Olive oil bread + "The Hunger Games"

I asked for your thoughts on “The Hunger Games” trilogy a couple of months ago and today I want to tell you that I’m hooked on the books! By some of my readers’ suggestion I started with “The Hunger Games” even though I’d watched the movie and I really liked the book – my love for the movie got even bigger. Last night I started reading “Catching Fire” and the only reason I’ve put the book aside

Cherry tomato and thyme focaccia

I’d never heard of “The Hunger Games” book trilogy until the frenzy for the movie started but since I adore Jennifer Lawrence – how can anyone not? – I decided to watch the movie; I thought it was really good but it was also, certainly, the most agonizing hours I’ve spent in a movie theater recently – as I went home I felt my body sore from all that tension. :/
I really don’t mind going to the

Cinnamon and cardamom buns

I usually feel the urge to bake yeasted breads when there is no time at all for that – go figure. And this time, to make things even more difficult I felt like baking a very specific type of bread: I wanted it to look good (I’m a complicated human being, my friends, I’ll admit to that). There was an amazing recipe using bananas in one of my current favorite cookbooks, but I would not have the

Le gibassier

I was just searching for a recipe to use some of the candied orange peel left in my fridge from making the almost mother-in-law cake, but what I found was the most beautiful bread I’d ever seen, a type of bread I’d never heard of before. I adore it when certain things lead to great discoveries, and I felt this way again a week ago, when after watching the fantastic "The Fall" I made my usual

Oatmeal sandwich bread

While organizing my books on the new bookshelf I grabbed "Good to the Grain" and stared at its beautiful cover (those delicious rhubarb tarts!) for a few seconds... Then it suddenly hit me: I hadn’t used that book in ages; it’s one of my favorite books and that makes me wonder about the poor books I seldom or never use. Well, that’s just me. So I decided to make something – anything – from the

Spicy tomato soup with crispy grilled cheese

I must start this post by saying that I love canned tomatoes – they’re a great pantry staple and I always have a couple of cans around. But even though I use them to make tomato sauce all the time I wasn’t very fond of the idea of using them to make soup – for absolute no reason, since I’d never tried canned tomato soup in my life. For a moment I thought “Oh my goodness, I’m becoming my husband

Tuscan bean soup with the best croûtons I've ever made

When I told Joao I was making this soup he made his usual “eeeew” face and said: “I hate white beans”. I immediately thought “you hate just about everything” but since I was in a very good mood I kept on cooking and singing ("Breakfast in America" was stuck in my head that day).

The hubby did not eat the soup but went crazy for the croûtons – and indeed they were delicious. I had no idea that

Fennel seed and onion loaf

I’ve been trying to find a way to convince you to bake this bread but all I can think of is that it tastes delicious and goes really well with a glass of ice cold beer (which is always a winner imho). :)

Oh, and the leftover slices are great lightly buttered and toasted on a nonstick frying pan. There - I hope you give it a try.

Fennel seed and onion loaf
slightly adapted from the always

Iced cinnamon snail rolls and when less is more

I hadn’t made cinnamon rolls in ages and this recipe, from Bill Granger’s "Sydney Food", seemed easy and quick to put together. It was – I watched TV all afternoon and yet finished baking the rolls before dinnertime.
I tried to restrain myself and not eat one of the rolls right out of the oven, but ended up giving up the fight after 5 minutes: the warm, tender rolls, deeply perfumed with

Olive and herb focaccia

I do not understand people who don’t like olives – don’t get me wrong, I have my own food pet peeves (won’t eat liver for the life of me), but olives are so juicy, so meaty and tender... I find them completely irresistible. ;)

That is why, while setting up the ingredients for this delicious bread, I pulled 20 olives out of the jar. :D

Olive and herb focaccia
slightly adapted from The Weekend

Onion soup – a classic dish for a chilly fall

Classics don’t become classics for nothing: there must be something special, different, unusual about them to be considered as such; I’m particularly fond of some: movies, music bands, wardrobe items, and for that reason I do not know why it took me so long to try a classic dish like this soup; it is delicious, rich and comforting, not to mention simple and easy to make – everything classic

Cinnamon choc chip swirl bread

After cookies and cakes, Susan and I decided it was time to play around with yeast – we both wanted to bake from John Barricelli’s beautiful book and the cinnamon swirl bread caught our eyes (and our stomachs). :)

The bread is tender and delicious; the dough is easy to work with – not sticky! – but my idea of using chocolate chips instead of raisins turned out to be less than genius: I used

Chocolate chip bread pudding

My sister made me watch the awful “Season of the Witch” – I have to say that putting up with Nicolas Cage for 1 ½ hours is huge proof of my love for her. :)
When the movie was over and Dominic Sena’s name appeared on the screen it all made sense to me – a bad director could not deliver a good movie. :)

On the other hand, I always expect great recipes from Nigella – and this bread pudding is no

Pandoro with peach jam

I’ve been trying, for a while now, to cook and bake using seasonal ingredients – influenced by my good friend Ana Elisa – and for that reason this recipe was kept on my messy files for almost a year. Finally the peaches are in season and I could make it – this jam is so delicious it was worth waiting that long for it.

The pandoro itself is not very sweet, therefore perfect to be eaten with the

Jam buns

Yeasted challenged, fear not: these buns are absolutely easy to make and good to finish up that jar of jam that has been around your fridge for weeks (months, maybe?). :D

It’s not even right for me to take the credit over these – the standing ovation should go to my stand mixer.



Jam buns
from Donna Hay magazine

2 teaspoons active dry yeast
5 tablespoons caster sugar
¾ cup (180ml) lukewarm

Olive and rosemary breads

Joao and I are absolutely crazy for olives – that is why it is difficult for me to make a recipe that calls for them: we eat the whole jar beforehand. :D

The first time I made this recipe I used sage instead of rosemary, but after the breads were baked there was hardly any flavor left from the herb. Rosemary works beautifully here and even though it is a mighty herb it doesn’t overpower the

Sticky caramel buns

A couple of weeks ago the lovely Ana Elisa and I had coffee together and it was so good! We talked a lot, discovered several things in common... I already liked her in the virtual world and confirmed that she is a dear in the real world, too. :)

Then I saw that she’d drawn me on her Moleskine and that made my day. :)

Breads remind me of Ana – she’s an expert in making them – and that is why I

Roasted cheese, bacon and tomato salad

I told you the other day that desserts are my favorite part of a meal – indeed, they are. But the savory recipes on the DH magazine are impossible to resist – I especially love the soups and salads, like this one.

I’ve tweaked it a bit, using arugula and balsamic vinegar instead of spinach and red wine vinegar; minor changes – nothing silly like choosing John Malkovich over Hugh Laurie. :D

Kugelhopf with honeyed apples

One of the things I hate the most is being helpless over something - I want to change certain things but can’t. Feeling powerless drives me nuts and I don’t deal well with all the anxiety generated by my hands being tied. :S

But as far as my recipes are concerned I can take some action: this kugelhopf looked beautiful, but I did not have all the ingredients around; at least in my kitchen I can

Sugared apple galette

A long time ago I posted a list of my top 5 favorite songs. I had a hard time choosing them – one huge problem was picking only one song by The Smiths. Other songs I deeply love were left out of the list but that’s OK – I knew I would regret it minutes after writing it. :D

There’s one song, though, that could not be included on that list – it’s so beautiful, perfect and magical that it belongs