Rápido y Fácil: Nieve de Nuez

Como la semana pasada me pegó un no sé qué y me comi un bote gigantesco de nieve en el transcurso de 4 días casi inconscientemente hasta que me pesé y vi que había subido 4 kilos, pues se me ocurrió que de repente a ustedes les pueden dar ganas de hacer lo mismo y se vale! Entonces, aquí les paso una receta de nieve de nuez...

INGREDIENTES:

1 litro de leche

250 gramos de azúcar

50 gramos de nuez

1 cucharadita de Maicena (harina de maíz refinada)

PREPARACION:

Se pone la leche a hervir junto con el azúcar y la maicena bien disuelta, cuando empiece a espesar, se le agrega la nuez MOLIDA y se retira del fuego. Se deja enfriar y se vacía en moldecitos. Se meten los moldes al congelador y antes de que se congele la nieve completamente, se despega la nieve de las orillas, se bate con una cuchara y se mete al congelador de nuevo para dejar congelar completamente.

¡Buen provecho!

En Español

Ahora que se ha acabado mi clase, ahora que ya no tengo que seguir actualizando este blog para mantener una calificación, ahora puedo hacer con el lo que se me dé la reverenda gana. Ahora es que lo puedo convertir en el blog de recetas de mis sueños, un blog EN ESPAÑOL.

Claro, no dejare de escribir de vez en cuando una que otra palabra, una que otra oración y una que otra receta en inglés por que, a fin de cuentas, soy y he sido bilingÜe durante la mayor parte de mi vida, aunque siempre me ha gustado más el español.

En resumidas cuentas lo que pueden esperar ahora son recetas en español, un blog que se actualizará con menos frecuencia, y a una escritora más contenta.

¡Hasta pronto!

Sangría

My favorite...orange juice and red wine... chilled! Perfect for this kind of weather.

INGREDIENTS-

1 bottle red wine

1 1/2 cup orange juice

1 ounce gin

1 ounce cointreau or brandy

1 can lime soda (7up or Sprite)

5 teaspoons sugar

2 large red apples, diced

1 orange cut up in stone chips (peel included)

1 lemon cut up in stone chips (peel included, and no, for those of you who speak Spanglish better than anything else a lemon is NOT a limón, it is a LEMON, LIMA in Spanish, bigger and yellow-er)

DIRECTIONS

Mix all the ingredients with a large ladle, then add the apple, orange and lemon. After, refrigerate for 1 1/2 minimum so the flavors become one. You can serve it with ice cubes, but it's better if its just chilled.

Empanadas with Chorizo and Potatoes

YES! Mexican Chorizo!! so all of you can get the MEXICAN INFLUENZA hahahaha... but, if you are not an ignorant person, you'll know that there is no way you can get influenza by eating pork, mexican or not mexican... sooo, here's the recipe:

By the way, these empandas are appetizer sized, and this recipe is for 12 mini empanadas. Also, this recipe, as well as a few others, was extracted from a can of some Nestle product and it is delicious!!

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups all-purspose flour

1 tbsp sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt, divided

3 tbsps chilled butter, cut into pieces

9 tbsps ice water, divided

1 teaspoon cider vinegar

2 ounces fresh chorizo.. THERE IS A GREAT BRAND OF CHORIZO 'GARCIA' OR SOMETHING SIMILAR, AT HEB

2 cups diced Yukon gold potato

1/4 teaspoon hot paprika

cooking spray

1 large egg white, lightly beaten

DIRECTIONS:

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with knife. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a food processor; pulse 2 times or until homogenized. Add butter; pulse 4 times or until it resembles coarse meal. With processor on, slowly add 1/2 cu ice water and vinegar through food chute (OK HERE, YOU WILL HAVE TO USE THE WHISK or stop the blender, add and then pulse again if, like me, you don't have a 'food chute'), processing until combined (do not form a ball). Gently press mixture into 2 (5 inch) circles on plastic wrap; cover. Chill for 1 hour.

Cook chorizo in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until brown, stirring to crumble.

Place potato in saucepan; cover with water. Bring to boil. Reduce heat, simmer for 8 minutes or until tender; drain. Place in large bowl, mash. Add chorizo, paprika and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt; stir until well combined.

Preheat oven to 425.

Remove dough from refrigerator, halve each disc. Place 1 dough portion between 2 sheets of wax paper. Roll into 1/4 inch thick; cut 2 (3 inch) circles with biscuit cutter. Repeat with remaining dough.. DUH!. combine excess dough, roll to 1/4 thickness and cut 4 (3 inch) circles with biscuit cutter. Working with 1 circle at a time (cover remaining circles with damp towel to prevent drying), spoon 1 tbsp potato mix into center of each; fold dough over filling. Press edges together with fork to seal. Place empanada on large baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Repeat with remaining dough circles. Combine remaining 1 tbsp water and egg white. Brush tops of empanadas with egg mixture lightly. Bate at 425 for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

Enjoy!!

Weekend Success

Okay, this is a recipe I came out with during the weekend. On Saturday I had some friends over for dinner, I was expecting them around 9pm. Thing was, it was already 8 and I had no idea what I was gonna feed them. All in all I was expecting 1o people, so it had to be a lot of food. As I was thinking, the idea of sandwiches crossed my mind, however, I thought, they can always fix themselves a sandwich at home... so they had to be sandwiches with a twist. I love Italian so the first ingredients that came to mind were baguettes and salami. HEB is 2 minutes away from my house and they sell delicious salami and fresh baguettes, sooo tah dah!! I set out for HEB and these are the things I bought:





INGREDIENTS-





1/2 pound hard salami (sliced, #1 cut or something like that... I just ask the guys there to cut it at 1)


1/2 muenster cheese (sliced, same cut)


3 Italian baguettes (the thin, long ones... not the ones they sell in pairs in plastic bags!!!)


pesto with sun dried tomato (any kind will do but careful not to buy only the sun dried tomato pasta.. make sure it's green with a little red!, also don't go for the ones in the 'cooking connections' area if you are looking to save money, rather, look for pesto in the 'international' aisle...)


mayo


turkey ham (thin slices)


1 large can black olives (no seeds!)





DIRECTIONS-





Preheat oven to 250


Cut the baguette kind of like how the guys at Subway do, I also removed some of the soft bread from the inside so more of the ingredients would fit in. Cut up the olives in half, set aside.
Spread mayo on lower half, then spread about a teaspoon of pesto on top side. Cut muenster cheese slices in half (triangles), cut salami circles in half also, get the ham out and fill up your baguette. Cheese first, salami after, ham on top.


After the filling is done, press top half of baguettes over lower half to pack it all in. Cut in two to three pieces and place sandwiches on ungreased trays. Place them in the oven and let bake for about 1o minutes.


After you get them out, spread yet another tablespoon of pesto over the ham. Then, spread the olive halves over the ham. Finally, cut into 3 1/2 to 4 inches pieces and enjoy!





Note: you might want to add another baguette depending on how many people you're serving these to, or how much they eat! with these quantities, each person got about 2 pieces.

Note 2: you can find 'Helga the Salami Fairy' here:

http://cartoongoddess.wordpress.com/?s=helga+the+salami+fairy

Oatmeal Cookies

INGREDIENTS-

1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
200 grs margarine
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 regular sugar
1 egg
2 tbsps vanilla extract
1/2 chopped pecans
1/2 cup raisins
3 cups oatmeal (Quaker)

DIRECTIONS-

Preheat the oven to medium temperature (?!). Mix the flour with the baking soda and set apart. Beat the margarine, both sugars, egg and vanilla extract until creamy. Add the flour mix little by little. After that, add the pecans and raisins to the mix. Add the oatmeal to the mix 1 CUP AT A TIME. Whisk after adding each cup. Blend until mix looks uniform.
Place teaspoonfuls of mix onto ungreased cookie sheets. Leave enough space in between for cookies to expand. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. After baking, place cookies on a rack to let them cool.

Cookies will still be soft after coming out of the oven, however, they will get harder as they cool.

Palmito Tortilla

One word: PALMITOS!. Hearts of palm are one of my favorite ingredients. They are tasty, not expensive and can be eaten in a million ways. Be it a salad, pizza, a dessert or a tortilla, palmitos will do everytime.

INGREDIENTS-

1 tbsp butter or margarine

1 large can heart of palm

3 eggs

1/2 cup sliced onion

1 tbsp water

1 green pepper sliced

salt and pepper to taste

DIRECT-

Separate the whites from the yolks and whisk the whites hard until stiff peaks form. Add the yolks one by one, then add the salt, pepper and onion. Add the sliced palmito hearts and green pepper to the mix.

Melt the butter in a pan over a low flame. Pour the mix in the pan, cover and let it set up for 3 to 4 minutes. After that, turn the tortilla over and wait until it browns evenly.

Sweet Lime Jell-O

Sweet Lime Jell-O

This recipe was taken from a can of "La Lechera" Sweetened Condensed Milk and ended up in m y mom's cookbook. Hope you enjoy it!

INGREDIENTS-

2 envelopes (7 grs each) unflavored gelatin

1/2 cup hot water

1 can (14 oz.) La Lechera Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 can (12 fl. oz.) evaporated milk

1/2 cup fresh lime juice

1 tbsp grated lime peel

La Lechera Sweetened Condensed Milk

berries and lime slices (these are optional, but pouring the remaining sweetened condensed milk and adding mangos instead of berrries is also a GREAT option)

DIRECTIONS-

Mix gelatin and hot water in a small bowl until the gelatin dissolves; set aside.

Grease a 6-cup mold or 9-inch round cake pan

Place sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, lime juice, lime peel and gelatin mix in blender; cover. Blend until smooth (not too many bubbles).

Place mixture in prepared mold; refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

When set, dip a knife in warm water and run the knife around the rim; shake gently to loosen up. Dip mold bottom into warm water for 10 seconds. Invert onto serving dish.

Now is when you can add either the berries or the mango or whatever else you might like to add, and drizzle the remaining sweetened condensed milk on top!

Enjoy!

Hot Salsa

Hot salsa in 4 minutes. This salsa is NOT a taco salsa, but rather for tortilla chips or tostadas.

INGREDIENTS
2 large tomatoes

2 large jalapeños (or more if you like spicy food)

1/2 large onion

2 small cloves of garlic

1/2 a bunch of coriander

knorr tomato & coriander bouillon

salt

DIRECTIONS-

Wash the vegetables and coriander. Cut the stem of the jalapeños. Place the jalapeños, tomatoes, onion and garlic cloves in a plastic bag where they fit well enough (grocery plastic bags, such as the ones they have in the vegetable section of the supermarkets will do). Fill 1/3 or a little bit less than half of the plastic bag (ingredients inside) with water. Roll the open-ended part of the plastic bag tightly. Place it in a deep microwavable bowl and put it in the microwave for approximately 3 minutes or until the tomato and jalapeños have been softened.

After that, open the bag with precaution and slowly, taking care not to direct the opening to your face (vapors might irritate and/or burn your face). Empty the ingredients (along with the remaining of the water) in the blender. Add the bouillon to taste (a tablespoon is usually enough) and blend for 3 to 4 minutes.

Serve warm and enjoy!

FLAN

INGREDIENTS

1 cup and 1/2 cup sugar
6 eggs
1 14oz sweetened condensed milk
2 13oz cans evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

DIRECTIONS-

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. You will need 6 ramekins or other specialty flan cook ware and a large baking pan to put them in.

Pour 1 cup sugar in warm pan over medium heat. Constantly stir sugar until is browns and becomes caramel. Quickly pour approximately 2-3 tablespoons of caramel in each ramekin, tilting it to swirl the caramel around the sides. Reheat caramel if it starts to harden.

In a mixer or with a whisk, blend the eggs together. Mix in the milks then slowly mix in the 1/2 cup of sugar, then the vanilla. Blend smooth after each ingredient is added.

Pour custard into caramel lined ramekins. Place ramekins in a large glass or ceramic baking dish and fill with about 1-2 inches of hot water. Bake for 45 minutes in the water bath and check with a knife just to the side of the center. If knife comes out clean, it's ready.

Remove and let cool. Let each ramekin cool in refrigerator for 1 hour. Invert each ramekin onto a small plate, the caramel sauce will flow over the custard.

This particular recipe can be found in about.com in "mexican food", mom´s flan recipe had waaayy too much detail. Still the same concept so, enjoy!!! However, for the chocolate/flan cake I will give you the flan recipe directly from the cookbook just because it goes so much better with it, and well, because IT IS BETTER!

Black Bean Cream

INGREDIENTS-

1 Maggi cream of mushroom soup bag
1 cup black beans (cook and blend for about 4 min)
1 medium-size onion (chopped)
4 1/4 cups of water
2 tbsp heavy cream
1 cup croûtons
3 tbsp bacon pieces

DIRECTIONS-

Simmer all the ingredients, except for the croûtons and bacon pieces, in a pot for approximately 10 minutes. Sprinkle the croûtons and bacon pieces when ready to serve.

Sweet Plantains

Easy dessert, enjoy!

INGREDIENTS-

6 plantains

100 grs sugar
34 fl.oz. orange juice (1 liter)
5 tbsp rum
almonds or pecans

DIRECTIONS-

Peel the bananas (duh!) and place them on a tray.

Dissolve 50 grs of sugar in the orange juice and add the rum, pour the mix on the bananas and sprinkle the remaining 50 grs of sugar.

Bake in oven at 392 degrees for approximately 15 minutes. Sprinkle with the almonds or pecans and serve warm.

Cheese-Stuffed Jalapeños

CHEESE-STUFFED JALAPEÑOZZZZ!

Well, being that I just had some for lunch (and yes, my mom made them) I thought I would share the recipe with you. Slight alterations to the original recipe are in order because I happen to be out of my house and out of the cookbook. However, I assure you that, even though it's not gonna be as good, it's still gonna be good :).

INGREDIENTS-

12 large jalapeños
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
5 tbsp flour
salt
1 block Philadelphia cream cheese (cut up in little rectangles, one for each jalapeño)
cooking oil

DIRECTIONS-

Beat the eggs, add the baking powder, flour and salt.
Cut the stem of the jalapeños, deseed them and stuff them with the cheese.
Cover each pepper with the flour-egg mixture and fry in hot oil until brown. Drain oil by placing jalapeños over a flat surface covered with thick napkins.
Serve warm.

Tah Dah!!!!

Easy Salsa

INGREDIENTS -

1 big red tomato

1/4 cup minced onion

2-3 coriander leaves (chopped)

green pepper (mince and extract the seeds; you can use as much or as you want)

1/2 lime (juice)

salt

DIRECTIONS

Cut the tomato in 2 to 4 pieces and place it in a glass container. Cover with plastic, seal.
Get the recipient in the microwave (high) for about 3 minutes. Uncover, peel the tomato and cut into smaller pieces.
Mix all the ingredients (including the tomato juice in the container) in the blender for about 5 seconds.
Serve warm or lukewarm.

Salmon Dip

As easy as 1-2-3...

INGREDIENTS-

1 can smoked salmon (approximately 2 oz.)

1 8oz Philadelphia cream cheese block

3 tablespoons sour cream

Red onion, mince as much or as little as you like

DIRECTIONS-

Shred the salmon (use a couple of forks), mix the ingredients using a fork, get some saltine crackers or chips and enjoy!

Shrimp Grill

INGREDIENTS

4 Mission Soft Taco Size Flour tortillas
1 large cored and finely chopped Pineapple peeled
1 red bell pepper finely chopped
1 green bell pepper finely chopped
1 small red onion finely chopped
3 Tbsp. Cilantro chopped
2 Tbsp. Parsley chopped
1 Serrano Chile minced
1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
4 Tbsp. Lime Juice
20 uncooked, peeled and deveined shrimp

DIRECTIONS-Combine the pineapple, peppers, onion, cilantro, parsley, chili and 1/2 of the oil and lime juice together in a medium glass bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and chill for 50 minutes.
Prepare the BBQ (High heat). Combine the remaining oil and lime juice together and add shrimp; toss to coat with marinade. Grill until opaque, about 1 minute per side. Grill tortillas on each side for 30 seconds. Place 5 shrimp onto each tortilla. Spoon on salsa and serve.

3 Cheese Balls

INGREDIENTS

1oo gr shredded manchego cheese
100 gr Roquefort cheese
100 gr cream cheese
chopped parsley
50 gr minced pecans
100 gr pecan halves
250 gr saltine crackers
1/4 chopped onion
salt

DIRECTIONS-

Mix 3 types of cheese in bowl thoroughly. Add the onion, the parsley and the minced pecans. Add salt. With your hands shape mix into a ball. Decorate outer side of ball with the pecan halves.

Lemon Dessert

INGREDIENTS-

2 packets Marias cookies

1 can La Lechera sweet condensed milk, the 14 oz can

1 can Carnation evaporated milk

6 big limes

fruit cans ...(as much as you like)

DIRECTIONS-

Pour milks and lime juice in blender and blend. In a bowl, place a layer of cookies and pour the blended mix over, after that, put a layer of fruit. Repeat layering. The last layer should be fruit.

Sweet Apple Salad

INGREDIENTS-

5 large apples
1 can pineapple
1 can La Lechera sweetened condensed milk
1 can frozen cream (not sweet, not sour, just plain cream)
1 small bag marshmallows
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup pecans

DIRECTIONS-

Wash and peel the apples, cut them up in small cubes. Do the same with the pineapple. Mix all the ingredients, refrigerate for about 2 hours and serve cold.

Pasta Salad

INGREDIENTS

Boil and drain pasta.
Grated parmesan cheese.
Chopped pecans.
Baby spinach
vinaigrette
lime
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS... mix it all and throw some basil in the mix !

Enjoy!

Butter Cookies

INGREDIENTS -

2 sticks butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 spoonful vanilla
3 cups flour

DIRECTIONS-

Soften the butter until it turns into a cream, add the sugar little by little and immediately after add the egg, the vanilla and lastly the flour. Shape into a soft paste and let rest for half an hour. Shape the cookies with your hand and place in a tray. Get the in the oven at a 302 degrees for 30 minutes until brown.

Spinach Dip

INGREDIENTS - 1 bag frozen spinach 1 bag Knorr powdered vegetable dip 2 cans water chestnut 1 cup sour cream 1 cup mayonnaise DIRECTIONS Drain the frozen spinach. Mince the water chestnuts. Mix it all up and you´re good to go. Great with chips and crackers.

3 Cheese Spaghetti

One word: P A S T A !! oh and lots of cheese to go with it so, ENJOY!

INGREDIENTS

1/2 onion
1 can Carnation evaporated milk
50 grams manchego cheese
1 block cream cheese
1 8 oz can Nestle´s table cream
1 tbsp Knorr chicken flavor bouillon

DIRECTIONS

Boil the spaghetti along with a little bit of salt and garlic powder, you know the whole throw-it-at-the-wall-and-if- it -sticks- then- it´s- ready thing. After its ready blend the milk along with the manchego and the table cream. Pour onto spaghetti, mix it all up and you´re good to go!

Almond Jell-O

INGREDIENTS -

5 cups milk

1 cup peeled and crushed almonds

397 gr condensed milk

2 boxes vanilla-flavored Jello

DIRECTIONS -

Boil the milk in a cooking pot. Pour Jello and condensed milk into blender, add a little milk once milk has started to boil. Add blended mix and crushed almonds. Pour into mold and refrigerate for at least 6 hours.

Enjoy!

Caramel-Pecan Cheese Pie

Delicious, cheap and simple, this pie is one of my favorites. No complex ingredients, no special cooking skills needed. However, the pleasure will be postponed, you need to refrigerate the pie for 4 hours.

INGREDIENTS -

9 whole Honey Maid Honey Grahams

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup Parkay, melted

1 cup pecan havles, divided

2 Philadelphia Cream Cheese blocks (8 oz.), softened (just roll them around on a hard surface for a couple of minutes)

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

2 tbsp. vanilla

2 eggs

1/4 cup Smuckers caramel ice cream topping

DIRECTIONS-

Preheat oven to 325° F. Mix graham crumbs, sugar and Parkay. Press mix firmly on 9 inch pie plate. Beat the cream cheese, the brown sugar and the vanilla in a bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until it blends well (no bubbles, not too thick, but not too runny). Add the eggs to the mix, and mix until just blended. Pour over crust. Place pecans around edge of pie.
Bake for 45 minutes or until the center is set. Take it out, cool it for a while (on a rack or plate). Refrigerate for 4 hours. After taking it out of the fridge, drizzle it with the caramel topping and voila!

Chilaquiles con Crema

Okay, this is sOoOoO Mexican, I know! No, it´s not spicy and no, it won´t upset your stomach hahaha!

INGREDIENTS -

150 grams white cheese

1/2 kilo corn tortillas

1 can tomato puree

1/4 liter Mexican cream (NOT SOUR!)

1/2 onion

2 cloves garlic

1 cup oil

DIRECTIONS-

Cut up the tortillas in squares and fry over warm oil. After they´re fried, dry the excess oil by pressing a napkin over the tortillas. Place them in a container or large plate. Do not dispose of the oil in the pan. Mash the tomato along with the garlic, the onion and the puree. Add a little bit of salt and get it in the blender (and yes, blend it).

Using the extra oil from the tortillas, brown the mix from the blender (now a salsa) and pour it over the tortillas. Mix well and add the cream. Get in the cheese and put in in the oven (low heat) for about 10 minutes. Serve warm.

BACON SNACK

Snacking on bacon is one of my favorite things to do...ok, it´s not but I do REALLY LOVE bacon and thing is, I was about to give you my mom´s green spaghetti recipe, but then I realized that would've been a mistake, so next best thing was this one...

Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS -

1 8oz block Philadelphia cream cheese

1 cup bacon, chopped and fried

1 chipotle pepper

8 prunes

1 pack Crackets saltine crackers

1 pack grounded pepper

DIRECTIONS-

Mix the cheese and the prunes and pepper with salt and pepper and shape it into a bar of approximately 6 inches long. Spread the bacon on a flat surface (a plate, etc) and pass the cheese bar over the bacon so as to cover it all over with bacon bits. Refrigerate for about an hour.

Get it out of the fridge, get the crackers out and ENJOY!

Pecan Kisses

Sweet, simple.. thing is, after you try one, you´ll want to eat them all up. Consider yourself warned!

INGREDIENTS-

1 pack Marias cookies (the Gamesa ones).. crush them

250 grams chopped pecans

1 cup milk

1 cup Nestle, LA LECHERA sweetened condensed milk

1 sheet cellophane (YES, cellophane!)

Sugar, or brown sugar.. or whatever kind of sugar you prefer.

DIRECTONS-

Grind the cookies, pour into container along with pecans. Add the milk little by little. With the mix, shape it into medium size balls. Sprinkle the balls with sugar (I recommend brown sugar) then use the cellophane to wrap ´em.

Spinach Cream

I lOoOoOve this one!!! It is delicious and oh-so-easy!

INGREDIENTS -

1/2 kilo spinach

2 tablespoons butter

1 can Clavel milk

salt, pepper and Knorr chicken flavor bouillon (the green top one)

DIRECTIONS -

Wash and mash the raw spinach. Melt the butter in a pot and then add the spinach along with a little bit of water. Add the salt and pepper, and let simmer over a low flame. After a couple of minutes, add the milk and the bouillon. Do NOT let it boil! Again, use a low flame to heat it up, mix it and you´re good to go!

Chipotle Tuna

Chipotle Tuna

Okay, so, enough with the sweet on with the spicy-salty food, right? It was about time, so here it is! The tuna and chipotle recipe takes only approximately 10 minutes of preparation, is a healthy snack and is very very tasty. However, if you are not one for spicy food, I would advise you to only use half of the chipotle can.

INGREDIENTS -

2 tuna cans (either in water or in oil)

3 tablespoons minced onion

2 tomatoes (minced)

1 garlic clove (minced)

1 small chipotle can

cilantro (minced, and as much, or as little as you want)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

DIRECTIONS-

Brown onion and garlic in pan (with the oil, of course!) and after browning, add minced tomatoe, a sprinkle of salt and pepper and let boil for a couple of minutes. Add the chipotle and finally, add the tuna and cilantro. Get the crackers out and you´re good to go!

Sweet Fruit

A sweet fruit treat!

INGREDIENTS -

1 cup cubed pineapple

2 washed and cut oranges (cut into little pieces)

1 cup grapes

1 cup Coca-Cola

1 grapefruit (cut up into little pieces)

2 apples.. washed, peeled and cubed

DIRECTIONS-

Peel and cut all the fruit. Place the fruit in a medium size container, pour the Coca-Cola over it and mix. Place the fruit in smaller containers and refrigerate for an hour before serving.

(the recipe does not originally include strawberries, however, it´ll work well if you also add a bunch of these cubed!)
Enjoy!

Cinnamon Roll Icing

Here is the icing recipe, just in time!

INGREDIENTS -

1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar - Confectioner´s
1 Tablespoon Milk

DIRECTIONS -

Sift the powdered sugar into a medium bowl.

With a wire whisk, mix the sugar and the milk at a fast pace.

The icing should be thick, but runny. You might need to add more milk or more sugar to get this consistency.

Drizzle the icing onto the WARM cinnamon rolls.

When the icing hardens and becomes white again, then your rolls are ready!!

Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon Rolls and Valentine´s Day Eve

Time for a sweet treat! This cinnamon roll recipe actually comes from my sister! She, unlike myself, is an excellent cook. This recipe, as every recipe that will be published here, is easy, practical and totally delicious.

My choice to publish this particular recipe was based on the fact that Valentine's Day is coming up!!! Hoorayy for those of you who have a significant other!! Your boyfriend or girlfriend will absolutely enjoy the cinnamon rolls made by YOU! As for me, I'll probably bake something for MYSELF... or a lot of things! Valentine´s is definitely a day to cherish yourself, especially if there isn´t a boyfriend in the picture!! Hooorayy again for single life and for cinnamon rolls, cakes, pies, cookies and every other kind of dessert!!

Before you start, keep in mind these cinnamon rolls are not fun size whatsoever, they´re just big enough for a great appetite!

Enjoy!


Cinnamon Roll Recipe


Ingredients -


1 tablespoon yeast
1 cup milk, warm (but not TOO warm, hot milk will ruin the recipe!)
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
4 cups flour
1/3 cup margarine, melted
1 egg
cinnamon
granulated sugar

Directions -

In a large bowl, combine all the DRY ingredients, EXCEPT the flour.

In a separate bowl, combine the egg, margarine and milk. Again, the milk should be warm, not HOT!

Combine all ingredients in the large bowl, again, HOLD the flour!

Now, add the flour one cup at a time until the dough leaves the sides of the bowl and becomes a solid mass of dough, ready to be kneaded.

Place the dough on a lightly floured counter.

Now, this is the hardest, most Martha Stewart-ish part, you have to knead the dough 25-50 times until it is smooth.

Place it in a buttered Ziploc bag.

Leave it out at room temperature for approximately 1 hour, then get it in the fridge until you are ready to use it.

Afterwards, the dough may be placed in the buttered Ziploc bag and then in a sink full of HOT tap water until it starts to rise. Turn the bag while holding it down every five to ten minutes in the water, until you see the dough rises.

After it rises, remove dough from bag and onto floured counter again.

Shape the dough (with care) into a square shape.

Roll the dough out into a rectangular shape.. no it does not have to be a perfect rectangle.

Roll 1/2" thick.

Spread approximately 1/8 to 1/4 cup of MELTED BUTTER over dough.

Sprinkle cinnamon and granulated sugar onto dough, then spread evenly.

Starting with the longest side, roll the dough forming a large tube.

Use thread score rolls and cut, cross the threads to cut the dough.

Place your rolls onto cookie sheet or round cake pan.

Proof dough in over at 125 degrees for 15 minutes.

After the 15 minutes, increase oven temperature to 350 and bake until dough is golden brown!

Tah-Dah!!!

Now, I do have the recipe for the icing, however, they sell that at H-E-B and lots of other places! I say we get practical, hahaha if, however, you want to make it special and make the icing yoursel, I´ll post the recipe later!

In this blog I'll publish recipes straight out of my family's cookbooks.
The majority of the recipes you will find here are Mexican dishes, however, their origin varies greatly (my mom's lasagna is GREAT!). Regardless of its origin, I guarantee the final product will always be delicious food. Some recipes will be slightly more complicated than others, however, more often than not they're easy to make and will not take much time. There's a couple of family recipes which have been passed down through generations, and some are recent inventions (my mom's or my grandma's).
However, you will find that none resemble cheap cafeteria dishes, and even the most simple will never be plain in taste or appearance. The first recipe is the perfect example. The Cilantro Dip, although I don't really know where they got it from, has been very popular in the family for a couple of decades, it is one of the easiest recipes, an 'anytime, anywhere', and I guarantee that once you try it you'll be hooked on it for good!

Enjoy!



Cilantro Chip-Dip

Time of preparation - approx. 8 minutes



Ingredients -

1 8oz (250 gr) Philadelphia cream cheese block

1 8oz can Goya 'jalapeños en vinagre'

1 bunch fresh cilantro

1/2 cup of milk

Directions

Cut the lower part of the cilantro stems, don't worry about chopping it.
Take the jalapeños out of the can and pour them (vinegar and all) into a container; remove the stems.
Cut the cream cheese block into 4 pieces.

Place the jalapeños in the blender. Next, pour in the vinegar, the amount of vinegar you decide to pour into the blender depends on the acidity you'd like in your dip.

Place cream cheese in blender, along with the bunch of cilantro.

Pour 1/4 cup of milk into blender. It is important that you don't pour in all of the milk, and that you pour it in at the very last, that way you can control the consistency, acidity and 'hotness' of the dip.

Blend for about 10 seconds.

After blending, get a little dip out of the blender with a spoon. Check the consistency, and take a taste for acidity. If you find it too acid, too hot or too thick, add more milk.

Great with Ruffles Ridged chips!


*If you like your dip a little hotter, get more jalapeños and vinegar in there!