My Big Fat Cuban Family

Cuba Nostalgia - Tell them, "Marta sent me!"

2013-05-17T16:08:10-07:00

I didn't get to go to Miami for Cuba Nostalgia this year. And I'm feeling a little sorry for myself.

It's the 15th anniversary of Cuba Nostalgia and the brilliant Tony Mendoza did the poster for the event which I'm totally in love with.

Get it? 15 years. The Quinceañera. Genius.

I already put out the word to my people on the ground in Miami (I'm looking at you, Amanda from Brandon's Puppy) that I must have this poster, but that's not important right now.

I have lots of friends who will be at the Fair Expo Center in Miami this weekend.

Of course, Babalú Blog will represent. It's their 10th Anniversary in the Blogosphere telling the truth about Cuba. Congratulations, guys! So proud to be a part of the Babalú Family.

I lamented my inability to be present to my friends at Santayana Jewelers, who always have a wonderful presence there.

They're running a Cuba Nostalgia Special this weekend:

If you buy 4 of the Cuban Charms for your Habana Collection Bead Charm Bracelet, they'll throw in a 5th charm for free. Awesome, right?

1) I don't have to tell you this, but if you're Cuban or love all things Cuban, you must have a Cuban Charm bracelet. (Duh.)

2) If you already have the bracelet, you will want as many Cuban charms as you can fit on it, right?

Wait! It gets better...

3) If you're a MBFCF (which, obviously, you are if you're reading this now...)

"The first 5 people to come over and say Marta Sent Me get a free "cafecito"charm."

What are you waiting for, people? Go! Get yourselves over to the Santayana Jewelers booth at Cuba Nostalgia this weekend and say, Marta Sent Me! (I'll expect a full report from the lucky 5.)

Also, have a guarapo for me.

Thanks, Santayana! You are the maximum!

Ahora Si!

2013-05-13T10:56:44-07:00

*The title of this post, "Ahora si." translates literally to "Now yes!" It's an idiom we Cubans like to use when something is REALLY happening. As in "this is really going down right now." It's also the title of a song sung by Andy Garcia and the Cineson All Stars, but that's not important right now.....or maybe it is?

At the beginning of this year, I declared that my goal for 2013 was to finally meet Andy Garcia. It's been a fantasy of mine to meet him and of course, impress him with my wit and versatility. I have a friend that says you just have to make declarations like that and "put it out there for the Universe." And so, I did. Here's what happened next...

May is my Birthday Month. That is, my birthday lands somewhere around the 3rd week of May, but I try to milk the celebration for as long as I can. And that's usually the entire month. (Don't judge me.)

My family is used to this and so when May rolls around they start thinking in terms of what-to-do-for-mom-for-her-birthday. Which is how I found myself dressed up with high heels and makeup at the Catalina Jazz Club in L.A. on Saturday, May 4th at a concert by Andy Garcia and the Cineson All Stars. This was my birthday gift from my daughter, Amy Kikita.

We had seen Andy before and loved his show so I knew what to expect and was looking forward to the evening. Talk about a versatile artist! See this post.

The Cineson All Stars are a collection of some of the finest Cuban musical artists ever assembled. Andy is the quintessential Cuban music historian and between songs told of the origin of each of the compositions, including how that style of music came to be played in our native Cuba. It was educational and edifying and made the music just that much more vibrant.

"Ahora si!" is also the title of a song composed by the legendary Cachao and dedicated to Andy Garcia in celebration of his youngest child, a son, Andres, after he already had 3 daughters. The lyric goes:

"Si! Si! Si! Ahora, si! Barón!" (Get it? The "Barón," or boy, after the first 3? It's kind of genius, really.) Please click on this link and listen to track #7 so you get a feel for the awesome Afro-Cuban-mamboness of it all. Better yet, go download the song and add it to your iTunes playlist. You're welcome.

Much to our everlasting delight, Andy Garcia and the Cineson All Stars played for over 3 hours that night without a break. Which meant that we were wiggling and dancing in our seats for some of the time, but finally we could not contain ourselves any longer and it was the "Ahora Si!" song that brought down the house.

An aside: there was a familiar-looking,skinny blonde who got up to dance right next to our table and ended up bumping butts with Amy. It turned out to be the actress, Sharon Stone getting her Cuban on. Of course, Amy is a much, much better dancer. She can't help it. It's in her blood.

We were there with a handful of good friends who appreciate this type of music and we all sang along, and danced all night and took crappy pictures with our smart phones and generally had a fantastic time. And we hung in there way past midnight until the last note had been played.

"Let's go meet him. Tonight's the night." That was my daughter. If you've been following this blog for the past 6 1/2 years, you know that I have an entire Blog Category dedicated to Andy Garcia (find it over in the right nav) and am a serious fan.

Ok. I was ready. Well, sort of....

If I was fantasizing about the conditions under which I would finally get to meet Andy Garcia, my hair and makeup would be flawless and I would NOT be breathless and sweaty. But then, when you put these things out to the Universe, you really don't have much control over how they will go down, do you?

Also, wit and versatility? Gone. Completely blown out by sweat, exhaustion and holy-cow-I'm-finally-meeting-Andy-Garcia-and-my-hair-is-sticking-out-Medusa-style. But I did get to meet and greet.

And that was enough.

And he agreed to a photo op. A blurry, badly lit, over-exposed photo of me and Andy Garcia. Which I have already blown up and framed and hung above my desk and will treasure forever. (Happy Birthday Month to Me!)

Next time I put something out for the Universe, I'm going to insist on better mega-pixels.

Ahora si!

La Llave Coffee Basket - A Winner

2013-05-06T11:25:38-07:00

Someone's Mami is in for a wonderful surprise.

Congratulations to the winner of the La Llave Cuban Coffee Basket for Mother's Day.

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Nery, please send me an email with HEY, MARTA! I WON SOMETHING ON YOUR BLOG in the subject line, so I don't accidentally delete it. Also, include your name and mailing address so I can forward to Gaviña Gourmet Coffee so that they can ship that beautiful coffee basket out to you ASAP.

Thanks to all of you who participated in this giveaway and for sharing your love of Cuban coffee. It never gets old, does it?

A very special thank you to my friends at Gaviña Coffee for their generosity. Also, go "like" La Llave on Facebook (if you don't already). They are always having promotions for some seriously delicious Cuban coffee goodness.

In case you don't know the secret to making Cuban Coffee with KILLER Espuma, here's my daughter, Amy Kikita to show you how.

Mami Loves Cuban Coffee - A Giveaway

2013-05-02T10:45:34-07:00

Mother's Day is next week, people.

It always comes on the 2nd weekend in May. And yet, I'm always surprised that it comes so soon after the month starts. What's that about?

Anyway, because I love you, and I know that you love Cuban coffee as much as I do, I have fabulous news:

My good friends at Gaviña & Sons Coffee have offered to sponsor a La Llave Cuban Coffee Basket for a Mother's Day Giveaway. The beauty of this is that the Gaviña family is Cuban and they know espresso.

The La Llave Cuban Coffee Basket for Mother's Day consists of the following:

2- 10oz. Cafe La Llave espresso bricks
1- 8.8oz. Cafe La Llave decaf. espresso brick
4- 1.75oz. Cafe La Llave espresso samples
4- "tacitas" demitasse cups and saucers

It's a beautiful thing, right?

1) To enter this drawing for this beautiful Cafe La Llave Cuban Coffee Basket, please leave a comment on this post and answer one or both of the following questions:

How do you like your espresso? Straight up? With espumita? Cortadito?
How many times a day do you drink it?

Please leave your comment on this post and I'll choose a winner on Monday, 6thth, 2013 at 11am PST.

2) For an extra entry, please go "like" Cafe La Llave on Facebook and come back and leave me another comment telling me:

"I like Cafe La Llave!"

So that's not one, but two entries apiece. You're welcome. Mami will love it. I promise. Also, please let them know that Marta from My Big, Fat, Cuban Family sent you. (I don't get extra points for that or anything. I just want them to know you are reading about it here, but that's not important right now.)

{Disclaimer: Gaviña Gourmet Coffee has graciously provided this Cafe La Llave Gift Basket as a giveaway. I have received no compensation for this. I just truly love them.}

Picket Fences, Roses and Contentment

2013-04-29T05:33:00-07:00

When we moved into our home twelve years ago, it was the Eyesore of the Neighborhood. Many of our new neighbors told us so. They didn't even blush when they said it.

"Oh, you're the new family that moved into the Eyesore of the Neighborhood." (Okay, so maybe that wasn't a direct quote, but you get the idea.)

The house had been a rental and for a quick sell they slapped a coat of paint on it and put in some turf. There was not a thing to be seen growing in the front yard except that slab of green sod.

In spite of the size of the house ("freakishly small"), it had four bedrooms that we desperately needed and the price was right. We would have to work with the Slab O'Sod front yard.

Eric painstakingly cut, painted and installed a real white picket fence. We took our time choosing and planting our roses. We were so grown up now. We had roses that had REAL names. For sure that was a sign that we had "arrived."

When spring comes to our freakishly small home the roses practically sing with color and fragrance. I walk up and down the fence line, deadheading, trimming, smelling, and admiring. And I photograph them. Every. Single. Day. No, seriously. Because every day they seem to get much more beautiful than the day before.

Look at the red climber that shoots up 15 feet and is so thick you can't even see our roofline. It's called Stairway to Heaven and has its own story. (<--If you look back at this old post, you can actually compare how much its grown since then, but that' s not important right now.)

The Disneyland roses start off a beautiful orange color. Orange roses? I know! Slowly, they open up to reveal a fantastic blend of orange and pink. I can't get over them.

I have classic red roses, too. Classic-drop-dead-gorgeous-Cuban-woman-lipstick-and-nail-polish RED.

I kind of wander around my garden like a loon. At this time of the year, even the corners around the yard that I've practically ignored are springing back to life with so much color and beauty that it takes my breath away.

When I say, "practically ignored," I mean "put down in this spot and forgot about it." I picked up this purple, climbing geranium a few years ago to train up on the fence but never got around to the actual planting. (Shut up.) And yet, it continues to reward me. As if to remind me that just showing up is sometimes enough.

So I stroll around the front yard of my freakishly small cottage-like home and I sigh contentedly.

It feels to me like I'm cooperating with God as I look around and feel His presence as I remember the words in Genesis:

"The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good." ~Genesis 1:12

As my land continues to produce, I look around and with a sigh of contentment, think to myself, "This is good."

This is REALLY good.