My Big Fat Cuban Family: A Cuban-American Blog

Special Blue IMUSA Autism Speaks Sauté Pan (A Winner)

I decided I enjoy hosting giveaways on my blog for a couple of reasons:

1. It's really cool to be able to offer you a product that I, myself enjoy using.
2. You never cease to astound me with your insights and the depth of your answers. Thank you.

I have been using the beautiful blue Imusa USA Sauté pan just about every night this week. It's really kind of fabulous.

I'm happy to announce that the winner of the special edition sauté pan is:

Congratulations, Carmela!

You won the IMUSA USA LIMITED EDITION AUTISM SPEAKS SAUTE PAN. Please send me an email with "Hey, Marta! I won stuff on your blog!" in the subject line (so that I don't accidentally delete it). Be sure to include your snail mail address so that I forward to my friends at IMUSA USA, so they can send you your pan right away.

Thanks, Imusa, for partnering with Autism Speaks to bring awareness to such a great cause. If you'd like to learn more about Autism Speaks and "lighting it up blue," click on the following link.

IMUSA & Autism Speaks (A Giveaway)

Because we have homeschooled for so many years, we have had the privilege of getting to know, not just other homeschooled kids, but entire families who choose to homeschool their kids. Everyone, of course, has their varied and complex reason why they've opted to educate their kids at home. I've made some of my most precious friendships through homeschooling.

This is one of the loveliest and best kept secrets of home education. We get to share life and friendship with entire families that share our same values for education. In the context of making these family relationships, we have encountered quite a few that have been touched by autism.

Even this semester, Jonathan has a few friends who land somewhere on the autistic range. One of his friends, who is a bit awkward socially is an amazing and prolific musician. Another is quite a hilarious player on Jon's improv team. Happily, these kids find a safe place within the homeschool environment. I love how our community of homeschoolers come together as families and the kids with autism are included.

About Autism (from the Autism Speaks website):

Autism is a general term used to describe a group of complex developmental brain disorders - autism spectrum disorders - caused by a combination of genes and environmental influences. These disorders are characterized, in varying degrees, by social and behavioral challenges, as well as repetitive behaviors. An estimated 1 in 88 children in the U.S. is on the autism spectrum – a 1000 percent increase in the past 40 years that is only partly explained by improved diagnosis.

When the folks at IMUSA asked me about hosting a giveaway to raise Autism awareness, I was happy to participate. April 2nd is World Autism Awareness Day and the entire month of April is dedicated to raising Autism awareness with its Light It Up Blue campaign.

 

IMUSA USA and Autism Speaks have graciously partnered with My big, fat, Cuban family to bring you today's giveaway. In step with "lighting it up blue," I'm pleased to introduce the Autism Speaks Blue Sauté Pan from IMUSA USA.

1) To enter this drawing for the Blue Autism Speaks Sauté Pan, please leave a comment on this post and answer one or both of the following questions:

• Have you been touched by autism? Tell me.
• What fabulous thing would you cook in this beautiful blue sauté pan?

Please leave your comment on this post and I'll choose a winner on Saturday, April 21st, 2011 at 8pm PST.

How I Choose My Giveaway Winners (and the IMUSA Mini Cookware Winner)

I have to tell you that your responses to the questions in the last post were awesomely hilarious! Plus, you all had some great suggestions for how to use this Mini Cookware. Seriously, thank you! And if you're curious, go check them out here.

Here were the original questions:

• What can you see yourself making in any or all of these beautiful mini cookware pieces?
• What color Mini Cookware would you choose? 
• What's your favorite word to add an "-ito" to?

And because it's Sunday night and I'm still recovering from my trip to Tennessee and my weekend with my mom I'll make this post short and sweet, or "cort-ito."  ;-)

Here's a photo of the entire line of Mini Cookware. Isn't it just yummy?

And in case you don't know how I do these giveaways, I'll tell you now:

1. I go to the website Random.org and type in the number of comments into the True Random Number Generator. It then randomly chooses a number, like this one:

2. I then take the Result that's showing in the box and count down to see which comment is the winner and I take a screen shot, like this:

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3. At which point I congratulate the winner and give them instructions telling them to contact me, like this:

Congratulations, Kiki! You won the IMUSA Mini Cookware! Please send me an email with "Hey, Marta! I won stuff on your blog!" in the subject line (so that I don't accidentally delete it). Be sure to include your snail mail address so that I can forward to IMUSA USA and they can send you your fabulous Mini Cookware.

4. Then I thank the giveaway sponsors for their generosity and I tell you where you can purchase their products for yourself, like this:

Thank you so much, IMUSA USA for sponsoring this giveaway! IMUSA Products are available at all Macy's stores.

5. And then I let the rest of you know that I have partnered with IMUSA USA to bring you more product giveaways in the future, like this:

To the rest of you, thanks for playing once again. IMUSA USA will be sponsoring a different product giveaway here at MBFCF every month, so if you didn't win this time, please come back and try again.

Gracias!

It's the Little Things (A Giveaway from IMUSA)

 Growing up Cuban has always meant turning normal size things into the diminutive form.

When there were Everest-sized mountains of sandwiches, they were called "bocaditos." Or "just a mouthful." Lies. It took more than "just a bite" to consume these particular delicacies.

We don't just drink café, we have a "cafecito." (A little coffee.) Or an espresso topped with steamed milk is called a "cortadito," no matter what size it is. "Cortadito" translates to "little cut." (Don't ask me why this makes any sense.)

We don't eat just eat papas fritas (French fries), we enjoy "papitas fritas." Can you see just how much cuter and much more appetizing they are when you add the "-ita"?

Your adorable Cuban grandmother is not just your abuela, she is your "abuelita."

Everything seems much more adorable and cuter with the addition of the diminutive suffix.

Add an "-ito" or "-ita" to something and it becomes small and precious. In Cuban circles, I'm not just Marta, I'm "Martita," Or "Martica."  See how much cuter I am when I'm called Mini Marta.?  ;-)

I have Cuban diminutives on the brain because my friends at IMUSA USA have released a line of Mini Cookware. Yes, I said, MINI. I know. Shut up.

WARNING: Cuteness overload coming up...

Cazuelitas! Sarténcitas! GUAT? How fabulously cute are these?

The mini line is perfect for making scaled down or "-ito" versions of your favorite recipes. Ideal for singles, empty nesters and college-bound cooks. (Miss Lucy has taken to making herself two perfect, little pancakes each day on that perfect, little mini griddle. Yes, pancakes-itos!) I could weep from the cuteness of it all.

It comes in some deliciously rich Spice Line colors (think Fiesta) including: Chili Pepper Red, Cilantro Green, Sazon Orange, Saffron Yellow and Tropical Blue.

The IMUSA USA Mini Cookware product line includes the following:

• 1/2 qt. mini casserole 
• 1/2 qt. covered saucepan
• 6" grill pan,
• 2 pc. cookware sets of 6.5" griddle & 6" fry pan

Can it get any better than this?? Yes! How about if we do a comment giveaway for a set of these? (I knew you'd like that.)

1) To enter this drawing, please leave a comment on this post and answer one or all of the following questions:

• What can you see yourself making in any or all of these beautiful mini cookware pieces?
• What color Mini Cookware would you choose? 
• What's your favorite word to add an "-ito" to?

2) For an extra entry, please go "like" IMUSA USA on Facebook and come back and leave me another comment telling me:  

• "I like IMUSA USA!"

So that's not one, but two entries apiece. You're welcome.

Remember that if you want to enter the drawing for this adorable IMUSA Mini Cookware set (and trust me, you do), you must leave a comment (plus the 2nd comment if you do the Facebook liking thing) on this post and I'll choose a winner on Sunday, March 4th 2011 at 8 PST.

I just got home from my trip to Nashville, which I'll tell you all about next week when I'm all recovered. In the meantime, I'm thinking that for breakfast tomorrow, I'm going to be making a delicious English-muffin-egg-and-ham sandwich-ito for myself using all this mini cuteness.

And for the record, I'm still totally into the Orange (!).

 Hasta lueguito!  ;-)

IMUSA Orange(!) Caldero - A Winner

Can I just tell you how much I love how well you guys answered my question: "What favorite recipe of yours will taste fabulous when made in this beautiful Orange(!) caldero?"

Plus, your comments seriously made me hungry, but that's not important right now.

I also want to thank you for the enthusiasm you've shown for IMUSA USA. They are a lovely sponsor for these giveaways and they've generously offered to partner with MBFCF for the rest of this year. I'm so looking forward to the next cool product they'll be offering my readers.

Without further ado, the winner of the beautiful Orange(!) caldero is:

Congratulations, Susana! Please send me an email with "Hey, Marta! I won stuff on your blog!" in the subject line so I don't accidentally delete it. I will then forward to IMUSA USA so they can send you your cool Orange(!) caldero.

Thanks, everyone for your support. You can find IMUSA products at all Macy's stores.

I'm going to be making picadillo tomorrow in my Orange(!) caldero. ;-)

Orange(!) is the new black. (A Giveaway)

I am waiting (a little impatiently) for my fabulous new kitchen appliances to be delivered. I think we're still about a week out from that. You would think I'd be totally content now since I'm getting all new appliances, but you know how it is, suddenly everything starts looking like it needs upgrading or replacing. *sigh*

There is, however, one item in my kitchen that still makes me completely happy and that is my IMUSA USA Orange(!) caldero. I use it constantly and am always looking for new recipes to make in it.

Arroz con pollo. Carne con papas. Sopa de pollo. All made in my beautiful Orange(!) caldero. I am starting to think it has magical properties because everything I've made in it tastes amazing. I have to add that I also go ahead and put the Orange(!) caldero straight on the table, not because I'm lazy (shut up. I'm not!), but because it's so seriously beautiful.

My good friend, Chef Ana (don't-hate-me-because-I'm-beautiful) Quincoces shares her recipe for some amazing Pulled Pork Sliders in her Orange(!) caldero.

Brilliant, no?

 

Doesn't that just make you want this beautiful Orange(!) caldero to cook something fabulous in?

Here's your chance.

My friends over at IMUSA USA have graciously partnered with MBFCF to host this giveaway for a beautiful Orange(!) caldero.

Oooh! Yes, please!

Usually, I would only ask you to leave a comment to enter the drawing for the giveaway item, but I want to give you each a couple of chances, so....

1) To enter this drawing, please leave a comment on this post and answer the following question:

• What favorite recipe of yours will taste fabulous when made in this beautiful Orange(!) caldero?

2) For an extra entry, please go "like" IMUSA USA on Facebook and come back and leave me another comment telling me:  

• "I like IMUSA USA!"

So that's not one, but two entries apiece. Yes, I'm generous like that, but that's not important right now.

Remember that if you want to enter the drawing for this beautiful Orange(!) caldero, you must leave a comment (plus the 2nd comment if you do the Facebook liking thing) on this post and I'll choose a winner on Monday, January 16th 2011 at 8 PST.

Buen Provecho! And thanks, IMUSA USA!

This fabulous Orange(!) caldero is also available at all Macy's stores.  

{Disclaimer: IMUSA USA very generously sent me that beautiful Orange(!) caldero for my own use and to review the product and also offered one as a giveaway for one lucky MBFCF reader. The opinion that it is fabulous is my own.}

Lovers of Rice Unite! (A Winner)

I can't even tell you how happy I was to host this giveaway! Your comments made it obvious that you all love rice just as much as I do. I sincerely wish I could send you all something, but I can only choose one winner. *insert sad face here*

I'm so happy to have partnered with IMUSA USA to bring you this wonderful giveaway. I've already used my IMUSA Rice Cooker a few times and I'm completely in love with it! The pan is non-stick and it's super easy to clean which is a total win-win when it comes to rice cookers. (Of course, I have teenagers who do the dishes, but that's not important right now.)

To choose a winner, I typed in the number of valid comment entries into the Random Number Generator in Random.org which gave me the following number.

The winner of the IMUSA Rice Cooker is:

Bea said...

Rice every meal? Does a bear poopee in the woods? Nochebuena y mala; doesn't matter the ocassion we served it with rice. Christmas dinner will consist of black beans, pork shoulder, tabouli (homage to our Moorish friends and yummy with the beans), roasted garlic and rosemary swt potatoes, salad ( one jello based, of course), and lots of other goodies. All capped off with pumpkin spice flan, coconut rum cake with Guayaba filling, turrones, dates and figs, un cafe Ito y crema de vie!

ReplyDecember 16, 2011 at 05:27 AM

Congratulations, Bea! Send me an email with HEY, MARTA! I WON STUFF ON YOUR SITE! in the subject line (so that I won't accidentally delete it) along with your snail mail address.  (By the way, "snail mail" is just a techy term for your home address.)

Do it today so that I can forward to the folks at IMUSA USA so that they can send out your rice cooker ASAP.

Thanks again for playing with me. ;-)

Buen Provecho!

For the Love of Rice. (A Cuban Christmas Giveaway)

As we're nearing the holiday countdown and making all the preparations, I'm all about making lists.

I have a book with the following lists:

• My Christmas List
• My Crema de Vie Recipient List
• My Menu List
• My Grocery Shopping List
• My Stocking Stuffer List
• My Christmas Card List
• My Decorating List
• My Christmas Tag List (The to/from kind)
• My Video List (I'll explain this another time)

And on it goes.

As I was reviewing my Grocery Shopping List, I realized that all of my holiday meals involve rice. Talk about a staple in the Cuban home! Growing up, we had rice at every meal. Every meal, people.  We Cubans are nothing, if not committed to our rice.

And obviously our Nochebuena celebration is not complete without perfectly cooked white rice. Am I right? 

What else, I ask you, would so beautifully prop up our perfect Cuban black beans? (Can you hear that Angelic Chorus?)

Just in time for Christmas I have partnered with my friends at IMUSA USA to bring you an awesome giveaway. 

The Perfect Rice Cooker from IMUSA USA. Ta-da! You can also make any of your favorite "arroz con _____" in it.

To enter the drawing for a chance to win this beautiful IMUSA 5 Cup Rice (and Multi-purpose) Cooker, please leave a comment on this post and answer one or all of the following questions:

• Did your family serve rice for every meal?
• What else will you be serving with your Christmas Rice?  ;-)
• What's your Nochebuena and/or Christmas menu?
• What's your favorite "arroz con ______"?

I'll do a random drawing on Sunday, December 18th at 8 pm Pacific Time. 

{Disclosure: I received the 5 Cup Rice Cooker from IMUSA USA to use for this promotion and as a giveaway to one lucky reader. The opinion that it is fabulous is my own.}

IMUSA Orange (!) Caldero - A Winner

I am so inspired by you all!

Arroz con pollo, pasta e fagioli, bistec en cazuela, fricase de pollo, arroz con gandules and the list goes on and on.

Those are just a few of the suggestions of what you would make in the beautiful ORANGE (!) IMUSA caldero.

I am definitely making the arroz con pollo this weekend, a la chorrera, but that's not important right now. However, if you have any more suggestions for fabulously delicious food waiting to be made in this, please feel free to let me know. =D

Sadly, I can only choose one of you......(this part is so difficult!)

Which is why I always go to Random.org and put in the number of entries and it chooses a number (randomly, of course) which corresponds to the winner.

So, congratulations to:

Please send me an email with your snail mail address and HEY, MARTA! I WON STUFF ON YOUR BLOG in the subject line and include your snail mail address so I can forward to the IMUSA people so that they can get your beautiful ORANGE (!) caldero out to you immediately.

If you are still interested in this beautiful ORANGE (!) caldero, they are available at all Macy's stores.

[To the rest of you, thanks for playing once again. IMUSA USA will be sponsoring a different product giveaway here at MBFCF every month, so if you didn't win this time, please keep trying. Lightning is bound to strike sometime!]

Buen Provecho!

What do you do with an empty (ORANGE!) caldero? (A recipe and giveaway)

Let me tell you about the big plans I had for this past week when I got back from Texas:

1. I was going to cook a big, fat pot of arroz con pollo.
2. I was going to cook it in my new big, fat ORANGE (!) caldero from IMUSA USA (which totally matches my Fiesta dishes, but that's not important right now).
3. I was going to do a video and teach you how I make it.
4. I was going to give away an ORANGE (!) caldero (it looks fabulous on my stove) to one lucky MBFCF reader.

What I didn't count on...

1. I didn't count on being exhausted both physically and emotionally when I got back.
2. I didn't count on getting that scratchy-throat-fevery-oh-no-it-might-be-strep thing which has me super run down.

So I'm staring at this empty ORANGE (!) caldero (and totally loving it, by the way) and feeling guilty. In that intense, Cuban, swim-around-in-it-until-your-fingers-get-pruney-from-the-guiltiness way.

What to do?

1. Share my friend, Ana's recipe for Jambalaya, which she geniusly makes in this same beautiful ORANGE (!) (orange is the new black, you know) caldero.
2. Host the giveaway anyway.

So here's Ana's recipe for Jambalaya. (The photos are also from her beautiful site, AnaQuincoces.com - go there. Surf around. Find the quote from me about her. You're curious now, aren't you?)

JAMBALAYA

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into bite-size pieces
• 8 ounces Andouille sausage, sliced
• 1 large sweet yellow onion, diced
• 1 small red bell pepper, diced
• ½ cup diced celery
• 2 tbsp chopped garlic
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper or to taste
• ½ cup tomato sauce
• 1 tbsp onion powder
• 1 (12oz) can fire roasted tomatoes
• 2 cups uncooked converted white rice (Like Uncle Ben’s)
• 4 and ½ cups chicken stock (double it for brown rice)
• 3 bay leafs
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp hot pepper sauce
• salt & ground black pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Heat oil in your large IMUSA CALDERO to medium high heat.
2. In your IMUSA SAUTÉ PAN, Sauté chicken and andouille sausage until lightly browned for about 5 minutes.
3. In your IMUSA CALDERO, stir in onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic.
4. Season with cayenne, onion powder, salt and pepper.
5. Cook for 5 minutes, or until onion and bell pepper are soft and onion is translucent.
6. Add the tomato sauce and cook for 5 more minutes.
7. Add the rice, the chicken stock and bay leaves to your caldero, bringing to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes, or until rice is tender.
8. Add the chicken and the Worcestershire sauce and stir it with hot pepper sauce.
9. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

SERVES 6

Isn't that just crazy-beautiful?

But this still leaves me with an empty ORANGE (!) caldero (I'm thinking carne con papas would be awesome in this) to give away....

So, to enter this drawing, answer one or both of the following questions:

• What would YOU make in this beautiful ORANGE (!) caldero?
• Do you forgive me? ;-)

Remember that if you want to enter the drawing for this beautiful ORANGE (!) caldero, you must leave a comment on this post and I'll choose a winner on Tuesday, July 26th, 2011 at 5 pm Pacific.

Buen Provecho! And thanks, IMUSA USA!

This fabulous ORANGE (!) caldero is also available at all Macy's stores. And if you're on Facebook, please give IMUSA USA some "like" love.  ;-)

{Disclaimer: Imusa USA very generously sent me that beautiful ORANGE (!) caldero and offered one as a gift for one lucky MBFCF reader.}

Espresso time! And the winner is...

I was quite pleased as I read the comments on the How to Make Cuban Coffee With Killer Espuma post.

Most of you are of the Old Stovetop School of Cuban Coffee Making Goodness. (Yay!)

And can I just tell you right now how much I love when you tell me about even the minutia of your life? I feel like we're sharing a cafecito at my kitchen table. So thank you all.

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The winner of the Red IMUSA^® Coffee Maker and Red Espresso Cups is:

Aida Nava said...

i'm not ashamed to say this, we fail at making any kind of espuma.. we have a stovetop maker but haven't mastered making anything delicous from it! but if i could get my hands on turkish coffee i'd be happy!

and...

The winner of the IMUSA^® Nine Piece Stainless Steel Espresso Set is

Suzy said...

It's all about being old school. I first learned how to make espumita with my Tia Olimpia. She use to blend her coffee and sugar in one of those weird bottle/glasses that already made shrimp cocktail came in. (Not sure if they had those in Cali, but my guess is probably). Anyway I was always fasinated by the foam that was created in that weird little glass.

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Congratulations to you both! Please shoot me an email with HEY MARTA! I WON STUFF ON YOUR BLOG! in the subject line (so I don't accidentally delete you). Please include your snail mail address so that I can forward to IMUSA^® and they can get your goodies out to you.

I'd like to thank the very generous folks at IMUSA^® for sponsoring this giveaway. And if you thought this one was cool (and it totally was)....they have very generously offered to partner with MBFCF and do some more fabulous giveaways in the next few months, so stay tuned for that.

Check out their fabulous products and visit them online at www.imusausa.com. Or go "like" them on Facebook - they have the best cooking tips every day. Thanks again, IMUSA!

I have lots of giveaways coming up this summer, so please keep checking back in. Seriously, I'm a little overwhelmed with all the coolness I get to share, but that's not important right now.

In the meantime, I hope you're all practicing your Killer Espuma^®.

How to make Cuban coffee with KILLER espuma. You're welcome.

Making Cuban coffee is more art than science.

I think I learned how to make Cuban coffee when I was about 8 years old and able to maneuver in the kitchen without hurting anything. It wasn't just a matter of making the coffee itself, there had to be a frothy topping to that café and just the right amount of sweetness. Of course, like anything else, some people can make it happen with apparently less effort than others. Hence the artistry.

My dad always smelled of a pleasant mix of Vitalis, puros, and Bustelo. If Cuban music is the soundtrack of my life, the aroma of freshly brewed espresso is the fragrance.

Obviously, you can use a fancy espresso machine to get your café made for you at the press of a button. But I'm from the old espresso-maker-on-the-stovetop school of Cuban coffee making.

Why?

Because of the ESPUMA. That's what we call the frothy stuff on top. (I would say "espumita," but the stuff I'm talking about is much more powerful than the diminutive suggests.) Killer Espuma - I should trademark that! - is a matter of personal pride in our family. Today, my daughter, Amy Kikita, who is The Official Family Killer Espuma^® Maker will share her secret for the Perfect Cuban Espresso with Killer Espuma^®.  ;-)

(By the way, she doesn't really talk like that, but that's not important right now.)

In keeping with today's theme of All Things Coffee, I am grateful for the generous folks at IMUSA^® for providing today's fabulous giveaway gifts.

Thing 1) An old-school (of course!) Aluminum Espresso CoffeeMaker in RED. (It's the same as the beautiful red one in the video.) Along with a set of four RED espresso cups & saucers.

Thing 2) A nine piece Stainless Steel Espresso Set. Beautiful, no?

They also have a wonderful and varied line of espresso related items. Check that out right here.

So, for a chance to win one of the two featured prizes above, please leave a comment on this post and answer one or both of the following questions:

• Do you use a new-fangled espresso machine to make your café, or are you an old-school stovetopper, like me?
• Do you like your espresso with Killer Espuma^®?  ;-)

I'll choose 2 winners on Thursday, June 16th at 6 pm Pacific Time.

Thank you, IMUSA^®!

(cross-posted at Babalú blog)