Moros y Cristianos Recipe Family Reunion My family, like so many others, felt compelled to leave Cuba in the early years of the revolution. I was five years old when we left everything we knew. We left behind our home and our possessions, but saddest of all, our extended family. These are the people I share my earliest memories with. There were ...
Pastelitos de Guayaba Recipe (Guava Pastry)
Marta's Homemade Pastelitos de Guayaba Recipe (Guava Pastry) My husband is an Internet Marketing Guy. (He prefers to be called “The Marketing Guru,” but that’s not important right now.) He tells me search engine facts like: “Your site has had X number of hits today.” This information totally makes me feel cool, although I’m a little puzzled by how ...
A Very Cuban Picnic – “en cajita”
Summer and outdoor living just go hand in hand, don't they? It seems that since the weather has warmed up we are spending much more of our time outdoors. Sometimes that just means serving dinner out on the patio, but often it means packing a picnic and enjoying it somewhere... out there. Because we live in Southern California, one of my very ...
The Lazy Cuban Girl’s Guide To Gardening
My first disclaimer is that if you happen to know any Cuban girls, you know for a fact that we don't tend to be lazy in any meaningful way. Second disclaimer - this post is about my own personal gardening choices and no one else's. Now that we've established that I'm the only Lazy Cuban Girl here, let's continue, shall we? I love color in my ...
A Hunk, A Hunk of Burning YES!
Is there anything better than a live show? The answer to that, of course, is "no, Marta, nothing better." (Except for maybe a fresh, hot pastelito de guayaba, but that's not important right now.) Eric and and I went to see the BEST show at the Laguna Playhouse last night. Loosely based on Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, All Shook Up (book by Joe ...
Starting Small and Dreaming Big
The new grandson, Sebastian (call him "Bash"), has us all nutty in the best possible way. I seriously cannot get enough of holding him and just staring. And as I do, I'm aware of how quickly time is going by. People, he's already a month old! Maybe it's because I have this guy in such close proximity that I'm barely aware of how much he's grown ...
Meet The Baby Bash – it’s a Party!
My newest grandson, Sebastian (we call him Bash) was born a month ago. During the months leading up to his birth my life got a little crazy-busy and I couldn't see myself organizing a baby shower for Amy. I know. Mom fail. But, in my defense, we did get everything she needed for her first few weeks including a rocking chair, diapers, and receiving ...
Nerd Home Improvement
We are unabashed movie fanatics here at Casa De La Loma. (Click here for the story of how we named our home.) We spend our summer nights entertaining quite a lot here and having friends over to enjoy our Darby Outdoor Movie Theater. (We have our own Instagram hashtag for this: #DarbySummerMovies, but that's not important right now. Also, I'm ...
When Love Came to Town
I have fallen in love many times before. The most obvious, of course, is with the man who shares my life and keeps my Cuban crazy in check. I appreciate my husband, Eric so much for that. And then there's always the day each of my four kids was born. Easy-peasy. There was no doubt that those love affairs would continue forever. (Except for the ...
Cubans and Dodgers and Hats, Oh My!
The signal that summer is really and truly officially here is that The Boys Of Summer are doing their thing. That's right. It's baseball season and here in the LA area, our true loves are the Boys in Blue - The Los Angeles Dodgers.It gets better...Because, what would baseball season in LA be without Cuban Heritage Day at Dodger Stadium? ...
