I’m so excited you know I’ve partnered with Stella for a while and it’s kind of, needed right now. You know this virtual live-stream event it’s really about bringing people together and celebrating Hispanic music and culture, and our artists, and our community. I think it’s going to just be a really fun time and people can do it from the comfort of their own home so I think it’s going be like I said, a much-needed event.

Oh gosh, since I was 5, it was more out of necessity (laughs). I would ask my mom, ‘I’m hungry and she’d be like ‘well you better figure it out’ cause you know she was like a mom with 4 kids and she was so crazy busy. I remember doing my first cookbook, it was like a memoir of my life told through food- and I tell the story about when I was 5 and I was hungry and I made myself an egg and I remember pushing my chair up to the stove because I couldn’t reach, cracking the egg, shell and all into the pan with no oil, nothing and having such a sense of accomplishment like, ‘wow I did that.’ I don’t remember what the egg tasted like, I don’t remember anything else, I just remember the sense of accomplishment. And since then it’s been like a therapeutic relief for me, you know this whole COVID, I’ve been cooking a lot, learning more, and I’m all self-taught, so I just really find it to be my escape.

I think it’s that, that it brings people together. Even with this Reventón De Verano, I’m going to be reuniting with two of my dearest friends, Wilmer Valderrama and Karen Sarahi Gonzales to cook some of my favorite recipes and so that’s probably the main thing I love about cooking- it’s so communal and so conversational and it just brings everyone together. This is going to be the first time that I see Wilmer since the whole pandemic and obviously Karen, so we are going to be cooking my famous Chile rubbed skirt steak tacos -they actually won best celebrity taco last year (laughs) and I was very proud of that, it’s controversial because I use a flour tortilla. [Plus] my favorite chunky guacamole and my chicken tacos with tomatillo sauce and, I’m really looking forward to not only cooking but having a conversation in person with people.

Oh definitely, definitely, avocado. avocado. avocado. Hands down. My last meal on earth would be an avocado.

You know I have a lot, I have A LOT- I can do a whole book about cooking hacks but I think the main thing is to invest in your pots and pans, like in your tools. You know the right spoons, and the right spatula and the rights pots and pans. They should last you a lifetime if you do it right and that makes a total difference in how you cook. And a smaller tip that I use for my guacamole is you should always use lemon not lime in guacamole. You should use lemon for guacamole and lime for salsas but you should never use lime for guacamole.

I just think they should, I think the earlier they experiment in the kitchen the less intimidating it is. Like my son, I don’t know if you watch my Instagram, but my son I let him crack the egg and get the shell and touch the yolk and I let him get into the lentils and get into the flour and he’ll throw the flour everywhere, like I want him to be very comfortable in the kitchen because so many people are like ‘oohh, hot, pans, oh my gosh this is all so crazy’ and it doesn’t have to be.

I would say, ‘hang in there.’ You know we are at the finish line with this lockdown and I think what I’ve learned this year is, I don’t want to go back to “normal,” I want to really take the lessons that I’ve learned this past year like slowing down and paying attention and focusing on what‘s important which is family and health and community. So I just feel like people should know that, I think people are in such a rush to go back to “normal” and I think we should stop and really appreciate what this last year has taught us and apply it moving forward. I also want to mention, I’m SUPER EXCITED— Maluma will be performing and Prince Royce will be performing and I’m so excited to see those two people perform because I feel like we haven’t had shows or events or anything so to see performances by Maluma, and Becky G and Myke Powers, and Sofia Reyes- and during my session Leslie Grace will be making a special performance and performing a new song.