(May 25, 2018) – Members of UTSA Housekeeping and Facilities’ staff’s Erlinda’s Wish Program (EWP) have created a collection of cookbooks filled with recipes, “dichos,” home remedies, and stories. The books include family and regional recipes handed down from generation to generation. On May 2, a celebration of this new collection was held at the John Peace Library on UTSA’s Main Campus. “El Rincon de Los Antojos” Cookbook Collection was officially added to the UTSA Libraries Special Collections. Guests sampled dishes the EWP students created from the recipes in their own cookbooks.
The dishes included: Erlinda Castillo’s Mexican Enchiladas; Sofia Nieto’s Pollo en achiote; Zoraida Brady’s Chicken Adobo; Willie Stamps’s Sweet Potato Pie; Maria Guadalupe Tolentino’s Pollo Almendrado Torrejas; Marcella Duran’s Picadillo; Rosalinda Rodriguez’s Fruit Salad; Patricia Palacios’s Flan de Nuez; Aida Flores’s Pollo en Galleta; Johnny Boccanegra’s Vienna Sausage with toasted bread; Marielena Godinez’s Tinga de Pollo; Fermin Reynaga’s Arroz con leche; Graciela Espinoza’s Salsa Verde Nacho Chips; Rosa DeLeon’s Enchiladas Verde de Pollo en Cilantro; and Evangelina Rivera’s Simple Nutella.
This wonderful gathering was hosted by Ilna Colemere, Instructional Technology Coordinator of COEHD, in conjunction with UTSA Libraries. COLFA student guitarist Abram Fernandez provided the music. We salute the Housekeeping staff members involved in the program.
The Erlinda’s Wish Program (EWP), which began in the spring of 2012, was created through the strong desire of staff member Erlinda Castillo to develop her computer and English Language skills. A year later the English as a Second Language (ESL) program was integrated with the computer training. Today the program continues to provide valuable instruction for Facilities housekeeping employees. In May 2018 the program marked its sixth year. The program recently added a writing project to the curriculum, resulting in the cookbook collection.
Erlinda’s simple wish to learn computers has expanded into a program that has taught more than 125 housekeepers and other Facilities staff computer and English language skills.