You probably read the title of this post a few times Porto's Bake at Home?? And you probably wondered, "Have all my Cuban pastry - since I don't live in Miami - dreams come true?" Today the answer to that would be a resounding, *"Si! Como no!" That's a big fat Cuban, *"YES, PLEASE!" {Disclosure: I have not been compensated for writing this post, ...
pastelitos de guayaba
The Cuban Table – A Giveaway
Last year I had the good fortune to participate in the Cuban Cultural Center of New York's (Centro Cultural Cubano de Nueva York) 12th Annual Congress. You can read about that right here. It was there that I met another one of the chefs involved in the event. Ana Sofia Peláez is the author of the very delicious food blog, hungry ...
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 ...
My Big, Fat, Dodger Blue Cuban Family
I have amazing news! I'm proud and privileged to announce that I was invited to be on the planning committee for Cuban Heritage Day at Dodger Stadium this year! (I know. Shut up.) Seriously, if I was going to add an item to my Bucket List, this would be it. Of course, I didn't know I would have added it until they actually asked me, but ...
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. ...
Goodbye, Google Reader. Hello, Bloglovin.
Those of you who subscribe to my blog feed and use Google Reader may have already heard that Google Reader is going away. The beauty of using a "reader" is that it delivers the content from your favorite blogs straight into one place where you can then read up on the comings and goings of your favorite blogger-people. I tend to use my ...
A Pastelito by any other name…
There are thousands of fantastic restaurants in Southern California. And I'm sure the fair city of Glendale has a bizzillion wonderful eateries. But, if we're going to be in Glendale for any reason, we must always stop at Porto's Bakery and load up on Cuban Provisions. There's no better Cuban bakery in So Cal. Lucy, Jonathan ...
Keeping Calm
Sometimes I feel like I've said everything I need to say. And sometimes I feel like I have told my same stories a thousand times. Maybe it's because I start to tell a story and my kids stop me in mid-sentence with a resounding, "We know!" I thought about retiring my blogging jersey (metaphorically speaking) and shut down My ...
Cuban Word of the Day
I have been taking a hiatus to get myself well again from being sick for the first part of this year. (Thank you, Vicks VaPoRub for your constant support.) I'm 100% better and I'm ready to jump back into blog-world. I had a feeling-sorry-for-myself-emotionally-fragile moment of "I wonder if anyone even remembers me?" This ...
Writer’s Block
I guess it happens to the best and most seasoned writers. You wake up and sit staring at the blank page on your computer screen and.....nothing. I think it would be much more dramatic for this moment to happen in front of a typewriter with a blank piece of paper (maybe in sepia tones). But I know it happens either way. It's the equivalent of ...
Cooking With the Troops (a lo Cubano)
I've gotten the opportunity to do many cool things because of this blog. I continue to be amazed at what this particular platform has afforded me in my life. Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, I received an invitation that knocked the wind out of me and left me sitting on the ground weeping like the little girl I am. Val ...
For the love of guava…
WARNING: I've used a lot (!) of exclamation points in the following post. Such was my level of excitement... In my family of origin and in the Cuban home where I grew up, we always had a couple of items in the pantry: Cans of leche condensada (sweetened condensed milk). Bars of guava paste. I'm guessing that the way we used those two ...
Pastelito Delivery Service
The temperature has been in the double digits around here. So cooking has been a pretty low priority. If I do cook, it will usually involve the crockpot and rice cooker and me NOT in the kitchen for hours. But last week, I baked! Yes, BAKED. And I'm not just talking about the day I spent too much time in the sun. (That's a story for ...
