Happy Birthday Karla

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Karla is my youngest daughter and she has autism. It is her birthday today… and fortunately she has provided a detailed list of presents and cuisine requirements… she makes me smile.

Happy Birthday, Karla

Rogelio’s tamale pie for cinco de mayo

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There are good tamales and they are great tamales, but a greatest way to prepare it is in pie! This gives you a wonderful way to make the filling generous… And in this I mean… Meaty!

What could be more meaty than a pound of steak, a pound of charizo and a pound of bacon? All of the meats are pre cooked and seasoned.

There are two parts to the process… Making the filling and making the topping! Since the filling contains a cup of the topping you will want to finish them at the same time.

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THE FILLING

2 cups corn meal
12 ounces half and half
12 ounces cream
Salt, black pepper and garlic powder to taste
Cook over a low heat until thickened then add chopped Cilantro … I use a “bunch”
2 cups of your favorite Mexican cheeses

MEATS

I like to precook the meats in a frying pan separately with seasoning.

Also dice and sauté on large sweet onion and 3 heaping tablespoons garlic… Then add to meats and set aside.

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The SAUCE

Approx 15 ounce can of creamed corn
Approx 30 ounces of tomato sauce
3 teaspoons of Pimenton (Spanish Paprika )
1 teaspoon Chipotle powder
Approximately 13 roasted peppers sliced
3.8 ounce can of sliced olives (1/2 cup)
1 cup of topping
2 cups Mozzarella
Salt, black pepper and garlic powder to taste

Cook over a low heat around twenty minutes, remove from heat and add meats and 3 cups hominy

Pour into a large baking dish and bake at 350 degrees F for about one hour.

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Bueno!!!

Viva la Difference in bread pudding

This is a sweeter and a more dense bread pudding! (Laura's Favorite!
This is a sweeter and a more dense bread pudding! (Laura’s Favorite!

The making of bread pudding is nearly as old as history.

Bread pudding was a wonderful solution to what to do with a kitchen full of excess breads and cakes! If you take out your copy of the turn of the century “The Epicurean” by Chef Charles Ranhofer and check out recipes for bread pudding, he will suggest grabbing the scraps of cake and such… and that’s all the help he offers!

Here is a 'fluffy' version of the same type of bread pudding ... but delicious in its own way.
Here is a ‘fluffy’ version of the same type of bread pudding … but delicious in its own way.

Our basic bread pudding recipe.

southern cal trojan public relations ranked number one

Me, Laura and Jennifer Floto in her SoCal USC PR office
Me, Laura and Jennifer Floto in her SoCal USC PR office

We spent a couple of days down at the University of Southern California and dropped in on a friend, Professor Jennifer Floto. If you don’t know Jenn, then you are not in public relations. In my humble opinion, Dr. Floto is one of the reasons that USC was ranked by Public Relations practitioners as the number one Public Relations program in the United States.

We see a lot of rankings about various programs, but in today’s very competitive environment, the program that has the alumni network, the educational breath and the contacts is the one that will help a student find, acquire and succeed in the field of Public Relations. Who is better to evaluated these academic programs better than the people who are already in the field and responsible for hiring the next leaders in PR?

Congratulations, Trojans!

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Two pictures are above: a version of a popular British motto in WW2 also used in the popular series Dr. Who… that we could resist getting for my daughter, fellow alumna Karen. On the right, the future 2nd building for the wonderful Annenberg complex which includes the top ranked Public Relations Program.

In an age of increasingly reducing budgets, its uplifting to see one University continuing to dazzle! FIGHT ON!