The University of Texas San Antonio is bringing the history of Mexico into our kitchens. The university is releasing cookbooks that are collections of historic Mexican recipes. Right now, the desserts book is out and online for free. Main dishes and appetizers/drinks are coming soon.

You can now taste historic Mexico thanks to the University of Texas San Antonio.

What a great project. https://t.co/Dy1JcEP8bW

— Troy Welch (@TroyWelch1) July 30, 2020

UTSA has had an ongoing project of preserving, collecting, and digitizing cookbooks from throughout Mexico’s history. Some books date back to the 1700s and offer a look into Mexico’s culinary arts and its evolution.

UTSA has been digitizing Mexican cookbooks for years and the work is now being collected for people in the time of Covid.

I wrote about the ongoing digitization of @UTSA's remarkable Mexican & Mexican-American cookbook collection, for @GastroObscura @atlasobscura https://t.co/Xazxi3qBXS

— Nils Bernstein (@NilsBernstein) February 11, 2020

Millions of us are still at home and projects like these can be very exciting and exactly what you need. The recipes are a way to distract yourself from the current reality.

“The e-pubs allow home cooks to use the recipes as inspiration in their own kitchens,” Dean Hendrix, the dean of UTSA Libraries, said in UTSA Today. “Our hope is that many more people will not only have access to these wonderful recipes but also interact with them and experience the rich culture and history contained in the collection.”

The free downloads are a way for people to get a very in-depth look into Mexican food history.

Library Journal shares an article about UTSA Libraries publishing an e-book with recipes from their Mexican Cookbook Collection. A good way to spend time at home learning new recipes.🧑‍🍳 #lis453su20 @mikeleach42 https://t.co/ppOqBZur3m

— Mariella Metz (@metz_mariella) July 22, 2020

The first of three volumes of the cookbooks focuses on desserts so you can learn how to make churros, chestnut flan, buñelos, and rice pudding. What better way to spend your quarantine than learning how to make some of these yummy desserts. We all love sweets, right?

If you want to get better with making your favorite desserts, check out this cookbook and make it happen.

UTSA hopes cookbook will inspire new beginnings from old stories https://t.co/En9czAgMiq

— John O'Jones (@Curesario) July 19, 2020

There is nothing better than diving into your history and using food as your guide. Food is so intrinsically engrained in our DNAs and identities. We love the foods and sweets from our childhood because they hold a clue as to who we are and where we come from. This historical collection of recipes throughout history is the perfect way to make that happen.

READ: The Laziest Food Hacks In All Of The Land Would Send Your Abuela To The Chancla

Notice any needed corrections? Please email us at corrections@wearemitu.com

In 2001, the Wall Street Journal wrote a piece about plastic slipcovers. The headline? Plastic Slipcovers Are the Clear Choice For Immigrants — and Trend-Setters. The piece examined the reasons why immigrants in particular use plastic slipcovers. Of course, as children of immigrants and immigrants ourselves, we don’t need A Wall Street Journal article from the early aughts to tell us why they come in handy. Furthermore, why they’ve proven to be a household essential amongst our families. For so many Latino households, slipcovers have been used as protective devices. Things to preserve our furniture for special occasions years and years down the line like if the President or Jesus ever come around. In short, the slipcovers only come off for very special occasions.

One abuela recently decided that she was done waiting for special occasions and stripped the covers off.

In a recent post to a user’s Twitter page, an abuela can be seen carefully doing away with a slipcover she’d been using for 30 years.

View this post on Instagram

Why is this so satisfying? 👏🏽😂 Who else knows someone who has had plastic on their furniture for years? ⁠ ⁠ // Twitter: TheTaeWae

A post shared by Fierce by mitú (@fiercebymitu) on Aug 2, 2020 at 12:05pm PDT

In a post to Twitter, a user known as @TheTaeWae shared a video of her great aunt peeling a very old and yellowed slipcover off of her fancy couch. “Y’all my great aunt took the plastic off of her chair for the first time in 30 some years,” she shared in the post.

The great abuela is not the only one pumped though. Users on Twitter cannot get enough of it.

Did anyone have to clean the plastic with windex and then dust the edges of the seat cushions with baby powder so they wouldn’t get stuck?
Love your Auntie! Memories 😊

— Nabeela (@Nabeela74690878) July 26, 2020

Literally the video is the sweetest thing because the user’s great aunt is so clearly excited to have a chance to sit down on the fancy fabric of the chair.

Fans were super excited to see what the rest of this woman’s house looks likes.

In about 15 years, she might gon’ ahead and set those figurines in the viewing case free. lol. She is too cute.

— Billy Johnson Jr. (@billyjohnsonjr) July 29, 2020

And many users were eager to share cleaning tips to keep the sofa in shape.

May as well keep it on there because that's 30 years lost w/o the skilled cleaning experience to maintain it, wipe and go is where it's at

— Jamesia (@mesis_pieces) July 27, 2020

Seriously, if you’ve got hot tips tell us in the comments below.

I will sit up & listen to old folks talk about absolutely anything any day of the week.

Grandma say she thought the chair was cut.

— taˈSHā (@sincerelytashay) July 31, 2020

Because some Latinas are revealing that their own aunts and abuelas’ furniture looks like.

My Mom decorated my grandparents house in the 70s and it ain't changed. Tell her hello from Baltimore. pic.twitter.com/LzzZzaM8q1

— Mark Ricks (@markricks) July 24, 2020

And we are here to cheer them on as they take them off.

Notice any needed corrections? Please email us at corrections@wearemitu.com