I seriously pride myself on being a potato girl. I never shy away from my favorite carb, nor do my boys. I believe Mando’s first word was “papa” and he wasn’t making reference to his father. My son follows closely in his dad’s footsteps, asking for potatoes with every meal. It’s kinda funny, the times we have been out at a Chinese or Japanese restaurant and my son tries to order french fries, that’s a true sign of a potato lover. There are so many varieties of potatoes in the US, and I have tried a great deal of them.

Not long ago Walmart asked me to try a new potato by the name of Albert Bartlett Rooster Potato, which up until now have only been sold in the United Kingdom. This potato starts off with pink skin and cooks golden yellow, and it is only sold exclusively to Walmart here in the United States. I quickly investigated this product to see what they were all about, and they only cost $2.87 for a 2 pound bag at my local Walmart . With promises of being buttery, nutty, and fresh I had to give them the old Presley try. I examined the packaging and found that this potato is very versatile. You can roast, mash, bake, fry, and boil it…. not quite in that order but you get the picture.  I decided since I don’t have a good mashed potato recipe on my blog, I would try my hand at this recipe. Enjoy it at your holiday table. Enjoy!

Ingredients for loaded mashed potatoes:

• 6 to 8 – Albert Bartlett Rooster potatoes (peeled and cut into 4 pieces per potato)
• 1 – stick butter (sliced)
• 3 – tablespoons sour cream
• salt to taste
• 2 – cups grated cheddar cheese
• 1 – cup bacon (cooked and crumbled)
• 1/2 – cup green onion (chopped)

Directions:

1. In a pot filled halfway with water over a medium flame, bring water to a boil. Meanwhile peel and cut potatoes. 
2. Add in potatoes and cook in boiling water for 15 minutes. 
3. Remove from flame and drain out water.
4. Smash potatoes with a masher and add in butter and sour cream, continue mashing until smooth. 
5. Salt to your liking.
6. Gently fold in 1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese.
7. Next mix in bacon and green onion. Continue mixing until fully combined. 
8. Pour the mashed potato mixture into a casserole dish, and sprinkle the top with remaining cheddar cheese.
9. Place under the boiler on high for 5 to 7 or until crisp.
10. Enjoy!

I love having a few pounds of turkey in the fridge. I make sure to make enough during the holiday season for all the leftover meals. There is so much you can do with leftover turkey, but one of my favorites is turkey in mole or turkey mole enchiladas. If I have big pieces then I simmer them in mole, but if I have little scraps here and there I shred them up and make a batch of enchiladas. I know you’re thinking “Who in their right mind has time to be making mole?” Well making mole from scratch is a daunting task, but lucky for all of us mole can be bought in a jar, and with a few added ingredients made into a divine sauce. It’s the best mole shortcut, and only takes a few minutes. What I love best is my local Walmart sells the mole in a jar and all the other key ingredients. This is a great meal to make with leftover turkey, and it veers away from the typical cranberry spread turkey sandwich. I like to invite friends over that I may not have been able to see over Thanksgiving, and let them think I slaved away in the kitchen to make them this dazzling meal. Even though I’m sure I just gave myself away with this post. Hee-Hee, now you know. I am going to include step by step photos of the entire process to show you exactly how to do it. Enjoy your leftovers!

Ingredients for turkey mole enchiladas:

Turkey filling:

• 2 – tablespoon olive oil
• 2 – cup onion (chopped)
• 2 – teaspoon garlic (chopped)
• 6 – cups shredded leftover turkey
• 1/2 – teaspoon oregano
• 1 – teaspoon Lawry’s
• 8 – tablespoons chicken broth
• 2 – cups grated queso quesadilla, or grated jack cheese, or crumbled queso fresco

Mole:

• 1 – jar Dona Maria mole
• 4 – cups chicken broth (boiling)
• 1/2 – cup salted peanuts
• 1/2 – cup raisins

Other Ingredients:

• 1 – cup vegetable oil
• 24 – king size corn tortillas
• toasted sesame seeds

Directions:

1. In a large frying pan over a medium flame add in olive oil and allow to get hot.
2. Add in onions and saute until translucent for about 7 minutes.
3. Add in garlic and continue to stir for about 2 minutes.
4. Add in turkey, oregano, and Lawry’s stir to combine and continue cooking for 10 minutes. 
5. Add in chicken broth, mix, and set to the side.
6. Mole: In a blender add in mole, chicken broth (boiling hot), peanuts and raisins.   
7. Blend on high until smooth. Set to the side. 
8. Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
9. In a small frying pan over a medium low flame add in vegetable oil and allow to heat.
10. Dip one tortilla at a time into the hot oil and fry on each side for 1 to 2 minutes or until hard but still bendable. 
11. Place fried tortillas in a baking dish. Then a few at a time add 2  tablespoons of turkey mixture to the center of the tortilla. 
12. Top the turkey mixture with 1 tablespoon of grated cheese, then roll the tortilla up to create a tube shape. 
13. Place all the enchiladas in a the baking dish, then pour the mole over the top.   
14. Place in the oven for 15 minutes.
15. Remove from oven and pour additional mole over the top and sprinkle with sesame seeds. 
16. Enjoy!

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. I just love Melissa’s Produce and want to share a good resource with my readers on gift baskets.

Do you have a person that is impossible to buy for this holiday season? I have a few of those on my list, so being a girl that is all about food, Melissa’s produce just made life a little easier with their new Gift Baskets! Now i can shop stress free from behind my computer screen and know that my near and dear will get the best delivered to them! For Instance the basket pictured above would be the ideal gift for a fancy wine and cheese lover. It comes with an exquisite 750 ml. bottle of Chateau Montelena Chardonnay, 4 lbs. of the seasons best tasting Asian pears, a bottle stopper, a cloth bag filled with a 10 oz. medley of nuts and nut cracker, and a box of crackers pairing perfectly with an 8 oz. wedge of Parmesan cheese. It sounds like I may have to order it for myself. 🙂 

 I think the Holiday Fruit Hamper might be my favorite. The natural woven hamper basket is carefully packed with a generous variety of seasonal apples, pears plus juicy grapefruit, tangerines, oranges, and kumquats, then embellished with a festive bow.

• The newest additon of the Melissa’s Gift Basket  line are the Wine & Produce Baskets! But search around you will find new boxes and gift baskets available too… including ones for kids, ones for just organic shoppers, ones for all occasions, etc!
• Melissa’s site also has options to shop by price (in case consumer coming to the site are money focused on the present).
• Meissa’s site options to shop by occassion (Oragnic, Birthday, Christmas, Hanukkah, Thanksgiving, Corporate, etc).
• Melissa’s site has options of all sorts and sizes from the least expensive gifts from the Hidden Treasures Bag in the low $20’s to the Culinary Collection Gift Basket at $500.00 

There are 2 ways to order these unique Melissa’s gift baskets and boxes:  Go online  www.melissas.com (ordering is 24 hours, 7 days a week) .  Also if the consumer is not the online type and likes to talk to a real voice, they can call our friendly Melissa’s Mail Order Department at 800-588-0151 (however ordering on the phone is limited to Monday – Friday 8am – 5pm pacific time)…

Order one today!

There is plenty to be thankful for this holiday season. A year ago my workload was not nearly as full. I have been presented with amazing opportunity in the last 6 months and it seems like a little lucky rabbit foot has decided it’s my turn to go at it.  Getting invited to the Latin Grammy Awards last week as a Walmart Mom /representative is no exception.

The next thing I knew…. I was in Las Vegas in a fancy hotel suite surrounded by wonderful food, a small army of celebrities, and  nice women offering to paint my nails and rub my feet. Yes, I am thankful. With a natural excitement surrounding the Latin Grammy Awards, and Thanksgiving only being a few days away, it only made sense that I would sit down with a few people and talk about family traditions and what I know best….. FOOD. Watch the video below as my friend / fellow Walmart Mom Ruby Wright from Growing Up Blackxican and I interview Natassja Bolivar – Miss Nicaragua 2013, Victor Florencio – El Niño Prodigo, and Lourdes Stephen Victor Florencio – Hostess of Sal Y Pimienta and we all talk about favorite holiday dishes!

I was also very thankful to be able to attend the actual Latin Grammy Award show the next day. It was a surreal experience and unlike any other show I had been to. Of course I have watched many award shows on TV, but there is something uber cool about seeing all  the production of a massive show unfold such as a Grammy Awards show. I loved watching the camera cranes stretch across the room, all the teleprompters, who was wearing what, how the musicians behaved once the camera pulled away, the fireworks on stage, and watching from a bird’s eye view how nice and loving all these artist were towards one another. I can’t tell you how many times I saw Enrique Iglesias hug, kiss, and squeeze his fellow musicians. Or how Carlos Vives had a genuine look of happiness in his eyes when a fellow artist would win an award. Being a witness to this small community of people made me think of all the wonderful friends I have made in this blogging community. I thought of the support I have been given, and the unbreakable bonds I have built. I realized how truly grateful I am for my old friends and look forward to a long road ahead with my new friends. I imagine there will be plenty of food conversation in the future, and many meals to share, and for all these realizations and for my most treasured pastime of culinary adventures…. I am most grateful. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!! Thank you Walmart for giving me this awesome opportunity, it was an extremely cool experience. Below is a little snippet of Ruby and I enjoying the Grammy finale confetti as it rains down on us! OSEA!

Disneyland is already a magical place, but now that California Adventure is celebrating Viva Navidad…. it has seriously taken the experience to a new level of happiness. This holiday season (November 15th to January 6th, 2014 – with a special Three Kings Celebration from January 3rd to 6th) California Adventure is serving up some amazing delicious Mexican food, and I got the opportunity to learn from one of the Viva Navidad Chef’s (Chef Nubia Renteria) how to make her version of sweet pineapple raisin tamales. Watch the video above to see how easy they were to make.

For the recipe and instructions click over to Babble!

I’m a Thanksgiving cook. I live to get a bird in the oven and dress it up and carve it and serve it to my loved ones. I think about my Thanksgiving menu weeks in advance and always buy a turkey either frozen or fresh when I could find a good deal. I sometimes make one in advance…. because I just can’t wait. Plus I like to make other things out of turkey, so I like to have plenty leftover.

The other day I was at Walmart and couldn’t believe how good of a deal I found…. I thought is this a deal or a steal? I grabbed a 12 pound turkey and brought it home to thaw. A few days later I removed the neck bone and packet of giblets from the cavity, made a simple brine, and let my turkey soak up the salty water. After a 24 hour bath for the bird, I decided it was time for a marinade. I put together a simple combo of white wine and orange juice and let my turkey now sit in a tangy boozy orange marinade for a few hours. When I was ready to get started I pulled my bird from the liquid and pat it dry. Placed it in a roasting pan propped up by a sliced onion and some carrots. I shoved pieces of butter wrapped in fresh basil under the skin and then added teaspoons of minced garlic and chile pepper flakes. The turkey baked in a total of 3.5 hours and made for a spectacular dinner. I recommend never going over 12 pounds when baking a turkey. A smaller turkey stays more moist and if feeding a bigger amount of people, then bake two.  Here are a few of my best tips.

How to brine a turkey:

• 2 – gallons cold water
• 1 – cup kosher salt
• 1/4 – cup sugar
• 1 – 12 pound turkey

Directions:

1. Remove turkey neck bone and giblets. Rinse the turkey. 
2. In a large pot add water, salt and sugar. Mix until salt and sugar are completely dissolved.
3. Place the turkey in the brine and place in the fridge for 12 hours. Make sure entire turkey is covered in the brine.
4. Remove from liquid and rinse. Pat dry with paper towels and get ready for marinade.

How to marinade turkey:

• 1.5 – liters pinot grigio or other white cooking wine
• 2.78 – quarts orange juice (with pulp)

Directions:

1. Place turkey in a large pot.
2. Pour wine and orange juice over the top of the turkey. 
3. If a little bit of the turkey is still poking out of the top you can either soak some cheese cloth with the marinade and place it on top. Or you can rotate the position of the turkey half way through the marinade time. 
4. Cover and place in the fridge for as little as 2 hours and up to 8 hours. The longer you leave the turkey in the marinade the stronger the flavor. Do not exceed the 8 hour mark or the marinade will make the texture of the meat mushy.
5. Remove from marinade and pat dry.

How to bake and dress a turkey:

• 1 – onion (chopped into 4 parts)
• 2 – carrots (peeled and tops removed)
• 2 – sticks of butter
• 1/2 – cup fresh basil
• 2 – tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 – teaspoon chile pepper flakes (the kind you put on pizza)
• bay leaves
• olive oil
• roasting pan

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees fahrenheit.
2. In a roasting pan place onion and carrots in to keep the turkey elevated. 
3. Pull the skin on the top of the turkey away from the meat by sliding your hand under the skin to create a pocket. 
4. Wrap fresh basil around butter cubes and shove under the skin. 
5. Then in a small bowl combine minced garlic and chile pepper. Mix to combine. Add under the skin and massage in with your hand. 
6. Add bay leaves into the center of the turkey along with any left over butter, garlic or onions.
7. Then with a pastry brush add a little olive oil to the entire outside of the bird for a crisp appearance. 
8. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes uncovered per pound. I baked my 12 pound bird for 3.5 hours. 
9. Remove from oven and cover it/ tent it with aluminum foil and allow to sit for 30 minutes before carving.
10. Remove foil and carve.
11. Enjoy!

Disclosure: This is a compensated campaign in collaboration with Latina Bloggers Connect and Cacique.

I am 2 things.  # 1: I am a bit of a cheese connoisseur.  By no means am I a cheese snob though.  I just happen to love those of the exotic form. Stinky, smooth, creamy or crumbly they all rank high in my book.
#2: I’m a musician.  How do these two worlds connect you ask?  Well, a few years back I was lucky enough be be able to tour around the world in a band I was in.  To me,  the biggest perk of this was that I was able to eat my way through countries.  No matter where I was, I always made it a point to go out and taste the local cuisine everywhere I went.  Three places in particular:  Italy, France and Switzerland, generally, all happen to make the best cheeses anywhere.  My point is that I have tried some of the best cheeses this little planet of ours has to offer.

One more thing I forgot to mention: I’m Latina.  And I love love love me some Mexican queso. I’ll take queso fresco, panela, queso quesadilla and any of the other Cacique cheeses and cremas. One of my favorites has to be Enchilado.  I put it on as many things as possible when I cook.  The thing about this cheese is that even though it is considered a semi-exotic to some folk,  you could find it just about anywhere here in the states.  There are three or four local markets that are within a 1 mile radius of my house that I could go to to find this alluring and enticing queso.  I love that!  What I love even more then that is a good cheese coupon.  I recently became a member of the Autentico Cheese Society which sent me a coupon for some Cacique cheese.  Join today! First 20,000 members to sign up for Autentico Cheese Society will receive a welcome package with $5 in coupons. Sounds cheesy good to me.

Ingredients for beef and enchilado queso tacos: 

• Corn tortillas 
• Left-over shredded beef
• Vegetable oil
• Cacique Enchilado cheese (grated)
• chopped lettuce
• chopped tomato
• Sliced Avocado
• Cacique Crema Mexicana

Directions:

1. Over an open flame heat corn tortillas on both sides to heat.
2. Fill the center with shredded beef. Then fold the tortilla over so both edges touch.
3. Enclose with a toothpick.
4. In a large frying pan pour in enough oil to fill to the 1/2 inch mark. Allow to get hot. Then add in tacos and fry on both sides for 7 to 8 minutes or until hard crisp.
5. Remove from frying pan and drain on a paper towel lined plate.
6. Let tacos cool for a few minutes then carefully  pull toothpicks out of taco.
7. Open the shell and stuff with Cacique Enchilado cheese, then top with lettuce, tomato, and avocado slices.
8. Drizzle top with crema.
9. Enjoy!

How to eat your finished tacos in 3 easy steps: