Smells Like Cuban FoodYou know you’re in a Cuban home if, when you walk in, you can smell The Smell. You know what I’m talking about - that unmistakable, mouth-watering, oh-so-inviting, my-mom-is-amazing, God-I-love-Cuban-food smell.It all begins with a simple onion, a luscious green bell pepper and some garlic cloves – The Trifecta of Cuban ...
Cuban food
The Best Graduation Party of The Year
My son, Jonathan, graduated from high school a few weeks ago. As I've done with each one of my four kids, I asked what type of celebration he'd enjoy. The four of them have asked for completely different types of parties and I have tried my best to comply. in 2001, Amy wanted an All-Cuban theme, with all the family and her friends, ...
A One-of-a-Kind Gift
It's been so exciting and busy around here! I've been creating custom subway posters for some really fun people and today I've asked one of them to share their experience and how the poster was received. First, this is the poster I created for her husband's 50th birthday. Very cool, no? I'll let Liliana Romero describe ...
Eating Your Feelings. Good or Bad? Discuss.
Today I want to talk about using food as comfort. I know we all do it. Let's just discuss this openly, shall we? I have a friend who, when struggling through personal difficulties, pulls out a box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. Not the gourmet kind of mac and cheese. (By the way, I have a fabulous recipe for Mac and Cheese in a Flat Pan right ...
Cooking on a Budget – Pastelitos de Guayaba
If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you know that I have perfected the simplest recipe for making pastelitos de guayaba (Cuban guava pastries) at home. Porto's, which is the closest Cuban bakery to us is still miles and miles and a half day's road trip away. So, when the craving for pastelitos hits, I just make ...
A Cuban Poster & Your Own Custom Subway Art!
I have often described myself as a Lover of Words. Just as often, I self-describe as a Lover of Cuban Food. Also, I'm a Serial List Maker. Just recently, all those worlds collided in my creative brain and the resulting explosion was this Cuban poster... Words + Cuban Food = Comida Cubana to create a subway style Cuban poster! I know. The ...
My Big, Fat, Cuban Family Cookbook for Christmas
If you'd like to own your very own copy of My Big, Fat, Cuban Family Cookbook; A celebration of Cuban-American life around our family table or (even better!) would like to give it as a gift, my publisher, Blurb Books is offering a very nice promotion right now. 25% off with the promo code: BLURBGIFT-1 at checkout.* Here's the link: MBFCF ...
I talk about Cuban food. A lot. Listen in.
I had the privilege of discussing my love affair with Cuban food and how my family and I celebrate Cuban holiday traditions on Silvio Canto Jr.'s Blogtalk Radio show the other day. This is what I looked like. (Don't judge.) If you want to hear what I sound like, you should click on the following link. I swear, I sound much taller on the ...
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 ...
My (Accidentally Cool) NYC Foodie Tour
Warning: Lots of fabulous food photos and details of my Foodie trip to NYC. Proceed at your own risk. My plan was to arrive in New York, get to my hotel and maybe explore a little bit of the Tribeca area where I was staying before my Cooking Pastelitos for 100 gig on Sunday. I was traveling alone, which doesn't bother me. It was just the ...
Pastelitos de Guayaba. For 100.
When I agreed to go to New York City to bake pastelitos de guayaba* for the Cuban Cultural Center of New York's (Centro Cultural Cubano de Nueva York) 12th Annual Congress, I was not quite sure what I'd gotten myself into. *Pastelitos de Guayaba. n. A Cuban pastry made with a delicate flaky crust and a filling of guava and sometimes ...
Pageant of the Masters – The Big Picture
As I mentioned the other day, I have a Summer To Do List. I call it my Summer Manifesto. I'm quite proud of us. We've been busy scheduling and checking things off the list which has made it quite a lovely and busy summer so far. I just got back from a weekend in New York, which I will write about later (I have sooo much to tell you!), ...
#LookAtMyFood
Are you one of those people that buys a cookbook based on the ability to see the finished dish in color? I totally am. I guess it's because my learning style is primarily visual. When something is being described to me, I "see" it in my mind's eye. This is also why I can't watch R-rated movies where things are too graphic, ...
Nochebuena in the O.C. (¡Oh, Sí!)
I'm just now recovering from the Food Coma that has ensued since our fabulous Nochebuena celebration. Once again it fell to me to host My Big, Fat, Cuban Family for our big Cuban feast on December the 24th. Cubans celebrate Christmas Eve more so than Christmas Day. It's a fall-back, I think, to the days when we actually celebrated the 12 ...
Starting our Nochebuena right – Thank you, Avocados from Mexico.
Nochebuena preparations are in full swing around here. The pig is happily marinating in the Mojo Criollo I told you about a few days ago. The Matervas are chilling in the fridge. Lucy is out in the world on a hunt for Turrones. Every time the phone rings or there is a text, it is Christmas related. My sister, Helen, calls: "We need an ...
