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Santa and the 3 Wise Men love to watch Infomercials!!!

7 Jan

Here in Puerto Rico we celebrate the best and longest Xmas Season in the world… We start right after Thanksgiving and finish right about the middle of January with the Fiestas de San Sebastián. So we have a few more weeks left to continue the celebrations and parties…

That’s why our kids receive gifts twice during the Xmas season – first comes Santa Claus on December 25 and then, the 3 Wise Men, or Los Reyes Magos, as we call them in Spanish, visit us bringing extra gifts on January 6. Kids leave grass inside shoe boxes for the camels or horses to feed along their route delivering gifts. For our kids, school doesn’t start again until after the 3 Kings have visited.

This year, apparently I’ve been a good girl cook… because Santa and the 3 Kings brought me kitchen gadgets. But not any ol’ kitchen gadgets – they brought me The Magic Bullet and the Xpress Ready, Set, Go. I swear I did not ask for these by name… however I am certainly super excited to receive them both.

Have you seen the infomercials??? They both offer 1001 ways to cook in less than 3 minutes… The Xpress Ready, Set, Go came without the insert pans. My mom got those in her kit. God bless the “call now and get a second one absolutely free” offers. The Magic Bullet came with the whole shebang – 2 cups, a blender attachment, a juicer attachment, 2 blades and 4 mugs that can double as storage containers.

Now, I want to record the infomercials on TiVo so I can see the demos of the recipes one more time now that I have the gadgets. In the next few weeks I’ll be test driving these beauties and sharing with you some of their wondrous advantages… cool?

Do any of you have any of these appliances?? Care to share some of your vegetarian quick recipes??

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Three Kings Day Menu

6 Jan

Today is 3 Kings Day… when we celebrate the arrival of the 3 Wise Men to visit Baby Jesus at the manger. It’s a great holiday in Puerto Rico. Back in the days of my grandma, kids only received presents on 3 Kings Day, never on December 25. That’s a new thing of the last 50 years…

Because of my yoga retreats, which start on Dec 25 until Jan 1, our plans usually are to spend 3 Kings Day as a family at my aunt’s farm in the country. We had agreed she would make for us the traditional menu she likes to prepare for us:

Rice and Pigeon Peas or Rice with Corn

Vegetarian Pasteles – brought by my mom and me

and yes… that’s a pastel hiding underneath all that ketchup…

Boiled Green Bananas

Green Salad

And my Tití Carmín’s famous Potato Salad

My former grad school roommate, Michelle, was always baffled by my wanting to have Potato Salad on our holiday menus. When for her, potato salad is a summer salad only. Well, my dear friend Michelle, Puerto Rico has consistent 70F weather during Xmas time, which is pretty warm for most US standards.

This year, my aunt and her husband are “under the weather” with one of the worst flu ever. So we had to cancel our 3 Kings Day celebration. Later on, I will be trying to attempt her Potato Salad recipe and try to share it with you all. OK?

Happy Triking Day!!!!

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Welcome 2011!!!

3 Jan

Hi my dear friends… I know I’ve been a little quiet lately but it’s been because there were some illness in the family and that has kept me away from writing these last few weeks. But I have kept on piling up the ideas and recipes.

2010 was a great year – full of blessings and challenges. I started 2011 by eating 12 grapes and asking for 1 wish per month. I always ask for a mixture of spiritual/altruistic wishes and a few material ones. I can’t share them yet because if I do, then they will not become reality. I promise to share as they become true…

But now, at the beginning of the year, you always want to get a fresh start on those things you always know you should do and for some reason don’t. So, here are my resolutions for 2011:

Eat more fresh salads

As a vegetarian you would think I already did this, but I get lazy when I am hungry and in a hurry.

Exercise more

Since becoming vegetarian I have maintained a healthy weight. Some might even say I am underweight… but I need to tone up more. I want to be stronger physically and exercise will do that. A combination of power walking, P90X and Hatha Yoga are in store for me.

Continue to eat fresh fruits for breakfast

This was a resolution of a few years back, but I kind of slacked a little lately. I promise to maintain this habit in a more consistent basis in 2011.

 

What are your 2011 New Year’s Resolutions?? Please share…

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Arroz con Dulce

13 Dec

This recipe is from Cielito Rosado, with whom I had the pleasure to work with when I managed the advertising of a very popular dish washing liquid. She’s one of the few well-known cooks in Puerto Rico… her recipes are simple and easy to follow.

Arroz con Dulce, loosely translated to Sweetened Rice, is a typical Xmas dessert. You really do not see it anywhere before Thanksgiving or after the Fiestas de San Sebastián. The key is to not have it be too sweet or too bland… and brown sugar is key.

 

ARROZ CON DULCE

1 ½ cups of rice, soaked in water
For the cooking liquid:
1 ½ cups water
20 cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
A piece of fresh ginger
3 cans of coconut milk
1 ½ cups brown sugar
1 cup shredded coconut
2 tbs raisins
2 tbs butter
Ground cinnamon to garnish

 

  1. Add the cloves, cinnamon sticks and ginger to the water in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat for about 5-8 minutes. Then, strain and discard the spices. Return the tea to the same saucepan.
  2. Drain the rice that has been soaking in water; add it to the strained tea and coconut milk. Cook over medium heat until the liquids boil. Cover and lower the heat until the liquids reduce and the rice is cooked.
  3. Add the brown sugar, shredded coconut, raisins, butter and cook for an additional 15 minutes.
  4. Pour the cooked rice into a serving platter and garnish with sprinkled ground cinnamon.

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Coquito 2

10 Dec

I am a coquito FANATIC!!! Every year I make a few batches of my non-alcoholic version of Coquito. Xmas would just not be the same without it.

But I have to admit my original recipe has evolved a bit. I wanted it to be a bit sweeter and creamier so I started adding Cream of Coconut to the recipe to maintain the coconut essence without adding sugar directly into the mix.

Cream of Coconut is what we traditionally use to make Piña Coladas and the best brand is Coco López. Even if other brands might be on sale, I prefer to buy Coco López. I do read the labels once in a while to make sure no super weird ingredients have been added to it.

This newer version is still non-alcoholic, something my friends with little kids appreciate, but know it has an even creamier feel to it.  Salud!!

COQUITO 2

3 cups of water
5 cinnamon sticks (I usually use a whole bagful)
4 tbs cloves (I usually use a whole bagful)
4 tbs anise seeds (I usually use a whole bagful)
2 tbs star anise (I usually use ½ bagful)
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1 can of coconut milk
1 can of cream of coconut
1 can of evaporated milk
2 tbs ground ginger
1 tbs ground cinnamon
2 tbs vanilla extract or vanilla powder
1 tbs freshly ground nutmeg

 

  1. In a medium saucepan create a “spiced tea” – pour the 3 cups of water, cinnamon sticks, anise seeds, star anise and cloves. Steep for about 15-20 minutes to create a strong spiced tea. This will give the coquito most of its spiciness. Let cool a bit.
  2. In a blender, mix together the evaporated milk, condensed milk, coconut milk and cream of coconut with 2 ”cans-worth” of the spiced tea, ground ginger, nutmeg and the vanilla powder.
  3. Pour into a clean bottle and chill in the refrigerator.
  4. Serve chilled in small shot glasses. Sprinkle with ground cinnamon.

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