The Bodega Cookbook

Loida Casares Ruiz

Wife, Mother, Writer, Advertising Manager

Loida Casares Ruiz grew up in Northeast Houston. She graduated from the University of Houston with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Minor in English. She received a Master of Arts in Communication in 2001. She works in advertising by day and is a mother, wife, and writer by night. She has al...

Loida Casares Ruiz

Sunday, July, 20, 2008

The Bodega Cookbook Published by Neighbors Project.
Available for orders online this week.

It’s finally here! My copy of the Bodega Cookbook! It was so exciting to open up the package today and to see the bright colors of the cookbook. Kudos to the designer Summer Powell, who did an excellent job. A very cool detail was that they used one of my photos of the Matamoros Meat Market fridge in the cover design.

The recipe that I contributed is my mother’s family recipe for pork in tomatillo sauce. They also included a picture of my pot boiling the tomatillos on my stove top, next to my recipe.

Along with the cookbook they sent eight invitations for a Bodega party, flags for decorations and a re-usable shopping bag. Very cool! You will be able to order the bodega party in a box starting this week, probably on Monday. I’ll post the link then.

The purpose of the Bodega Cookbook is the Neighborhood Project Organization’s way of “inspiring and training members of the urban generation to connect with their neighbors through projects that improve the neighborhood for everyone."

This cookbook inspires urban dwellers to go out and shop in their neighborhood stores. So support the cause. Order a cookbook and cook up something using ingredients from your corner store. Also, The Bodega Party in a Box funds the Food & Liquor project, which helps get more fresh produce into local corner and liquor stores.

I'll be doing some things to promote the cookbook in the community, including speaking about it on the Nuestra Palabra radio show on KPFT. I'll let y'all know when that happens.

How exciting! My first contribution to a published book!! Yay!