place that I know of, that they grow.

Some days, we would go picking them, and some days we made things with them. My all time favorite was candy. It was there that my love for candy making began, but it continued. I went from making it with my grandmother to making it with my mother, and now with my daughter. My true love is making natural flavored candy like honey, and wine, and discovering new flavors…but, in all, I love the art of candy making altogether.