Heart Decorated Cookies (Galletas Decoradas)

Heart Decorated Cookies for Friendship and Love, my version of a coquette cookie.

Last week I shared a picture on Facebook of a few cookies that I was decorating. Here's the final product. These are a classic at home for Valentine's Day and Mother's Day. I hope these romantic cookies inspire you to bake, decorate, and love way beyond this holiday. 

Este post de galletas decoradas para San Valentin en español.

Due to lots of rain and humidity, I could not do little rose buds in advance to decorate these cookies like I wanted to. What I ended up making were these simple but cute flowers.

• For the flowers, I used tip #18, and in the center of the flower, I placed a gold nonpareil.
• For the leaves, I used tip # 67.
• Royal Icing Recipe.
• Sugar Cookie Recipe.

The end product was an incredibly charming and romantic cookie. I carefully arranged them in a small, hand-painted wooden trunk created by my daughter, Crystal. I think this would make a lovely gift for loved ones. 

Valentine ain't over for me, the year has 365 days and they are all days for celebrating love and friendship. I hope this post will provide you with inspiration for making cookies and to continuously fall in love with your partner, your family, your work and above all, God.

For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.~ 1 John 3:11

Carne Salada, Salted Pork

Carne salada (carne frita) could be made either with beef or pork meat seasoned with salt, garlic, oregano, and sour orange or lemon juice. The longer the meat is left to marinate, the better. This dish is one of the popular antojitos (cravings) of many Dominicans who live outside their country.

Receta de Carne Salada Dominicana en español.

In some street meat markets, you will find seasoned meat hanging under the sun to allow it to dry and to help the meat last longer without any need for refrigeration. This allows enough time for customers to buy it before it goes bad. I skip this step because of many reasons one of them being hygiene. I prefer to use fresh meat and cook it myself at home. No sun is needed to make great-tasting salted pork.

Something of Dominicana

Monumento de la Muñeca sin Rostro,

 diseñada por Radhamé Carela del Higüerito, Moca.

\

The following recipe is how I cook carne frita at home, it is not too salty, but you could use more salt if you want. I have served mine with fried batatas (boniato).

 I prepared about 4.5 pounds of pork, that's why my bag will probably look fuller than yours.  

Salted Pork Dominican Style

Ingredients:

2 ½ pounds of pork (1.14 kgs)

½ cup sour orange juice or lemon

1 Tablespoon of salt

1 Tablespoon crushed garlic

½ Tablespoon oregano

Abundant oil for frying

Preparation: 

1. Wash and cut the meat into thin strips of the same size.

2. Season with sour orange juice, salt, garlic and oregano. Place in a covered container or in a Ziplock for 1 hour or more, preferably overnight.

3. Fry the beef strips in hot oil, sufficient to cover the meat. Fry strips slightly browned on each side and ready.

4. Serve with tostones, sweet potato fries (batatas fritas), boiled yucca, or rice with stewed beans.

Yield: 4 Servings.

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." ~ Galatians 6:9.

Batatas Fritas, Fried Boniato

From January 26 to February 27 Dominican Republic celebrates its patriotic month by commemorating our Founding Fathers and the symbols that identify us as Dominican in the world. It's a month to celebrate our independence and to remember, learn and keep us from repeating the mistakes of the past. Unfortunately it may seem we need Juan Pablo Duarte, Matias Ramon Mella and Francisco del Rosario Sanchez to come back and liberate us from the slavery of certain celebrations that I believe should have nothing to do with our folklore and a few other things which I prefer not to write about for now.

I do appreciate the immense heart of this country that automatically grants Dominican citizenship to those born abroad if your parents are Dominicans. So for a few years now I’ve officially been an American Dominican with cédula and all! At times I feel I do not fit in with must customs here, but while I am here in what I can I hope to help make it a better place.

On another note, there is so much to celebrate in this country: an almost always perfect weather, beautiful coastlines, enchanting forests, beautiful green mountains and the secluded rivers in the mountains that are fascinating. To all Dominicans, celebrate this country by bringing out the best of you and of course with our food and delicious desserts. If you are interested in learning how to cook Domnican food I recommend you my eBook.

Today I’ve cooked something easy, sweet potato or boniato fries that are as popular as the tostones, both are favored side dish fritters for Dominicans. In frying stalls and restaurants these batatas fritas are served as an accompaniment to fried meats, sausages or fish. I love them, and lately I have been preparing them often because I find they are less greasy than fries. Since it's batata season, this tuber can be found everywhere in the local markets at a very comfortable price, only five pesos a pound (about .13 USD cents a pound). So take advantage and prepare these sweet potato fries or any of the recipes with this ingredient that I have shared in this blog. Look for  the links of those recipes below.