Our "MUD RUN" - Nuestra Carrera en Lodo

Today ... is a special day...  It's mother's day and I happen to have the privilege to have been born in a wonderful family with the best mom ever... and ... it's also special because it's my sister's birthday! She is turning ... well... who's counting? Right?? So... This is for them!

---- OUR "Mud Run" ----

While I see so many people... voluntarily submit themselves to mud runs... I can't help but think of MY FAMILY... and our own adventures!


We lived in a rural area in Mexico for a few years.. The romantic idea of "chickens and goats" (not even our own but the neighbors') running through our big piece of land (a bit bigger than 2 acres) really enticed my parents... The land was cheap and the house seemed nice when we bought it... In that house we lived through some of the hardest (financial) times of our lives growing up and some of the most wonderful and REALLY WEALTHIEST (not financially) times as a family too! It was our very rural "piece of heaven"  (and to be honest, anywhere we lived was always a piece of heaven, not because of the place but because we were together and because singing praises to God was always, ALWAYS happening wherever we were). Sometimes we had no electricity or even gas inside the house... so neighbors thought we were always 'partying' because we were outside cooking beans and cactus on a grill and of course... singing... always singing!


We had no running water there, the streets were not paved... and this is when THE MUD comes in.. oh the mud!!! every time it rained!!  we would get deep in the mud (sometimes knee deep or even deeper if anybody happened to fall) it was thick, it was heavy and it was hard to walk in it... Many times we had no car and when we did... well... it would get stuck... backs were hurt while trying to push it out of the mess (did I happen to mention that our car, when we had it, had no "reverse"?) and even feet were trapped under the tires of the car when it managed to slip out of the mess...

I took this picture from the internet, because I don't have pics of our own, a very common scene!

Because we had no running water, we had to wait for "la pipa"  to get our containers filled up with water, sometimes "la pipa" wouldn't pass... most times the water wasn't that clean so we used it mostly to "flush the toilet" with buckets...

"La Pipa"

 So many times my dad would carry big containers (yes, like the ones people use in mud runs to take pictures with),  my dad would fill the containers up and bring them to the house (no time -or camera- to pose for a picture of course)... My dad carried most of them but my mom wouldn't wimp out of it and my sister... being only as young as 10 years old would gather all her strength to help carry too! Sometimes we had a car, many times we didn't ... so we would either travel long distances with those containers of water in the car or even walk a lot with those containers... filled with water... all to be able to wash dishes, clothes and take ... well... I can't say baths... and I can't say "showers" either for obvious reasons... but we would use buckets to "wash ourselves"

We would do all this whether the weather was nice or not.. if it was rainy season sometimes we would fall in the middle of the mud while carrying buckets of water... sometimes the containers would end up spilling... sometimes we would lose a shoe that would end up trapped in all that mess... and yet... I think we always found a way to  laugh about it! We actually became "really skilled" at the whole "mud thing" ... we knew where to step and the balance we had! Was pretty impressive! We would do this daily of course because we had go to school, work and church, miles and miles away from home... sometimes with a clean change of clothes in plastic bags for when we finally made it to our destination.

I can say I've been in many "MUD RUNS" with my parents and siblings! Sometimes it felt like a "permanent and endless" mud run... But I am happy to say that by the grace of God nobody ever quit! There are so many stories I can share of our "Free and involuntary MUD RUNS" ... We never had to register to join any of them... Life just brought them to us... We didn't get to take any pictures either... but they are forever burnt in our minds and souls.... They became part of who we are... and they make us appreciate every single thing and not take it for granted.

Today the special recognition goes to my mom and sister... Who... being the princesses and ladies that they are... They were tough and strong through it all and they're still going through their race with a smile in their faces!

Thank you Mom for being such an example to your daughters! The only reason why we could go through all that with such peace and joy and not even have a "bad memory" about it is because of your constant prayers and content attitude!

My mom and me!

Thank you sister for being the best sister of all and for showing your teeth to adversity... both literally and figuratively! I am proud of YOU! And I am glad we went through all that TOGETHER! As best friends! With you in my team is easy to get to the other side!

My sister and me!

 Happy Mother's Day Mom!.... Happy Birthday sis!

Thank you Lord... for washing us clean from the mud... in every possible way!

MUD RUNS help you bond with your family FOR SURE!!!

----------- TRADUCCION --------------

Hoy es un dia especial... Es dia de las madres y resulta que yo tengo el privilegio de haber nacido en una maravillosa familia con la mejor mamá del mundo... y ... es también un día especial porque es el cumpleaños de mi hermana... Ella cumple... Bueno... eso no se dice.... verdad? Este post de hoy es para ellas!

--- NUESTRA CARRERA EN LODO ----

Al ver a mucha gente inscribirse voluntariamente en carreras en lodo... no puedo evitar pensar en MI familia y nuestras propias aventuras!

Nosotros vivimos por un tiempo en una area rural en México... La romantica idea de gallinas y cabras (que ni siquiera eran nuestras, sino de los vecinos) corriendo en nuestro terreno (de poco mas de dos acres) realmente atrajo a mis padres... El terreno era barato y la casa parecia comoda cuando la compramos... En esa casa vivimos algunos de nuestros tiempos mas dificiles en cuanto a finanzas en nuestra vida y algunos de los tiempos mas maravillosos y ABUNDANTES (no financieramente) como familia. Era nuestro "pedacito de cielo rural" (y para ser honesta, en cualquier lugar donde vivimos siempre fue un pedacito de cielo, no por el lugar sino porque estabamos juntos y porque cantar alabanzas a Dios fue una constante en dondq quiera que estuvieramos. Algunas veces no teniamos ni electricidad ni gas dentro de la casa... asi que los vecinos pensaban que eramos unos fiesteros porque a menudo nos veian cocinando en el asador (frijoles y nopales) y por supuesto siempre... siempre cantando!

Ahi no teniamos agua corriente y las calles no estaban pavimentadas... Es ahi donde comienza nuestra carrera en el lodo! Cada vez que llovia terminabamos enlodados (algunas veces hasta las rodillas o aun peor si nos caiamos) era un lodo espeso y pesado en el cual era dificil caminar... Muchas veces no teniamos un automovil y cuando si teniamos se atascaba, hubo espaldas lastimadas y hasta uno que otro pie apachurrado tratando de ayudar a que el carro saliera del lodo (por supuesto nuestro carro no tenia reversa)

Como no habia agua corriente, teniamos que esperar a que pasara "la pipa" para llenar nuestros contenedores y pila de agua, a veces no pasaba la pipa y la mayoria de las veces el agua no estaba tan limpia asi que solo la usabamos para "bajarle al baño" con cubetas...

Tantas veces mi papa tuvo que cargar botes (si, como los que usan en las carreras de lodo para tomarse fotos y verse muy "fortachones"), mi papa sin mucha pose llenaba los botes y los traia a la casa... MI papa cargaba la mayoria de ellos pero ni mi mama ni mi hermana se rajaron jamas... Aunque apenas tenia 10 ella tambien le entraba con todas sus fuerzas! Algunas veces, teniamos coche y muchas veces no... asi que teniamos que viajar largas distancias con esos botes famosos en el carro o aun caminar cargandolos... todo para poder lavar trastes, ropas y bañarnos a cubetazos.

Todo esto lo haciamos cuando el clima era favorable y también cuando no lo era tanto... hubo ocasiones en las que nos caiamos en medio del lodo y a veces se nos terminaban vaciando los botes... algunas veces se nos quedaba un zapato atrapado en medio del lodo y aun asi encontrabamos algun modo para reirnos al respecto! De hecho nos volvimos unos expertos en todo eso de caminar en el lodo... sabiamos bien donde y como pisar y que buen balance teniamos! Era digno de verse! Todos los dias teniamos que ir a la escuela, trabajo y 3 veces por semana a la iglesia, kilometros lejos de nuestra casa... algunas veces teniamos que cargar con ropa limpia en bolsas de plastico para cambiarnos cuando llegaramos a nuestro destino.

Puedo decir que he participado en muchas 'carreras en lodo' con mis padres y mis hermanos! A veces se sentia como que estabamos en una carrera "permanente e interminable"... Pero me alegra decir que por la gracia de Dios nadie se rindio jamas! Hay tantas historias que podria contar de nuestras carreras "gratuitas e involuntarias"... Nunca tuvimos que pagar un quinto por ellas! La vida simplemente nos las regalo... Tampoco pudimos tomar fotos... pero las memorias quedan para siempre en nuestras mentes y corazones... Son parte de quien ahora somos y nos ayudan a valorar cada cosita y no dar nada por hecho.

Hoy el reconocimiento especial es para mi mamá y hermana... que... siendo las princesas y damas que ellas son... fueron lo suficientemente "duras" y fuertes a traves de todo eso y aun lo son en su carrera que siempre enfrentan con una sonrisa en sus rostros!

Gracias Mamá por ser tan gran ejemplo a tus hijas! La unica razon por la que pudimos atravesar por todo eso con tanta paz y gozo y no tener malos recuerdos al respecto es por tus oraciones constantes y tu contentamiento.

Gracias hermana por ser la mejor de todas y por enseñarle los dientes a la adversidad (literalmente y en sentido figurado). Estoy muy orgullosa de ti! Y estoy agradecida de haber pasado todo eso juntas! Como mejores amigas! Contigo en mi equipo es facil llegar al otro lado!

 Feliz Dia de las Madres Mama! Feliz cumpleaños hermana!

Gracias Señor por lavarnos del lodo! En todos los aspectos!

Las carreras en lodo de veras que unen a la familia!

 © Paloma K.

Homeschooled children are weird

Which kid isn't a little odd? :) They might look perfectly normal for their parents... but... let's be honest... most kids have a little goofiness to them... it's refreshing!

Mine... are no exception (not at all!) and I thought I'd share with you a moment of our family's homeschooling adventures with you.

Here's hubby... with his method to teach long-short vowel sounds... I usually leave phonics to him because, ehem, being a Mexican and having a thick accent (that's what some people say... I honestly can't hear it... but hey... it's me!) it's not the best idea for me to try to teach phonics to my kids....

here we go... enjoy!

 

© Paloma K.

Valentine's Day - all you need is love!

Good day everyone! It was a gorgeous day outside here on East Texas, the sun was bright and the air  cool but very pleasant...

So... Valentine's Day... right? it's coming and many (including me) are looking forward to it ... dates are nice, and we all want and enjoy them (I know I do)... but something I need to remember to keep my focus on is how all I need is LOVE!

In a marriage... Dates are not REALLY NEEDED (although I know it is just an expression)... DATES ARE WANTED and APPRECIATED...  Time and communication with our spouse IS needed... but "dining out, flowers and chocolate" are not a NEED  yes, dates out are awesome, they're nice, they're great, they're fun but not INDISPENSABLE... Traveling is not needed, days without the kids are not needed, expensive dinners, clothes and gifts ARE NOT needed...

All we NEED is love!


Sometimes we get confused between the external demonstrations of love and the very essential source of those demonstrations... LOVE itself! We can hang beautiful curtains on our windows, have the best decorations, buy nice things for our homes... and if the very foundation is not solid... cracks will form, deep cracks that we might not see in the beginning because we are so focused on other "adornments" but they can grow so much, so deep... that the house at some point will fall or become inhabitable.


My parents have been a great example of love for me... true, deep, awesome love... their "house" (marriage) never had fancy drapes, nice vases or decorations, flowery stuff but their foundation is solid... They LOVE each other... they love each other in a practical way, when one cares for the other when sick, when imperfections become part of the very things you love about that person, when come what may they'll always be together... They don't date... in my family we've gone through so much... winds and storms have hit... there's been poverty and trying to survive... moments of defeat, loss, struggle, real struggle where dates, dinners out (sometimes dinners at all), movies were not even on anybody's mind... where my dad would show his love by trying to sell some rocks he found on the backyard ... and carrying water from outside so we could have some water in the house, where my mom would show her love by always trying to have a cup of instant coffee ready for him or by encouraging him, listening, being cheerful in the situations, being prayerful until her knees got calluses...

I've never seen my dad give my mom a Valentine's gift (although growing up I did see him did pick a flower here and there for her, wrote her a nice letter, always called her sweet things or reminded her of a song they both liked)... but in spite of no movies or specific Valentine's gifts I've never thought they didn't love each other... I am not saying Valentine's gifts are bad (I want one!) I am just saying that sometimes our focuscan be a little deviated from where it should be... and of course social media doesn't make it that much easier... I am so glad there was no facebook (sometimes not even electricity though... ) for my parents to see where everybody else was going, what they were wearing, the brands they got, etc or to be told through many posts that they should "go out on a date, pay for a babysitter, etc." ... I am so thankful they never paid for marriage conferences where they would be told "he needed to be more romantic" and "she needed to be sexier" (conferences are great and I know they have saved marriages, we just have to take the good, what's godly and discard whatever might not apply to us) ...  So ... I guess what I am trying to say...  If you're happy with your husband who might not be very romantic but loves you to pieces and everyday works and sacrifices for his family then... enjoy!!! We shouldn'tt need a "special date" to feel loved... He is LOVING YOU every day! If your man is your spiritual leader and he prays for you when you need it! Treasure that and don't feel the need to "live up" to the facebook/instagram pictures of anybody else! ... You have a special thing as long as Love (with capitol L) is the foundation...

My man is amazing and he often doesn't match the descriptions of posts that invite you to "share if your husband is a *true* gentleman with 9 chivalrous habits" but he does way more than that... and I wouldn't trade back...

Some posts will tell you that your husband should "watch girly movies with you" and that is part of making him a "true gentleman" ... the truth is that I don't even like most girly movies so I don't need that from him ... Josh is MY prince, MY knight in a shining armor, MY VERY TRUEST gentleman and there is nobody like him for me...

I am not saying men shouldn't do all those chivalrous things ... I just think that if they don't necessarily do "them all" that's ok too! Everybody is different... and we should appreciate what we have. The one and only thing I can tell you every marriage needs (without any fear to be mistaken) is... Love ....

Love... 

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters." 1 John 3:16


Love...

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

 Love never fails." 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

My man loves God, doesn't yell, laughs hard at my jokes, finds my goofiness special, tells me how smart I am often, asks for my opinion, prays with and for me, is a great daddy to our girls, loves and respects my parents and siblings, helps others, serves others... and lots of other things that I don't even have to share... because you don't need to know... your husband WILL be different from mine and I don't have to put together a "list of 9 things" that your hubby should be or do!

Have fun this Valentine's Day! Go on a date if you can afford it (and if it really means something to you), I want one myself! I am excited just thinking what we might do... it can be here at home... maybe just a special dinner when the girls go to bed... or just eat a piece of a special kind of chocolate (dark chocolate over 85% cocoa if you are a Trim Healthy Mama). I might not have the best ideas for you... but just do what comes from the heart, what's meaningful for you both and what shows... Love... not to the world... not to facebook... but to both of you! Things will look different depending our season in life.

According to many blogs... My parents don't even know that their marriage shouldn't exist any more! Or at least it shouldn't be a Happy one! And yet... there they are! My dad still making sure there's no cold wind blowing into the house during the night, my mom still making his coffee!

Don't fall trap for all those things that pretend to "help your marriage" and sometimes end up hurting... many posts have the best intentions... and they're not at all giving you bad advice... most of the writers might be godly people who have experienced things that work for THEMSELVES... but don't let anything put a strain on your relationship, an added stress, a discontentment for the things you now feel "you should be enjoying" just because your FB contacts are... 

If you have Love... this Valentine's Day... you have it all!!! 

© Paloma K.

The heart of the problem!

This heart is OK

  "The heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart" - J. John

I heard this quote today on my way home after my walk/talk with my bestie... (in our talks we fix the problems of the world, we laugh, we ... well.. I am not going to go into details but I can tell you that today we even heard an 80's country song) so... during our walk today I had a few moments of "self-discovery" ... I was left thinking about the things I do and say... (oh yes... we go deep!), as soon as I got in the car I heard this "heart" quote and I was so thankful, God always finds ways to let me know He is listening, He cares and He knows of my struggles or shortcomings... I liked the quote so much that I thought I had to share...  The human heart is deceitful indeed, that's what the Bible says... the core, the source of all issues lies within the human heart. Every problem can be traced back to it... Whether it is an addiction, our self-image, etc... when the focus is on self and not the Lord, when we follow the "listen to your heart" advice we fall into the biggest trap! It sounds good to "trust the heart" but the heart is not that cute thing we draw, the heart is not that beautiful Valentine cookie of the picture... the heart is  "...deceitful above all things..." Jer. 17:9 and how could we trust the very thing that gets us in the most trouble? How can we trust the very thing that has failed time after time, generation after geneartion!?

Society tells us to "follow our heart" or "do what we think is right" ... it even sounds like a "new thing", like a "wise thing" but humans have been following that very "modern" concept since the beginning! we find time after time in the Bible, generations that were completely destroyed for "doing what was right in their own eyes", strong men of God completely destroyed for "listening to their heart" and going after the wrong woman, kings leading the people of God after false gods, fathers hurting their children for letting them do as they wanted, battles lost for following "intuition" rather than God's voice....

And yet... we want to "re-write history" and we think this "follow your heart" thing is going to somehow "work for US"

I, like you, will continue to struggle with things... just like everybody else... But today my prayer is that I will listen to God... rather than my heart.  May God continue to transform me where my focus is more and more on Him and less and less on me... less and less on others. May I listen to His voice rather than my own. May I continue to grow as He continues to complete His work in me.



© Paloma K.

How-to-start couponing tips and the basics!

So... today I thought I'd share with all of you how I do my couponing, I just recently started but I almost can't believe I never did it before!

Let me tell you some of the misconceptions I had about couponing:

1. It's like begging (oy!)
2. It's like stealing (oy! OY!)
3. It can't make that much of a difference unless I am a "crazy hoarder"
4. It's just for unhealthy items or things that I don't really need/use
5. It's too hard

Those 5 things I mentioned are probably only the "top five" of my long list of reasons why I didn't coupon before... Some of them you might laugh at and think I'm kidding or you might just feel identified and realize that you've had those thoughts as well...

But... I went to my library and started looking for books on the subject of "home management" and finances... The couponing topic came up and it caught my interest... Plus at the same time a dear friend of mine started posting pictures on fb and information on the things she was purchasing and how much she was paying after the savings/coupons.

So... about 2 months ago I started my journey into the couponing world and I am sooo thankful! What a great way to be a good steward of the resources God's given us! What a great way to also help my hubby with the load of the finances of the home. I used to want to get a "work from home" kind of job and I soon realized that I am now "making more money" (or at least saving it) for my family and I have my own schedule, ability, etc... and stress-free! (I find the coupon clipping actually quite therapeutic!)

So these are the basics that I suggest if you want to begin:

1. Start buying the Sunday Newspaper (if possible, get a subscription and it will be cheaper)
2. Save the "Coupons.com" and "couponmom.com" sites on your favorites (They are not paying me to advertise or anything like that... I just really, REALLY like them), "The Grocery Games" is a great site too but you have to pay for it and there's no real need to do that... couponmom.com does the same for you and it's FREE!
3. The couponmom.com has a tutorial video on how they recommend you to organize your coupons, it doesn't require you to cut and clip all your coupons but I have discovered that I actually like going through them all, cutting and clipping them, organizing them in a binder so I can actually take the binder with me to the store and that way I never miss a great deal! So... that takes me to my next point
4. Make your own binder... I got a 2" Binder to begin! And over 30 baseball card divider sheets plus some dividers with tabs to organize my coupons by category.

These are the categories *I* use... you can make/add your own accordingly:

1. Produce
2. Snacks
3. Breakfast Cereals and Bars
4. Nut Butters and Jellies
5. Pasta/Rice/Soups
6. Condiments/Salad Dressing
7. Drinks
8. Frozen
9. Dairy/Eggs
10. Baby
11. Cleaning
12. Paper Products
13. Vitamins and Medicine
14. Oral Care
15. Hair Care
16. Deodorants/Shaving
17. Soap/Body Wash

Of course you can add whatever else you need... like Pets, etc... or even divide the categories into subcategories... It's YOUR BINDER... and it's YOUR brain... Customize it the way it makes most sense to you!

Maybe you won't even want to organize by category but by expiration date... (keep the expiration date in mind when placing your coupons in the binder, make sure it's in a visible place so it's easy for you to go through your binder and get rid of expired coupons).

I also suggest you go through your grocery stores coupon policies (i.e. You can't double coupon in Texas), also, make sure a "deal" is a real deal... sometimes there are some brand name items that are on sale and you have a coupon that you don't want to waste and still generic brand might be cheaper... or viceversa.. you might be surprised to find that some brand name products end up being cheaper in some instances when you match a sale with a coupon!

Make sure you get your "store cards" (rewards or loyalty cards) from whatever store you shop from... Check out the website of your store, you might be surprised to find the extra savings you can get online, Kroger and Randall's have a great digital-coupon program, you just load your coupons to your card and voila! The savings appear automatically when the cashier scans your card at the end!  And some of those stores also offer discounts on "Gas" after you get a certain amount of points in your card... Just yesterday we saved .30 cents per gallon of gas and we filled our tank knowing that we saved at least 5 dollars! (5 dollars is a lot of money, especially when couponing!)

My other tip for you is to avoid making a trip to the store out of "need" ... I mean, sometimes it might be inevitable... but those are the trips that hurt your pocket the most! Always plan ahead, make your lists, do your "homework" the sites I recommended do a lot of the hard work for you! Have your coupons ready and buy things when on sale! Stock up on those items that you can stock up on! And get a membership for stores like Costco or Sams (I recommend Costco the best) for items that no matter how cheap you'll find them in your regular grocery store... they'll never "beat" the price of these two! The items that I ALWAYS buy at Costco are:

- Toilet Paper (forget about the number of rolls per package, etc... make sure you know how much you are actually paying PER SQUARE FOOT!) - Marathon 48 roll package in Costco is THE best deal so far!
- Paper Towel (the price should also be calculated per square foot) - I love the Kirkland Brand
- Extra Virgin Coconut Oil and some Nut Butters (no sugar added!)
- Chia Seeds, quinoa and Hemp Hearts (yes, you can still eat healthy stuff and save money)
- Kerrygold grass-fed butter - if you're buying grassfed butter and you love Kerrygold as much as we do buy it at Costco, it is usually cheaper than in your local store (unless it's on sale).

And don't let a great deal pass even if you are "not needing" to buy an item! You'll be so happy next time you need a new bottle of shampoo and you can go to your very well stocked up cabinet for a bottle that you paid mere cents for!

And I guess that's it for now! You can do this! You're not begging nor stealing! (I still think things can be taken tooooo far) but... couponing allows you to make better use of your resources and even get a pair of earrings with the extra money... hey! Use a coupon and discount for those too!!!)

Just on Saturday we went to three different stores...  it was great to see the savings afterwards! I save at least 40% on each trip. It is a great feeling!

I'll be sharing more tips, secrets and maybe even some offers/codes too!

©  Paloma K.

Disclaimer: I am not getting paid or compensated by any of the sites/stores mentioned in this post. These are my opinions.

The Coffee Shop is back!

Hello Friends! It's been a long, long, LONG time... I've going through a journey of what some would call 'self-discovery'.

Life happens, things change, children grow, knowledge increases, you freak out, you settle back down, etc... and that's pretty much what's been happening with me! In all this I have been wondering what I can blog about! It is crazy! This blog started with coffee... wanting to talk about it, wanting a cup of it and for sure wanting to share it with all of you! Then, things evolved and I realized that even when coffee would still be present, I wanted to widen my horizons and be able to talk about everything... and by everything I guess I meant "mostly food" because I was obsessed with it... and by mostly food It seemed to be "basically desserts" ... and then the kids came... motherhood hit...



No comments (Mother's Day 2014)

and I continued to blog... but the blog ended up becoming more a "what I baked today" ... and in my constant need to express myself I ended up with several more blogs... one to write about my very unique and fun marriage (I'm a Mexican and he's as white as you can get) so I ended up with a blog named "You're bread, I am tortilla" (or something like that), another blog to express my gratitude towards God for His presence in my life and His mercies towards me (Gratefulness Journal) and in the trying to stay true to my roots I ended up with another blog (but now about Mexican cooking) named "Cooking with Fire"...  and as the weight from all that amazing dishes became a BIG issue I then created yet another blog that I will not mention here but it talks about my journey towards a healthier weight... and yet another one, my latest blog was even a couponing blog (because yes, I became a couponer) ...... see how crazy? It's been basically a lot... and I've changed a lot... also my relationship with food has changed a lot as well (no sugar for me and only occasionally for my family! (Who would've thought???)  but... then... blogging just stopped! As things changed and I realized I couldn't keep opening blogs for every single idea that crossed my mind  I just stopped and realized this is the blog where I always come back... but I still love communicating and expressing and sharing... So I am trying to re-gain those of you who are still out there and still wanting to know about me and what's going on over here... and I look forward to updates from all of you to know what's going on over there... in your lives!

I still love cooking and I still love taking pictures!

 

Cooking classes... just a dream! they're expensive! It would be a fun date though!

I still love coffee and I still love talking with you! Whoever you are! I definitely need this space where I know I can connect with others! Thankfully I have lots of IRL people that are always there... but there's just something about a virtual space that allows you to connect with people that otherwise you would never even know exist! I want to make sure I stay here... in spite of all the changes! I'll be in touch with all of you! I guess I put myself and the blog in a box and I felt like I could only talk about 'a specific thing' here... I guess I forgot what I always said this blog would be... Just like a COFFEE SHOP... where we can talk about everything and anything going on in life! Whether we agree or disagree.. it will be ok! We're just here for coffee and to have a good time! We can get into the nitty gritty of the issues happening even in the politics if you want (blech! that can get ugly!) or we can just talk about the new shade of color on your carpet because of that grape juice your kiddos spilled!

 

Ah! Life! keeps moving, keeps changing, we change with it as well... But here we are... come and have a cup of coffee with me! you might want dessert with your coffee... I will too! (just sugar and gluten free, please)



Coffee always present, even when camping!

Ah! Home, sweet home! It's so good to be back!

Your friend... Paloma.

© Paloma K.

Back to the roots!

So... Yesterday was officially our first day home after our long family vacation... We enjoyed 7 days with family in Wisconsin... going back to hubby's roots and also to our own family's foundation... where "it all started" for us!

It was wonderful!

And because of that ... I thought I would take a few snap shots of some of the food we enjoyed there... I thought it would be good to take my blog back to its very roots as well... back to when everything was just about "taking pictures of food... a cup of coffee or a coffee shop"

I hope you enjoy!

Are there better cookies than grandma's? Doubt it!

Date with hubby, this is what he had: Stuffed crepes. Delish!

This is what I had... Tuna melt with alfalfa sprouts and side of Indian rice. Really fragrant

Our coffee at our favorite coffee shop, they sold their name "Alterra" and they're now Colectivo... I guess it will eventually grow in us.

Cafe "Cortado" half espresso half steamed milk

The coffee sign :)

Of course we ate a lot more than just this... But these were shots of very special "food moments"

© Paloma K.

The Pink Cake

Hello everybody, here I am again, with my monthly post! I feel weird to not be as active blogging here but I hope to be able to "get back at it" soon! Not much is going on here, we still have ONE car only, I mentioned 1 of our cars got stolen in my last post, we don't see the possibility of buying another car anytime soon... My 2 yr. old is potty trained! It took me a day! but I shouldn't say it took "ME" I should say that with God's help and with her good attitude this was done quickly! She only had 1 real day of being trained, three days ago, after that she hasn't had any accidents EVEN AT NIGHT! It's amazing that she just "GOT IT" she even wakes up in the middle of the night and lets me know she needs to go potty! What a big girl! It's a little bittersweet I must admit, as I see her grow up so quickly makes me realize I no longer have a "baby" ... But let's not talk more about potty training, especially because we're about to start talking about CAKE!... it's time to reveal the "cake of the month" ... as you know I bake with


 Which by the way, we're now on Facebook too! LIKE us here. Well, we, The Cake Slice Bakers, have to bake 1 different cake each month, as you may or many not know, this year we're baking from the book Vintage Cakes by Julie Richardson, and it's been awesome! None of the cakes has disappointed, pretty much everyone has enjoyed each of the cakes so far and that makes me very happy! For May the Cake that won the "poll" was "The Pink Cake" which is a triple layered chocolate cake with a Raspberry Buttercream... I voted for this cake, and the cakes that I vote for usually never win LOL! so I was thrilled to try this one! I must say I was tempted to change the raspberries for strawberries because I am not that big of a fan for raspberries... but I usually like to adhere to the recipe just as it is, even when it calls for ingredients I would not normally use because I see it as an opportunity to try things that might not be my favorite or that I am not so "sure" of... and sometimes I get great results (not always) but I am happy to say that I am definitely happy it worked this time!

The intense color of the raspberries gave the frosting its beautiful pink (and totally natural) color and delicious fragrance! Plus the fact that the raspberries are pureed and strained to remove the seeds "did the trick" and made them "the special ingredient" of this cake! giving it a slight tart freshness that went great with the deep chocolate flavor of the cake.

I went for something simple and decided to make 2 9" layers instead of 3 8"

 I thought this cake would be perfect to have for hubby's birthday... I know it looks a lot like a very girly cake but trust me... any man that is not afraid to have "The Pink Cake" for his birthday will really enjoy it!

I used fresh raspberries for decoration

My husband wasn't sure if he'd like it or not, he's not a fan of raspberries either and he's just happy to have "chocolate on chocolate" kind of desserts... but he trusted me and he was actually shocked by the results, when he had the first bite he actually dropped his hands on the table in actual disbelief, his jaw dropped as well and he just managed to say "this is awesome"

he enjoyed it so much!

Dear friends of ours enjoyed the cake with us, they liked it very much as well.

Our friends Venessa and Bill were happy to enjoy this cake with us!

I am so happy with this cake, it will definitely be one of those "go to" recipes, plus it's pretty simple to make.

It's great that hubby's birthday is in May because I got to have a slice for Mother's Day as well!

If you would like the recipe for this cake, I encourage you to get this book! Really do! You will not regret it! If you love good cakes this is a must have!



© Paloma K.

The Cake Slice and The Classic Cake

Hello everybody! Sorry I haven't been around as much... I am doing good stuff though! Being a mom and enjoying the terrible two's -OY!- but it's all a blessing, even those little things that now frustrate me... I know it's just a stage and this too shall pass and I might soon look back and feel like it passed way too quickly!

So... as many of you know I belong to a Secret Online Baking Group called The Cake Slice, we are a group of ladies who love baking and we choose a different book each year to bake from, right now we are baking from "Vintage Cakes" by Julie Richardson and it's been such a joy to bake from this book!

For January, two of the 4 cakes to choose from were tied at the end... so we had the choice to bake either of them... I chose "The Classic" and I am glad I did... I actually talked to a friend (Laurie) about it and about the fact that I can't really eat much cake anyway... and she had the great idea to use it for her hubby's birthday! They're all great friends so we made it a "date" and we all had lunch at her house yesterday with her family to enjoy her food and my cake... her husband really enjoyed it and my husband was almost like he was in heaven... he couldn't stop saying how much he loved it!

I am not sharing the recipe this time... but I am sharing with you "the process" of making it... I hope it's still fun!

My first two layers actually sunk! I was distracted and used baking soda instead of baking powder!

Chocolate ganache in the making! Semisweet chocolate + heavy whipping cream + dark brown sugar = awesomeness!

Second batch of cake layers were great! The recipe asked to make 4 layers out of the two but I used bigger round pans and preferred to have 2 thick layers than 4 thin ones.

This would've been the final product but I thought it looked too simple and dark....

So I gave it an extra touch with melting some white chocolate with butter and heavy cream to decorate the top.

Here's the birthday boy waiting for his wife to give him a slice!

Now... this is a cake slice! although it was supposed to be "yellow cake" and I found it "whiter than yellow" Delicious though!

Success!

© Paloma K.

First day of normalcy

Today was the first day back to my "old routine" ... Hubby went back to work after he spent two weeks at home just off for the holidays... I really missed him... I know! it's just a few hours... but he truly makes my days brighter! I always tell him that when he walks in a room it's like the sun came out just for me!

With my love!

I guess it was harder because I just got a cold, the day was gray and cold and I didn't feel like "facing the day without him" (especially with two little ones that still eat, play, run and need all my attention and energy!) but ... I still made it through the day and I must even say it was a productive one... I enjoyed dancing with my 4 year old and re-starting our homeschooling!

Tomorrow... Tomorrow will be better! I am sure... I am very thankful for the comments I receive on this blog! And I encourage you to keep coming, trying my recipes, sipping a cup of coffee (or whatever you prefer) and just sharing about yourself! I do read all your comments and they mean so much to me, sometimes it takes me a little bit to get back to all of you but I do try!

Don't forget to "mention coffee" in any of your posts of the week so you can link-up with us!... Now that everything is back to normal we're re-starting our "Coffee Friday Party" tradition and we'll have a great featured blogger! You won't want to miss it!

See you around!

© Paloma K.

Picture Post!

ooh! Lots of catching up to do replying and commenting on other blogs! I hope once January starts everything goes back to normal and I can blog more... I just want to say I'm here, we're enjoying the feeling of Christmas all around us and ... well... here are some pics of how we're enjoying!

Paper Snowflakes

More Crafts

Nutcracker!

Love!

My princesses

Of course!

© Paloma K.

Christmas Traditions

Hello everybody! I hope you've been enjoying the recipes I've shared with you! I've posted several cookie recipes and you can also check my Recipe Index for more yummy dishes/desserts!

Today... I want to ask you about Christmas traditions... Do you have any? Anything that you do with your family every year that you all enjoy? some little thing that you probably haven't even realized it's a tradition but you love doing on Christmas?

Share with everyone here... maybe someone will read them and even make your family tradition their own!

Something we do here every Christmas season is watch the movie:

 Such a beautiful movie!! We watch it a week or two before Christmas. We also love "White Christmas" and something we do on the very Christmas day is sing Christmas Carols with song books made for the whole family, the Christmas songs books get out at some point in the night and everybody sings together and Josh (my hubby) reads some Bible verses on the Birth of Jesus between some of the songs. It's very beautiful and we used to do this with hubby's family but now that we moved to Texas we "skype" to "be" with them.

Do you do anything special? I'd love to read all about it!


© Paloma K.

Thanksgiving through the eyes of a Mexican!

 Sorry I've been away... Thanksgiving was great here! We had so much stuff to eat but most of all we gave thanks, shared what we are thankful for and had a great time with family! My brother, his wife and my sister were able to spend some time with us, they came from Mexico specifically to spend Thanksgiving with us. Thanksgiving is not celebrated in Mexico since it doesn't really have anything to do with our history... but in my house there's been always love towards the American beginnings and its history... I've also always loved the whole Thanksgiving Tradition because, when in Mexico, living right at the Border with USA I had some friends who lived in Texas and they did celebrate it! I even got to be part of one Thanksgiving Dinner and I know I still didn't get the "whole experience" because there were "tamales" involved! LOL! ... I wanted to know what the traditional meal was really like... but never occurred to me that one day I would be hosting my own! I try to keep it as traditional as possible to make sure hubby enjoys everything he loves about it and also to share it with my Mexican family, who also appreciate it all... it's so different from our traditional food in Mexico! so they get the taste of what Josh (my husband) grew up with!

So... Here are some pictures of what we enjoyed here...

Our Thanksgiving Table (Thanksgiving Tree in the back)

My girl!

Appetizers: Stuffed Celery, Pretzels, Deviled Eggs

My littlest one! Enjoying too!

Everyone happy!

With my sister and my brother!

With my hubby!

YUM!

Pumpkin Pie, Pecan Pie, Sugar Cookies, Pumpkin Brownies, M&M's

So... That was our Thanksgiving... we are very thankful for all our blessings, most of all for salvation, family and good health.

Now... I am gearing up for Christmas! I just wish there weren't so many events in between so I can lose more pounds and not be tempted with more food! LOL! ... I am already getting recipes, memories and just random thoughts on Christmas to share with you!


© Paloma K.