Category Archives: Corazón
I invited Bob
I’m on the sofa watching TV with the family; Carlos has been changing the channels between a Manchester United game, bullfighting and a Jackie Chan movie translated to Spanish, (La Leyenda del Maestro Borrachón.) Somewhere in between all that I caught a Kentucky Fried Chicken commercial en español which was so hilarious that I had to drop in here and share it.
Kudos to the people who came up with this commercial – Me encanta!
Disclosure: This is not a sponsored or paid post and I do not necessarily endorse KFC – I just like this commercial.
En Transición
Today is Spanish Friday so this post is in Spanish. If you participated in Spanish Friday on your own blog, leave your link in comments. Scroll down for English translation!
Image source: Amir Kuckovic
¿Qué significa “transición”?
Según dictionary.com, “transición” se define como “movimiento, pasaje, o el cambio de una posición” – también, “el período de tiempo durante que algo cambia de un estado o etapa a otra.”
O sea, “transición” es una buenísima palabra por describir el estado en que me encuentro.
Todavia no sé exactamente cuales cambios busco, y cuales van a suceder, pero yo sé que necesito menos tiempo en frente de esta pantalla, menos tiempo sentada, menos tiempo gastado en cosas que no valen.
Yo sé que necesito mucho tiempo por pensar, escribir, mover, estar con mi familia, observando personas reales y las maravillas del mundo natural. Necesito comer comida sana, beber más agua, dormir más, leer los libros que están acumulando polvo iguál que mi.
Estas no son resoluciones del Año Nuevo, son necesidades – cosas que mi alma me estaba pidiendo hace mucho tiempo.
Un cambio que ya hice fue a la página “about” aquí en Latinaish.com. Espero que les guste.
[ENGLISH TRANSLATION]
What does “transition” mean?
According to dictionary.com, “transition” is defined as “movement, passage, or a change of position” – also, “the period of time during which something changes from one state or stage to another.”
In other words, “transition” is a very good word to describe the state in which I find myself.
I still do not know exactly what I’m looking to change, and what will happen, but I know I need less time in front of this screen, less time sitting, less time spent on things that are not worth it.
I know I need a lot of time to think, write, move, be with my family, watching real people and the wonders of the natural world. I need to eat healthy food, drink more water, sleep more, read books that are gathering dust like me.
These are not New Year’s resolutions – these are needs – things that my soul has been asking me for for a long time.
One change I’ve already made is to the “about” page here on Latinaish. I hope you like it.
Salvadoran-style Birthday Cake
Being married to Carlos over these past 15 years, one thing I’ve learned is that American birthday cake and Salvadoran birthday cake are very different.
Carlos will eat American birthday cake, but he doesn’t really like it.
Today was Carlos’s birthday and for the past few weeks, all he’s been talking about is Salvadoran birthday cake. I got the hint and asked him plenty of questions about it so I could make him one. Carlos says that growing up in El Salvador he always got a cake from a bakery called Flor de Trigo on his birthday. The cake part was moist but didn’t have a strong flavor, the frosting was only very slightly sweet. The cakes were usually layer cakes with fruit decorating the top.
I did some research, (even found the Flor de Trigo website!) and this is what I came up with.
The cake is a white cake (from a box mix just to save some time), and the “frosting” is a homemade whipped cream. Sliced almonds decorate the sides, and the fruits I chose were strawberries and apricot. Carlos gave me muchos besos and said it’s just like a Salvadoran birthday cake. Here’s the recipe if you want to give it a try!
Salvadoran-style Birthday Cake
Ingredients:
1 box white cake mix (I used Duncan Hines Classic White)
1 quart heavy whipping cream
1/2 to 3/4 cup white sugar (more if you prefer sweeter)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 2 cups sliced almonds
1 pint fresh strawberries, washed and sliced
1 can apricot halves, drained and sliced
1 can (12 oz.) “apricot cake & pastry filling” (I used “Solo” brand)
Directions:
1. Make cake according to package directions. If you have two round pans, use those. If not, you can do what I did – Put it all in a well greased 13 x 9 glass baking dish. Once baked and cooled, carefully turn onto a clean surface and slice in half to create 2 square layers. (Since the edges get browned while baking, slice those off so it’s uniform on all sides.)
2. This is how you make homemade whipped cream. (I recommend making this and assembling the cake the same day you plan to eat it.) First, it’s best if you have a large stainless steel bowl, but a plastic mixing bowl will work. Metal is better because you can get it nice and cold. Cold is your friend when making whipped cream! … Whichever bowl you’re using, stick it in the freezer along with the metal beater(s) from your electric mixer. The heavy whipping cream should be kept in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use it. To make the whipped cream – pour the quart of whipping cream into the bowl. Turn your mixer on high and beat until stiff peaks form. Add a 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract and sugar according to your tastes, (1/2 cup to 3/4 cups makes it just barely sweet by American standards.)
3. Put one cake layer on a base – this will be the bottom layer. (Ideally your base would be the bottom of a cake container which you can cover with a dome lid.) Spread the can of “apricot cake & pastry filling” on the top of the bottom cake layer. On top of the “apricot cake & pastry filling”, spread a layer of whipped cream. Top with the top cake layer.
4. Frost the entire outside of the cake with the whipped cream. Carefully toss the sliced almonds onto the sides of the cake.
5. Decorate the top of the cake with the sliced apricots and strawberries. (This recipe will work great if you decide to use different fruits or a different “cake & pastry filling” – so get creative! Other options include fresh or canned pineapple, fresh kiwi, canned fruit cocktail, and other kinds of berries.)
6. Cover cake and refrigerate for a couple hours then serve!
¡Feliz Cumpleaños! (or as I like to say, “Sapo Verde!“)
Feliz Día de Los Inocentes!
Today is Spanish Friday so this post is in Spanish. If you participated in Spanish Friday on your own blog, leave your link in comments. Scroll down for English translation!
Image source: Felix E. Guerrero
Hoy me levanté infeliz. Carlos me despertó diciendo: “Tracy, el perro tuvo un accidente terrible en la sala. Ve a ver. Es un desastre.”
Yo sospechaba que él estaba bromeando, pero yo no estaba cierta y fui a investigar. Claro que no habia nada de accidente en la sala y el perro estaba dormido.
“Feliz Día de los Inocentes!” Carlos me dijo. Cuando vio que yo no le hice mucha gracia, él se disculpó y dijo que no más bromas por el resto del día. Ja! Como si no voy a tener mi venganza? Yo no lo creo!
[ENGLISH TRANSLATION]
Today I woke up unhappy. Carlos awakened me saying, “Tracy, the dog had a terrible accident in the living room. Go look. It’s a mess.”
I suspected that he was joking, but I wasn’t sure and I went to investigate. Of course there wasn’t any accident in the living room and the dog was asleep.
“Happy Innocents Day!” [Innocents Day is like Latin America's April Fools Day] Carlos said. When he saw that I wasn’t amused, he apologized and said there would be no more tricks for the rest of the day. Ha! As if I won’t have my revenge? I don’t think so!
Feliz Navidad 2012
Wishing everyone paz, amor, felicidad, salud and blessings al montón!
Sinceramente,
La Familia López
The Noche Buena Pavo
Still marinating our pavo.
Actually, despite the title, this turkey is for tomorrow, Christmas Day. Tonight (Noche Buena), we’re going to have tamales, Mexican queso fundido, and Cuban tostones with mojo. (Not a traditional Salvadoran spread, but somehow, those are the diverse recipes I ended up choosing – and that’s after Carlos discouraged me from making a Venezuelan Pan de Jamón on top of it all.)
I don’t cook poultry that looks like poultry very often. It kind of grosses me out and I prefer to buy boneless, skinless chicken breasts. (Suegra always told me I’d have never survived in El Salvador since she had to wring the chicken’s neck and then pluck it.)
Anyway, when making Panes con Pavo I end up having to handle a whole turkey, which happens maybe once a year. Right now I was just putting the “Salsa Perrins” and mustard on the pavo to marinate and my 11 year old came into the kitchen. He looked at the turkey for a minute, checking it out from both ends and all directions. Then he asked, “Which side is the culito?”
Este Chico Está Loco
Today is Spanish Friday so this post is in Spanish. If you participated in Spanish Friday on your own blog, leave your link in comments. Scroll down for English translation!
Cada día nuestro perro Chico nos muestra que está loco. Le gusta comer tierra de las macetas en la casa, perseguir su cola, tratar de entrar a la tina cuando estoy bañando, y ahora hemos descubierto que le gusta perseguir la luz de una linterna. Por todo eso y más, ya tiene el apodo de “Chico Loco” – pero el otro día en el carro, mientras escuchaba música, yo comencé a reír porque la canción me recordaba al perro. La canción era “Latinos in Paris” por Pitbull y Sensato, y en la letra dice “Este chico está loco.”
Pitbull (el cantante) Loco…
Perro (que no es de raza Pitbull) Loco…
[ENGLISH TRANSLATION]
Each day our dog Chico, shows us that he’s crazy. He likes to eat the dirt from my potted plants, chase his tail, tries to get into the bathtub when I’m taking a bath, and now we discovered that he likes to chase the light from the flashlight. Because of all this and more, he’s earned himself the nickname “Chico Loco” (crazy Chico) – but the other day in the car, while listening to music, I started to laugh because the song reminded me of our dog. The song was “Latinos in Paris” by Pitbull and Sensato, and part of the lyrics go, “Este chico está loco” (This boy/guy is crazy.)
The Search For Salvadoran Characters
In response to the New York Times article regarding the lack of Latino authors and books for children, Latina bloggers have launched the “Latinas for Latino Literature” campaign which works to identify the problems in today’s publishing world that contribute to this lack of diversity so that we can provide ideas for changing the situation to the benefit of not only Latino readers and writers, but to the benefit of the industry itself as they tap into this growing demographic. Look out for forthcoming Google hangouts, Twitter parties, and follow-up posts as this coordinated effort to bring quality books to an emerging group of readers continues.
I kneeled on the coarse, crimson carpet at the library, the third library I had visited that week, trying to find something, anything, on the shelves about El Salvador – the native country of my new husband. I often left libraries and bookstores defeated, with a stack of novels about Mexico, Mexicans, migrant workers – stories that I ended up loving, and still love – but what I really wanted was a book with Salvadoran characters, and I couldn’t find any. Any book I did manage to find about El Salvador would be non-fiction, and usually about the civil war.
When I became a mother of two boys, two Salvadoran-American boys, I wanted desperately to buy them books and read them stories with characters they could relate to. Again, visits to the library and bookstore turned up books featuring Mexican and Mexican-American characters, when we were lucky.
These days, the library selection has gotten better, and the online selection is a dream come true compared to what I faced when my boys were younger. I’ve read books about Cubans and Puerto Ricans, Argentinians, Venezuelans, Guatemalans and Paraguayans, and thanks to Sandra Benitez, an amazing book called “Bitter Grounds” with a diverse Salvadoran cast. I stayed up late turning the pages, almost not believing that after so many years, I was finally reading a book with Salvadoran characters.
Why am I writing this? – Because I want the publishing industry to know that I am here – an avid reader, hungry for these books for myself, for my husband, for our boys, and for the children out there whose parents won’t go to the trouble I’ve gone to – the children who are at the mercy of whatever their school librarian decides to put on the shelves.
I want it to be known that I hunger for even more diversity, for Latin American characters and characters of Latin American descent from all walks of life. Don’t stop telling the story of the migrant worker, the immigrant, of Mexicans – but let us hear other voices too. We want to hear from characters who are rich, who are poor, and everything in between. We want characters who are white collar workers, and blue collar workers. We want characters who are beautiful, ugly, inspirational, relatable, flawed, ordinary, outrageous, wise, hilarious, serious, complex – in other words, we want all the diversity of voices that are available in the general market. Please, keep seeking out fresh authors and publishing their stories – We are here waiting for them, (and in some cases, some of us are here writing them, too.)
A few of my favorite books for children. Click the image for more.
These are some of my favorite Middle Grade and YA books. Click the image for more.
These are some of my favorite books for adults. Click the image to check out more.
Do you feel there’s enough diversity in the books commonly available in bookstores and libraries? Which Latino/a author or book most influenced you and why?
Chécalo: Other “Latinas for Latino Literature“
Mixing Traditions for a Bicultural Christmas
(Free Gift Tag! Go ahead and print this image to attach to gifts for familia y amigos!)
Most of you know that I write for several websites each month. I usually share those links on the Latinaish Facebook Page, but I wanted to link this one up here for those who might not be on Facebook since this particular post is so relevant to my usual content on Latinaish. I also took the opportunity to make a bicultural/bilingual gift tag for your Christmas gifts (see above!) Feel free to print it out and use it!
Now for the post:
Mixing Traditions for a Bicultural Christmas
Fifteen years ago I married Carlos, a Salvadoran immigrant who spoke little English. Because we were young, pregnant, and poor at the time—instead of moving to our own place—I moved Carlos into my parents’ house where I was still living. From the outside it didn’t seem like the most ideal situation, but living with my English-speaking Anglo parents turned out to be a unique opportunity for Carlos to get a crash course in English and American culture.
Of course, living in such a situation made our diverse backgrounds that much more apparent—especially during holidays, and especially during Christmas…[READ MORE HERE]
Salvadoran Problems – Colones
You’ve probably heard of “First World Problems”, “White Girl Problems”, “Mexican Problems” and various other versions, but today I give you a “Salvadoran Problem.” There might already be websites and hashtags for this, but here is my first contribution because this actually happened to me yesterday and I started laughing when I realized some of you out there might be able to relate.
As you can see, we have this big jar of pennies and when we are really scraping the bottom of our checking account and need gas or something, we bring the pennies to our bank to send them through the coin changing machine. The only problem is that somehow colones often get mixed up in the jar, (I don’t know how since I try to keep these types of coins in a special box and it’s not like these are even circulating anymore.)
I believe the coin changing machine is supposed to catch foreign coins and spit them back out, but I never want to risk losing one, so I have to dig through the pennies, one-by-one, to make sure I take the colones out.
