Creamy, dreamy Key Lime Pie Paletas are a deliciously sweet and tart summer treat!


Pay de Limón Paletas - lacocinadeleslie.com

This week mi amiga Lola (from Lola's Cocina) is celebrating #PaletaWeek and has invited some of her favorite bloggers (myself included) and Instagrammers to join her in this sweet celebration. Always one looking for any reason to celebrate, I gladly accepted her invitation. Be sure to check out Lola's list of all the mouthwatering paleta recipes being shared this week.

Pay de Limón Paletas #PaletaWeek

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Brunsviger is a classic Danish coffee cake with a buttery sweet brown sugar and cinnamon glaze.


Brunsviger (Danish Coffee Cake) - lacocinadeleslie.com

One of my favorite things about The Secret Recipe Club. is discovering new-to-me cuisines and/or recipes that I might not have ever thought to make. My assignment this month is Sid's Sea Palm Cooking. Sid loves preparing good food and sharing it with friends, so much so that she hosts a monthly Tapas Night in her home and later shares photos and recipes on her blog. Sid's blog is full of delicious and easy-to-follow recipes, but what really drew me in were her authentic Danish recipes. My mouth was watering just reading through the recipes. Asier (Danish pickles), Skidne æg (hard-boiled eggs in mustard sauce), Lagekage (Danish layer cake), and Melboller (flour dumplings) which Sid says are perfect for soup. are all on my list of Sid's Danish recipes to try. I ended up choosing Brunsviger because the words Danish Coffee Cake just spoke to me.

Secret Recipe Club: Brunsviger (Danish Coffee Cake)

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Mexican chocolate, cinnamon and rice combine together in a rich, decadent twist on a classic agua fresca.



Satisfy your sweet tooth and keep cool this summer with an ice cold glass of Mexican Chocolate Horchata. Mexican chocolate isn't just for atoles, Champurrado, and mole sauces. It can be used in cookies, custards, as well as countless other desserts, and even in refreshing aguas frescas. Two of my favorites being Agua de Chocolate (made without milk) and this Horchata de Chocolate, which tastes like cinnamon chocolate milk in a fun agua fresca that is way more refreshing.

Mexican Chocolate Horchata

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Enjoy all the spicy sweet goodness of Tacos al Pastor in no time at all with these easy to make tacos made with Mexican longaniza sausage and pineapple.


Mexican Longaniza Tacos with Pineapple - lacocinadeleslie.com

If you like chorizo, you're going to love Mexican Longaniza. Longaniza is a Mexican sausage similar in flavor to chorizo - although sometimes it can be spicier - the main difference lies in that chorizo is made with ground meat while longaniza is made with finely chopped meat. Both are delicious and can be prepared a number of ways.

Longaniza Pineapple Tacos #TacoTuesday

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Pambazos de Papa (Potato Pambazos) are a delicious meatless take on a classic Mexican sandwich made with crusty bolillo rolls bathed in a spicy guajillo salsa then filled with refried beans, cooked potatoes, shredded lettuce, crumbled queso fresco, and Mexican crema.


Potato Pambazos - lacocinadeleslie.com

Pambazos are a traditional Mexican torta (sandwich) made by splitting open telera or bolillo rolls, dipping them in a spicy guajillo salsa, then frying them in manteca (or vegetable oil). The fried bread rolls are then stuffed with potatoes and chorizo, and topped with garnishes like shredded lettuce, crumbled queso fresco, Mexican crema, chiles en escabeche (pickled chiles) and/or a spicy tomatillo salsa.

Potato Pambazos #MeatlessMonday

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Hello, May! The beginning of a new month means it's time once again for another installment of The Secret Recipe Club. My assignment this month is Dancing Veggies written by Amanda, a vegetarian who loves to cook. Amanda's blog focuses on quick and easy vegetarian recipes with simple ingredients you can find at your local grocery store. Being the zucchini addict that I am, I was tempted with many a tasty zucchini recipe, like Zucchini Oat Bread, Spinach & Zucchini Lasagna, and California Enchiladas (stuffed with zucchini). But there were quite a few non-zucchini recipes that also caught my eye: Sweet Potato Lentil Burgers, Greek Baked Eggs, and Herbal Tuna Salad just to name a few.




Secret Recipe Club: Egg Foo Young

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Sopes are one of my favorite traditional Mexican antojitos (street foods). Loaded with delicious fillings like Refried Beans, chorizo, shredded beef, pork or chicken, or a variety of guisados like Picadillo, Pork Chile Colorado, and/or Rajas con Crema (just to name a few). But why stop there?! Sopes can also be topped with shredded lettuce, crumbled queso fresco, Mexican crema, and a variety of fiery salsas for an irresistible treat. For those of you unfamiliar with Mexican sopes the base is like a thick handmade corn tortilla with a small border to keep the yummy fillings from spilling out. And like tacos and tostadas, sopes are eaten with your hands. Traditionally sopes are fried in manteca (lard) before adding the fillings, but vegetable oil works just as well and that is how I prefer to fry my sopes.


How to Make Mexican Sopes (Como hacer sopes mexicanos) - lacocinadeleslie.com


How to Make Mexican Sopes (Sopes de Frijoles y Chorizo)

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Salpicón de Pollo is a refreshing Mexican chicken salad seasoned with cilantro, serrano chiles, lime juice, onion, tomato, and avocado.


Salpicón de Pollo - lacocinadeleslie.com

Salpicón is a classic Mexican salad traditionally made with shredded beef, but it can also be made with pork, fish, shrimp, and chicken. All versions are absolutely delicious, but my favorite is this one made with shredded chicken breast. The fresh lime juice and olive oil combined with the onion, tomato, cilantro and serrano chiles makes for a simple yet slightly tangy dressing. Chicken Salpicón is perfect for hot summer days because it's light, refreshing and super easy to make.

Shredded Chicken Salpicón

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Caprichos de Carne Asada - lacocinadeleslie.com

What do you get when you cross a taco with a quesadilla? Some might call them tacodillas or quesatacos, but here in our small town we know them as Caprichos. Caprichos have all the fillings of a traditional Mexican street taco like carne asada, beans, chopped onion, and cilantro AND each capricho is stuffed with lots of ooey, gooey melted cheese.

Carne Asada Caprichos #ThrowbackThursday

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Pay de Elote is a delicious baked Mexican pie with a creamy sweet corn custard flavored with cinnamon.



Longtime readers of my cocina blog might remember that this blog's tagline used to be "Celebrating food, family, and life in Mexico." Well, the tagline might have disappeared, but my belief that there is always something to celebrate still holds true. And today is no exception because La Cocina de Leslie is celebrating it's 7th blog birthday/anniversary!

Pay de Elote (Sweet Corn Pie)

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Delicious and aromatic homemade guava jam with a hint of cinnamon.


Homemade Guava Jam - lacocinadeleslie.com

Spring has finally sprung in our small town and I am craving all things bright and cheery like fresh strawberries, mangoes, and guavas. Especially guavas! Now that the weather is starting to heat up, big breakfasts aren't that appealing to me. (For now.) Just give me a bowl of oatmeal and a couple slices of toast with Homemade Guava Jam and I'm a happy camper. (Along with a big cup of coffee or Café con Leche.)

Mermelada de Guayaba (Guava Jam)

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Quench your thirst with this creamy agua fresca made with fresh mango and evaporated milk.


Because you can never have to many Agua Fresca recipes, and because anything mango is a sweet, warm weather treat... This Creamy Mango Colada Agua Fresca made with fresh mango and evaporated milk will delight your tastebuds.

Creamy Mango Colada Agua Fresca

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Delicious and moist Pineapple Zucchini Bread with cinnamon and chopped pecans.


Pineapple Zucchini Bread - lacocinadeleslie.com

Hi, my name is Leslie and I am a zucchini-holic. I don't know when this addiction started, but if loving zucchini is wrong I don't want to be right! So when I saw a recipe for Pineapple Zucchini Bread on my assigned blog for The Secret Recipe Club, I really couldn't help myself.

Secret Recipe Club: Pineapple Zucchini Bread

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Hello?! Anyone still out there??? I have been absent from the blogosphere for way too long, and for that I apologize. At first I was missing because we were in the process of moving to my suegro's house and we were waiting for our internet service to be installed. What I had hoped would only be a two week wait, at most, turned into a long, drawn-out five weeks and I was suffering from major social media withdrawals. (FOMO?!) Most of my time during those five weeks was spent packing up things at our old place while also clearing out the rooms we'd be moving to at my father-in-law's, painting, and making minor repairs before we "officially" moved in. The week our internet was finally installed, my in-laws (Alf's brother & sister) both came to visit from the US so that week was spent with the family. The week after my in-laws left we finished moving all of our stuff into my suegro's house. Now all we had to do was settle into our "new" place and I'd finally have some time to sit at my computer to work, blog, and get back to doing what I love most... sharing recipes.


Homemade Tomato Sauce (Salsa de Tomate)

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It's the first Monday of a new month which means it's time once again for The Secret Recipe Club. This month my assignment is Making Memories with Your Kids, written by Erin, a single mom of two who loves to bake and craft. Erin's blog is a fun family-friendly mix of recipes and crafts for making wonderful memories with kids of all ages.


With so many festive recipes to choose from a few that caught my eye were Bread & Butter Pickles, Bacon Double Cheeseburger Dip, and Twinkie Pie. I ended up choosing Erin's Pumpkin Crumb Coffee Cake because I had some leftover Calabaza en Tacha (Mexican candied pumpkin) sitting in my fridge just waiting to be used. I had seen similar recipes on Pinterest where you simply combine cake mix with pumpkin puree, but the crumb topping is what ultimately won me over. Not only is this cake super easy to whip up, it's also incredibly delicious... like a cross between a pumpkin bread and old-fashioned pumpkin pie. My family and I are completely smitten with this recipe!

Secret Recipe Club: Pumpkin Crumb Cake

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Learn to make Cocada de Forno, a sweet and irresistible Brazilian delicacy.


Baked Coconut / Brazilian Cocada - lacocinadeleslie.com

Happy February, amigos! Can you believe it's already the second month of the New Year? Not only is today the first day of the month, it's also the first Monday which means it's time once again for The Secret Recipe Club. Yay! My assignment this month is Bewitching Kitchen, written by Sally who aside from being a talented food blogger is also an awesome biochemist. Sally has been sharing her love of food on her blog since 2009 and has an impressive catalogue of recipes to choose from like Feta Cheese Zucchini Loaf, Roast Chicken w/ Clementines, and Cremini Mushroom Meatloaf.  Sally was born and raised in Sao Paolo, Brazil and also shares traditional Brazilian recipes which were what really drew me in. Her Coxinha de Galinha (chicken fritters), Pao de Queijo, and Brigadeiros are all on my "to make" list.

Secret Recipe Club: Baked Coconut (Cocada de Forno)

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