About Us
You all know me as the "Rican Chef", but my real name is Carmen Pilar Santos de Curran. I was born in Ft. Brooke's Army Base in San Juan, Puerto Rico on October 26, 1949. You figure my age! Take a look at my picture and see that I still look good (todavia me quedan cantos buenos).

I lived in Puerto Rico my first eight years. As an Army brat, I was taken to Panama where we lived for 3 years. The Army then took us to El Paso, Texas where we spent another 4 years. We moved back to our little (terruñito de arena) Island (Mamá Borínquen Me Llama la la la) in 1964 until I married in 1970.

I have a wonderful son named Fernando and a daughter named Monica Mercedes, both born in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico. Fernando, who graduated from The University of North Texas, is the proud owner of Devworkz Internet Solutions (http://www.devworkz.com - free ad son) and makes my beautiful web pages for you to see. Sorry girls, but he is married to a beautiful woman. To continue bragging, my daughter, who prefers to be called Mercedes, studied Fashion Merchandising in New York and San Francisco in hopes of becoming a fashion buyer. Sorry guys, she is taken too. She gifted me with a handsome grandson named Isaac Viktor who is now 13. My mom and dad are still enjoying life even though they are divorced and live in different cities.

Last, but not least, there is my better half, Bob. Guess what? We met online, fell in love and got married in the love capitol of the world, Las Vegas, Nevada. Bob is a wonderful, caring and loving husband. We are celebrating our 5th anniversary this December (Wepaaaaa) and are living in San Jose, California. I gained two more beautiful daughters from him. The eldest is Liz and the youngest is Kate. Liz lives in Pennsylvania, while Kate lives in Sarasota, Florida. They have not decided on careers yet, but I am sure they will make a good choice. Ay Dios Mio!! I almost forgot my little Yorkies. I have a boy Yorkie named Nick, two years old, and a Yorkie girl named Minnie, only 3 months olds.

I love to cook, can you tell (¿se nota?), make crafts and collect postage stamps and Hard Rock Café pins. I am a member of the 2 different Boricua Associations, one in Dallas, Texas and the other in San Jose, California. I also love to write poems, some of which were published in El Boricua and in the newsletter in the Boricua Association of Dallas, Texas.

I was crowned Chef by "El Boricua" since I love to share the Rican Recipes I've collected throughout all my 50 + years. My cooking skills were learned through the school of hard knocks. Hints and suggestions I share are from my own experiences and mishaps in the kitchen. With all that said,

WELCOME TO RICAN RECIPES AND PLEASE ENJOY!

¡¡¡Me voy, que se me quema el arroz!!! Te veo en mi web page.