When I was a young girl, I spent summers living with my grandmother in Laredo, Texas.  I called her “Abue” and she called me all sorts of pet names: Míja, Mi vida, Estrella más bella, Corazon. Laredo is desert hot and I remember how she would wipe her mouth before doling out sweaty kisses.  She often sang to me when we rode in the car together or while I waited for a meal at her kitchen table.   She was the quintessential networker and knew nearly everyone in town.  I know this because she took me with her on all sorts of errands: to shop at the market, to drop the car at the mechanic, to pay her respects to her who owed her a few dollars. Laredo, Texas in the 70s. In those days, she ran a pensión downtown in Laredo’s business district.  We, the family, used to refer to it as el hotel, because her customers were people who traveled from the interior of … [Read more...]

I’m not exactly sure when the idea for this project took form in my mind, but it was not long ago.  A matter of weeks, really.  I experienced the idea as a subconscious simulcast transmitting to both my mind and my mouth;  the memory of birthing the idea is fused with my phone call to Gilda V.C. one December morning.  It went something like this: Me: “Gilda, we should write a bilingual cookbook together of our grandmothers’ recipes.  We can blog about it.  Think Julie and Julia meets Like Water for Chocolate.  What do you think?” Gilda V.C.:  “I’ll do it!  I’ll do it!” And so our project and partnership were born. … [Read more...]