It’s been raining like crazy here in So Cal.
And when weather happens to us we really don’t know how to act: “Should we wear shoes? Does anyone have a jacket? I know I have an umbrella in here somewhere from the last time...”
Seriously, we just don’t “do” weather.
And so last week we found ourselves stocking [...]

So, I’m still on my quixotic quest of declaring November as National Guava Month. To that end, I am happy to share my recipe for Guava Cheesecake in time for you to make it for “El Sanguibin.”
Of course, the main ingredient in cheesecake is cream cheese, which is inexorably tied to Philadelphia (thank you, Kraft [...]

Hi all!
It's a special Monday, Pre-Thanksgiving Edition of Marta's Cuban American Kitchen.
I have been trying, without much success, to declare November "National Guava Month." Sadly, no one seems to take me seriously about this, but that's not important right now.
So, I'm going to try again today.
I, Marta, hereby declare November to be "National Guava Month."
In [...]

The holidays are approaching and with them the ensuing "comelatas." As much as I love tradition and our traditional Cuban food, I'm always looking for quick and easy. (I know. Shut up.) Better yet, quick and easy while still tasting traditional.
Because as far as I'm concerned, and I'm sure you'll agree, super tasty and easy [...]

My son, Adam is a handsome guy. (Okay, I know I’m his mom and all that, but I am being truly objective here. Shut up.) And even though he’s not fluent in Spanish, he can defend himself pretty well for the most part.

So he was visiting my mom (his grandmother) the other day. She speaks [...]

My mom has been in Miami for the summer. Last week she was telling me about an avocado that she had purchased from the local viandero. Here in California we get the Haas avocados that are small with bumpy dark skin. The ones in Miami are considerably larger.
She says this to make the point:
“Es el [...]

Every now and then I get a craving for something that appears unusual to my kids but was just part of a regularly scheduled menu item in my Cuban American household when I was growing up.
And I realize just a beat too late that they haven’t had the same upbringing that I have, and that [...]

Note: I apologize for my extended absence from Babalú. I’ve been fighting a personal health battle that I won’t bore you with. Thank you all for your gracious patience with me. I’m ba-a-a-ack! =D
Sometimes when my family is around the dinner table, we play games where we ask hypothetical questions. The discussions always take an [...]

I had a wonderful master plan.
I swear did.
I know I’ve been AWOL for a while now. I’ve been taking some much needed time off from cooking and blogging. Rest assured, I am still cooking and I am still blogging. I just haven’t done them concurrently for the past couple of months, but that’s not important [...]

Shhhh... Be bewy bewy quiet...Marco's huntin' RINO...

John Hawkins has a great run down on yesterday's DeMint/Rubio teleconference at Right Wing News.

(1) Name the political party that, for almost a century after the Civil War, did everything in its power to keep blacks separate from whites?
(2) Name the political party that a certain Senator from West Virginia belongs to who was a former Grand Kleagle of the Ku Klux Klan?
(3) Name the political party that had [...]

This stunning post from Capital Hill Cubans serves as a reminder to those celebrating this weeks OAS decision on Cuba:
"Indifference is not a beginning, it is an end. And, therefore, indifference is always the friend of the enemy, for it benefits the aggressor -- never his victim, whose pain is magnified when he or she [...]

Short notice post about Albita's concert in New York City tomorrow night. I have a pair of tickets for the concert for the person who can answer this question: who designed, made and installed the steel fence around Albita's house in Miami?

On Wednesday June 3rd, S.O.B.’s presents the CD Release Party of Albita, the Cuban [...]

Update by Gaius Pitbullius Maximus: I decided to update Val's post by including the entire text of the letter he linked to below because IT NEEDS TO BE READ AND SENT AROUND THE COUNTRY! I want one -- just one -- justification as to why this is okay to do in "post-partisan America." Just one, [...]

OK folks, after tons of hard work and running around and phone calls and emails galore, among lots of other things, we have put together a schedule of events for this year's Cuba Nostalgia Convention:
Friday, May 15th:
Cigar Rolling and Buy Val Mojitos day, sponsored by Cuban Crafters Cigars
Swing by the Babalu Pavilion today and [...]

The NY Times, aka the official news agency of the Obama administration is reporting:

... informal meetings were being planned between the State Department and Cuban diplomats in the United States to determine whether the two governments could open formal talks on a variety of issues, including migration, drug trafficking and other regional security matters.
And the [...]

Porter J. Goss writing in The Washington Post about the selective amnesia on enhanced interrogation that is endemic in Congress. Read the whole thing.
A disturbing epidemic of amnesia seems to be plaguing my former colleagues on Capitol Hill. After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, members of the committees charged with overseeing our nation's intelligence services [...]

Here's something completely off-topic but so beautiful I had to share it with all of you. Check out the
close-up pictures of Saturn published today. Makes you take stock of our place in the universe...

That's right, boys and girls, I cause...
GLOBAL WARMING!
I want to make a commitment, right here, right now, to stop farting and exhaling. It's the least I can do.

Well folks, it's done. President Obama capitulated and has lifted all travel and remittance to Cuba restrictions for Cubans living in the US (please note I did not say "Cuban-Americans" as there is a stark difference) without a single concession from the castro regime.
I doubt that said restrictions will ever be put back in [...]