About Grandma Happy

In 1908, our great grandmother was born in Hondo, TX. Feliz Perez Ugalde married at an early age, moved to Kerrville with her husband Guadalupe Lopez, and started their family in the small town then of only 2,500. Our great grandfather built the home they would live in for decades room by room over the coming years as their family grew. It was built alongside the Guadalupe River, appropriately enough, and there they raised three children, Constanza, Conrada, and Guadalupe. This house, and especially its kitchen, would be the location of countless family get-togethers in the decades to come.

At the center of these gatherings was always the food. Whether it was her homemade flour tortillas or any number of recipes that she learned as a young girl or had picked up along the way while cooking for the family, there was never a shortage of delicious food when you were at grandma's. 

Over the years, some of those recipes have carried on and are still made by her grandchildren and great-grandchildren who are  spread all over the country as well as other parts of the world. Other recipes, however, have fallen to the wayside, either from the inability to imitate Grandma Happy's touch or from lack of use over time.

In an effort to salvage one of Grandma Happy's most treasured recipes, we have taken the time to capture the essence of her salsa. She made her "chile" by hand and in a molcajete that was her grandmother's and which is still used in our family today. Everything grandma made she made with love and care, and it came through not just in her food but in the way she interacted with others. 

Over the years, Feliz Lopez became the beloved matriarch to a large family. Her approach to life was simple and the love she had to share with whomever she met was obvious. It is in that vein we have recreated her salsa and we hope you enjoy it as much as our family has for generations.