My "Chef" Monologue

I love my Mexican food very much. Anything that I cook, I always find myself wanting to give it a Mexican cuisine twist to it. I cannot help it. Growing up with the best Mexican food chefs and restaurant owners at home, I learned to eat the good stuff. 

My maternal and fraternal grandparents were in the food industry business before I was even born. My parents and aunts also continued that legacy for many years. That explains my love/hate relationship with the kitchen. 

When I was little, my parents were busy enough to get food ready for hundreds, and even thousands of people, so there was no room for me to play around the kitchen. When possible, I would try to cook something and someone would always "fix" it for me or tell me what I was missing. This made me lose any interest on cooking. I felt like my parents and family were so good at cooking, that I didn't need to learn, nor did I have any interest anymore. Time went by, and I grew up hating the kitchen. Now, I don't have my mom, aunt or grandmother around the corner to make some banging cooking, but I continue to run into products, vegetables and condiments that they used to prepare my favorite dishes. So, I buy them, take them home and attempt to find those flavors that bring back so many memories. To my surprise, I find comfort in the kitchen. When needed, I call mom to verify ingredients. She has thought me that there is no such thing as a "recipe", it's all about discovering flavors and getting the best out of each ingredient you use. It's so magical trying to find that exact point where incredible flavors combine and complete each other for an explosion of taste. 

After all, I think that cooking is in my blood. I have to adapt recipes to our healthy lifestyle, and the lucky one to taste my kitchen successes and failures is my husband, but thankfully he is a good sport for it. 

Cannot wait until the weekend to head over to the City Market in Kansas City and get fresh vegetables to keep experimenting! 

Eat, Love, Adventure Out! 

DaniG

Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and Masterpieces of Mexico

After watching the movie Frida about a decade ago, I became a fan of Frida Kahlo's art. It is not just about what she portrays on her art, but her strong personality, the power she represents, and the legacy she has left behind. Also, the fact that we have the same birthday makes me feel like we are connected in a special way. 

On my second weekend in Kansas, we had the opportunity to celebrate and honor my roots through Mexican art. We started off by grabbing lunch at one of my new favorite Mexican restaurants in the area, Frida's Taqueria. http://www.fridas-taqueria.com/homepage.html 

Going in, my expectations for authentic Mexican food were very low. I expect to eat real Mexican tacos from some hole in the wall in the "hood", not next to Whole Foods across from Cheesecake Factory. Definitely, I was wrong! I knew I was at the right place when I ordered a Tamal, and expecting them to run to the back to grab a frozen one and heated up in the microwave, the lady walked to a stove and pulled it out of big tamales pot like my mom used to do it. 

After lunch, we headed to Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. The museum is tremendously big and great! I am very excited to have such a great museum with a lot of networking and cultural events, along with a variety of expositions year round. We are even considering becoming members of the museum to enjoy it to the fullest. 

The Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera exposition was from the esteemed Gelman Collection. Over 100 pieces of arts included Mexican artists that celebrate the rich artistic traditions of Mexico yesterday and the vitality of Mexican art today.  

One of the highlights for me was the drawing by Frida Kahlo with her feet!! Incredible! 

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art has free admission, but the Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera exposition was $8, and I must say that this were the best $8 I have spent. 

Eat, Love and Adventure Out, 

Dani G.