My Big Fat Cuban Family: A Cuban-American Blog

Celebrating Kids and Books Featuring Alma Flor Ada

It is my great pleasure to announce that I'm participating in a fabulous celebration of children and books called Día Blog Hop, organized by Latinas for Latino Lit. The Blog Hop features the very best of Latino children's book illustrators and authors. 

It's very cool to be a part of such a great group and program. 13 Latino authors and illustrators have been paired up with 12 top Latina bloggers to champion Latino children's literacy.

The schedule of blogs that will be hopping along with me are:

Monday, April 27th

Pat Mora on Latinas 4 Latino Lit

Monica Brown on The Wise Latina Club

Margarita Engle on MommyMaestra  

Tuesday, April 28th

Alma Flor Ada on My Big, Fat, Cuban Family

René Colato-Laínez on Modern Mami

Meg Medina on Atypical Familia

Wednesday, April 29th

Angela Dominguez on My Friend Betty Says

F. Isabel Campoy on Family is Familia

Mariana Llanos on Discovering the World Through My Son’s Eyes

Thursday, April 30th Graciela Tiscareno-Sato on Viva Fifty!

Rená Saldaña, Jr. on Mama Latina Tips

James Luna on Latinaish

I'm so proud to add my voice to this group. I hope you have a chance to check out all the wonderful offerings.

For more information, please visit Latinas for Latino Lit and their Facebook page for event updates.

The Día Blog Hop will be culminating on April 30th in honor of Día de los Niños, Día de los Libros. 

But, right now, it's my great privilege to introduce you to Alma Flor Ada, the prolific author who is my special guest today.

Alma Flor's Story

 

Sharing the diversity and richness of the Latino roots is a constant in my work and the books I have co-authored with Isabel Campoy. Children growing up in Latin America or Spain are immersed in the Spanish language and the Hispanic culture, while, in the United States, Latino children may have only a reduced contact with their cultural heritage.

This is why we try to offer them, in books and CDs, as much of the culture that contributed so significantly to shape our own lives.

In the collection Cuentos que contaban nuestras abuelas /Tales Our Abuelitas Told co-authored by us, as well as in many of my books: Mediopollito/Half-chicken; The Three Golden Oranges, The rooster who went to his uncle’s wedding/El gallo que fue a la boda de su tío, The Lizard and the Sun/La lagartija y el sol we have retold the stories that delighted us as children, trying to make them as enjoyable as they were in our grandmothers’ voices.

The books Pío Peep, Mother Goose, MuuMoo, andTen Little Puppies/Diez perritos are compilations of our nursery rhymes.

Merry Navidad a collection of villancicos organized to tell the Christmas story. We have also created poetry anthologies, biographies, and books on art and various aspects of the culture.

Alongside collecting what already existed, we have also written our original poetry. Something particularly exciting is that the great composer and singer Suni Paz has created music for many of our poems. All the poems of my books Gathering the Sun, honoring the farm working families, Abecedario de los animales and Coral y espuma Abecedario del mar have been recorded as songs by Suni Paz.  

Todo es canción, includes many of my most cherished poems and Arrullos de la sirena, poems for the very young child which I wrote while waiting for the birth of two of my granddaughters.

Yes! We Are Latinos, published in Spanish as Sí, somos latinos is our most recent effort to present important aspects of our history introduced by free verse fictional narratives of latino boys and girls, from various origins, to provide specific circumstances for the reader to better understand the quest for identity.

Me llamo María Isabel /My Name is María Isabel, Dancing Home/Nacer bailando and Love, Amalia/Con cariño, Amalia are all books that explore being Latino from the perspective of protagonists with very different circumstances.

 

Many of our families are now bicultural and that reality more common each day inspired I Love Saturdays y domingos / Me encantan los Saturdays y domingos about a child who spends Saturdays with her English speaking grandparents and Sundays with her abuelita y abuelito.

Children and adolescents’ search for understanding life can motivate their desire to know about those who lived before and Latino youth also wonder about the lives of their ancestors. In Where the Flame Trees Bloom and Under the Royal Palms, which was awarded the Pura Belpré medal, I share memories of my childhood, written from the desire to honor those who had enriched my growing up years, hoping that  recreating the past, it can continue to live in the present and perhaps inspire others in the future.

Now, 15 years later, Under the Royal Palms and Where the Flame Trees Bloom will appear together in one volume, enriched by Days at La Quinta Simoni, a third new collection of childhood stories, and numerous photographs, with a cover from Edel Rodriguez and illustrations by Edel and Antonio Martorell. This new book, called Island Treasures is a recognition to the appreciation shown by numerous students and the teachers who encouraged them to write about their families and childhood after reading my memoirs and the tribute of the publisher, Atheneum, to the importance of Latino experiences.

Thank you, Latinas for Latino Lit for including My Big, Fat, Cuban Family in this project. 

'A Falling Star' - A Book Giveaway

My friend and Cuban American author, Chantel Acevedo is at it again.

She's just finished her latest novel, 'A Falling Star' and I know you will be anxious to read it. Here's the synopsis:

Daysy Maria del Pozo and Stella Maris Morales-Quinn both came to the United States as part of the 1980 Mariel Boatlift—Daysy settling in South Florida with her family and Stella starting a new life with her mother and step-father in Pittsburgh. Over time, they each find themselves haunted by their families’ complicated and painful Cuban pasts. As Stella deals with her mother’s suicide and it slowly dawns on Daysy that there are family secrets she must uncover, the reader hears the del Pozo family history, piece by piece, from Daysy’s mother. Soon it becomes clear that Daysy and Stella may share more than their Cuban-American heritage.

Chantel told me this is a very personal story for her and her family and, as she does with all her projects, she's poured her Cuban heart and soul into it. As is usually the case with all of our stories about leaving Cuba and making a life here in the U.S., it will strike a very personal chord with many of you. 

Right now, the book can be purchased as an "Advanced Copy" via the Carolina Wren Press website exclusively. Here's the link:

A Falling Star - Carolina Wren Press

Lucky for you, I have a couple of advanced copies to give away today (because I'm cool that way). Also, I just want to share the Cuban love and help support one of our own. 

The beautiful cover image was shot by another Cuban-American, Elaine Palladino, a very talented photographer in Miami.  (We are a supremely talented bunch, aren't we?)

Two winners will each receive an Autographed (!) Advanced Copy of A Falling Star by Chantel Acevedo. 

1) To enter this drawing for one autographed, advanced copy of A Falling Star, please leave a comment on this post and answer one or both of the following questions:

• Where were you when the Mariel Boatlift happened?
• Did it affect your family personally?

Please leave your comments on this post and I'll choose a winner on Monday, May 5th, 2014 at 5 pm PST.

2) For extra entries, please "share" this giveaway on your Facebook page and come back and leave me another comment telling me:  

• "I shared!"

3) If you're on Twitter, please Tweet about this and include this hashtag: #AFallingStar. Come back and leave me a comment telling me:

• "I tweeted!"

So that's not one, not two, but three entries. (Because I love you.)

I've saved the best part of this story for last: The Book Trailer for 'A Falling Star' was done by another Cubanita, whom you may recognize if you have spent any time here on my blog.

That's right. That's my girl, Lucy Darby, budding Graphic Designer and Book Trailer Creator. 

I hope that you are as blown away by the book trailer as I was. (I swear I'm not just saying that because Lucy designed it or because my friend, Chantel wrote the book. I just kind of burst into tears everytime I hear that song, but that's not important right now.)

When you stop crying, leave your comments and share everywhere (please!) and do all the entry stuff. I'm so excited and pleased that I get to share it here with all of you first. 

If you're in Charlotte, North Carolina, Chantel Acevedo will be doing a reading at Park Road Books on May 8th at 7pm. Here's the link: http://www.parkroadbooks.com/event/author-event-chantel-acevedo-falling-star

Related articles

Catch "A Falling Star"

The Road to Publishing: Chantel Acevedo on Landing An Agent

Celebrating Kids and Books (Día Blog Hop) Featuring Margarita Engle

It is my great pleasure to announce that I'm participating in a fabulous celebration of children and books called Día Blog Hop, organized by Latinas for Latino Lit. The Blog Hop has been happening for the entire month of April and it features the very best of Latino children's book artists and authors. 

The Día Blog Hop will be culminating on April 30th in honor of Día de los Niños, Día de los Libros. 

The entire list of authors and illustrators and the blogs they are featured on can be found here:

Latinas4LatinoLit.org

I'm happy today to introduce you to Margarita Engle, who is, of course, Cuban-American. 

 

Margarita Engle is the Cuban-American author of The Surrender Tree, which received the first Newbery Honor ever awarded to a Latino.  Her young adult verse novels have also received two Pura Belpré Awards and three Honors, as well as three Américas Awards and the Jane Addams Peace Award, among others.  

Margarita’s next verse novel is Silver People, Voices From the Panama Canal (March, 2014, Harcourt).  Books for younger children include Mountain Dog, Summer Birds, When You Wander, and Tiny Rabbit’s Big Wish (March, 2014, Harcourt).

Margarita lives in central California, where she enjoys hiding in the forest to help train her husband’s wilderness search and rescue dogs.

Learn more about Margarita at www.margaritaengle.com.

Reflecting on Childhood by Margarita Engle

Looking back at the reading experiences of my childhood is like standing on the shore of a bioluminescent beach, gazing at radiant sea water.  In the Caribbean, glowing beaches are both common and miraculous.  When fingers and toes move through the luminous shallows, they take on the light from microscopic organisms.  We see the glow, but we can’t see its source.

It’s the same with books that children read for pleasure.  They learn, without realizing that they’re learning, because the experience is so magical.  When a child is caught up in the thrill of a story or the rhythm of a poem, something happens that can’t be explained, measured, or tested.  It’s the complex satisfaction of exploring.  A sense of wonder is the invisible source.

As a child, I loved history and folklore, but there were no children’s books about Cuba, and all the folktales were from continents, not islands.  That didn’t stop me from reading every fascinating book I could find, but as an adult, I want something more.  I want children of all backgrounds to have the chance to read stories rooted in a wide variety of cultures and viewpoints.  

Most of my verse novels are about Cuban historical themes, but my newest is set in Panama.  I wrote Silver People in honor of the Caribbean islanders who were hired by the U.S. as laborers to dig the vast canal. It was completed exactly one hundred years ago, and still serves as the shipping route for most of the manufactured-in-Asia products we use in daily life.  Silver People is also my personal love letter to the tropical rain forest, written not only in human voices, but in the cries of howler monkeys, and moans of threatened trees.  It’s the unusual sort of story that I would have been happy to read when I was a child.  In those days, the only tributes to the people and creatures of the tropics were travelogues written for tourism, or archaic fiction told from a colonial standpoint, with references to “savages” and “primitive” cultures.  I hope that my reflections on history will help young people of all backgrounds understand that being different does not mean being inferior.  

In addition to history, fiction, science, and poetry, I loved reading folklore when I was a child.  I still love folklore, but it’s not easy to publish, so I’m thrilled to have a new picture book inspired by a Cuban folktale.  Tiny Rabbit’s Big Wish is a poem about a little bunny who wants to grow.  I hope it will help very young children see that each of us has unique strengths.

With a wealth of multicultural books now available, I hope parents, teachers, and librarians will expose children to all sorts of books.  One of the most difficult to find is memoirs by Latinos.  While there have been quite a few published for adults in recent years, childhood memoirs are scarce.  Under the Royal Palms, by Alma Flor Ada, is one of my favorites, but my own childhood memoir---scheduled for publication by Harcourt in March, 201---is quite different from Ada’s, because I grew up in the U.S., with only a few precious summer visits to my extended family in Cuba.  

Writing is challenging.  Reflecting can be scary, but facing that challenge means that children who read a variety of books will feel inspired to perceive their own widely varied stories as valuable.

ALL the Picadillo at the Blurb Books Food Fair

I am a Cuban mother. And I cook. I love that I get asked to cook at different foodie-type events. See here. I always love doing those.

But the real story is that I basically like to eat Cuban food, so I cook it. And I have a family to feed, so they appreciate that I cook. Also, I really enjoy oversharing, hence this whole blog thing. So, in a nutshell, I cook Cuban and I share my food and I write about making and sharing Cuban food.

I know that not everyone wants to print out every single recipe I have (and, believe me, it's all really good), so I've collected my favorite recipes along with the stories that go with them into a you-can-actually-hold-it-in-your-hand cookbook.

I self-published my first collection of recipes and called it My Big, Fat, Cuban Family Cookbook through Blurb Books. I have made other personal books with Blurb and the quality is always wonderful. Publishing with them was a fabulous experience. I highly recommend them. Also, you should totally get my cookbook!

Last month, Blurb hosted a group of us foodie/cookbook/bookmakers for the Blurb Book Bash in San Francisco.

When I arrived at the Blurb offices I met the photo and video crew who would be filming me all day and can I just tell you that I fell in love immediately. Plus, they totally made me feel comfortable in front of the camera. I felt like I was just telling my story to friends.

Let me give a shout out right here to the fabulously talented folks at TR Proz for the gorgeous photos and video. You made me look so legit. (They also very kindly mentioned me on their blog. Thanks, guys!)

I cooked picadillo, people. Lots of it. Which meant lots of sofrito and lots of meat and lots of my favorite spices. Look at me go! I was a picadillo-cooking fool!

ON A SEMI-RELATED, BUT TANGENTAL SIDE NOTE: My eyes disappear when I smile or laugh. It has been like this my entire life. I still remember school photographers telling me to smile and then scolding me for closing my eyes. "No! They're open! I promise you!" These guys just let me be me. I'm so grateful for that.

Look at ALL the picadillo.

This beautiful video will give you a feel for how much fabulous food and fun was to be had at the Blurb Book Bash. (Look for your favorite Cuban Food Blogger at about the 17 second mark.)

These talented folks followed me around all day with all kinds of cameras like I was "somebody." (It was kind of surreal and totally awesome all at once.) The other author/foodie/bookmaker people who were also featured were quite talented and I was humbled to be included in this amazing group.

They interviewed me. I like to talk anyway, but let me tell you that it's weird seeing yourself talking (so much!) on camera. And I knew that I talked with my hands, but wow! I didn't know I was so....what's the word? Expressive.

I explained how much I love my Cuban culture and how I've tried to pass that on to my kids via our music, our language and of course, our food. I shared how family and food have always been intertwined for me. I talked (and demonstrated) the beauty of a perfect sofrito.

I'll be completely honest here, I was nervous about how I would come across on video, but you know what? This is me. This is how I look and how I sound. (Also, I was having a really fantastic curly-girl hair day, but that's not important right now.)

So here's Marta Darby, Cuban Cook. Unplugged.

Of course, the video happens to catch my weirdest face for the still. *sigh* So, I'm not quite ready for the Food Network, but then....maybe they're not quite ready for me.

Leave a comment and tell me your thoughts. Be kind.

Also, here's the recipe for Papi's Favorite Picadillo.

Thanks again, Blurb Books and TR Proz for an absolutely wonderful time.

Cuando Sali de Cuba - Fernan's Story (A Giveaway)

Marta here:

A friend called me recently: "There's a new book called, The Cubans. You're mentioned in it."  I was intrigued and contacted the author, Fernando Hernandez who very kindly agreed, not only to share his story, but to share his book with MBFCF readers.

First, let's let Fernan tell his own story.

*******************************************************************

  July 8th, 1962 was the day I left Cuba, my parents, other family members, friends, and all the memories that a nine year old boy had experienced. On that fateful day my life was changed, transformed, I was never to be the same again. It was to be also one of the saddest days of my young life as I waved goodbye to my mami.

  My brother and I were among 14,068 young children who left Cuba via Operation Pedro Pan, a clandestine operation from 1960-1962 that brought youngsters from 5 to 17 years of age to the United States by themselves. I am sure the communist authorities knew perfectly well that thousands of Cuba’s youngest citizens were leaving, but I believe they did nothing to abort the operation. Family separation was one of the many tactics the regime enacted, and having heart-broken parents in the island assured them of fewer political troublemakers and contrarevolucionarios. When we left from our hometown of Banes, in the Oriente province (now called Holguin), only mami accompanied us to La Habana. You may wonder, where was your father? He was too despondent, emotionally wrecked to muster the courage to bid us goodbye. He never came to see us, as my brother, mother and I got on a bus for a long ride to the capital. Papi stayed behind, comforted by our abuela and other family members. Sometimes we don’t fully grasp or comprehend the suffering that so many of our parents endured when we left our homeland. The other day a man who knew my dad told me he never met a man who shed so many tears for his children as my papi had. Our separation was close to four years, did he have any tears left?

  Mami showed me what unconditional love is as we spent a few days in La Habana, a city we had never visited. She took us to the zoo and went sightseeing while we waited for the departure day. She never cried or displayed any emotional weakness during the ordeal, I can still see her permanent smile and her encouraging words to my brother 11, and I. All that she knew was that we were going to a boys’ camp in Miami and then we would be relocated to either a foster home or an orphanage somewhere in the United States. My parent’s main concern was that we would live in a democratic society and that they would join us in the near future. Her anxiety, anguish, and motherly instinct of being close to us did not cloud her judgment and she proceeded to send us to the promise land. Her pain was secondary; she knew this difficult decision had to be made for our benefit.

  The day finally arrived. We were placed in the pecera, a large room in the airport enclosed with glass that resembled a fish bowl. We were the fish and those on the outside looked at us as if we were in an aquarium. Mami reminded us to behave well and to take care of one another. But I do not recall mami kissing or hugging us one last time. She walked out of the pecera firm, stoic, and walked to the upper level to see the plane depart. My brother and I, along with the rest of the people waiting, were notified to board the flight.

  As I took a seat in what was my first flight, I glimpsed out the window and saw my mami frantically waving a white handkerchief toward the plane. Then I saw her embrace another woman (perhaps another Pedro Pan mom?) and began to see her collapse in a torrent of tears. Even after 51 long years, I have to dry my eyes as I write this. I cannot forget, and I don’t ever want to forget, that moment when a mother’s heart could not be contained. Mami waited to the very last, possible second to unleash what her heart felt, she could no longer conceal her parental anguish. She thought I could not see her from the plane but my eyes were fixed on my precious mom who gave everything she had for my brother and I. As I watched helplessly, the mother I loved was baring her soul and spirit in a continuous cry. What a great blessing to have Maria Elisa Lorenzo Gonzalez as my mami! Thanks to mami and papi I had an opportunity to live as a free man. May my parents reside in a special place in heaven, a palace reserved for all the loving and courageous Cuban parents who sacrificed all so that we could live in an open, free, and democratic society.

by: Fernando “Fernan” Hernandez
Author: The Cubans Our Footprints Across America (July 2013) Amazon.com.

Fernan has graciously agreed to share his book with MBFCF Readers. So let's do a giveaway!

MBFCF Giveaway:  

The Cubans, Our Footprints Across America by Fernando "Fernan" Hernández.

One person will win the book, autographed by Fernan. Please leave a comment on this post for a chance to win the book. Answer one or both of the following questions:  

• Do you know (or are you related to) any Pedro Pans?
• Did you ever have your own "Cuando Sali de Cuba" moment? (The realization of what an enormous thing had happened to your family.)
  

I'll choose a winner on Wednesday, September 25th, 2013 at 11 am.

Five. (A giveaway)

I sat down at my computer on October 1st, 2006 and wrote out my very first blog post with the title, "Life on the hyphen..." 

You're welcome to click over and read it. I lifted that post title from a book written by my friend, Gustavo Perez-Firmat, called Life on the Hyphen: The Cuban-American Way. In that book, he brilliantly describes how we Cubans "straddle" the hyphen between being Cuban and American. That so resounded with me that I was inspired to write about my everyday life here in The O.C. as a Cuban-American wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend.

I've written about how I've homeschooled my kids, which is an odd proposition for someone with my history.

I often say that I'm 100% Cuban and 100% American. I'm quite proud of being a part of both of the cultures that have informed my life and personality and for the last five years, this blog.

I have been celebrating Cuban-American life here on this little corner of cyberspace for five years now. And I'm very proud of what I've created.

So, please, help me celebrate my Five Year Blogoversary. Five whole years, people! (I'm like Methuselah in the blogging world, but that's not important right now.)

I'm so grateful that I have had a place to share my stories and my kitchen and the cool stuff I get to do and the people who are so important to me. I'm humbled, too, by the constant and generous attention that you pay me.

I appreciate those of you who have been around since 2006 and have watched my children grow up on these pages. And I appreciate every member of my family who have been gracious enough to let me share their lives here. They are now used to having Mom pointing a camera at them and they're okay with seeing themselves in their fabulous goofiness. 

I am grateful to those of you who have just recently Googled a Cuban recipe and found yourselves here and have decided to continue coming back to visit. Please stay. My blog-casa is your blog-casa. ;-)

To celebrate this auspicious occasion, and as my way of saying thanks for reading my blog, I'm going to give away 5 (!) MBFCF items from my online shop, Cuba To GO! (because I can).

I'm giving away:

1) A MBFCF Mug:

2) A Cuban Spice Apron:

3) and 4)  Two people will win an autographed copy of My Big, Fat, Cuban Family Cookbook:

5) And last, but certainly not least, an autographed copy of my friend, Gustavo Perez-Firmat's lastest and absolutely delicious book, The Havana Habit:

 

I thought it only fitting, since he was my inspiration for this whole thing. Gracias, Gustavo!

So, by now you know the drill...

To enter the drawing for a chance to win the above mentioned uber-cool MBFCF stuff, please leave a comment on this post and answer one or all of the following questions:

• If you're a regular MBFCF reader, why do you keep coming back ? 
• Do you also live "on the hyphen?"
• Is it the recipes? 
• The stories?
• The giveaways?
• Or is it like a bad habit you picked up that you can't break? ;-)

I'll do a random drawing on Monday, October 3rd at 12 noon Pacific Time.  

Happy 5th Blogoversary to me! 

*throws confetti*

Rice. An in-depth look. (And a giveaway.)

In keeping with our Hispanic Heritage Month, I've decided to tackle a subject that's near and dear to us. It's something that we feel absolutely passionate about.

But we Cubans are passionate about so, so many things. (Well, everything, really....but that's not important right now.)

I know I shouldn't be surprised when the mildest topics bring up so many intense and varied opinions.

Today's seemingly innocuous topic is rice.

Much to my everlasting delight, my beautiful and enormously entertaining cousin, Yllien, takes on the topic of Hispanics and Asians and Rice and Rice Cookers and a poor mook named Osvaldo.

Please enjoy. (And get some popcorn. I'll wait.)

                                        

My friend, Ana Quincoces has an entire section in her cookbook ¡Sabor! A Passion for Cuban Cuisine about rice. She even shows you how to make it old-school in a pot on the stove. (Page 82.)

I, personally, use a rice cooker. Often. Next to my pressure cooker, it's the hardest working appliance in my kitchen and is in constant use.

So now, let's talk rice.

Today's giveaway is an autographed copy of Ana's cookbook, ¡Sabor! A Passion for Cuban Cuisine.

Of course, you know that the real reason you should have this book in your kitchen is because my recipe for My Big, Fat, Cuban Family Torrejas (made with guava and creme cheese, thankyouverymuch) can be found on page 204. *takes bow*

But I digress......

Rice.

To be entered in the drawing for the cookbook, please answer one or all of the following questions:

• Do you wash your rice?
• Do you use a rice cooker or are you an old-school pot-on-the-stove-topper?
• Isn't my cousin, Ylli adorable? ;-)

I'm guessing we have a lot of rice to talk about, so let's let this contest run through the weekend. Please share it with your friends. Ask them the questions on Facebook. You'll be surprised at how much emotion rice engenders.

I will pick a winner randomly from your comments on Sunday, September 25th at 5 pm.

So, rice.....your thoughts? 

Why I * heart* Amazon

My family and I are all voracious bibliophiles. 

Voracious.

Personally, I don't care either way if the book is the old-school paper kind or a good e-book. I love to read. Full stop.

I have been loving the free Kindle for iPad app because I can store dozens of books on my iPad and make notes and add highlights and do all the things I like to do when I'm reading a wonderfully informational or entertaining volume. 

But sadly, my iPad with its digital screen is all but impossible to read in full sunshine.

I spend a lot of time in full sunshine. And I'm just spoiled enough now that I resent carrying big, heavy books to the beach, but that's not important right now.

So, Eric got me an Amazon Kindle (with built in Wi-Fi, thankyouverymuch).

It has an honest-to-goodness-reads-like-real-paper display. And it has been my best and most reliable Beach Buddy all summer.

But somehow, this past week when we were cruising, I must have dropped it or something, because suddenly my beautiful I-swear-it's-just-like-real-pages-in-a-real-book Kindle began looking more like an Etch-a-Sketch.

*insert really sad face here*

So I called Amazon.com customer service and told them about my new Etch-a-Sketchy Kindle and the great sadness it has caused me and inquired as to how would I go about replacing it.

"We'll send out a new one today and you just mail back the damaged one."

What? They actually said this. *hand on heart*

This conversation took place on Tuesday morning.

My new Kindle arrived on Wednesday morning. Shut. UP.

That's what I call customer service!

So, I'm giving an unsolicited shout out to Amazon.com as a big, fat, Cuban GRACIAS. 

I'm taking extra good care of my new Kindle with its I-swear-it's-exactly-like-real-paper-no-glare screen.

Because now it looks like they're starting to keep score. ;-)

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Amazon. You so seriously ROCK! 

Do you have a Kindle? Do you love it as much as I love mine? Tell me.

The Help - And the winners are...

Thank you again for your willingness to share your stories. (And for letting me share mine!)

If you must know, my very favorite character, especially in the film, was Celia Foote. I loved how she totally disarmed Minny with her innocence - or was it ignorance?

And the winners of the giveaways are:

The Dreamworks The Help Gift Pack goes to:

A copy of the book, The Help by Kathryn Stockett goes to:

Congratulations to both of you!

Please send me an email with HEY, MARTA! I WON STUFF ON YOUR BLOG! in the subject line and your snail mail address so that I can forward to Dreamworks and get this cool stuff out to you ASAP.

Thanks again to all of you who played with me. And seriously.....GO. SEE. THIS. FILM!

 

Sabor! Cookbook Winner

Thank you all for being so patient. I just got back from San Antonio last night and I have sooo much to tell you, but before I do that, I'd like to thank you for sharing your menus for your family celebrations. You gave me so many ideas! Check the comments section of the post entitled:

Happy 40th Birthday, Versailles! (An homage and a giveaway.)

The winner of Ana's beautiful (autographed!) cookbook, Sabor! A Passion for Cuban Cuisine is (drum roll, please)......

Congratulations, Karen! Please send me an email with HEY, MARTA! I WON STUFF ON YOUR BLOG! in the subject line (so I don't accidentally delete you) with your snail mail address so I can get the cookbook out to you right away.

If you want a copy of Ana Quincoces’ amazing cookbook, you can find it on Amazon.com.

For the rest of you, don't give up! I have another awesome giveaway coming up next weekend, so stay tuned and as always, thanks for reading and playing with me. =D

Happy 40th Birthday, Versailles! (An homage and a giveaway.)

“I need a blurb from you about Versailles.”

This request came from my friend (the amazing Cuban chef and cookbook author) Ana Quincoces. She was working on a TOP SECRET project and thought I might have something to say about my favorite Cuban restaurant in Miami.

Me: “Tell me what you're doing, so I can put it in context.”

That's when she began to reveal that she was working on a.....(wait for it....) Versailles Cookbook! *insert heavenly choir here*

Me: “Seriously? What a cool project. I suppose I could give you a blurb. But if we're talking Versailles on Calle Ocho, I could do an entire homage without breaking a sweat, but that's not important right now.”

Versailles. It's usually the first place we visit when we arrive in Miami (Hello, Cuban food!) and the last place, too. (Pan con Bistec for the plane ride home.)

Versailles. The first item on our long list of Miami Rules.

Versailles. Of the iconic etched mirrors and the perfect cortadito.

Versailles. Always packed at any time of the night or day. Filled with the sounds of my people. Their loud and inimitable voices raised in conversation, argument, and laughter.

Versailles. The geographical epicenter of our exile.

Me: “I wrote a post about why I couldn't live in Miami and my lack of self-control when it comes to Cuban food in general and Versailles in particular.”

Me, quoting myself: “It's like the Cuban Mecca and I am a faithful pilgrim.”

The next thing I know, I'm being quoted in the Miami Herald in an article titled Versailles: 40 years serving food with a side of politics. (I know. Shut. UP.)

From the article:

“When no one knew who he was, Julio Iglesias used to come and sit here and eat,” Valls Sr. remembers.

Former Gov. Jeb Bush is still a regular, and “although I’m a Republican,” Valls Sr. notes, President Clinton has been here three times. Famous chefs like the Food Network’s Bobby Flay make Versailles a mandatory pitstop on visits to Miami.

“It’s like the Cuban Mecca and I am a faithful pilgrim,” says Californian Marta Darby, who writes the blog “My Big, Fat, Cuban Family.”

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/07/10/2306781_p2/40-years-serving-food-with-a-side.html#ixzz1RrVPxtbo

(emphasis mine)

I'd like to just point out right now that they mention me in the same section as the other famous people who have eaten there, but that's not important right now. ;-)

Ana: “I think we got your blurb.”

Then she went on to tell me that she's still working on the Versailles book and that they're having a big party at the Calle Ocho restaurant this week to celebrate and that they're hoping that....(wait for it....) Andy Garcia will write the forward.

• Thing 1) Out-of-my-skin excited to be included in this wonderful project.
• Thing 2) Andy Garcia and I might be published in the same book. (One degree closer, people.)
• Thing 3) Versailles is 40 years old.

I think we need to celebrate, don't you? I wish the Versailles book existed already and I had that to give away, but it has not been published yet, but I do have the next best thing:

An autographed copy of Ana's iconic Cuban Cookbook: Sabor! A Passion for Cuban Cuisine. (Thank, Ana!)

Of course, I'm especially proud of having My Big, Fat, Cuban Family Torrejas featured in this beautiful cookbook, but that's not important right now, either.

(Page 204 - 205, por si las moscas....)  =D

So, to enter this comment drawing, answer the following question:

• When you celebrate a special occasion, what's on the menu?

Remember that if you want to enter the drawing for the cookbook, you must leave a comment on this post and I'll choose a winner on Sunday, July 17th, 2011 at 5 pm Pacific.

Happy Birthday, Versailles!

Con muchisimo cariño,

Marta

Celebrating Abuela

I never knew my grandparents.

We left Cuba when I was so very young that I barely remember my grandmothers. I think my dad's parents had already passed away by the time I was born. And I have just the few mental snapshots that a five year old can retain of my mom's mother.

Here's a beautiful old photo of her, my maternal grandmother, Osmunda Perez-Puelles when she was pregnant with my Tio Fernando. (Incidentally, Tio Fernando will be turning 100 in Miami next week.)

The only abuela I have ever known is this woman in this 100 year old photograph.

My mom says that maybe that's why I have always loved old people. And it's true. I am very aware of the richness of life that most older people have to impart to us "youngsters." That attracts me tremendously.

I hope to be that wise old woman myself to my (as yet, unborn) grandchildren someday.

It's from this perspective of not really ever having had a grandmother in my life that I worked on this beautiful project for Tiki Tiki Blog.

It's a fabulous collection of stories by seven women who fondly remember their grandmothers and share their reminiscences.

Tiki Tiki readers submitted photos of their grandmothers and I am extremely proud to say that I designed this cover and created this E-book, Celebrating Abuela. (I know. Shut up. Get the sandpaper...)

Of course, I also added the photo of my mom, Luza (left-hand side of cover), because she is the Quintescential Cuban Grandmother.

Please download your free copy of this 40 page book by clicking this link: Download Celebrating Abuela with Tiki Tiki.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you from me and my big, fat, Cuban family and from my good friend, Carrie at Tiki Tiki Blog. She's completely genius when it comes to collecting and editing these wonderful stories. (My job is just to make it all look pretty, but that's not important right now.)

And to those of you who still have her with you, celebrate your abuela.

Besos! ~Marta

Sabor! Cuban Cookbook - A Hot Giveaway

My beautiful friend, Ana Quincoces, has authored an equally beautiful Cuban cookbook. (I say equally, only because the pages are filled with fabulous photos of both her and her food, and I can't think of which is more gorgeous, but that's not important right now.)

Just recently, Ana was voted Miami's Hottest Chef over on Eater Miami.

I know what you're thinking. And yes, she is even more lovely in person. She also happens to be an amazing woman and a good friend. So when this Hottest Chef contest began and Ana asked me, I was eager to help.

So I quickly jumped on Facebook and asked a thousand of my closest friends (=D) to please vote for her.

Ana easily won the competition in Miami and came in second in the Nationals. Felicidades, mi vida!

 

I'd like to think it was the "embullo" of all the voting MBFCF readers that secured her win. Either way, true to her word, she sent me some of her autographed cookbooks as a Thank You to give away here. I know! Generous, right?

Of course, for those of you that don't know, Our relationship goes back to the day she found My Big, Fat, Cuban Torrejas recipe and asked if she could include it in this very same cookbook. ("Claro que sí!")

Very cool, right?

For those of you who don't know torrejas, they are a Cuban version of stuffed French Toast. (I have a sudden craving for Guava and Creme Cheese....)

So, I have, not one, but two cookbooks to give away today. (Thanks, Ana!)

In order to enter the drawing for a chance to win this gorgeous Cuban cookbook, please leave a comment on this post answering the question below:

• If I was a chef, I would be famous for my _____________. (Fill in the blank.) Your answer can be a fantasy or an actuality, but please remember this is a family blog. 

Leave a comment on this post and I'll choose a winner on Thursday, March 3rd at 11:00 am Pacific Time.

Can you guess what my answer would be? =D

Also, if you're not already a fan of My Big, Fat, Cuban Family on Facebook, please click this link or the one up at the top right of this site and LIKE it. That way, you won't miss any of the relajo!

Cookbook Giveaway - Winner!

I've decided that what I love best about doing a giveaway, besides actually giving cool stuff away (duh) is reading your stories. Those tidbits of your lives that you share with me in the comments is like gold.

If you just leave a comment and run (thank you, for commenting!), that's fine. But if you have a moment, please go back and read the beautiful little slices of life that are shared in the comment section.

I love your reminiscences of sitting with your moms or grandmothers in the kitchen. I love your favorite cookbook memories: from bridal shower gifts (BFF) to mom's handwritten recipes (Wow, Angela G. - I seriously got teary eyed).

I am thinking I may have to start a feature here at MBFCF for you to share your stories. *puts on Thinking Cap*

I entered the number of comments in the True Random Number Generator at Random.org (allowing for those of you who commented twice or replied to someone in the comment section - you know who you are, but that's not important right now).

Congratulations to today's winner of the RED Betty Crocker Cookbook and Red logo Serving Spoon. 

**********************************************************

Maria Soto Robbins said...

Hey Marta...great giveaway, again!

Actually no one taught me to cook. :(

My mom was always too busy painting and my dad would do most of the cooking and so, I've taught myself how to do that (too!:). My go-to book is the Better Homes & Garden Cookbook from the 1990's which is falling apart! So I could really use this new one! Thanks

{{{Hugs}}}

Maria 

**********************************************************

 

Congratulations, Maria! You're going to love this cookbook!

Please shoot me an email with your snail mail address and HEY, MARTA! I WON STUFF ON YOUR BLOG! in the subject line and I will get your beautiful cookbook right out to you.

Thank you all again for your participation. If you didn't win today, please come back next week when I'll have some more really fun giveaways. 

And thank you for trusting me with your stories.

Besos! and Happy Friday!

Chipper Chicken Recipe and a Giveaway

My mom taught us girls how to cook when we were very young.

During the summers, when my sisters and I were out of school, she devised a rotating system of teaching us Homemaking, the Cuban Way.

My older sisters were already married and gone, but the three of us younger ones, Miriam, Alina and myself still needed to be groomed to be Perfect Cuban Wives (or PCW).

I think our education began with the Making of the Perfect Cup of Cuban Espresso. From there we ventured on to Table Setting and Party Planning, with a minor in Clearing and Dishwashing. (<--I was never any good at this one, and I still haven't quite gotten the hang of it, but that's not important right now.)

The Meal Planning portion of our PCW Education consisted of pulling out all of the cookbooks in the house, finding two recipes that sounded good to us, making a list of ingredients, checking the cupboards for what we already had, and then adding what we needed to the weekly grocery shopping list.

Can you believe I still plan my weekly meals this way? (The whole Clearing and Dishwashing thing is still problematic for me, but again, that's not important right now.)

I always like trying new recipes and I love cookbooks. But every now and then, I remember that we girls made some pretty delicious meals during our Summers of Cuban Home Ec. And I still have a few of my mom's original cookbooks from back in the day. 

Exhibit A:

 

The publishing date on this beauty is 1962. Based on my love of All Things Betty these days, I decided to pull it out and see if one of our favorite recipes still held up. (I love old, grease-stained cookbooks. They make me happy somehow.)

 

It was called Chipper Chicken. It was a lot like the Oven-Fried Chicken (notice that they still used shortening unapologetically - I love that!) but it was made with crushed potato chips. (<--Brilliant!)

I made it a few times when my older kids were little and it was always a hit, so I thought I'd give it a shot in 2010, with a few personal revisions.

Chipper Chicken Recipe

• 2-3 lbs. chicken pieces
• 1 medium bag potato chips
• 1/4 cup butter (<--YES!!)
• 1 Tbsp. Garlic powder
• Coarse ground pepper

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Crush potato chips finely.  (I put them into a ziplock and just crush with my hands.)

3. Melt butter in frying pan and add the garlic powder. (The garlic salt that it originally called for made the thing too crazy-salty.)

4. Pass the chicken pieces through the seasoned butter, then in the crushed chips.

5. Place chicken in oblong baking pan.

6. Bake for just over an hour or until potato chips are golden and juices run clear.

Ta-da! The Chipper Chicken is just as delicious as I remembered. (Umm....yeah....butter and potato chips. Hello?!!)

 

I have a few more Betty Crocker cookbooks that I've collected through the years. (I think it's those eye-catchingly RED covers that get me every time.)

So, today, I'll be giving away one of Betty Crocker's newest (and elaborately detailed) cookbooks along with a beautiful RED logo serving spoon: (I confess that I loved this book so much that I was tempted to keep it, but happily for you, I'm a giver. *sigh*)

 

To be entered in the drawing for the cookbook & spoon, just answer one or all of the following questions in the comment section of this post:

• Who taught you to cook?
• Do you have a favorite "go to" cookbook or recipe?
  

I'll choose a winner on Friday, September 10th at 11:00 AM Pacific Time.

[Disclosure: General Mills provided this cool stuff because I asked to do these giveaways. They've asked nothing in return. It is my pleasure to write about this stuff because I genuinely want to. Thanks, General Mills, for your generosity!

*And a reminder, if you haven't already voted, please vote for My Big, Fat, Cuban Family for Best Personal and Family Blog in the Just Spotted 2010 Orange County Blog Awards. Here's the link. Please vote before Sunday, September 12th at 11:59 pm, because after that, the “polls” will be closed* Thank you!

Blog Talk

As far back as I can remember I have kept a journal or a diary of some sort. In the years before blogging, I would faithfully recap the mundane events of my uneventful life, my hopes, my fears, and maybe a little wishful thinking.

Because my personal journals were never intended for public consumption, I felt free to write whatever I felt without censoring myself.  Even though, in my case, there's really not much to censor. (I have never been comfortable with the use of profanity, even in the confines of my personal pages, but that's not important right now.)

But now, I blog. And I write about my extraordinarily ordinary life for all the world to see.

I'm so glad I started doing this. And I make no apologies for the stories I tell and the way I share things. I'm just happy that other people can relate to me and like reading my stuff.

I do have a confession to make, though. I don't tell you everything. I know. Shocking, isn't it?

Let me explain.

I feel like I've got a lot to share. I want to document my life and my stories, but I don't like to whine, or complain, or rant, because, well....I don't like to whine, or complain, or rant in my real life.

Of course, there's a time and place for rants and complaints. I just don't happen to believe it's on this most public of forums. That's what best friends are for. And although I genuinely love my blog, I can conclusively say it's not my BFF. ;-)

So, I've come up with a solution that has served me well these past years. Not just in writing blog posts, but in my real life.

I keep two journals.

 

First thing in the morning, as I have my first cafécito I pull out a spiral bound notebook and I write.

Unedited, free-form, with no punctuation or rules of grammar. I date it at the top and just write. This is where my rants and whining find a place of expression. I write three pages in longhand and don't stop writing until those three pages are done. I write without censorship or judgment. Like Nike encourages, I just do it.

The concept of these "morning pages" are from the book, The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. And it helps to get the mental clutter out first thing in the morning so I can get on with the rest of my day.

In the second, nicer edition of my journal duo, I write at the end of my day, and list all of the things that I'm grateful for. (There are definitely days I can only muster up gratitude for my coffee-maker and my pillow, but that's not important right now, either.)

The idea of the Gratitude Journal is from a book I read years ago called Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnac. (She gets a little too spacey and new-agey for my personal tastes, but the concept of the Gratitude Journal is genius.)

Writing my journals in this kind of tandem have helped, not just my writing, but my attitude. I tend to look for things to be grateful for as I go through my days. Writing the three morning pages helps me to de-clutter, not just my brain, but my emotions.

What I've found as I have maintained this writing discipline in my life is that I don't complain as much or as often. I've found I'm much more grateful for the simplest things. I've found that I tend to look for good and positives.

But most of all, I've found that the more I express gratitude, the more I seem to have to be grateful for. Hmm....I wonder which came first?

So, tell me, do you journal?

Happy talk, keep talking happy talk
Talk about things you like to do
You got to have a dream, if you don't have a dream
How you gonna have a dream come true? ~ from the musical, South Pacific

(cross-posted at Tiki Tiki Blog)

Stuffed French Toast, Cuban Style - A Love Story and A Giveaway

Breakfast is my very favorite meal.

There. I said it.

I love eggs and bacon and toast and orange juice and anything with maple syrup on it. I love my hot coffee. And I love crispy sausage. Dutch babies? Love them. And don't even get me started on my love for hash browns and homestyle potatoes!

In fact, if left to my own devices, I would find a way to have breakfast for every meal of the day, but that's not important right now. (Well, breakfast food...oh, you know what I mean.)

A couple of years ago I was messing with an idea to make stuffed french toast. Then I remembered Cuban torrejas (TOH-RAY-HAAS), which are basically a form of pain perdu, only I stuffed them with guava and cream cheese. (Oh, yes, I did.)

Then I got an email from my friend, Ana Quincoces Rodriguez. She was working on a cookbook and she saw my recipe for torrejas on Babalú. She wanted to know if it was my own recipe (Yes!) and could she include it in her new cookbook? (Umm....YES!)

The only stipulation I had was that she give me credit in her new book and she did just that. We decided that instead of calling it Torrejas a lo Refugiado, which is what I originally called my creation, that she would call it (appropriately) My Big, Fat, Cuban Torrejas. (Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?)

Her Cuban cookbook is called Sabor! and every single recipe I've tried totally tastes as it should. (Thank you, Ana!) It's destined to become a classic in the Cuban Cookbook World.

And when you get your hands on this fabulous cookbook, please turn to page 204 - 205, where you'll find this:

My Big, Fat, Cuban Torrejas

• 4 egg yolks
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 Tbsp. Sugar
• 1 tsp. Cinnamon
• 1 tsp. Vanilla extract
• 3 whole eggs, beaten
• Vegetable oil (for frying)
• Guava paste cut into (about 20) slices
• 12 oz. tub of cream cheese
• 8 slices of thick bread. (I found something called Texas Toast – extra thick bread, but pan Cubano works well too)
• Powdered sugar

1) Whisk together: the egg yolks, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Mix thoroughly and set aside.

2) In a separate bowl, whisk together the 3 whole eggs.

3) Spread each slice of bread generously with the cream cheese.

4) Place about 4 or 5 slices of the guava paste on the bread to make a sandwich.


5) Heat the oil in a large frying pan or griddle. (use enough to just cover the surface)

6) Create an “assembly line” – quickly dip the sandwiches in the egg/milk/cinnamon mixture.

7) Take the soaked sandwich and dip into the beaten egg mixture.

8) Fry these in the hot oil – just until brown, turning once.

9) Place the fried sandwiches in a baking dish and place in a hot oven 400° for about 10 minutes, or just until the guava melts.

10) Dust with powdered sugar and slice into quarters. (Or halves if you think you can handle it. =D)

The Torrejas can be eaten hot or cold. I prefer the hot, fresh taste of melted guava. Serve with a sweet, hot cafecito.

“De aqui pa’l cielo.”

Thanks for that, Marta. But what's your point?

The good folks at Running Press Cooks! (the publishers of Ana's fabulous cookbook) sent me a copy that I'm going to giveaway. I know. Shut up.

Trust me, YOU. WANT. THIS. COOKBOOK.

So, to enter this comment drawing, answer the following question:

• What's your favorite breakfast food?

Leave a comment on this post and I'll choose a winner on Monday, August 2nd at 11:00 am.

Can you guess what my answer would be? =D

14,048

Thank you all for your wonderful response to the post about Christina Diaz Gonzalez's book, The Red Umbrella. I received lots of emails and Facebook and Twitter comments.

I was struck by a couple of things, which I had already suspected:

1. Most Cubans knew about the Pedro Pans, but unless they had read Yvonne Conde's excellent book, Operacion Pedro Pan, they didn't know how many children were affected.
2. Outside of the Cuban community, and a few others, most people had never even heard that such a thing had occurred. 

14,048. That number is staggering to me. Let that sink in for just a moment. These people are adults now. Many have never recovered from the pain of that initial separation from their parents.

Can you, as a parent, imagine the agony of making such a life altering decision? Can you imagine the fear of the alternative?

Cuba continues, to this day, to be an enigma to many.

But hear this: There are still many desperate parents on the island, without hope for a future for their children. The government continues to take parental privilege from them. The government, in fact, continues to steal lives, every single day.

But in the early 60's, 14,048 lives were saved. 

Thanks, Christina, for telling such a beautiful story.

********************************************************

As usual when I have a comment giveaway drawing, I plugged the names into the True Random Number Generator at Random.org and came up with two winners.

Congratulations to the winners of The Red Umbrella:

Ivis Suarez said...

* Are you personally related to or do you know any Pedro Pans?

My father in law is a Pedro Pan. Thankfully, he was reunited with his parents. I don't really know the details, though.

* Is this the first time you've heard about the Pedro Pan exodus?

No, but I didnt know it was so many children.

Ivis

********************************************************

and

Kristen Benson said...

Yes, I had heard about Pedro Pan before I met you, but I didn't have a face to it before. It has a different impact when you know someone who was affected. I cried reading these posts...wow...I have no words...

********************************************************

If you can make it, this weekend, please say hello to Christina and get her fabulous book. Again, she will be at the following:

SCBWI Annual Conference
July 28 – August 2nd
Los Angeles, CA

Saturday, July 31st at 6:30 pm
Vroman’s Bookstore
695 East Colorado Ave.
Pasadena, CA 91101

Sunday, August 1st at 2pm
Borders Bookstore
100 South Brand Boulevard
Glendale, CA 91204
(818) 241-8099

The Red Umbrella - a giveaway.

There is an episode in Cuban history that not many people outside of our community are aware of . 

When Castro and his cronies took power, not only was personal property at risk of being confiscated by the new communist government, but parents were going to lose their rights over their own children.

Desperate and terrified Cuban parents made the unthinkable decision to send their children out of the country rather than risk losing them to Marxist-Leninist indoctrination.

Airplane tickets and passports were clandestinely secured. With the help of the Catholic Welfare Bureau (Catholic Charities) of Miami 14,048 (!) Cuban youths were placed in foster homes and orphanages throughout the U.S during those years. 

The largest recorded exodus of unaccompanied minors in the Western Hemisphere was known as Operation Pedro Pan. From December of 1960 to October of 1962 they left Cuba, a few at a time. The Cuban parents who sent their children out of the country didn't know if they would ever see their children again. Many did not. About half of them were reunited with their parents.

But if you were to talk to most Pedro Pans today, they are nothing but grateful to their parents for making this impossibly heartbreaking sacrifice.

My friend, Christina Diaz Gonzalez has taken on the topic of the Pedro Pans and has crafted an absolutely beautiful story. The book is called The Red Umbrella. It is an historical fiction novel that follows 14 year-old Lucia from her carefree life in a small town in Cuba to an unknown future, without her parents, in the heart of Nebraska.

The story strikes a personal chord with Christina, as both her parents and mother-in-law were part of  Operation Pedro Pan.

Carrie and I had the privilege and pleasure of meeting Christina in May at Cuba Nostalgia in Miami. (And yes, as a matter of fact, she is absolutely adorable, but that's not important right now.)

 

(Of course, Carrie got up close and personal with the video camera and got Christina to give us some Tiki Tiki love.)

I was so personally delighted with the book (and with Christina, herself) that I asked if I could please promote her book here on MBFCF. She graciously agreed.

Christina will be in Southern California this coming weekend.

So, readers, please get yourselves over to one of these signings. Get a copy of this beautiful book. Pick one up for a friend. It's written in an elegantly simple style and would be most appropriate for a young teen also. My Lucy is reading The Red Umbrella as I speak write.

Christina will be at:

SCBWI Annual Conference
July 28 – August 2nd
Los Angeles, CA

Saturday, July 31st at 6:30 pm
Vroman’s Bookstore
695 East Colorado Ave.
Pasadena, CA 91101

Sunday, August 1st at 2pm
Borders Bookstore
100 South Brand Boulevard
Glendale, CA 91204
(818) 241-8099

Please go and meet the lovely Christina and and get yourself a copy of her beautiful book. Tell her Marta sent you.

 

I loved this book so much that I have procured two copies of The Red Umbrella to give away.

To be entered in the drawing, please leave a comment here on this post. Answer one or both of the following questions:

• Are you personally related to or do you know any Pedro Pans?
• Is this the first time you've heard about the Pedro Pan exodus?

I'll be choosing a winner on Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 11 am Pacific Time.

By the way, one of the reasons this story impacted me so much...

My brother was a Pedro Pan.

(cross-posted at Tiki Tiki Blog)

Reading in the 21st Century - A Very Cool Giveaway

We are voracious readers in our family.

Seriously voracious.

As I write this, four out of five of the people living in this house right now have a book in hand. I am personally in love with the Kindle for iPhone app, but that's not important right now.

So I was delighted when the makers of the new V.Reader for kids by VTech asked if I would review their product.

(In the interest of complete disclosure, I was given a V.Reader by VTech for my review. I was allowed to keep the product, but the opinion I am sharing remains my own. Well, with some help....read on...)

I got the V.Reader, turned it on, pressed the buttons, heard the story. I thought how incredibly cute it was and how I wished it had been available when my kids (who are now teenagers) were young. I totally would have purchased this product. So, my personal opinion was that I loved it.

An animated storybook? What's not to love?

But I knew I needed to get a real expert in here.

Here's my grand-nephew, Ben, who just turned five. His mom (my niece, Helen) has been reading to him since he was a baby. He loves books. 

"Here, Ben, try this."

He quickly typed in his name: B-E-N. Chose an avatar. A robot (Duh!). And it took him no time at all to figure out how to turn the "pages" on his "book."

 

He became immediately engrossed in the story and was quickly asking for more. "What else can I do? Are there more stories?"

 

The V.Reader is available at Target stores and so are the other book titles. (On hearing there was a new Toy Story 3 V.book, my niece left here and headed right over to Target to pick that one up.)

The final verdict according to my in-house expert and the general consensus from everyone here, the V.Reader is "Awesome!"

Here comes the very cool part....

VTech has generously offered to send out a V.Reader to one lucky MBFCF reader. (I know. Shut up!)

So, let's do a comment giveaway. (How much do I love this?)

Go to the comment section of this post and tell me ....what was YOUR favorite book as a child?

I'll choose a winner on Monday, July 5th at 11:00 am Pacific Time.

Mine was The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins by Dr. Seuss.  (That explains so much, doesn't it?) =D