Carne Adovada ?

I remember sitting in the family room of my grandparents' adobe style house in New Mexico, as the strong smells of dried chili's waft throughout, leaving a little tingle in my nose. My grandma was making Chili Caribe to marinate the pork for tomorrow night's dinner, Carne Adovada. Months later, I find myself remembering that night as the familiar smells take me back to that warm Spring evening, while I prepare the Chili Caribe on my own, a thousand miles away. There’s no doubt that my grandma has her own unique way of cooking this meal, but I try to follow the directions she gave me as closely as possible. In a bowl, I mix the ingredients together one by one, reading over her recipe like a little kid reading a children's book, making sure I don’t miss anything. When it’s time to add the ground cloves, I stare at the recipe wondering why it says “tip of knife”. Why not just a ¼ teaspoon or something? Upon opening the spice I realize why, as I jump back from the unexpected strength of the smell. I blend all the ingredients to a thick sauce consistency, the smell of ground cloves still lingering in my nose. If the Chili Caribe is too thick, add more water, a tablespoon at a time. While cutting the pork into about 1” square chunks, I realize it is a much more difficult task than I had anticipated. I don’t know how my grandma does it but she always gets the perfect sized pieces, while I end up with random hunks of pork. Either way, it’ll taste great. I place the pork into a glass dish and almost pour in the Chili Caribe, forgetting I’m supposed to save some for later. My grandma suggests freezing ½ to save for a future meal, and then pouring ½ - ⅔ of the remaining Chili Caribe in. After making sure it’s mixed up real well, I place it in the fridge to marinate overnight. As I preheat the oven to 325, feeling the warmth radiate from its inside, I wish I was able to share this meal with my grandparents, wishing they didn’t live so far away, but then I think of all the times I’ve gotten to sit down with my family and eat my grandma’s cooking, realizing how grateful I am for each of those moments. After an hour to an hour and a half, I take the food out, scraping the excess cooking scum off the pork, and pour the remaining Chili Caribe on that is not in the freezer. While the pork cooks for another 25 to 3o minutes, my house is filled with all the fragrances and smells, making me feel like I’m right back at my grandparents house, with them, eating one of my favorite meals, Carne Adovada.