Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Christina - the Puerto Rican me

Most of my husband's family calls me by the name Christina.  I often get emails from new contacts who will refer to me as Christina.  I have a great friend whose name IS Christina...wonder how often she's called Christine?

The point of my story is not so much the mistaken identity as it is about how I feel like a little bit of the Latin blood from my in-laws is seeping into my body after almost two decades of knowing my husband.

I keep Goya products in my home like they have been there since I grew up - which is so not true.  Items like Goya Sazon packets, Goya Sofrito (only the frozen version, never the jar), Goya beans of all colors, Goya rice Spanish olives, and Goya tomato sauce.

I've discovered that adding any of those items to an ordinary dinner makes for a wonderful Puerto Rican feast.  Take tonight, for example.  In the crock pot I threw in 2 boneless chicken breast, a small can of Goya tomato sauce, a can of diced tomatoes, a heaping spoonful of Sofrito, a sazon packet, chopped up potato and carrots.  Simmer all day and serve with rice.  Um, delicious!

It's little things like that that make me feel like it's possible to go from Christine to Christina.  It coincides with the fact that after all these years of trying I have finally mastered arroz con gandules...rice with pigeon peas for anyone named Christine.

Comer en casa!

1 comment:

Fairly Odd Mother said...

Heh, yes, I get called Christine ALL the time. But, my Christina doesn't have the latin gene at all (and maybe I'm not even the Christina you mean?!?) That recipe sounds great btw.

And I love how you are incorporating some of his culture and background into your lives now.