It all Started with...

It all started with Felix – Felix Continental Café in Orange, CA that is.  We took the Metrolink train to the city of Orange one day while my cousins from Texas were here, and had lunch at this Cuban restaurant in the downtown area.   

And what a treat it was.  I’ve been three times,  and I always order their “Lechon Asado”.  That’s Roasted Pork, readers.

Served with white rice, black beans and fried plantains, it very much tastes like the dish I use to have occasionally at Sunday dinners with the family (yum!).  As we’re Puerto Rican, the beans were red , but the rest of menu was the same.

So when I saw this new book, ¡Cuba! , 

I knew I wanted to read it and see how the two cuisines differ or are alike.  Is there a lot that is similar? Are there more differences other than the beans?   I saw right away as I read the recipes that our kitchens have a few different spices for certain dishes (like the Mojo – theirs is green while in Puerto Rico the mojo is white with less spices, both equally tasty). The first chapter clarified that the basics are pretty much the same – rice and beans (as a dish), sofrito, plantains (both sweet and green) and yuca.

Besides the recipes, the content of the book reflected the love affair the authors – Dan Goldberg, Andrea Kuhn, and Jody Eddy, are having with Cuba. There’s a lot of information about the country. They went to true Cuban home kitchens and found the real cooking of the country.

I learned a lot about the island,  and how the people cope besides the included 100 recipes.  One could feel the amiability of the people in all their encounters and the resourcefulness such as seen on their farms (fincas) on land deemed worthless.  “The fincas are being studied by farmers around the globe for their innovative agricultural practices.  Instead of relying on expensive equipment, they emulate the traditions of past generations, who listened to the land and used what was around them to cultivate flourishing fields of abundance.” (p.178)

I showed the book to my 90 year old mother and she exclaimed and sighed as she went through the book reminiscing about this recipe and that. So to answer my questions, the foods of these two islands are more the same than different, and it’s all delicious. 

I received this book (published by Ten Speed Press) from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review. And I’m so glad I did.  I look forward to trying out the recipes.

Some of This and That

Have been machine quilting most of last week, so my de-stashing didn't move very much - .10 yard for a SS block and .3 yard for the border of my Gwennie inspired.  I'm up to a YTD total is 43.16 yds .

Today, I prepped another Splendid Sampler block.  I'll be hand appliqueing it down for my Slow Sunday Stitching today, plus hopefully a couple of motifs on my ancient one.

Hope you get some time to quilt today.

PS: Hexagon papers giveaway is still open - see top, sidebar.  

Blessings,

WIPs Be Gone with Giveaway

Machine quilting the BAMA quilt, but before that I finished the 2nd baby panel and a Splendid Sampler block.

This block is called Bobbin Case.  I now have 44 of these.  There are going to be 100, however, I may stop at 48 - we'll see.

The baby panel turned out cute, especially with the coordinating fabric for the backing.

The St Anne ladies who sandwiched it used a fleece like batting. It made the quilt a bit more puffy than I'm use to. I machine quilted with my FMQ foot around the prints, animals, flowers and the lines delineating the inner squares. As I mentioned before - this was practice for getting the right "hum" from the machine to produce even stitches.  The inner border was done with a walking foot.


I waited til this morning to post this WIPs Be Gone, so I could announce the winner of the $10 Fat Quarter Shop gift certificate. And the winner is Margaret.  I've sent you an email, Margaret. Congratulations! I hope to hear from you soon.

This week's giveway is again 105 hexagons.  Enough to make 17 flowers.  The hexagons will have 1" sides.   Usual guidelines apply:   Leave me a comment for one chance.  Link your eye candy for another (link button below). Follow me and let me know for a third chance. Remember if you don't have a blog, you can always post a photo from a photo hosting service.  Please be sure there is some way for me to contact you. Ends next Thursday, midnight.

 I'll be linking to several parties including: