I may make some enemies with what I’m about to say but I don’t understand what all the fuss over chocolate is about. Someone please explain.
If you ask me, vanilla is where it’s at! For those of you who bake think about it – how many things do you bake call for a touch of vanilla extract? It’s the invisible essential that makes all things baked taste great. Like that sexy lingerie you put on before anything else the night of a hot date. Even if no one else sees it, you know it’s there and……sorry, sorry, back to the cake. Read more
The next time you need a cookie fix and don’t have time to make a batch of your own, head to your closest supermarket and grab a sleeve of Maria Cookies from the snack aisle.
These may look ordinary but the original/plain flavored Maria Cookies pictured here are far from that. They are thin, perfectly crisp and perfectly flavored with a hint of sweet caramel and vanilla in the background that will make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Read more
Before I get into talking about this special treat I wanted to ask what you all thought about my new look? With the help of Lindsay at Purr Design, I have made the Blogger to WordPress transition and I am loving it! I still have to reformat a few things but I am really loving the new look and feel of the blog. If any of you want to spice up your look or make a similar transition, reach out to Purr. Lindsay was absolutely amazing and the transition went through very quickly without a hitch!
One other note – I have decided to extend my cookbook raffle to August 31st to give everyone a chance to participate. So check it out and don’t miss out on the opportunity to win some awesome cookbooks.
The Holy Grail of American Baking – The Chocolate Chip Cookie. There are tons of recipes out there for them and many of them claim to be “the best”. I have featured quite a few of them on A Chica Bakes. And initially I too wanted to find “the best chocolate chip cookie recipe”. But with so many different variations, it’s impossible to find the best. So I’ve set out to test a bunch and let you know what I think. Read more
Those of you that have been following A Chica Bakes for a while know I have quite a few food obsessions – cookies, ice cream, coconut, coconut, coconut. One that has not made an appearance here is cheese. I have seriously NEVER met a cheese I didn’t enjoy and I could not think of a better way to highlight my cheese love affair than with this delectable mac ‘n cheese.
Who doesn’t love a good mac with a crusty top and creamy, gooey inside? I simply can’t resist it. So I couldn’t help but share this recipe (an original by yours truly) with you all on A Chica Bakes, despite the fact that it’s not sweet and only half baked. When you make this for yourself, you won’t be able to resist it either. Read more
I’m living proof that things don’t always work out the way you plan them. And as a serial planner and list maker, I can tell you that the let down can be devastating. Like when you plan a girls weekend in Cancun and instead of partying the night away at the hottest club on the strip you end up with swollen lips and an upset stomach because you forgot your SPF lip balm and accidentally drank tap water. Or when you score a birthday reservation for dinner at one of New York’s best restaurants only to have your party of 12 turn to a party of 3 (and 2 of those people are you and your boyfriend). Or when you browse Anthropologie’s website prior to going to the store and make a list of your favorite dresses only to go to the store and have none of them come up past your hips and big behind.
Consider weddings. Most of us women have them planned in our heads by the time we hit puberty. I was one of them. And once our relationships hit a certain length we imagine all the different ways our boyfriends will propose and practice all the ways we will react. I was one of those too.
So you can imagine that it took me a bit to soak in the fact that not only would I not be having the wedding I always dreamed of but that I would be doing the proposing. Read more
Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. I never miss it. On the rare occasion that I do, stay away because I turn into one cranky, hmmm, “lady” with an empty belly in the morning. Where I come from, breakfast does not come out of a colorful box with a splash of milk added. Dominicans actually have the same meal they have for dinner for breakfast…and I love it!!! My Americano husband can’t comprehend the notion of heavy, starchy vegetables and cured meats to start the day but nothing makes this chica’s belly happier.
To keep peace in the house, I try to figure out ways to spice up eggs without the addition of plantain or yuca. It recently dawned to me that I had never tried to make biscuits from scratch as a replacement for toast or those Pillsbury Crescents I can’t get enough of. So with my copy of Nick Malgieri’s The Modern Baker in-hand I proceeded to make some of the most delicious biscuits I ever sunk my teeth into. Read more
When I told some of my non-blogger friends that I would be attending a conference for women bloggers I got a few “wow, ya’ll have conferences/what the heck do you talk about” looks accompanied by smiles and nods.
I didn’t plan on attending but when I snagged a ticket to the sold out soiree a couple of weeks ago I figured how bad could it be? If it’s that bad I could always hop on the subway and take myself back to Brooklyn.
BlogHer10 would have been totally worth it if all I got out of it was a picture and five minute conversation with Ree, aka The Pioneer Woman. I wish I wasn’t wearing one of the dresses that at a particular angle makes me look pregnant. But she squatted down a bit so that my short self wouldn’t look like a midget so I can live with the dress. She was beautiful, gracious, sweet and everything I thought she would be. Thanks Ree 
(On the left is one of my favorite bloggers Joanne over at Eats Well With Others who, I found out this weekend, is a great dancer) Read more
When life gives you lemons, forget the lemonade. Switch them for limes, add some coconut and then make these cookies. Given my love of cookies, I thought it would be appropriate to celebrate A Chica Bakes’ 100th post with what has climbed to the top of my favorite cookie list – Toasted Coconut Lime Cookies.
It’s no secret that I love coconut. I especially love big ones like this one – that you have to drink the water out of first and then crack open with your weapon of choice (my grandpa’s was a mashedy) to enjoy the juicy meat inside.
Yes, these pancakes taste as good as they look. But before I get into them, I want to talk about something special I’m working on.
After a two year absence from the running/workout scene, I had decided to come back to honor two very special people. In September 2000, I lost my Aunt Sandra, then just 35 years old, one month after she was diagnosed with leukemia. The loss struck me at the core on multiple levels. When she came to this country from the Dominican Republic, she lived with my family and was more of a sister than an aunt. And her death was not only my first experience with cancer, but it was the first time that I watched someone wither away. Every now and then I close my eyes and see her in her hospital bed with tubes sticking out of her barely able to move. Read more
Dear Ice Cream -
Thank you for being one of the most loyal friends a girl could ever have. You are there for me in ways no else one is or can be for that matter.
When skinny jeans came on to the scene and I quickly realized they weren’t made for a girl with hips, thighs and a butt like mine.
When I bought a pair of them anyway and tried desperately to get into them while hopping and jiggling my way through my apartment to no avail.
When I was bored on a rainy Sunday afternoon and got tired of watching Bridezillas on We TV. (Maybe this has happened on more than one Sunday…just maybe.) Read more
Share
