Source: http://www.pitchengine.com/free-release.php?id=54929

Iconic buildings and landmarks around the world shine a blue light on Autism, Thursday, April 1, 2010.

03.30.2010 – MIAMI, FL — In recognition of Autism Awareness Month, Downtown Miami’s “Miami Tower” (formerly the Bank of America Tower at Int. Place) will join the list of iconic buildings and landmarks around the world participating in the Autism Speaks organization’s ‘light it up blue’ campaign, a unique global initiative to help raise awareness on autism as a growing public health crisis.

Other famous buildings taking part in the ‘light it up blue’ campaign include the Empire State Building in New York City, Willis Tower in Chicago, the CN Tower in Toronto and the Kingdom Tower in Saudi Arabia.

WHAT: Miami Tower, the iconic Downtown Miami office tower known for its color-changing lighting schemes, will be displaying blue lights to promote autism awareness.

WHEN: Thursday, April 1, 2010 through Sunday, April 4, 2010

WHERE: Miami Tower, 100 SE 2nd Street, Downtown Miami

PHOTO OP: Our very own Downtown Miami landmark, Miami Tower, will be sporting blue lights along with other prominent buildings all over the world.

About Autism
Autism is a complex neurobiological disorder that inhibits a person’s ability to communicate and develop social relationships, and is often accompanied by behavioral challenges. Autism spectrum disorders are diagnosed in one in 110 children in the United States, affecting four times as many boys as girls. The prevalence of autism increased 57 percent from 2002 to 2006. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have called autism a national public health crisis whose cause and cure remain unknown.

Miami Tower is a 600,000 square-foot, I.M. Pei-designed office tower in Downtown Miami. The tower has earned ‘icon’ status for its changing palette of exterior lighting schemes timed to coincide with holidays, sporting events and other significant occasions. For more information, please visit www.miamitower.net.

Valentine’s Day, also known as the “Lover’s” holiday is one of those days that either people love it or hate it. Even though, I’m luckily in love, Valentine’s Day is not only a day for lovers; it is a day to celebrate the love of your family, children, parents and other siblings.

As a single mother, I remember placing a mini-heart full of chocolates in my children’s backpacks, this way they’d know I’m thinking of them and how special they are. I fondly remember as a child, my father would honor my mother on Valentine’s Day with a small, loving gesture. My siblings and I would honor my mother by either buying her a store-bought card or making one in school. Where did those times go, when the simplest things in life meant the world to people? Nowadays, people’s expectations are so high; we go around scrambling, like we did over the holidays to buy the right gift for that special someone.

From my personal experience, I say to you, start your own tradition. Why not try to cook a fabulous meal for that special someone or your entire family? For breakfast, try boiling some sweet plantains using your IMUSA Enamel Pot or Caldero until nice and tender. After draining the water and letting cool, place the plantains in your IMUSA Molcajete. For a sweet Mangú taste serve with eggs (sunny side up) and a mimosa. For lunch, try making some delicious Roasted Peppers and Garlic muffins using your IMUSA muffin pan. For the children, I recommend regular Cranberry muffins, this way the red surrounds your table. For a more intimate dinner, use IMUSA’s mini-calderos, which are awesome to make individual Paellas or Mofongo. The best thing about these “mini-calderitos” is that they can either go straight to the dinner table after cooking, giving your table a restaurant feel, or you can keep your dish warm in the oven simply by removing the cover and lining it with aluminum foil until ready to serve.      With all these dishes, you have definitely sent “Cupid” right to their heart and stomach!

Just when you thought you were done eating pasteles (Puerto Rican tamales) or drinking coquito (Puerto Rican eggnog) on Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve, comes Pa’ la Parranda on January 5^th.  It is also known as Three Kings Day or Los Tres Reyes.

Growing up in Vega Alta, Puerto Rico, my mother fondly spoke of how Three Kings Day was their Christmas.  Every child would go out into the fields and collect some grass and sticks to place in a shoe box for the camels.  The Kings would ride in on the camels and in return, were rewarded with a gift.  While most families celebrate Christmas the way we do in the States, some still continue the traditions practiced in Puerto Rico and other Latin American countries.

Los Tres Reyes was the day of the Big Feast.  Back then, my grandmother didn’t make turkey or pernil (pork), it was gallina (hen), taken straight from their farm and cooked for the celebration supper.  My mother laughs when she talks about my grandmother’s caldero because she said that it looked more like a witch’s cauldron. I guess that’s what they used back then.  Of course, now IMUSA’s calderos are front and center in my home and in my family’s homes. My mother and I, however, share the same superstition that our rice won’t come out as good if we use someone else’s.  So, we travel with our own IMUSA calderos wherever we go. Silly I know, but then every good carpenter works with their own tools, right?

We’ve come a long way since the calderos.  Now, we have the IMUSA arrocera, the electric rice cooker. Similar to a crock pot, it is a one pot machine that works wonders if you don’t have the time to stand around and watch.  Simply add all of your ingredients and set it to cook! This holiday, I made arroz con coco or arroz con dulce for dessert. I simply added all my ingredients and switched it on.   While setting the table, the dessert cooked quickly and with less fuss. I will still cook my old fashion way, using my IMUSA caldero, but if you don’t want to keep the Kings waiting, try the arrocera for less cleaning and more time pa’ la parranda…

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IMUSA and George Duran, new host of “Ultimate Cake Off” on TLC, shows us a new, refreshing and tropical recipe using an IMUSA non-stick griddle.

IMUSA’s double burner non-stick griddle has a large cooking surface that allows you to cook up pancakes, tortillas, vegetables and meat for the whole family at once!

Video in Spanish:

Having grown up in Venezuela, some of my most treasured culinary memories center around one of the most indispensable items in a Latin kitchen: the caldero. The caldero is the ideal pot for everything from soup to stew to rice and beans. A really good caldero is worth its weight in gold—which is why so many families pass theirs down for generations. IMUSA knows this well, setting the standard for quality and durability—so I jumped at the chance to develop a simple, delicious rice and beans recipe to get you started on your fabulous caldero career.

Calderos come in several sizes and styles, and IMUSA graciously sent me more than ten different options with which to experiment. The traditionalist in me gravitated toward the cast aluminum, which “seasons” with use (like a cast iron skillet), while the realist in me opted for the largest size—because I never lack for friends willing to drop by to taste-test (translation: gorge on) one of  my Latin-inspired concoctions.

After a recent trip to the Caribbean I fell in love with one of the tastiest local culinary customs: rice and beans made with coconut milk. Each sweet, silky bite of that rice is pure heaven in my mouth. But I, for one, just can’t imagine eternity without my beloved bacon. So I set out to marry these two flavors—and the results were astonishingly good!

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IMUSA and Food Network’s George Duran show you how to create his delicious Pumpkin Pie Tamales using IMUSA cookware – including the famous IMUSA Tamalera.
For complete ingredient list and preparation please visit: http://www.imusausa.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=110&Itemid=21

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Piña Coladas: They’re not just for breakfast anymore!

Hold on, scratch that. They’ve never really been for breakfast. Unless, of course, you’re unemployed. Or at an all-inclusive Caribbean resort. Or both.  But that, my friends, is about to change. Because thanks to the fine folks at the Latin kitchenware company IMUSA, I’m about to bring everyone’s favorite tropical cocktail into the land of pancakes! That’s right, I said pancakes. Because when IMUSA asked me to help develop recipes for use with their products, they knew to expect the unexpected.

My tool of choice was their non-stick griddle. That was the easy part. What wasn’t so easy was figuring out the best way to incorporate the essential flavors of coconut and pineapple into the finished product. For time-saving convenience, I chose to use instant pancake mix. This way, you don’t have to get up an hour before everyone else to make breakfast. I also opted to use canned pineapple—since fresh isn’t always available in many supermarkets. This yielded an unexpected solution to my primary problem: rather than waste the flavorful syrup the pineapple comes in, I simply mixed it with some coconut milk to substitute for the liquid component in the pancake mix. The result was a batter with some serious tropical pop.

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Working with the amazing array of IMUSA products has been anything but work. I mean, who wouldn’t love a job that “requires” you to mess around in the kitchen developing recipes for their incredible selection of Latin kitchenware?  That’s probably what I would be doing anyway! (But that’s just between you and me, okay?)  One of my personal favorites to experiment with was their panini press. Because developing a Latin inspired recipe for this sandwich lover’s essential transported me back… to Miami Beach.

Having recently been at the South Beach Food and Wine Festival, the aromas of Cuban sandwiches wafting down Ocean Drive (and the taste of them as I inhaled them greedily a few minutes later) were still fresh in my mind. And to give this Latin classic a Duran-ian twist, I simply channeled my undying love for a sandwich revered by many of Miami Beach’s retirees: The Rueben. And with that, my Rueben Cubano was born!

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Here’s a picture from his New York Demo. More pictures from his Miami stop coming soon. Check out our calendar for upcoming events in your area!