Why Eva’s Kitchen: Cooking with Love for Family and Friends is Special to Me and My Mom

After watching Eva Longoria on an interview with Pierce Morgan, I started following her on Twitter where I found out she’d be signing books in San Antonio.  I’m most impressed that she is going to school for her Master’s in Chicano Studies.  As a Mexican-American from Texas, I can’t help but look to her as an example of “anything is possible”.  She’s a successful actress, an entrepreneur, activist, author and more.

Yesterday, my mom and I waited in line for 2 hours at Williams-Sonoma to have our Eva’s Kitchen: Cooking with Love for Family and Friends signed by the Miss L, herself.  At first it was great, we had samples of the recipes brought to us in line … yum! and the line seemed to be moving along just fine.  Then, after about the first hour, well, it wasn’t so great.  People in line were getting a little antsy.

Eva's Kitchen Cookbook Book Signing in San Antonio - QueMeansWhat.comWe finally got in to meet her and … well, she was faboulous!  She was still so poised and gracious with every person who had waited in line to see her. The only other celebrity I waited in line to meet was Troy Aikman at a Cowboys summer practice. Eva is prettier and smells better! Her mom was by her side at the event, too.

One notable part of waiting in line for so long was the time I had with my mom. It’s become rare that she and I have time alone. Most times that we are together, we are toting my two boys with us and they can be … um, a distraction. Really, we do have the best times with them. However, I need my one-on-one mama time. We looked through Eva’s cookbook and chose recipes that we would make for dinner. We had our girl talk, ate our tasty samples, took pictures and were seemingly annoyed by the same people in line.

After our short time to meet and have a picture taken with “la movie star”, we went straight to pick up my boys, took them to the grocery store and bought all the necessary items for our “Eva Longoria” dinner.

Here’s another magical moment: only my mom could show me how wonderful it is when you allow your four-year-old in the kitchen to help you make dinner.  Most times when I’m in the kitchen, I am shooing my boys out so I can get dinner done. Not my mom. She found tasks that mijo could do and he was beyond excited to be “helping.”

We made Eva’s chili-rubbed skirt steak tacos with chunky guacamole (pg. 102) and garlic green beans (pg. 141). It was a hit! Of course we picked up our favorite chips and salsa to munch on before and during our delicious meal.

Here’s what I know:  chili-rubbed skirt steak is so simple and tastes so yummy.  A dinner with family can be incredibly simple and still be the complete highlight of my day, even after meeting “la movie star”.

Cooking with Love for Friends and Family - Eva Longoria at Eva's Kitchen Book Signing - QueMeansWhat.com

Gracias mom, Eva Longoria  and Williams-Sonoma!  As I reached for the cookbook to write this post, I see the phrase “cooking with love for family & friends” on the cover. ¡Perfecto!