Bonus post this week! I happened to have a bowl full of pumpkin seeds, the remnants —or better, the byproduct— of last week’s jack-o-lantern making. Another great aspect of Halloween, and one of my favorites! Don’t get me wrong, I like the carving, it is a fun family activity. There’s lots of laughter, alongside (more…)
I have very good memories of my school. Which is interesting, because it contrasts with my sister Paula’s memories of the same school (I won’t elaborate, except to say that artists don’t fit easily in pre-made molds, and Paula was, and is, no exception!). Pureza de María was the name of the school, an all-girls school (more…)
When I set out to write this blog, my idea was to post the Spanish recipes I grew up with. Most of them are the traditional dishes cooked in the Valencian Community, or in Andalusia, the regions where my parents come from, and the dishes most made at my house. However, as I also mentioned (more…)
I find it interesting to see how this blog thing is working out. Take this week, for instance. I had a few ideas in my head as to what to make for this week’s post. I could choose from a number of recipes that included Fall vegetables —the beautiful pumpkins, or butternut squash, sweet potatoes, delicata or acorn squash. I hadn’t made up my mind yet, waiting to see what peaked my interest. (more…)
If you have been following my blog, by now you know that I like cooking. I like the process, and I like having my family enjoy a delicious meal. A home meal, cooked with love, from natural ingredients, can be very powerful. A family, around the dinner table.
Yet this daily, almost routine event (more…)
Making paella always wakes up my senses, every one of them. I’m sure it is because of all the sentiments it evokes, and the memories attached to the dish. Growing up in Spain, we used to have paella mostly on Sundays, when the after-meal time could linger for hours and well into the early evening. In the summer, the after-meal time (more…)
I didn’t think I’d be posting the recipe for paella valenciana, Valencian paella, this early in the life of Mama Ía blog. I don’t know, I thought I had to do a few more simple recipes first, ease into the paella, maybe get you acquainted with the blog, in particular with the section on paella and all the information there that I highly (more…)
This is a celebratory post, Matthew’s high school graduation, and as such, it calls for a celebratory (and party appropriate!) recipe: dried cherry and candied pecan cheese torta.
But let’s begin at the beginning.
It took me a few months to (more…)
There once was a field planted with orange trees, rows upon rows of orange trees, that soaked up the sun most every day of the year. One large round basin kept a watchful eye, collecting both well and rain water, and letting it go, flooding the fields where the orange trees lived. The trees grew blossoms that perfumed the air, that turned into oranges that hung from the trees, clusters of them, weighing the branches, until harvest, around Christmas time.
I find it hard to define gazpacho. In general, you’d see it classified as a cold soup —like what one usually eats with a spoon, served in a bowl or in a soup plate. Yet, that’s not how I remember my mom having gazpacho in the summers of my youth. And she should know, because (more…)
