Rice ala madre

My rice recipe stems from various recipes created by my grandmother, mother, and 2 of my aunts. All are very good cooks and each of their rice dishes stands alone. I don't favor one over another, however I prefer my rice "wet" with the taste of roasted tomato, so I add crushed tomatoes to my rice dish to make it more appealing to my own personal taste buds. Another thing I add to my Mexican rice is something very unique...it's herbs de provence. My herbs de provence include rosemary, oregano, bay leaf and sometimes other herbs if I have on hand. I know this is not typical for a "border" rice dish, however my personal cooking is derived from my roots as well as a personal choice of taste that I have come introduced to on my own through magazines, books and television cooking shows. My desire to experiment in the kitchen has given me this delicious rice recipe that I call my own.

Rice ala madre

1 cup uncooked rice
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/4 of a large onion thinly sliced
3 cloves of fresh minced garlic
1/4 cup crushed tomatoes
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground chili powder
1 tsp herbs de provence
salt/pepper to taste
2 cups water or chicken broth

saute the rice in olive oil until brown
add onion, and garlic until translucent
add crushed tomatoes, spices and water
bring to a boil, cover and turn to low heat for 15 min.

yummy with fresh sliced avocado

Scalloped Potatoes

Scalloped Potatoes

8 potatoes, scrubbed and peeled
1 1/4 cups milk
1 stick of butter
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
2 tablespoons flour
fresh (or dried) rosemary

slice potatoes into thin circles
layer into the bottom of a baking dish and top with rosemary and butter
continue to layer until all potatoes are in the baking dish then top with milk/flour/salt-pepper mixture.

place in a 350 degree oven for 45 min (covered for half the cooking time and uncovered remainder of cooking time)

I love these potatoes because they remind me of Thanksgiving - they are my favorite side dish that I look forward to. My mother taught me how to prepare and cook these potatoes and I have taken them over. My mother never added rosemary, however I have come to fall in love with the flavor of fresh herbs.

Death has no voice

Death has no voice
Evana Vleck

Death has no voice
And my eyelashes, when they flutter have no sound

Your touch to my face is gentle and tender; it’s a winding staircase leading to a secret pink room full of old books, broken glass and heavy curtains covered in dust, smelling like dried roses that are still very much alive…

I’m covered up in you
And filled with you as well

I wear ruffles and plain lipstick and pack my cigarettes inside of my ivory clutch…the wind agrees with me

And your skin…it’s flawless, it caresses my mind and pollutes me…making me an outcast as the wind blows through me

I’m filled with you, and you don’t even know
So full and so delighted to remain
Alone
And you don’t even know

You shouldn’t know, because your innocence is far beyond mine

And your eyes sparkle with sincere acceptance when I smile up to you, I can’t let you know
And prefer if you don’t
So let it just be an unspoken, unforgotten, forever breathing…what if

Buried in dead flowers, lamented over for hours.

Mullholland Drive

MULLHOLLAND DRIVE. Yes, you should watch it. Not just because it's directed by the amazing David Lynch but because it will cause your emotions to react to something outside of the norm.

Please watch this clip from MD, it's such a beautiful rendition of "Crying" by the great Roy Orbison sang in spanish and in true Lynch fashion:

1984

When I first read this novel back about 20 years or so ago, I thought it was science fiction. I felt that totalitarianism was something formed inside of someone's imagination. Little did I know that as each year passed me by, the future of our world became more inept to a big brother run society. Anyone who reads this novel should fear and in turn make personal changes, but fear the right thing.

Currently, people are afraid of their government, with given right however to be afraid of the end of the world or to be over-ruled by the government is something we shouldn't fear in America because it has already happened. It happened the moment we paid for expanded cable, it happened the moment we splurged thousands of $$$ on a big screen television. We are our own worst enemy...we are in this hole because of our own mistakes...sad, isn't it?

Orwell is a true genius, a visonary and his words convey a reality that proves tyranny as we speak. His satire seems vague during this day in age because the harshness and shock has coasted from fiction...to non-fiction. However, during his years it's depressingly thoughtful satire that shows that yes...Orwell's mind is revolutionary.

Here is the trailer to the film that was not as innovative as the novel, but still worth watching:

Breathless

The other night I was watching Vanilla Sky (yes, I've seen the original movie Abre Los Ojos, also starring Penelope Cruz) however I prefer VS and believe it to be Cameron Crowe's best film. I was thinking about what images I'd use for my life if I was able to relive my life during my death. Of course I would want to relive images of my childhood, and paste my husband somewhere in there so that we can be classmates and run/play together. I'd also want to relive moments with my son...playing in the mud with pokemon toys, building forts, and pretending i'm Eyore and he is Pooh, sitting in the middle of the kitchen, coloring and eating cookies (the little things).

then of course, there are the romantic images that i'd like to place myself in, just like the image above of Jean Seberg and Jean-Paul Belmondo in Godard's film BREATHLESS.

There is another image of a song, that I would like to be a part of my afterlife:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNbTC6xLVg0

SAVE ME by Aimee Mann because I feel for all the sadness in the world, and I first heard this song from the film Magnolia by PT Anderson. This was one of the most beautiful films I've ever watched, not just to say that I watched it alone, but the theater was completely empty and dark, and here I was sitting in a dark theater, alone watching Magnolia (a clearly depressing film) but with music so beautiful it turned a depressing film, into something of a present..a gift,because I knew that unlike the people in the film, I wasn't alone and I wasn't hurting, but only feeling pain for those who go through life full of pain and sorrow. Sad but beautiful.

Potroast Sundays

One of my favorite memories of my grandmother is her potroast Sunday's. Not only is this one of my fond memories, but also those of my family to this day talks it up with smiles, and laughter. Grandma was a great cook, in fact she taught a lot of us how to cook, not by instruction but by watching and by default. I miss my grandmother dearly, and I miss the feeling being around a large table full of family and delicious food. Every now and then, I recreate my grandmother's dishes however have found that she used to use a lot of sodium and lard in her cooking, so I subsitute that with fresh herbs, root vegtables and olive oil. Above is a photograph of my recreation of a Sunday meal minus the heavy fatty gravy, canned veggies (corn, green beans), over boiled broccoli slathered in cheese and tortillas.

My meal is a lean shoulder roast seasoned and spiced with kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper, onion, garlic and green peppers, then cooked for 3-4 hours on a low setting (300) degree oven.

My sides consist of mashed red potatoes with some skin left on, low fat milk, real butter, kosher salt, pepper and rosemary. I also added fresh roasted carrots and corn off of the cob. My gravy is only the juice of the potroast thickened then poured over the meat, and potatoes.

This meal is probably one of the most impressionable meals from my child hood. If you have any questions about a recipe, I will share with you.