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 –
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