To make it less boring for me (Alan loves anything green), I also bought the fruit, egg and bread share. I love fruit, and usually love to make smoothies, but this summer I had a mission – I wanted to bake my first pie. But wait, doesn’t the title say mermelada? Yes it does, I haven’t gotten enough fruit to make the pie yet.

Last week we got blueberries and raspberries. I stared at them for a while, and looked at Alan and said “How about we make some mermelada?” His eyes lit up like a kid. Bam! Mermelada it is I told myself. I know mermelada takes fruit and sugar, so I set around the Internet to find a recipe for Blueberry-Raspberry Marmalade (or Jam as everyone wants to call it). During my search I learned about the process of canning, sterilizing, and this thing called pectin.

“Pecto-what?” said Alan. P-E-C-T-I-N.

Went to Wegman’s for my jars and the Pectin. No luck. No jars; no pectin. Really? Isn’t the summer when everybody makes and can jams? Hello? Middle of fruit season?

On a whim decided to go to Target. SUCCESS! Jars in all sizes, and some sort of Pectin that I wasn’t sure about.
Alan stared at me and said “That pectin thing is a gringada. In Chile we use just the fruit and the sugar”. And really I thought, people have been making jams since before this pectin probably existed. So, no pectin it is! Now to find a damn recipe (for the rations) that uses no pectin. Alas! within five minutes I had one. Today, I’m taking the day off my research duties and decided Today was THE day I was going to make marmalade.

So here goes my foray into the American (and probably other countries) tradition of making your own marmalade. Since we had small amount of fruit there is no canning involved. I guarantee you this will last us only a couple of days.

What you will need:

• 1.5 Cups Fresh Blueberries
• 1.5 Cups Fresh Red Raspberries
• 2 Cups granulated white sugar
• 2 small or one large Ball Jar
• 2 decent size saucepan
• 1 very good spoon
• Pair of tongs

Place your jars and lids (yes I know I placed the bands instead; amateur I am) on a saucepan with enough water and simmer on medium for the duration of the process.

Sterilizing Jars

Rinse the blueberries (I opted not to rinse the raspberries as they were very soft). Place blueberries and raspberries in a large enough saucepan. So it doesn’t boil over, rub butter on the top inside of the saucepan.

Berries ready for sugar!

Add the 2 cups of sugar and mix well. Set the temperature of the stove for medium low for the first 5 minutes and stir a couple of times. Then set to medium, where you will stir occasionally until you bring to a boil.

Berries with Sugar

Once you bring to a boil, keep at medium heat, and stir CONSTANTLY for about ten minutes making sure nothing is sticking at the bottom. The idea is to prevent any foaming while it boils; otherwise you will need to skim the foam at the end. The mixture will turn from its initial reddish to a more deeper magenta color. I also crushed with the stirring spoon some of the blueberries.

Almost there!

After the 10 minutes, turn heat up to medium-high, and keep stirring CONSTANTLY. This will help accelerate the “jellying” process so you don’t have to stand there for a long time. Keep stirring for about 5-7 minutes and then turn the heat off. Keep stirring until it no longer boils. If you want to make sure the marmalade is at the jellying state you prefer, spoon out a bit to a plate and leave it at room temp (you can also pop in the fridge for a minute or so). However it sets, is how it will set after you jar it.

Boiling Berries!

With tongs pick out the jars from the saucepan and drain. Pick out the lids too. Set aside. If there is any water left in the jar, turn it upside down with the tongs so it drains. Because the jars are hot, I placed them on a folded kitchen towel. Grab your marmalade mix and pour it into the jar (or jars) making sure you are scraping every little last bit. Once done wipe outside of jar with paper towel.

Done!

Once you’ve poured the mermelada in the jars, leave about a quarter inch to the top, lid and band them. Let them cool outside, until they are room temperature. Then you can store in the fridge if like me you like the mermelada cold and set. Then go to the supermarket and get some bread and follow these simple steps:

Step 1: Open the Jar

Step 2: Spread

Enjoy!

As you know, we have no clue as to the sex of our baby – we really want it to be a surprise. But my Mom, since she has some special circumstances that warranted her to know – well SHE KNOWS! We had the ultrasound tech write it down on a paper and put it in an envelope that we mailed to her. So she just sent us a box with gender specific clothing labeled DO NOT OPEN. See?

Do Not Open Box

I know, I know. Most of you are wondering how we can even have that box in the house and not rip it apart. To be honest, it is not that difficult. Since we always knew we wanted to wait, we are at peace with not knowing. Our friends and family have been taking bets. So far only three votes for a boy, and an overwhelming majority believe its a girl. Us? we just want a healthy baby! And DONT GET ANY IDEAS ABOUT ASKING MOM!!!! She is NOT telling!!

Obviously not knowing the sex of the baby slows down your gender specific preparations. For example, we don’t yet have a crib, as I like different colors for girl or boy. So we will have baby Lambie in a bassinet for the first three months. We have neutral clothing for about the first week, and we are having a baby shower this coming weekend so we’ll see what we get there. Once baby is born, then we will go on a shopping spree! (great reason don’t you think?)

I always wanted to do a pregnancy shoot – ever since Demi’s infamous yet beautiful Vanity Fair cover. We just believe that a pregnancy belly is beautiful and is to be embraced and not hidden. So we found a great photographer and we had our shoot. I don’t have the proofs yet, but she did post one picture in Facebook for us to share. I have to admit, I never thought they would look THAT GOOD. We are so happy with the one picture, and CANNOT wait for the rest of the proofs. I think we will have more than enough to work with, what do you think?

Alan & Adriana - 33 Weeks

One more thing to accomplish is a Baby Scrapbook – have any of you ever done one? I wanted to do a photobook scrapbook for our baby, but find that all the pages offered are, you guessed it! Gender Specific…..so that makes it hard. And I really don’t want to wait until baby Lambie is born…we will not have much time then. So if anyone knows a way around this, I’m all for suggestions.

So now we sit here at 34 weeks, counting down the days……we really are so excited and cannot wait for this baby to arrive. We are following as natural a birth as possible at the hospital. We have taken our laboring and hipnobirthing classes in an effort to avoid interventions and pain medications, and to keep me calm and relaxed. What’s that? Did I pack a bag? Not yet, but we have all the elements ready and bought.

Just 6 more weeks until we meet our son or daughter, six more weeks. Seems like such a short time!

So what is this secret I’ve been keeping? 

Trust me this has been a hard to keep secret.  We’ve wanted kids for a loooooooong time, but we were a bit on the paranoid side and just kept waiting and waiting until we felt we had surpassed most of the risks so that we could share these wonderful news with the rest of you!

What? the sex of the baby? No clue.  We are not finding out, it will be a surprise for ALL of us.  Do you know how hard it is to buy stuff for a baby you have no clue what the gender is?  The baby marketing industry is either team pink or team blue.  There is no neutral anymore – and what you do find is yellow or green.

Names?  Well if it is a girl it will be Hannah Isabel Lambie, if it is a boy it will be Davi Samuel Lambie.

So as of right now we are 21 weeks pregnant and our next u/s will be on the 28th.  We are VERY excited with our pregnancy and really cannot wait to see our baby again (even if it is on a screen).  We hope that you share our joy!

I woke up on Friday December 5th, 2003 with a lot to do and very little time to do it.  First off, I needed to pick up one of my friends Ana Maria del Pino, who was staying at a hotel.  With her and my maiden of honor, Marisol, in tow, we drove to the banquet hall to place the almendritas and the chocolate takeaways we had prepared the night before.  Mami did the almendritas (I wish I had a picture of them in this computer, she did a great job!), and I did the chocolate wrappers.  Mami was already at the peluqueria while we were on this errand.  We also dropped of the cake topper and the toast flutes.

When we walked it I was shocked.  It all looked so beautiful, and we were running late.  So we worked really fast and sped to the peluqueria.  There Mami – figuring I hadn’t eaten – was waiting for me with a cortadito and a palmera.  And my stylist got to work.  Once done I drove us all home, while wearing the crown and veil mind you, and everything else kept falling into place.  We had a beautiful wedding!

December 5, 2003

It’s been 7 years since that date. SEVEN. YEARS.  We an hardly believe it; for us it feels like it was yesterday.  These 7 years have been busy for us.  In 2004 we moved to Rhode Island where we spent the next 5 years while I worked on my Ph.D. degree.  Alan started working towards his degree as well.  We went to see the Red Sox, visited Boston often, and made many good and wonderful friends.  In 2009 we moved to Rochester, where we started a new life with me finally an Assistant Professor, and Alan able to give himself 100% to his studies.  We’ve gone to Chile twice, to Puerto Rico and Miami more than that, we’ve had dark moments and beautiful moments, and somehow it all has been great.  I really could not ask for a better husband or marriage, warts and all.  I definitely married a life partner.

Here is this year’s picture, taking in August when we went to New England and visited Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard.  If you ever have the chance to go, do it.  You will not regret it.

Alan & Adriana 2010

So today, December 5, 201o, we raise our glasses with you so that we may share with you seven more years!

Happy Anniversary to us!!!!

One of the things I love about living in the Northeast is that you can find many things that are community made and local, cheap and very fresh.  For example our door wreath was just $15.00!  and with fresh pine an benefiting a local community group.  You can’t beat that!

Christmas Wreath

And so it was time to look for our Christmas tree.  I’ve always had a knack for buying 5 footers that get pudgier every year, always sending me to the store to get more lights.  Funny think is that every year I tried to buy a skinnier or at lest less frondoso tree.  Alas, every year I ended up with a fatter tree.  When we moved north our first tree in Rhode Island we got from a cut your own tree farm.  It was a great experience; you pick out the tree you like, and the guy hands you a saw and you get your tree.  From 2005 on, we bought our trees at the same farmstand, paying about $50 bucks for my fat 5 footers.

This year I put my foot down.  I was determined to get the damn tree I had envisioned.  I new it was a Fir, I just didn’t know what kind.  About a mile from our house there is a Christmas Tree farm, so we went there on Tuesday.  And the first tree I see is the Fir I’ve always dreamed about.  Except that think is huge!  It’s 10 feet tall!  But its got such a beautiful color of green and such a nice shape!  But we keep looking.  Finally Alan asks if there was a tree I liked.  I said yes but that I thought it was too big, and showed him the tree.  He said, “It will fit”.  I said “It’s 10 feet tall!”.  He reassured me “It will fit”.  So we bought a 10 footer for $47 bucks!  Can you believe that?  And low and behold, IT DID FIT! Now on to decorating, at least this year, I won’t run out of lights. I think.

Adriana's 10 Foot Christmas Tree

Pumpkin Waffles with Vermont Maple Syrup

We are thankful we have each other; we are thankful we had those who are no longer with us; we are thankful for those still with us – family and friends; we are thankful for Nemo; we are thankful I have a job I love and that Alan will be graduating in May; and even though we’ve had a difficult year on some personal areas, we are thankful that there are options for us.

We wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving 2010 and remember what you have to be grateful for!

“Where are you from?”

“I was born in PR my parents are Cuban”

“Seriously? So you can make Ropa Vieja“

*sigh* of all the GREAT Cuban dishes, Ropa Vieja is at the top of the list.  I often wonder why, as I much rather have Tasajo or Lechón, but I tend to please my comensales and make Ropa Vieja.

Ropa Vieja is a dish that takes quite some work (similar to Tasajo), and I have an entirely different recipe for it when cooked the traditional way.  But some time ago Mami bought me a crockpot in the hopes that I would cook more with my limited amount of time (or some time late arrivals).  So as I set out to try my crockpot a friend told me that it was great for cooking the meat for the Ropa Vieja, and then I fount Marta.  And Marta has a recipe for Crockpot Ropa Vieja.  A recipe that *gasp* I. Tinkered. With. …to better suit my taste (and of course Alan’s) while still keeping as true as I could to traditional Cuban Ropa Vieja (not my family’s version).

So here is your list of ingredients:

• 1.5 to 2lb of Flank Steak (I clean a bit of the fat off, but not all of it)
• 1/2 green bell pepper sliced into strips
• 1/2 whole medium to large yellow onion sliced into strips (halfwise)
• 4 to 5 fat cloves of garlic smashed in a mortar
• 2 tsp of Sea Salt
• 2 tsp freshly ground coarse black peppercorns
• 1/2 tsp of cumin powder
• 1/2 cup of Cabernet Sauvignon red wine (preferably the same one you will use for dinner)

Depending on the side of your crockpot, you might have to do what I do and that is cut the meat in half across the grain like so:

Flank Steak cut in half

Next, mix all the dry ingredients – sea salt, cumin – as this will be your meat rub (Tip: for cold winters add the ground peppercorn to the rub as it will make the meat spicy, and the Ropa Vieja quite interesting!).  Make sure you rub it on both sides and across the cut.  You’ll have about half of it left to pour into the crockpot.  Set aside the Flank steak and the rub, while we prep the rest.  Slice the green bell peppers lengthwise; cut the onion in half and then slice thinly (or slice thinly and then cut in half).  It should look like this:

Onions, Peppers and Garlic ...Oh My!

Mash the garlic up nicely on a mortero or if you prefer you can mince it.  I just really like using the mortero…it is kind of therapeutic.  Ok so once you have the garlic, the onions and the peppers ready here is what you do.  Layer some of the trio on the crockpot, add one half of the meat.  Add some more of the trio, add the other half of the meat.  Finish adding what’s left of the trio.  This ensures the meat gathers all the garlic, onion and pepper taste.

Bottom of Crockpot

After you layer the meat and the rest of the garlic, onion and peppers it should look like this:

Crockpot with Flank Steak and garlic, onion and peppers

Once everything is in it is time to add the 1/2 cup of the wine, the rest of the rub and the water (to cover the meat BUT AFTER the wine).  I use Root Cabernet Sauvignon.  It’s not cheap but its not expensive (around $10) and its also the same one we drink with dinner so it matches perfectly!  Add the wine first, around the meat and softly on the meat so as not to wash the rub off.  Then add water – just enough to JUST cover the meat – and then add the rest of the rub to the liquid and blend softly.

Ready, Set and Forget it!

Set it in low for about 6 hours.  Check the meat with a fork @ 6 hours.  Usually it’s almost ready by then; if the meat separates easily then it’s time to take it out.  For the last half hour or so I just set the crockpot in warm so the meat is not over cooked.

Once done take the meat out with a slotted spoon and lay in the cutting board to cool off a bit.  While it cools, with the same slotted spoon, remove the onion, garlic and peppers, and place in a bowl.  You will need 1 – 2 cups of the beef broth so set that aside as well.  Separate the meat with a fork and your hands until is is in strands.  Be careful as it is very hot.

Shredded Meat, Beef Broth, and Trio

So what next?  Now comes the good part!  You will need the following:

• the 2 cups of broth you removed from the crockpot
• the onions, peppers and garlic you removed from the crockpot
• 1 small can of unsalted tomato sauce
• 1 small can of tomato paste
• 1-2 tbsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 tsp of oregano
• 1/4 of a green bell pepper cut into strips
• 1/2 yellow onion cut in strips
• 2 fat garlic cloves
• Salt and pepper to taste

On a deep pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat and prepare a small sofrito with the 1/2 onion, 1/4 pepper and 2 garlic cloves.  Sautee for about a minute and add the onion, garlic and peppers you removed from the crockpot and sofreir another minute.  Add the meat, and stir with a fork so the sofrito and the meat blend well together.  Add half of the tomato sauce and 1 cup of the beef broth, cover and wait until it comes to a boil.  Take the lid of, and stir.  Add half of the tomato paste can and stir well, making sure it blends.  Cover and simmer in low for about 10 minutes.  Save the other cup of broth, with the leftover tomato sauce and paste for your leftovers – you will need them to heat the meat back up so it is not dry.

Ropa Vieja almost done!

Now that you’ve labored soooooo hard over this, comes the simple part.  Serve with white rice, chatinos (a whole other post) and ENJOY!

Buen Provecho!

I gotta admit I don’t feel any different from 30!

So as society dictates that 40 is a milestone, we are on our way to RI to celebrate with friends and family.

Raise a Ketel One Gimlet in my name today!!

Papi at Antiguo Bilbao Bakery in PR

It’s hard to believe it will be 4 years.  It just doesn’t seem like it’s been that long and at the same time it feels like it’s been forever.

Four years ago today, Papi was still alive.  And at some point between today and tomorrow (we believe night time) he passed away and forever changed my life and me in the process.  There were times in the beginning were I thought I would never get past this, but I’ve learned to move forward more out of honor for his memory than anything else.

This is just something you just cannot superar.  You deal, every day.  But there are still plenty of times, when I get teary-eyed at his memory or even at the slightest thought.  Papi missed my graduation; Papi will miss being an Abuelo….but he was there for the most important day of my life – the day I married Alan.

Papi‘s death was traumatic for me in many ways, so for this anniversary,  as many of you did not know him,I will leave you with what I wrote when we got back from his funeral.   To this day nothing expresses what I felt then better than this essay:

Paz y Tranquilidad (Peace and Calm)

That was Papi’s longtime wish. “All I want is paz y tranquilidad,” he would always say. He finally got his wish. Death hits you like a ton of bricks, and there is nothing you can do about it.

Papi used to call every other Saturday – the week of the 15th and the week of the 30th. He never missed a day. Never. He never answered the phone either if you were the one calling him; but every once in a while he would, or he would call you back.

He was due to call Saturday September 30th – he didn’t. I was at a conference, so I assumed he had called Mami first, learned I was at a conference and not called. He will call next Saturday I told myself. The grind of the week swallowed me up and it was Saturday again, this time October 7th. No phone call. No one had heard from him. No one. We contacted some friends in PR to go by his apartment. The news were not good.

There in front of his door, newspapers piled up since September 23rd. A concerned neighbor came out and said he was worried; he hadn’t seen him in a while. They called the police – but the police cannot go in unless there is a family member present. So they called me.

At 6:15am my husband and I boarded a plane to San Juan. Before 11am we had called the police, and I was at Papi’s door. I stuck my nose through the hole where the peephole used to be. My heart sank and my eyes started to sting. Tears sprung out uncontrollably, but I recomposed myself.

Papi lived alone. After the divorce, my brother lived with him for a while, but then my brother moved to Miami. I always prayed to God that whatever happened, I would have time to get to PR – I did not want Papi to die alone. I rather he have a heart attack in front of me. If that was not possible, then I also told God, I wanted Papi to go in his sleep. My biggest fear was that he would have a fall, or need help, and die because there was no one around.

Not knowing what I would find, I had told my husband I did not want to go in, and asked if he would – I did not want the last memory I had of my father to be him dead. My husband didn’t even blink, and followed the police in. Papi died in his sleep of a massive heart attack. He looked peaceful, there was no expression of pain in his face. He had been dead two weeks before we found him – or so we estimated by the date of the newspapers. Two weeks there by himself. I cried in my husband’s embrace, and quickly gathered myself. Mami was on her way, and Papi’s closest friends were there. I had to be strong, look strong, always stoic.

Dying alone, in your home and without a doctor is a red tape nightmare in a country whose laws are based on the codigo civil rather than common law. At around 4pm, the funeral home was allowed to come and take him to the morgue. The next morning we were at the morgue by 8am; I cried in front of the interviewer as I pleaded with her to release my father without an autopsy. By some miracle, she complied and the funeral home was able to take back Papi.

His last wish? To be cremated and released at La Bahia de San Juan. It was Monday and we were leaving Wednesday. But the Lord moves in mysterious ways, and so it was that Wednesday morning – after a beautiful mass Tuesday afternoon with his ashes present – my husband got a local fisherman to take us out into the bay where we released his ashes and marked the site with yellow roses. The ocean looked so beautiful with the roses. Papi was finally resting; he finally had paz y tranquilidad.

Papi was an immigrant all his life. Born in Lugo, Galicia Spain he migrated as a child to Cuba where teased by his classmates he quickly dropped his Spanish accent for the Cuban accent. He worked hard all his life. At the age of 14 he worked side by side with his father, while going to school as well. He barely got 3-5 hours of sleep. At the age of 21, he had achieved his dream – to own his own business: a restaurant bar named Wall Street.

In the 60′s he left Cuba as soon as he could and moved back to Spain, where he met my mother who was also fleeing Cuba. They settled in Puerto Rico, where he worked for a while as a salesman for Kimberly Clarke. But Papi was a hard worker, and he liked to own his business. So once he had enough capital, he and three other Spaniards (family and some he befriended in the island), created a partnership of four Panaderias. Papi loved us all very much – but his Panaderia was the love of his life. The picture above was the opening day of said partnership, and that is how I want everyone to remember my father.

He was not perfect, no one really is. He had his faults, but I loved him anyway and he loved me. I was his muñequita because to him I was beautiful; his garrapata because I always clinged to him as a child, and his cacharrita which came from the song cachita. He was very proud of me and had no qualms in telling me that he loved me or in sending me kisses over the phone.

This past Father’s Day I wished him a Happy Father’s Day. His reply?

“You called me so it already is a happy day.”

I will miss you always Papi. Descansa en Paz

So, it got me thinking about my own Cuban upbringing, and how I’ve supplemented or added to it, through the years.

I graduated with HONORS from the Cooking course, but unfortunately failed miserable on the Home Management course……much to the avail of Alan, my husband.  We’ve butted heads more than once on cleaning schedule, where things should be stored, how they should be stored until I found the HOME. MANAGEMENT. BIBLE:

The Home Bible

Master Martha, as she is referred to at my home, has come to be the decider on many argument.  Like what you ask?  Ask and you shall receive.

I always keep all the cleaners under the kitchen sink.  Perfect sense right?  Not to my husband who came up with a different scheme – the linen closet.

But honey the cleaners ALWAYS go under the sink. Says who?  You and your Cuban upbringing?  That doesn’t mean it’s right or the ONLY way.  HERESY! How dare he attempt against the Cuban Home Ec.?

Alás!  Martha Stewart to the rescue.  There under Your Kitchen, and Organizing, guess where we are supposed to keep all the cleaners?  UNDER THE KITCHEN SINK!

So now, whenever my wonderful husband gets a new idea of moving something to a different place in the home, I just go ask Martha.  But don’t get smug, Martha has been on Alan’s side sometimes too.  That Martha she is one nit picker when it comes to cleaning – as is Alan – so when I won the cleaner argument, Alan won the DREADED clean as you go argument.  *blushing*

I must admit, I WAS one of those cooks that creates a big mess as she cooks, but always cleaned everything at the end.  Now Martha has me cleaning as I go, and cleaning the kitchen every single night…..with Mrs. Meyer’s All Purpose Cleaner in Basil which now is my favorite cleaner (love, LOVE, how it smells)….  And Alan is a very proud husband, and very grateful to Martha. *sigh*

So what is your Home Ec. upbringing story?