Junot Is Back!

I love, really love reading and if I was asked what's my favorite topic I would say it has to be based somewhat on real facts of life; hence why I love Junot Diaz. His books have a way of capturing, and catapulting you into the time frame in which the stories are based, whether you speak Spanish /Spanglish/ or English.

On his latest book, "This is How You Lose Her" a book billed as a collection of love stories we see Yunior reappear. We first met him on Yunot's book "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" and now he's back detailing a few pieces of his life, that of his brother Rafa and even his mother.  

Although the book its cataloged as love stories,  in my opinion it is about the love we see in our youth and how that love shapes who we are and how it shapes how we love. This is about how we find love and how we can or cannot make love last.
It is about love, life, and also loss; all mixed in with a bit of humor that will make you not want to put the book down until you have gotten to know each person's life love story. So I recommend that you grab it (or any of his other books for that matter) and get to know all, Yunior, Rafa, Magdalena, Miss Lora, and Elvis (to mention a few) and you will not regret it, trust me!

Again Yunot Diaz does the trick and brings us another master piece! 

XO!

Sundays are Made for Dosa!

Dosa: according to Wikipedia is a fermented crepe or pancake made from rice batter and black lentils, and is a staple dish of Southern India.

Dosa according to me: A delicious thin crepe like pancake that can be stuffed with what your heart (and stomach) desires and eaten with yourhands (yes hands).

We always do the brunch thing; however our friends had sugested we switch it up a bit and eat Dosas instead. Now, I can honesly say I have never thought of this as a Sunday outing, but what a great idea it was. We went to their favorite spot near Journal Square (Jersey City, NJ) called Dosa Hut

http://dosahutnj.com/ And as the name says it; it does look like a hut or a hole in the wall kind of place.

We quickly sat down and started the ordering process.  We ordered Poori to start with, and let me tell you; I had poori before, but never with chole and raw onions. Poori is a fried bread, to be said simply, and the slight crunchiness of the bread, paired with the tenderness of the dough, with the flavor of the raw onions and the flavor-packed chickpeas was EXPLOSIVE!

 

 

We then moved on to our Dosas; we only ordered 3 because theyare so large and really stuffed that they fill you up quickly. Every single one from the Spianch and potato with cheese one to the curry vegetables one were to die! I cannot wait until our next trip to the Dosa Hut.

 

Oh before I forget, if you are still looking forthat last piece of something, such as dessert walk down 1.5 block and order a "Milk Ice Cream Pop" from the corner ice cream shop, you will not regreat it!

 

So are you ready & willing to get your hands dirty? I am!

 

XO 

Labor Day Delights!

Happy Labor Day to all!
Hope you all had a great long weekend, I know I did :o)

We celebrated early this year with an impromtu Lobster-Crab Bake all by the hubby. We invited only a handful of friends and embark to celebrate our hard worked year with lots of eating, drinking and laughing!

Saturday could not be more perfect of a day (after 4pm that is) and even thought I was eaten alive by moskitos during the evening, I can say it was all in fair trade to the delectable food produced.

As much as I love to eat lobster and crabs, I was very clear that we should not boil them inside as to not permiate the house with such aromatics which would have been impossible to remove. Thank god for such creative hubby and our friend sisco who brought what he calls his "outdoors kitchen" the propane gas stove on the picture below! this way, everything was cooked outside and there were no messes inside!

After such grand feast, the girls and I decidedto take a walk around the neighborhood, but made sure we brought the 1/2 of the French Macarons to keep us company lol

Let's Make Sauce!

Every spring, we (and by we I mean hubby) plant tomatoes, red and green peppers, jalapeños and onions along with our herb garden. He tends to these seeds as if they were his 1st born, all with the final purpose to make our yearly batch of delicious homemade sauce, and half a year worth of sun dried tomatoes.

Recipe is simple, we use all organic ingredients grown in our (or our dear neighbor Fred's) backyard; and a few well kept seasonings from my dear chef of a chef.

I will post the recipe as soon as I have a chance, in the mean time here are a few pictures.

We make enough to gift to our family (and a few lucky friends) but the rest all 12 bottles are kept close by for us.

Enjoy!

Our tomato garden

Cubanelle peppers

Herb garden


 

Sauce in the making



Final product

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fancy Fancy Ice Cream Sandwiches

As a kid, we all loved when mom made us ice cream sandwiches; specially on those hot summer days after having ran around like maniacs without a care. Even as an adult now and then we still have a craving for such childhood staple. So this weekend I was craving one, however I realized that good old chocolate cookies and vanilla ice cream were not going to cut it for my now adult palate. So I set out to my local bakery to find some freshly baked cookies and make my own cookie sandwich, with Caramel and sea salt vanilla ice cream I had at home. Alas, I could not find a cookie (can you believe that) and decided to create my own "semi-homemade" chocolate sugar cookie. Semi-homemade because I used Betty Crocker cookie mix, but added my own unsweetened Mexican cocoa powder.

Needless to say, they were delicious! and I end up eating 2. Unfortunately it was too late by the time I thought about taking a picture, but below are two pictures of recipes I will make soon, and one is from a lovely blogger who I follow in pinterest.

Enjoy!

Lemon & Blueberry ice cream sandwiches from www.gourmet.com
 

Strawberry & chocolate ice cream sandwiches from www.pureandyummy.com  

Cookie recipe here
Other favorite recipes here

Food, Travels, and Everything in Between: What I Covet this Summer Season!

Food, Travels, and Everything in Between: What I want this Summer Season!

What I want this Fall Season!!!

Remember; the key to not spend more than or what you don't really have is to study; your wants/needs/must and purchase key pieces that would compliment what you already have in your closet. And don't forget to set up a budget and stick to it.

Here are this fall must have items. Some I already have while others I'm still hunting.

Vivienne Tam Orange blazer will light up any outfit
while keeping you cozy

These printed cigarette pants are a must!

Perfect wild factor

A spin on classic moccasins



The perfect dress for a date night

Perfect outfit for pumpkin picking

Tell me; what are your must have for this fall?