Taken near Roni's neighborhood when she lived in Springfield VA

Jordanne's 3rd Birthday Cake

Combination of Fondant and Whipped Topping. As you might have noticed she really, (really) wanted to play with JoJo (the fondant clown)

Justine's Castle Cake

This was Justine's 13th birthday cake. Obviously this is her "Princess" phase, I'm so glad phases fade away, will this one ever just go away? I love you, Justine!

The Essence of Emo

My baby was mad at me.
After being separated for nearly FIVE days
(I had an emergency surgery)
My sister Reyna thought she'd snap a tear-jerking
mother daughter reunion on her camera.
Justine was NOT happy!

My girls love their Auntie Rey, as far as Justine knew,

I had abandoned her, what was I doing back?
Instead of her running into my arms as I painstakingly
knelt down, it must have taken her 30 seconds of babysteps.
When she finally stood beside me
She would not even look at me.
This is what Reyna captured the moment Justine looked up.
These are the eyes I had to look into to convince
that I would never leave her again...
13 years later I think I'm still trying...

BTW: Reyna has always had the uncanny ability to capture magic with her lens.
She's the main reason I am now a blogger. See her magic on rey2cute.blogspot.com

Dominic and Kelly's Wedding Cake

RECIPE ALERT!!

This is my Gran'Ma Mitcha, I've watched her and various Tias
make this "Beer Meat"
many MANY times through the years,
this recipe is as simple as it gets...

Birria
(Mexican Wedding Meat-from a true “mesican”)
This is a tender, spicy, oh so succulent shredded beef normally served at all special occassions…I like living on the edge so I surprise my girls with this on a Tuesday night…So Simple, So Yummy!

Large Boneless Roast (chuck will do)... [what will chuck do? ;) ]
Medium Onion
3-4 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
1 t. cumin
1 t. black pepper
2 t. salt
1 T. mexican oregano
1 small can pickled jalapenos w/ carrots, onions
1 12oz. can beer (minus 2 ounces, needed to quench chef’s thirst)
or non-alcoholic beer (BORING) btw,alcohol evaporates in the long run...
Early morning or night before:
peel and slightly crush garlic
peel and quarter onion
mix together cumin, salt and pepper
Take roast and slit/insert garlic randomly into the meat.
Rub the roast w/ the dry stuff, if you don’t like to have oregano splinters ’til you do dishes then sprinkle it on the roast (pansy method)
wedge a few layers of an onion into the meat. (Usually between fatty sections)
Wrap this baby in plastic and chill for awhile or overnight.
This needs to be in a slow-roaster for at least 4 hours, so plan accordingly.
Place roast in slow-cooker
add the rest of the onion,
the entire can of jalapenos (juice and all!),
the rest of the beer and bay leaves.
I like to slow cook this all day, but it's still tender after four hours.
Before you shred this meat, remove from cooker, "clean" meat of fats, save the strained juices, return juices to meat to reheat. The leftover meat can be frozen in Mexican Tupperware (aka; Ziplocs) to be used later in Tacos or Flautas.

Mesican Wedding Style:
Serve w/ fresh pinto beans (frijoles)
Spanish rice (arroz)
Potato Salad (ensalada de papas)and
Fresh homemade tortillas.

tuesday night style: (informal;no upper case letters needed)
birria
refried beans
potato salad
fresh tortillas
Credit to Gran'Ma Mitcha for this one!