Like Water for Chocolate: Chapter One

Characters include: Aunt Tita, Momma Elena, Tita's sisters (Rosuara and Gertrudis), Nacha, Chencha, Pedro, Pedro's father, and the ranch dog

This chapter takes place on Tita's mom's ranch, in Mexico

The recipe for Christmas rolls is what opens this chapter. This is thought to be because it is Tita's favorite. The chapter is about Tita's childhood, and the whole thing between her and Pedro. 

       Tita's life begins in the kitchen of the house. It was said while her mother was chopping onions, Tita's cries could be heard from her stomach. She was born right then, with enough tears to produce salt that they use when cooking. Tita's mother breast milk dries out, so an alternative is made and Nacha, the cook, takes care of her. This is where she grows up, a bit isolated from her sisters, but not on purpose. See, Tita is the youngest daughter, meaning she can't marry or leave because she has to take care of her mother until her mother dies. This becomes a problem when Pedro walks into her life. They, both love each other, and Pedro tried to ask for Tita's hand, but her mother refused and gets him to engage one of her sister's instead. This greatly upsets Tita. Pedro swears on his love for her, and confesses at the dinner they had for Tita's birthday. She doesn't really receive this well, and sends him off as soon as he tells her. The dinner ends, they leave, and Tita goes to bed. She describes this cold and hollow feeling she feels after the dinner. She pulls on multiple layers, and finally pulls out a bedspread she had planned on making while her and Pedro waited to marry. This bedspread was to take exactly a year to make, the amount of time they were to wait. Instead of sleeping, she works on the bedspread and cries.
  The bedspread we thought represented the marriage and Tita's love for Pedro.

-Emily