A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow, served with Flan and Guava pastries

 I could not let Latinx Heritage Month go by without posting something!  I read this cute book last month after seeing it all over bookstagram.  A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow is all the things I enjoy in a book.  Fun engaging characters, a little bit of romance, a great setting and FOOD.  

Lila Reyes' family ships her off to England for the summer to stay with her cousin after she goes through several large set backs.  Her abuela dies, her best friend moves away and her boyfriend decides he needs a break.  She is planning to take over the families Cuban bakery but first she needs to get her life back together.  Of course she meets someone, learns some new baking skills and gets to use her already great skills, makes friends and starts to think about other ideas for her future.  

I really enjoyed Orion, the love interest and was so interested in some of the food discussed.  This is a quick read and maybe just a little predictable but still fun.  I enjoyed it! Probably 3.5 stars but I rounded up because Goodreads doesn't do halves!  They should. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I was inspired to try Cuban Flan and guava pastries.  I love flan and thought this can't be too hard. 

I'll be honest, my food turned out okay but i think with a little alterations, it could be great. 

Here is the flan recipe I used. https://www.baconismagic.ca/cuba/cuban-flan/   It was super east but....  I  burned the caramel .  It moves so quickly to the dark caramel color and i didn't remove it from the heat fast enough.  I went ahead and used it but it had a bit of a burned taste to it.  The flan itself was really good.  Next time, remove it from the heat!   

The guava pastries were super easy.  I order guava paste on line.  I had never bought guava paste and couldn't find it in the grocery store.  I used Puff Pastry and cut up the guava paste, topped with some cream cheese and baked. The guava paste was not easy to work with.  it is thick and sticky!  But these tasted good.  Next time i think i'll cut up the puff pastry into squares in advance because cutting it after i had it stuffed was tough.  The guava kept sticking to the knife.  AND I use more cream cheese.  I was skimpy with the cream cheese and I recognize now that i needed much, much more.  but, overall super simple and tasty.  

Young Jane Young and Chicken Matzo Ball Soup

 I saw a reference to this book on a book blog I follow and I checked it out.  So glad I did! This is Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin.  I read one of her other books, the Storied Life of A.J. Fikry and really liked it so I had a feeling this one would be good.  

The story is told from the view point of 5 women.  Aviva Grossman had an affair with a prominent congressman and she was branded a slut by the internet.  This is the story of what happened.  I loved all 5 of the viewpoints.  At first my favorite was Ruby who is just a firecracker of a kid.  Later i realized my favorite might have been the congressman's wife story.  Now I'm not sure.  I really liked all of them.  Why do we shame the woman but the man goes untarnished and has a great career?  it is totally shades of Monica Lewinsky in this story .  A fun, fast read which also made me think about how we treat women in society.  I highly recommend it. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

I decided to make Chicken Matzo Ball soup for this one.  This seemed right for a few reasons; 

   1) Rachel Grossman is a good Jewish mother 

   2) it was Rosh Hashanah this week. 

  3)  i have a terrible cold and everyone calls this Jewish Penicillin! 

I even made my own chicken broth!  Here is what i'd say...   it was just okay.  It was a lot of work making my own chicken broth.  I think the broth i use is just as good if not better.  Next time i will just use that. 

But , here is the recipe if you have the time and patience for it! 

• 4 lb whole chicken (use a whole chicken, or a mixture of white and dark meat chicken pieces - must be bone in, skin on)
• 2 lb celery stalks, cleaned
• 1 lb carrots, peeled
• 1 yellow onion, skin on, rinsed clean
• 2 ounces fresh parsley (one large handful), rinsed clean
• 1.5 ounces fresh dill (one handful), rinsed clean
• 2 tsp black peppercorns
• 2 bay leaves
• Kosher salt
• 1/8 tsp saffron threads (optional-- adds a rich yellow color and depth of flavor to the broth; only use high quality expensive saffron, the other kind has no flavor)

I did not use saffron.  I couldn't find it.  I cleaned the chicken and covered it with water.  Cooked it in a giant pot with the onion, 3/4 of the celery, parsley, 2/3 of the dill, peppercorn, bay leaves and salt.  Bring the water to a boil and let boil for 15 minutes.  Scrap off the white foam from the pot.  Then turn down to simmer and let simmer with a lid on for 90 minutes.  Remove the chicken and drain the broth.  Throw out the onion, celery and other stuff and just keep the broth.  pick the chicken .  Add broth back to the pot and add the remaining celery and carrots.  add more salt and let cook for 20-30 minutes until the carrots are tender.  Add chicken and the remaining dill.  cook maybe 10 minutes more.   spoon over Matzo balls.  I used the Matzo ball mix which worked just fine.   

Enjoy! 

Guncle , Plum Cake and Ice cream

 Guncle by Steven Rowley served with Plum Cake and Plum Ice Cream 

This book has been all over Bookstagram.  It has been the book of the summer and for good reason.  I won't spend a lot of time on this but it is a delight to read.  GUP (Gay Uncle Patrick) takes in his niece and nephew for the summer after their mom dies and their dad needs help kicking an addiction.  Patrick lives in Palm Springs and gave up acting years ago when he had his own tragedy .   He finds himself trying to help a 6 & 9 year old deal with a parents death and also help himself move forward in life.  There is a lot of joy in this book as they get to know each other and have fun.  Patrick let's them have treats and teaches them Guncle rules but there is also some sweetness as they all move through their pain.   It was just what I needed at the time. 

It just so happened that my nephew John was visiting this past weekend.  I had been thinking about what to make for this book when a friend brought me so plums.  Patrick gives the kids cake and ice cream so it  felt like the perfect weekend for plum upside cake with a nephew AND I had enough for plum ice-cream also! 

This upside cake is a favorite of mine.  it is super easy and can be thrown together in a minute.  I love a cake like that!   For the Ice cream, I just made a basic ice cream base and added some plum puree to it. 

 

Here is the cake recipe.  Enjoy!  

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons margarine
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup margarine
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup milk
• 6-8 plums.  Pitted and thinly sliced 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9 inch cake pan.  I actually used a copper deep skillet.  Combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In the prepared pan, combine 3 tablespoons margarine and brown sugar. Place pan inside the preheated oven until the margarine melts and begins to bubble. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the 1/3 cup margarine and 1 cup white sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then stir in the vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the milk, mixing just until incorporated.

Arrange plums around the edges of the prepared pan, overlapping slightly.  Pour batter into prepared pan, covering fruit completely. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool 15 minutes before serving.