Today, February 24, is National Tortilla Chip Day, a day to
celebrate the crunchy snack loved by millions across the nation. Who doesn’t
love tortilla chips?
The tortilla chip is most commonly served with salsa, chile con
queso, guacamole, cheese dips or other dips. In my novella, Bad Luck Partners, in the Season of Promises Holiday Boxed Set, my characters Laney and Chance
share tortilla chips, salsa, guac, and wine during a life-changing New Year’s
Eve. Trust me, we’d all like a New Year’s Eve like theirs.
I thought I’d do a little research into the history of the beloved
chips. Corn tortillas are made from corn, vegetable oil, salt, and water. They
can be made with white, blue, or red corn.
Like most people, I always figured tortilla chips were Mexican.
Not so. The chips, typically made from corn tortillas that have been cut into
wedges and then fried, were first mass-produced in Los Angeles in the late 1940’s.
The story is that the triangle-shaped chips were made by Rebecca Webb Carranza
as a way to use the misshapen tortillas that were rejected from the automated
tortilla manufacturing machine she and her husband used at their Los
Angeles deli and tortilla factory. (Wikipedia)
Carranza realized that once the discarded tortillas were cut into
triangle shapes and fried, they became a popular snack. She then sold them
for a dime a bag at the El Zarape Tortilla Factory. (Wikipedia)
Tortilla
chips are often complimentary appetizers in Tex-Mex and Mexican restaurants in the U.S. and elsewhere. Their
popularity outside of California saw a steady rise in the late 1970s when they
began to compete with corn chips, the
dipping chip of choice during the first three quarters of the 20th century. I
remember when Fritos corn chips were popular in the 1960’s. I’d never heard of
tortilla chips let alone tortillas. The first time I tasted tortilla chips,
they were so exotic, as was all Tex-Mex and Mexican food. Now I love the chips
and I love Mexican food. I even make a Mexican meal once a week. The
United States is one of the main markets for tortilla chips. (Wikipedia)
Another popular dish made with tortilla chips is nachos. The dish
was first created around 1943 by Ignacio “Nacho” Anaya. Nachos are tortilla
chips served with melted or shredded cheese and often additional toppings are
added, such as meat, salsa, refried beans, tomatoes, diced onion, lettuce,
olives, jalapenos, guacamole and sour cream. Yum! Love nachos! (Wikipedia)
HOW TO OBSERVE
Go and get your favorite dip and enjoy some tortilla chips.
Use #NationalTortillaChipDay to post on social media.
And you can buy Season of
Promises Holiday Boxed Set and read about how tortilla chips brought Laney
and Chance together.
Bad Luck Partners
In Sin City, a couple, unlucky in love, gamble on each
other. Win or lose?
Holidays have never brought Las Vegas hotel concierge
Laney Sikora anything but bad luck in the romance department. The worst was her
fiancé dumping her on Valentine’s Day. Via text. She’s determined to spend New
Year's Eve alone with no romantic entanglements. But when her hunky new neighbor
locks himself out of his apartment, she can’t leave him standing in the hallway.
What's a girl to do?
Las Vegas is just a pit stop for Chicago native and radio
personality Chance Carlisle while he waits for his agent to land him something
bigger in L.A. But in the meantime, he keeps bumping into—literally—his
adorable, but accident-prone, neighbor. Their private New Year’s Eve celebration
leads to a plan: they’ll become the Bad Luck Partners, dating only on holidays
and special events, avoiding holiday heartbreaks and matchmaking mamas.
But Fate might have something else in mind for the klutzy
cutie and the hotshot talk show host. Can their temporary partnership become a
forever deal?
