Harper Comes to Town

We had such a great time this week with my family. My mom, dad, Aunt Linda, and sister Kelly all drove down to introduce Harper to her Grandma and Aunt Kathy & family. We had a gathering Monday night at our house and went down to Matt's in Lakewood on Tuesday night. Can't keep the fam away from that Bob Armstrong dip! And of course, the biggest reason everyone made the long trip was to meet COCO. You know it's true.

Coco, dad, Kelly, and Grandma take a break from eating my guacamole.

I've been working for the school district's bilingual department all summer and the ladies there are not shy about bringing in their homemade specialties. It's the greatest. They schooled me on making tortillas and guac. Last week they told me I'm now an honorary Mexican ... but I had to inform them that yo soy Cubano, actually. Either way, viva la raza. Here's the basic guacamole recipe.

2 or 3 avacados

top half of a tomato

top half on an onion (white, or my favorite, sweet yellow)

1 or 2 limes

salt & pepper to taste

Once you've skinned and gutted your avacados (hee hee), dice them as small as you can ... don't pulverize. This is the biggest trick. Dice up your tomato & onion. Throw everything in a bowl, mix but keep it chunky. Relieve the juice of one or two limes into the bowl (I like it limey ... I'm a big citrus fan, ask Carrie), top with salt and pepper. Double or triple as you see fit. As chef, keep tasting it to make sure it's palatable. That's it. No sour cream, no weird powders, and don't smash the avacados into baby poo paste. I also like to throw in cilantro, but all of mine burst into flames in this 105 degree weather.

Making your own tortillas is also very satisfying, easy, and light years ahead of anything you can buy at the store, unless you are at Original Ninfa's in Houston. I made one batch with bacon grease, and although it was good, the bacon was overpowering. Currently I'm going with 2 cups all purpose flour, 2 tablespoons of fat (half lard, half butter ... like me), no baking powder, and a teaspoon of salt dissolved in 3/4 cup of warm water. Mix, rest, then roll out thin and slap on a griddle. Eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Harper is such a great baby! Total opposite of El Coco de Bite Bite.

...

And finally, I'd like to take a moment to wish my beautiful wife a very

HAPPY FIRST ANNIVERSARY!

One year ago today I was a very nervous young (don't say anything) man ... I was worried that morning, waking up alone in a hotel room in Corpus Christi, that everything had been another winding, confusing dream. Fortunately, it wasn't. That evening I got to walk down an aisle and watch the most wonderful, kind, loving, gorgeous, hilarious, and thoughtful (we're working on patient) woman I'd ever met come around the corner, look into my eyes, hold my hand, and actually, willingly agree to be with me forever. 

Since then I've woken up many times confused, but not alone. I love you, and here's to at least another year. Everyone says the first year is the hardest, but we both agree it's been a breeze. Getting Coco to poop outside? Now that's hard. I think the winning formula has been to completely love and trust each other, be open and honest and communicate, and to understand and be flexible with each other's flaws rather than getting annoyed and angry. Every "fight" we've ever had pretty much lasts a few minutes, then ends in somebody making a mocking face and both of us laughing. If there's one thing I've learned from The Real Housewives, other than to never get a spray tan, it's

HAPPY WIFE, HAPPY LIFE