Snap Thursday - Cleopatra or Cleo Cleona

in ,

This is Cleopatra or “Cleo-Cleona” as I like to call her for short.  Cleo was given to my by my sister.  After she insisted that nobody in his or her right mind could live a full life without a pet. At that time I lived with a roommate, in an apartment and the responsability of taking care of a pet was not something that was high on my list.  I fought her as much as I could, until she showed up at my house with this buddle of joy. She insisted that her dog would kill her if she stayed in her garage and I HAD to take her in order to SAVE her. (Yes, a very convincing argument)

I tried to not cave.

Read More

Galletas Maria Torte (Maria Biscuits)

in , , ,

The desert above is another of my childhood favorites.  

I’m on a roll with these memories guys - I cannot seem to stop them.

This time, the recipe is not from my grandmother’s or my mother’s but, from another important person in my life while growing up – my nanny, Maria.

Just like any country, Venezuela has its share of local desserts that are very uncommonly found anywhere else but there.  And this “cake” or “torte” is precisely that.  Even after all of my travels I have yet to find something like this.

Read More

ABC: Congo Brownies

in , , , ,

I have a confession – love brownies.  Don’t like blondies.  I usually find them over-top too sweet.  So when I saw this choice from our ABC line up, I was not inspired at all.

Tom on the other hand got all excited and pump fisted the air yelling “FINALLY, something that is not cake – YES!”

Do you think he is trying to tell me something?

Yeah, I did not think so.

So, after all that hula-hoop performance by him, I could not say no to this, plus I been slacking on my participation with the group, I was boxed in.

Read More