"Tamalito," now available at home!!

I went through a stage recently where I cross-reminisced, thinking wistfully of making mole in Mexico, the nights out with my family at our local Cantina, ordering only "3 sides of corn-mush, please" as a child  (before it closed and became a sports bar), and enjoying creole potato salad at summer picnics with friends... so I created a go-to recipe list whenever I'm feeling like I need a Mexican or Caribbean home-made, healthy (well, not always) pick-me-up.

My sides, I feel, are what really make the meal. You can make pollo con recado rojo, but if you serve it on white rice with a Caesar salad, I for one will be disappointed. My go-to list of sides includes:

• Creole Potato Salad (recipe taught to me by a friend's mom, and then tweaked a bit by yours truly)
• 5 Flavor Rice (my own recipe)
• Tamalito (Chevy's recipe, Mmm)
• Re-fried beans (my own recipe)
• 3 Pepper Salsa (my own rendition)
  

Sticky Pear Pudding & Toffee Sauce

Hello! So today I'm starting this new blog to differentiate between my baking/ cooking and my usual posts about my daughter. All food, all the time, I say. I've been making a lot of breads lately (having gotten over my fear of yeast, waiting... I couldn't handle it!!) and will post my favorite recipes on that topic soon. Today I made a recipe from Better Homes & Gardens that was labeled as a pudding, but is more of a sticky cake.