We are heating up in Los Angeles, and 4th of July is around the corner… that can only mean one thing…. Paleta time! These strawberry, blueberry, and chia seed lemonade paletas had to be made.

Ingredients for Paletas:

• 3/4 – cup fresh strawberries
• 1 – cup sugar
• 2 1/2 – cups water
• 5 – lemons (juiced)
• 1/2 – tablespoon chia seeds
• 3/4 – cup fresh blueberries
• Paleta mold

Directions:

1. Add blueberries, 1/4 cup sugar, and 3/4 cup water to a blender and blend on high until smooth.
2. Pour the first layer into popsicle molds filling them only 1/3 of the way up.
3. Place in the freezer to set first layer for 3 hours.
4. Next mix lemon juice and 1/2 cup sugar in a bowl. Mix until sugar is completely dissolved. Add in 1 cup water and chia seeds to lemon/ sugar mixture. Set to the side for chia seeds to expand while you wait for the first layer to freeze.
5. Now pour the chia seed lemonade mixture into the molds and fill up to the 2/3 mark. Place sticks into the paletas and place bak into the freezer for 2 hours.
6. Add strawberries, 1/4 cup sugar, and 3/4 cup water to a blender, and blend until pulpy but slightly smooth. Pour the strawberry mixture into the paleta molds to the top. Place in the freezer overnight.
7. To unmold paletas by placing molds into a bath of luke-warm water for 20 to 25 seconds then gently pull out.
8. Enjoy!

My tia makes the best jello cake. She calls them “Pastel de Gelatin.” I personally don’t care what she calls them as long as I get my slice. This year I took my personal stab at it and bought it out in true 4th of July style. One fork in you’ll make jello cakes a part of your summer too!

INGREDIENT LIST:

• 1 – white cake mix
• 1 – 6 oz. box of strawberry jello
• 1 – 6. Oz box of blue jello
• 2 – cups boiling hot water
• a fork
• 1/2 – pint fresh blueberries
• 1 – basket fresh strawberries
• 24 – ounces cool whip

Directions:

1. Bake cake per the instructions on the box in two 8 inch round pans lined with wax paper.
2. Boil water, then place the cherry jello in one bowl and the blue jello in the other bowl. Add 1 cup of water into both bowls. Stir to completely dissolve gelatin. Set each bowl to the side.
3. Remove cakes from oven and poke about twenty holes into each cake with a fork. Then slowly pour 1 cup of the liquid jello mixture over each cake. The first cake gets poured with red, and the second cake gets poured with blue.
4. Place cakes in the fridge to set for 4 hours.
5. Then carefully remove cakes from pan. Remove wax paper from the bottom of the cakes. Place one of the cake layers on a plate.
6. Take a scoop of cool whip and frost the top of the first layer of cake, then top with blueberries.
7. Add the second layer of cake and frost the entire cake. Sprinkle with strawberries.
8. Place back in the fridge to chill for at least an hour.
9. Enjoy!

Some people call this super yummy treat “crack candy” as a nickname since you need to reach 285 degrees on a candy thermometer when making the candy portion, which is the soft crack temperature. I just think it is one of the best snack foods around. I decided to make Planters Peanuts the star of this show and they performed so well. Standing ovations are in order! Find the recipe on Babble by clicking here!

Merry Christmas Everyone!  We decided to put this webisode together to help anyone out who is anxious to start making tamales this holiday season or just wondered how it’s done.  Without further ado…. Here’s our Christmas Special (Everyone loves a Christmas Special, right!?)

Tamale Tips:

Buy your masa prepared from your local Mexican/Latin Market or use Maseca Masa for Tamale flour.  For those of you that live in Los Angeles, I buy my masa at a place called “La Favorita,” and have been buying from them for YEARS!  They are located at 600 N. Brannick Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90063.  The best in Los Angeles. 🙂

I wrap my tamales in corn husks but take it a step further and wrap them additionally in a grease resistant 12 x 12 sandwich wrap paper.

A friend asked where do you pour the water when you are steaming your tamales and want to replenish the water?  You pour it right on the side of the tamale pot.  The tamales are covered in corn husks on top and damp towels.  The water is NOT going to disturb them at all.

If you are looking to be less stressed right before the holidays, make your tamales in advanced and freeze them in a ziplock raw (make sure to mark them so you know which side is the opening). Then the day you are ready to enjoy them, take them directly from the freezer and straight into the steamer and steam them for 5 1/2 to 6 hours.

If you are unable to find a tamale steamer pot, you can always make your own.  Use a smaller pot with a vegetable steamer basket placed at the bottom or flipped upside down.  Place enough water and a penny at the bottom of the pot, when you hear the penny bouncing that means the water level is low and time to replenish.  Make note, the water level will go low.  Also, you don’t want the water level to ever surpass the vegetable steamer.  Then follow the directions in the video. Make sure to cover in corn husks on top and a damp towel.

Place the Idaho potato in the tamale raw, it will cook as the tamale steams.  The potato is the perfect addition to a meat tamale or a vegetarian one.

In the vegetarian tamales on the video, I used green anaheim chile strips, but I personally use jalapenos in place of the green chile strips for more heat. Feel free to swap them out if you love the heat or don’t at all.

I usually season my masa with green chile for the vegetarian tamales and for my green chile pork tamales.  For my red chile beef tamales (which were not featured in this video) I season the masa with the red chile.  I also use the red chile inside the vegetarian tamales.  I am adding the recipes for both chiles below.

I make my chiles the day before I’m going to make my tamales.  I also chop everything I’ll need and cook my meat in the crock pot. For the pork, I use the pork shoulder.

Feel free to leave me any questions and I will follow up with you right away.  This is a very traditional recipe but also a very ambitious one….. but heck, give it a whirl.  This is such a fun recipe to attempt.

Here is my green chile recipe:

• 9 – tomatillos
• 6 – guero chiles (yellow chiles)
• 8 – serrano chiles
• 7 – jalapeno chiles
• 5 – garlic cloves (browned/fried)
• 3 – cups of water (from water chiles boiled in)
• 1 – teaspoon of vinegar
• 2 – teaspoons chicken bouillon (I use Knorr)
• 1 – teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 – teaspoon black pepper

Fill two pots halfway with water and place over a medium high flame.  Bring water to a boil.  Then put tomatillos in one pot and in the other put all chiles.  Boil tomatillos for 15 minutes, you will know they are ready when they go from light green to a greenish yellow color.  Remove from flame and set to the side.

Boil chiles for 30 minutes or until soft and a bit limp.  While chiles are boiling place garlic cloves in a frying pan with a little oil and fry till browned.  Set to the side.  Once chiles are boiled remove from flame but DO NOT discard water… you will need it to blend chile.

You will have to work in batches.  In a blender add chiles (discard stem), browned garlic cloves, water from the pot the chiles boiled in, vinegar, chicken bouillon, oregano, black pepper and tomatillos.  Blend until smooth about 1 minute.  Pour into a bowl.  Set to the side.

Here is my red chile recipe:

• 1 – large onion peeled
• 5 – garlic cloves peeled
• 3 – ounces new mexico dried chile (I use Don Enrique)
• 3 – ounces california dried chile (I use Don Enrique)
• 1 – large dried pasilla chile (I use Don Enrique)
• 3 – tablespoons salt
• 7 – cups water

In a big pot add water, 2 tablespoons of salt, all chiles, onion, and garlic cloves. Bring to a boil.  Boil for 30 minutes. Water will turn dark brown.

Remove chiles and garlic cloves from water.  Discard onion.  Do not discard water, you will be using it in the next step.  Remove stems from chiles, then add to a blender along with 1 cup of water from the pot, garlic cloves, and a tablespoon of salt.  Blend for 2 minutes.

Once blended get a big bowl and add 1/2 cup of water from pot into the bowl, then take the blended chile and put through a strainer. It will be thick.  Add a little bit of water from pot to chile strainer and scrape with a spoon.  Use up to 1 3/4 cups of water for the entire process. It’s time consuming but your red chile will be clean and super tasty.  Set to the side.

A hundred hugs to my crew for all the hard work we put in together!  A special thank you to the Idaho Potato Commission for believing in us! Thank you to the Zardeneta Family for being the best! xoxoxox! Love you guys and Merry Christmas!

The twinkling of light that glimmers through these cookies is the old magic of Christmas. It will forever remind me of days when I was only a few years into this life and Christmas was made of candy cane, sugar plums, yummy fruit cakes and stained glass cookies.  They remind me of a blizzard-like fairy tale.  They could be used for all types of reasons… for instance:

If your reindeer gets lost in the woods, let your Christmas Stained Glass Cookies lead him back to the sleigh. 
If you’re feeling sappy and don’t want anyone to hear you singing “Kumbaya” line up your cookies “camp fire style” and sing away. 

If you want to creep in on Santa as he drops off his gifts, you can look through the cookie and he would never know you’re there. You little spy, you. 

If you feel the need for an Andy Warhol factory inspired cookie photo shoot, the Christmas Stained Glass Cookies is all the rage.

I like to call them “cooking carnivals” a day when all I do is cook and bake.  I almost wish I could take it a step further and hang a sign on my door that lets everyone know to stay out of the kitchen.  Last week I was having one of those days.  I made chorizo stuffing, sweet potato casserole, gingerbread pumpkin empanadas and then I realized I had all the ingredients to make a flan with some of the left over items from the dishes I had created.  Here it is, my first pumpkin flan.  I never got to taste it myself, it was gone before I knew it.  Happy Holidays!

Ingredients for Pumpkin Flan:

• 1/2 – cup cajeta
• 4 – ounces cream cheese (room temperature)
• 1 – 12 0z. can of evaporated milk
• 1 – 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk
• 1 – tablespoon vanilla extract
• 5 – large eggs
• 1 – cup canned or fresh pumpkin puree
• 1/2 – teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• pomegranate seeds

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit

Spray a bundt pan with a non stick baking spray, then fill the bottom with cajeta.

   

In a blender add cream cheese, evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract, eggs, pumpkin puree, and pumpkin pie spice. Blend for a minute or until completely combined. Pour flan mixture over the cajeta filled bundt pan.

Cover the pan with aluminum foil and place inside a large pyrex baking dish. Pour hot water into the pyrex baking dish to fill up half way.

Then place the baking dish into the oven and bake for 1 hour.

Once out of the oven, remove from water bath and uncover to allow cooling. Run a small knife around the edge to ensure it from sticking.  Let the flan rest for two hours then flip it over onto a plate. Slowly lift pan up away from plate. Then put in the fridge for 5 hours or overnight.  When ready to serve sprinkle with pomegranate seeds. ENJOY!!!!!!

It’s finally here! Sara O’Donnell of Average Betty and I made a video celebrating 3 ways to make Mashed Potatoes. We had a Mashed Potato Party and invite you to come on over and celebrate with us! Make our Mashed Potatoes for your Holiday table this year!

For the recipes click here.

Many thank you’s to our beloved Idaho Potato Commission for making this video possible!

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