Thank you all for your concern. I'm definitely home now and back to my real life which includes laundry and laundry and more laundry and I have some videos I have to edit - in between loads of laundry.
I'll tell you all about Blogalicious Weekend and what I did and the cool places I got to stay in and my visit to the Palacio de Los Jugos....next week.
In my mind I am still in Parranda mode, so while I'll be doing my best to scale Mt. Washmore* I'll definitely be moving my Cuban butt self to the delicious sounds of Celia Cruz.
I'm having one of those accidentally cool things happening that happens to me occasionally because I live in a fun bloggy world.
I am traveling to Miami for Blogalicious Weekend 2010. Celebrating Diversity in Social Media. (The words celebrating and social seem like they describe me perfectly. Am I right?)
My trip is being sponsored in full by the lovely folks at General Mills and Que Rica Vida. (This is the 2nd time they send me to Miami and I'm really loving them for it.Thanks GM & QRV!)
I have some fun stuff that I get to do and there will be conferency things and events and dinners and even a parranda. (<--Puerto Rican speak for party!)
But for now, just know that I'll be spending the weekend hanging with some of my favorite blog friends and hopefully making some new connections. And of course, there will be the mandatory pilgrimage with my Cuban peeps to The Palacio de Los Jugos in Little Havana.
I'm looking forward to the Parranda Party (also sponsored by Que Rica Vida <-- Do you see why I love these people?).
I get to wear my new parranda shoes (with a comfort sole in preparation for dancing all night).
I have great intentions of blogging from Miami. (I know about the road to hell being paved with those, but that's not important right now.)
Here's the recap of why I'm feeling sooo accidentally cool:
I get to go to one of my favorite cities.
I get to hang with some of my favorite people.
I get to eat Cuban food.
I get to wear my new parranda shoes. (<--I think everyone should start calling their party shoes parranda shoes from now on.)
I get to share it with you via my new iPad. (I know Shut up.)
Now, if I God would just answer my prayer and I could run into Andy Garcia somewhere on Calle Ocho, my life would be complete. *sigh*
(A big thank you to General Mills & Que Rica Vida for making me feel sooo accidentally cool.) =D
I still have so much more to tell you about my trip to General Mills and the Betty Crocker Kitchens. I have some very cool recipes I want to share and also some fun stuff to giveaway. There was so much to take in that I can't possibly write about it all in one post, so I will be writing about this for the next week or so (I'll also do some giveaways to make it worth your while).
First, can I just tell you that I have moments when I'm very aware of my Cuban-ness? I'm aware that I'm pushy and loud and prone to performing spontaneous bouts of stand-up comedy. (I know. Shut up.)
Out of the larger group of 30 bloggers that got to go on this amazing trip, 6 of us were Latinas.
The good folks at General Mills were more than gracious hosts and much to my delight, let us cook in the Betty Crocker Studio Kitchen along with Chef Cristina of Que Rica Vida. (I felt sooo accidentally cool.)
And I fell in love with Chef Cristina. She is the Mexican Nitza Villapol (but with a better sense of humor).
We made 7 (!) recipes in an hour with the cameras rolling and in spite of having the noisy, attention-seeking Cuban on the set (yes, that would be me, but that's not important right now.), she managed to maneuver around the kitchen with tremendous poise and ease, giving instruction and keeping us focused.
We made alfajores (a particularly lovely and flaky shortbread) stuffed with dulce de leche! (Thank you, God!), various types of cookies and bars and crepes, (I know. Crepes! Who knew?) and my personal favorite.....
Churros!
Vegetable oil
4 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 1/4 cups Original Bisquick® mix(<--How awesome is this??)
1 cup hot water
In 3-quart saucepan, heat oil (2 to 3 inches) over medium-high heat until thermometer inserted in oil reads 375°F.
In small bowl, mix 3 tablespoons of the sugar and the cinnamon; set aside. In medium bowl, stir Bisquick mix, hot water and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar with spatula until dough forms.
Spoon dough into pastry bag fitted with 1/4-inch star tip. Pipe 5-inch strips of dough into hot oil. If necessary, cut dough with knife or scissors between each churro. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, turning frequently, until golden brown. Carefully remove from oil; drain on paper towels.
Immediately sprinkle churros generously with sugar-cinnamon mixture. Serve warm.
Special Touch: For a chocolate-covered delight, dip one end of each cooled churro into melted chocolate candy coating, and place on waxed paper until set. (recipe courtesy of Betty Crocker Kitchens.)
Marta's Special Touch: Personally, I think I'll try injecting them with melted dulce de guayaba. Genius, right?
They are quick. They are easy. They are tasty. (Win!)
So they filmed us and made us look like kitchen pros. Notice how they added cool cooking-show music and the aren't-we-all-that mini-interviews about how easy and fun it was to make these recipes. (<--both completely true.)
But, boy howdy! I couldn't get over just how round my face was on camera! The phrase "cara de papa" (potato face) kept going through my head. They say the camera adds ten pounds to you, but honestly, I think I added those on my very own, thankyouverymuch. So, I came to the cataclysmic decision that there would be NO cooking show in my future. *sigh* (Not that there was really any danger of there being one, but still...)
So now I'm a little depressed, but I know what will cheer me.....
How about a giveaway? (Yes, Marta, that will make us all feel better about the roundness of your face. =D)
I have a beautiful & fabulous RED (!) Betty Crocker Tote Bag with a Dessert Decorator device to give away. There's a Bisquick spatula and some Shake & Pour Bisquick in there, too (I swear it's in there, I just didn't get a picture of it. Don't judge me - I'm a little depressed.)
To be entered in the drawing, just answer one or all of these questions in the comment section of this post:
Do you use Bisquick? If so, what do you make with it?
What would you stuff your churros with?
What should be the name of my cooking show, if I did have one? (I can still dream, can't I?) ;-)
I'll choose a winner on Monday, September 6th at 11:00 AM Pacific Time. (I also have more Betty Crocker giveaways for next week, but that's not important right now. =D)
[Disclosure: General Mills paid for my entire trip and treated us like royalty. Even if they hadn't, I would still gush about the fabulous treatment and I am still a huge Betty Crocker fan. Thanks to Matt Holland Photography for making me look cute in spite of my "cara de papa."]
Thanks to all of you lovely commentorscommentators folks who left a comment for the Que Rica Vida goodies. I truly like knowing what General Mills products you use. (I'm genuinely curious about these kinds of things...or maybe stalkery? But that's not important right now. =D)
As usual, I entered the names into a list on Random.org and it gave me a winner.
So, congratulations to:
jackie said...
Cheerios! I have a toddler! :)
*****************************************
Jackie, please send me an email with the headline: HEY, MARTA! I WON STUFF ON YOUR BLOG. (So I don't accidentally delete it.) Include your snail mail address so I can get the package of cool Que Rica Vida stuff out to you ASAP.
By the way, I totally get the whole toddler-love-affair-with-Cheerios-thing. With four kids, I made sure I had Cheerios with me at all times. Seriously, I was always armed and ready with my Cheerios ziplock. ;-)
In fact, someone I know was all uber-excited to have won this Cheerios tshirt, because she had such happy childhood Cheerios memories. In fact, we had to very purposefully hunt down the Cheerios Bee for this photo op...
As a mom, I seriously loved this moment. (I know. Shut up.)
I was visiting family and meeting blog-friends and working the Babalú booth at Cuba Nostalgia and of course, celebrating my birthday. (If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you would know exactly what I was up to moment by moment.) But the real reason I was able to go, was because of the generosity of General Mills.
I was invited, as part of a group of 34 Latina mami-bloggers and tons of newspaper and magazine folks (ie. real journalists) to celebrate the re-launch of their Que Rica Vida site and this was a promotional junket.
It was a press event like no other, (at least none that I've ever attended. Maybe they're all like this and I just don't know it, because this was my first big one, but that's not important right now) and General Mills along with Hispania Public Relations pulled out all the stops for this two-day party.
There was an amazing all-female mariachi band, Damas de Jalisco, which were delightful to listen to. (Female mariachis....who knew?)
They were just so impressive and had that gorgeously rich mariachi sound.
They wined us and dined us and showered us with some SWEET gifts (Yeah, Flip Video Camera!)
The Que Rica Vida people treated us to a fabulous dinner the first night at the Rusty Pelican on Key Biscayne (along with lots of mojitos).
Two Cuban blogging girls + a dozen Mexican mariachi girls = A Really Good Time. ;-)
The next night was the Que Rica Vida launch party which was crazy and fun with guest appearances from some of Univision’s top personalities like Javier
Romero, and of course, the gorgeous Karla Martinez and the impossibly cute Adamari López.
The launch was classy and fun and interactive. I loved the cooking demonstration with all the Univision personalities (read "supermodels).
And I loved their logo. Everything was decorated in these gorgeous, glowing oranges and browns (I was tempted to steal this pillow, but that's not important right now, either.)
We got to meet and greet some other familiar characters.
And Amy Kikita (dressed here as Miami Barbie) got to poke the Pillsbury Dough Boy (if you're her Facebook friend, you know she takes her poking very seriously.)
But the highlight, by far, of all of this crazy and interactive fun was meeting up with the other invited "Blogeras." (<--is that a word?)
We (Carrie and I) were interviewed by Manny Ruiz of Hispanic PR Blog and a Papi Blogger in his own right. We gave him lots of Tiki Tiki, of course. ;-)
I am proud and privileged to be counted as part of this amazing group of Latina Blogeras. (<--Seriously, is that a word? Because if it isn't, it really should be...) I am in the process of collecting their names and sites to add to my blog roll.
So a great big Thank You to General Mills for inviting us to be a part of the Que Rica Vida event.
I'm delighted I got to go. But honestly, I'm glad to be home.
It just so turns out that Bisquick is a GM product. Who knew? ;-)
I've got some stuff to give away, too:
An extra Que Rica Vida mug
A cool tote bag and
A Betty Crocker cookbook that YOU WANT.
Let's do a comment drawing!
Tell me about any General Mills products you regularly use. Like, Green Giant, Bisquick, Cheerios, or maybe Haagen Dasz ice cream? (I'm partial to the Dulce de Leche one...) Leave your comment on this post only.
I'll choose a winner on Friday morning, June 4th, 2010 at 10:00 am.
On May 20th, 1902, a small island in the Caribbean known as Cubadeclared her independence from Spain. La Republica de Cuba was
officially born on the 20th of May. In fact, for years as I was growing up, I thought the celebrations were
all about ME, but that's not important right now. (I know. It explains
so much...)
20 de Mayo, is Cuba's Independence Day.
21 de Mayo is my birthday. =D
Cuba Nostalgia is scheduled every year around the 20th of May.
My Master Plan each year (when we can swing it) is to somehow get myself to Miami in May in time to celebrate Cuba's independence and my birthday.
This year I will be doing just that.
It turns out that the generous folks at General Mills happen to be launching a new website called Que Rica Vida and have invited a group of Latina bloggers to be a part of their launch. Yes, that includes me and Amy Kikita and our good friend (and partner in blog-crime), Carrie from TikiTiki Blog.
Here's the information about the event:
Thursday, May 20th. 6pm to 9pm
Hyatt Regency Downtown
400 S.E. 2nd Ave.
Miami, Florida
contact: Bibi@hispaniapublicrelations.com or (305) 439-9489 if you'd like to attend.
But, of course, because we're cool this way...we'll be in Miami through that entire weekend. (My Master Plan is unfolding quite nicely, don't you agree? Buahahaha! *rubs hands together*)
I'll be celebrating Cuban independence and my birthday. (Genius, right?) And even though we will be attending Cuba Nostalgia and hope to see some of you there, I was wondering if any of you Miami readers would like to meet us in a more intimate venue for some cafécito and a pastelito de guayaba (and of course, the ritual singing of Japi Bersdai!) somewhere in La Saguesera. Versailles maybe?
Please let us know. We'd love to have some face-to-face chisme time with you. Leave a comment if you're interested.
Muchos besos to you all.
Brace yourself, South Florida or as my mom would say...
"A viaje que viene agua!"
My Big Fat Cuban Family: A Cuban-American Blog
My Big Fat Cuban Family is all about my Cuban American life. Enjoy my ramblings on my blog about my Cuban family, Cuban heritage, Cuban culture, Cuban life. And some decent Cuban recipes with pictures, too.
