Today begins my favorite holiday, not that of Halloween but a three day ritual celebration of the beloved who have passed away.  It is a combination of ancient Aztec belief in the afterlife and Roman Catholic rites of All Saints and All Souls. It is believed that the veil separating life and death is temporarily drawn aside to allow the dead to visit the living for this brief time.

The first night the dead who passed the previous year are honored, the second night all those who died as babies or children, and finally the last night all the dead are honored.

Each family erects an altar in their home commemorating the deceased with Tagetes marigolds that are said to guide the wandering souls back home.  The offrenda consists of anything the dead once loved such as special dishes,

We have a lot to learn from Mexico when it comes to herbs.  Each time I am south of the border I am drawn to the markets where herb venders offer their wares brought in from the gardens every day or two.  Much of what they call herbs are weeds in our gardens becasue we don't have such a rich traditional pharmacoepia.

I have found special herb stalls that are dedicated to Curanderissimo, which is the art of folk healing.  These wise men and women of the village know how to use their plants to heal the spirit and the soul, to drive out evil influences and protect from disease. 

These cedar wreaths are decorated with garlic and herbs, each one a unique recipe of influential plants believed to play a specific role in this spiritual world.  Below is the botanica

You find cactus in the most unlikely places, and those which most amazed me were featured in a series of ceramic tiles made by a Mexican artist working here in Southern California.  He transformed a smal back alley of shops into a wonderland of color and ceramics using his own hand made tiles integrated into stucco walls with the most amazing colors and forms.  But what most people miss are the little peyotes, graphic versions of Lophophora williamsii, the Mexican divination species used by the Yaki and man other Southwestern tribes.

This is the largest tiles featuring the cactus as it grows in the wild.  The central mother plant was a species that with time produces her offsets or "buttons".  In the wild they sit right above the soil line, but most of the plant is

While in Oaxaca during El Dia De Los Muertos, I was thrilled to discover the most common street food was a quesadilla made with squash blossoms and Oaxacan string cheese.  Here in California they sell this very same cheese, but the tortillas are another matter. 

The quesadillas are made right there on a comal, which is a large pan set over charcoals.  The tortilla is put on the then slowly toasted.  This is a super idea for summer veggie gardens that are overrun with zucchini and want some other ideas for these prolific plants. 

The squash blossoms and fresh cilantro sit in a pot of water waiting to be used.  The blue pot on the right is another Oaxacan delicacy, black mole.  Mole is an ancient food dating back to Aztec times that is so complex it's