# La Rosca de Reyes?



## Howler (Apr 22, 2013)

I was shocked at the little reaction to my Christmas greetings - and that there were not any other posted wishes or greetings from anybody else. Now I wonder how many of you (also) celebrated el Dia de los Magos Reyes with a big dinner / fiesta, hot té or champurrado and a Rosca stuffed with little dolls inside of it...?

I've always enjoyed celebrating this Mexican tradition in our home, like a "second Christmas" for the family. The dinner has been a great opportunity to share this part of Mexican culture with our ****** friends, while inviting many Mexican friends & families who maybe hadn't celebrated it in a long time because of living far away from the country of their birth. Thankfully, now, it is a lot easier to find roscas for this holiday, and many more who celebrate the tradition. Of most value to me has been that it is also an excuse to extend & hold on to the Christmas spirit a little longer before turning off the lights & taking down the trees.

One other special aspect of this tradition is that it coincides with our wedding anniversary. It took over a week of continued efforts against great odds to finally get married in Mexico DF. We left for the magistrate's office the morning of the 6th fully believing we'd return to the fiesta AND to celebrate finally being married. Because they didn't have change for a $20,000 peso bill back then (1987), the Registro Civil closed before I got back, and so we had to wait until the 7th to finally "complete the deal". Therefore, the Rosca de Reyes celebration has always been an integral part of our anniversary every year - and a great reminder of how it all began in Mexico!.

This year (today) makes 30 years that we've been married. I can't believe how the time has passed like a blur, or how my wife has put with me all these years - through an Army career, 3 children, 4 states & at least 7 changes of address. I imagine there are a few of you who have more time & adventure under your belts - I hope it has been as overall happy as our time together. God willing, we'll live to celebrate as much & more time together as the rest of you... in the meantime may you also continue to have many more happy years together. May you use the new year to fulfill all of your most important resolutions! Above all, make new friends, keep up with the old ones, and kill your "enemies" with kindness!!


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## perropedorro (Mar 19, 2016)

Howler said:


> I was shocked at the little reaction to my Christmas greetings - and that there were not any other posted wishes or greetings from anybody else. Now I wonder how many of you (also) celebrated el Dia de los Magos Reyes with a big dinner / fiesta, hot té or champurrado and a Rosca stuffed with little dolls inside of it...?


It's a fine tradition, but I think they get into it more in CDMX than elsewhere. My wife is from Guadalajara and her family is as traditional and Catholic as they come, but there's no huge family gathering, big dinner or gift exchange. That was all done on Nochebuena. Sure, they cut into the Rosca de Reyes and have it with coffee, hot chocolate, beer or other beverage of choice. Then they'll make a big deal over who got the mono(s), especially if they crack a tooth finding it. But that's about it. BTW, congrats on a long successful marriage.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

I don't have family here, but I have a friend whose wife is one of seven brothers and sisters, all of whom live with in a kilometer or so of each other. That family, about 40 people, gets together for Dia de Reyes. However, they apparently don't follow up with the person who gets the "mono" from the Pastel de Rosca providing tomales for everyone on Dia de Candelaria a month later.


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

Also traditionally on January 6th if you "forgot" to get and give a Christmas present to someone it is acceptable to do it then. Example: They gave you one and you didn´t give them one on Christmas.


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

I and neighbors shared a Rosca and hot chocolate. No big dinners around here. Feb 2 is when the person who gets the baby is to buy/make tamales for all. A five-year-old got two babies so we'll probably be out of luck


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

It is not a strictly Mexican tradition , it is the same in Spain or France. 
In Spain the presents to the kids were given on the 6th when I was a kid.

We do not call the muñecas dolls but little jesus.. We invite friends to share the galette that has a carton crown on top and the person or persons who get the little jesus buy another crown and at the last party those people make crepes for Candaleria which is the day Jesus was presented at the Temple. Here it is tamales day and people bring a doll dressed as the the little Jesus to chuch to be blessed. We skip that part in France as being to close to idol worship but all these customs are Catholic and I would think there are similar ceremonies throughout the Catholic world not only Mexico.


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## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

Howler said:


> I was shocked at the little reaction to my Christmas greetings - and that there were not any other posted wishes or greetings from anybody else. Now I wonder how many of you (also) celebrated el Dia de los Magos Reyes with a big dinner / fiesta, hot té or champurrado and a Rosca stuffed with little dolls inside of it...?
> 
> I've always enjoyed celebrating this Mexican tradition in our home, like a "second Christmas" for the family. The dinner has been a great opportunity to share this part of Mexican culture with our ****** friends, while inviting many Mexican friends & families who maybe hadn't celebrated it in a long time because of living far away from the country of their birth. Thankfully, now, it is a lot easier to find roscas for this holiday, and many more who celebrate the tradition. Of most value to me has been that it is also an excuse to extend & hold on to the Christmas spirit a little longer before turning off the lights & taking down the trees.
> 
> ...


First of all: ¡Feliz Navidad y un Próspero Año Nuevo! para Ud. y toda su familia (aunque sea un poco tarde). 

It does seem there are discrepancies in how celebrated Reyes is in different parts of Mexico, and even between different families in the same part of Mexico. Yesterday at my clinic I saw a family from Aguascalientes (now in Canada). I wished them a "feliz día de los Reyes". They said they had not celebrated it. The wife said in her family in Mexico they had never really celebrated it much, and they exchanged gifts from "el Niño Dios" on Christmas Eve. The husband - from the same city - said Reyes was always a big deal in their family. 

We had an early morning "FaceTime" with our family in Puebla on Friday, saw the shoes beneath the tree, watched our sleepy and excited grandchildren being woken up to open their presents (that I had sent via amazon.com.mx). Technology may be a double-edged sword, but it certainly is great that it allows us to share these moments with our grandchildren in Mexico when we're in Canada!


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## Howler (Apr 22, 2013)

*La Rosca, dolls and... TAMALES!!*



perropedorro said:


> ...they cut into the Rosca de Reyes and have it with coffee, hot chocolate, beer or other beverage of choice. Then they'll make a big deal over who got the mono(s), especially if they crack a tooth finding it. But that's about it. BTW, congrats on a long successful marriage.


Because of the "thrill" of getting one of the babies, we'd usually spike our roscas with more than the 2 or 3 that were already baked into them. Been lucky all these years - no broken teeth, so far... Lots of laughter, fun & speculation as everybody takes a turn (or two) and a great deal of good will & culture are shared!

Thanks for the anniversary congratulations!!



TundraGreen said:


> ...That family, about 40 people, gets together for Dia de Reyes. However, they apparently don't follow up with the person who gets the "mono" from the Pastel de Rosca providing tomales for everyone on Dia de Candelaria a month later.


Strangely enough, I've never seen emphasis or attended a Candelaria dinner where someone was serving up tamales because of the rosca. It's always mentioned or talked about when carving up the rosca - maybe it's because we always had so many dolls put in? 


BTW - did anyone eat a bunch of grapes for good luck on New Years Day? That's something else I've seen in Veracruz when there. My family (in North Carolina) always counted how many "black-eyed peas" one would eat on New Years... so every year my wife loads us down with both!


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Howler said:


> Strangely enough, I've never seen emphasis or attended a Candelaria dinner where someone was serving up tamales because of the rosca. It's always mentioned or talked about when carving up the rosca - maybe it's because we always had so many dolls put in?


I worked for CONAFOR (Comisión Nacional Forestal = Mexican Forest Service) for awhile. Every year at Dia de Candalaria we would have a party with tamales provided by the lucky winners who found the monos in January.


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