Shortbread Sandwich Cookies with Lemon and Coffee filling—and the First Circumnavigation at the IFLTA Conference
Christmas is just around the corner, and nothing says Christmas more than Christmas cookies! This is at least the case in this part of the world where I live, where cookie exchange parties are common—and where shortbread sandwich cookies will be on our menu this year. Of course, they will share the dessert trays with chunks of turrón, polvorones in their silky wrappers, cute mazapanes, marzipan figurines, and the always present homemade nanaimo bar. Our three nationalities are always represented at our Christmas table.
Our exhibit table at IFLTA 2023 in Indianapolis
Thanksgiving weekend was the start of it all. After the yearly longed for and always warm gathering with our friends and family around the table, the long weekend allowed us to get started on the Christmas spirit. In a series of (more…)
Coca de llanda is one of the most popular after-school snacks in the region of Valencia homes, what we call “la merienda”.
La merienda —merendar— is that mid afternoon “tentenpié”, a bite to eat between lunch and dinner, sometimes sweet, sometimes savory, a simple but 
Valentine’s Day or, as it is called in Spain, el Día de los Enamorados or Día de San Valentín, is fast approaching, and as the feast demands, I like to make a beautiful dessert that will entice any sweet tooth. These lemon coconut mini tarts with passion fruit frosting spell love, even if they stray away from the customary red and pink.
Pears poached in red wine are one of the easiest desserts to make, and now that I mention it, maybe that’s why 
If you follow Mama Ía blog you may have noticed I’ve been away from this space for a while, but this post hopefully explains why. It’s a good reason, but to make up for my absence, I’ll treat you to a really sweet, beautiful recipe: blackberry tiramisu.
And I know, too, that this is not a Spanish dessert. But I was looking for a beautiful dessert, not only sweet and tasty but pleasing to the eyes, and this one checked all the boxes—and my current taste buds.
A layover of a few hours in Madrid can be very well invested, particularly if, as it happened to me, it was in April and not in June. News has it the wait time for passport control at Madrid airport this summer will not allow me to do this again. Or… it will have to be a shorter, but still sweet visit —just like the lemon tart with strawberry cream frosting (or more specifically, the mini tarts) that accompany this post: small and sweet.
I have been wanting to visit the 
I can’t help it, but every time I have toast with bitter orange marmalade, or Seville orange marmalade, as the jar may be labeled, I think of my dad.
For years, during middle school and high school, our dining room table at breakfast time would become not only the family table where everyone gathered to convene before going on our way to school or to work, but also 
When thinking of what special treat I’d make for Valentine’s Day I knew I had to find something with coffee. Dave has a sweet tooth AND he loves coffee. So mocha, the combination of chocolate and coffee, was a good option.
After a few years of very good intentions, finally 2022 sees the recipe for roscón de Reyes, Kings cake, on the blog. Not that I haven’t been making it! But I am not a great planner of the recipes that I will post on Mama Ía blog and the Christmas hustle and bustle always caught up with me.
Don’t we all crave the flavors of our childhood at Christmas time, the treats that bring us back to our younger selves, the sounds of the songs sung and the games played with siblings and cousins in crowded, noisy and happy homes? Okay, I’m describing my own memories, but I’m sure each of us has our own, those which bring a smile to our faces and make us long for those care and stress-free days. Marzipan pastries or panellets are a treat that brings me back to the Christmases of my childhood.
