Rosita's Strawberry Cream Cheese Tortilla Wraps

This is part of a sponsored collaboration with HBO and DiMe Media. However, all opinions expressed are my own.

In addition to bird watching this weekend, we're getting ready for our annual homeschool Valentine's Day party. Every year, we get together with other homeschoolers in our group to exchange cards and play super fun themed games. It's something we look forward to because it gives us an excuse to celebrate our friendships.

On Valentine's Day itself, I typically make homemade French toast for breakfast and place a card and little gift at my children's regular place at the dining room table. My kids rush off to make me handmade cards or crafts. It may be a Perler bead coaster in the shape of a heart, a sketch of one of our animals, a heart-shaped LEGO masterpiece, or a poem. I'll cook my kids' favorite meal and bake my husband's favorite dessert. We don't go crazy buying extravagant gifts, but prefer to give instead a heartfelt regalito just as an extra special way to show our love for each other.

Because love and friendship is what this life is all about, no? And that is why I love this little Sesame Street Valentine’s Day behind-the-scenes clip of Rosita teaching Abby how to say words of affection in Spanish in anticipation of Valentine’s Day. Even though my kids are older now, they still enjoy watching clips like this one from the show (they especially love watching parodies about movies and characters the love, like this one and this one).

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to interview Carmen Osbahr, the talented Latina behind the Rosita muppet. She is funny, vibrant, smart, and just as lovable as the characters she makes come alive on screen. And more importantly, she is making a difference in the lives of children all across the country - especially Latino children who have the opportunity to relate to and learn from the bilingual Rosita and Ovejita characters. I absolutely loved meeting her.

In fact, I have a little Rosita doll that sits on the headboard of my bed. She's frequently the first thing I see in the morning and a reminder of everything I love: children and education. My kids sometimes sneak into bed with me in the morning and reach out for her. Or if I am sick, they'll tuck her into bed with me to comfort me. They think it is fantastic that mama has a doll.

So in honor of Carmen and Rosita and Valentine's Day, I decided to make a special yummy (and healthy!) recipe to take with us to today's Valentine's Day party. The recipe is below...and don't miss the great giveaway from Sesame Street!! Be sure to tune in to watch your favorite characters on Saturday mornings at 9:00 am ET on HBO. They have a special Valentine's Day episode airing tomorrow morning that I know your kids will absolutely love.

How about you? How does your family celebrate Valentine's Day?

Rosita's Strawberry Cream Cheese Tortilla Wraps

Ingredients:

3-4 flour tortillas (burrito size)

1 tub of cream cheese (softened)

1 package of fresh strawberries

Directions:

First, thoroughly wash your strawberries and slice them up, discarding the tops. 

Next, spread the cream cheese over one tortilla. Take your strawberry slices and arrange them on top of the cream cheese leaving an inch or so clear around the edges.

Starting at one end, tightly roll up the tortilla. Using a sharp knife, cut off the ends. Then cut the roll into sections, maybe an inch and a half wide or so.

Carefully arrange the sections on a plate and refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.

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Sesame Street's Star S'Mores

Can you guess what we'll be doing today?? Thanks, Sesame Street!!

Sesame Street's "The Cookie Theif" Premieres Tomorrow!

We're making cookies today. Want to know why? Because tomorrow on Sesame Street, there's an all new episode and it is super cute! In "The Cookie Thief," Sesame Street opens a new cookie art museum and everyone is excited...until the famous cookie art begins disappearing. And, naturally, You-Know-Who is the prime suspect! It's a logical assumption. I mean, if someone is stealing cookie art, wouldn't you automatically suspect that it was Cookie Monster?

This hilarious episode features our favorite penguin characters and even the hilarious comedian, Rachel Dratch. (She totally cracks me up.)

You can watch "The Cookie Thief" tomorrow on PBS KIDS. And if you miss it, don't worry! You can catch the repeats on February 18th and 20th.

Virtual Field Trip: Sesame Street Visits Our National Parks

Okay. Because we're Sesame Street fans, AND because we love our national parks, AND because we love wildlife, you know that I simply can't resist sharing one of the six videos in the new series by Sesame Street and the National Park Service, which explores our nation's parks and introduces them to our children. I picked the following video to share with you because as you may or may not know, my husband is the general curator of a bird park (so we love birds, too).

This new series introduces kids to habitats, families, and the seasons. On the Sesame Street website you'll also find an educator's guide, vocabulary sheet, free printables, and much, much more. So take your child on a virtual field trip this summer to the Grand Canyon!

Gloria & Rosita Sing a Song on Sesame Street

Happy Summer! Just a fun video today from Rosita y Gloria...

A New Hispanic Character for Sesame Street's 44th Season

Monday afternoon, I had the most wonderful opportunity to sit down with Sesame Street's new Hispanic character, Armando, and his amiga, Rosita, who may well now be my favorite Sesame Street muppet of all time.

Armando - or Mando as he is called on the show - is played by the talented Ismael Cruz Córdova. Ismael is such a likeable guy with his energetic smile and infectious laugh, that I know children across the country will be immediately drawn to his character this fall. He brings a new face to the show that reflects the multiculturalism of modern-day Latinos in America. From the soles of his dancing feet to the tips of his vibrant hair, Ismael is a beautiful blend of his Puerto Rican, Taino, Afro-Caribbean, and European ancestry.

Latino families like ours, are in for a treat as Sesame Street's 44th season (which premieres on September 16th - Ummm, happy Mexican Independence Day, people!) will focus will be on both executive function skills and Hispanic Heritage. Of course we all know what Hispanic Heritage means, but if you're like me, you may be wondering what in the world executive function skills are and what they have to do with early education. It sounds more like something the CEO of a major company needs, no?

Pero, they are actually essential skills that together create the foundation of all core brain activity and are comprised of the ABC's of self regulation, including Affect (understanding that your actions have an affect), Behavioral (showing self control, curbing impulses), and Cognitive (understanding how your actions have an impact).

Part of Mando's role on the show will be to focus on self-expression. He is a writer who loves to write anything from poetry to songs and everything in between. During our interview, Rosita gave an example of how he helped her recently when she became upset after reading a book (she's learning to read) that she had been waiting for. It was called Hola, Lola and was about a little Mexican girl just like her...only she wasn't. The little girl in the book instead walked around wearing a sombrero, owned a burro, and took siestas all the time. Rosita was disappointed and frustrated, but Mando told her that instead of writing an angry letter to the publisher, she should write her own book. He inspired her to share her own story with others.

Ay! You know, right, that this is a guy after my own heart, no?

So Rosita did it. She actually wrote her own song. And she called her story Mi amiguita, Rosita. You'll be able to learn all about it this coming season on Sesame Street. (Did you catch the executive function skill Mando taught Rosita? To channel her frustration into something positive and productive?)

And, Mamis, you will love the fact that when I asked Ismael who his role model was growing up, he told me that it was his own Mami. Here's what he said in our interview...

"I was not influenced much by pop culture," Ismael said. "I was completely and directly influenced by my mom. She was always very clear about her struggle. Not in an accusing way or anything. Just very bare boned. 'This is it and this is what’s happening and your actions will affect you,' she said. She was very clear and open with us about her journey. Not condescending. She spoke to her children…"

"…Respectfully. I learned that from my parents," Rosita said.

"And she considered my opinions," said Ismael. "But always that impetus to move forward. Always the drive to continue no matter what happened."

"So did she place an emphasis on education?" I asked.

"Most definitely," he responded. "It was, 'This is your only option.' And it was your responsibility. We were never rewarded for good grades. It’s also your responsibility to educate yourself as a citizen. You shouldn’t be given a treat just to be the best. Just to do your part. She worked in a Mexican restaurant, and I used to wait for her and do my homework. Sadly, she wasn’t ever able to help us with it. So it was on us and that is very empowering for a child. That was the seedling at my core. I’m trying to keep from crying right now."

They did not, however, have a reading culture in their home. They were never really taught to read. In fact, he says he did not read his first entire book (cover to cover) until 7th grade. He bemoaned the fact that he had not developed better literacy skills early on as he had to work very hard and force himself to develop them when he was older.

Which made my gift to him that much sweeter. Since we knew I'd have the chance to interview Ismael in Maimi, my kids and I decided to present him with a little gift of Latino children's literature straight off of our bookshelves. Each of us chose a book and wrote a message on the inside. We hoped that maybe these books might provide a little bit of inspiration for future episodes. Maybe Mando could read one of the stories or poems to Rosita as one of the segments? Wouldn't that be awesome to feature Latino children's literature on Sesame Street? (It certainly doesn't hurt to try, no?) Either way, the smiles on his and Rosita's faces spoke volumes. And they were quite happy to pose for pictures as you can see above.

You can read more about our selections tomorrow on our sister blog, Latinas4LatinoLit.org.

I just want to end this post sharing his responses to my children's short questions:

My daughter wanted to know what his favorite food was. Ismael said vegetarian sushi! (Yes, he's a vegetarian.)

And my son wanted to know what his favorite color was. Any guesses? He said, ROJO.

The Search for Sesame Street's New Hispanic Character

So first there was this:



Y luego:




And finally there is this...




Stay tuned for more, Amigos!