About: Ericka

This salad is a celebration of winter.  Every year, I wait anxiously for persimmons and pomegranates to be in season to enjoy this tangy, crunchy and peppery salad. The pomegranate kernels, Nakano Natural Rice Vinegar and Holland House Red Wine Vinegar compliment the sweetness of the persimmons and woody hazelnut flavor.   This salad has been known to convert non-salad believers into salad enthusiasts. Green Leafy Salad with Persimmons and Pomegranates  2/3 cup shelled hazelnuts 1 ½ tablespoons + 1Read More ...

Editor’s note: They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so this holiday season we asked all of our regular contributors – we’re up to nine! – to just send us a photo that expresses what the holidays mean to them for this collection of Bicultural Christmas Photos. What kind of photo would you have sent in? “We love to visit and admire various famous Christmas trees around town. One we never miss is our favorite, the Christmas treeRead More ...

We love incorporating candy canes in every Christmas project we can.  We tie them on our wreaths and garlands. We use them as walking sticks to adorn our fancy ginger bread men.  We use them as hot chocolate stirrers or bribe our three-year-old son with them to clean up his toys. My favorite by far, is making these cookies to enjoy Christmas morning. With a cup of coffee at hand, pajamas on and a big smile on our faces theseRead More ...

Have the niños take part in your family’s Thanksgiving dinner preparation this year.   Pumpkin pie pops are a great spin-off of the traditional pumpkin pie dessert we all love to indulge in after the big dinner. Not only are they fun and easy for little hands to assemble, but require very few ingredients to create.  Because everything is ten times more fun on a stick, think of  this autumn treat as circular empanaditas on a stick. Arrange them inRead More ...

  A couple weeks preceding Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead), we begin creating and preparing the decorations for our altar.  One very important element and colloquial symbol incorporated in the altar is the sugar skull (calaverita de azucar). Sugar skulls represent and honor a departed soul.  Customarily, the name of the person the altar is dedicated to is written across the skull’s forehead.  If you do not have an altar to display them on, sugar skulls can alsoRead More ...

Editor’s note: This is the sixth post in our Flan Week celebration in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month. Today is the turn of  Ericka, our The Culture of Food regular contributor and author of Nibbles and Feasts. Ericka shares with us a story and recipe of a traditional and easy flan de cajeta from Mexico . We hope you’ve been enjoying Flan Week and come back for the last recipe {Fat-Free Flan?!} tomorrow. The smell of simmering cajeta at my grandmother’s house signified two things:Read More ...