Busy and a Honeybee!!!

Did you know the name Melissa means honeybee? Well I find this fitting, wow this year has been full of surprises, cooking, care taking, love, hugs, tears, triumphs and trials.  Loving and caring for my loved ones is what I do, I wouldn't have it any other way! Well the holidays are upon us, where did the time go??? I need to get on the ball or as my Tia Patsy says "I better get on it!" Stay tuned for recipes and fun holiday projects I can hopefully get done ;).

Grandma Lizzy's Rice Pudding

Grandma Lizzy's Rice Pudding

On gloomy days like this, I love to cook.  I remember my grandma making sweet rice for us as kids and we were always ecstatic when she did.  She'd either make rice pudding or "little clouds" (Natillas).  Now that I am older and have proven to be a good cook to my Grandpa he has given me pots and kitchen items that were my grandmas, he says I know you'll use them.  For my birthday he gave me my grandma's wood pig cutting board and a bolillo I cried tears of joy, he could have given me a million dollars and and it would not have been as great as these gifts he's given me.   The pot you see in the pic was my grandmas she used it for many years and everything that came out of that pot was delicious!  Here's our recipe for Grandma Lizzy's Rice Pudding (Grandma Lizzy was my great grandmother who was an exceptional cook herself)  So go on, make some sweet rice sit and enjoy it with a little cup of cafecito and think of your grandmas and how hard they worked and cooked day in and day out teaching our Mamas how to cook so they in turn could teach us.    

Grandma Lizzy's Rice Pudding

1 can evaporated milk
1 c water
1 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbs. butter
2 eggs
2 1/2 c minute rice

Cook rice as directed on the box.  Meantime, combine milk, water, sugar, and vanilla in a pot.  Keep heat on medium to medium low, you don't want to scald the milk as it will taste bitter.  Mix well with a whisk.  In a small bowl separate eggs leaving only the egg whites but set the yolks aside don't throw them away!  Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until they are stiff.  Continue to beat and add yolks until they are well incorporated.  Now here's the tricky part.  While beating the milk mixture very fast with a whisk add the beaten egg.  Be sure to put some muscle into it and beat the mixture rapidly while adding the egg otherwise you will have scrambled eggs in your rice pudding.  Add rice and butter, simmer on low for a couple of minutes and transfer the pudding to a glass bowl.  Sprinkle with cinnamon and let set for about half an hour. 

Marisol's Super Princess Muffins

My little princess is the one of the greatest highlights of my life however her eating habits are not.  She is one of the most finicky eaters I know and despises vegetables!  I want her to have a healthy well balanced diet and some might say just set it in front of her if she's hungry enough she'll eat it.  That definitely did not work! She wont' even try spaghetti!!! Growing up my Mom and Grandma always made this awesome zucchini bread so I took that recipe and changed some things around,  I cut the sugar in half, and added some more veggies to the recipe.  Needless to say, Marisol loves them and is eating real vegetables!!!! Here's the recipe they are delish! 

Super Princess Muffins
3 c flour
1 c sugar
3 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 mashed ripe banana
1 shredded zucchini
1/2 c shredded carrots
3 eggs
1 c coconut oil
1 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Mix well and bake in a muffin tin at 375 degrees until golden brown.

A cute birthday card.

Homemade Lip Scrub

It's so cold and dry outside and my lips are always chapped, so I decided to try and make my own sugar lip scrub.  I researched it on the web and found a really easy recipe using coconut oil!! Needless to say it's fantastic, easy to make, and very versatile.  I made a variety of flavors and they all turned out great.  Always wanting to put my traditional flair on everything, (if you know me well, you know this is so true) I made bizcochito lip scrub it smells exactly like the real thing!!! Here's the recipe:

1 c coconut oil
1 c sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp chopped anise seed
1/4 tsp cinnamon flavoring (found in the candy making section)

Mix oil, cinnamon, anise, and flavoring in a bowl thoroughly add sugar and mix sparingly.  If you mix it too much the sugar will start to dissolve. Keep it in an air-tight container in a cool place.

Some Things in Life Just Don't Have a Recipe

My everyday cooking consists of mostly my Grandmother's and Mother's recipes, and if you've ever experienced them in the kitchen, you'd know that they hardly ever followed a recipe.  I remember asking my grandma, what recipe do you use for the tortillas?  She said look, come here "you put your flour in the bowl, get a scoop of crisco (I use lard they come out softer) and put it in, pour some baking powder in your hand like this look, then put a little bit of salt in your palm like this and put it in," and I said well how much is that and she said "you know, just a little".  So this is how I was taught to cook, not very precise, so whenever someone asks me for a recipe I don't know what to say.  Yesterday I decided to make empanaditas, its a long tedious process but the fruit of the labor is out of this world.  I remember as a little girl, the night before making empanaditas, we would go to my grandmas house and sit at the table and crack piñon with a bolillo to use in the meat it was a long process!  Anyhow, I made the meat exactly how my grandmother and mother make it and the result is divine however, it didn't occur to me to keep track of how much of the ingredients I used, you put just enough apple sauce in the meat until it's moist "enough", sprinkle on the sugar and cinnamon until it is well incorporated, sprinkle on the piñon and raisins and bake it long enough for the flavors to merry with the meat you know, until it tastes "right".  I have no idea how much of anything!!!! Maybe next year I'll try and measure it out so that I can share the recipe with you...maybe.  I think some things in life need to be left a mystery and maybe this is just one of them. heehee  So after a long days work in the kitchen, I sit and enjoy along with my family the fruits of my labor with a little cafecito.  By the way my Mom stopped by after work and approved, and said they were delicious and, that I was amazing so, I guess I made them right and they are "Mother Approved".  If you don't get that seal of approval it makes for a worrisome night.  Well, until later, stay warm out there it is freezing and my house smells like it was deep fried and I can't open the doors to air it out, oh well what can I do. 

Christmas Crafts

I have been busy, busy, getting Christmas cards and a little Christmas crafting done.  I just wanted to share a few things I'm working on, hope you like.  

Gift Bags