Southern Living 2020 Cooks of the Year
Vianney Rodriguez’s earliest culinary memory is watching her mother and abuelita (grandmother) roll out empanada dough. “They had a perfect rhythm going,” she says. “It was their little magic, and I always wanted to be a part of that.”
Rodriguez says she is a Texan through and through—“thank God for brisket and queso,” she says, laughing—but she’s also a proud first-generation Mexican American. “I would go to school and speak English, but as soon as I walked in the door at home, we would speak only Spanish,” she says. “It gave me the best of both worlds.”
Through her blog, Sweet Life, and her cookbooks, Latin Twist and The Tex-Mex Slow Cooker, she embraces all facets of her identity and celebrates the resourcefulness and cultural fusion of Tex-Mex food.
For Rodriguez, it all goes back to her grandmother’s kitchen. “Now that I have kids, I want those memories with them. It’s about the moments that lead up to the recipe.”
Concha Tres Leches cake featured on Southern Living
Marigold Tamales Are for My Abuelita -featured on Food Network
Marigold Tamales featured on Food Network
Cover of December Issue of Texas Co-Op Power Magazine
Sweet Memory Feature in Texas Co-Op Magazine December Issue
Texas Food Blogger, Cookbook Author and Recipe Developer, Vianney Rodriguez, has appeared in The Huffington Post, BuzzFeed, iVillage, Yahoo Shine, Women’s Day, Cosmopolitan for Latinas, Cooking Light, NBC Latino, Design Sponge, The Los Angeles Times, Latina Magazine, Glamour, Fox News Latino, Mamiverse, The Latin Kitchen, Tastespotting, Foodgawker and Liquirious.
Recent Press
- Vianney Rodriguez shares family recipes, makes cultural connections with cooking blog, Caller Times
- 6 things to do at the annual Corpus Christi Hot Tamale Fest, Caller Times
- Don’t miss tomorrow’s CC Hot Tamale Festival, Caller Times, KiiiTV 3News
- The homemade pork tamales recipe you need in your life right now, Caller Times
- La Pop Up Posada (Interview with Vianney Rodriguez), KiiiTV 3News
- Celebrate Día de los Muertos with These Delicious Recipes, Southern Living
- How to Make Atole de Nuez with food blogger Vianney Rodriguez, Caller Times
- Latina Food Bloggers: The New Story Tellers, Huffington Post
Cookbooks
The Tex-Mex Slow Cooker
A collection of 100 classic and modern Tex-Mex recipes that you can easily make at home in your slow cooker.
Latin Twist
A collection of nearly 100 delicious Latin-inspired signature cocktails from 18 Latin American countries and Spain.
Brand Partnerships
Sweet Life is an award-winning food blog that has been featured locally and nationally by a variety of digital media outlets and print publications. Sweet Life has held ambassadorships for Avocados from Mexico, Maseca, Sabra Hummus, Wilton, Tabasco, HEB and Cooking Light.
To learn more about how you can work with Sweet Life, please visit this page.