Arroz con Pollo

This was never one of my favorite dishes, especially when Mami made it with whole pieces of chicken. Never liked dealing with the bones and skin. Eventually, she switched to lean pieces of chicken breast, almost shredded, and my love for Arroz con Pollo grew. Like most Cuban dishes, I get to enjoy this only when my mom cooks it. But I could make it myself, right?! Not usually... I'm not that ambitious, or that talented, in the kitchen. Yet some times, I even surprise myself. 

After returning from a trip to Miami, I find myself craving Cuban food more often. This happens after every trip. I try to be good and not gorge during the trip, but in reality, I want to eat pastries with guava, ham croquettes, and 'Moros' every day until the cravings wear off. 

Our last stop before coming home was a beautiful evening and morning visiting Charleston, SC. In Charleston, I bought a bag of over-priced yellow rice and a rice serving spoon. I believe one must buy some souvenir at every city, regardless of practicality or cost. Two weeks later, the spoon is still in the gift box, the rice unopened, but "yellow rice" consumed my mind and waiting taste buds. In a Cuban household, yellow rice is not really yellow, it's white rice, made yellow thru spices and can be made with an array of meats or vegetables.

This past Thursday, I made yellow rice, my version was pretty close to 'Arroz con Pollo', and came from a food website recipe and what I think my mother puts in her rice. Real Cubans would probably find all sorts of things wrong with my version, but quite frankly, I made it for me, and shared with my husband and good friends. Soon, I will try guava pastries...

Road trip with Nick

Well, it's almost summer and we've already been on the road and back. And this post is going to be about places I remember and new memories made.

 It 's absolutely my favorite thing to do... Get in the car and drive. Well, actually, Nick drives almost all the way there, and I spend most of the time playing games, dosing off, and reading a map - yes, I mean a real map! Although the GPS makes things rather brainless, nothing builds the excitement of what's around the corner better than a map. For us, the ultimate destination is often the same, but along the way, I try to make things interesting, and just a little different from last time.

May 2013 took us back to Florida. Miami, to be exact, by way of Tampa. We were out 13 days, my longest vacation in 16 years. Hesitant to even request so much time off together, I was pleased to see my boss just said ok, and have a good vacation!

We started out late as usual. Nick always says we're leaving at 4am, but I set the alarm for 5, and we leave at about 6. After a couple of weeks of working too many nights in a row, and making and checking list after list for work and home, and the trip, I finally get to relax on the road.

Our first stop was Nashville, TN. I had heard of a full size replica of the Parthenon. I expected it to be in Athens, GA, and we almost went out of our way to see it a couple of years ago, but it would have been a waste of time. Nashville's Parthenon is in a beautiful park, with mature trees, and old swings, and jogging paths. It houses the statues believed to have been in the original prior to pillaging and theft by  Barbaric tribes and not so barbaric Brits. Museums in Britain have a greater collection of Greek statues and pieces of architecture, than Greece - but that 's part of another story.

We missed seeing the inside, arriving about 15 minutes after closing, but now we'll have something for next trip. We've been to the real Parthenon, stole a little bag of the white rocky soil, and took countless pictures, trying to avoid even more countless tourists. That trip was full of wow! and ah! and OMG! yet somehow, maybe because our expectations were more reserved, this Parthenon's setting was more calming, and left more opportunity to reflect on what it would have been like, to be there amongst the gods, thousands of years ago...