My sister and I love watching the trailers when we go to the movies, and after each one we turn to each other and say “yes” or “no” (if we will or will not watch that movie once it premieres). Weeks ago, on the Catching Fire session, we saw the trailer for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and I must confess that when Ben Stiller’s face first appeared onscreen I was more than ready to say “no” –
Showing posts with label cloves. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cloves. Show all posts
Chewy speculaas blondies and one of the most beautiful trailers I've ever seen
My sister and I love watching the trailers when we go to the movies, and after each one we turn to each other and say “yes” or “no” (if we will or will not watch that movie once it premieres). Weeks ago, on the Catching Fire session, we saw the trailer for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and I must confess that when Ben Stiller’s face first appeared onscreen I was more than ready to say “no” –
Chocolate pain d’épice, two versions of the same song and of the same baked good
One day, back when I worked as a teacher, I told my students I liked Soft Cell and, two days after that one of them brought me the “Memorabilia” album and begged me to listen to it – he was sure I would love it, and in fact I did. On that CD there was a slightly different version of “Loving You, Hating Me” from the one I knew (and already liked) – the arrangement was a little less metallic,
Spiced honey cakes and another TV show
The best TV show ever made is sadly coming to an end and I felt like finding another addiction to watch. :) I’d read somewhere that “Broadchurch” was good (and then avoided reading more about the show because apparently people can’t write about movies and TV without resorting to spoilers) so that was my choice. Because it is a show with a very short season (only eight episodes) I finished it in
Cranberry apricot oatmeal cookies and a question
I do love cookies – and you know that – and oatmeal cookies are really favorites of mine: besides being delicious there’s a whole “I’m eating something healthy” vibe behind them. :D
These, from one of my latest cookbook acquisitions (a very good one, by the way), have a touch of spices (yum) and three kinds of dried fruit (yum, yum): the cinnamon, ginger and cloves turn them into an even
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,
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
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 “
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
Gingerbread chocolate madeleines
My last holiday post almost turned out like a big FAIL: after baking these delicious and oh, so tender madeleines I decided to deep them on a chocolate glaze I’d seen in one of my cookbooks. But the problem was that the glaze never set. Not ever. So I recommend dipping them in tempered chocolate to avoid that problem (just so you know it, the madeleines are great without the chocolate coating,
Almond spice wafers
Last Saturday I set out to bake a batch of cookies for my coworkers – after all, I needed to use one of my birthday gifts for the first time; being in a Christmas mood I chose these almond spice wafers. After making the dough – quite quickly, I might add – I placed the cylinder in the freezer and went to the movies. As usual, a visit to IMDb was made upon returning home and what a surprise it
Marbled gingerbread almond loaf cake
It’s not every day you’ll hear me say (or read me write, for that matter) that I would choose an almond cake over a lemon one: this delicious and very moist cake made me believe that ginger has found a better friend in nuts rather than in citrus.
This loaf cake did not rise and split in the center like I expected it to (and I’ve made it twice already), that is why I drizzled it with the icing
Lemon laced gingersnaps
Back in the day when I was little the kids at school used to call me all sorts of names: some were because I was too small, others because I had lots of freckles and also because my skin was too white (kids can be quite cruel sometimes). The two “nicknames” I remember the most are Vicki and Casper – yes, the Friendly Ghost. :S
That came to mind when I baked these gingersnaps: they look kind of
Spice financiers to kick off the holiday recipes
As said a couple of posts ago, I now start my holiday recipe series 2011 – I had so much fun in the previous years making these recipes I hoped I could do it again. I thought that star-shaped financiers would be a lovely way to begin – with all those delicious spices to boot – but I’ll be honest with you: the stracciatella ice cream in my freezer is the reason why I baked the little cakes. :)
Spice muffins
It’s wonderful to see my little sister become an adult but being around her certainly reminds me that time really flies. I don’t have a problem with that – at least not yet – and the age gap between us sometimes delivers funny moments: when we watched “The Social Network” together last year I had to explain to her what Napster was. :D
Another sign I’m getting old: there are days that the
Vanilla flan with gingerbread crumbs
Those of you who – sometimes – devour lunch with an eye on dessert, please, raise your hand. 0/
I made a beautiful, delicious salad with tuna – from this book – for lunch and, even though I happily savored each bite of it, I was really interested in trying this flan. :)
And since I know you are all so dear and won’t judge me, there goes the recipe. :D
Vanilla flan with gingerbread crumbs
Buttered rum meltaways
One of my readers – hi, Angelica! – left me a comment about the amount of recipes calling for rum around here – there’s another one today!
I don’t like rum for drinking, but I certainly love baking with it – and if you try these cookies I am sure you will, too. :)
I’ve slightly adapted the recipe from Lizzie, who got it from a book I’ve been meaning to buy.
Buttered rum meltaways
from
Spiced banana breakfast loaf
Sometimes when I’m going through my cookbooks I say things out loud: things like “I am so making this”, or “I’ll make this next weekend”, and so on; just so you know it, the hubby doesn't find it weird. :)
A couple of weeks ago I was “talking” to my books again when I said I was going to make a banana cake. “Another one?” Joao asked. I smiled back at him and said nothing, but thought “hey,
White chocolate gingerbread blondies
I’m a sucker for spices – you’ve probably noticed that – and the word “gingerbread” gets me drooling already; can you guess what I felt when I found Martha’s gingerbread recipe collection? :)
The only problem was choosing ONE recipe to make - luckily for me the bag of white chocolate chips in my pantry helped me out a little. ;)
White chocolate gingerbread blondies
from here
2 ¾ cups + 1
Gingerbread caramels
My friend Ana Elisa’s adventure in making torrone reminded me of how much work these caramels were: it took forever for the mixture to achieve the desired temperature, and I was melting in my kitchen while stirring it; after that, another century went by before I finished cutting them, oiled knife and all. Not to mention they were super soft and hard to wrap, too.
You’ll probably ask me why
Cinnamon-chocolate fruit mince tarts
I’d been meaning to make mincemeat pies forever, because I think they look absolutely adorable! But I always gave up at the idea of using suet, or anything similar to it.
That is why this recipe is perfect: besides being suet-free, both the pastry and the filling are delicious, with a not-very-Christmas-but-yummy hint of chocolate.
Cinnamon-chocolate fruit mince tarts
slightly adapted from