May 7
I think I’ve put off writing my catching-up post because well…I’m no where near caught up. Several ongoing projects came to a boil all l at once and I’m still waiting for things to settle down again. Now that I realize it might never happen, I decided to take a break and go fishing (through my links)…
Apr 1
I think the early spring thaw has gone straight to my head. For weeks now I’ve had Astrud Gilberto’s Tristeza (Goodbye Sadness) playing on a loop. Suddenly, everything seems so easy – seeing friends, making plans, getting around the city. Even though winter has snapped back just a little, no one can take away the feeling that only light layer, ballet flat days are ahead of us. But before I can get to the chicks and bunnies, I need to catch up on March. Read more
Since this is my first real catching up post this year, I had to find the right image to illustrate the month. It’s been such a mild winter that February didn’t really look like February, so I thought of valentines instead. My absolute favorite came in the form of Fernando Trueba’s Chico & Rita, set largely in 1940’s Havana, Paris and New York and scored by Bebo Valdes. Lovely from the first note, I can only say that the film is una joyita. Though it inexplicably lost the Academy Award to a movie about a lizard (full disclosure I’m both biased and haven’t actually seen Rango), there were some inspiring wins at this year’s Oscars like Christopher Plummer for Beginners and Octavia Spencer for The Help. On her fantastic new blog The Peacock Chronicles, my sister Carmen used a recent experience filming a commercial to write up her own take on the Help controversy in To Maid, Or Not To Maid. Read more
Jan 31
I know these round-up posts should come just before or just after the New Year, but I wouldn’t feel like I’d given 2011 it’s due if I didn’t round up some of my favorite posts last year. Filled with ups, downs and in betweens, I was in great company Vista and iVillage, visited a new Food Republic, and had a regular place to visit on Devour: the Blog. I can see now that it was actually very sweet year. Here are a few more reasons why in case you missed them… Read more
Dec 5
If you’ve followed me the last couple of weeks than you probably understand why its taken me till December to catch up to November. Together with the Thanksgiving/Christmas onslaught and some remodeling I’ve been doing on my site, I’m starting to feel like a snow-globe post-shake, unsure of how it’s all going to settle. Now that I’ve moved my site into a new space, I look forward to decorating, so there will be more changes to come. Sadly because I miss it, I haven’t spent too much time in the kitchen recently. Jamaica was so inspiring that I’ve taken a few posts (with one more to go) to unpack it all. After one incredible trip to the Caribbean, I was back in NYC just a day then up in the air again and on my way to the Dominican Republic – so there will be a few more travel posts to follow. Read more
I usually use my catching-up posts to link to things I’ve read, but this October I thought I’d focus on what I’ve seen…Now that the vampire craze has given way to zombies, I hope the mad scientist is the next ones due for his close-up. I’ve never been a fan of Hollywood horror, but I started out the month with the new Almodóvar, The Skin I Live In, and loved it. It always feels so right when his latest arrives in fall – an over-saturated season to perfectly mirrors his over-saturated films. Set somewhere between Frankenstein and Hitchcock with the voice of Concha Buika (above) piping through, if you don’t think you could live there, then you haven’t seen the house. Read more
I took this picture at this year’s DUMBO Arts Festivalof Gabriel Barcia-Colombo’s For Those Who Wait installation that pretty much captures my state of mind. Given that my monthly catching up posts typically run late, I probably should have picked a different name. I rarely catch-up, but with the clocks temporarily stopped, I’ll keep trying. Read more
Aug 31
Charged with closing out the summer season, August is a month made up almost entirely of Sunday nights. Starting with a protracted political debate and market free fall then ending with an earthquake/hurricane double punch, August never seems to play fair. Yet when I looked through my accumulated links and clips, I was surprised by how happy I’ve been the last few weeks – taking advantage of the markets, going the long way around to the city, catching up with friends, cooling off in refrigerated movie theaters. Maybe it was the goodbye atmosphere but there was something to fall in love with around every corner. Here are a just a few, starting with… Read more
During the summer, it’s easy to drift into your own world enjoying long days and longer weekends, but there was an intensity to this July that didn’t allow for easy disconnect. There was tragic and terrifying news , too soon goodbyes, and on a personal note – friends facing unthinkable and unexpected challenges. On the other extreme, I got to spend last Sunday at City Hall with two other friends who’d just won the literal lottery, allowing them to make it official after 27 years on the first day that it was legal to do so in New York City. Swinging between high anxiety, deep sympathy, and pure excitement, I couldn’t say the news has been all good or all bad but the past few weeks, I’ve been constantly reminded just how fragile it all is, or maybe it was the heat making everything tremble. Read more
This May, I took this picture at the Festival of Ideas for the New City along the Bowery. The season was just getting started and its been forward motion since then. With both spring and the summer solstice behind us, it seems like a good midway point to get a clear 360° view, looking backwards and forward at the same time. Belongings, an amazing New York times piece by Sam Dolnick did just that when they asked a group of immigrants to describe a single object they brought with them into their new life and what it means to them now, appropriate as we head into 4th of July weekend. For a much more tongue in cheek but no less interesting take on the immigrant experience, there’s Chingo Bling’s talking tamales. Read more
Finalist for the 2015 James Beard Foundation Award in the International Cookbook Category for The Cuban Table
hungry sofia 
