The new grandson, Sebastian (call him "Bash"), has us all nutty in the best possible way. I seriously cannot get enough of holding him and just staring. And as I do, I'm aware of how quickly time is going by. People, he's already a month old! Maybe it's because I have this guy in such close proximity that I'm barely aware of how much he's grown ...
My Big, Fat, Cuban Family
Meet The Baby Bash – it’s a Party!
My newest grandson, Sebastian (we call him Bash) was born a month ago. During the months leading up to his birth my life got a little crazy-busy and I couldn't see myself organizing a baby shower for Amy. I know. Mom fail. But, in my defense, we did get everything she needed for her first few weeks including a rocking chair, diapers, and receiving ...
And…they’re off!
This is not the way I pictured it. I'm talking about my life as Eric and I approach our Twilight Years. Which are really more of a pale yellow at this point, but that's not important right now. Here's how I pictured it: My kids would all be grown and gone. I have never had any illusions that they'd stay home forever. That ...
My Big, Fat, Cuban Family is 8 Years Old
I sat down at my computer 8 years ago today and started crafting my very first blog post. I wasn't quite sure exactly who I was writing for, but I tentatively introduced myself and my family to cyber-space. I crossed my fingers and hoped that maybe somehow, some way, someone out there would read the stories about my extraordinarily ordinary ...
Changes.
My four kids have always been in super different places in life, which has always kept our lives interesting. I remember when Amy Kikita started college. It was the same year Jonathan started Kindergarten. Yeah. Kindergarten and college. With Lucy in grammar school and Adam in high school there was never a dull moment around here. Change is ...
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 Match Made in Cuban Coffee Heaven
You know how much we Cubans love our cafecito. We also love lattes and cappuccinos and café con leche. Any iteration of coffee will do for us. There's even a subset of us that just love our Americano. All that to say this: We love a cup of strong coffee any way we can get it. Particularly a shot of hot, sweet espresso. In light of that ...
The Best of MBFCF in 2013
I'm looking at my calendar and it's already the 8th day of 2014. I was planning on taking a few days off at the beginning of the year and wow, did they go by quickly! Come to think of it, 2013 feels like it went by pretty quickly also. Is it just me, or is this one of those things people tend to repeat a lot as they get old? Shut up. ...
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 ...
Seven Years. (MBFCF Giveaway WEEK!)
You know that I'm all about celebrating. Big events. Birthdays. Anniversaries. Summer. Dinner. I believe in celebrating. Often. And well. Today marks my 7th anniversary here in this space. SEVEN. My big, fat, Cuban family is 7 years old today. And so I'm celebrating. *fires off the confetti canon* But first you have to sit ...
21 Things I Know For Sure (with 37 years of experience)
Today I mark the 58th time the earth has gone around the sun with me on this planet. All that to say this: today's my birthday. My 58th birthday. It seems I should have, at this point in my life, acquired some wisdom to share. Or I could just write down some random thoughts... 21 Things I Know For Sure About Myself: People always respond ...
Wassup En La? Why you will love this sitcom…
Go and grab yourself a nice, hot cafecito and make yourself comfortable. This post is going to be long and newsy. I'm about to seriously dish about the new TV sitcom, Wassup En LA? with lots of details and tons of photos about the project. (This is why you love me, right?) I promised you a few weeks ago that I would write about the making of ...
His Descendants are Many…
When we first moved into our present home eleven years ago, I had a vision of what I wanted along the wall of the stairwell. I wanted a sepia toned collection of family photos, old and new. The black and white photos and the brown sepia tones would be the unifying factor between the Now and Then look. It all started with a photo of my dad. A ...
The Things I Didn’t Blog About in 2012 – Luza
I write just about every day in my journal. I use the pages to rant and complain so that I don't do as much of it here in this public space. In my journal, I write about my fears, my worries, my hopes, and my dreams. Some days I just write about how tired I am (which admittedly is not the best blog-fodder, but that's not important right ...