“We watched Christmas movies and enjoyed the presents brought by Santa,” says the Jamestown woman. “My mom used to cook all day long to make a nice dinner for us.”

The Christmas Day routine was pretty much the same when her four sons were young, including eating dinner at their grandmother’s house.

“I always made sure the kids knew the reason for the season. Although they got gifts, we did our prayer and I always said ‘Happy Birthday, Jesus.'”

“Every year the boys watched me cook as I did with my mother. We would break bread, I mean we literally broke bread, six to seven loaves of bread used for my giblet stuffing. I learned this by doing the same with my mother.”

Maria Pacheco Mantilla strives to do whatever she can to help others not just at Christmas time, but year round. Submitted photos

Because of observing his mom, the oldest son was able to perfect a Spanish rice dish. All four brothers helped their mother make empanadas.

“They are pros at it. I used to say ‘it’s time to fork the empanadas.”

The boys are now men, but they still have holiday meals with their mother. Their grandmother passed away many years ago and just as she cooked all day for Maria and her siblings, her daughter does the same for her sons and their families. Some of the family members prefer ham and others like turkey, therefore she serves both for Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

When they gather around the table, everyone holds the hand of the person on each side of them and remains standing while the hostess says a prayer.

“I thank God for my children and for giving me hands to prepare the food,” she states. “Prayer is a necessity and it’s done with every meal. I always thank the Lord.

She has always gotten great joy from serving others. As is the case with most kids, her growing boys were often hungry. She made it a habit to share the food she cooked for them when their friends dropped by. Soon it became a tradition to have the friends in every Sunday for a meal.

“That was a huge thing. They came for many years,” says the proud mom. “The respect is impeccable with all of them. They are grown men in their forties and when they see me, they still call me ‘Mama.'”

For several years, she has offered a take-out meal for those who would like one for Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas, including people she does not know. She communicates with most of them by private message to let them know when to arrive to pick-up their food. Last month, a Thanksgiving meal was furnished to a man who was new to her neighborhood, after he inquired about the delicious smells coming from her house as he passed by.

“I want people to have food that need it,” says Maria.

She also has made meals for the workers at the cab company and Jamestown Police Department.

“When I didn’t have a car, I used to take cabs all of the time. I thought how can I pay them back,” says the Jamestown resident. “Five or six years ago, I called (the cab company) to ask if I could make take out plates and if they could send one person over to pick up.”

She has repeated this kind gesture more than once.

This year, she delivered an entire dinner to the Jamestown Police Department on Tuesday of Thanksgiving week. As she drove up, two officers met her and carried in large disposable aluminum pans filled with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy and sweet potato casserole, as well as bread and pies. After preparing the meal for JPD, she did it all over again on Thanksgiving Day for her family and those wanting pick-up plates.

Meal prep is begun several days in advance. She basically shops year-round. Whenever she sees a sale on meat or the ingredients she knows she’ll need, she purchases them for her freezer and pantry.

To say cooking is a passion, may be downplaying it. She has a gift of being able to tell what ingredients make up a dish by tasting it.

“If I’m sad or depressed, I’ll go in the kitchen and make up a recipe in my head, not on paper,” shares the generous woman. “I’m not a baker, I’m a cook. Baking is too tedious for me.”

“If I go to a restaurant, after tasting the flavors of what I’m eating, I can figure out how to make it. I taste everything I cook. I never put anything on a plate without tasting it.”

She goes on to say, “Decades ago I made a Chinese dish for my sons and after eating it, they said ‘Mom, please don’t ever make this again.’ I didn’t taste it (before serving).”

Ms Mantilla sings in Zion Tabernacle’s choir, where she has attended for about 25 years and touts its founder, Pastor Robert Reeves, who is 90 years old.

“He preaches like a young man. It’s amazing. I love him.”

She enjoys going to Women of Faith every year and participating in fundraisers put on by various local charities, including walk-a-thons.

“I like to do anything that will help somebody.”

She admits she really is a homebody and likes “hanging out at home” with Gracie, her beloved 14-year old Jack Russell Terrier.

She shares a general idea of how she makes the spaghetti her brother loves. It was difficult to get measurements, because she doesn’t use recipes. Hopefully the following directions will be a starting point for anyone wishing to create their own pasta sauce.

SPAGHETTI SAUCE

Steam ripe vine tomatoes. Remove peels. Mash the tomatoes in the pan. Simmer until “watery and gooshy.” Add diced onion, green pepper and garlic. Add a small amount of sugar to cut the acidity of the tomatoes. Add tomato puree and one and one-half cans of tomato paste. Simmer two hours. During the last hour of simmering the sauce, in a separate pan, brown ground beef, sweet bulk sausage and a small of amount of hot sausage. Drain and add meat, oregano, remaining half-can of tomato paste and a can of water. Cover and simmer an additional 4 hours. Serve with Cheesy Garlic Bread.

CHEESY GARLIC BREAD

Cut a loaf of Italian bread lengthwise. Maria uses Tilaro’s. Spread with room temperature unsalted butter. Set on baking pan that has been lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle minced fresh garlic and parmesan cheese over bread. Then sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese and dried parsley. Bake until golden brown.