Daisy Martinez is on a mission to bring Latin America to your kitchen.

The host of the Food Network's "Viva Daisy" says when the average American thinks of throwing a party with Latin flair, they plunk a bowl of nachos on the table and pull out the salsa. But in a new book that's one part cookbook, one part travel log, "Daisy: Morning, Noon and Night," Martinez is flavoring American entertaining with the real tastes of Latin America.

While prepping for a dinner party at her home in Brooklyn, Martinez told Holidash how to put a Latin flavor on your next party.

We were excited to hear at Holidash that there's a holiday story behind your new book. Can you tell us about it?

Santa Claus stopped visiting my home when my youngest daughter, Angela, turned 8. I sat the kids down, and I said to them, "Up until now, Dad and I have spent a ridiculous amount of money on stuff that in two weeks is under the bed, in the back of the closet or never to be seen again. We're going to stop doing that." Of course, I was met with eyes that just were full of pure mortification, like what does that even mean?

How did you talk them down?

What I said to them was, "From now on, Daddy and I are going to take you on a trip; from now on we're going to travel somewhere we've never been and spend that entire week as a family." The premise for the book was, we were traveling as a family, and I would take pictures of everything we ate, and takes notes on those pictures so that I could recreate those memories for my family when we came back home.

How did that translate to a book?

I would make the recipe and tweak it and tweak it and tweak it until I got it the way we remembered it. By serving the meal, the meal would inspire the family to talk about the memories, about the things that happened on the trip. It was just such a wonderful coming together, that kept those memories alive. I'm very fond of saying "my children can't tell you what they got for Christmas of 2003, but they can very definitely tell you what they were eating Christmas Day of 2006."

What about Latin food has really spoken to you?

This is my mission in life! My mission is to bring to the mainstream the extreme diversity within the Latin kitchen. Here in the United States, when the mainstream thinks of Latin food, it's not even real Latin food. It's really TexMex. Most people when they think of Latin food they think of spicy. I don't like to think of Latin food as spicy. I like to think of Latin food as sassy, because the food of Latin America isn't all spicy. We love heat in Puerto Rico, but Cuba and the Dominican Republic don't really care for hot food. In Mexico, the different regions, some food is very spicy where some food is very citrusy. The other thing I'd like to dispel is that adding black beans, chorizo or chipotle to a dish does not make it Latin! We eat the same stuff that everyone else eats, we just prepare it a little differently!

To move people away from that TexMex idea, what are some ideas for a great party with a Latin menu?

Guess what, I'm throwing a party tomorrow! And I'm working 'til 3:30, and I'm expecting 21 guests for 6. So here's what I did last week. Last week I made my tamales, and I froze them. Also, to buy me a little bit of time, I have in the book what I call a "no cook tapas table," so I'll put out a nice platter of roasted red peppers tomorrow, a nice bowl of grilled artichoke hearts that I picked up at my favorite deli. I have some beautiful manchego cheese and cabra al vino cheese that I'll put out, some beautiful slices of serrano ham and chorizo. I'll pick up a loaf of gorgeous crusty bread on the way home and a bowl of beautiful olives. And I haven't lit a fire yet, right?

I'm hungry already!

And, my guests are going to be welcomed by a beautiful table! I put a glass of something nice in their hand while I finish putting a couple of finishing touches on. This -- and this I did yesterday -- pavochon, which is turkey cooked in the style of Puerto Rican roast pork. I picked up three turkey breasts at the store yesterday. I dressed them. I rolled them up and tied them up, and they've been sitting in that marinade. Do you know what that turkey is going to taste like when I pull it out of the oven and slice it?

Heaven?

That's exactly what heaven tastes like! So far, let's see, I have my tamales made, my table is all done, my turkey is marinating. That leaves me with some asparagus I'm going to make, some poached asparagus with brown butter and pecans. And the last thing I need to do -- and that I'll do when I get home, at 5 before my guests arrive -- is make the rice with pigeon peas because that I like to serve right out of the pot. It's steamy and aromatic and delicious. Then for dessert, I put coconut panicotta as well as mango passion fruit panicotta in the fridge this morning to set up, so I don't have to worry about dessert for tomorrow. That's basically how I cook. I cook six days out of the week for my family, and when I know I'm having a party I double up the recipe and freeze. I'm a great believer in organization in the kitchen, and that just makes my life so much easier!

Why do you think food is such a great way to celebrate?

Food brings people together. It brings people together in times of joy, in times of celebration, and it brings people together in times of sadness. You know, bringing a casserole to someone's funeral and bringing a pot of soup to someone who is ill. Food is a way for people to connect. Nothing triggers a memory like a sense of smell. Food is just a common denominator.