To end 2012 and also to start 2013 in a delicious way, I give you these cookies: insanely easy to make and super tasty, they were a hit with the coworkers - every time I ran into someone walking down the corridors they would say "OMG, those pistachio cookies were amazing!", and I have to thank Martha for that. Her recipes are always fantastic, that is why I can't wait to get the new cookbook
Pistachio butter cookies and goodbye 2012
To end 2012 and also to start 2013 in a delicious way, I give you these cookies: insanely easy to make and super tasty, they were a hit with the coworkers - every time I ran into someone walking down the corridors they would say "OMG, those pistachio cookies were amazing!", and I have to thank Martha for that. Her recipes are always fantastic, that is why I can't wait to get the new cookbook
Dulce de leche apple pies
When it comes to fruit desserts I need no convincing: I'll choose them over chocolate ones any day. Therefore, I got really curious when I saw the recipe for these pies: apple and dulce de leche together? Would that work? I don't think apple pies need any embellishment, but the idea of adding ddl intrigued me too much and I had to try it - what can I say? Delicious Australia was right again,
Cheese and oregano sablés
Of all the baking I've been doing lately these savory sablés were a great surprise: they are delicious - especially still warm from the oven - and perfect to be served with drinks before dinner; I can assure you they're wonderful with cold beer, prosecco and champagne, and if you try them with something else I would love to know. :)
Cheese and oregano sablés
slightly adapted from the fabulous
Pfeffernüsse
This year's Christmas series has come to an end and for that I chose a delicious and very easy recipe, that comes from a book I adore. These cookies are wonderful, super tasty and quick to prepare, and I think they would make a great last minute Christmas gift.
I hope you've enjoyed the holiday recipes I've posted and I wish you all a Merry Christmas!
Pfeffernüsse
from the amazing beyond
Cinnamon and cherry biscotti
The Christmas biscotti I made last year were so delicious I decided that this year I needed Christmas biscotti again, but to change things up a bit I used one of Donna Hay's wonderful recipes, mixing cinnamon and dried cherries. You might think that when it comes to biscotti I'm biased (and you're right), so I'll let two very talented ladies convince you that biscotti is a delicious treat - and
Nougat flavored financiers
I might have been oh, so brave facing the heat and making pastry anyway but that, folks, was pretty much it: when it came to making nougat I gave up. :S However, that doesn’t mean I can’t have a nougat flavored baked good, right? When I looked at the egg whites left from making the eggnog frosting I instantly thought of financiers, and the candied orange zest left from the panforte inspired me
Gingerbread marshmallows
I’ve been baking lots of cookies lately – these books have been at my kitchen counter all the time – but I wanted something else for the people at work, something that to them would sound unusual. Marshmallows were the perfect choice: upon delivering some of the small plastic bags filled with the candy some of my coworkers were really intrigued by the idea of homemade marshmallows, and “did you
Mulled wine jelly and a giveaway
Christmas is coming and I have a gift for you, my dear readers: Zinio has given me 5 free magazine subscriptions to share with you! If you’re not familiar with Zinio, take a look at their website and you’ll see that there are hundreds of wonderful digital magazines for you to choose, including my favorites Donna Hay and Delicious Australia.
To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment on this
Gingerbread linzer tartlets
So I decided to grab the hot weather by the horns and make Christmas tartlets anyway, but with my dried fruit stash reduced to a sad handful I dropped the fruit mince tarts idea and went for something else: the beautiful gingerbread linzertorte I’d seen on Martha’s website, which was the perfect choice since I had a couple of jars of jam in my pantry. The good thing is: I made the recipe into
Fruit mince muffins with eggnog icing
Eggnog is not part of Brazilian Christmas celebrations but everything I’ve made so far flavored as the drink turned out delicious, the sablé rounds and Flo Braker’s cake being my favorites –therefore, I bookmarked Rachel Allen’s muffins the minute I saw them on the book. This fantastic recipe is a keeper, not only because the delicious muffins match eggnog and fruit mince, flavors I love, but
Alsatian Christmas cookies
One of my favorite expressions in the English language is “a hidden gem” – I find if perfect to describe certain things. To me, “Killing Them Softly”, an excellent movie no one I know has watched, is a hidden gem, with its great script, powerful performances – especially Ben Mendelsohn’s, whom I’d already loved in the fantastic “Animal Kingdom” – and equally powerful directing. Another hidden
Pain d’épice
Being in a Christmas food mind set, I knew I had to make a gingerbread cake, not only because it's traditional but also because it's delicious. However, I remembered that once, a long time ago, my friend Ana told me that Suzanne Goin's pain d'épice was super tasty, and boy, was she right: this turned out so good I had three slices at once, and I'm not even ashamed to say it. :D
Pain d’épice
White chocolate, honey and almond panforte
Back in my college days, I had a classmate that was ten years older than me (I was 16 then) and we used to disagree about music preferences: she loved Brazilian music while I preferred American and British rock bands. She used to tell me that when I got older I would begin enjoying the kind of music she did back then. Well, eighteen years have passed and nothing has changed: I still don’t
Lebkuchen
These delicious and beautiful cookies should have been included in last year’s holiday series – at least that was my idea – but here they are, a year later.
My birthday is in November and Martha’s book was a gift from a very dear friend – after receiving it I immediately started looking for cookies with a Christmassy feel and the lebkuchen seemed perfect. However, I somehow kept forgetting to
Fruit mince brownies
The fruit mince tarts I made a couple of years ago were delicious and such a hit with the family that I intend to make them again this year; however, rolling out pastry is not the best idea for the oh, so hot days we’ve been having here lately – I know how much I suffered to make the snowy tree cookies, having to refrigerate the dough countless times. While I wait for a bit cooler days –
Snowy trees
I find decorated cookies very beautiful, but I confess I don’t have the skills or the patience to make them: I can’t pipe to save my own life and because of that I believe that it would take me hours to finish making one single cookie. :S That is why I loved this recipe found in one of my old issues of DH magazine: the cookies look adorable, taste great and one doesn’t have to be very dexterous
Gingerbread chocolate chip muffins - it's Christmas time around here!
Spices are ingredients I love – to the point of buying a cookbook devoted to them – and I use them throughout the year, but this time of the year is when I reach for them the most: lots of ginger, cinnamon and cloves to set the mood for Christmas. My holiday series starts now, with super tender muffins perfumed with ginger, both fresh and ground – and to make everything even more delicious,
Amaretto butter cakes + "Argo"
Years ago I watched a good movie called “Gone Baby Gone” which to my surprise had been directed by Mr. Ben Affleck; he’d never been one of my favorite actors, but since I’d been pleased with his directorial debut and had also liked his performance in “Hollywoodland” I thought that watching “The Town” was mandatory – and what a great film that turned out to be, with an insanely good performance
Chocolate peanut butter biscotti
The biscotti-craze doesn't seem to be going anywhere, therefore it was not so difficult for me to choose which recipe to make first from the oh, so beautiful "Tea With Bea": the cheesecakes looked amazing and I felt tempted to start with one of them, but since I did not have any cream cheese in the fridge I went for the chocolate pb biscotti. I have to honest with you: the dough needed some
Lemon and almond buns + Dragonette
I have many favorite TV shows and one of them is “Chuck’s Day Off” – not only because the food looks delicious but also because to me it has the best soundtrack among the cooking shows. After watching several episodes, I noticed that one album cover kept appearing at the end of the show, and after listening to some of the tracks I completely fell in love with Dragonette’s “Fixin To Thrill”. My
Apple, berry, almond and chocolate crumble
Since almonds, berries and apple worked so beautifully in tart form, I could not wait to try this crumble: all those flavors combined without the need of making pastry – not that I don’t like making pastry, I actually enjoying it very much, but when the need for something sweet is urgent there’s no time for chilling pastry. :D
I was also very intrigued by the addition of chocolate to the
Lemon-frosted pistachio cake
Hollywood is dominated by men, or better, by white men, so I am always glad to watch women deliver great work. Not many directors are women - some of them are really, really talented and responsible for masterpieces, like Jane Campion and Susanne Bier. Now Vera Farmiga, an actress I'm very fond of, has stepped into directing shoes and brings the beautiful and so sensitive "Higher Ground" - a
Orange cardamom madeleines with Cointreau glaze
These madeleines were a sort of a baking accident: I grabbed Martha's gorgeous book to pick a Christmas cookie (to start off this year's Christmas series) but when I started flipping through it the first recipe I saw was the one for these madeleines: they looked so beautiful! I had all the ingredients at home so to the kitchen I went to make the madeleines, and since the batter needed some time
Double chocolate cookies (made with sweetened condensed milk)
After a time consuming cake I thought you deserved an easy recipe, and these cookies are very, very easy; I have made tons of chocolate chip cookies so far but what made me curious about these was the sweetened condensed milk based dough - I'll just warn you that it is going to be very difficult not to eat the dough right out of the fridge by spoonful. :D
Double chocolate cookies (made with
Maple pecan chiffon cake with brown butter icing
Much the same way I bought Alissa Huntsman's latest cookbook because of her beautiful previous one, I could not wait to get my hands on Julie Richardson's new cookbook since I adore her "Rustic Fruit Desserts" so much - a book full of cake recipes? You know I like that a lot. :D
I first thought of making an angel food cake - because of the insane amount of egg whites in my freezer - but when I
Roast tomato and goats cheese frittata
Another great idea for a quick and easy dinner or lunch, this frittata recipe can work as a blank canvas: I went for roast tomatoes, which I love, and goats cheese, which I also love and had to use up before it went bad, but you can use other types of cheese, vegetables and herbs (zucchini, feta and mint come to my mind right now, yum!). And as Jamie's tart, the frittata tastes great either hot
Santa Lucia sour cherry and saffron buns
Usually it takes me some time to consider a cookbook a top favorite – I love beautiful books and they certainly get my instant attention, but I like to try some of the recipes first to be sure they actually work. However, Signe Johansen’s Scandilicious Baking is so pretty and everything in it sounds so delicious I came to the conclusion that it was the best cookbook I purchased in the last 11
St. Clement’s drizzle cake
Not everything in life turns out the way we expect it be and to me understanding that is part of growing up – learning to deal with deception and disappointment may not be a pleasant thing to do but it is certainly necessary. And exactly because of that I find it wonderful when something I expected to be great actually is, even little things like a good movie or a good book. My hopes were high
Almond and rosewater shortbread
I might love baking cookies but I usually shy away from rolled out kind – yes, I’m lazy and yes, I’ve turned several rolled out cookie recipes into slice and bake cookies out of sheer laziness. Not a very nice thing to admit, I know, but true. So months ago, on a cool day – which because of the temperatures we’ve been having here lately seems even more distant – I decided to make roll out
Molasses and caraway apple muffins
New ingredients always intrigue me: I love trying new flavors in my kitchen. I got even more interested in baking with different flours after making Alice Medrich's fabulous chestnut pound cake and also after purchasing Kim Boyce's fantastic cookbook; Kim's carrot muffins turned out delicious, so when I saw a new recipe for muffins made with a bit of spelt flour I had to try them - these are
White chocolate cake with passion fruit icing
I know, I know, white chocolate and passion fruit combined again – since I had passion fruits galore in my fridge and the flavor combo had worked so beautifully in cheesecake form, I thought that using it again as a cake would be a great idea – and indeed it was; but don’t worry: if you’re not into sour flavors as I am, just glaze the cake with a simple dark chocolate ganache – that is what
Double limoncello poppy seed cookies + homemade limoncello
Trying to solve the boozy cookbook problem I thought that it would be nice having a bottle of limoncello at home – it seemed to be the perfect alcoholic acquisition for a person like me. Unfortunately that idea was discarded the minute I saw how much a bottle of limoncello cost. :S
Luckily for me, there was a recipe for homemade limoncello in Francine Segan’s beautiful book and it was super
Coconut and raspberry cakes
I love baking with coconut - it's an ingredient I always have in my pantry. I had other plans for the coconut used in these adorable little cakes, but when I saw them on the magazine I could not resist. The cakes tasted great and were super tender, and it was also an opportunity to use the mini Bundt pans I hadn't used in ages; while unmolding the cakes I remembered why: it is always so
Marzipan brownies
I might be someone who loves sweets (and this blog is proof of that), but even I know there’s a certain limit to be considered: to avoid the risk of eating the marzipan left from the berry muffins I set up to find other delicious recipes to use the marzipan in, and after reading something about a chocolate marzipan cake somewhere – I am getting old and I don’t remember where, sorry – I thought
Provolone and lemon pasta
I don’t know if the same happens to you, but sometimes I keep certain recipes in my head for a long time – it’s completely unintentional and there are times it takes me forever to actually make the recipe. I first saw this provolone and lemon pasta recipe several months ago (I believe it was last year) and thought it would be very tasty: a pasta sauce made of cheese and lemon? Perfect. Fast
Oreo and peanut butter pie
After several posts with fruit-based sweets I now bring you something extremely sinful: crushed Oreo cookies, topped with peanut butter and chocolate. I know, I know, this is not what we would call a light dessert, but certain moments call for decadent, over-the-top sweets – and on all the other days you can have an apple after lunch. ;)
Oreo and peanut butter pie
slightly adapted from the
Tangerine butter cake
Looking for a simple cake recipe, I found this golden and delicious cake - it is the perfect companion for a cup of tea; it was a great way to use up the sweetened condensed milk left from the cheesecake making, as well a a wonderful way to put to good use some tangerines I'd had in the fridge for more than one week.
Tangerine butter cake
slightly adapted from Dan Lepard's column at the
White chocolate cheesecake with passion fruit sauce
The sour² cake I published the other day was just the beginning of a passion fruit frenzy: not only because I love the fruit but also because I got hypnotized by its amazing smell and brought home too many at once. :D
I’m always inclined to mix white chocolate with citrus flavors because the acidity seems to cut through the sweetness like no other flavors do – that is why I could not resist
Apple berry almond tart, baking failures and "Munich"
I’ve trashed Steven Spielberg once or twice already (despite loving “Jaws” and the Indiana Jones trilogy), but last week I saw an excellent movie directed by him: “Munich”. It’s a very long movie (almost 3 hours long), but it keeps you hooked every step of the way – it’s like those books you feel like taking to the shower with you because you can’t put them down. The cast is packed with
Lemon cake with passion fruit syrup
I've admitted that this blog has had its share of lemon tarts and bars, so I won't even mention the massive amount of lemon cakes, right? :D
Lemon cakes are my favorite cakes, and I pretty much always have lemons around, therefore it's an easy choice for me. This time, however, I've more than satisfied my constant cravings for sour flavors by topping a lemon cake with a passion fruit syrup:
Spiced chestnut financiers
Financiers are one of my favorite things to bake: they are so cute and petite, I love anything almond and always have more than enough egg whites in the freezer. So while baking with my chestnut flour I immediately thought of a financier version made with it, which turned out interesting with a hint of cinnamon; however, unlike the financiers made with almond meal, the flavor in these did not
Lemon & honey Anzac tart
Lemon tarts – or lemon bars, for that matter – are not something exactly new on this blog, but since they’re among the most delicious desserts out there I never tire of baking them. When I saw the Australian Delicious lemon tart version with a crust made of Anzac cookies I had to bake it and I’m glad I did: the tart is wonderful and not difficult to make. I believe that store-bought ANZAC
Baked apple and maple doughnuts
One of the many things I loved about NY was the food: I ate wonderful things in several places, and brought home some great ingredients, too; I had many, many addresses on my list and unfortunately couldn’t go to all of them, and one of those places was the Doughnut Plant – my plan was to try their crème brûlée doughnut, but that will have to be done on my next trip to NY.
While that doesn’t
Chocolate stout cake with peanut butter frosting
I've been trying to keep up with the inventory idea for the last year and it's worked out fine so far: the ingredients no longer end up in the garbage and that is great. From time to time I check the contents of my pantry/freezer/fridge to make sure nothing goes to waste and a couple of days ago I found a can of Guinness beer in the cupboard; while searching for something delicious to make with
Marzipan and berry muffins with amazingly good homemade marzipan
Certain things to me are revelations, and Paul Hollywood’s fabulous homemade marzipan was one: when I was little every time my German grandmother came to visit she would bring small boxes of marzipan – she loved the stuff. Soon I began loving marzipan, too, and that was pretty much the only good thing about grandma’s visits (let’s just say she wasn’t a pleasant person to be around).
Grandma
Almond joy tartlets
A couple of months ago my friend Ana Elisa and I were talking about the new Baked cookbook that was about to be released (it’s out now). We were talking about purchasing the book or not, since both of us have the other two Baked cookbooks but neither of us have baked much from them. Culinary coincidences, I guess. Then Ana decided to put those cookbooks into some good use and kept telling me
Toffee-glazed white chocolate mud cakes
My vacation is over and tomorrow morning I'm back at work; I still have things to organize at home, therefore a quick post with an equally quick recipe (despite the steps), so delicious that will certainly put a smile on my face, even now that I no longer remember what it feels like waking up early. :D
Toffee-glazed white chocolate mud cakes
from the always delicious and oh, so beautiful Donna
Apple kuchen
The idea was to make Nigella’s apple and blackberry kuchen, but my stash of frozen blackberries was long gone (and to be honest I don’t even remember what I used the berries for). Therefore I made an apple and only apple kuchen, with a sprinkling of slivered almonds, which turned out delicious, moist and tender, adjectives very commonly associated to Ms. Lawson’s recipes; I hope the mail is
Yogurt cake with marmalade glaze and a solved dilemma
The whole vacation song dilemma got solved after all: in the end, throughout my entire trip, Phoenix’s “1901” got stuck in my head in such a deep way that it ended up putting the other two songs aside up to this moment. Go figure. :D
Dorie’s delicious yogurt cake with marmalade glaze got stuck in my head for ages, but the “Tuesdays with Dorie” event made me completely ignore the cookbook for
Pasta alla Norma and back from vacation
After 11 wonderful days spent in the unforgettable New York I’m back home – very tired and immensely happy. The best trip of my life to a place I intend to go back to many, many times. My heart is full of joy but my feet still hurt from all the walking, so a quick meal is mandatory: this pasta dish is easy to make and tastes great, despite its simplicity – a weeknight favorite.
Pasta alla
Melt and mix lemon bars + songs linked to my vacations
It was not like I planned it, but the past two vacation periods I had were marked by a song each: 2010's vacation was all about Temper Trap's "Sweet Disposition" while the days off I had in 2011 come to mind every time I listen to Feldberg's "Dreamin". This year's vacation period, though, is linked to two different songs, and I can't choose my favorite. :D
Days off request my favorite flavor,
Pistachio polenta pound cake
People usually ask me for advice in baking and cooking and one thing I always tell them is to read the entire recipe before actually making it: it is important to know all the details prior to preparation. That is something I learned the hard way: I can’t tell you how many times I’d already be making something, looking forward to eating it only to read “refrigerate overnight” in the middle of
Chestnut brownies
Remember my chestnut-flour-baking-frenzy? After removing the cake from the oven and placing it on a wire rack to cool, I immediately started making these brownies: the recipe called for chopped roasted chestnuts to be incorporated in the batter, but I decided to bake the brownies without them anyway. The result was a cakey brownie, very moist and delicious; I gladly gobbled up two pieces of it
Apple, pecan and gingerbread loaf + "Top Chef"
There are shows and series I adore but never have the time to watch; “Top Chef” is one of them – I watched the first season back in the day but then never got to watch the following seasons, therefore it’s been wonderful to watch the reruns at Sony for the past months.
* spoilers – seasons 1 through 7 *
Apart from Howard, which I thought truly deserved winning “Top Chef”, I did not like all
Orange and oat muffins
I am crazy for strawberries and my husband knows that very well: last Friday he brought home two baskets full of perfumed and delicious strawberries – it was a sweet surprise. My plans were to eat half the berries with just a sprinkling of sugar and to bake with the other half, so I set out to make the lovely strawberry cupcakes I’d seen in one of my recent purchases; I guess I was out of my
Peanut butter and Port thumbprints
A long time ago I bought an adorable cookbook filled with recipes spiked with alcohol; but me being me, when it came to using the book I realized I did not have all those kinds of booze around the house – I don’t even have any tequila at home! – and therefore the cookbook patiently awaited on the shelf, up until the day it suddenly hit me: I had a bottle of Port begging to be used! That is how
Gingerbread, pear and almond tart
I got hypnotized by this tart when I first saw it on the DH mag – it looked so beautiful and delicious! My first thought was to make it at the end of the year and post the recipe as part of my Christmas series, but then I remembered that pears are at their peak now, and I had a small amount of marmalade in the fridge (left from a cake I’d made a couple of weeks before) that ended up being the
Banana cake with rum glaze
“Artificial Intelligence: A.I.” was on cable last night and I after watching half an hour of the movie my opinion about it did not change after all these years: it is not Kubrick. I know that Kubrick worked on the project for many, many years and reading the movie trivia again I remembered that several details were chosen/decided by him, but I think it was just not enough; I find Spielberg to
Glazed lemon biscotti
I know what you’ll think: since becoming a biscotti-fanatic it was just a matter of time before I baked lemon biscotti, right? So, here you have it, and to make up for all this time it is a double lemon biscotti: the biscotti are heavily perfumed with lemon zest and the glaze is deliciously tangy from the juice – as Brilynn would say, “go big or go home”. :D
Glazed lemon biscotti
slightly
Chestnut spice cake
I like my things organized but I'm not too strict about it: I try to keep things in place on a daily basis and from time to time I have "organization-craze" moments; having one of those with my fridge the other day I realized that the expiration date of my chesnut flour was a few months away only; since I don't want to waste such precious ingredient, I went into a chestnut-flour-baking-frenzy,
Cheese and onion scrolls and changing my mind after the first bite
The minute I pulled these rolls out of the oven I decided not to publish the recipe on the blog – they did not look cute like the ones on the magazine, and being the perfectionism-freak that I am I got really disappointed at how they’d turned out. But the smell in my kitchen was so wonderful that I felt the urge to try one scroll, and that was when I completely changed my mind: it tasted so
Red currant financiers + The Smiths
As you know I wasn’t familiar with most of the cast of the wonderful “Animal Kingdom”, so as soon as the movie ended I went to IMDb for some information and that was how I found out that one of James Frecheville’s next projects is a movie about the demise of my #1 band – I found the synopsis really interesting and the title chosen for the movie absolutely perfect (it is one of my most favorite
Orange cream bars - a layered treat with some layered music on the side
I love layers. Layered cakes, layered performances, layered music... That is one of the reasons why I love most of Silverchair’s songs so much, especially the ones in "Diorama": they have so many different layers, so many different details that one can really feel that there was real effort put into those melodies – as their audience, I feel spoiled and lucky being treated that way. One of my
Rangpur lime and almond muffins and a grumpy baker
I must be honest: these muffins did not get the best of me while I was making them – little old grumpy me kept thinking “muffins are supposed to be practical and quick to make!”, and “with these many steps I could be making a cake!”. Yes, I know, not very civilized of me, but it IS a fussy recipe and there ARE too many steps and too many ingredients. But in the end the result was so good I had
Cream cheese apple cake - the most tender cake I've ever seen + another great movie
My good movie wave continues and apparently it is in full bloom: I watched the fantastic "Animal Kingdom" a few days ago and I’m still stunned by it.
I first read about “Animal Kingdom” at my source for all things cinema, and could not wait to watch it - as it usually happens to many great films, it took the movie forever to arrive here and it went straight to DVD. But it was worth the wait: a
Lemon brioche rose cake
One of my ideas for the weekend was to bake bread, and I after the huge hit I’d had with his passion fruit cake I wanted to make Dan Lepard’s sticky toffee apple buns; unfortunately, all the apples in my fridge disappeared quite mysteriously, and I had no fruit left to bake with, except for a bag of lemons.
You know what they sat, when life gives you lemons make delicious and super tender
Orange-blossom madeleines and the end of another trilogy
After two months of ups and downs, I have finally finished reading "Mockingjay", and I want to thank the readers Gertrude and Debora for their comments, for they were the reason I did not give up on the book; after what seemed to be ages – but was actually a handful of pages – the story got super interesting again, like it was in the two previous books: I could not put the book down and
Passion fruit cake with coconut streusel
It was my dear friend Valentina who introduced me to Dan Lepard’s wonderful recipes years ago – I saw a beautiful cake on her blog and the recipe was Dan’s. However – and I do not know why – it took me ages to start baking some of his great recipes, and now that I have started I have no intention to stop. His latest (and fantastic) cookbook is one of my top favorites and each and every recipe
Blueberry almond tart + Michael Shannon
I will always remember the 2012 Academy Awards as the year in which the people who should have won the statues weren’t even nominated: as happened to Tilda and Lynne Ramsay, Michael Shannon had, to me, the most striking performance as an actor last year but was forgotten by the Academy. I’ll also keep in mind that the people responsible for the nominations chose Jessica Chastain as a contestant
Cheesecake swirled chocolate cake
I have something to write about Christopher Nolan, but that involves some "TDKR" spoilers - if you haven't seen the movie yet, scroll down for the recipe.
* spoilers *
Many of the people I have talked with about "TDKR" think that Nolan should return for another Batman movie, especially because of the way "TDKR" ended, but I disagree ; As much as I love the three films he superbly directed -
Banana streusel muffins + "Skyfall"
I must admit that I’m not a fan of the 007 movies – it’s not my thing. I tried watching several of them, many, many times, but 20 minutes into it and I was either changing the channel or had fallen asleep. :S
The first Bond movie I watched from beginning to end was “Die Another Day”, and well... let’s just say that by the end of it I wished I’d spent those hours baking a cake or something. :)
Red peppers stuffed with quinoa, Fontina and goats cheese + "Moon"
I have been on a good movie wave lately – in about one week I watched five good movies (including “The Dark Knight Rises”), four of them really great ones. One of those movies was “Moon” – after watching “Source Code” last year I got interested in Duncan Jones’ work as a director, and it seems that the man has inherited his old man’s creative genes. :)
* spoilers *
Sam Rockwell was another
Spiced apple turnovers + the end of a brilliant trilogy
After months and months of sheer anxiety – Christopher Nolan did to me what Fincher had done in 2010 and 2011 – the moment I’d waited for had finally arrived : the day I saw the end of a brilliant trilogy.
*spoilers*
I won’t use the word “perfect” to describe “The Dark Knight Rises” – I’ll save the adjective for “The Dark Knight”, which in my opinion is a better movie – but I will say that
Vanilla cupcakes with blackcurrant preserves icing
Looking for a recipe to use up the jam left in the jar after making this cake, I found an old magazine scrap with a recipe for apple cupcakes with blackcurrant icing; I thought it sounded delicious but did not have any apples around (I’d devoured them in crumble form a couple of hours before, mea culpa). Then I thought that a neutral flavor, like vanilla, would be a good substitute for the
Ginger and molasses cake + Christian Bale (again)
I know that by telling you again how much I adore Christian Bale I might sound like a broken record, but what can I do? Not only is he an amazing and versatile actor – one of my top favorites – he’s also been making headlines these past few days for all the right reasons – how can one not love the guy? :)
“The Dark Knight Rises” opens tomorrow here in Brazil and my tickets were bought a long,
Apple and buttermilk fritters - a delicious excuse to fry
It’s no secret how much I love Gourmet Traveller – I have made tons of recipes from the magazine and they turned out delicious. I always have several recipes from the magazine on my radar (me and my never ending list) and now, because of the fall, I’ve been targeting the ones with apples and pears, and I intend to make the doughnuts filled with quince jelly as soon as I get my hands on some
Chocolate peanut butter cheesecake bars + "Man of Steel"
I've just had a delightful surprise during my daily visit to "Awards Daily": the lovely Sasha Stone posted not one, but two versions of the "Man of Steel" teaser, one voiced over by Kevin Costner (Jonathan Kent) and the other by the always amazing Russel Crowe, who will be playing Jor-El - if that isn't reason enough to anxiously wait for that movie I do not know what is. :)
The beautiful
Lemon angel food cake with lemon glaze and pistachios
This recipe should come with a warning: besides being delicious - no surprise here since we're talking about a lemon cake - its texture is so light, so feathery, that without noticing you'll be going back to the kitchen for seconds, thirds... (yes, I am writing from experience). :)
If you don't have pistachios on hand I am sure that almonds would work wonderfully here, too.
Lemon angel food
Spinach casserole with orecchiette and cheeses
Talking to a coworker who has lost several pounds, I found out that the on the diet she’s been on gluten and dairy are forbidden. I must say that as much as I would love to lose a couple of pounds, I would never be able to follow that kind of diet: I cannot survive without bread and cheese; I know there are ways of replacing wheat flour for other kinds of flour – the spelt muffins I made a
Chocolate chip brownie double-deckers
Being someone who always has trouble choosing what to prepare, these double deckers were the perfect solution to my baking conundrum: two different layers, two delicious baked goods in one. To make things even better, the recipe is easy to put together and yields a lot, being great for sharing – they disappeared from the office quite fast the other day... :)
The recipe comes from a cookbook I
Lemon and cardamom cake + "50/50"
I am always interested in great performances, especially when they’re delivered by actors and actresses I adore; that is the reason why I wanted to watch "50/50": Joseph Gordon-Levitt is absolutely amazing in this movie and Seth Rogen surprised the hell out of me too, I have to admit it.
*spoilers*
Cancer is not a subject I deal very well with and even though the movie made me cry in several
Salted chocolate caramel tartlets
Talk about perfect timing: the fall issue of my favorite food magazine arrived one day after I’d opened a jar of dulce de leche just to eat a spoonful of it (just ONE, guys, I swear). :)
Since I could not eat the remaining contents of that jar – wanted to, but couldn’t – I’d already started thinking of something to make with it; that was when, flipping through the beautiful pages of the
Blackcurrant-sour cream coffee cake
I have just watched "The Amazing Spider-Man" and even though I think that the "amazing" of that title is a bit too presumptuous I liked the movie: it's a really good cast, far better than the first Spider-Man movie directed by Sam Raimi. But Raimi had Willem Dafoe as the villain, and Willem Dafoe as the villain is just perfection; actually, Dafoe as anything is perfection. :)
In a perfect world
Easy double choc brownies make happy coworkers
My idea was to bring brownies to work but had so much to do I was running out of time to actually bake them – that was when I turned to the cookbook for all things sweet, which I have baked very delicious things from. When I’m pressed for time and can’t go to Eat Your Books or flip through my cookbooks I go straight to Bon Appétit Desserts and up until now I have been extremely happy with that.
Orange cardamom pound cake with candied orange peel + a question
I made this cake months ago but waited until now to publish it to avoid bothering you with my too-much-candied-orange-peel drama. The recipe was a simple orange cake – which is something I love – spiced with a bit of cardamom – which is something I’ve learned to love – and I just added the bits of candied peel because I no longer wanted to look at them every time I opened my fridge. So it is
Apple and cinnamon tarte fines
I’m not a very huge fan of animated movies but I do have a few favorites: “Finding Nemo”, “Mulan”, “Spirited Away” and “Kung Fu Panda” – the hubby loves the latter, too, and last night we watched "Kung Fu Panda 2" together. I have to say that choosing Jack Black and Dustin Hoffman as the voices of Po and Shifu was a really bright idea – they’re perfect for the roles. And my favorite actor is so
White chocolate butterscotch cookies
I read the wonderful "Awards Daily" everyday and yesterday I saw the trailer for "The Sessions": you know that I adore John Hawkes and he's kicking some serious ass in that movie; before watching the trailer I thought the movie would go heavy on the drama but there's a comedy feel to it that I absolutely loved - William H. Macy looks great as the priest. There, another movie I cannot wait to
Gingered pear and raspberry pandowdy
Despite loving their first film collaboration, I’m not a fan of Burton or Depp (both together and separate). Burton’s just not the kind of director I admire, and I find Depp very limited as an actor – playing the weird doesn’t necessarily mean one is talented. To make things even worse, they butchered one of the most important movies of my childhood. Having said that, you must know that I loved
Almond cake (Tarta de Santiago) + DDL
A long time ago I watched “Magnolia” – because lots of people had told me it was my kind of movie – and got really disappointed; despite the bunch of awards and great cast – including my beloved Julianne Moore – I did not think the movie was all that. A while later, I decided to give Paul Thomas Anderson another chance and watched “Boogie Nights”, which to me was a far superior movie (despite
Orange nutmeg cookies
I’ve been using the Internet for ages now – 5 ½ years of blogging alone – but it still amazes me how much good, useful information I have at the tip of my fingers. And how wonderful it is to find people who share my opinions about several things, after spending years loving/hating those things alone. Therefore, it was sheer joy to find this video to find out there is someone out there who has
Peanut butter-yogurt Bundt cake with ganache glaze + my good mood anthem
I no longer complain about chaotic traffic here in Sao Paulo – I have accepted the fact that it is part of my city and that I have to face it on weekdays. Period. There’s no point in bitching about it – it is what it is. The key to survive it is to try and make those hours a little more pleasurable, and music is a very helpful tool. There is one song I absolutely love and that, for over 10
Raspberry-swirl sweet rolls + a performance I love
I love Michael Mann – he’s one of my favorite directors; so when I saw that “The Insider” would be on cable a couple of weeks ago I knew I was going to watch it again. At the end my husband, who had never watched that movie before, told me: “wow, that is an excellent movie!”, and I instantly knew he’d really loved it, like I do.
Russell Crowe is really easy to love, I’m aware of that, but to me
Nibby chocolate marble biscotti + my thoughts on a certain actor
While watching “The Other Boleyn Girl” – again – a couple of days ago I felt absolutely sure about a “theory” I developed a month or so ago: to me, Eric Bana should be the one getting all the good parts that end up in Brad Pitt’s hands. Not only is the man insanely handsome and charming, he can act. He can really act. And he’s versatile. I started thinking of how wonderfully he would have
Spaghetti with gorgonzola + a video worth watching
I have brought you today an insanely quick pasta dish, that tastes great; I actually made it months ago just to use up some gorgonzola I had left from making this gorgeous salad and the recipe turned out to be a keeper - I did not expect less from the wonderful Stephanie Alexander.
And to make this post a little more interesting I will share a link to one of the most beautiful videos I have
Amaretto-glazed chocolate cake
I love music and cannot live without it; months ago a friend of mine told me I should get Shazam on my phone – what a wonderful idea that was! Every time there was a new song I liked on the radio I’d go crazy trying to type of write down some of the lyrics to google it afterwards, but most of the time that did not work well because usually there is not enough time to do all that when you’re
Beetroot risotto with goat's cheese - to celebrate Valentine's Day
Unlike most places in the world, Valentine’s Day is celebrated here in Brazil today, June 12th. And to celebrate it I bring you a delicious and nutritious risotto – my mom used to tell me all the time that “beets are good for you!” – easy to put together and very, very red: the color of passion. ;)
I know that goat’s cheese might sound a bit luxurious here and that not everyone likes it, but
Super tender coconut cake with coconut icing
Since you already know I'm addicted to Suzanne Collins' books you won't be surprised to know that it took me four days to read "Catching Fire" and that I've already started reading "Mockinjay", right? :)
Now I cannot wait to watch the movie, even though knowing that Francis Lawrence is going to direct it doesn't actually thrill me.
"Mockinjay" makes me feel a bit like "The Girl Who Kicked the
Milk chocolate stracciatella ice cream
The day is cold, gray, cloudy, the rain comes and goes, and I plan to spend the afternoon under the blankets, with a bowl of popcorn and a good movie. Too bad this delicious ice cream is long gone - it was so amazing I would certainly have a bowl of it even on this chilly day. :)
Milk chocolate stracciatella ice cream
from the always amazing The Perfect Scoop
225g (8oz) milk chocolate, finely
Olive oil bread + "The Hunger Games"
I asked for your thoughts on “The Hunger Games” trilogy a couple of months ago and today I want to tell you that I’m hooked on the books! By some of my readers’ suggestion I started with “The Hunger Games” even though I’d watched the movie and I really liked the book – my love for the movie got even bigger. Last night I started reading “Catching Fire” and the only reason I’ve put the book aside
Fresh lemon pound cake
Babies are cute and adorable but they’re also a handful – their moms usually do not have time for anything else but them. A very good friend of mine is the mother of a beautiful baby boy and when she invited me to first visit her son I knew I could not go empty handed: besides a present for the baby I brought a freshly baked cake for her, too (which she told me later made a wonderful breakfast)
Carrot muffins (with spelt flour)
One of my favorite cookbooks is Kim Boyce’s wonderful “Good to the Grain” – I have baked delicious things from it (her rhubarb tartlets are unforgettable and so are the whole wheat chocolate chip cookies), but unfortunately I cannot find certain types of flour here in Brazil.
A dear friend of mine spent glorious days in Italy and brought me a bag of spelt flour; these tender muffins were my
Chickpea and artichoke paella - and Pinterest, again
Thank you for all your comments about the Pinterest issue!
Jeanette left me a comment with this link and after following Tresa’s instructions I believe the problem is now solved – would you please tell me if the pinning is working?
I like seafood but can’t eat if very often (let’s say my body and seafood don’t see eye to eye) therefore I had never made a paella in my entire life; the minute I
Lemon crumble tart - and Pinterest
I’d like to start this post by telling you that I adore Pinterest: it’s a great way to keep track of interesting things and I usually find my morning humor dose there. Some of you have written to me asking me not to block my photos from being posted on Pinterest, and I tell you: I haven’t done that, and wouldn’t do it. I see no problem in my recipes getting pinned by you, much to the contrary.
Dark chocolate, pear and pistachio cake
A long time ago I told you that I was addicted to IMDb’s movie trivia – I still am, therefore it was a joy for me to find Gabrielle Wee’s gorgeous Tumblr: just be careful because you’ll probably lose track of time reading it (I speak of personal experience). :D
On that same post I also told you how much I loved browsing Gourmet Traveller’s recipes – I still do, and this delicious cake comes
Roast sweet potato and goat’s cheese salad
I was a kid who loved salads and I have my mom to thank for that – I was never the kid who pushed the arugula leaves to the side of the plate, much to the contrary: I was the kid who would eat a tomato as someone would eat an apple between meals. But a whole new world opened up to me when I started collecting cookbooks: it was then that I learned that the salads I already loved could become
Dulce de leche financiers - a genius idea
One of the things I love the most about financiers is how moist and tender they are – their texture is really amazing. Besides that, financiers are a great way to use up frozen egg whites and they’re perfect for a baking urge as well – you don’t have to wait for the butter to soften to make these little beauties.
With a jar of dulce de leche in my pantry – apparently the ddl frenzy hasn’t
Almond biscotti
This morning I watched the teaser trailer for “Skyfall” and I really liked what I saw: not only the movie has a kick-ass director – I love Sam Mendes! – but Ralph Fiennes is in the movie, too. I mean, Ralph Fiennes and Daniel Craig together, with Judy Dench to boot. As if “The Dark Knight Rises” and “The Hobbit” weren’t making me anxious enough. :)
And since my latest and very expected
Rugelach - the cookie nightmare of perfectionists
I guess that this recipe tried to teach me a lesson: nothing worse for a perfectionist/control freak like me to realize that no, I won’t be able to shape all the cookies the same way and yes, some will be tiny and others will be huge. At least I waited for a cold day to make these (after the other rugelach fiasco) and despite the problems with the rolling and shaping of the cookies they turned
Little lemon syrup soaked coconut cakes
I’ve probably written about this already here but there it goes: I usually fear (a little) watching again now the movies I loved as my much younger self – there’s always the risk of deception, the “what the heck was I thinking?” feeling. Luckily this hasn’t happened often and the movies I’ve seen lately have permanently cemented their place in my heart. One example is “The Crying Game”: I
Roasted tomatoes stuffed with goat cheese
Weekends are when I have more time to cook and bake: that is wonderful and one of the many reasons why I love Saturdays and Sundays so much, but even I want quick meals sometimes, and these stuffed tomatoes are the perfect answer for that: the assembling is super quick and they don’t need much time in the oven. If you can’t find goat cheese easily I believe that these would be equally
Banana blondies
I don’t bake blondies very often, but so far the recipes I’ve made turned out delicious – Martha’s gingerbread blondies I made back in 2010 were just irresistible. When I saw Dan Lepard’s banana blondies I had to make them: not only because a blondie made of banana made me curious but also because I’d be able to use up some of my banana overload; oh, and before I forget to mention, there’s
Cherry preserves and lemon bars
Being addicted to baking it is always a joy for me to see butter and eggs in my fridge and flour and sugar in my pantry; if there are lemons, too, then I’m in heaven. :)
I had some gorgeous lemons hanging around and after making risotto and cake with them I wanted something a bit different; that was when Alice Medrich’s lemon bars crossed my mind: they are the best lemon bars I have ever
Almond and passion fruit drizzle cake
One of my (many) favorite things about Donna Hay Magazine is that every now and then it carries passion fruit recipes; I love the fruit and its juice is one of my favorite beverages – back in my college days I used to drink it by the bucket, especially during exam weeks (passion fruit juice is supposed to calm people down). :)
My love for passion fruit and my current obsession for almond cakes
Dulce de leche cheesecake squares + some great villains
I’ve already told you how much I adore Christian Bale and I think he’s a perfect Batman but after watching the trailers for “The Dark Knight Rises” – cannot wait for July to come! – I have the feeling that he’ll be eclipsed by Tom Hardy on the movie just as he was eclipsed by Cillian Murphy and Heath Ledger on “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight”, respectively. I love it when great actors are
Ricotta and feta tart
Because Jamie Oliver’s delicious escarole and salami tart was a great dish for lunch both at my house and at the office I felt like baking another savory tart – this time I had no smoked ham in my fridge (as the original recipe called for) but a tart made entirely of cheese (there’s parmesan in the pastry!) did not sound like a bad thing. And, indeed, it was not; I just regretted not adding a
Nutmeg butter cake - perfect with a cup of tea
As much as I love gooey, chocolatey baked goods like last week’s rocky road brownies my Achilles' heel is, really, the simple cakes (as you already know). This butter cake, perfumed with freshly ground nutmeg is the kind of cake I crave most of my days, and even more in cold ones like today because it goes perfectly well with a cup of tea. I’d thought of skipping the glaze all together but at
Rocky road brownies
I bought a bag of mini marshmallows last week with these cookies in mind – I found the recipe going through my folder of torn magazine pages and thought it would be great to use whole wheat flour in my baking (haven’t done that in a while now). But the reviews discouraged me to make the cookies. :(
Luckily, Alice Medrich – a.k.a. the Chocolate Queen – came to my rescue and I ended up with
Almond and raisin cake
I love movies with strong female characters – you know I like them complex – and last week, besides Saoirse Ronan’s amazing Hanna, I got to know Jennifer Lawrence’s brave Ree. The fantastic “Winter’s Bone” is another example of the theory I wrote about a couple of posts ago: the story is perfectly told and directed, and the performances are excellent. Jennifer Lawrence, talented as hell, is the
Cherry jam frangipane tartlets + "Hanna"
Sometimes I get mad at things that usually do not bother other people; for instance, I hate it that some incredible movies go straight to DVD here in Brazil, after I’d waited forever to see them on the big screen: that has happened quite frequently lately – “Take Shelter”, “Jane Eyre”, among others – and it was the case with “Hanna”. It is such a shame that not many people have heard of such an
Whipped Cream Cake Roulade
While I can no longer bake dozens of cookies at a time, the modest oven hasn't disappointed (though several recipes have). Of course, I've not attempted macarons in this new oven and that's a headache I'm still saving for later.
So today is an absolutely gorgeous spring day in our new home town of Mill Creek which lies just north of Seattle. I was lucky enough to relocate to an area with a wicked good donut shop (Frost) and a brand new French Bakery (Mon Amie--yes they do macarons, go visit) that I'm now haunting. So before I go out and hit the garden and enjoy this sunshine, we're going to bake up a cake.
Something light, creamy and versatile. The cake is perfect with just about anything fruity, be it citrus curds, a drizzle of a thick fruit coulis, or fresh from the garden berries. Given that it is April, I wont pretend that any berries used today are fresh from the garden but as things warm up that will be a possibility. So let's talk cake!
Buffalo mozzarella, artichoke and lemon pizza - a great idea for the weekend
Mark Bittman is trying to convince people to make pizza at home and his argument is that not only is it budget-friendly but the pizza also tastes better – I have got to agree with the guy. :)
The last time I ordered pizza at my house was nearly 7 years ago and so far we haven’t missed it – actually, to be honest, the pizzas we ate at other people’s homes (because I am the only “crazy person”
Apple pie bars + a disappointing cookbook
I have got to tell you something: I’ve removed Leila Lindholm’s book from my favorite cookbooks list – I’d placed it there because of the beautiful photos and delicious-looking baked goods, but then, reading the recipes thoroughly, I noticed that they seemed a little strange. It suddenly hit me: it must be a translation problem, an idea confirmed by the customer review section at Amazon (which
Sticky lemon and poppy seed cake (with a secret ingredient)
Not that I need a reason for baking a lemon cake (we all know that) but to be honest this recipe got my attention because of the addition of finely ground oats to the batter – what might seem like a plan to trick picky eaters into eating more fiber turned out to be one of the best cakes I’ve made: great texture, moist and oh, so delicious.
***
I can’t remember how I got to this link, but I
Raspberry muffins + a very specific question
I have a very specific question for you today: have you read “The Hunger Games” trilogy? Because I liked the movie a lot and have been thinking of reading "Catching Fire" and "Mockingjay" and would love to hear the opinion of those who have read the books. Would you recommend them? I wonder if these books would grab my attention the same way the Millennium trilogy did.
These were my third
Cherry tomato and thyme focaccia
I’d never heard of “The Hunger Games” book trilogy until the frenzy for the movie started but since I adore Jennifer Lawrence – how can anyone not? – I decided to watch the movie; I thought it was really good but it was also, certainly, the most agonizing hours I’ve spent in a movie theater recently – as I went home I felt my body sore from all that tension. :/
I really don’t mind going to the
Simple cardamom sponge + Jason Reitman
I watched “Young Adult” last Saturday in an almost empty theater and at the end of the movie, to my surprise, most of the viewers were saying awful things about it; I understand that Jason Reitman’s kind of humor is not the very popular kind (thank heavens!) and I’ll admit that his movies should come with a bar of chocolate attached – a little mood enhancing for the end of the session – but to
Spiced plum pavlovas + a nice hint
You know well about my love for Donna Hay’s work: I have some of her cookbooks – cannot live without “Modern Classics 2” – and I’ve been a subscriber to her magazine since September 2006. But for the past year I’ve been having trouble receiving the magazines – last year’s winter issue never arrived and the same happened to this year’s summer issue. I do not know if they’ve changed the shipping
Apple and cinnamon hot cross buns for Easter + "Soul Kitchen"
Someone told me once – and I hate it that I cannot remember who it was – that I would love “Soul Kitchen” because it is a movie about a restaurant and there was food involved; since watching the excellent "The Wave" I’d become more interested in German movies, so I rented “Soul Kitchen” and yes, it is a movie about a restaurant and there is food involved, but it’s so much more than that: to me,
Chocolate crème brûlée tartlets
Sometimes it takes me forever to do certain things – make a recipe, watch a movie – and then, when I finally do it, it just feels... bleh.
Many, many years ago I watched the trailer for “November” and it intrigued me: I thought it looked interesting and I liked the idea of watching Courteney Cox in a drama: to me, she was the funniest of the girls in “Friends” – to this day I haven’t
Macadamia crunch ice cream + my favorite cookbooks
Every other day I receive emails from the readers asking which are my favorite cookbooks; for each of those emails I reply two more arrive in my inbox – not a very practical thing. That is why you’ll find below the list with my all time favorite cookbooks – the ones I love the most (in no particular order):
This delicious ice cream – if you think I’ve become
Roasted tomato soup with pesto
I haven’t been to the movies since “Hugo”, but I did watch a fantastic movie at home, “No Country for Old Men”: to me the Coen brothers are an acquired taste – they’re like anchovies, you’ll learn to love them eventually; I don’t like “Fargo” but love “The Man Who Wasn’t There”, “O Brother, Where Art Thou” and “True Grit”, therefore I decided it was about time I watched “No Country for Old Men”
Tangerine-poppy seed chiffon cake
Up until a couple of weekends ago the only chiffon cakes I’d baked were layer cakes: they were delicious and perfect for birthday celebrations, but I wanted to make one of those tall, elegant chiffon cakes (baked in tube pans) I’d seen on some cookbooks and blogs. I chose this recipe because I love tangerines and the idea of a cake made with them sounded very refreshing, exactly what that very
Coconut custard bars + the unforgettable "Hugo"
I don’t have kids, but I imagine that if I did I would love to cook and bake for them, because I already do that with lots of joy for the people I love and care about – I guess it’s a way of expressing my feelings. Maybe people like doing things they love for the ones they love. And why am I telling you all this, you might ask? Well, because that crossed my mind when I left the theater a couple
Cinnamon and cardamom buns
I usually feel the urge to bake yeasted breads when there is no time at all for that – go figure. And this time, to make things even more difficult I felt like baking a very specific type of bread: I wanted it to look good (I’m a complicated human being, my friends, I’ll admit to that). There was an amazing recipe using bananas in one of my current favorite cookbooks, but I would not have the
Oatmeal biscotti
And the biscotti saga continues: these, packed with oats, pecans and apricots have a healthy feel and taste delicious. A couple more great things: they last a month (not that I think they will, but...), travel well and are wonderful as snacks between meals, but... As much as I hate to admit it, I think it will be really hard to find one biscotti recipe that can top the caramelized-pecan orange
Peanut butter granola + Woody Allen and Larry David
A couple of nights ago I was on my couch, watching “House M.D.” and being horrified by the fact that a child almost as tall as me was wearing diapers on that episode when the reminder for "Whatever Works" appeared on my screen; after watching the movie I thanked the Universe for putting Woody Allen and Larry David together – the witty text, perfectly performed by the fantastic David and a very
Salmon with hot, sweet and sour Asian sauce + a new favorite TV show
Joao was watching TV the other day and discovered, completely unintentionally, Martin Dorey’s “One Man and His Campervan” – he rushed me to the living room and I instantly fell in love with the show: not only the places he visits are beautiful but he also cooks delicious recipes in a very small space, using just a few utensils – I wish the people who tell me that they don’t cook because their
Cinnamon pound cake with macadamia spice ribbon + "A Single Man"
Keeping up with my 2012 film goal, I watched “A Single Man” last night and what a surprise it was for me: I already expected something good – Colin Firth and Julianne Moore can do no wrong – but the movie is so visually striking that I felt like writing Tom Ford an email, asking him to make another movie soon.
*spoilers*
I love the way Ford works with the colors: a friend of mine called it “
Pecan praliné brownies + "Drive" - one of the best movies I've seen in my entire life
I watched the trailer for “Drive” many, many months ago and after that I just could not stop thinking about it: the movie had an aura similar to some classic movies from the 1970s I deeply love – “The French Connection”, “Taxi Driver”, and “The Godfather” instantly came to my mind – while its pink neon letters and music had a 1980s feel. I had a good feeling about this movie and the award
Little fig and blackberry pies + "Sid & Nancy"
One of my goals for last year was to use my cookbooks more often and I am very pleased with how it turned out – I did use them a lot and intend to keep doing that. For 2012 I have a new goal: to watch more movies, especially the ones I, for some reason, did not watch in the theater.
I started off with “Sid & Nancy” – because of my Oldman-being-nominated frenzy – and well, one could say I
Le gibassier
I was just searching for a recipe to use some of the candied orange peel left in my fridge from making the almost mother-in-law cake, but what I found was the most beautiful bread I’d ever seen, a type of bread I’d never heard of before. I adore it when certain things lead to great discoveries, and I felt this way again a week ago, when after watching the fantastic "The Fall" I made my usual
In the kitchen with: Design*Sponge
Today the lovely and talented Kristina Gill has posted my mother's carrot cake on the fantastic Design*Sponge - it's a Brazilian take on carrot cake, with no raisins or nuts and drizzled with a delicious chocolate glaze - I hope you all like it!
Have a nice weekend, everyone!
reade more...
Have a nice weekend, everyone!
Butterscotch banana cake
And just when I thought that Flo Braker’s banana cake would hold the title of “best banana cake ever baked in my kitchen” forever Mr. Dan Lepard showed up with the idea of caramelizing the bananas before adding them to the cake batter – how great is that? The cake turned out absolutely tender, with a deep, beautiful golden hue and a delicious, strong banana flavor.
Inspired by one of my
Blackberry coconut oat bars
Last Sunday, for the first time since 1997, I watched the entire Academy Awards, from the very first minute until “The Artist” was announced as best movie. Back in 1997 what made me stay up until 2 a.m. was my love for “The English Patient” – I’d become obsessed with the film after reading the book and, to me, Anthony Minghella had done such a brilliant job that I really wanted the film to get
Ladurée: Sucré Winner!
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So these Jellybeans on my nightstand. I guess we're all wondering how many I have, right?
Okay, here is the deal: I like Jelly Belly beans. I really like them. Sometimes I have four pounds of them in a jar on my desk. Okay, so maybe that is a lot of candy to have casually sitting around, but could you really expect anything less with my sweet tooth?
Well, I didn't have four pounds laying around last weekend. No. I had been nibbling on these beans for a couple months now, digging out the choice beans--like black licorice and juicy pear. So when I did the count last Saturday all that remained were 255 beans. Weighing a total of 283 grams.
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| Counting jellybeans, one by one, without eating any? That's is hard! |
I've gone through all the guesses on the blog and in the NSHP email box and calculated who was closest with beans or grams and determined it was M with 292 grams:
Congratulations! I'll be in contact with you via email and I'll have this cookbook to you soon. I hope you enjoy it. Of course, if you end up re-selling it on amazon for a cool two or three hundred dollars, I can't say I wouldn't understand.
As for myself, I'm going to spend the rest of the weekend continuing to pack. No baking for me just yet, all my pans are already boxed up waiting on paperwork and a set of keys to finally change hands.
I deserve a break from all this bubble wrap and packing tape. Maybe even a little indulgence in two guilty pleasures: a little world of warcraft and the rest of those jelly beans. Yum.
Edit: Woo! It appears that as of March 8th, Amazon actually has the book back in stock for list price. I'm not certain if it is back in print, but it is certainly going for less than $999 today. Take that, price gougers!
Tomato, red onion and gorgonzola salad - simple and delicious
Ok, I’ll admit it: this is not a very romantic salad – all that raw garlic and onion (not to mention the gorgonzola!) won’t do your breath any good. But it is so simple – I put it together in a matter of moments – fresh and delicious, and it comes from such an amazing book, that I had to share it with you – even if, in the end, you make it for a solitary lunch/dinner (or some “me time”, as I
Frangipane ripple chocolate pound cake
I love almonds – they’re my favorite nut. But for far too long I avoided recipes that called for almond paste because I’ve never seen the ingredient around here. Then it suddenly hit me: if I made eggnog from scratch for a pound cake recipe, why not almond paste? I do not know why it took my brain so long to come to that conclusion. :)
The homemade almond paste – recipe from this gorgeous book
Spiced brown sugar cookies
As much as I love cooking and baking I understand it’s not everyone’s cup of tea – so you can imagine how happy I felt when I noticed that my sister loved cooking and baking, too – I swear I never pushed her towards it: it all began with her passion for brownies and cookies. :)
After tasting some of these cookies she told me they were delicious and she needed the recipe “asap”; she also told
Macarons Framboise - Ladurée's Recipe
Well I'm back folks!
Not really, but bear with me I'll be back in the groove of things as soon as I'm settled. I really have been busy, juggling some major changes around here. You see, among other things, I'm buying a new house and dealing with all the madness that goes along with that process. It's been a hectic couple of months but hopefully, if everything goes well, I'll be baking future macarons in a brand new oven soon.
No, who am I kidding. The next several weeks will be spent packing and moving an entire household. Maybe replacing a few door knobs too, since our builder decided to go with a design that I can only describe as suitable for your Grandma's cottage--on Mars. Anyway, breaking in my bright and sunny new kitchen with a little baking will happen, I just need to get settled in.
Almond and dulce de leche muffins
Besides being someone who watches the same movies over and over again I also purchase ingredients in excess, though I’ve been dealing with that a lot better lately (since the inventory decision). But when I saw some really good Argentinean dulce de leche for a great price at the supermarket I could not resist: I brought home three (very large) jars. After making the dulce de leche cake several
Peanut butter sandwich cookies with milk chocolate filling + two favorite Tumblrs
I’ve been obsessing with sandwich cookies lately – I want to bake each and every recipe for sandwich cookies I see (and no, I haven’t forgotten about biscotti, believe me). :)
I’d planned making one of Martha’s fabulous cookies but the jam I had around was very chunky – the jam is actually quite good but not thin enough for filling the cookies. I turned to the Karen DeMasco’s wonderful book and
Vanilla-spiked plum galette
Plums are one of my favorite fruits and I usually eat them all in a very short period of time, before I can actually bake something with them. But this time the plums I’d bought were too tart – even for my citrusy taste – and they became this fabulous galette; the super flaky pastry is delicious and holds all the juices without getting soggy, and the plums, soft and perfectly sweet, get a boost
Dried cranberry shortbread + Tilda
There are things one just knows without the need of much explanation – one just feels it. I haven’t, to this day, watched “The King’s Speech” but I know, deep down in my heart, that its winning of the Best Picture Award last year was so, so wrong. And I know that because I’ve seen five of the movies that were nominated with it – if the world were a fair place that would never have happened. And
Escarole and salami tart
Something I’ve been trying to do more often is to bring lunch to work – eating out gets more expensive by the minute while the quality and flavor of the food get worse.
This tart might seem like a lot of work – making your own pastry! – but believe me, it’s not: you just need to plan ahead. Go wild with the filling: the original was a mix of spinach and ham, but I used what I had in my fridge.
Coconut cupcakes with chocolate frosting
I watched "The Tree of Life" last August but to this day I haven’t been able to write anything about the movie; just couldn’t put into words everything the film made me feel – there were so many tears that my eyes were swollen when I left the theater. Jessica Chastain’s character reminded me so much of my mother it felt like I was going back in time – that was the first movie I saw with the
Chewy macaroons + "J. Edgar"
The first time I saw Leonardo DiCaprio was in his – and mine – teenage years: I’d rented "This Boy's Life" expecting to watch another great performance by Robert DeNiro (back in the day when he was a wonderful actor) but what really took me by storm was this boy’s performance, this boy I’d never heard of before, whose face or name I did not recognize (that was way before the whole “Romeo and
Cherry-cornmeal upside down cake
It’s no secret I’m a big Martha Stewart fan – her recipes are delicious and work every time; I sometimes wish I were more skillful so I could make all the other beautiful projects on her website (I would love to learn how to sew and even bought a book on the subject a while ago). Speaking of that, would you please tell me if you know any good blogs on the subject? That would be really helpful!
Spaghetti with pistachio pesto and roasted cherry tomatoes + The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
After months of anxiety and high expectations I could finally watch "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"; as much as I did not want to resort to a cliché to describe the film it’s impossible for me to avoid it: it is a masterpiece. Perfect in every detail, visually stunning, with a fantastic cast and amazing music. Dark and gloomy as the book itself and as only Fincher – or maybe Cronenberg –
Peach cobbler + Mr. Clooney
One of my all time favorite cookbooks is "Sky High: Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes" – it’s beautiful and packed with great layer cake recipes; I’ve tried several cakes so far and they were delicious. Therefore, when I saw that Alisa Huntsman was the mind behind this book I bought it immediately – and I have not regretted doing so.
Being a crumble addict – I do love fruit desserts – I thought
Busy Busy Busy!
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I get a surprising amount of email. Most of it is normal. Not all. Just most. |
A belated happy New Year to everyone!
It's late, I know. I'm pretty much behind on everything. Baking, blogging, household projects, the NSHP email inbox... you name it, I'm behind. Needless to say, my Christmas cards did not go out this year.
I'm juggling several big project-thingy-boppers right now but hopefully I'll soon be able to work on a blog post that includes more than just silly little drawings.
I'm juggling several big project-thingy-boppers right now but hopefully I'll soon be able to work on a blog post that includes more than just silly little drawings.
♥
Ms. Humble
Caramelized pecan-orange biscotti
I was writing something about my newest obsession – biscotti – but then I heard the news that Gary Oldman has finally been nominated for an Academy Award and I simply forgot what I was doing. :) Being the walking contradiction that I am – someone who doesn’t care for the Oscars but always hopes that her favorites win – my heart just lit up. ♥
Oh, the biscotti: these are delicious beyond
Golden mixed greens pie
It might look like I live on sweets, but no – I eat savory food, too, and try to eat my greens as frequently as possible. :)
This tart is delicious and not difficult to make – you just need to plan accordingly so the dough has time to rise and the good thing is: you can make it in advance and reheat it before serving.
Golden mixed greens pie
slightly adapted from the absolutely gorgeous Home
Dulce de leche pound cake
As I was updating my list of books – a couple of new additions as I told you a while ago – I kept thinking of ways to make it more functional and interesting: therefore, I’ve changed it a bit. I hope you all like it.
Oh, aside from books, there is cake here today, too – and it is absolutely divine. :)
Dulce de leche pound cake
slightly adapted from O, The Oprah Magazine
1 ½ cups (340g/3
Coconut chews - delicious and very easy to make
I have never baked nor cooked any of Paula Deen’s recipes – and that is something I deeply regret after surfing her website – but I have heard of her before, dozens of times, and every time I see her name I think of a lot of butter and cream and sugar. And fried food. Yum. I should give this woman’s recipes a try. Soon. :D
While going through the beautiful Loveless Cafe cookbook and deciding
Raspberry crumble tart – the easiest tart you’ll ever make + the greatest actor I have ever seen
I watched "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" last Saturday and the fantastic movie – what an amazing cast! – goes right into my list of reasons why Gary Oldman is one of the greatest actors out there – possibly the best I have seen acting so far (Robert De Niro lost that spot a long time ago). The movie is not everyone’s cup of tea, though – I saw some people leaving the theater long before the
Banana and coconut cake with lime icing
I used to love pink as a kid – as I told you a while ago – and I love Lisa Yockelson’s “Baking by Flavor”; therefore, the minute I saw this book I knew I had to have it. Oh, I’m really shallow sometimes, I’ll admit it. :)
This delicious and super moist banana cake comes from Lisa’s very pink and girlish book – if the book was a director it would certainly be Baz Luhrmann. :D
Banana and
Cherry-plum preserves + scones
I usually do not buy cookbooks without taking a look inside their pages first – I have done that in a few occasions and got really disappointed; but after reading the reviews for "Sarabeth's Bakery: From My Hands to Yours" and seeing a photo of one of the cookie recipes I felt I would love the book – and I did. It’s full of great recipes, beautiful photos and there are several recipes for
Blueberry and passion fruit muffins
After watching the new trailer for “The Dark Knight Rises” I felt that a masterpiece is coming our way – I would expect nothing less from Christopher Nolan. I cannot wait to see Tom Hardy as the villain and loved the addition of Marion Cotillard to the casting – I actually think that she would be perfect as Catwoman with those feline eyes of her (sorry, Anne Hathaway). :)
I found the perfect
Nigella's crustless pizza
I went to the movies the other day to watch "Immortals" just because of Tarsem Singh; his work is so visually unique and fantastic that even if I hadn’t known he was the director I would have guessed it just by watching the very first scene of the movie. I did not like “Immortals” that much – bad casting (except for the fabulous John Hurt) and bad script; but again, visually striking.
Now,
Almost mother-in-law cake – a cake that was baked because of its name (but turned out delicious)
Despite my promises of not buying new cookbooks I ended up with a handful of new titles at home; one of them is “From Season to Season – a Year in Recipes” and after going through the beautiful book I chose this delicious cake to be the first recipe to be tried from it, and I even made my own candied orange zest to use in it: after all, how can one resist a cake with a name like that? ;)
Cherry rippled vanilla frozen yogurt
Happy New Year everyone!
The cherry overload goes on in my house – not that I am complaining. ;)
I decided to make a frozen dessert to celebrate the arrival of summer and the slightly adapted cherry filling from those delicious bars was a perfect addition to the already great vanilla fro yo; since my husband doesn’t like frozen yogurt I’ll have to eat it all myself – oh, how big of a problem