Day by Day with Camille

 Today is the 103rd anniversary of the day that my grandparents were married in a small town in North Carolina. Atlas and Veda Freeman, my maternal grandparents. To me, they were Grandpa and Grandma Freeman. It is really quite amazing to stop and think about how different North Carolina (and the USA as a whole) are now from that January day in 1922. It amazes me to think of the changes that they witnessed in their lives, one born in 1892 and dying in 1982; the other born in 1898, and living until 1990.  Of course, in my own lifetime, I have seen a lot of changes happen, good and bad. It just seems to me that the ones that my grandparents saw were far greater and life-changing that those that I have seen. I suppose it depends on your perspective. I think that about my parents, as well, one of whom was born in 1937 and died in 2010; the other born in 1934 and still living.  Technically, my grandparents were married during the Roaring Twenties. My parents were both born duri...

  I just made my own version of Arroz con leche Cubano (Cuban rice pudding). I learned from a family friend, who emigrated here from Cuba in the 1940s. Her husband was a WW2 GI, stationed in Cuba during the war.  I used white rice, a cinnamon stick, a whole nutmeg, and some lemon peel and juice, as well as a small amount of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Once the rice was cooked, I added regular evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, half and half, white sugar, ground cinnamon,  ground cloves, allspice, ground nutmeg, vanilla extract, lemon extract, and some cream of coconut, and cooked on low heat until thickened.