Husband: “This is really good. What kind of pizza is it?”
I make homemade pizza all the time, so that part doesn’t surprise him.  It’s the distinctly Cuban flavor that gives him pause….
Me: “It’s a Cuban …

It’s lunchtime and you’re in a Cuban restaurant.  (I wish. *sigh*)
You think to yourself, “Self, I don’t want anything too big. Maybe I’ll just have a sandwich.”
So you peruse the menu of said Cuban restaurant …

What do you call your Cuban mother? (or your mother of any nationality for that matter…)
I started wondering about this earlier when I noticed that my sisters and I call my mom by different names.
Her …

These clocks are in my kitchen. They read from left to right like this:
~ Hanalei, Hawaii – our favorite place in the islands.
~ Mission Viejo, California – where we live.
~ Habana, Cuba – where I’m …

I don’t dare post pictures of what I have been up to in the kitchen anymore without posting the recipe. (I get emails…) I know I usually post about Cuban food, but I wanted to …

This was how we celebrated birthdays back in Cuba. These are my sisters and me at different ages.
(If you’re really curious, just count the candles on the cakes)
There was always a big, beautiful, almost-too-perfect cake …

This is my golden ticket.

In 1961, it cost $21.60 for the 1/2 fare for children to fly the 90 miles from Havana to Miami.
It’s not lost on me that I can easily spend more than …

We’ve got a dear family friend whom we’ll call “Sylvia.”  We’ll call her Sylvia because, well… that’s her name. =D
Sylvia is and has always been the representation of perfect Cuban womanhood to me.  I’ve known …

At some point early in our marriage, my husband noticed I stepped wide around discarded bags — big or small, paper or plastic.
I think we were in New York City, meandering, when he first asked …