Dec 10
Decembers are a blur whether or not it’s snowing. With no plans to host, I’ve decided to spend the holiday party season as a kind of foreign exchange student. I’m just showing up when asked and however they’re celebrating, I’ll just go with it. Last Christmas was my family’s turn to have Noche Buena dinner and before that I had a party for friends before everyone went their separate ways, so it’s just not my year. Read more
Dec 1
I was excited to read about the opening of a store in Soho dedicated to the sale and promotion of Chilean gourmet food products and wines. I’m always searching for new ingredients and it’s good to have a new focus for my obsession. Puro Chile, a Hitchcock-sleek light box store on the corner of Center and Grand, is definitely obsession worthy. What’s most surprising is how warm the space becomes the moment you step inside. The staff is genuinely enthusiastic and the sparse room is dominated by a large tasting table at the center. Though they’re inventory is still growing, the shelves are lined with avocado oils and wine vinegars Read more
I’ve always loved the day before Thanksgiving. Even as my crepe paper pilgrim hat was melting in Miami’s November heat (started out as a Pilgrim lady ended up as the Wicked Witch) in school or a last minute deadline turned my half day into overtime as an adult, I could buzz along on anticipation alone, excited for the days ahead. For a few years I’ve had my own pre-Thansgiving rituals – early day (a day off with a dash of reprieve), quick stop by the Union Square greenmarket for northern spy apples (they go top secret on me when I need them for pie), and an early afternoon movie, ideally the newest Pedro Almódovar which seems to arrive just in time.
Nov 20
Though it’s typically full, it’s rare to see a line outside of Versailles restaurant in Miami. It’s only on the rare cold night that it actually reaches capacity, especially when there’s a run on churros. Any day that dips below 65 becomes an impromptu holiday in a summer town, a Miami snow day of sprinkled sugar and fried dough. The lines form and the usual late night orders for medianoches and mariquitas become churros and hot chocolate.
I think it’s the special occasion quality I associate with churros that keeps me from buying them in New York (though I’d never pass them up in Madrid – I’m not crazy). Yesterday, deciding I needed a little Christmas now, I brought out the churrera, that my mother who hates to cook but loves kitchen gadgets sent, and my Read more
Nov 8
The first time I went to Kiosk to see their Florida collection I was apprehensive. A curated collection of objects brought back from their travels, I worried that, taken out of context and back lit in their Soho space, the cans of Materva and La Cubanita guava bricks would be all hipster irony and no heart. When I finally went, I loved it and was excited to hear they were hitting Portugal next. I’d only been there once in college but it’s still my favorite vacation of all time. For three days we drove along the southern coast only stopping to eat, swim and sleep. Like previous exhibits, Portugal. What a Beautiful Place! is small collection of shelves set up with light box view of a trip you wish you’d been on. With Avril au Portugal still floating through my mind, I wasn’t expecting to find so many practical why-have-I-not seen-this-before items. Here are a few pictures of my trip to their trip: Read more
Nov 1
I first came across pan de muerto, or “bread of the dead” in the long stretch of Mexican bakeries and stores in Sunset Park. Placed on family altars for el Día de los Muertos (November 1 & 2) as an offering to their deceased loved ones, I asked everyone I knew how they’d celebrated in Mexico and whether they continued to do so in the States. Read more
Oct 26
During my last Sunset Park crawl, I couldn’t resist buying some of the Mexican chorizo that’s sold in all the grocery stores and bodegas. Mixed into omelettes or covered in cheese, all the recipes I found for using it were pretty heavy. That’s when I came across this version using chayotes in Marilyn Tausend’s Cocina de la Familia, a collection of recipes she collected while traveling through the United States and Mexico. This one come from Miami by way of Mexico City. Light, fresh and slightly sweet, the chayotes were the perfect balance for the heavily spiced chorizo. Originally from Mexico but popular throughout Latin America, Tausend compares chayotes to the ideal 19th century woman, “somewhat exotic, always modest, very versatile, and capable of assuming any role necessary.” I didn’t know I was looking for a Victorian solution but I found one. Read more
With this week’s release of Florence Fabricant’s Park Avenue Potluck Celebrations: Entertaining at Home with New York’s Savviest Hostesses, The Naptime Chef is hosting a virtual potluck dinner featuring a slate of great food blogs. With proceeds to benefit The Society of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, this new release feeds more than your cookbook addiction. I recently spent time with a friend whose son was being treated at Memorial Sloan-Kettering and was awed by the love and care the nurses and doctors showed, not only their patients, but their parents and siblings, during countless hours of treatment. It’s wonderful to find another way to support their work.
I watched the coverage of last week’s Fiesta Latina celebrated at the White House with sincere but vague interest. Though I was happy that it went well and proud as always for the recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month, multi-cultural events at the White House have become frequent enough that you don’t expect any real surprises. That was before I came across on of my favorite food writer, Maricel Presilla’s account in “Cooking at La Casa Blanca: Behind the Scenes with the Fiesta Latina Guest Chef” in the Miami Herald.com. Click here for the for complete article.
Oct 20
After last week’s break from posting, I was excited to get back in the kitchen. Fortunately, it was a giant kitchen at the French Culinary Institute for Pastryscoop.com’s Fall Conference this past Sunday where I volunteered for the day. I was assigned to a kitchen so I wasn’t able to see everything but demos that came to me were a great sample of the day. Here’s a brief overview for how it went: Read more
Finalist for the 2015 James Beard Foundation Award in the International Cookbook Category for The Cuban Table
hungry sofia 
