BOOK DESCRIPTION/REVIEW

Growing up, I always loved comic strips. I couldn’t get enough of Condorito, Mafalda, Archi and La pequeña Lulú. Looking back, I know at least the jokes in the first two were more for an adult audience than anything else, but I still loved them! While I haven’t introduced my kids to any of these comic strips just yet, I recently got my hands on a copy of El globo grande y mojado a TOON book by Liniers, a renowned Argentinian cartoonist who draws his inspiration from his own two little girls.

My daughter, who’s 7 years old and an avid reader, was immediately enthralled by a format she’s not really familiar with and wasted no time taking over and reading the sweet story to her little brother. The best part is that she actually made different voices for Matilda and her little sister Clementina and made the sound of the different noises Liniers includes throughout his easy-t0-read comic.

El globo grande y mojado tells the perfect little story of what it’s like to be a big sister — a role my girl had no trouble identifying with which, I believe, is one of the reasons she enjoyed this book so much. Not to mention that the cartoons are truly expressive!

BOOK DETAILS

Title: El Globo Grande y Mojado

Author & Illustrator: Liniers

Ages: 4+

Publisher/Year: TOON/Candlewick/2013

ISBN: 978-1-935179-32-0

Price: $12.95

Website: Toon Books

The Giveaway!

We are giving away one copy of El Globo Grande y Mojado to FOUR lucky winners. All you have to do is leave us a comment letting us know what’s your child’s or your favorite comic strip and enter the rafflecopter below.

Ends November 28th 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Editor’s note: We’re spending this week celebrating dads raising bilingual kids with guest posts written by them in honor of Father’s Day. We love having the dad’s perspective and hope this series encourages other papis to share their stories with us.

I first fell in love with Argentine asado several years ago on a magical New Year’s Eve in Mar del Plata, Argentina. It was my first trip to South America and I was meeting my wife’s large, extended family for the first time. We had caravanned together from Buenos Aires and decided to have a traditional Argentine barbecue at the family’s beach house before heading out on the town to celebrate the new year. What transpired was an unforgettable moment of falling in love with a new culture—its food, its wine, its cooking traditions, and its whole-hearted embrace of familia.

An Argentine asado is a lengthy barbecue, more akin to a fiesta, where family and friends gather for hours on end to eat, drink, talk, laugh, and generally live life at a languid pace unrecognizable by our fast-tempoed, modern society. I was so enchanted by the asado experience that I became an asador and promised to share my passion with the rest of the world.  So, I started Gaucho Garcia, an English-language resource dedicated to South American grilling.

When our daughter, Luna, was born last August, my wife and I knew two things: one, we were dedicated to raising her bilingual and teaching her about her family’s Spanish-speaking roots (I am of Spanish descent and she is Argentine). And two, we committed to educating her about everything related to Argentine cuisine. What better way to raise a bilingual child than to speak Spanish while teaching her the culinary traditions of her family?

In addition, since we were both fluent, we felt that raising Luna bilingual was one of the best gifts we could give her in this life. With so many primos in Buenos Aires and Madrid that we hoped to visit in the years to come, instilling Spanish at an early age seemed imperative so that she could communicate with her family during our travels. In fact, she will embark on her first international adventure to Buenos Aires this September for her cousin’s wedding.

For now, Luna is still just babbling and has only one tooth—not nearly enough to make it through the large portions of bife de lomo that I normally serve at my asados. In no time, however, she will be assisting her Papi with the preparation of la parrilla and helping her Mami in the kitchen with the family’s recipe for empanadas argentinas. And when she comes running to me one day, grinning from ear to ear, and says, “Papi, mira lo que hice en la cocina con Mamita!”, I will know that the commitment we made the day she was born has paid off… and we just might have that fateful New Year’s asado to thank for it all.

Gabriel García is an attorney and an asador living in the Silicon Valley hamlet of Morgan Hill, California. In 2007, he fell in love with South American barbecue after partaking in his first asado with his wife’s family in Argentina. Since then, he began blogging about asados and Argentine cuisine on his website Gaucho Garcia. He is father to a 9-month old baby girl, Luna, who he hopes will one day carry on the recipe for his world-famous chimichurri.

Editor’s note: This is the second post in our Flan Week celebration in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month. Today is the turn of Chef Uchi from Latino Food Lovers and she brings us a Malbec flan alfajor. She says: “This is a classic family recipe of flan with caramel and whipped cream with some modernized modifications to delight. When accompanied by whipped cream and dulce de leche, the flan is called ‘mixto’ (mixed).” We hope you come back all week to check out all the different ways of making flan!

Memories often inspire us. To celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, I was inspired by two sublime memories: the alfajores I savored during my childhood and good wine shared with friends.

In Argentina, there are alfajores of all kinds. You can find regional alfajores (such as the Santa Fe, the cordobeces, Mar del Plata) and the commercial ones.

Another major inspiration is the wine. In Argentina, like in most Latin America, it is the perfect companion for a barbecue (asados). There are different varieties, although Malbec has become an icon for the Argentinean wine industry.

For my recipe, I have used a touch of Malbec. For its presentation I gave this dessert an alfajor shape. It is why I called it “Malbec flan alfajor”.

Hope you enjoy it!

Ingredients:

250 grs. sugar

740 ml whole milk

1 vanilla extract

1 1/2 tablespoon Malbec

250 grs. sugar

7 eggs

1 egg yolk

Dulce de leche (to taste)

Chantilly cream (to taste)

Chocolate or caramel decoration

Preparation:

Caramel

1. Prepare caramel with 250 grs. sugar and a little water in a saucepan  and cook until it begins to turn brown

2. Pour the caramel into ramekins

Flan

1. Mix milk, vanilla, Malbec wine and half the sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil in bain marie

2. Mix eggs and yolks with half the sugar

3. Add the mixture from step 2 in step 1

4. Strain the mixture through a chinoise

4. Fill the molds with the mixture and place in a deep pan with water

5. Bake at low heat (300˚F) for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the dessert gets a thick consistency

6. Let it cool and place in the refrigerator (if possible overnight)

7. Pass a knife around sides of the flan

8. Remove the mold on a tray

9. Connect the two flans with a drop of dulce de leche

10. Serve with some whipped cream and chocolate or caramel decoration

Chef Uchi Davidzon was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is a food writer and dessert guide at About.com, a digital property of The New York Times Co. Uchi is a Pastry Chef from FCI (French Culinary Institute New York) who was awared Les Dame D´Escoffier NYC 2010. She is the founder of Lola Mora Catering NYC and publishes the Latin Food Lovers blog which was awarded the best food blog by Blogs By Latinas Awards 2011. 

The contents of this posting, including, but not limited to its text, graphics, video, and images is the exclusive property of Luciana Davidzon and is used here with her express permission. Said contents may not subsequently be used or reproduced in any way without express written permission from Ms. Davidzon. Copyright © 2011 by Luciana Davidzon. All rights reserved.

The inspiration for this recipe was my mother and my daughter. I thought that since Mother’s Day is around the corner I should  start thinking about our  present. And what better idea than to do something with our kids.

I truly believe there is no  better gift than an unforgettable moment with my family. Rarely we mothers find the time to play with our children. The daily activities are so hectic  that we find it a challenge to devote quality time to our kids.

Perhaps because we work full time and when we finally get home we are already exhausted.  Or because we struggling to maintain the harmony at:  ”.. the refrigerator is empty and at night I have no time to prepare  the dinner  so the priority is go to the supermarket .. “” .. there is  a pile of dirty clothes that no longer fits in the basket … “” …the dog needs to go out for a walk .. “” .. the  house needs to be cleaned ASAP because visits are coming;” or even ” the dishwasher is out of order and I should be at home to get it fixed .”

Some have more than one child and with that the extracurricular activities multiply :  dance or art classes, gym, and appointments with the pediatrician (and the list goes on and on).
I have therefore decided to find time in the midst of this chaos to have  fun and really play with my daughter. Why not cook and play at the same time?

Today’s recipe is traditional, easy and delicious. In a kitchen environment children can learn by playing and using their imagination and creativity; by drawing and exploring textures, aromas and colors.

Let´s make Cornstarch Alfajores

Throughout Latin America there are different versions of alfajores.

The alfajor is a kind of sandwich consisting of two cookies brought together by a sweet filling. Although usually made of dulce de leche (of a caramel consistency), there are other varieties with other fillings such as jam, ganache and chocolate mousse. Most are covered in chocolate, but sometimes they have a glaze or are simply  covered with powdered sugar.

I love to cook Grandma’s recipes because it is a great way to maintain a family tradition.  It is also a wonderful  way for my daughter to better understand where we all come from.

My small suggestion is that we  teach our traditions at the same time as we choose  choose healthy and fresh ingredients. This way we can make nutritional and homemade recipes full of tradition.

Alfajores de Maicena by Chef Uchi

Ingredients:

• 200 grs Butter
• 200 grs Confectioner’s  sugar
• 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
• 3 Eggs
• 500 grs Cornstarch
• 1 Tablespoon Baking powder

Procedure:

1) Cream butter and confectioner’s sugar

2) Add vanilla extract
3) Add the eggs slowly while beating until the mixture is
homogeneous.
4) Add the cornstarch and baking powder
5) Continue mixing until dry ingredients are incorporated completely
6) Form the dough into a ball

7) Wrap the dough with plastic wrap until firm cover about1 hour in the refrigerator
8) Turn the oven to 320 F
9) Cover the surface with a little flour

10) Roll out the dough with a rolling pin until approximately 1/4 inch of thickness

11) Cut circles approximately 1 inch

12) Place parchment paper on a sheet pan and leave a space between alfajorcitos

13) Bake the cookies 15 to 20 minutes until the alfajorcitos are lightly brown.
14) Remove and let cool
15) Connect 2 alfajorcitos with dulce de leche

16) Roll the alfajorcitos in coconut

Enjoy!

This post can be read in Spanish here.

The contents of this posting, including, but not limited to its text, graphics, video, and images is the exclusive property of Luciana Davidzon and is used here with her express permission. Said contents may not subsequently be used or reproduced in any way without express written permission from Ms. Davidzon. Copyright © 2011 by Luciana Davidzon. All rights reserved

Chef Uchi Davidzon was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is the founder of Lola Mora Catering NYC and publishes the Latin Food Lovers blog. After building her business over the past few years, she wanted to improve her skills and gain a professional edge. Uchi attended  French Culinary Institute (FCI) to pursue her dream and became Pastry Chef. Most recently she was awarded the “Les Dames d’Escoffier New York.”