Olive and herb focaccia

I do not understand people who don’t like olives – don’t get me wrong, I have my own food pet peeves (won’t eat liver for the life of me), but olives are so juicy, so meaty and tender... I find them completely irresistible. ;)

That is why, while setting up the ingredients for this delicious bread, I pulled 20 olives out of the jar. :D

Olive and herb focaccia
slightly adapted from The Weekend

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Pear gingerbread cakes

On the couch, trying to find something nice on TV the other day, the hubby asks: “have you watched ‘The Painted Veil’?” – “Yes, four times already. But I would not mind watching it again if you’re in the mood”. What can I say? When I like something, I really like it. That’s just me. ;)

Not only did I learn to love ginger, I also bought a whole book devoted to this ingredient. That’s just me. ;

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Lemon, lime and coconut bars and good/bad additions

I know, I know, I’ve made lemon lime bars before (and those were delicious, by the way). But there’s a special addition to these: coconut in the crust, which works beautifully combined with the lemon/lime filling.

While some additions are wonderful – in the case of these bars – some are disastrous: who would have thought that a simple mustache could do that much harm? ;)

Lemon, lime and

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Chocolate-orange truffles with almonds - flavor combos that never tire

Since you already know that I obsess over things from time to time it will come as no surprise to you that I’ve put chocolate and orange together in ganache form again – it worked so well as tart filling I thought it would be delicious as truffles, too (and the almonds add a wonderful texture element here – do not omit them).

That way, I know you won’t find it weird that I’ve already finished

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Summer blueberry tart and nice surprises

Isn’t it great to find good things unexpectedly? Surfing the net I accidentally discovered that Camera Obscura is the band responsible for a song I adore. Nice surprise. Like the one I had the other day while buying fruit at a supermarket near the office: fresh blueberries. They’re not easy to find near my house so I decided to buy a couple of punnets (despite their not-very-friendly price).

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Berry and almond cake

After making the devilish angel food cake several times and not having much time to play around with macarons, I decided to use my frozen egg whites in something new – and found this cake. It tastes delicious – people at work have been talking about it for two weeks now – looks beautiful right out of the oven and is packed with almonds (yum!) and berries (yum, yum!). The texture is very tender

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Onion soup – a classic dish for a chilly fall

Classics don’t become classics for nothing: there must be something special, different, unusual about them to be considered as such; I’m particularly fond of some: movies, music bands, wardrobe items, and for that reason I do not know why it took me so long to try a classic dish like this soup; it is delicious, rich and comforting, not to mention simple and easy to make – everything classic

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Rose water panna cotta with baked blueberry jam

Anyone who listens to my Ipod or my CDs will notice that most of the music I love is old – I’m not interested in the music enjoyed by most people nowadays (with a few exceptions). My favorite songs have been favorites for the last 20 years or so. Does that make me an old fart? You can be honest and tell me. ;)

To balance the situation, I’ve brought you today four “things” relatively new to me

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Ginger cookies with lemon icing and acquired tastes in life

Certain things we learn to love really early in life, while others are an acquired taste. I remember going crazy for Scorsese right after watching “Goodfellas” (the first of his movies I ever watched), but not until I was a young woman I fully appreciated the beauty of “The Godfather”. Go figure.

Not a ginger fan until my late twenties, I can eat a bag of crystallized ginger in no time

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Plum and frangipane tartlets and controlling anxiety

I have the terrible habit of watching movie trailers way before they premiere only to get anxious for months (depending on the movie it arrives here in Brazil months after their premiere in the U.S.). I know it’s self- inflicted pain, but I cannot help it. Luckily there are times when things can be done to ease the anxiety a little: I got so blown away by “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”

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Papaya-lime sorbet for a day of bad news

So I’ve read that my #2 all time favorite band has come to an end and Detective Stabler is leaving “Law & Order: SVU”, not to mention they’re adding Jennifer Love Hewitt to the cast (the show will be dead to me then) – all that on the same day. Poor me. :(

After such bad news one really needs something sweet to lighten up their day; even better if it’s a dessert with a minimum amount of guilt.

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Cashew blondies

“Videodrome” was on TV the other day and I was dying to watch it again – I saw it when I was a teenage girl – but I was so sleepy I could barely watch the first 5 minutes. One thing I did not recall about the movie was Debbie Harry as part of the cast, and that made me curious.

Speaking of Ms. Harry, I have blondies for you today. ;)



Cashew blondies
from here

½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted

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Strawberry Rhubarb Mini Pies

I'm back!

The littlest Humble was delivered--or extracted, depending on how you look at it since we had a c-section--last week. Both baby and myself are doing very well and I've been recovering at home.

Of course this means ample time at my laptop to blog, unfortunately I didn't count on the affect of sleepless nights coupled with hefty doses of prescription pain killers. When things are melting down the walls in your field of vision, you really start to second guess your ability to write anything. Yes, even at the semi-coherent level I tend to blather on this blog.

I'm far less drugged today so I'm going to give food blogging a shot. Our local farmers market has been flush with fresh rhubarb lately and apparently, even after all the lemon meringue madness, I'm not pie-d out.

So we've making pies! Again! Specifically, mini pies. Falling neatly into that smaller is always cuter approach to food.

Of course, if you're looking at the pies and thinking to yourself, nuh-uh way too fussy. No worries. No where will I demand you spend an hour forming mini pies in muffin cups. The strawberry rhubarb filling, spiked with orange zest and Grand Marnier is delicious even in the simpler, more rustic hand-pie form. So go ahead and shape/form them however you wish. Regardless of how they might look, they will taste great and be well worth making.

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Marmalade and almond tart and being persistent

Some people say I'm stubborn – myself included, sometimes – but this time I’ll choose the term “persistent”. :)

Remember those silly pastry strips from the other day? The ones that almost ruined my Saturday morning? Here they are, in this beautiful – and delicious – tart. Or did you think I was going to give up on this recipe just like that? ;)

This tart is for marmalade fans – and I am

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