Stories and Recipes from the popular online destination for All Things Cuban: My Big Fat Cuban Family Blog

The Red Umbrella is a moving tale of a 14-year-old girl's journey from Cuba to America as part of Operation Pedro Pan—an organized exodus of more than 14,000 unaccompanied children, whose parents sent them away to escape Fidel Castro's revolution. In 1961, two years after the Communist revolution, Lucía Álvarez still leads a carefree life, dreaming of parties and her first crush. But when the soldiers come to her sleepy Cuban town, everything begins to change. Freedoms are stripped away. Neighbors disappear. And soon, Lucía's parents make the heart-wrenching decision to send her and her little brother to the United States—on their own. Suddenly plunked down in Nebraska with well-meaning strangers, Lucía struggles to adapt to a new country, a new language, a new way of life. But what of her old life? Will she ever see her home or her parents again? And if she does, will she still be the same girl? The Red Umbrella is a touching story of country, culture, family, and the true meaning of home. “Captures the fervor, uncertainty and fear of the times. . . . Compelling.” –The Washington Post “Gonzalez deals effectively with separation, culture shock, homesickness, uncertainty and identity as she captures what is also a grand adventure.” –San Francisco Chronicle

An expanded, updated edition of the classic study of Cuban-American culture, this engaging book, which mixes the author’s own story with his reflections as a trained observer, explores how both famous and ordinary members of the “1.5 Generation” (Cubans who came to the United States as children or teens) have lived “life on the hyphen”—neither fully Cuban nor fully American, but a fertile hybrid of both. Offering an in-depth look at Cuban-Americans who have become icons of popular and literary culture—including Desi Arnaz, Oscar Hijuelos, musician Pérez Prado, and crossover pop star Gloria Estefan, as well as poets José Kozer and Orlando González Esteva, performers Willy Chirino and Carlos Oliva, painter Humberto Calzada, and others—Gustavo Pérez Firmat chronicles what it means to be Cuban in America. The first edition of Life on the Hyphen won the Eugene M. Kayden National University Press Book Award and received honorable mentions for the Modern Language Association’s Katherine Singer Kovacs Prize and the Latin American Studies Association’s Bryce Wood Book Award.

This cookbook offers favorite recipes from the famous Versailles Restaurant in Miami, framed by family history and Cuban culture.

Five hungry kids, a husband in the NFL, and staying in shape—popular blogger Christy Denney has her work cut out for her in the kitchen. Her solution? Simple, quick, and mouthwatering recipes. The Girl Who Ate Everything compiles all of Christy’s favorite tried and true recipes, as well as brand new and equally tasty ones created just for this book. From Chicken Pot Pie Crumble to Cinnamon Roll Sheet Cake, these recipes will have your family begging you for more!

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the New York Times food editor and former restaurant critic comes a cookbook to help us rediscover the art of Sunday supper and the joy of gathering with friends and family “A book to make home cooks, and those they feed, very happy indeed.”—Nigella Lawson NAMED ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR • Town & Country • Garden & Gun “People are lonely,” Sam Sifton writes. “They want to be part of something, even when they can’t identify that longing as a need. They show up. Feed them. It isn’t much more complicated than that.” Regular dinners with family and friends, he argues, are a metaphor for connection, a space where memories can be shared as easily as salt or hot sauce, where deliciousness reigns. The point of Sunday supper is to gather around a table with good company and eat. From years spent talking to restaurant chefs, cookbook authors, and home cooks in connection with his daily work at The New York Times, Sam Sifton’s See You on Sunday is a book to make those dinners possible. It is a guide to preparing meals for groups larger than the average American family (though everything here can be scaled down, or up). The 200 recipes are mostly simple and inexpensive (“You are not a feudal landowner entertaining the serfs”), and they derive from decades spent cooking for family and groups ranging from six to sixty. From big meats to big pots, with a few words on salad, and a diatribe on the needless complexity of desserts, See You on Sunday is an indispensable addition to any home cook’s library. From how to shuck an oyster to the perfection of Mallomars with flutes of milk, from the joys of grilled eggplant to those of gumbo and bog, this book is devoted to the preparation of delicious proteins and grains, vegetables and desserts, taco nights and pizza parties.

2020 finalist for the prestigious Next Generation Indie Book Awards! 65 Deliciously Authentic Recipes Straight from Mama’s Kitchen My Big Fat Greek Cookbook is a comprehensive, contemporary overview of Greek food, recipes, and family culture as documented by the son of a Greek immigrant as his mother neared the end of her life. “This Greek eating tragedy has a beginning (appetizer), a middle (main course), and an end (dessert),” Christos shared. “As my Mama is in her final act, it’s fitting that a quarter of her recipes are desserts. Bon appétit! Kali Orexi! (Insert the sound of breaking plates here . . .)” This is more than just a list of ingredients or series of steps, of course. It’s filled with simple recipes, gorgeous photographs, traditional meals, memories, and tidbits of information that draw family and friends to Greek tables time and again. It has everything from iconic egg-lemon sauce to rich soups, sweet pies, and traditional delicacies like rabbit stew and octopus with pasta, accompanied by tales of Greek history and insight into cultural nuances. Recipes include: Meatballs (keftedes) Lentils (fatkes) Stuffed vegetables (gemistra) Spinach pie (spanakopita) Tzatziki Spaghetti with cheese (makaronia me tyri) Roast lamb (arni sto fourno) Moussaka Apple cake (milopita) Ride pudding (rizogalo) And more! With stunning photographs throughout and 65 deliciously authentic recipes, this book is a peek into a Greek family that has achieved what so many of us yearn for: a fuller, more meaningful, and joyful life, lived simply and nourished on real, delicious Greek meals that you can access anywhere with this cookbook on hand.