My sister, a.k.a. my movie buddy, did not watch The Hunger Games when it was released last year, so I asked her to do it last week so we could watch Catching Fire together. She did and loved it, and then loved the sequel, too, and when I arrived home there was a text message from her on my phone: “can I borrow the books?” :) I can totally relate since last year, after watching the first movie,
Showing posts with label berries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label berries. Show all posts
Berry-berry streusel bars and another fan of "The Hunger Games"
My sister, a.k.a. my movie buddy, did not watch The Hunger Games when it was released last year, so I asked her to do it last week so we could watch Catching Fire together. She did and loved it, and then loved the sequel, too, and when I arrived home there was a text message from her on my phone: “can I borrow the books?” :) I can totally relate since last year, after watching the first movie,
Blueberry and coconut cake, female directors, a beautiful movie and a versatile actor
I believe that the movie industry would be a better place if more women stepped behind the camera: there aren’t many female directors out there, which is a shame. Jane Campion wowed the world twenty years ago with one of my all time favorite movies, and I’m forever in her debt for introducing me to Mark Ruffalo *sigh*. :) Nora Ephron added romance to our lives, Vera Farmiga discussed religion,
Blackberry and almond upside down cake + a memory from long ago
The first upside down cake I ever saw was a pineapple one made by Ofelia on TV – I believe it’s fair to say that she was be the Brazilian equivalent to Julia Child and I loved her cooking show when I was younger (11-12 years old, to be more precise). Back then, her show was aired weekday mornings, while I was at school, but my brother would tape it every day for me – you might think he did that
Lemon and blueberry cornmeal cake
Even though I’ve been very focused on my inventory project (two years now, wow) I still love to go around the supermarket aisles to see if there’s anything new I haven’t tried yet – my husband says that if we went grocery shopping at the same time with the same list on our hands he’d be finished in half the time (and he’s right). :D
Weeks ago I discovered a new brand of corn products, a
Apple, raspberry and pecan muffin cake + "The Great Australian Bake Off"
After the disappointment with American version of “The Great British Bake Off” I wasn’t sure I would watch “The Great Australian Bake Off”, but when I read that Dan Lepard would be one of the judges I immediately changed my mind: I’m a huge fan of his amazing recipes, each and every one of them I have tried so far turned out delicious. The other judge is Kerry Vincent and the woman is merciless
Vanilla cookie buttons with strawberry icing and being tricked by my memory
I don’t know about you, but sometimes my mind plays tricks on me and I just can’t trust my memory. I was listening to “Never” the other day when my husband asked whose song that was. I told him it was Heart’s and said “remember that band from the 80s formed exclusively by girls?”, but he had no recollection of it. Then I decided to show him the music video, and there was a man playing the drums
Patchwork strawberry & apple pie
As if being a cookbook junkie wasn’t enough, I’m hooked on food magazines as well – Donna Hay, Gourmet Traveller and Delicious Australia are my favorites, but there are others I adore, too, and use very often. BBC Good Food always comes with delicious recipes from people like Mary Berry and James Martin, and the photos are beautiful (I highly recommend a visit to the magazine’s website).
Pistachio doughnuts with rose water glaze
I adore fried food, but living in an apartment I rarely feel like frying things – I try to avoid having the whole house smelling like the dinner we’d just had. Up until a couple of months ago fries had been the exception because both the hubby and I love them, but after trying Annabel’s recipe for oven fries the problem was solved – Joao told me they were even tastier than the original fried
Apple and blueberry crumble cake + a movie that could be about my own life
My dear friend Valentina introduced me to Nigel Slater years ago and I instantly became a fan: his simple way of cooking produces absolutely delicious food and he does it in a way that anyone watching him feel they can do it, too – to me, it’s like watching Nigella around the kitchen: it’s never intimidating. They have similar names and similar styles, and they both call themselves cooks, not
Dark chocolate and raspberry brownie tarts
I love brownies and make them quite often, so when I saw these little beauties on one of my Donna Hay magazines I had to make them: raspberries are naturally tart and taste wonderful with chocolate, not to mention that the brownies looked adorable shaped as tartlets. The recipe is really easy to prepare and if you're having people over I am sure these tartlets would impress your guests; I also
Banana and blueberry muffins
Every time I have a surplus of ripe bananas at home and I can't find a way of using them immediately I place them in the freezer - they last long there and can be used in most baking recipes after being thawed. However, when there is only one frozen banana to be used things get a bit more complicated, since most recipes call for 2-3 bananas, or even more (that was when I had to drop the idea of
Spiced blueberry rolls + some comedy after the drama
After watching several drama shows in a row a girl needs something to make her laugh, right? I have found the perfect way to do that by watching “Parks and Recreation”: I haven’t finished the first season yet but I’m completely hooked! Amy Poehler is absolutely hilarious – I start laughing just by looking at her – and the other actors are great, too, my favorites being Nick Offerman and Aziz
Blueberry crumb muffins
I was reading the trivias on IMDb – which is something I love doing – when I got to the trivia for “A Simple Plan” – which is a movie I deeply adore – and read the following: “Between 1994 and 1996, Ben Stiller was set to direct this film with Nicolas Cage to star”; a couple of minutes of shock later I thought of what a wonderful idea it was to replace both gentlemen, and what a dreadful movie
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
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 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
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
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
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
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