Okay, so it's not really mandatory to do this, but I can't help but want to share all the things I'm grateful for as we approach Thanksgiving Day. I have to start with my family. Because, pretty much my life begins and ends with them. From their smiles to their crazy-making messes, they are the people who keep me engaged and moving forward. And ...
Thanksgiving
Arroz con Maiz Recipe
Arroz con Maiz Recipe - An Original Thanksgiving Side Dish Cuban-style Thanksgiving with my big, fat, Cuban family is usually a very typical American feast. But because my family has so many amazing cooks, we're often trying new recipes and sometimes we like to put a spin on some old classics. Our turkeys have run the gamut from deep-fried to ...
Dulce de Leche Ice Cream Recipe – Homemade
Dulce de Leche Ice Cream Recipe - Flavor of the Month This was the noisiest dessert we've ever had. Every spoonful brought on another chorus of: "Ay! Que rico!!" or "Umph.. oohsh! Thith ish mmlishous!" I think there were prayers of thanksgiving offered, too: "Oh. My. God." I am "sandpapering myself" (dandome lija) just a bit ...
Elena Ruz Sandwich Recipe With a Twist
A Legend in My Own Mind from Marta’s Cuban American Kitchen I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Our family certainly did. And boy did we have leftover turkey! The re-heated turkey meal started to get old really fast. So I suggested sandwiches. Me: “Hey let’s make Elena Ruz’s.” My kids: “Mom, use your words.” (smart alecks!) “What ...
Bacon-Wrapped Date Appetizers Recipe
Bacon-Wrapped Dates Recipe With Pictures October 30, 2012 Thanksgiving (el Sanguibin) with my big, fat Cuban family is always a wonderful and fun celebration. As Cuban refugees who are now proud American citizens, we are mindful of just how much we have to be thankful for. In my family, while we’re waiting for the birds to fry, (oh yes, we do!) ...
Guava Cheesecake Recipe
Guava Cheesecake Recipe: Move Over, Pumpkin Pie! So, I’m still on my quixotic quest of declaring November as National Guava Month. To that end, I am happy to share my recipe for Guava Cheesecake in time for you to make it for “El Sanguibin.” Of course, the main ingredient in cheesecake is cream cheese, which is inexorably tied to Philadelphia ...
El Dia de Los Reyes
Happy New Year! January 6th, marks the Feast of the Epiphany on the Catholic Church calendar.If you were counting the 12 days of Christmas - from December 25th until the 5th of January - you would have just received your 12 Lords a Leaping. And you would probably be frantically posting stuff on eBay, ...
Behind the Scenes at the Star Wars: The Force Awakens Press Junket
I get to attend some pretty amazing events as part of my blog life, but none more anticipated (and shrouded in secrecy) as the Star Wars: The Force Awakens Press Junket. I received the coveted invitation which was pretty much a 'save the date' with no information as to the time and place. Can you imagine? Of course, I responded ...
What’s Important Right Now – October
I often get distracted as I'm in the middle of telling a story and my go to disclaimer is, "but that's not important right now." But my life is in session and there are lots of things that are important. So I keep a list of 'present participles' or Things That Are Important Right Now. Loving my new website. Lucy has done an amazing job of ...
Celebrating Gratitude
In my family of origin we have the custom of always sending out invitations to events that people already know about and are coming to anyway. Welcome to our own special brand of crazy. Thanksgiving is always on the 4th Thursday of November. My sisters and I are pretty much in constant discussion for weeks ahead of the party. Who will bring what? ...
Arroz con Maiz Recipe – An Original Thanksgiving Side Dish Cuban-style
Thanksgiving with my big, fat, Cuban family is usually a very typical American feast. But because my family has so many amazing cooks, we're often trying new recipes and sometimes we like to put a spin on some old classics. Our turkeys have run the gamut from deep-fried to classically oven-baked to (my favorite) the Guavalicious ...
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, ...
Finding Joy
There has been so much preparation leading up to this week. Of course, I'm sure it's been like that in every home that celebrates Christmas. And also, did it seem like December just vanished in a puff of smoke, or is that just me? We're not the people who put up Christmas decorations the day after Thanksgiving. We take our time and ...
The Best Baked Potato Soup EVER®
For the holidays many of us get one of those beautiful spiral hams. You set it out on your table and it always gets oohs and aahs. There's nothing like a fabulous ham. Am I right? For Thanksgiving we served two turkeys - one smoked, one roasted, and then there was also the spiral cut ham. Because we Cubans like an abundant table. There are a ...
The Cuban Hipster Thanksgiving
When I host family or friends for a big, elaborate dinner, my delight is in designing the tablescapes. My job, as I see it, is to create a warm and welcoming atmosphere, but not get too hung up on making things so department-store-perfect that it feels too cold and impersonal. It's fun for me to set a pretty table. It's much more fun to ...
