I've often shared how my family, instead of baking Christmas cookies for gifts, makes a super delicious please-don't-call-it-egg-nog Cuban "egg nog." We call it Crema de Vie and it has been a Cuban family tradition for as long as I can remember. I remember as a child getting to have a sip on Christmas eve. (Shut up. The rum was only used as a ...
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Hispanic Heritage Café La Llave Giveaway
UPDATE:10/24/2022 WE HAVE A WINNER!!WE'RE SO DELIGHTED THAT OUR WINNER IS LEONELLA ALVAREZ! PLEASE SEND ME AN EMAIL WITH "HEY MARTA! I WON STUFF ON YOUR BLOG! IN THE SUBJECT LINE. SEND YOUR MAILING ADDRESS SO I CAN GET IT OUT TO CAFE LA LLAVE TO SEND YOUR COFFEE GOODIES OUT ...
Sweet 16
I started writing this blog 16 years ago and I'm all about celebrating this milestone. It's my Sweet Sixteen, people! And is there anything sweeter than celebrating with Cuban pastries? When I started writing this blog, I wanted to keep a diary of sorts, slightly like a journal, a place where I could document my family’s comings and goings. I ...
I’m Loving It
As you probably know by now, my son Jonathan is an actor. He also works for Eric (day job), but he's been slowly and steadily building up his IMDb resume, and we're quite proud of what a hard worker he is. He gets auditions all the time. Gratefully, they're self-tapes, which means he is able to just send them in to casting when they ask. He's ...
Chicken With Peaches and Plums, Oh my!
It's been quite a while since I've received a box of goodness from Melissa's Produce. So I was quite delighted when they offered to send me their latest box of fresh produce.My son-in-law, Marc immediately snagged the Hatch Chile's, which makes sense because he likes the uber-spicy stuff, but that's not important right now. So I stared long ...
To Live Would Be An Awfully Big Adventure
•We kicked off our Darby Summer Movies last weekend with a delightful offering from my kids’ childhood: “Hook” with Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman. 🏴☠️🧚🏻♀️🧜🏼♀️✨⚔️•Introducing this classic to my grandboys made it fresh all over again. And all the twenty-somethings present did their own version of Time Traveling. They were thrilled to ...
Celebrating the First – Cafe La Llave Style
UPDATE 6/27/2022: WE HAVE A WINNER!! First, let me explain how I choose the winner. I take all the entries from each of the posts I produce: Blog, Instagram, & Facebook. Then I use the Random Number Generator to give me the number of the winner in each place. Then I narrow down the winners and again randomly choose a winner. It's as fair as ...
The Desires of My Heart – A Birthday Story
There’s a little park we go to often on weekends. 🪴 It’s hidden in a residential neighborhood in Laguna Beach and overlooks one of our favorite beaches, Crescent Bay. ⛱We’ve been going to Crescent Bay for years. In fact, when I was homeschooling Lucy & Jon, we were there at least once a week. It was always so great. 😊 If the waves were ...
What Do You Call Your Mami?
UPDATE 5/4/2022 - WINNER!! Congratulations to Arlene Villarin who won the "Mima" Mother's Day Box from Albisa Candles! Please send me your physical address so I can forward to them and get your fragrant goodies to you! Thanks to all who ...
Cafe La Llave Brings the Brunch Together
This post is sponsored by my favorite coffee people, Café La Llave. The opinions contained in this piece are all my very own. 9/21/2022 UPDATE: We have a winner! Congratulations to Tanya!Tanya says April 12, 2022 at 5:20 pm (Edit)I’ve been drinking coffee since I was about five. I drink about two cups a day. Real all the ...
Thoughts on Love
LoveIt always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. ~1 Corinthians 13:7He surprised me with a picnic on The Lake today. (Catered by @portosbakery) Made my heart happy.A year ago today, I had just regained consciousness.Love. “It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always ...
