ABUELITA Chocolate Cake with a Kick

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #CelebrateLosMuertos #CollectiveBias

I admit that my family didn't really celebrate Dia de los Muertos when I was growing up. Halloween I knew about, but Day of the Dead was just some weird Mexican holiday where skulls were more cute than creepy.

Well, now that I'm older and I actually researched the celebration I am in love with it. Dia de los Muertos is how I think death should be celebrated: with parties, loud music, colorful flowers, and food. The entire premise of Day of the Dead is to celebrate the lives of those who you've lost, not to wallow in sadness. It's a whole day to remember those who you loved in the way they were before they were gone. So for instance if your grandma died of cancer - you'd probably only remember her as sick; Dia de los Muertos is a time to think back to the things she liked to do in life. To remember all the activities she enjoyed because that's what life is about - enjoying it!

I have to say - that's a pretty badass way to think about death.

For the last couple of years John and I have gone a little sugar skull crazy and bought a lot of decorations for the celebration. We put them up towards the end of September and leave them up until the middle of November (though that may just be my laziness showing).

 There are some traditional Day of the Day foods that I think of when I think of the holiday. Chicken caldo (soup), and some mole are delicious and using some Maggi Chicken bouillon makes the process so much easier. Then there's my favorite coffee/condensed milk drink! When making it, I prefer La Lechera condensed milk because it has the best flavor.

But today, I'm going to show you how to make an ABUELITA Mexican chocolate cake.

They infuse the chocolate with cinnamon and other spices. You'll find the cute little abuelita (which means granny in English) in the hot chocolate section of your grocery store.

They have different varieties of ABUELITA chocolate: powder, syrup, and bars but my personal favorite are the ones in little disks. My dad and my grandma used to buy that version so I've always bought the same type.

So you've gone out and bought your ABUELITA chocolate. You ready to make a cake?

ABUELITA Chocolate Cake with Cayenne

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

• 1/4 tsp baking powder

• 1/4 cup sugar

• 2 circles ABUELITA chocolate

• 3/4 cup butter

• 2 eggs

• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

• 2 tbsp milk

• 1/4 tsp cayenne

• 1/4 tsp salt

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Grate or finely chop the ABUELITA chocolate.
3. Melt the butter & ABUELITA chocolate in a pan until they mix together. Set aside.
4. In another bowl mix the flour, baking powder, cayenne, and salt.
5. Whisk the sugar and the butter/chocolate mix.
6. Add the milk, eggs, and vanilla to the butter/chocolate mixture.
7. Mix in the dry ingredients until everything is incorporated.
8. Pour the batter into your pan and bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
9. Allow to cool before frosting.

I really like the way the cake turned out in my skull cake pan. It looked awesome! The taste of ABUELITA makes this cake delicious. Also, don't worry about the cayenne, it doesn't add flavor so much as a little heat at the back of your throat. 

John and I ate our skull cake on our Day of the Dead plate by Dia de los Muertos candlelight. I think it was a pretty good way to get into the festive spirit. 

Want more recipes for your Dia de los Muertos fiesta? Visit El Mejor Nido to get some great recipe ideas that incorporate some Mexican flavors with some American twists for really delicious treats. Let me know which one you plan to make! 

Culinaria at Cover 3

Every year San Antonio has Restaurant Week, or as we call it, Culinaria.

Participating restaurants have a special prix-fixe menu for lunch and dinner, which gives people the chance to try a whole bunch of dishes and restaurants for a fraction of the normal price. Plus, a portion of the tickets go to benefit the programs that Culinaria does throughout the year.

It's always been something I've heard about but haven't had the opportunity to do, until this year.

I actually lucked out and won two free dinner tickets to Cover 3.

Neither John nor I had ever been so we were excited to get dressed up (more so me than him) and take part in something we both love: eating good food.


Cover 3 is a dimly-lit, business casual restaurant with tons of TVs tuned to whatever sports game is relevant. I know I've mentioned how I hate restaurants with TVs but as this was actually part of the whole experience I didn't mind it.

When we arrived, our waiter gave us a drinks menu and I ordered, on his recommendation, Carrie's Cosmo.

Which tasted a bit like a watered-down, liquored, Jolly Rancher. 

Because we were there for Culinaria, we had a special menu to order from. For our appetizer we decided on the Ahi Tuna.

The noodles and the tuna had a slight sweetness to them with soy sauce and black sesame seeds. The wasabi as you can see is a bit runnier than usual which actually gave each forkful the right amount of heat. I would eat an entire entree plate of this, if I could. It was that good.


Next up, I ordered their Onion Soup and John got their Cover 3 salad.

The onion soup was sweet from the carmelization of the onions but meaty and beefy from the broth they used. Each soup is served in its own bowl that they cover with cheese and then stick under a broiler so you have to break into the cheesey-gooy top to get to the onions underneath. I'd never had onion soup before but I would definitely eat it again.

For the main entree I chose their Filet Mignon with garlic mashed potatoes.

The steak was cooked to perfection. I barely needed the steak knife they gave me. It was seasoned with only salt, pepper, and the Gorgonzola butter they put on top. The potatoes were garlicky, super creamy, and of course, delicious. Though it was good I felt that maybe I should have gotten something different. I know it's hard to cook a steak to perfection but I would have liked a bit more diverse flavors. Steak and potatoes are always a good combination but I probably should have ordered something else to see what flavors they could combine.


Last we each had our pick of dessert. I ended up eating the Peach Pudding Cake.

The cake seemed to have coconut and tons of vanilla. It was super sweet and delicious. Even though this was a single serving, after all the food we had I couldn't finish it.

John had the Brownie which I took a bite of but found that it was so decadently chocolately that I wouldn't have been able to eat it.

All in all, we had a really good time. Our waiter was awesome too. It's always amazing to me how much more enjoyable a dining experience is when you have a good waiter or waitress. He was funny, very helpful, very knowledgeable, and came around to check on us at just the right intervals.

We definitely want to go back. I want to try one of their burgers which they have been ranked #12 in Texas Monthly for. And their flatbread pizzas looked good as well.

This first Culinaria experience was great. I look forward to doing it again next year!

Half Price Books - Broadway Location

To me, there is nothing better than a misty, cold day on my day off because that means it's perfectly acceptable to stay in and curl up with a good book.

Of course, there is also the great sunny, bright days when going out and reading is a good option.

Or the sunny, cold day where reading an entire book in a coffee shop is totally acceptable.

I think you get my drift: I love reading.

I visit the library no less than once a week for a new book, DVD, or CD to check out. But there is nothing that gives me more pleasure than picking a book to BUY.

There are tons of places to buy books: Barnes and Noble, Books-a-Million, WalMart, Target, etc. but my all time favorite is the Half Price Books on Broadway.

This two-story ancient store is not only the closest but it's the dearest to my heart.

It's a little tricky getting to, especially with the construction going on there right now but it's totally worth it. You go in what is essentially the back of the building but the front of the store.

Right away you'll see what must have once been an old house converted to a store that sells used books, comics, DVDs, video games, albums, and CDs.

It smells old and creaky, with just a hint of the sickly delicious scent of old, mildewy pages.

The first level has DVDs, CDs, albums, cooking, film & theater, hobbies, and all of your fiction (children, teen, adult), as well as stationary and some video games.

I can easily spend an hour on the bottom level alone but what makes this store even better is the creaky staircase that leads upstairs to the art, photography, travel, and self-help sections. Even with the lightest tread you can hear people thunder up and down the narrow stairwell in search of more great deals.

On Sunday, they had a great 50% off deal that I just had to get on. John came with me and we scoured the entire store. He had never even been upstairs before! Though I wanted all of the books (and a half) I settled on a cookbook called One Pot Meals.

John settled on a pizza chopper. That's right. Not pizza cutter.

A pizza chopper. 

The only way the store could get any better was if they hired me.

Mission Reach Trails

Now, I don't usually mind walking because of course it's a perfect way to get one place to another. But I hate walking just for the sake of it. Treadmills and racetracks make me feel like a hamster in a wheel. But ever since we've got Boyboy I've loved taking walks with him. I still feel like I'm doing something productive but at the same time it's still easy enough that I can think about the day ahead, the day before, or make up stories in my head.

We've been a few different places walking but I love walking down the new Mission Reach Trails.

I love the fact that a lot of the parks connect because when I start out at one and end up at another I feel even more accomplished.

I love seeing all the wildlife that don't normally hang around our backyard.

Like the eyebrow caterpillars. 

And the little duckies!

But the best part is how much my little boy loves it. 

Everyone is also really nice along the trails. If you go at the right times you might even see some kayakers down the river or little kids fishing.

Now, not only does my boy look forward to our daily walks but I do too. I can't do anything else unless I've already walked him.

Eye Feast #1 - Carnivale

Carnivale
2003-2005
Created by: Daniel Knauf


Does anyone remember Carnivale? The absolutely great, creepy TV show?


Carnivale is hard to talk about because they have such a large cast and the plot itself is intricately wound around itself -- always hinting, always suggesting what could be coming up.

Carnivale is set in 1930s Dust-Bowl era. The story follows Ben Hawkins a nobody farmboy

Played by Nick Stahl 

and Brother Justin, a preacher.

Played by Clancy Brown

They have special powers that neither quite know how to fully use and they both seem to be the center of something happening. Something happening between good and evil.

Ben becomes part of the circus after his mother dies and the more Management finds out about him, the more interested in him they become.

Like I said there are a ton of characters, as you can see in the photo above. It makes the story very interesting since their circus is more of the freak show variety.


They have the lovely bearded lady.

Debra Christofferson

The snake charmer.

Adrienne Barbeau

The conjoined twins.

And no circus would be completely without the cooch girls.

And for you lady-lovers out there, it's HBO so there are boobs.

And the head roustie. 

Tim DeKay

Carnivale has some of the best TV cinematography I have ever seen. It's also historically accurate and doesn't do the whole shiny-Hollywood thing. The production quality is great, don't get me wrong, but when things need to be dirty - they are dirty. Unlike movies where the guy is working on his car and he has one smudge of whatever on his face but his hands are clean? No. These guys are grimy and dirty. Just adds another layer to its authenticity.


The writing is absolutely superb. The story doesn't rush itself. It's slow but it's never boring. There is always something more to be discovered, some other hint of what is waiting for you if only you keep watching.

The intro is amazing too. It does a good job of mixing reality with that small hint of magic, the same way the story ends up playing out.

Not only is the story in itself satisfying complex, thought-provoking and interesting but the shots, the colors, basically everything in this show can be taken to another symbolic level.


Out of all the TV shows I have watched (and believe me I have watched plenty) this show is above. This is the one show I hold in such high regard that no other show even comes close.

Eye Feast #2 - Gilmore Girls

Gilmore Girls
2000 - 2007
Created by: Amy Sherman-Palladino



I have loved Gilmore Girls since it aired. I don't remember how me and my mum got into it but we'd watch it whenever we'd catch it on TV, usually watching the same reruns over and over.

Then, when they were done with the series my mum went out and bought all the seasons.

And we've watched the entire series at least four times together.

The characters are quirky, something that is endearing when you put them all together in a little town.

The dialogue is crazy fast, witty, and filled with pop culture references. They throw so much stuff at you that some of the DVDs even come with a handy little booklet called the Guide to Gilmore-isms to help you better understand their sometimes more obscure references.

The relationship between Lorelai and Rory is great and different than other mother/daughter relationships but they have those crazy moments too.

Coffee.

Paris is the meanest, funniest bitch you will ever have the pleasure of watching on TV.

Lorelai is forever making the wrong decision when it comes to guys, which not only makes for good TV but it makes me feel better for all the past wrong decisions I've made.

Rory is always reading. I absolutely love that they have her reading everywhere. I love to read! Reading is fun! And cool! And sexy!

Rory and Jess. Nuff said.

Lorelai's fights with Emily (her mother) make the ones between me and my mom look tame.

Lorelai and Luke.