Just Getting Started!!!

Of course like any child away from their mother's homemade meals, I am missing my mother's cooking!!! I'm in the middle of no where and NO there aren't any Puerto Rican food places around. North Dakota is not a very cultural place!!! Sooooo what do you do when you aren't near the ones you love or in my case the food I love???
You find a way to bring your loved ones and the food to you :)!!!! I am going to become a better cook and a more Puerto Rican cook while I'm at it!!!
   I love Puerto Rican dishes, from Arroz con Pollo to Flan and Limber...... mmmmm Limber!!! The first time I left home the only Puerto Rican dish I came close to mastering was Pollo Guisado con Arroz blanco. That's all I knew and if I didn't have Sofrito, I was screwed :(... If I didn't have Sofrito, I didn't even attempt to make any PR dish because I just knew it wouldn't taste the same (I wasn't very creative either).
 Before I got married I was determined to, at least, become successful to making WHITE RICE. I know I know, you're thinking, 'whoa if you couldn't make white rice then you weren't a cook'..... I know it's sad but you don't understand making rice in my family was important!!!! We ate almost everything with RICE!!!! If we had Lasagna, we had a side of rice. Beef-a-roni with a side of rice. Spaghetti....... side of rice!!!!! And the rice wasn't just plain ole rice, it was fluffy and just perfect, kind of like the white rice you get from a Chinese carry out!!! Perfect!!!
Do you know how hard it is to make perfect fluffy DRY but moist at the same time, RICE!!???? Psshhh it was hard!!!! I failed for 3 or 4 years until I went back home and watched my mom make rice!!!! I watched her make yellow rice, Arroz con Gandules, Arroz con maiz, Arroz blanco, and my fave Arroz con Salchichas!!!!! I paid attention this time!!! I was getting married so I had to learn something!!!!
My husband absolutely loves my cooking, which motivates me to get better at it. His co-workers and supervisors tell me they love everything I cook. I feel I've come a long way from what I use to cook, chopped chicken breast with corn and mash potatoes :( It was all I knew. Now that I think about it, that recipe was so bland and not very flavorful at all. My older brother didn't care much for my cooking at all. My parents were didn't eat much of my cooking either. It was so bad!!
OMG, I remember when I was a senior in high school, my parents trusted me to make dinner while they still at work.... The pork chops were so hard you could use them for hockey! They weren't even safe to give to the dogs.
Yea, I've come a long way from those horrible days. I've become more passionate! I love learning new things and new recipes. I watch the Food Network and steal recipes from magazines. I am more determined when I cook, I want the meal or dish to be something great that my peers and loved ones will never forget. Something they will always ask for!!! I want to create memories when I cook, not just for myself but for others...
Now that I've rambled enough about my experiences and love for food, I can tell you what my blog will be about!!!
Throughout my blogs I will be sharing with you my journey to mastering the dish I love from my family the most!! Not only will we make dishes from my family, but dishes from the Puerto Rican culture, and non- Hispanic dishes that interest me! I'm doing something I love to do and sharing with you all!! Cooking has become my passion!!! I'm no professional but I enjoy this just as much, if not more!!!

Well Cheers to a great beginning!!!