Love!

As part of our wedding decor, I collected piles of vintage family photographs that I then framed and displayed all around the room. I wanted to create the feeling of being in a family home (something which our venue, The Metropolitan Building, lent itself very well to). These pictures included wedding photos, of course, but my favorites were actually snapshots like this one above, of my paternal grandmother in Puerto Rico in the 1940s. She was a newlywed bride (my grandfather is behind the camera) and clearly, very much in love.

Here's another shot of the two of them together; I can't express to you just how much I love every single detail of this photo. Have a beautiful day today, I'll be back tomorrow with more sweetness (this of the edible kind). Happy Valentine's Day!!!

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Watch This: Children of the Harvest

At the Dan Barber talk I attended a few weeks ago, Dan expressed his belief that it is the stories behind the food we eat—the stories of the seeds, the land, the farmers, the cooks, behind every dish—that make it all that more valuable to us.

I thought about this last night when I received an email from my longtime friend Nick Capote (the same friend who taught me all about the science of deep frying back when we were both in high school). In his message, Nick excitedly announced that the documentary he and his team have been working on for the better part of a year is finally going to be airing nationwide this Sunday night on Dateline.

Called Children of the Harvest, it tells the story about migrant farm workers—the invisible hands in America’s food-supply chain. Specifically, it tells the story of the many children, as young as five and six, who work alongside their struggling parents in the fields harvesting the food that we eat every day. The documentary intimately follows the journey of ten-year-old Ulysses Cruz, a young boy whose life has been dictated by the cycle of the crops, and other children under 12 doing work forbidden by child labor laws.

It’s an important story for all of us to know, and I hope you’ll join me in watching it on Sunday evening.

America Now: Children of the Harvest. Dateline NBC Sunday, July 18 (7 PM EST) on NBC

Read more about the documentary on the Dateline website.

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I'm in Real Simple Magazine!

I spent much of this morning at work thinking up excuses to walk past my office mailbox. Located in the kitchen area near the water cooler and tea, it's usually more of an afterthought. I don't really get much mail at work, save for the occasional invoice (which goes straight to accounting) or--more often--catalogs from Pottery Barn and the Oriental Trading Company. Today however, I had a reason to keep checking. Today, the May issue of Real Simple magazine containing an article about my mom and me was scheduled to arrive!

It was probably about 11AM when I finally spotted it. I'd walked over to get a bit of milk for my cereal and there it was, its characteristically thick and wide body slightly curved in the narrow box. I grabbed it and ran back to my desk, rhw cup of dry cereal in my left hand, Real Simple flapping in the air in my right.

"It's here!" I breathlessly announced to my coworkers who knew all about it. I set the magazine down and flipped quickly to it, everyone crowding around me to see what the commotion was.



And then I found it! On page 240 part of the story called From My Mother's Kitchen, a 1/4 page photo of my mom and me cooking (though really, I was just stirring a pot of boiling water), a brief article, my recipe for Camarones Enchilados (or deviled shrimp), and--on page 241--a gorgeous full-page photo of my beautiful shrimp shot by the fantastic photographer Ditte Isager.

I was so honored to be part of this story. It's a Mother's Day piece that features six women talking about a treasured family recipe that they learned from their mother. I talked about Camarones Enchilados, which is a wonderful dish of shrimp stewed in a spicy tomato sauce.

You should read the article for the story, but what I will tell you (what isn't in the magazine) is that this has become one of my favorite things to make. I actually updated the recipe a bit from what my mother originally taught me (sorry, Mama!) by adding smoked Spanish paprika and serving it differently. She serves it with white rice, salad, and plantains; I prefer it on charred whole wheat tortillas with a side of sliced avocado and a bit of salty white cheese. The recipe in the magazine is my updated version, but sentiment comes straight from my mom.

Another cool thing to look out for: check out the wooden pilon (Spanish for mortar and pestle)that is on the shelf above the stove I'm cooking on. That's my real pilon that my mom got me in Puerto Rico several years ago; I use it regularly and I brought it with me to the photo shoot.


The photo shoot was one of the most fun parts of the whole thing. My mom and I filled bags with clothing we wanted to wear and we met the team from Real Simple at a gorgeous loft down in the West Village. They welcomed us with an amazing breakfast, did our hair and make-up, and helped us choose outfits from what we'd brought.

I had just come back from Puerto Rico (hence my very dark tan in the photo; I'm not usually that golden). I had also been freaking out a bit because I happened to come down with a ridiculous and rather inopportune case of UV poisoning on the last day of the trip. You can't tell from the photo, but I'm actually covered in a prickly UV rash from my neck all the way down to my toes! I mentioned it the photographer and photo editors who assured me that the final photo wouldn't show it (Yay, Photoshop!).

After we shot our part, they let us hang around while they shot the food. It was my first time watching a professional food photography shoot and I was absolutely fascinated. The food was set up on a rustic wooden table next to one of the huge windows and the photographer stood up on a ladder to get the shot. It was exciting seeing the way that all the editors worked together to set everything up. I wish I could have a few assistants like that when I'm taking my blog photos! (Come to think of it, I also wouldn't mind having a make-up artist and hairstylist around to touch me up every few minutes. That would be cool too.)


I am, as I'm sure you can imagine, absolutely delighted! The subscriber copies of the May issue are already arriving, and it will be on newsstands this weekend. I'd love it if you pick up a copy and let me know what you think! Try the recipe too (it's a really good one). The article isn't up on their website yet, but the recipe is (they spelled it wrong on the site, though; it's enchilados with an "o," NOT enchiladas with an "a.")

And if you do try it and like it, it would be awesome if you'd let the folks at Real Simple know so. Because I would really love it if they were to ask me back. ;)

[Photo Credits: Scans from Real Simple May 2010 issue; photo of Yolanda Ramos and Alejandra Ramos by Ditte Isager; photo of shrimp in black pan by Alejandra Ramos]

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The Eggplant Song

My mom is a little bit obsessed with a singer named Michael Franks. I have no idea where this guy came from; I can't remember ever hearing one of his songs on the radio. And yet, anytime she cooks for a big meal or cleans the house or is just home alone working on a project, you can absolutely expect to hear this man's quirky jazzy music blasting throughout our house.

When I was in high school or came home from college during the holidays, it used to drive me a little bit crazy. Our house is on the large side with pretty fantastic acoustics, and my room happens to be right in the center of the house. I've nicknamed it the "chamber of sounds," because it's right next to the main vents and pipes for the central air, heating, vacuum, and water are. Which of course means that it is also where the sound of anything and EVERYTHING that goes on in the house (dish washing, laundry doing, showering, Michael Franks-blasting) congregates, thereby making it impossible to do anything but give up on trying to read or watch TV and instead spend the afternoon listening to the dish-washing, laundry doing, showering, and Michael Franks-blasting that is going on elsewhere.

It was on one of these afternoons that I, against my will, learned the lyrics to the Eggplant song. I just thought of them again recently when I asked my mom to send me along a specific recipe that I remembered her making. In the instructions she noted that she doesn't always make it the same way twice, "you know, like in the Michael Franks Eggplant song."

I'm totally the same way and thought I'd share the lyrics. You can check out the video here (please excuse the man's mullet and large 'stache. It was the early 90s.)

Eggplant
Michael Franks
From: The Art of Tea

Whenever I explore the land of Yen
I always take one on the chin
And now this lioness has almost made me tame.
I can't pronounce her name but
Eggplant is her game.

The lady sticks to me like white on rice.
She never cooks the same way twice.
Maybe it's the mushrooms. Maybe the tomatoes.
I can't reveal her name but Eggplant is her game.

When my baby cooks her Eggplant,
She don't read no book.
She's got a Giocanna kinda of dirty look

And my baby cooks her Eggplant,
Bout 19 different ways.
Sometimes I just have it raw with Mayonnaise.

Maybe its the way she grates her cheese,
Or just the freckles on her knees.
Maybe its the scallions. Maybe she's Italian.
I can't reveal her name but Eggplant is her game.

When my baby cooks her Eggplant,
She don't read no book.
She's got a Giocanna kinda of dirty look.

And my baby cooks her Eggplant,
Bout 19 different ways.
Sometimes I just have it raw with Mayonnaise.

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