It is my great pleasure to announce that I'm participating in a fabulous celebration of children and books called Día Blog Hop, organized by Latinas for Latino Lit. The Blog Hop features the very best of Latino children's book illustrators and authors. It's very cool to be a part of such a great group and program. 13 ...
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‘A Falling Star’ – A Book Giveaway
My friend and Cuban American author, Chantel Acevedo is at it again. She's just finished her latest novel, 'A Falling Star' and I know you will be anxious to read it. Here's the synopsis: Daysy Maria del Pozo and Stella Maris Morales-Quinn both came to the United States as part of the 1980 Mariel Boatlift—Daysy settling ...
Celebrating Kids and Books (Día Blog Hop) Featuring Margarita Engle
It is my great pleasure to announce that I'm participating in a fabulous celebration of children and books called Día Blog Hop, organized by Latinas for Latino Lit. The Blog Hop has been happening for the entire month of April and it features the very best of Latino children's book artists and authors. The Día Blog Hop will be ...
ALL the Picadillo at the Blurb Books Food Fair
I am a Cuban mother. And I cook. I love that I get asked to cook at different foodie-type events. See here. I always love doing those. But the real story is that I basically like to eat Cuban food, so I cook it. And I have a family to feed, so they appreciate that I cook. Also, I really enjoy oversharing, hence this whole blog thing. So, in a ...
Cuando Sali de Cuba – Fernan’s Story (A Giveaway)
Marta here: A friend called me recently: "There's a new book called, The Cubans. You're mentioned in it." I was intrigued and contacted the author, Fernando Hernandez who very kindly agreed, not only to share his story, but to share his book with MBFCF readers. First, let's let Fernan tell his own ...
Five. (A giveaway)
I sat down at my computer on October 1st, 2006 and wrote out my very first blog post with the title, "Life on the hyphen..." You're welcome to click over and read it. I lifted that post title from a book written by my friend, Gustavo Perez-Firmat, called Life on the Hyphen: The Cuban-American Way. In that book, he brilliantly ...
Rice. An in-depth look. (And a giveaway.)
In keeping with our Hispanic Heritage Month, I've decided to tackle a subject that's near and dear to us. It's something that we feel absolutely passionate about. But we Cubans are passionate about so, so many things. (Well, everything, really....but that's not important right now.) I know I shouldn't be surprised when the ...
Why I * heart* Amazon
My family and I are all voracious bibliophiles. Voracious. Personally, I don't care either way if the book is the old-school paper kind or a good e-book. I love to read. Full stop. I have been loving the free Kindle for iPad app because I can store dozens of books on my iPad and make notes and add highlights and do all the things I ...
The Help – And the winners are…
Thank you again for your willingness to share your stories. (And for letting me share mine!) If you must know, my very favorite character, especially in the film, was Celia Foote. I loved how she totally disarmed Minny with her innocence - or was it ignorance? And the winners of the giveaways are: The Dreamworks The Help Gift Pack goes to: A ...
Sabor! Cookbook Winner
Thank you all for being so patient. I just got back from San Antonio last night and I have sooo much to tell you, but before I do that, I'd like to thank you for sharing your menus for your family celebrations. You gave me so many ideas! Check the comments section of the post entitled: Happy 40th Birthday, Versailles! (An homage and a ...
Happy 40th Birthday, Versailles! (An homage and a giveaway.)
“I need a blurb from you about Versailles.” This request came from my friend (the amazing Cuban chef and cookbook author) Ana Quincoces. She was working on a TOP SECRET project and thought I might have something to say about my favorite Cuban restaurant in Miami. Me: “Tell me what you're doing, so I can put it in context.” That's when she ...
Celebrating Abuela
I never knew my grandparents. We left Cuba when I was so very young that I barely remember my grandmothers. I think my dad's parents had already passed away by the time I was born. And I have just the few mental snapshots that a five year old can retain of my mom's mother. Here's a beautiful old photo of her, my maternal grandmother, ...
Sabor! Cuban Cookbook – A Hot Giveaway
My beautiful friend, Ana Quincoces, has authored an equally beautiful Cuban cookbook. (I say equally, only because the pages are filled with fabulous photos of both her and her food, and I can't think of which is more gorgeous, but that's not important right now.) Just recently, Ana was voted Miami's Hottest Chef over on Eater ...
Cookbook Giveaway – Winner!
I've decided that what I love best about doing a giveaway, besides actually giving cool stuff away (duh) is reading your stories. Those tidbits of your lives that you share with me in the comments is like gold. If you just leave a comment and run (thank you, for commenting!), that's fine. But if you have a moment, please go back and read ...
Chipper Chicken Recipe and a Giveaway
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 ...