Can I just tell you how much I love how well you guys answered my question: "What favorite recipe of yours will taste fabulous when made in this beautiful Orange(!) caldero?"
Plus, your comments seriously made me hungry, but that's not important right now.
I also want to thank you for the enthusiasm you've shown for IMUSA USA. They are a lovely sponsor for these giveaways and they've generously offered to partner with MBFCF for the rest of this year. I'm so looking forward to the next cool product they'll be offering my readers.
Without further ado, the winner of the beautiful Orange(!) caldero is:
Congratulations, Susana! Please send me an email with "Hey, Marta! I won stuff on your blog!" in the subject line so I don't accidentally delete it. I will then forward to IMUSA USA so they can send you your cool Orange(!) caldero.
Thanks, everyone for your support. You can find IMUSA products at all Macy's stores.
I'm going to be making picadillo tomorrow in my Orange(!) caldero. ;-)
I am waiting (a little impatiently) for my fabulous new kitchen appliances to be delivered. I think we're still about a week out from that. You would think I'd be totally content now since I'm getting all new appliances, but you know how it is, suddenly everything starts looking like it needs upgrading or replacing. *sigh*
There is, however, one item in my kitchen that still makes me completely happy and that is my IMUSA USAOrange(!) caldero. I use it constantly and am always looking for new recipes to make in it.
Arroz con pollo. Carne con papas. Sopa de pollo. All made in my beautiful Orange(!) caldero. I am starting to think it has magical properties because everything I've made in it tastes amazing. I have to add that I also go ahead and put the Orange(!) caldero straight on the table, not because I'm lazy (shut up. I'm not!), but because it's so seriously beautiful.
Doesn't that just make you want this beautiful Orange(!) caldero to cook something fabulous in?
Here's your chance.
My friends over at IMUSA USA have graciously partnered with MBFCF to host this giveaway for a beautiful Orange(!) caldero.
Oooh! Yes, please!
Usually, I would only ask you to leave a comment to enter the drawing for the giveaway item, but I want to give you each a couple of chances, so....
1) To enter this drawing, please leave a comment on this post and answer the following question:
What favorite recipe of yours will taste fabulous when made in this beautiful Orange(!) caldero?
2) For an extra entry, please go "like" IMUSA USA on Facebook and come back and leave me another comment telling me:
"I like IMUSA USA!"
So that's not one, but two entries apiece. Yes, I'm generous like that, but that's not important right now.
Remember that if you want to enter the drawing for this beautiful Orange(!) caldero, you must leave a comment (plus the 2nd comment if you do the Facebook liking thing) on this post and I'll choose a winner on Monday, January 16th 2011 at 8 PST.
This fabulous Orange(!) caldero is also available at all Macy's stores.
{Disclaimer: IMUSA USA very generously sent me that beautiful Orange(!) caldero for my own use and to review the product and also offered one as a giveaway for one lucky MBFCF reader. The opinion that it is fabulous is my own.}
I can't even tell you how happy I was to host this giveaway! Your comments made it obvious that you all love rice just as much as I do. I sincerely wish I could send you all something, but I can only choose one winner. *insert sad face here*
I'm so happy to have partnered with IMUSA USA to bring you this wonderful giveaway. I've already used my IMUSA Rice Cooker a few times and I'm completely in love with it! The pan is non-stick and it's super easy to clean which is a total win-win when it comes to rice cookers. (Of course, I have teenagers who do the dishes, but that's not important right now.)
To choose a winner, I typed in the number of valid comment entries into the Random Number Generator in Random.org which gave me the following number.
The winner of the IMUSA Rice Cooker is:
Bea said...
Rice every meal? Does a bear poopee in the woods? Nochebuena y mala; doesn't matter the ocassion we served it with rice. Christmas dinner will consist of black beans, pork shoulder, tabouli (homage to our Moorish friends and yummy with the beans), roasted garlic and rosemary swt potatoes, salad ( one jello based, of course), and lots of other goodies. All capped off with pumpkin spice flan, coconut rum cake with Guayaba filling, turrones, dates and figs, un cafe Ito y crema de vie!
Congratulations, Bea! Send me an email with HEY, MARTA! I WON STUFF ON YOUR SITE! in the subject line (so that I won't accidentally delete it) along with your snail mail address. (By the way, "snail mail" is just a techy term for your home address.)
Do it today so that I can forward to the folks at IMUSA USA so that they can send out your rice cooker ASAP.
As we're nearing the holiday countdown and making all the preparations, I'm all about making lists.
I have a book with the following lists:
My Christmas List
My Crema de Vie Recipient List
My Menu List
My Grocery Shopping List
My Stocking Stuffer List
My Christmas Card List
My Decorating List
My Christmas Tag List (The to/from kind)
My Video List (I'll explain this another time)
And on it goes.
As I was reviewing my Grocery Shopping List, I realized that all of my holiday meals involve rice. Talk about a staple in the Cuban home! Growing up, we had rice at every meal. Every meal, people. We Cubans are nothing, if not committed to our rice.
And obviously our Nochebuena celebration is not complete without perfectly cooked white rice. Am I right?
What else, I ask you, would so beautifully prop up our perfect Cuban black beans? (Can you hear that Angelic Chorus?)
Just in time for Christmas I have partnered with my friends at IMUSA USA to bring you an awesome giveaway.
The Perfect Rice Cooker from IMUSA USA. Ta-da! You can also make any of your favorite "arroz con _____" in it.
To enter the drawing for a chance to win this beautiful IMUSA 5 Cup Rice (and Multi-purpose) Cooker, please leave a comment on this post and answer one or all of the following questions:
Did your family serve rice for every meal?
What else will you be serving with your Christmas Rice? ;-)
What's your Nochebuena and/or Christmas menu?
What's your favorite "arroz con ______"?
I'll do a random drawing on Sunday, December 18th at 8 pm Pacific Time.
{Disclosure: I received the 5 Cup Rice Cooker from IMUSA USA to use for this promotion and as a giveaway to one lucky reader. The opinion that it is fabulous is my own.}
You know what I love about my readers? That you come in all shapes and sizes and have extraordinary taste in sandwiches.
I confess that I'm surprised that a lot of you don't have your own sandwich "plancha." How do you grill, not just a Classic Cuban Sandwich, but what about a pan con lechón? Or a pan con bistec? (I may or may not be losing sleep pondering this question, but that's not important right now.)
Anyway, congratulations to the winner of the beautiful IMUSA Sandwich maker and Cuban coffeemaker:
Guess what, Amanda? You own a plancha now. ;-)
Please send me an email with HEY, MARTA! I WON STUFF ON YOUR BLOG! in the subject line. Include your snail mail address so I can forward to the generous folks at IMUSA so they can get your goodies out to you ASAP.
Most IMUSA products can be found at Macy's Department Stores. I encourage you to also follow them on their Facebook page for regular recipe ideas and updates to their amazing product line.
(For the record, we actually took a road trip to Porto's Cuban Bakery for the Cuban bread and made pan con lechón. Because we could...)
The term, "sandwich generation" is used to describe those adults who are caring for aging parents while still actively parenting their kids.
While I'm grateful that my sisters and I share the load of caring for my 97 year old mom, Luza, I still feel the push-pull of having teenagers in the house and helping my mom with her needs.
Jonathan is a sophomore in high school and even though I'm not his primary teacher, I'm still overseeing much of his schoolwork and am still very present in his life. He does not yet drive and so I'm also schlepping him around from event to event. But I still get phone calls from my mom when she needs bananas or bread or because her prescription ran out.
And so I feel squished at times between his needs and her wants and sometimes there doesn't seem to be enough hours in my day.
I'm ashamed to admit that I sometimes feel sorry for myself. What about me? I wonder. What about what I want? I don't say it out loud, of course, but I sure think it enough. (I'll deny it if you tell anybody, but that's not important right now.)
I guess if my life is to be defined by being sandwiched between two generations, I'm grateful it's a Cuban Sandwich. ;-)
Speaking of Cuban Sandwiches, you know there are rules to what you put in a Classic Cuban, right?
Classic Cuban Sandwich
Long loaf of bread (preferably Cuban, but French will do.)
Softened butter (to spread on the outside of the bread)
Yellow mustard
Swiss cheese
Dill pickles (Clausen Bread and Butter Sandwich Pickles make all the difference here)
Roast Pork
Sliced Ham
1) Coat the bread lightly with mustard. 2) Make the sandwich with the ingredients in this order: Swiss cheese, pickles, roast pork, and sliced ham. 3) Butter the bread on the outside. 4) Grill. A sandwich press is ideal for this.
The goal is to get the sandwich nice and toasty and melt the cheese.
Follow with a sweet, hot cafesito (with KILLER Espuma®, of course).
Like so.....
Of course, to make the perfect Cuban sandwich, you definitely need a Cuban sandwich maker. I'd like to thank the kind folks at IMUSA USA who are generously sponsoring today's giveaway:
A beautiful sandwich maker (A Plancha!) and a Cuban coffee maker. Soo classically Cuban, right?
To enter the drawing for a chance to win both the sandwich maker and the coffee maker, please leave a comment on this post and answer one or both of the following questions:
Are you part of the Sandwich Generation? Tell me.
What goes into a Classic Cuban Sandwich?
What's your favorite sandwich?
I'll do a random drawing on Sunday, October 30th at 5 pm Pacific Time.
I hope you are all loving the Cuando Sali de Cuba stories as much as I am. I feel so honored that I can give so many of you a place to share. It is my hope that the stories of how and why we are exiles will finally be told and get some traction.
The films I'm giving away today are a must-see for Cubans everywhere. Please visit the Voices from Mariel website to learn more about Dr. Jose Garcia and his family's exodus on the Mariel Boatlift. Or follow Voices from Mariel on Facebook for more information on upcoming screenings of the film.
These two winners will each receive a copy of the Voices from Mariel DVD.
For more information about Carlos Montaner and The Grandchildren of the Cuban Revolution film, please check out their website or follow them on Facebook. Prepare yourself! It's quite an eye-opening film.
The Grandchildren of the Cuban Revolution goes to:
Please send me an email with HEY, MARTA! I WON STUFF ON YOUR BLOG! in the subject line (so I don't accidentally delete it) along with your snail mail address so that I can send the DVDs out to you ASAP.
Muchos besos to you all and thank you for sharing your stories!
As you know, I am passionate about story telling. I believe it's important for all of us to record our personal histories. Much more so those of us whose stories are woven into a larger historical context.
I plan on continuing to highlight those stories as long as you keep sending them. The plight of Cubans - on the island as well as those of us who are exiles - has long been misunderstood by the general population. I want people to know who we are and where we came from and why.
Amy Kikita and I had the pleasure recently of meeting two Cuban filmmakers each with a different story to tell.
Dr. Jose Garcia and Carlos Montaner with me and Amy
Dr. Jose Garcia tells his "coming to America" story in the moving documentary, Voices from Mariel.
Dr. Garcia goes back to Cuba and the neighborhoods of his youth searching for the friends and loved ones he left behind when he left Cuba via the Mariel Boatlift in 1980. He interviews other Marielitos, who tell the stories of leaving their homeland and what it was like coming to the U.S. as part of that amazing historical exodus of 125,000 souls.
Voices from Mariel will be shown this coming weekend at the University of Miami in Miami, Florida and also on November 6th at the Alexandria Film Festival in Alexandria, Virginia.
Check their Facebook page for dates, locations and times.
Carlos Montaner directed the beautiful documentary, Grandchildren of the Cuban Revolution. Montaner interviews young Cubans who are still on the island and are frozen out of the political and economic process there. This moving film allows them to express their fears and frustrations about growing up under communist rule.
Watching both films, I felt like I was seeing two sides of the same story.
There are as many stories as there are Cuban people. All of them involve heartbreak loss and longing. All are worthy to be told.
Today I have 3 DVDs to give away.
One copy of Carlos Montaner's film, The Grandchildren of the Cuban Revolution.
And two copies of Dr. Garcia's Voices from Mariel.
To enter the drawing for a chance to win one of the DVDs, please leave a comment on this post and answer one or both of the following questions:
If you're Cuban, when did you leave? And how?
If you're not Cuban, (you're welcome to enter this giveaway, too, of course!) tell me what you know about or what fascinates you about Cuban people. Or if you have a personal connection, please tell me.
I'll do a random drawing on Wednesday, October 26th at 7 pm Pacific Time.
NOTE: If you have not yet sent me your own "Coming to America" story, please send it to me via email along with some photos. Write Cuando Sali de Cuba in the subject line. I promise to highlight it here on MBFCF. Thank you!
As I told you last Friday, I spent the weekend in Las Vegas and just got home a few hours ago.
Imagine my surprise (and delight!) to find so many comments on the post for the Jif® Peanut Butter and Amazon Kindle giveaway! Thanks to all of you for sharing the peanut butteriness of your world.
I want to take a moment to thank the Jif® Peanut Butter people for partnering with me to let me offer this very generous giveaway:
If you get a chance, please go back and read all the cool and elaborate things that people do with peanut butter. Who knew? (Apparently all of you did, but that's not important right now....)
There were some multiple comments by a few people, which I deleted (sorry, but I'm just counting single comment entries) even though some of you were just trying to get the details of a fabulous sounding recipe. So, if that was you and you'd still like to share your Favorite Peanut Butter Recipe, please feel free to leave a comment on THIS post. For the drawing, I had to limit the entries to one per person. You get that, right?
Better yet, why don't you have your kids enter the Jif® Most Creative Peanut Butter Sandwich Contest? Click here for more details.
I love that Jif® Peanut Butter also has a Spanish site. Check it out right here.
As usual, I went over to Random.org and punched in the total number of entries into the Random Number Generator and it gave me this:
Congratulations to the 19th commentor and the winner of the Jif® Peanut Butter Bag O' Goodies (<--not their official name. I just like how that sounds) and the Amazon Kindle.....
Please send me an email with HEY, MARTA! I WON STUFF ON YOUR BLOG! in the subject line and include your snail mail address so I can forward to the folks at Jif® who will ship out your Jif Gym Bag, Peanut Butter Stuff, and Amazon Kindle.
And seriously, go "like" Jif® on Facebook. Just because they're so very, very cool. =D
I have to admit that when I was a child I didn't ever get peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in my lunch.
And even though I usually got some kind of Cuban-food-of-awesomeness-leftover in my Barbie lunchbox, I confess that I was jealous of my little American counterparts who found those crustless sweet and salty offerings in their brown bags day after day.
As I got older, I didn't give peanut butter and jelly much thought, until I had a peanut butter and guava jelly sandwich. (ohyesIdid.)
It was a beautiful melding of the two cultures that have made me the person that I am today.
Are you wondering why am I waxing nostalgic over peanut butter?
Now through October 12, 2011, you can help your kids, age six to 12 submit their creative sandwich recipes for a chance to win a $25,000 college fund. Also, to mark the 10th Anniversary of the contest, this year’s Grand Prize Winner will also receive an additional $10,000 for educational products.
To find out more about the contest and/or to enter-click here. <--that, right there, is the link is to the Jif® Peanut Butter home page. Who knew how many fabulous things you can make with this magical food?
I'm happy to announce that I've partnered with Jif® to bring you this promotion and and they've provided me with a very cool and generous giveaway for MBFCF readers.
It's a pretty sweet Jif Branded Gym Bag, some Jif-to-go products (fabulous for lunches!), a Jif Picture Frame and an Amazon Kindle. (I know. Shut up.)
To enter the drawing for a chance to win that beautiful gift pack pictured above, please leave a comment on this post and answer one or all of the following questions:
What's your favorite way to enjoy Jif Peanut Butter?
Did you get peanut butter and jelly in your school lunches? (Lucky!)
Do you make something amazing and creative with peanut butter? Tell me.
I'll do a random drawing on Monday, October 10th at 7 pm Pacific Time.
I'll be in Las Vegas for the weekend and I won't be back until Monday afternoon, but that's not important right now. ;-)
{Disclaimer: I was given the same prize pack to facilitate this review. The opinions are my own.}
