I have yet to meet a kid that doesn't like Macaroni & Cheese. We usually have the boxed stuff in our pantry, but to be honest something about using powedered cheese just never seemed right to me. Is that weird? It's especially weird and odd to me when there is perfectly good cheese in the fridge. I mean c'mon! Doesn't make sense! Macaroni & Cheese can't be that hard.........can it?? Just because I don't have the boxed Macaroni & Cheese doesn't mean we can't make it! So I scrambled around my fridge and took out some cheeses, milk, and butter. Looked through the spice cabinet and took out the cornstarch and salt and set out to make homemade Macaroni. Psh, I can do this I thought.
Well, after about 4 or 5 attempts (on different occasions) I finally got it. Believe it or not it really is simple if you're not looking for something fancy shmancy. And let's face it, the boxed stuff, well.........there really is nothing fancy about it, so I want to introduce you to my version. The easiest (and much yummier) version I have seen next to Macaroni in a box.
This was my dinner last night, and my lunch this afternoon. I suppose I could have paired these delicious wontons with some soy sauce or sweet and sour sauce, but na. I needed something closer to home. Crema Casera with grated Cotija cheese, which turned out to be a surprisingly PERFECT match by the way.
Sorry about the blurry vision. My camera has apparently decided it's ready for retirement and is being stubborn....grrrrr.
My Mother's day wish list:
A new camera
& Photography classes :)
Finally some rain in the Bay Area! This calls for some soup. Here's one of the easiest stews I've ever made!
Here's another family favorite traditional drink.
I've always looked forward to this time of the year not only for Christmas but for the food and this comfort drink that I love so much. At the age of about 12 (I think), I remember watching one of my relatives making this and I just had to know how it was made. So I watched her and tried to understand the process and ingredients, but of course I didn't write any of it down and forgot. Recently I asked one of my aunts (my Tia Olga) how to make it because I had been craving it and she gladly told me with detail. I couldn't go without sharing this with you because it isn't the same as American hot chocolate. It's thicker, smoother, sweet yet nowhere near the flavor of powdered hot chocolate, it's a different type of chocolate, and it's filling. It will surely warm your belly :)
These are the times that I wish I had a backyard to grow an avocado tree and have a nice healthy patch of Mint growing next to it. Mint happens to be one of my favorite tea's, and avocado.....well, I can eat one all by itself with a spoon. Over the weekend I had a strange yet inspiring urge to combine the two. Something told me they would make a happy couple. I was right :)
Here's another experiment that went REALLY well for us. Hope you like it!
Hello my fellow foodies. I've missed sharing with you. My new business has taken more of my time afterhours than I anticipated. Although I am happy about its progress and successes, I desperately miss this one and only hobby I have grown so attatched to. Cooking has become so much more to me than I ever imagined it would. It has become my escape.
Recently I was shopping at Trader Joes and decided to pick up some salami for the first time there. Little did I realize that I would also find the best chorizo I have EVER had. Soy chorizo that is!
The only place I have ever seen soy chorizo is at SaveMart which wasn't too bad. After having TJ's though.....I ain't ever goin' back. Big difference! So much flavor!! It was pretty close to, in fact, better than the pork and beef chorizo that we used to buy before we found soy. I'm hooked. Baited by salami, hooked on TJ's chorizo.
Ahh yes...the time has come for the "fin" of my salsa challenge. Yup! Summer is here!! Today is the first day of summer and I must sadly say my salsa challenge has come to an end. This was such a great experience for me and I must admit that it was difficult keeping up with posting at least one different salsa for each week. The good thing is now I know what I'm doing when it comes to making homemade salsa. Although of course now, this means I no longer have an excuse to never make it, but that's okay, I prefer to have freshly made salsa vs. store bought. It didn't take me long to decide on what would be my final post on this subject either. I saved the best for last, well more like my all-time favorite (another one of my mommas by the way). Probably the easiest too!
This is one of those "reminds me of Grandpa" recipes because he used to make something very close to this around the holidays and Lent. His version though (the traditional version) is a bit more complicated and with way more ingredients. It used to be a family favorite growing up but no one makes it anymore, and to be honest no one can measure up to my grandpas' Bread Pudding which we call Capirotada. For this particular bread pudding though I went the easy route and used as few ingredients as I could without sacrificing loosing too much of the memory and good flavor. Turned out to be simple, moist, and quite tasty. Hope you enjoy!
Woohoo! I am so happy to be sharing this with my fellow mild salsa eaters. If you like salsa on top of steak or chicken tacos but can't bear the heat, you must try this one! It has the perfect amount of heat with lots of flavor. For those of us who can never taste flavor because we can't handle the heat, this is for you, especially if you like barbequed chicken. Who doesn't like barbeque chicken?! Well, this salsa is the perfect compliment for that. It is extremely easy to make too!
Salzapacho is the name I gave this salsa because it sort of is a hybrid between a Salsa and a Gazpacho. It's light, refreshing, sweet, and possesses a bit of an earthiness from the roasted sweet peppers. A traditional gazpacho has similar ingredients with the same summery refreshing taste, but also usually includeds cucumber and bread (which has been lightly soaked in a white wine or olive oil). This was one of my favorites so far because of its dual purpose of being a salsa and a soup at the same time. It really is good enough to eat alone!
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