From Irish-Scots to Latina!

Beginning in April, I will be starting a new blog site to work alongside "ALN Cooks!".  The name?  I dunno.  But I can tell you what it will be about.

Latin cuisine.

And not just about Latin cuisine, but the fact that I'll be eating it.  A lot of it.  For one whole year.


Starting on Cinco de Mayo, I will be eating one Latin dish every day until the next Cinco de Mayo in 2013.  Mostly, it will be Mexican food with a little Cuban, Spanish, and South American thrown in for good measure.

Now before the questions come rolling in, let me qualify what kind of Mexican/Latin foods I am referring to.

The healthiest versions possible!


Most of us here in America see Mexican food as lard-laden, salt-shaken, cheese-covered, calorie-crunching deliciousness.  Not something you would want to eat every day unless you desire heart disease and some massive junk in the trunk, am I right??

But I view true Mexican/Latin food as fresh and full of flavor.  No lard, no MSG, no cheese that is unidentifiable, or meats that are unidentifiable.  Real food, real cooking, all made with real passion.  For me, that is what real cooking is all about!

Yes, it has been pointed out to me that Mexicans eat Mexican food all the time, every day, so what't the big deal?  For starters, I'm not Mexican.  This is not the norm for me.  But for the most part, I adore Latin cooking.  It's a reminder to me that while eating spicy, zesty, flavorful foods can in itself be a fiesta, that life should be the fiesta.  

So I will need to do many things in planning this endeavor.  If you can help with my list, don't hesitate!

Gotta Get These Done Rapido!

1.   Come up with at least 150 recipes.

2.   Make the recipes as healthy as possible while retaining their tradition and authenticity.

3.   Come up with a name for this blog and site.

4.   Organize the recipes in a way that will allow for flexibility and good health - a tall order!

5.   And just to make things interesting, come up with rules on how many times I can repeat a recipe within the single year.

I'll look through my Rick Bayless and other Latin foods cookbooks from now till April.  I would love to get your feedback and any recipes my readers would like to share.  From Breakfast to Dessert, I need recipes from all categories.  

If you want to throw your vote in for a blog title, please remember the following rules - It cannot be a name that already exists (no more Trademark issues, please), It should reflect on my endeavor, and I'd love for it to have ALN in the title somehow.

Call this chica "loco" if you'd like, but I cannot wait to begin this journey!  Let's begin - Vámonos!