Dolce Delights, Houston

Finally cakes of my taste in Houston!

Where? at Dolce Delights, 3201 Louisiana St. Suite 100 Houston, Texas 77006. 

It has parking in the building and a side entrance from the parking lot. Very handy.

Inside is spacious, bright and very pleasant.

I also tried an iced tea, delicious. I will not recommend the macaron go for the pastries.

The cakes are excellent texture, not gelatinous as I tried elsewhere with excellent flavor and really balanced and they highlights the main ingredient.

Friendly services, my daughter forgot a book, I called and they saved for us until the next day.

I will back many times.

Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Crunch and pistacho macaron

Raspberry & Pistachio and Salted caramel macaron

Banana Chocolate

Mango Lava

Defined Roles

I've been thinking a lot about the differences between men and women.  I do now and always have believed that men and women have VERY different roles. I love this section from the book, Fascinating Womanhood (a fantastic book that would probably offend 99% of today's women):

"We have heard the statement, "marriage is a partnership." But what kind of a partnership? It is not an equal partnership, for man's role is to be guide, protector, and provider, whereas woman's is loving wife, mother, and homemaker. Man and woman are not partners in leadership, nor motherhood, nor homemaking. With thought we can see that although man's and woman's role are equal in importance, they are not equal in responsibility. In "Marriage for Moderns," by Henry A. Bowman, this unequal partnership is compared to a lock and key. Man and woman, he tells us, are like a lock and a key which join together to form a functioning unit. "Together they can accomplish something that neither acting alone can accomplish. Nor can it be accomplished by two locks or two keys. Each is distinct; yet neither is complete in and of itself. Their roles are neither identical nor interchangeable. Neither is superior to the other, since both are necessary. They are equally important. Each must be judged in terms of its own function. They are complementary." Marriage, then is a complementary partnership."
---Fascinating Womanhood pg 78---

Most of you didn't know me when I was a married stay-at-home mom... It's been several years. This concept of defined roles has always been very important to me, but not something I've been able to fully embrace as a single, working mom.  Eric and I are striving to bring back the "era of defined roles" in our relationship.  I don't think it's the economy that has changed the need for mothers to work outside the home, I believe it is people's own attitudes and the culture we live in.  I have always felt it my main responsibility to be in my home with my children, no matter what their ages are.  I am fine without brand new fancy cars, huge houses and expensive vacations.  I am more than ok living within my means, whatever they may be, by thrifting and being creative.  I should be taking care of my house and children.  So many families say that in "today's society" it is a necessity for a family to have two incomes.  I do not believe that to be true.  I believe it may be necessary for a family to have two incomes to keep up a lifestyle that they want, not what they NEED, but what they want.  What are you losing in the process though?

I think it takes a lot of humbleness and faith in the Lord's divine law and order to fully submit to your husband.  It is a role that most men struggle with today, let alone their wives.  Men like to say that they are the "leaders" in their homes, but it's rare that they actually step up to the plate and fulfill that calling to the best of their abilities.   It is very hard for women to fall into their role when their husbands struggle with their own. 

I fully believe that the decline of society, marriage and families has happened because of things like the feminist movement. Men and women were not created to be equals in everything... they were created to be equally important though. It's an interesting journey that Eric and I are taking to try and bring the mentality of defined roles into reality, but I believe it will be worth it.  As I am working to humble myself and have more faith in Eric and his abilities and step back from the family leadership responsibilities I have been taking on for so long, I am also working to help him become the strong man that he needs to be to fulfill his role as a husband, father and leader in our home.  I think this goes far beyond religious beliefs to an arrangement of divine origin.  It's something that we will work on daily in our home.

She's My Strawberry Pie...

I love fresh strawberry pie!  I decided to make a couple for our Pioneer Day dessert this year and they turned out fabulous!  If you prefer regular pie crusts, this recipe works well in baked pie crusts as well as the graham cracker crusts I always use.  I like to leave the strawberries whole, but feel free to halve or slice the strawberries to your liking.

Strawberry Pie Glaze
Make enough glaze for two strawberry pies

1 c. sugar
2 T. cornstarch 
2 c. cold water

Bring to a boil whisking often.  Cook until slightly thickened.  Stir in a 3oz package of strawberry jello.

Remove from heat and stir until dissolved.  Pour over strawberries place in graham cracker pie crusts.  Refrigerate.  Serve with whipped cream.  Enjoy!

Shrimp and cheese empanadas

My whole childhood vacations were spend on a very small sea town in Chile. I grow up eating all kinds of fish, seaweed and crustaceans. By almost always the first introduction for kids to the sea products is by the offering of a empanada, especially if go es with cheese. I'm planning on doing just this with my daughters, wish me luck.

Cheese-shrimp empanadas

for 6 empanadas

Ingredients:

• 10 empanadas dough Goya (on Latin supermarket, on the frozen aisle)
• 1 cup raw shrimp, peeled and cleaned, without tail
• 5 washed and finely chopped scallions white and green parts(green onions)
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder or merquén
• salt and pepper
• 1 cup of cheese coarsely grated, havarti or monterrey jack are good choice
• oil for frying

Preparation:

1. Make the filling: In a medium skillet heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil over medium-low heat, add the green onions and saute until lightly browned and tender, about 3 minutes, add salt, pepper and merquén, stir well and add the shrimp and cook until they are getting pink. Remove from heat and let cool, add the cheese and mix.
2. Thawed the dough, separate carefully. Place 2 teaspoons of filling of shrimp and cheese. Close the empanadas, slightly wet the edge with water and then crushed with a fork to seal the edge. You can also make small folds, after sealing the edge, my favorite way.
3. Heat oil in a deep pot to avoid splashing, test the oil with a piece of dough left over, get out to the surface and brown quickly in about 1 minute per side, or  400F. Place the empanadas to be fried, 2 or 3 at a time. Allow to brown on both sides, remove to a plate with absorbent paper towel and let drain 1 minute, serve and eat hot.

Check Out TheAmericanHomemaker.com

My new website is up and running!  I love it!  It's a place for all the recipes, craft ideas and everything else you love about The American Homemaker to be organized in an easy-to-find manner!  Plus there will be all sorts of new articles and information found on the website only!

The blog isn't going anywhere... the website is a great companion site to the blog like two bestest friends!  I'd love for you to check it out!

www.theamericanhomemaker.com

Banana milk, leche con platano

This drink is for the Chileans what Horchata is for the Mexicans. It must be serve on every kid birthday, and it's also a popular flavor for the boxed milk to send as a snack to school. The recipe is death simple and refreshing. Enjoy!

Milk with banana
for 2 people
Ingredients:

•  2 cups cold milk, I use skim
•  1 banana very ripe
•  1/2 cup ice
•  2 teaspoons sugar or to taste

Preparation:

1. Put all the ingredients on the blender and blend for 1 minute until well mixed.
2. Serve immediately.

Got Milk?

I love milk in glass bottles!  I love looking at them and I love drinking from them!  I buy a yogurt drink at the Asian grocery store called Yogu-Time and my girls love them... I remove the labels and hooray... vintage-looking milk bottles.

I discovered that cupcake papers and rubber bands make great toppers for the bottles.  A lot of people used to cover their milk bottles with wax paper and rubber bands so this is a fun take on an old fashioned practice... plus it gives me an excuse to use the cute cupcake papers I collect but never bake with!

Why not fill a vintage metal basket with milks to pull out after dinner to go with brownies or cookies?  Or keep them in the fridge for kids to drink in the mornings with breakfast?  There are so many things you could do with these paper topped milks!