Breakfast tacos and Salsa!

I have started making breakfast tacos again to sell.  I just sold 25 this morning and threw in a jar of my home-made salsa with the order.  My friend told me that everyone loved both the tacos and the salsa.  She also told me that they were asking her for my business card.  I just recently had some printed.  I didn't think of sending a business card this morning.  I won't make that mistake again!

Paella

Paella

Paella

Achiote oil

My beautiful bottle of achiote oil!

This is my salsa on the stovetop.  First time making such a big batch at once!

Cinco de Mayo booth

Cinco de Mayo booth from this Saturday.  This is where I sold Paella, jars of salsa and fried plantains!  It was a lot of hard work, but loved every minute of it!  I will have a booth every year at the Cinco de Mayo festival.  It was something different for the crowd to try.  I don't think that anyone has ever sold paella or fried plantains out there yet.  So, it was a pleasure to introduce something different to people.  I'm just glad that they were receptive to it!  I also sold jars of my own salsa. I sold all 12 jars that I made.  Some people were even asking for it after it sold out! 

Small Paella I cooked for my family last night.

Plantains

20 lbs of plantains, soon to be fried until golden and eaten with my homemade salsa!!

Preparing for Cinco de Mayo festival on Saturday!

The Spanish rice I will be using to make the Paella.

This is my logo for my new catering business.  My good friend Christina Trujillo designed it for me.  She did a fabulous job!  I feel that the title pretty much sums up my style of cooking.   May 1st, with the help of my family, I will have my first food booth at the Cinco de Mayo festival.  I will be making Paella, homemade salsa and fried plantains.  I cannot wait till this weekend!!

Paella test run on stovetop. Checking to see if pan is seasoned o.k. Just used what I had in the pantry. Deer sausage and black beans.
Mandy

Potato, Mexican chorizo & egg breakfast taco.

Green chile stew made with New Mexico green chiles, chicken breast & potatoes.
Mandy

Fideo &  chicken

Mexican or Spanish tortilla? Do you know the difference?

Tommorow I plan on making each to show you!  Till then...

Mexican chorizo & eggs
Mandy

Breakfast burritos

I started making these breakfast burritos to sell a couple of months ago.  They were a huge success, with the help of my family!  I make them with potatoes and eggs or potatoes and eggs with refried beans.  I sold them for $2.00 each. 

Breakfast burrito

Breakfast potatoes & eggs

Mexican queso fresco drizzled with olive oil & black pepper

• Hello! I hope you love Latin food as much as I do. If you don't maybe I can change your mind a little. All of the dishes that are on my blog are prepared in my kitchen by me. Sometimes I know what I'm going to cook, but that's not often. I'll cook a dish because maybe I saw it on t.v. and wanted to make my own version of it. Sometimes, I just love a challenge. I will cook different things everyday and post them as I make them.

Black bean tostadas

Pork spareribs with rice & beans, queso fresco and avocado

Rice & beans w/pork spareribs for dinner tonight.

Sofrito going! Hmm wonder what it will make tonight?!

Appetizer & Wine Night!

Nachos made with freshly fried chips,picadillo with Swiss & Cheddar cheese
Mandy

Jibarito with picadillo

This mini sandwich is made with fried plaintains called tostones as the bread and filled with picadillo. Picadillo is a hash mixture. This hash has been made with my own salsa.

Learning from the Past

I can say that my most memorable food experiences took place in my backyard. My dad raised animals strictly for comsumption. I've seen him slaughter and dress out chickens,rabbits, goats and a pig. It was bizarre to witness these events as a young child. However, those experiences opened a whole new, beautiful world to me. Can you imagine as a child to witness such an event? The very same food on my dinner plate was alive just hours before!
As an adult I now see the beauty in the simplicity. For my ancestors it was a means of survival. But to me now, it is living well.

To most people cooking is a chore, but not for me. I truly enjoy every aspect of cooking. It's nothing to me, to go to three or four different stores around town to buy the freshest produce or the best meat. I want to ensure that what I buy is used for it's intended purpose.
When you truly enjoy and love what you do failure is impossible. It's the basic principle "You get what you put into it!" So everyday to me is a wonderful culinary adventure. I pop in a cd and just have a party in my brightly painted kitchen while I cook. Through my food I feel I can express myself as an artist.

I like to say that food is the common denominator for everybody. Food has the ability to unify everybody, no matter your background or race. There are so many lessons to be learned from food, if you just pay attention. If you want to learn about any country, start with how and what they eat. I have learned so much about my own cultural background from food and it just seems to snowball from there.
History and food just seem to go hand and hand.