MEYER LEMON ECLAIRS —AND THE FORT WAYNE ZOO
I owe this recipe, Meyer lemon eclairs, to Jose Andres’ book “Vegetables Unleashed”. Yes, you heard right! This delicious dessert is categorized by the chef as a vegetable, so I’ll go with it! As they say, always eat your vegetables —during or, in this case, after your main meal!


My eclairs are smaller than chef Jose’s, because these days I try to have just small bites of sweets (I know many of you can relate). So my recipe is slightly modified accordingly.
Like Jose says in his book, I, too, had never heard of Meyer lemons before, and they were quite (more…)

It is the Easter season, and my favorite treat is torrijas! They can be enjoyed at any time of year, but In Spain they are traditionally eaten during Holy Week and Easter.

The weather has been incredibly cold and snowy this winter across much of the United States (even in Florida!). And it’s not over yet! February just ended, so there could be even some more snow and cold temperatures in store for us. In these weather conditions, there are some foods that I crave: soups, stews, and rich, filling vegetables, like this braised greens beans in smoky tomato sauce that is so idiosyncratically Spanish, it almost transports me there.

Come Thanksgiving, and everything is a whirlwind of events, celebrations and parties. The fact that my birthday is in early December adds to it. Not to mention the yearly tradition of attending the Handel’s Messiah concert by the 

If November 2024 started with a trip to London and Edinburgh, November 2025 hasn’t lagged behind in excitement, with a trip to beautiful Maui, in the Hawaii archipelago. A perfect excuse to accompany this post with a celebratory dish, beef shank with wine and pimentón sauce.
But don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying beef shank with wine and pimentón sauce should only be made for a special occasion. It’s just that it’s one of those dishes that looks beautiful on your plate and at the same time, feels comforting — the kind of dish your children coming home for the holidays are craving and will appreciate.
While searching on my blog, I realized that I don’t have any post about the most important festival in Onteniente, my hometown, las Fiestas de Moros y Cristianos, the Moors and Christians Festival! Many recipes can be related to this post, so it was hard to choose, but I decided on coca de calabaza, pumpkin coca, a sweet torta popular in my region,
Coca de calabaza is a pretty simple coca, it includes only a few ingredients. It is eaten by itself, like a morning snack or an afternoon merienda, but I also like to eat it as a light lunch —never mind the sugar in it, the pumpkin
If you’ve been following Mama Ía blog for a while you know (and have heard me say more than once) that the recipes I post are quite simple. Spanish cuisine is not complicated and it doesn’t use a ton of ingredients, relying more on excellent ones cooked without many adornments.
Today’s recipe, Alcoy meat cakes, while not hard to make, is a bit more elaborate, so I have to warn you. It also requires the dough to sit in the fridge overnight, so it’s a recipe that you need
The month of May seems to always be full of events. For Catholics, it is the month of Mary and first communions; in Indiana, it is the month of the Indy 500; for many, it is the month of weddings. And here in the United States, it is also the month of graduations, both college, university and high school. After a number of years celebrating graduations, we are not having any at our house this May.
On this Holy Week, a very appropriate dish, coca de pimiento, atún y tomate, bell pepper, tuna and tomato torta, a dish that is so idiosyncratic of my hometown that I am surprised I haven’t posted the recipe before.

Oranges and almonds for a celebratory post: Mama Ía is 10 years old!
