It's December. I don't know how we got here so quickly, but here we are. It's time to celebrate our traditions and embrace some of the Cuban crazy that is ours alone this Christmas season. It's not just the food that's fantastic (and it totally is!) - it's all the fun, idiomatic things we have that make the holidays special. I always like to say ...
Mother's Day
Cuban Tostones and Picadillo… With Milk?
Disclosure - This is a compensated campaign in collaboration with the California Milk Processor Board and Latina Bloggers Connect. The recipe and opinions are my own. What goes great with milk? I posed this question to my Facebook followers the other day and the responses I received went something like this: Cornbread crumbled in ...
The Spamerican! Tour Surprise – A Giveaway
I was recently invited to cook with celebrity chef Sunny Anderson. I know. Shut up. Of course I was going to attend! The surprise was that she was kicking off The SPAMERICAN!TM Tour and would be cooking - wait for it - with SPAM®. FYI: The SPAM Brand invited me to the event and provided me with a gift bag like the one I'm giving away. All the ...
Celebrating Mother’s Day with My People
I love nothing more than gathering around a laden table full of delicious food and my favorite people. As a matter of fact, my favorite people happen to be my kids. Mother's Day weekend felt like it should have a lot of those moments. But of course, I wanted to spend as much time as possible just visiting with Amy and Adam. And enjoying ...
My Mother’s Day of Perfection
I was feeling a little sorry for myself because Mother's Day is coming and half of my kids are scattered all over the map. See this story. For us Cubans, as is true for most Hispanic cultures, Mother's Day is like a High Holy Day. Am I right? Either way, I was still going to celebrate with the 2 that are still here and of course, ...
Mother Ring Winner
Do you know what makes me smile? I read each of your comments, particularly the ones from those of you who entered my recent giveaway for the beautiful Mother Ring Charm Holder. And what I read was the pride in those few lines. "These are the names of the people I love most." I love that. And I get it. As a mother, I think I take ...
SALE! Get Mami a Cuban Food Poster For Mother’s Day
I first want to thank all of you who have supported my Cuban food poster. I love every time one of you sends me a photo of your framed poster and when you tell me how much you're enjoying it. It makes me feel like I'm right in your kitchen with you. (Not in a weird way, of course.) I've been hearing from many of you that the 16 x 20 ...
Hospitality 101
Yesterday (Mother's Day) morning, I came downstairs and found this: I'm glad they opted for the sit-down-in-the-dining-room breakfast because I'm so not the breakfast-in-bed type. Happily, my children learned this about me many, many Mother's Days ago. Don't get me wrong, I love breakfast. It's The Most Important ...
Where in the world is Marta today?
I realize I haven't been posting as often as I like and I apologize, but that doesn't mean I'm not around. In fact, I seem to be all over the web today. I'm guest posting in a couple of places: I have an essay about Mother's Day over at the Tiki Tiki. I tell you a lot about Luza. It's titled "My Mother. My ...
A Big, Fat, Cuban Family Mother’s Day
My big, fat, Cuban family is made up of dozens of amazing women that I am blessed to be related to. I know many of you feel the same. And because I consider (our readers) as family, I thought Mother's Day would be a great day to pay tribute to your special moms right here. Thank you for the privilege of including us as you celebrate the lives ...
Mother’s Day Blog Shout Out
Kikita here. In case you didn't know (because you've been so busy getting ready for "Kikko de Mayo") Mother's day is THIS SUNDAY. I know what you're thinking: "¡Ay Kikita! I'm not ready! I don't know what to get her!" Never fear! Kikita is here! (Ok, I really can't take the credit for this ...
Mother’s Day Without Mom
The following post has been brought to you by none other than Kikita the Awesome. As you well know, Mami & Co. are touring Washington DC and Adam and I couldn't join the trip this time around. This means we have been left to our own devices and sometimes our devices can be rather silly. Now, I'll be the first to to admit that Mami ...
Where else would a Cuban be on Mother’s Day?
Happy Mother's Day! We began our day with a visit to Arlington Cemetery and some of the kids in our group (congratulations, Jessica!) got to participate in the Wreath Laying Ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.So I'm moved and emotional and in a fragile and contemplative mood as we slowly walk back to our tour bus. There are many ...
What do you call your Abuela?
The span in age between me and my oldest sister, Ofie, is about fifteen years. Which means she was married and had her first child, Annette, by the time I was nine. Which means that at that point in my young life, my mother, Luz, became a grandmother. "La Abuela!" She had waited so long to finally hear those words. She could barely wait until ...
“Felicidades, Abuela!” (state your name)
I've written before about how my family spent summers in Varadero Beach in pre-castro Cuba.My grandmother's birthday was in late June so we would be out of Havana and not with her to celebrate. So we would call.... It seems like such a simple thing, making a phone call from Varadero to Havana, but it was quite an elaborate operation because the ...
