Mudanzas y La Cosita de Guayaba

Happy Saturday, Readers! It's been a while, but I can explain...

You see there's this thing called school which I had completely forgotten how much time it could consume and oh yeah, we moved! Although we loved living with Los Suegros, it was time for us to be on our own.

I love "Welcome" signs & I love Disney, it was a win/win

We were able to move and build loads of IKEA furniture in about two days time. We are very thankful for help from one of our dear friends, Java, who only demanded payment in food, coffee & grape soda! The apartment is still full of boxes and containers. I'm a bit overwhelmed with it all, but school will be over in two weeks and I will be able to focus on the apartment before I start all over again with Summer classes.

My only gripe is that I had to buy a Cuban mop online because they don't sell those things up here.  Please don't ask how much it cost -- I mop my floor with my tears mixed into Fabuloso.

Shipped all the way from Miami

To celebrate the move (and as a form of payment for her services), I decided to introduce Java to the wonder's of Cuban food.  Our first meal at the apartment was my ropa vieja. She loved it, of course! But my crowning achievement was La Cosita De Guayaba (Java named it as such). The story behind this delicacy stems from when I first moved up to NH and was working at a call center.  We started having food days and being one of only four Hispanics in the entire office, I decided I'd make something akin to a pastel de guayaba con queso but not. It never had a name so they started calling it my "Guava thingy" -- Java just took it one step further and translated it into Spanish.  I like the name...how about you?

La Cosita de Guayaba
Ingredients:
1 tube Pillsbury cinnamon roll
1 16oz can Guava marmalade
1 8oz tub Whipped Cream Cheese
1/2 Tbsp Lemon juice
1/2 Tbsp Vanilla extract
1/4 C Sugar


Directions:

• Preheat oven to the temperature on the cinnamon bun package
• Roll out the cinnamon buns in an 8x8 pan and press down to make a crust

• Place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes
• In a small bowl, mix cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice & vanilla extract

• Remove pan from oven
• Spread cream cheese mixture evenly on top of the crust

• Pour guava on top of the cream cheese mixture until completely covered (you will use approximately 1/2 to 3/4 of the can)

• Place back in the oven and bake for an additional 20 minutes

• Let cool & enjoy!

I've found that if left in the fridge overnight, the taste gets even better!

Do you have moving nightmares you want to share? How about cooking nightmares?  You should've seen what my first version of La Cosita De Guayaba looked like...not very appetizing, but it sure tasted yummy!

Neapolitan Cheesecake Bars

I honestly wish that every recipe that churned out of my kitchen was 100% my brain child.  Sadly, its not.  I spend hours sometimes scouring the internet for ideas that I usually tweak with my own little dash of anything. I subscribe to at least half a dozen recipe newsletters ranging from Betty Crocker, Food & Wine Magazine, Kraft, and many more. Even if I don't use all the recipes, they are a great inspiration and starting place for at least 50% of my dishes.

I remember as a kid my mom would buy the Neapolitan Ice Cream from the store. I also remember how I would strategically eat all the vanilla and chocolate and leave the nasty strawberry behind. What can I say? I've never been a fan of fruit, let alone fruit in any of my desserts. (I will some day go into detail of my aversion to fruit in my yogurt). Que bueno that I at least grew out of my strawberry phase!

Mi Gringito works very hard and he comes home dead exhausted most days.  My greatest joy in life is to have something tasty waiting on the dinner table for him. When I think he needs an extra little oomph, I make him some sort of dessert.  I made this winner a few weeks ago for him and he made it a point to eat a bar (or two) at every meal. I admit, I snuck one (or two) myself and wowee!

I had the opportunity to make them again this weekend for a gathering of friends and I think Mi Gringito felt cheated because we left them at our friends house and I didn't make a separate batch for ours! Pobresito, but then again, we cannot have too much of this temptation in la casa or I will be forced to start wearing a muzzle!

Neapolitan Cheesecake Bars adapted from Betty Crocker
Ingredients:
1 Pouch (1lb 1.5oz) Double Chocolate Chunk Cookie Mix
1/2 C Butter or Margarine, Melted
3 Eggs
2 Packages (8oz each) Cream Cheese, Softened
1/2 C Sugar
1 Tsp Vanilla
1 Container (12oz) Whipped Strawberry Frosting

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Line a 13x9" pan with foil and spray bottom and sides with cooking spray

• In a large bowl, stir cookie mix, melted butter, and 1 egg until mixed well

• Press dough in bottom of pan.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes

• While the cookie is cooling, beat cream cheese, sugar vanilla and the two remaining eggs in a large bowl 

• Use an electric mixer on medium speed until mixture is smooth

• Spread over cookie base

• Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until set
• Remove from oven and let cool for 30 minutes
• Spread frosting over cream cheese layer

• Refrigerate about two hours or until chilled (I left it in the fridge overnight and it was easier to handle)
• Remove from pan using the edges of the foil.

• Using a wet knife, separate into 6 rows by 6 rows

• I placed the bars in cupcake cups for easy handling at the party

• Store leftover bars covered in the refrigerator

It got rave reviews at the party and I swear that Mi Gringito ate at least six!

Here's a note: the longer this delicacy sits in the fridge, the better it tastes! Let me know if any of you try it.  Also, feel free to substitute ingredients to make this one less sinful.  I used fat-free cream cheese in an effort to lessen the blow and have considered also trying it with either Splenda or Truvia.

Hasta la proxima! Un beso desde el Norte!

Guayaba con Queso Crema Muffins

It is no secret that I believe that Guayaba is Ambrosia of the Gods with Cafe Cubano being their Nectar. I never realized how much I loved it until it wasn't readily available.  As a little girl, my Abuelo would get up every Saturday morning and walk to the bakery on the next block and bring home pastelitos and pan cubano.  My sister and I would wake up to Abuela banging on pots (more on this later) with our cafe con leches at the ready.

Anyone up for a colada?

Abuelo would be waiting with a smile on his face holding that familiar white box seeming as if this treat he had for us was the most important thing in his life at that very moment. Looking back, it probably was.  We were each allowed to pick two pastries each.  My sister always chose the pastel de queso and something else.  I honestly don't remember because I was always too engrossed in my choice that could make my mouth water just thinking about it: un pastel de carne y uno de guayaba. I still smile at the memories.

You mean I can only have one?

As we grew older, and he in turn grew older, the pastelitos became less frequent.  Mami took over the pastel run, and let's be honest...I don't think she put as much heart in it. I'm not knocking her effort, it just seems like she'd fill the box a lo loca. Sometimes, by the time I got to box, all that was left were those triangular shaped ones.  You know, el pastel de guayaba con queso. Yes, they had my beloved guayaba in them...but I wasn't sold on the cheese. I've always been sort of freakish when it comes to my dairy goods, so anything that is a dairy product and is left al aire really gives me the heebie jeebies. I sucked it up one fine Saturday morning and grabbed one.  I nuked it in the microwave for about 15 seconds and took a bite.  Oh wow! The party in my mouth was indescribable.  Why on Earth had I ignored this deliciousness for so long? Who was the evildoer that had kept me in the dark this long? That didn't matter.  What mattered was that I had a new love. Now, every time I visit the family in Miami, I ask for three things: un cafe, pan cubano and un pastel de guayaba con queso. 


Although I am blessed with non-material riches in abundance -- the material kind is what can get me to Miami as frequently as possible.  If it were up to me, I'd be there at least once a month. Alas, those riches are a bit scarce so I am oftentimes left longing for some of the goodies I grew up with.

Why am I telling this to you, my loyal readers?  Well, it is merely to segue into the first official recipe from my cocina into yours!

Mi Gringito loves guayaba almost as much as I do, it seems, so he always get an extra skip to his step when he sees I've been experimenting. This isn't the first recipe I've conjured with guayaba, but La Suegra came home the other day super excited because she had found a grocery store in the next town over that had, and I quote, "A huge Hispanic aisle," -- my response, "I will be the judge of that!" She had bought me a few things and I will admit, this establishment had piqued my interest.  She brought home some frozen empanadas, a cube of guayaba paste, and an itty-bitty bottle of mojo. Seeing the cube of guayaba paste, my brain started to churn.  I recently made a cream-cheese stuffed carrot cake muffin.  I knew that I could use the basics of that recipe  to make the foundation of what I was building in my noggin.  I'm sure that by the time I got home from dropping off Mi Gringito at work, my ears were smoking!

Guayaba con Queso Crema Muffins


Ingredients:
Vanilla Extract
Lime Juice
1/4 C Sugar
8oz Whipped Cream Cheese
1/4 C Oil
1 Medium Egg
1 C Milk
1/2 C Sugar
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
2 C Flour
Coarse Sparkling Sugar

Preheat oven to 400*F. Line a 12-muffin tin with paper cups or well-oil the actual tin.

In a small bowl, combine the whipped cream cheese, 1/4 c of sugar, 1 tsp of lime juice and 1 tsp of vanilla extract.  Mix well. Set aside.

Must resist urge to curl up with this and a spoon!

Cut three slices from the guava cube approximately half an inch each.  Cut those slices in four equal chunks.  You should now have 12 separate half inch cubes. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine oil, egg, milk, sugar, salt & 1 tsp vanilla extract. Mix well with a fork or wire whisk.

Measure in the baking powder and flour. Mix again until all of the dough particles are moistened. Do not over mix (approximately 20-30 strokes should do it).

Spoon approximately 1 Tbsp of the batter into each of the muffin cups.

Place a guava cube in the center of each muffin.

Top with a dollop of the cream cheese mixture. You will have some mixture left over. (YAY!!!)

Cover with remaining muffin batter to fill the muffin cups quite full.

Scatter the tops of the muffins with the coarse sugar.

Bake the muffins for 20 minutes.

Remove the muffins from the oven and immediately tilt them in their cups.

Do you see the cheese oozing out?!?

And Viola!  This recipe is 100% Mi Gringito approved!  Tell me what you think!