All posts tagged: Holiday

The Food of My (Husband’s) People – Part Dos: Black Beans

Published by

I’ll admit it, I never really “got” black beans.  I remember when they started regularly appearing on menus.  They were the envogue new healthy alternative protein.  I would hear people order black beans like they were something special.  Sure, I liked them, but I just didn’t understand what was so exciting about them. Enter my husband… I mentioned the time we went to the Cuban restaurant, Versailles in Part I.  He talked about the black beans that night.  I ate them.  I enjoyed them.  However, I still didn’t really understand just how delightful they could be. It wasn’t until my husband took me one Christmas to meet his family.  We arrived on Noche Buena, and the festivities were in full swing.  A family friend, Miguel had prepared the beans.  He took me under his wing and told me all about his grandmother’s recipe and the memories that came with the food. We talked and talked, and then I tasted.  These were different.  They were creamy and flavorful.  Just the aroma from them was intoxicating.  I …

The Food of My (Husband’s) People: Lechon Asado

Published by

Part I – Lechon Asado On our third date, my husband promised to introduce me to “the food of his people.”  He took me to Versailles, a Cuban restaurant I had been to many times before, but he didn’t know that.  When we got there, he ordered croquettes and started to explain some items on the menu to me.  I thought I knew Cuban food, but this was a whole new way of seeing, understanding, and ultimately tasting it. Lechon asado, a roasted pork marinated with tangy bitter orange and garlic, has been my long-time “go to” for Cuban food, but I started really exploring other things that night.  I began to understand the intricacies and art of Cuban black beans along with the satisfaction of a good cordadito (espresso shot cut with a splash of milk) after a meal. A few months later, he took me to Miami, where he really immersed me in some Cuban culture.  We drank cortadidos and ate a pastel every afternoon.  I somehow kept up with the rapid Cuban …

My Little Valentine

Published by

Valentine’s Day is coming up quickly.  While this traditionally has been a holiday I’ve shrugged off, my husband loves to go all out and give me roses and chocolates.  On one occasion, I got a teddy bear and the flowers.  Last year he gave me custom jewelry with his and my son’s birthstones. Needless to say, he’s changed my attitude about Valentine’s Day.  I wholeheartedly admit I love flowers and candy.  To be given those things from him makes them even more special. Usually I cook him his favorite meal for this holiday.  This year, I decided to do something different. My husband is Cuban.  There is very little that he loves more than a pastelito.  We live walking distance to Porto’s Cuban Bakery, which has all sorts of Cuban and Cuban-inspired treats.  We used to go there all the time.  It’s cheap.  It’s delicious.  The food is fresh.  The coffee is strong.  The lines are…long.  Oh…that’s right.  It usually takes a minimum of an hour to get in and out of Porto’s, even if …

Macarons – Those Temperamental Little B!+(#es

Published by

French macarons have been a long-time favorite dessert of mine.  I love the colors, flavors, and that slightly chewy, tender cookie with a fragile crust.  I heard they could be fussy, so I never tried to make them.  Instead, I left them to the French pastry experts. That is, until I caught a video on making macarons.  It looked so easy!  What could go wrong? Well, as it turns out, a lot of things. Let’s start with this:  If you read my blog or know me in person, you know I am very bad at sticking to the recipe.  I enjoy “cooking with love.”  In other words, I like throwing things together and making something yummy. The first time I made macarons, I followed the directions of the video I had watched.  These were very tasty, but the video left out a very important step: Sift, sift, sift.  Then sift again.  If in doubt, sift. As I said, the first macarons I created were delicious.  However, they were grainy.  They were completely the wrong texture.  …