Citrus coconut snack cake, good casting and bad casting

One of the many things that make Breaking Bad the best TV show ever made is the cast: each and every actor is brilliant and they were perfectly chosen to play those characters, and I don’t even have to start with the leading men – for instance, how will anyone be able to forget Bob Odenkirk’s Saul Goodman? It’s pure genius.

That kind of amazing casting is not something we see every day – and

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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,

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Blueberry crumble and my love for crumbles

I’ve come to a conclusion: crumbles have become my favorite dessert. As much as I love ice cream and fruit tarts crumbles are now to me a synonym to feel-good-food. The flavors can vary from traditional to tropical, it doesn’t matter: crumbles make me happy. :)

I ate my first crumble in my late twenties and first made one myself in my early thirties, yet I feel that it could have easily become

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Carrot and apricot croquettes and a little white lie

I might be a cookbook junkie but certain cookbooks don’t appeal to me – I would never buy this book, for example. Never. I hate the idea of deceiving kids in order to make them eat veggies and fruit. They should eat good food and be aware of that. They should know what beetroots and carrots and eggplants look and taste like. That’s how my mom fed me as a kid and how I fed my sister when she was

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Broccolini rigatoni - delicious food in almost no time at all

I love being in the kitchen, but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying quick meals too – they have been a great idea in these cold days, when all I want is to be wrapped in a blanked, reading or watching TV.

After watching several episodes of the wonderful “Jamie’s 30-minute meals” I ended up buying the book - which is absolutely beautiful - and the first recipe I tried was this pasta dish:

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Swedish visiting cake + music lyrics

One of my favorite things about learning English was being able to understand music lyrics – I think some of you agree with me on that. :)

That said, there are times I want to listen to complex lyrics and there are others when almost no lyrics is the way to go. I feel the same about the cakes I bake: there are times for complex, layered beauties, and times when only simple will do. ;)

Swedish

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Blueberry tea cake and cookbooks that make me cry

Something I’d never imagined possible has happened to me – and twice so far: I cried reading cookbooks.

Reading about Barbara Lynch’s childhood years brought tears to my eyes; I became a huge fan of hers even before trying her recipes. But it all started with John Barricelli’s beautiful book: a couple of lines about him growing up without his parents and I was crying like a baby – maybe

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