guava pastries — Cuban-American Lifestyle & Food Blog — My Big Fat Cuban Family: A Cuban-American Blog

I have amazing news! I'm proud and privileged to announce that I was invited to be on the planning committee for Cuban Heritage Day at Dodger Stadium this year! (I know. Shut up.)

Seriously, if I was going to add an item to my Bucket List, this would be it. Of course, I didn't know I would have added it until they actually asked me, but that's not important right now.

So our very first meeting was at Porto's Bakery. (If I was writing the script for the movie of my life and adding this chapter, I swear I couldn't have written it any better than this. Pinch me.)

And even though I was completely driven to distraction by the giant plate of pastelitos de guayaba (guava pastries) they placed in front of me, I think I was able to contribute something of value besides, "Can I please have another?"

I have a lovely Facebook friend/MBFCF reader, whose name is Ed. He was following my Hey-I'm-on-the-Cuban-Heritage-Day-at-Dodger-Stadium-Committee excitement on Facebook (if you're not following the relajo on My Big, Fat, Cuban Family Facebook page, you totally should) and he sent me and my family an amazing gift.

Shirts! Beautiful Dodger Blue Shirts! Not only that, they say, "Los Doyers." Also, he sent them for the entire family. I was overwhelmed. (Again, I couldn't have written this part of the book better myself.)

Amy Kikita and I put ours on immediately and Instagrammed the awesome. (If you're not following me on Instagram, you totally should. I'm Smrtqbn. That is all.)

How cute and happy do we look in our Los Doyers shirts? (Didn't I tell you they were awesome?)

Lucy and Jon decided they would rather do a "photo shoot." Of course.

"Look at my shirt!"

I don't know which makes me happier - being on the Cuban Heritage Day at Dodger Stadium this year, or having such a thoughtful and generous reader bless our family in this way. (I'm thinking it may be a tie.)

Also, having my kids be so excited and proud to represent makes my cup runneth over.

Eric got a shirt, too. But he was busy doing some work in the garden, so he missed the photo shoot. (Or did he?)

Thank you to the Dodgers ("Viva Los Doyers!") and the Cuban Heritage Day at Dodger Stadium Committee (if you're not following them on Facebook, you totally should) for including me in this awesome event.

Thank you to my friend, Ed for the beautiful and generous gifts.

Color me happy! (Of course, you realize that happy is now officially Dodger Blue, but that's not important right now.)

Sometimes I feel like I've said everything I need to say. And sometimes I feel like I have told my same stories a thousand times. Maybe it's because I start to tell a story and my kids stop me in mid-sentence with a resounding, "We know!"

I thought about retiring my blogging jersey (metaphorically speaking) and shut down My Big, Fat, Cuban Family. Seriously. I sometimes feel like I don't have a fresh thought in my poor, tired brain.

So, I was having guests for dinner a few weeks ago, and I woke up with my first thought being that I had a mile long to-do list, because, of course, I had procrastinated until the last minute and had to, not only cook, but clean and do all the company-is-coming preparations. (Don't judge.)

And I had promised my Homemade Pastelitos de Guayaba.(<--click on the link for the super simple recipe.)

At this point, I started doing some positive self-talk:

"You can do this."

"You've entertained hundreds of times. Don't panic!"

"Breathe."

"Keep calm."

For the record - 1) I don't always talk to myself. 2) Once I start to calm down, I tend to get distracted.

So, I'm looking at my to-do list and prioritizing what I need to do to meet my 6pm-here-come-my-dinner-guests-deadline and breathing deeply, when suddenly I had a Creative Brainstorm.

And I created this:

I even decided to make it into a poster to hang in my kitchen. So, I quickly hopped onto my computer and made a high resolution poster and ordered it online from Staples. (They're quick and will do these to my specifications, but that's not important right now.) I shared it all over my social media and it quickly went viral. (At least, I think over 40,000 views is close to viral...)