An Amazing place!

This truly is the one place that relaxes me

and makes me slow down

and take a breather and reflect on my life.

Allows me to meditate and

appreciate all that I have and not take for granted

those around me.

We just returned from O.C. MD and had glorious

weather and enjoyed some

wonderful seafood, fresh and sweet and delicious.

It was a well needed vacation and

a great end to summer.



My New York City Trip

Hello everyone, its been so long since I've posted anything, I'm sorry. Its been pretty crazy around here since I've been back from NYC visiting my family. The main reason of visiting was to see my little brother Alex and his wife Heather, she's the second one in from the right. They came to NY to visit everyone, its been 5 years since they've been back so it was quite a reunion.

Here we are at my parents where my mom outdid herself for dinner. She made true Puerto Rican food. It was WONDERFUL, wish I had some now.

My dad wanted to show off his plate, as you can see and slice of Avacado, Pernil(pork shoulder), Arroz con Gandules(rice with pigeon peas), tostones, maduros and fried cod fritter. All so delicious. I can smell it now. My mom is a wonderful cook, all those smells coming from her kitchen brought back many memories of home.

For dessert I made peach pie, yes, from all those peaches I sliced and put in my freezer. I made the first pie this season. With homemade crust, of course.

My mom, my aunt, and  I, went to the grocery store where you can find everything and anything for spanish cooking. This is a must stop when we visit NYC. It's a really neat grocery store, as you'll see.

I think they take pride in their stacking of the vegetables, I'm always amazed with how beautiful it looks in there.

Look at the rows of yams, potatoes, yucca, etc. We could take a lesson here on how to stack the veggies, and not one on the floor of the store. Believe it or not!

This to me is art. The colors and freshness of everything. This all goes back to an earlier posting of mine where I would never of thought I'd be gardening, digging in dirt especially since I could go to the grocery store and have my pick. Now you see what I mean.

Ok, I had to take a picture of the firemen doing their grocery shopping. It never fails that EVERYTIME we come into the grocery store, the firemen start coming in. All dressed and ready to be called. There have been many a times when they've been shopping and you see them running out of the store going to a fire, or if they're about ready to pay and they have to leave everything behind to do their job. So proud of them, especially since this past weekend was the memorial of 9/11.

Now if you want the best pizza around, you need to find Rosa's in Ridgewood, Queens NY. Words cannot describe the delicious pizza's they serve there, only a picture can:

Oh, yea, baby. The best around. I made my husband's mouth water when he saw this picture.

And for the best Raisin Bread, Grimaldi's in Brooklyn. I don't like raisins too much, but I will eat their raisin bread in a heartbeat. The smell of it, the softness, when you bite into it, it just melts in your mouth, and if you want they'll drizzle it with icing, OH MY GOODNESS!! I regret not taking a picture of the loaf.(of course I couldn't because when we got it home it was attacked by some hungry wolves)

The next day we had a family gathering to attend. Family I haven't seened for a long time.

(BTY, I had to remove family pictures off the blog, unfortunately, I had someone contact me asking me questions, that I felt were personal and made me uncomfortable. DH asked me to remove any photos from the blog that had us in it or any friends or family, its a shame isn't it. errrrrrrr!!!)

Now comes the family cookout at my uncles in the Bronx. It was so nice. My brother there with his wife all the way from Seattle. He and my dad are two peas in a pod!! Kind of like me and mom.

We had the most delicious grilled chicken, not one piece left.. Then it was time to chow down....rice, chicken, ribs, potato salad, green salad.....all too good. Making myself hungry again.

The gang acting crazy: The neighbors across the street were throwing a baby shower, now, a hispanic baby shower is not your ordinary cutsie shower, no way!! The decorations are way out there, the food is incredible, the amount of family members and friends that attend do not fit in the house, and no shower is complete without music blasting so loud that you have to scream at the top of your lungs in order to hold a conversation. That is a baby shower. So we all went out front because the neighbors were playing some "old school" songs and well, we had to dance.

My mouth ached from laughing so much.

Then in the late evening the family took all kinds of pictures. We had a great time. We arrived at my uncles house, the one on the far left, at around 3:30pm and we left after midnight. We ate, talked, laughed, danced and just enjoyed each other's company. So until next time, its been great to see everyone. And although not everyone was there, we stay in touch on Facebook, which is an amazing website that allows us to stay in touch. La familia!!!!

Keeping in Touch

We are having amazing weather here in PA. It's been in the mid 70's no humidity. We're getting spoiled. But today I was just thinking of family. I just hung up the phone with my mom, literally, as I was typing she called to say my younger brother and his wife just arrived to NYC safely from Seattle. My little brother hasn't been back to NY for quite a few years. When he moved to Seattle and got married, I think that was about 4 1/2 years ago now. WOW! He hasn't been back home. So today they flew in and arrived at LaGuardia Airport. I wish I were there to greet them but I'll be in NYC next week with my cousins, aunt, sister-in-law and niece. We'll be driving up to see him and his wife, my other sister-in-law. So I'm anxious, I can't wait. I'll be posting pictures of that when I return. My hubby, mom and I flew to Seattle a year ago to visit them and we had a blast there. Great city! Definitely want to go back.

Another thing about family, its been great that just this past couple of weeks, my family on my fathers side, have joined Facebook and we're having a blast on there. Like my uncle said, its like a family reunion, altough we don't see each other, we're keeping in touch with pictures and Instant Messaging. My husband will hear me laughing out loud and would come back to our office to see what in the world is going on, and its me laughing at something someone said or sent via internet. Then this weekend we're driving to OH to visit my hubby's family there. I am so looking forward to that trip. His cousin who we're staying with, he and his wife live in a small adorable cottage and their backyard is a river! Its amazing and so comforting and relaxing. They asked if there was anything we wanted to do. I said "Yes, I want to sit in the sunroom with a cup of coffee and some magazines, books, or crocheting, and listen to the river. That's all." I will post pictures of that as well.

Family is a great thing, its very important to me, so its nice that we can keep in touch, whether in person or on the internet. La Familia!!

Family Visits

So my parents drove down from NYC to visit this past weekend. Mom and dad visit quite often now that they have a granddaughter, she's actually the only grandchild in our family. She belongs to my brother and his wife. My niece, my love who stole my heart the first time I held her.

So tiny in my arms, I fell in love. She has been a big part of our lives. I thank my sister-in-law for allowing us to whisk my niece away on the weekends. At first, when my brother told her that he'd like us to take their daughter so she can spend time with us and get to know us, my poor sister-in-law about had a heart attack. There was no way she was letting ANYONE take her daughter away for even the day, let alone the weekend.....he was insane. Now, she wants to know when I want my niece and how long would we like for her to stay with us...lol. So my DH and I will pick up my baby girl and she'll spend one or two nights with us. She is so much fun, at the age of two, she is a ball of energy. Loves to make you laugh, loves the camera, and loves to show-off. My parents, her grandparents, are loving every moment they can have with her, especially since they live 250 miles away. But she knows her grandpa and grandma, and she loves them. So we had lots of fun this past weekend, watching my niece perform for us, letting her steal our hearts more and more everytime she's with us.
(Sorry, there were pictures of myself and my family in this post, but I started to receive emails from someone I did not know asking me personal questions that he didn't need to know, so DH asked me to remove any photos that had people in them. So I did. Isnt' that a shame?)

Puerto Rican Food

If you've never had Puerto Rican food, then I have to say, you are missing out!!! It is the most flavorful, colorful, aromatic food that is absolutely amazing. My family background is, as I'm sure you can guess, from Puerto Rico, as well as from Spain, and Portuguese, as well as some other nationalities. Of course how many of us can say our families are only from one country? Not too many...that's what makes us so interesting.
I learned how to cook when I was eight years old. My mom taught me. I loved watching mom cook as a kid. I'd stand by her side asking her all kinds of questions. What is that for, why do you add that, can I taste, can I stir? Mom was patient with me, and I thoroughly am grateful that she showed me and let me make mistakes. Til this day, I love to cook and bake. I am always trying new recipes. I'm guilty of trying new things when company is coming. My mother-in-law cannot get over that...she calls me brave woman. Food should be fun to not only eat but to make. But my favorite will always be Puerto Rican food. Below you'll see the process of making homemade dried beans, then rice and after that some moist and delicious chicken. It brings back so many memories. If only you could smell the aroma in my kitchen. There is nothing like it. This is my comfort food.
Thank you mom for taking out the time to teach me, I love you so much.

The beans boil for two minutes. Then I remove it from the heat and let it sit for one hour. I pour out the water, add fresh cold water and a ham hock. I cut up an onion and smash some fresh garlic and add it to the beans. I let that boil for an hour. Then, I add sofrito. What is that you ask? It is a mixture of peppers, onions, cilantro, and garlic. You blend that in a blender until pureed, and Voila! you have sofrito. It is delicious. You add this to beans, you can rub it on meat before baking, you can add it to soups. And it lasts a very long time in your fridge. You store it in a glass jar or you can freeze it.
I add sofrito and tomato sauce along with other spices. I let this boil while I prepare the rice and chicken. Oh the aroma!!!








Now the second step, time to get the rice going. Love, Love, Love rice. This is what I grew up eating, and I still can't get enough of it. Even my husband loves rice, thank goodness!!! There are times I'll even catch him eating out of the pot when he thinks I'm not looking. So now I have to warn him not to touch the rice leftover since it's our dinner for tomorrow as well.........I saute the rice in about 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil, until it starts to turn white, then add the hot water, add salt to taste and let it come to a boil until the majority of the water evaporates, I stir it up, then add the lid and let it cook for 20 minutes. Perfect rice every time.






I love spices. I could easily collect spices, of all things, but that may not be practical unless I use them all. But I do enjoy going to kitchen stores and the grocery store to check out spices. You can be sure my food is not bland with this collection, and I still have more in my fridge. I read somewhere that you should keep red and brown spices in the fridge to keep the color and flavor fresh and that's what I do. They certainly last longer. So, now what spices do I want to use today??? HMMMMMM



The third step is to get the chicken marinated, then breaded. I use a combination of flour and breadcrumbs. If I just use flour then it gets soggy, if I just use breadcrumbs it burns, so I combine them both and you get a perfect crusted chicken. I love the color of the meat. It turns out so juicy and flavorful. It's my husbands favorite way I make chicken. Oh the aroma when this is cooking. I love the color the chicken becomes after its cooked.







So here is everything cooking on the stove, smells heavenly!!!!



The finished product below, cannot wait to dig into the food and eat!!! Finally!! The only thing missing are fried plantains and sliced avacado on the side. I forgot those today when I went grocery shopping.

Father and Daughter Story

I love ribbons. I have been collecting them for some time now. I buy them when they're on sale, when I'm looking for specific ones for a project or just because they're pretty and I have to have it. The ribbons you see are only a fraction of what I have. I have a pile there because I'm looking through them to see what I could use for my clipboard project.
To show you how I'm obsessed with ribbons involves my dad. I was on eBay one morning, dangerous. And I saw someone was selling a lot of ribbon. Lots and Lots of ribbon. Well, I was going to work, and at the time there was no computer, so I called my dad. You see dad and I really enjoy eBay, sometimes too much. But my dad is good at bidding. I get my talents from him...lol...so I called him that morning. "Dad, could you do me a favor?" I asked. "Sure, what is it?" he said. "Well you see, I was on eBay this morning and saw some ribbon that I would like and I can't bid on it from work, can you do it for me?"I asked. "Let me get on and see what you're looking at." He said. I told him which one it was. "Why do you need all that ribbon?"he asked. "Why? Because I have an addiction and I need to satisfy it."I said. He laughs. "But this is the rule"I said, "No more than $20.00 for that whole lot. The shipping on it is already another $20.00 so my budget is only 20, ok?" I said. "Ok,"he said. "Dad I know you, don't go crazy" I said. "What do you mean?"he asks. So the morning goes by, he's bidding. And it's a bidding war. It's ugly, I tell you. The bid is over. I call him. "So what happend?"I asked. "Well, this is what happend"he says. "Dad, what did you do?"I ask. "Well, I got it. For $40.00."he says. "WHAT!!!!"I said. "This is what happend, some woman, she wouldn't stop. Everytime I bid then she bid. It was crazy, she wouldn't back down!!!" he explains.He sounded flustered and frustrated. "But dad, I told you no more then $20.00. That's way over!!!"I said. "I know, I know, don't worry mama, this is what I'll do, you pay for Shipping and I'll pay for the ribbon." He says. "But dad" I said. "I'm sorry, but she made me mad and I had to get it, she just wouldn't stop!!" he says. But he beat her to it, he got the last bid in before time was up. That felt good. " I understand, dad. I've been there, done that."I said. So, my big box of ribbon arrived and I called my dad, I told him it came and that I loved him. And that I now understand where I get my competive spirit from.
This is for you dad. Love you