Easter With Ita

If your Momma does not start cooking any holiday meal with rollers on or no bra, is she really cooking!? 

side-note: I made my Mom put on a bra. 

Easter this year was a special one for my family because my niece, Kennedi (we call her Kenni), was finally starting to understand the meaning of Easter and plus she was SUPER into the Easter Egg Hunt **feels**. Dinner was small with just my Mom (Ita), Brother (Armond) and God Brother (Billy) but it was just right. 

My Mom or Ita, a nickname she received when she was younger back in Brooklyn, NY, insisted that she was "not going to make all that food" but of course she did - like any mom would do.

As any child would, I think my mom is seriously the BEST COOK EVER - Honorable mention to my bestie Ashlee's Mom because Momma Mandy THROWS DOWN.

But any-who back to Ita. As I've gotten older **enters crying emoji for the last year of my twenties**, I love watching her cook every dish while she reminisces on how she found this particular recipe or how they were dishes she ate growing up in NYC. 

Every Puerto Rican house hold as all things Goya..

My favorite dish to watch her make is arroz con gandules (rice & peas), which is a popular Puerto Rican dish that is usually served with every meal and when I say every meal, EVERY MEAL. Breakfast, lunch, dinner.. snack time. 

She will probably disagree with me but this is one of her best dishes, my Titi Bibi is pretty damn good at arroz con gandules too. From the aroma to the color I can't wait until it's done and she usually lets me taste it before it goes to the rest of the fam. 

Can you smell it????

Easter Sunday was perfect.. My brother's watched the playoff's (Go Wizards!), Kenni was running around the house wanting everyone to chase her and most importantly my Mom had her kids under one roof, devouring her food. Oh, and of course sipping on some Mimomsa's... I mean, it is Sunday! :-)

Cheers to eating!

Want to try making Arroz Con Gandules? Find the recipe Here