Here is my mom with her dog, Lindbergh, circa 1930's. He was the terror of their tiny Cuban town of Manati. Yesterday, Val posted this cool picture of his father'slittle schoolhouse also in Manati, Cuba.I knew that my mom's family lived in Manati for years. So, I began asking her if she recognized the name “Prieto.” “Well, there was a kid ...
Cuban food
I love a story with a happy ending…
We'll call it: "Babalu and the Picadillo" I have a gnarly sinus infection that is causing one of the lymph nodes in the back of my neck to swell up like a golf ball. Okay. So that was so NOT how you pictured the beginning of this story and it is kind of an overshare, but you need this information to follow along with the rest of the ...
Move over, Rachael Ray…
I can cook. But I'm so NOT a foodie.But I am Cuban...And I like to eat (especially Cuban food). Therefore: I cook. =D Val has very graciously invited me to come over and cook at Babalu every other Thursday.Today I'm making "Crockpot Ajiaco Criollo". (Ah-Hee-Ah-Co Cree-Oh-Yo) I'll bet Nitza is rolling over in her grave right ...
Guava-licious
Okay, folks. Especially you Cubans stuck in far away places (like Northern California or Tennessee or New Jersey =D) without pastelitos. If you're having a craving like mine and you absolutely have to make your own... Here is the official recipe for "Masa Real." I totally understand a serious pastelito de guayaba "jones." So I ...
Desperate times call for desperate measures
I made pastelitos de guayaba. (guava pastries) I had to. It has been about 6 weeks (6 weeks, people!!) since we've had them.(since our road trip to Porto's in Glendale - see album to the left) And I would have to travel through quite a few area codes to get good ones.So I broke down and baked. And being a bit greedy for guava, I think I put too ...
Leftovers
"What's for dinner tonight?" "Just leftover chicken." Eye-rolling and full-body complaining ensues. Then the smell hits them... "What is THAT??" "Empanadas de Pollo." "Something CUBAN! Yaaaay!" I don't tell them that I intended to make this all along, which is why I made way too much ...
Salud!
I don't know anyone who truly likes egg nog.And then they try our Cuban Egg Nog and all perception changes. We call it Creme de Vie. ("creme" rhymes with Auntie M. and "vie" rhymes with More For Me! =D) Rather than making cookies for gifts, we make and "package" the Creme de Vie. (we also keep a whole lot for ...
It shouldn’t be food – a rant.
Yesterday I was in the grocery store with Lucy and we happened to cruise down the Asian food aisle. We stopped and took notice. They have shrimp chips!Did you catch that? SHRIMP! CHIPS! Not to mention some of the other brightly packaged and indigestible looking snacks catering to whoever it is that find this appealing or even ...
Must. Have. Cuban. Food.
There are 3 Cuban restaurants in Orange County.THREE.I might have mentioned this before. This is one of the reasons we cook Cuban so much. Mission Viejo is so NOT Miami. But we have adapted. Travel time to each one is at least 45 minutes to an hour for us, not counting traffic. And there is always traffic. I know. That sounded a little whiny. Our ...
Japi Jalo Uin (Happy Halloween)
In October of 1961, having been in the states for about 8 months, we found out about the delicious custom of Halloween. At first there was the confusion of why we would be dressing up: "Is it like carnaval? Is there a parade we get to ride in?" ("Pardon me..... but your Caribbean roots are showing.") It was exactly like a Jerry Seinfeld ...
