Home-made Mango Jam

mango jam

Its mango season in South Florida!  People who are blessed enough to have a tree in their back yard are eating them up and desperately trying to give them away to co-workers, neighbors and friends, lest they should rot on the ground or get eaten by squirrels, opossums… or the dog.  (My dog Charlie has eaten a few of my neighbor’s mangos and has come back into the house with quite the cute mango mustache on several occasions.)

Well, my caddy corner neighbor and my mother’s next door neighbor has the most gorgeous and fruit-filled mango tree in the neighborhood.  Luckily they believe that sharing is caring and gave us a few.  And this is what we came up with to use up that yummy goodness. Mango jam!!

Delicious on toast, on a ritz cracker with cream cheese, in the center of thumb print cookies or simply spooned right into your mouth!  Although the process is fun, its time consuming and messy.  All worth it in the end, though.  Check out the photos of our afternoon together.

Cinco de Mayo: Cuatro Leches Cupcakes

cuatro leches cupcakes
OK, so I’m going to share with you an extra special, top secret, super-d-duper delicious recipe you’re gonna love!  Cuatro Leches cupcakes!  Tres Leches is a Nicaraguan desert that is popularly served in many different Latin American restaurants whether they be Nicaraguan, Cuban, Mexican or Argentinian, etc.  Latins love sweets and this is SWEET.  Tres Leches literally translates to “three milks” in Spanish.  What makes mine cuatro leches, or “four milks”, is that I have added a fourth milk, Dulce de Leche, as the icing.  (The traditional icing for this desert is whipped merengue.)   I’ve also made mine extra special by adding my little Cuban touch of coconut.  I’ve substituted a cup of half and half with a cup of coconut milk in the tres leches mixture.  Oh, yeah 😉
Ingredients: 
tres
Cake:
  • Coconut Supreme cake mix or, if you can’t find Coconut Supreme cake mix, use French Vanilla cake mix and add 1 tsp of coconut extract.   Ingredients as indicated on package directions.
The three milks:
  • 1 can of sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 can of evaporated milk
  • 1 cup of coconut milk.
Icing:
  • dulce de leche.
Directions: 
  1. Prepare cupcakes following package directions.  Most boxed mixes say that they yield 24 cupcakes but I find that they yield a perfect 18.  ** Important note for these cupcakes:  You must use very thick/ foil lined cupcake wrappers.  Regular, thin paper wrappers will not be able to hold up to the weight and moisture of the “tres leches” we will be adding later.
  2. While these are baking, in a separate bowl combine milks and whisk until combined.  Pour into any container with a lip to make easier to pour later.
  3. While cupcakes are still warm, cut a cone out of the top with a small knife and lift top.
  4. Fill this hole gently to the top with the milks and allow to soak into the cake. Replace top and repeat to all cupcakes.
  5. Ice with Dulce de leche and top with some cute picks as I’ve done here…. Mariachi mustaches for Cinco de Mayo!  Arrrrrrriba!tres 10

Why Oreos are as Addictive as Cocaine

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Eating sugary, fatty, crunchy or salty junk foods stimulate the same parts of the brain as taking drugs! The study referenced in this http://www.Forbes.com article (click on the link below) specifically talks about Oreos but there have been similar studies with other foods that give similar results… Doesn’t it make that potato chip slogan “bet you can’t eat just one” a little disturbing?…

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http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2013/10/16/why-your-brain-treats-oreos-like-a-drug/