OK, we are a little bit addicted to these Things People Say videos on YouTube, and watching them has brought up stuff people have said to me and others about being Latina, about being a cubanita.

So, here is Sh*t Guys Say to Cuban Girls and a playlist of videos we’ve put together of the best of these with Latin flavor. (And by the way, more than half of what’s in the video has been said to me directly.)

You must, must watch the MTV Tr3s video about Abuelas located in the playlist below. I nearly tinkled in my pantalones. That Abuela has to be a cubana!

De Madre!

Sh*t Guys Say to Cuban Girls

A Things People Say Playlist con Sabor

We have created a list of videos on this topic that have made us laugh…and check out the Abuelas!

and if you missed the previous video:

Caca that Cubans Say

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Have you seen all those funny videos “Shit White Girls Say to Black Girls“; “Shit Spanish Girls Say?”; “Shit Gay Southern Guys Say?”

How about “Shit Salvadorans Say” by a favorite Tiki Tiki contributor and writer, Tracy Lopez?

They’ve all been a spinoff of the popular YouTube series starring actress Juliette Lewis.

Well, I got to thinking about it and my people, the Cubans, talk about caca a lot. So, in honor of viral videos about shit things people say, here is Shit Cubans Say.

*And I apologize for the S-word. We usually it muy clean here…and using mierda so much isn’t what I like to do online…pero mama, it’s just too fun right now. It’s all in good comedy. Or Act-ing!

Maybe the next one needs to be Sh*t Cuban Parents Say?

Below is a little collection of videos to the theme that are pretty funny.

Sh*t Salvadorans Say

Sh*t Spanish Girls Say

(listen for the Maaaaaa!)

Sh*t Latina Girls Say

(with abuelitas in appearance)

Sh*t White Girls Say to Black Girls: 2

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So, my parents were visiting for a couple of weeks, bringing big Cuban Miami goodness to a little house in Nashville.

They brought guava and cheese pastelitos and turrones and guava paste and dulce de leche en crema and a few root vegetables, to boot. It was as if a Little Havana mercadito exploded in my kitchen. The only thing missing was the window counter and a surly cubana making cortaditos.

It has been 24 hours since they left and I have made a few discoveries in their absence.

Watch the video to find out que…

(If you can’t see the video, click the headline link…)

What you find in the pantry after your Cuban parents leave...

Updated…Look what else I found…Papi’s homemade, premade mojito mix! Pura Vida!

Papi left his homemade, pre-made mojito mix!

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We both want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas y Feliz Navidad y Un Prospero Año Nuevo. Thanks so much for sharing the Tiki Tiki with us this year.

You are our most precious gift.

Feliz Navidad!

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I recently introduced a half-Puerto Rican friend to a totally cubana friend and watched as the Puerto Rican sheepishly admitted she didn’t speak mucho Spanish.

I joked with her that we’d get rid of her complejo by teaching her to say “Ay, Dios Mio!’‘ and all would be well. She’d be able to “pass” and not feel so “semi-Latina.”

That funny moment, coupled with conversations I have had with other Latinas who don’t speak Spanish —  or much of it — has inspired this video post: “Sneaky Spanish Tips for Semi-Latinas!”

You too can be 100% Latina with these quick and easy Spanish tips from the Tiki Tiki!

Yes, guay!

OK, hermanas, what other sayings, dichos, words should we be teaching our monolingual sisters?

And, nobody say “Ay, Papi!”

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This Chihuahua taco holder, $27.99, is sold out all over the place.

OK, gente…I troll the web so you don’t have to. And see, today I found you the perfect thing: A chihuahua taco holder. You may have to find it at a flea market though. It is sold out all over the place. Of course it is!

And the rest…Here’s a curated list of interesting, funny and new videos with sabor. Feel free to send links to videos you like, too.

UrbanoTV, brainchild of actor John Leguizamo has launched. It’s a Latino-centric video site, allowing any loco to create a channel. Watch the promo for UnLatino Latino and click here to watch Spanish Lessons for Gringos. (Careful, NSFW)

Have you heard about what’s being touted as the Latina The View? It’s called Let’s Talk on LatinHeat.com. I think Marta and I need a show called Tibia no Mas. This episode is about sex. Listen to the ladies talk about different words for the “va-jay-jay” and the motherly advice they got about “no abrir las piernas…”

I am in love with a Spanish woman named Águeda. She and her daring senior citizen friends do skits and candid camera sorts of things boldly and shamelessly. It gives me hope for an entertaining old age! My favorite is the El Facebook video, which I have watched more times than I care to admit. Her blog is called “El Blog de Águeda.” Go read it. Watch them do a flash mob and on the YouTube page watch this one on public farting and gay grandpa.  Ay!

Keep an eye on www.eco-rico.com. It appears it will launch at some point and worth the bookmark.

Here’s the only video, just uploaded, and the description:  ”While Giselle makes her aphrodisiac-laden Arugula, Avocado, Toasted Pine Nut Salad with lemon, garlic, honey dressing, Guest Chef Ana Cabán stops by the EcoRico Kitchen to make her fab mojitos. But in the time it takes Ana to make one mojito, Giselle’s prepped and made the salad and dressing and taught Composting 101.”

And, to go with that taco holder, here are two taco songs. Sing them to your favorite taco truck driver and see what he says:

And finally, we love our Dominican brothers and sisters. We do! This is naughty, but funny. At least to me…

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Live Large. La comida at El Palacio de Los Jugos.

This video I shot at El Palacio de los Jugos of Marta’s hilarious and charming cousin riffing on living large in Miami made me go searching for an appropriate dicho.

I think this one fits wonderfully: “A comer, beber, bailar y gozar, que el mundo se va acabar.”

Basically, it’s the Spanish version of “Eat, drink and be merry because tomorrow we die.”

It works. A reminder that you’d better eat all the cuatro leches cake you wish to ’cause all you’ve got is today. Or, maybe not?

Or, how about this one: “De esta vida nada sacaras, solo panza llena y nada mas.” (Translation: All you’re getting out of this life, Buddy, is a full belly and nothing more…”

Live a big life today, gente.

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When Carrie and I found ourselves both in Miami at the same time, the first thing we did was plan where we would go to eat some fabulous Cuban food. Carrie was shocked that I had never been to the Palacio de los Jugos, so that became our destination.

My mom has a dicho whenever she encounters something gigantic: “Eso se le perdio a Santa Barbara.” (Translation: “That is the *insert gigantic object here* that was lost by Santa Barbara.”) No, I have no clue how it relates, but she has been saying this for as long as I can remember and, as it usually happens in life, I find myself quoting my mom when I come across a large object.

We joke about it, of course. (We joke about pretty much everything, but that’s not important right now.)
In fact, all of the people in my big, fat Cuban family try to one-up each other when it comes to something Santa Barbara lost.

Everything at the Palacio de los Jugos was larger than life. Everything. The avocados, the mameys, the pineapples, the galletas! I was out-of-my-mind excited about the abundance of food and the super-size of all the fruits. Watch the video to see me and Carrie eating our way around the Palacio. (Don’t judge us. La Dieta starts next week.)

All of this super food gave me an idea….

I had made a ton of picadillo because I wanted to make some empanadas.  But because I sometimes lean toward the lazy side (I know. Shut up.) I decided I’d just skip the making of the dough, get a pre-fab pie crust and make (drum roll, please…) A Giant Empanada! (I should totally get extra points for coolness here.)

La empanada que se le perdio a Santa Barbara.

La Empanada Que Se Le Perdio A Santa Barbara (=D)

• 1 pkg. Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crust (package contains 2 rolled crusts)
• Picadillo – this link is to my Papi’s favorite picadillo recipe
• 1 beaten egg

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Make the picadillo and allow the portion to be used in the empanada to cool.
3. Roll out one pie crust onto a cookie sheet.

4. Place the cooled picadillo on one half of pie crust.

5. Smooth edges of pie crust with some of the beaten egg (it works like glue).

6. Fold one side of crust over the filling to create a half moon.

7. Press down the edges and use a fork to press and seal the two sides.

8. Make 3 small slits on top of empanada with a sharp knife to vent.

9. Brush beaten egg over the top.

10. Repeat with the other pie crust.

11. Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

12. Slice and serve.

This empanada slice is served on a smaller, salad size plate:

I brought home some Cuban galletas home from Miami. (Yay!) They’re the really big ones that have the flaky, bread flavor. They’re also about the size of a dinner plate.

Las galletas que se le perdieron a Santa Barbara

That’s right… apparently these were the very ones that were lost by Santa Barbara.

Buen Provecho!

(This is my own recipe and it was originally posted on Babalú blog.)

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Carrie and I were in Miami last weekend attending a blog conference. It was called Blogalicious Weekend. (Don’t you just love the sound of it already?)

It was all about blogging and social media and most importantly, it was held in Miami. In South Beach, people!

Every hour of each day of the entire weekend held something wonderful and informative and entertaining, but honestly, the event most of us bloggers looked forward to attending was The ¡Parranda! Party.

Organized by Carrie, Melanie Edwards of Modern Mami, and Ana Flores of Spanglish Baby, the ¡Parranda! party (Can I just tell you that I really love using the upside-down Spanish exclamation point, but that’s not important right now.) was THE happening place to be on Friday night. Trust me when I tell you that these three savvy Latinas absolutely know how to throw a party.

The description from the ¡Parranda! party site:

¡Parranda! A Spanish word associated with an all-out party, a rockin’ good time, a most memorable fiesta. And that’s exactly what we’re all about: Delicious food, exotic drinks, and music that won’t let you sit down – no matter how much your feet hurt.

We walked into the Set nightclub which had been reserved for this very fun evening and were greeted by this:

Que Rica Vida takes over the Set

Just being in this very-South-Beach, uber-hip, very-we-can-dance-all-night setting made us all want to dance. And dance. And dance. And so we did. A lot. All night.

We enjoyed appetizers and the official !Parranda! party signature drink, The Ecsta-Sí. (I know. Shut up.)

Latina bloggers at the Blogalicious ¡Parranda! party

On a side note, the couches in the club were decorated with the beautiful Que Rica Vida pillows that I had been coveting since the last Que Rica Vida event in Miami. I personally happen to love the Que Rica Vida logo for 2 reasons: 1) It’s beautiful and orange! and 2) It speaks to me of enjoying and celebrating a rich and delicious life. (Full disclosure: I may or may not have this gorgeous pillow currently in my possession. =D)

Que Rica Vida!

All the partying bloggers received some excellent swag, thanks to the following very generous sponsors:

• Que Rica Vida
• Nestle Pure Life
• Nestle Abuelita
• Nestle Toll House Refrigerated Cookie Dough
• Nestle Toll House Morsels
• Nestle Carnation
• Nestle Ovaltine
• Stonyfield
• Deckers
• Peace Love World
• Alcance Media Group

They even invited Brazilian dancers to heat things up. Talk about caliente!

Carnaval time!

I think I can safely speak for all the ladies who attended and tell you that we had The. Best. Time. Ever.

Bloggers are not shy people and it was so much fun to watch the conference attendees bouncing into the club in a happy impromptu conga line. Seriously. So much fun.

Needless to say, we continued to dance. And dance. And dance some more. And truly, as they said, the music would not let us sit down – no matter how much our feet hurt…

Luckily, included in our swag bags from Que Rica Vida was this genius gift from Dr. Scholl’s:

Thank you, to all the Blogalicious ladies who came and partied with us and made this such a wonderful and memorable night. A special thanks to Carrie, Melanie, and Ana – the ¡Parranda! party exceeded everyone’s expectations. ¡Wepa!

(DISCLOSURE: General Mills and Que Rica Vida sponsored both Carrie and myself for Blogalicious Weekend. They did not require us to write this post. We just happen to think they are very, VERY fabulous.)

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When the albóndigas with chipotle salsa were done, I was among the first to sample and I was in the perfect spot to get some more. I will admit to eating four and wanting more. Glotona.

They were juicy and spicy, but not so much that my non-fiery Cuban tongue couldn’t handle it. (Cuban food isn’t spicy, just so you know.)

Maura, who writes the beautiful and mouth-watering blog, The Other Side of the Tortilla (and who also is my editor at Cafe Magazine), published the recipe today.  She wrote:

Albóndigas are a simple comfort food, easy to make and even easier to eat. Some people like to make their albóndigas bigger so they can accommodate a whole egg filling on the inside. José only likes them without egg, so a few months ago I finally learned this recipe from our family friend, Esmeralda. This is her recipe, so we fondly call it albóndigas estilo Esme (or in English: meatballs, Esme-style) in our house. It’s a simple but traditional Mexican food sure to please the whole family.

Here is Maura during the cooking demo:

I have to say these were better than any Cuban albóndigas I ever have eaten.

Do you have a favorite albóndigas recipe, or special ingredient to share?

Buen provecho!

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