Too Many Reasons to be Thankful!

Three years ago, four days before Thanksgiving, we left our Tierra de Gracia (Grace Land), as the Spanish Conquerors named my home country, Venezuela. We came to start a new life in this generous, fruitful, sunny Southern California. Here, I am discovering the blessings of growing my own vegetables and eating locally, sustainable and seasonally.

On Harvest Season, Childhood Flavors on a Bowl of Soup

I grew up having this soup. My Grandma Ligia used to cook it. My Mom used to cook it too. This is the typical soup that you can typically have on a typical meal in any Venezuelan home at lunch or dinner time.

Finally, the secret formula!

Since I announced that I already sent my Rum "Black" Cake for Christmas recipe to the editors of Who is who in the (Venezuelan) Cuisine, I have been getting e-mails, tweets and calls from friends to whom I used to give these cakes as a Christmas present, while I was living in Caracas, or from those who have hear about my cakes.

Death by Chocolate

Today’s recipe is my delicious chocolate cake. I have been baking it for at least 10 years. It’s my family’s favorite and we crave for it all the time. It’s the official family birthday cake and besides all our birthday celebrations, I bake it at least 8 to 10 times a year.

Winter French Lentils Soup

“Sometimes, I want to eat like as if, I’m in Paris”, said Caracas socialite journalist Mayte Navarro. Then, she added that, when that happened and they were not in the mood to go to a fancy French restaurant, Alberto her husband, used to make bistro style onion soup. Then, he would uncork a bottle of wine, light the candles, et voila: la vie en rose!

So, I’m flattered

The book in the picture is the 2001 edition of Quién es quién en la cocina (Who is Who in the —Venezuelan— Cuisine.) Edited by the Venezuelan Fundación Francisco Herrera Luque (Francisco Herrera Luque Foundation,) I received it as a Christmas present from my loving friend, Rocío Guijarro, back in 2003. Something really exciting happened to me a few weeks ago. I got an email from Fundación Francisco Herrera Luque inviting me to be part of this year’s ‘Who is Who…’

Simply Cornbread!

I baked my first cornbread in 2007. I even remember the date because it was my first Thanksgiving dinner, four days after I moved to Southern California for good. I asked  about a typical Thanksgiving meal and cornbread seemed to be as mandatory as turkey, yams, mashed potatoes, green beans and pumpkin pie.

Fragrant Sweet Corn and Parsnip Chowder

A month ago, my favorite Latin American writer, Peruvian Mario Vargas-Llosa, won the Nobel Prize in Literature 2010. Immediately, my house was a party. Not only I do adore Mario, and I call him Mario as somebody close to my heart, it’s what Mario represents. As Alex Chafuén, from the Atlas Economic Research Foundation states in a recent article, Mario is a true Freedom Champion.