Per the Aztecs, nemontemi is the five days at the end of the calendar year, called the “useless” days. They are supposed to be a time of abstemiousness, fasting, prayer, and the general cessation of normal activities. They are also, it appears, a time of very bad luck for those who undertake to make soup. I thought I’d warn you.
After going out to play in the snow with the kids and dogs, I came home to find my much-anticipated chicken soup (made with stock I lovingly reduced overnight in a 250-degree oven) a charred pot of smoking tragedy. I was sure I’d left it to simmer on low, but apparently not. Husband did not notice my screw-up until the smoke alarm went off.
Sigh. Damn you, Aztec calendar. Now I have to make meatloaf for dinner. Yuck.
