My mom taught us girls how to cook when we were very young.
During the summers, when my sisters and I were out of school, she devised a rotating system of teaching us Homemaking, the Cuban Way.
My older sisters were already married and gone, but the three of us younger ones, Miriam, Alina and myself still needed to be groomed to be Perfect Cuban Wives (or PCW).
I think our education began with the Making of the Perfect Cup of Cuban Espresso. From there we ventured on to Table Setting and Party Planning, with a minor in Clearing and Dishwashing. (<–I was never any good at this one, and I still haven't quite gotten the hang of it, but that's not important right now.)
The Meal Planning portion of our PCW Education consisted of pulling out all of the cookbooks in the house, finding two recipes that sounded good to us, making a list of ingredients, checking the cupboards for what we already had, and then adding what we needed to the weekly grocery shopping list.
Can you believe I still plan my weekly meals this way? (The whole Clearing and Dishwashing thing is still problematic for me, but again, that's not important right now.)
I always like trying new recipes and I love cookbooks. But every now and then, I remember that we girls made some pretty delicious meals during our Summers of Cuban Home Ec. And I still have a few of my mom's original cookbooks from back in the day.
Exhibit A:
The publishing date on this beauty is 1962. Based on my love of All Things Betty these days, I decided to pull it out and see if one of our favorite recipes still held up. (I love old, grease-stained cookbooks. They make me happy somehow.)
It was called Chipper Chicken. It was a lot like the Oven-Fried Chicken (notice that they still used shortening unapologetically – I love that!) but it was made with crushed potato chips. (<–Brilliant!)
I made it a few times when my older kids were little and it was always a hit, so I thought I'd give it a shot in 2010, with a few personal revisions.
Chipper Chicken Recipe
- 2-3 lbs. chicken pieces
- 1 medium bag potato chips
- 1/4 cup butter (<–YES!!)
- 1 Tbsp. Garlic powder
- Coarse ground pepper
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Crush potato chips finely. (I put them into a ziplock and just crush with my hands.)
3. Melt butter in frying pan and add the garlic powder. (The garlic salt that it originally called for made the thing too crazy-salty.)
4. Pass the chicken pieces through the seasoned butter, then in the crushed chips.
5. Place chicken in oblong baking pan.
6. Bake for just over an hour or until potato chips are golden and juices run clear.
Ta-da! The Chipper Chicken is just as delicious as I remembered. (Umm….yeah….butter and potato chips. Hello?!!)
I have a few more Betty Crocker cookbooks that I've collected through the years. (I think it's those eye-catchingly RED covers that get me every time.)
So, today, I'll be giving away one of Betty Crocker's newest (and elaborately detailed) cookbooks along with a beautiful RED logo serving spoon: (I confess that I loved this book so much that I was tempted to keep it, but happily for you, I'm a giver. *sigh*)
To be entered in the drawing for the cookbook & spoon, just answer one or all of the following questions in the comment section of this post:
- Who taught you to cook?
- Do you have a favorite "go to" cookbook or recipe?
I'll choose a winner on Friday, September 10th at 11:00 AM Pacific Time.
[Disclosure: General Mills provided this cool stuff because I asked to do these giveaways. They've asked nothing in return. It is my pleasure to write about this stuff because I genuinely want to. Thanks, General Mills, for your generosity!
*And a reminder, if you haven't already voted, please vote for My Big, Fat, Cuban Family for Best Personal and Family Blog in the Just Spotted 2010 Orange County Blog Awards. Here's the link. Please vote before Sunday, September 12th at 11:59 pm, because after that, the “polls” will be closed* Thank you!
Mis abuelas taught me to cook, but never on my own. Which leads me to question #2 and the reason behind my Cuban Julie & Julia project – Cocina al Minuto by Nitza Villapol.
When I read the title of this post, I thought you were referencing FATHER OF THE BRIDE, when they choose the cheaper (or “chipper” in Franz’z accent) chicken! You should totally make this dish and watch that movie on your backyard screen:)
My Abuela & Mami taught me how to cook. I recall when I was trying to bake my first Flan, I called my grandma and she was yelling (Como Cubana al fin LOL)… ‘erm I mean explaining how to make it & to besure it baked properly as well as how to make the caramel. LOL. Needless to say it turned out just as if she had cooked it for me.
What a nice thing to giveaway!My little Sicilian grandmother taught me to cook and bake(though I avoid the latter especially since my 15 year old loves to bake from scratch and I can’t afford to even sniff what I bake) and my mom is my go to chef for pretty much every basic cooking question I’ve ever had. There’s not much I can’t make (or won’t).
Ps Chipper chicken was also the term used in Farher of the Bride by Martin Short. LOL!!
My father taught me to cook. I will never forget standing next to him (I was standing on a dining room chair) and watching, intently, as he created his dishes. When I was old enough to reach the stove, he would guide me in recreating some of his signature dishes. When I got married almost 13 years ago my father and step-mom gave me “Memories of a Cuban Kitchen” by Mary Urrutia Randelman and Joan Schwartz. This has been my go to cook book. We live in a small town in Central Florida where Cubans are scarce and good Cuban food even scarcer. Our friends love it when we have dinners at our house and invite them over. What is it about Cuban food that brings people together?
I was taught how to cook by my German Mom and her Italian partner – so think Bratwurst crossed with Pizza and Pasta and you know why I’m fighting to lose some pounds today!!!I since then moved to Miami and learned to add some Cuban delicacies to my Germitalian cuisine, and needless to say, I really need to spend time at the gym now!
my favorite cookbook is one given to me by my Mom, it’s by a German TV check called Tim Maelzer – the man is genius and his recipes are DELICIOUS!
My mom taught me to cook.
I learned how to make the perfect Cuban coffee from my dad when I was like 12. I learned how to cook, though, from Emeril, Rachael Ray, and, most importantly, Alton Brown. The only food I really can’t cook is Cuban food and that makes me sad. I just can’t do it like Abuela so I don’t. :/Lately my favorite recipe is Pho.
My mother taught me to cook but I never really cared to learn. My Cuban mother-in-law (may she RIP) was an excellent cook tried to teach me but still I wasn’t really interested. All I did was called her and she would let me know over the phone how to do it but I never wrote it down. About 2 months ago we were talking to her about writing down all her recipes for us and her grandkids but she never got to it. She passed away last month from a tragic drowning accident. Now we are all scrambling around asking all our family members if they had any of her recipes and NOW is when I want to learn how to cook like her. So please all mothers, grandmothers and mother-in-laws who are great cooks, write down all your recipes so that your family can have them before its too late. One of my favorite cookbook that I do use often is called “Clarita’s Cocina”.
Who taught me to cook? Every woman who ever cooked in my presence, from my very early youth, my grandmother, aunts and my mother, the mothers of most of my friends – most of these Cuban women who made those typical Cuban dishes – my grandmother’s melcocha, Mamita’s potaje de quimbombo, Tia Purita’s harina con cangrejo. And as to cookbooks, I use them as sources for ingredients (horrible about following recipes, I admit), and my favorite is Nitza Villapol’s Cocina al Minuto.
My mother taught me how to cook of course! I remember a recipe card club that she belonged to (might have been Betty Crocker!) in which she would receive a packet of recipes cards every month. My 3 sisters and I would love to stand with her in the kitchen and make all sorts of cakes, breads, salads and stews. But Mom’s teaching had begun years before with the basics of Dominican cooking, “La Bandera Dominicana” as we called it: Bistec, Habichuelas coloradas, y arroz! I learned how to make perfect rice, on the stove top, thank you very much (although these days I would be lost without my arrocera electrica!). When Mom passed away a few years ago, as we were going through her things, I found an old cookbook of hers; a binder with handwritten recipes and clippings from magazines that she had lovingly pasted in when she was a newlywed in Baltimore. It is my most cherished possession. This past Christmas, I found some cookbook binders almost exactly like Mom’s at Borders. With the help of a kind Kinko’s employee, I was able to copy all of the pages from the book (she even cut them down and punched the holes into the pages!), and I was able to make my sisters a replica of The Cookbook. It brought tears to their eyes to see our mother’s handwriting and recipes. This, without a doubt, is my favorite cookbook!
My mom taught me how to make the staples: Picadillo, Masitas de Puerco, Ropa Vieja, Vaca Frita, Fricase de Pollo. The rest I taught myself but I must be honest and say that I am TERRIBLE about following directions (what a surprise!) so I rarely look at recipes. I just glance at the picture and the ingredients and just make it my way. Favorite “go to” recipe is probably Churrasco or London Broil (cuban style, of course), yuca with mojo and arroz y frijoles:)
Fortunatly i lived by my parents for the first 6 months of marriage because well.. i couldn’t make anything without underdoing it or we’ll call it overdoing.. I’d call my mom or dad and ask them what went into the recipe, they’d say a little of this.. and so i had to try everything 10 times before i got the math right.. my go to for recipes is Allrecipes.com.. but i got a Betty Crocker Mexican cooking book from the 70’s at the local thrift store, i use it a ton to try close to authentic recipes that i didn’t grow up eating.
i learned to cook by observing my mother; i cook by smells really. my go to recipe is crepes- love ’em! Change the filling and they’re good for breakfast, snacks, lunch and dinner. and don’t forget the all time killer filler- nutella w/bannanas and lots of whipped cream. 🙂 p.s. voted for you. didn’t realized there were so many blogs out there. impresionante!!!
My mom and then my mother in law taught me to cook the Cuban way. ;-)When we first got married, we moved to Maryland and almost everyday I would call my mom and ask her for her recipes. My phone bill was high on some months, but it was worth it. I learned to make Fricase de Pollo, Carne con papas, etc. Then when we moved back to Miami, I would call my mother in law for her recipes for Arroz con Pollo, Guizo, Ajiaco, etc. 😉
I’m more of a self taught by watching my mom and my mother in law. I asked for their help every now and then. Especially when I was going to make carne con papa, potaje or frijoles. When I’m going to cook Cuban food I go to my Cocina Criolla besides that I get on All Recipes.com
My classes in Cuban Home Ec, were taugt by Abuela. Mami HATED cooking as she viewed it as an obligation (pfft!)So abuela is the one I remember teaching me how to cook, which at the same time shouldered me with the responsibility to keep the family recipes moving forward (they are all in one big picnic basket – need to get around creating a cookbook). She also taught me how to dress and set a table. Everything that was not taught to me, I find today in my Home bible – Martha Stewart.
My favorite cookbook? Oh God, do you have to ask? The photocopies Abuela took out of Cuba of Nitza Villapol’s cookbook. They are my go to, for anything Abuela did not leave a recipe for. From there I adjust until the flavor hit just right.
Ay Christina, I’ve been doing this too!!!! Just not blogging it. I hope you are having as much fun as I am!
Hi ya! I notice Aida is commenting! No fair if she wins again! Well, no one really taught me to cook. (sniff…sniff) My mom was a single mom most of my life, so we never really had much cooking going on. I do remember my Grandma teaching me (sort of) how to make buttermilk biscuits! She came out of the depression so they only had 3 ingredients…self rising flour, buttermilk, and Crisco! They were the best thing I ever had! I remember playing with the leftover dough over the sink at her house. She made the biscuits everyday fresh for my grandpa. The thing is, she never did it the same way twice. She did everything by feel. So, I probably should have practiced and practiced with her when she was alive. But I was young and didn’t really think those things were important. Boy, I sure miss her Chicken & Dumplings (she used the stove top pressure cooker! I can still hear it rattling away!) With that said, my favorite cook book is *insert drum roll* My Big Fat Cuban Family’s cookbook! (does that help me win?) And a close second…mostly because it helps me remember how to set the table-the famous red & white checkered Better Homes and Garden New Cook Book. I got it for a shower gift…ahem…34 years ago! You know, the 5 ring binder kind. It is pretty tore up. I keep it so I can remember the proper way to set the table…. :-/I’m thinking Gene could really use this stuff…since he does most the cooking now! Well…except for when I make your Arroz Con Pollo! When I need to find a recipe, I go to the internet! (since I have no mom, dad or grandparent to ask any questions of) And, oh yeah, there is a gal at our church named Kathy who makes an amazing Pot Luck Potatoes using corn flakes..it reminded me of your potato chip recipe. Love ya! Kiss! Thanks for being such a great BFF!
No one person really taught me how to cook…so today, I just kind of “invent” my way through most of the meals that I prepare for my family. Does that make any sense? Kind of like the movie Ratatouille where Chef Gusteau says to Remy “Un chef inventa!” (we watch everything in Spanish so that my 3 year old daughter will be fluent LOL).My mother tried to teach me how to cook many times, but I always resisted. When I went away to college, I regretted my actions of course, and often called home to ask mom how to make this and that. When I came home for the Summers I would stand next to her jotting down every ingredient and asking “how much was that?” To which the response would always be: “la verdad, no se… yo le hecho más o menos lo que creo que le haga falta.” Do any Cuban cooks actually measure stuff?
As I got older, I found myself watching the food channel more and more, so I guess I picked up a few things from being a loyal viewer!
I did eventually learn a couple of things along the way… how to make great frijoles negros from my aunt Adela (sorry, I won’t divulge her secret ingredient which is pure genious!), how to make a great flan, and probably most useful of all, how to make something yummy from just about any leftovers (thank you mom!).
My mom used to make Chipper Chicken! Wow…haven’t thought about that in YEARS. Guess I’ll need to make it one day soon. My favorite go to books are Laurel’s Kitchen, Looney Spoons (a funny name yet absolutely fabulous cookbook. Seriously great cookbook!) and currently The Ellis Island Immigrant Cookbook (bought it when we were there with CHEP 2 years ago).
I am basically a self taught cook. I was raised by my southern dad, so I do know how to deep fry and slather anything in gravy. My husband can attest to my attempts at “regular cooking” early in our marriage (He will never eat pressed turkey breast EVER again). My go to recipe is Italian Sausage Cheese Pie. It’s loaded with all sorts of great things that are bad for you!
Hey Marta…great giveaway, again!Actually no one taught me to cook. 🙁
My mom was always too busy painting and my dad would do most of the cooking and so, I’ve taught myself how to do that (too!:). My go-to book is the Better Homes & Garden Cookbook from the 1990’s which is falling apart! So I could really use this new one! Thanks
{{{Hugs}}}
Maria
Barbara,My Mom used to call her measurements “Al ojo porciento” or she’d say she was using her “ojimetro”, LOL. My mother in law is the same. Nitza Villapol’s book also has some interesting measurements, such as her “latas”, which would make me nuts, since cans come in many different sizes!
Ojímetro… I love that!
So now I know the name of that fabulous ckn Odi used to make when we were little! I LOVED IT. Man what a blast from the past that is.