Abuela's Kitchen

 Here is Abuela's kitchen.  It's not much but it gets the job done. 

 There is the sink for washing dishes, and next to that is a sloped counter top (towards the wall) with a drain in the wall.  The counter is a rough material.  I'm not sure why its there like that, but it is.  Then there's the stove in the corner, and then shelves with a counter below.  The only things not pictured are the fridge and microwave which are in the dining area.

Here is a view of just the stove.  These pictures were taken just before tamale prep started for Christmas.  Since then they have repaired the chimney, keeping all the smoke out of the kitchen (Yay!!)  Abuela also repaired the walls where the fire burns.  They are fixed with mud because if they were fixed with concrete it would crumble quicker.

 This is the orno (oven) that Abuelo built last week.  He completed it Christmas, so we were not able to use it for cooking because it still had to dry out.  Maria and I went and watched him building the dome part for a while and it was pretty cool.  He used bricks and mud to build it.  He had a small metal rod attached to a string that was attached to the center of the square on which the dome is built and on each block he placed he would run the rod along the back of the brick to make sure that it was in the right spot.

 The bricks are not rectangular, they're more of a tall rhomboid.  After he finished building it he lit a fire so the mud would dry and cure.  It took about 24 hours before it was all dried out.  We plan on using it for New Years!!