Steamed Pork Buns and the Howiemania!

My bestie Howie is a pretty awesome guy. Not only does he know some awesome places to go eat, he always has the best food at his parties in his lovely home. I heart you Howie's home! He's funny, he's rad, need i say more?

Pork is delicious. So many great things come from pork. Bacon, sausage, pork chops, ham, pork belly.....arrrrrrrgrggrggrrg. Sorry, I had a Homer moment with pork. But how could you not??

So, Howie decides he is going to have pork steamed bun sandwiches with cabbage and sauce on top. So F-IN GOOD! Well, it was basically make your own sandwich. He prepared the pork shoulder all day the day before and slow roasted it in a roaster. The meat was beautifully spiced and just juicy as hell. There was a nice cabbage salad to top it with, courtesy of my mom. Soft delicious buns steamed and ready to be opened and stuffed with goodness. Everyone brought something. There was SO SO SO SO much good food people had fourths and fifths! We basically started eating from 3 until 11 at night. It was awesome.

Some of the other dishes that stood out were, the sweet potato mash that Kristyn brought. The bread pudding with bourbon sauce that Kim brought...had to smack my mom for that one. It was that good! The dream inspired cardamom cookies Jenne made which were really good. I hearted them. Candice brought these lemon cookies that were a big hit. I love lemon and cookies...really can't go wrong with that. There was SO much food. People just kept coming with plate after plate after plate of food. It was hard not to stop eating even though we were all pretty stuffed!

The mood got mellow and we all relaxed outside with a couple of us singing Rock Band inside. It was a day filled with new friends and old. Some that traveled far and wide. Definitely a special evening . Lots of reminiscing and telling old stories to new friends and vice versa. Howie had a great time and that's all that matters. It's always a treat when other people have a awesome time on your birthday. I know I did!

Easter, Earthquakes and Red Velvet Cake!

This is the second posting I have done on my cousin. She is jumping up and down as we speak.

My cousin Mireya is pretty sweet. She's adorable and loves to cook. I have yet to really try any of her cooking, I have in her defense, tried many of her baked goods which are pretty amazing.

For Easter we went to my sister's house in Santee(ugh). The whole family was there. Minus some cousins and nieces. Everyone brought something. Beverages, candy, food and desserts. Yummy. Sadly I only took pictures of the desserts because...well, they were amazing! We gathered 'round and watched soccer and talked away about family memories and wishes and dreams. It was a pleasant time. Now, it was time to eat. Everything was set out.

Some of the food we had:

My bro-in-law's mother was there and she brought enpanadas(Argetinian style). They were SO good. I ate quite a few. They had beef, veggies and hard boiled egg w/ a flour crust. We brought ham and ensalada russa(Russian Salad). The Russian salad is basically a type of potato salad with pickled beets, boiled carrots, tomatoes, and boiled eggs. My Abuelita brought sateed zuchinne, and Arroz Con Pollo...not like my mom's but rice is rice for me. Dessert time! My cousin made a red velvet cake from scratch. Yes from scratch! She is that awesome! One of the best red velvet cakes I have had yet. So, yummy and melty and the frosting is just amazing in your mouth. Buttery light goodness. She has painstakingly perfected this recipe for over a year now and I really think she's got it. Side note: She also makes these red velvet balls dipped in white chocolate that are really really good and is probably my favorite dessert she does. My oldest sister Emilia bought this really good coconut flan. It was one of the best I have ever had as well. Coconut and flan? Who knew??

As we ate away and drank our fair share...the Earth decides to have an earthquake. So much shaking I almost threw up from all the food I just pigged out on. Man, was that scary but didn't stop us from getting seconds and thirds. Good times in California.

I forgot to mention other things we had, there was some grilled chicken and steak. So much food!

So, Easter came to an end and it was kinda sad not being able to spend Easter with some kids around. I really wanted to paint some eggs. Oh well. Hope you all didn't get too scared with all the shaking. We do live in one of the best places to have an earthquake FYI. Wish I had some red velvet balls dipped in white chocolate *HINT HINT* Pup!

Arroz Con Pollo(TODO)

A couple of weeks ago my little cousin Mireya aka Puppet had a request for my mom. She needed to bring a dish to one of her cooking classes and wanted to impress the chefs. What better way then to make Arroz Con Pollo!?! My mom makes a KILLER Arroz Con Pollo, which many of you have tried. I have donned it Arroz Con Todo! Todo in Spanish means EVERYTHING, which is pretty much what my mom puts in this dish.

Since it's a family secret and has been passed down from my beautiful aunts in Costa Rica, to my mom, and now to my cousin...I can't tell you the recipe. I can tell you what is in it...kinda.

The Arroz Con Todo has: Rice, chicken, lil' smokie sausages(my personal fav), green olives, capers, cabbage, onions, carrots, Italian sausage, mushrooms, shrimp, green beans, slices of steak, and peas. It may vary from time to time depending on the person she's making it for but you'll see some or all of these ingredients in the Arroz Con Todo.

Traditionally Arroz Con Pollo is just rice with chicken and you don't see all the other things my mom has added. Lots of people call my mom's Arroz Con Pollo a mix of Paella and Jumbalaya. I call it delicious. Something I have grown up with all my life. Never did I ever think it was special. Just a typical Costa Rican dish that was fed to me and I ate. That changed once I discovered food in a whole different way and have learned a great deal about my love for it. Not just food but the passion about it and the love and care people put into it.

I take great pride in the knowledge and love my mom puts in her dishes. I now know about the secrets and the special ingredients that she puts in these special dishes. I'm extremely proud of my cousin who is studying the art of cooking and hopes to be a professional chef some day. She has learned a great deal from my mom.

So the girls cooked away, and finally finished and emptied the giant pot into a giant dish ready to serve. The culinary faculty at my cousin's school raved and ate their faces off. Her chef instructor along with other chefs took some home. People asked what was in it, how was it made, but my cousin gave very little information out. She came back and told my mom about what all the chefs said and that made my mom happy. Cooking is all about the love you put in the meal. The care you take in picking out the ingredients and prepping the food. The hope that once you plate it someone will like it. Such a personal interaction that people forget. Next time someone cooks something for you, remember that and appreciate it.