Baked carbonara

I’m a walking contradiction. Although I don’t eat red meat and can’t stand pork, I love bacon... :D
I’d been meaning to prepare this recipe for quite some time but João (my husband) doesn’t like cream so I always decided to prepare pasta with other types of sauce.That day I decided to give it a try. After cooking the pasta, I prepared some for him with different ingredients and made the recipe

Cherry chocolate truffles

There’s only one word good enough to describe these truffles: perfect!!!The amounts of cream and chocolate are exact and you’ll get a firm mixture, great to be molded.Haalo, from Cook (almost) anything at least once – stop whatever you’re doing and go check her blog now – made these truffles using poached cherries. She even teaches us how to poach

Snickerdoodles

I sent these snickerdoodles with the chocottones, as part of the same gift. You'll think I'm shallow but when I saw these cookies' name I knew I had to bake them!Reading the recipe I found out that the dough had to be rolled in sugar and cinnamon before going to the oven - perfect for me, a cinnamon lover.Full of flavor and quick to prepare - you just make balls of dough, roll them in the

Vanilla sable biscuit

I wanted a good cookie recipe to make for Christmas gifts. I read so many recipes, searched so many websites... I even sent Valentina and Cinara e-mails asking for help. I needed cookies that would stay crunchy longer - and that would also look cute.I found this recipe - in case you don't know this blog, you should go there now. It's full of good recipes and beautiful photographs.Jenjen filled

Chocottone

I wanted to make a gift for a friend who has 3 children. So I decided to bake a big chocottone and 3 mini-chocottones, all of them decorated with rolled fondant.Chocottone is a panettone that has chocolate chips instead of glacéed fruits. I love it. But my dear friend Valentina says that "chocottone" is a word that makes her laugh... :DI used cellophane bags, because the minicake boxes I had at

Berry ice cream pudding

I tried to bake a cake using artificial sweetener instead of sugar - a total DISASTER! It was the ugliest cake I'd ever seen in my entire life...
It would be impossible to prepare another sugarfree dessert in time - I had made Eton mess - and I started panicking; some of my readers know I'm a bit of a drama queen sometimes. :D
I suddenly remembered a Donna Hay magazine I received as a gift and

Gremolata crusted lamb racks

My dear readers, believe me: although not very nice looking, the lamb was very good - I don't eat red meat but tasted it out of curiosity. It was tender and juicy.
I was very disappointed with my butcher - and told him that - because the piece of meat he sent me wasn't what I was expecting. I had to bone it in order to serve it - I couldn't separate the cutlets

It was easier to get over the faux

Filled tomatoes

I love having people over for dinner/lunch. There's nothing better than preparing a special meal and then seeing empty plates and smiling faces - not to mention receiving compliments!

Our friends Thiago and Ludmila visited us again, this time to have lunch with us. It was a wonderful Sunday!

I chose this salad not only because of its flavor combinations, but also because of its looks. The

Pane alla cioccolata

I'd had an eye on this recipe for quite a while - every time I searched my del.icio.us, I thought of making this bread.My food processor is really tiny, so I prepared the dough by hand.It turned out to be an adventurous task! The dough was kind of liquid, like cake batter - therefore, impossible to be kneaded by hand.Against my will, I added more flour and then kneaded the dough. I was so mad I

Bread boats

I've made this recipe over and over again for almost two years now (since I got married, actually). It's a delicious and quick to prepare snack - something good for weekends or those days when we don't feel like cooking "real food".I got a recipe from a Brazilian cook, who is specialized in light food and food for diabetics, and changed it a little bit. She uses leeks instead of hearts of palm

Leek risotto

When someone asks me what my favorite food is, risotto is the first thing that comes to my mind.It's delicious and versatile: you can use your imagination and come up with many different flavors, mix ingredients and even use leftovers that have been in your fridge for a while.This recipe was taken from a Brazilian magazine - it's not a favorite of mine, but when I saw the risotto special edition

Madeira cake

On a very lazy Sunday, I was trying to find something good on TV when I felt a sudden urge to bake! I checked some of my books but every time one recipe got my attention I realized I didn’t have all the necessary ingredients. My fridge was sending me a message: “go to the grocery store!!” I found two different recipes for Madeira cake (which is not common here in Brazil). Although I

Fettuccine with prawns and fresh herbs

I love fish, but I'm not a huge fan of the other types of seafood. I'm allergic to some of them, so I stick to something more common: shrimp. I must admit that I don't know what the fuss is all about...I love choosing new recipes to try but my husband is a picky eater and it gets in the way (he doesn't read the blog - lucky me!).I always feel like preparing and tasting everything but have to slow