Tijuana Tidbits — The Border Flavors That Carried Us Into a New Year

January 2021. The pandemic is still here but the vaccine is arriving, and the arriving is the hope, and the hope is a needle in an arm, which is a strange thing to hope for but a year of lockdowns changes what you hope for. I signed up for the vaccine waitlist because the bakery is a food service business and food service workers are in the early priority groups, and the priority is the recognition that bakers are essential, which I have known since Rosa's kitchen but which the government is just now discovering.

The bakery's post-holiday quiet is deeper this year — the pandemic quiet layered on top of the January quiet, a double quiet that is almost silence. But Sofia's subscription service keeps the baseline steady: forty-one active subscribers receiving conchas every Saturday, generating about two thousand a month in recurring revenue that doesn't depend on walk-in traffic or weather or mood. Recurring revenue. Sofia's term. The term of a fifteen-year-old who reads business podcasts and speaks in terms that would make a CFO nod. The term is accurate. The revenue recurs. The recurring is the floor beneath my feet during the quiet months.

Isabella is applying to UTEP nursing. The application is submitted — personal statement (about Rosa, about the border, about the babies she will hold), transcripts (4.0, every semester, immaculate), letters of recommendation (Dr. Ramirez, the volunteer coordinator, her AP Biology teacher), and the scholarship renewal forms. She submitted it on January 5 and she has been waiting since January 5 and the waiting is harder for Isabella than the preparation was, because Isabella can control preparation but she cannot control waiting, and the loss of control is the thing that breaks her composure, slightly, at the edges, like a cup with a hairline crack that holds water but trembles.

I made menudo for January 1 — the ritual, unbroken, five years running. The tripe simmered. The hominy swelled. The chile turned the broth red. And the red was the color of 2021's first day, the color of a new year that promises vaccines and recovery and the slow, painful return to normal, whatever normal is, whatever normal will be, because normal died in March 2020 and the normal we're building now is a new normal, a post-pandemic normal, a normal that includes masks and meal kits and the knowledge that nothing is permanent except the recipes, which are eternal, which have always been eternal, which will be eternal long after the pandemic is a chapter in a textbook that Camila's grandchildren will read.

The menudo does the heavy lifting on January 1st — it always has, it always will — but after the bowls are cleared and the broth has done its work, we need something to carry the evening forward, something small and bright and full of the border flavors that live in my hands the same way Rosa’s recipes live in my memory. These Tijuana Tidbits are that thing: a little spicy, a little celebratory, impossible to eat just one, which felt exactly right for the first night of a year that was finally, finally promising something better. I made them for the girls after dinner, the four of us around the kitchen table, and even Isabella — waiting, trembling at the edges — laughed when Sofia reached across and took the last one off the plate.

Tijuana Tidbits

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 35 min | Servings: 10

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 packet (1 oz) taco seasoning
• 1/4 cup water
• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup pickled jalapeño slices, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup salsa (medium or hot)
• 1 package (12 oz) wonton wrappers or small flour tortillas cut into 3-inch rounds
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• Sour cream and fresh cilantro, for serving

Instructions

1. Brown the beef. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and cook, breaking it apart, until no pink remains, about 7–8 minutes. Drain excess fat.
2. Season the meat. Stir in the taco seasoning and water. Simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is absorbed and the mixture is fragrant, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
3. Make the filling. In a medium bowl, combine the softened cream cheese, shredded cheddar, chopped jalapeños, and salsa. Stir until smooth and well blended. Fold in the seasoned ground beef until evenly incorporated.
4. Prepare the cups. Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly brush a 24-cup mini muffin tin with vegetable oil. Press one wonton wrapper or tortilla round into each cup, shaping it into a small bowl. Brush the wrappers lightly with oil.
5. Fill and bake. Spoon a heaping teaspoon of the beef-and-cheese filling into each wrapper cup. Bake until the edges are golden and crisp and the filling is heated through and bubbling slightly, about 10–12 minutes.
6. Serve warm. Let cool in the pan for 2 minutes before removing. Transfer to a serving platter and top each tidbit with a small dollop of sour cream and a sprig of fresh cilantro. Serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 210 | Protein: 11g | Fat: 13g | Carbs: 12g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 420mg