In the kitchen

{Truly chocolate chocolate cupcakes}

Well, it's no secret. I love chocolate, especially when it's not too sweet. So, imagine my delight when I stumbled upon this amazing recipe for chocolate cupcakes. I guarantee you will stick to this one once and for all. After trying several recipes from several reputable sites, including Martha Stewart's, I have to say, this one is a keeper. I made them twice over the Summer. And I want you to woo your holidays guests with this recipe.  Click below for the amazing simple recipe by Kamran Siddiqi. . Buen provecho!

Have a great weekend start to the holiday season!

This recipe for Winter cookies found  here

Hello friends!  I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Have you had leftovers yet?  We just had our first batch.  Yum!  I just wanted to drop by and leave you some links.  I hope you stay cozy and make some hot chocolate this weekend.  It sure is going to drop to freezing levels.  See you back on Monday!

the real joys of the holidays


vintage Macy's Parade  


the easy Thanksgiving table! 


cute foxy sweater for toddlers!


DIY: cutest advent calendar


Thanksgiving and saying grace! 


a cute bootie!


very simple DIY Christmas tree (love it)

In the kitchen: Organic raspberry-yogurt pops

In the kitchen: Greek chicken wraps

I love Greek food, in fact, Mediterranean cuisine is my favorite cuisine. I grew up eating Lebanese food, so the taste of olive, eggplant, yogurt, mint, garlic, and lemon are with me constantly. The other day, I had an abundance of hydroponic Boston lettuce in the fridge, and immediately thought of something Greek, like these chicken wraps. Here's my recipe.

Ingredients

1 package of organic chicken breast tenderloins
3 limes or lemons
2 cups of yogurt
4 cloves of garlic
Greek seasoning (in a container)
1 cup of mint
1/2 cup of diced cucumbers
1 cup of cilantro leaves
1/2 cup of thinly sliced red onion (has to be red)
one package of Boston lettuce (or any other butterhead type lettuce)
salt + pepper to taste
1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil

For the chicken: Wash the chicken breasts in the juice of one lime. Take 2 garlic cloves and grate them, instead of chop them. This releases the juice and aroma much faster. Coat the chicken with the grated garlic and season with salt and Greek seasoning for up to one hour. In a skillet, heat up some butter instead of olive oil, which tends to splash everywhere when overheated in a skillet. Place your tenderloins and cook until the edges are white and the center is slightly pink (it means you are done cooking that side). Turn them and finish cooking the other side, about 8-10 minutes).

For the Greek sauce or dressing: In a food processor, place yogurt, olive oil, mint, cucumber, remaining garlic, and the juice of 2 limes, and mix well. Season with salt and pepper. You can add more lime if you like it more citrusy. I personally do.

Wrapping: Take one piece of lettuce and layer it with one piece of chicken, a spoonful of onions, cilantro, and Greek sauce and take a bite! The crispy texture of the lettuce with the tangy-minty bite of the dressing paired with the garlic chicken makes this recipe extremely savory. And you can eat the entire badge, since there's no starchy carbohydrates anywhere. It's guilt-free and loaded with flavor.

And if you are still in the mood for more Greek, take a trip down to Santorini.  Liz's images and photos will blow you away.

Summer: Cold treats

I have been experimenting with all sorts of cold beverages, frozen pops and other cold treats this Summer.  One of the easiest thing to do is to fill your popsicle molds with your favorite beverages (juices, smoothies, iced coffee, yogurt, anything) and it's so much fun. Or you can create your own flavors from scratch using ripened fruit.  I used mangoes, cherries and raspberries, which I pureed with some sugar water and then placed into ice molds.  You can try a variety of treats.  Next week, I will make frozen yogurt pops. 

Chef Carlos prepares tuna tartare

My cousin Carlos is a self-made chef.  He loves cooking, and giving certain established dishes a funky twist.  On one of the weekends during my vacation, he decided to make tuna tartare with a Caribbean flair, knowing well that I'm a vegetarian, and not knowing that well, that tuna is one of my favorite fish, which I eat sparingly due to its high contamination with mercury, and its recent enviromental unsustainability.    But, I must warn you: I got so caught in the process of taking pictures (rookie me!) during its preparation, and then savoring the final result, that I forgot to take pictures of the served tuna. 

He uses orange juice instead of the traditional lime juice, and adds miso paste in lieu of wasabi. He also prefers celery over scallions, to give it more bite. We spreaded it over toasted casabe chips.  It was heavenly!

In the kitchen

{Spring mix avocado, gorgonzola and fig salad}

These figs are sprouting everywhere on our street. I just noticed it the other day. Then I read somewhere that these particular trees are common in urban DC. So it gave an idea! A delicious dish, refreshing, and light that I can prepare using figs. It's so simple. NO measurements required.

Ingredients

one bag of Spring mix greens
one avocado
a few bits of diced onion
a handful of crumbled gorgonzola
a few bits of pine nuts
a few bits of cilantro leaves, chopped
a handful of dried figs, sliced

For dressing:  Whisk together olive oil and balsamic vinegar at a ratio of 2:1.  Add a teaspoon of Dijon mustard, salt and pepper.  If you wish, a squirt of lemon juice gives is a kick. 

Buen provecho!

In the kitchen

{Young carrot, avocado and citrus salad}

Sometimes a good salad is dinner.  This is the case of April Bloomfield's carrot, avocado and orange salad. I've never seen anything so refreshingly delicious.  You bet I will be trying this salad very soon.  Find recipe below.

Potpourri

Mother's Day was yesterday and the family got together over the holiday.  It was a long, rewarding day.  Emilu played with several cousins, and even rode a tricycle.  Part of the celebration included exchanging gifts and I couldn't help but take a few snapshots of the envelopes Emilu and I painted with watercolors.  She was so excited with the paint.  I was surprised to see her dip the brush into the small paint containers and take her brush to the paper.  She's a natural, and apparently a lefty, like her father.

Have you had auyamas before?  These are from my grandfather's farm.  They grow basically anywhere, and they are extremely useful in Dominican cuisine.  This variety of pumpkin is used in soups, stews, as a side, desserts, and specifically in sancocho, a signature dish here. It could be eaten in breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Speaking of sancocho, I love these two cookbooks in my mother's kitchen, especially the state they are in. They belong to my grandmother actually, but she doesn't cook anymore, and now they sit in my mother's kitchen.  There are dozens of recipes inside, organized into several categories, including desserts, appetizers, main courses, sweets, stews, etc. Dominican cuisine is very versatile; and has been influenced by many cultures, including African, European, Mediterranean, even Asian.

In the kitchen

{Frittata of rice, baby zucchini and feta cheese}

The frittata is a seasonal favorite of mine.  Fresh eggs, herbs and cheese, and tossed rice or pasta, need I say more?  It's one of those dishes you can make your own, with any favorite vegetable or cheese. For this one the recipe is simple.

+ Photography by Karen Mordechai

Recipe Courtesy Food Styling of Camille Becerra for Sunday Suppers

In the kitchen

{Roasted butternut caprese salad}

This recipe comes to you via The Forest Feast, a yummy food photography tumblr blog by food photographer Erin Gleeson, who moved from NYC to the woods of Northern California in search of seasonal ingredients and an inspired life.

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In this dish, what you see is what you get.  So go ahead and roast some butternut squash and prepare your  caprese salad as you always do, add some avocado and mix.  Buen provecho!

How to make creamy ice cream from just one ingredient

Oh boy when I first saw this my jaw dropped, literally.  I have yet to try it because I need to start freezing my bananas first!  But this recipe for creamy banana ice cream is prepared with ONLY frozen bananas. Intrigued?  Keep reading.

In the kitchen

{Spring onion pesto linguini} 

Can you tell I am nuts about pasta. Yeap, pretty insane! Especially when it's served in a light sauce. So, today's recipe is a perfect dish for Spring and it comes to you via The Kitchen Finesse blog.  This dish is so easy to make there's really no need for instructions and ingredients list. Just toss some spring onions, basil, Parmesan, garlic, pistachios (or any other nut you like) and olive oil into a food processor and add to some cooked pasta.  My secret is adding a bit of lemon zest to the sauce to brighten up and add a new dimension to the flavor.  It's so good.  Bon Apetitit, my friends!

{Images and recipe via The Kitchen Finesse}

Sweet Paul magazine Spring issue

So excited for the Spring issue of Sweet Paul Magazine. I only started following it late last year thanks to Maria from Jamie Says Dream.

Sweet Paul's recipes are not the only sweet, tasty things I get excited about, like this Croque Madame. The magazine is a sanctuary of rustic style, simple living and overall inspiration. Go see for yourself. 

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In the kitchen

{Argentinian baked empanadas}

Source: nicolefranzen.blogspot.com via Patricia on Pinterest

I eat empanadas all the time.  It's one of my favorite appetizers.  When I visit Miami, my dad buys a bunch of them for Saturday's brunch from an Argentinian market around the house.  I always eat the spinach ones, but the onion, olives and cheese one it's to die for.  So, in the spirit of Saturday brunch in my house, and just because the days are getting warmer, I have decided I want to bake my own version, and this recipe from La Buena Vida is the perfect one to try.  This recipe is for caprese, and celery, onion and blue cheese empanadas, but really, you can stuff them with anything you like.  That's the beauty.  Buen provecho!

In the kitchen

{Fluffernutter cornflake stuffed French toast}

As part of a new series on this blog I have been dying to introduce, I will be exploring yummy recipes from around the web worth trying out.  The column will be titled In the kitchen.

Some of you might know that I love to be bake, and I'd do it more often if I had more space and time in the kitchen, as I live in a very tight apt. with a baby. I'm also a vegetarian, which proves to be a challenge most of the time, but I find my ways to cook and bake delicious recipes without too much guilt.