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

Almond and dulce de leche muffins

Besides being someone who watches the same movies over and over again I also purchase ingredients in excess, though I’ve been dealing with that a lot better lately (since the inventory decision). But when I saw some really good Argentinean dulce de leche for a great price at the supermarket I could not resist: I brought home three (very large) jars. After making the dulce de leche cake several

Coconut chews - delicious and very easy to make

I have never baked nor cooked any of Paula Deen’s recipes – and that is something I deeply regret after surfing her website – but I have heard of her before, dozens of times, and every time I see her name I think of a lot of butter and cream and sugar. And fried food. Yum. I should give this woman’s recipes a try. Soon. :D

While going through the beautiful Loveless Cafe cookbook and deciding

Nigella's crustless pizza

I went to the movies the other day to watch "Immortals" just because of Tarsem Singh; his work is so visually unique and fantastic that even if I hadn’t known he was the director I would have guessed it just by watching the very first scene of the movie. I did not like “Immortals” that much – bad casting (except for the fabulous John Hurt) and bad script; but again, visually striking.

Now,

Pea soup, my sister's high school graduation and too many caipirinhas

I wish I could say that I made this soup for a noble reason, but the truth is that I made it for lunch because of a massive hangover. :S

It all started the night before: we’d all gone to my sister’s high school graduation prom and had a lot of fun there (I shed a few tears during the ceremony, too, I’ll admit it). Then my brother told me that I “had to try” the caipirinhas that were being

Crunchy-top pear muffins

I have received several comments and emails regarding the better than brownie cookies I posted a while ago - the recipe worked out fine for some of you but not so much for others... I’m sorry to hear that and have updated the post with info on the chocolate I used and on cooling the chocolate + butter mixture for 5 minutes prior to adding the other ingredients - I hope it helps!

If you’ve had

Super lime ice cream

There are simple things in life that have the power of lighting up our day – like arriving home and finding a package or your favorite magazine waiting for you in the mailbox. I love that.

My copy of David Lebovitz’s ice cream bible was delivered Friday and Saturday morning I was in the kitchen, preparing a recipe from it. Are you surprised my first choice was a citrus flavor?? Didn’t think so

Bill’s coconut bread

It’s 32ºC (90ºF) now here in Sao Paulo and many people wish they were at the beach. But not me – I don’t like going to the beach.....Now that you have finished throwing rotten tomatoes at me, I’ll go on. :DI don’t like the salt, the sand, the heat... I do go to the beach, though – Joao loves it. And people do the craziest things for love, don’t they?Luckily, I have found 2 or 3 beach haters like

Mozzarella in carrozza

Saturday is my favorite day of the week and one thing I love doing is watching some of Nigella’s shows. They are basically reruns and I have already seen many episodes, but that’s fine – it’s a joy to see her cook, even though I’m not always crazy about the dishes she prepares. :)

One can certainly turn to Nigella when looking for delicious food that can be made in almost no time. And that’s

Pasta with eggplant and pine nuts

Thank you all for your comments and emails – the nerd girl that never fit in is feeling pretty popular right now. :)I’m looking forward to my next blogging year!After all that icing – so much it could block one’s arteries just by looking at it – I thought you deserved something fresh and a lot lighter. Pasta + veggies seemed perfect.Despite the tiny list of ingredients, this is one of the most

Grilled cheese and basil polenta

I never thought this would happen, but it did. Donna Hay disappointed me.

It was last Saturday – my Amazon box arrived and I couldn’t wait to go through my new cookbooks. Donna’s book looked so adorable and cute... I started to flip the pages, eager to choose the first recipe to prepare. Unfortunately, as I glanced at the photos there was only one thing going on in my mind – “I’ve already seen

Damp lemon and almond cake

KJ and her fun challenge have been such an inspiration to me. I have so many cookbooks and magazines but usually reach for the same ones over and over again (Donna Hay, anyone?) :)

I want to use other books, those I haven’t taken out of the shelf for quite some time. Deciding which book to grab was not an easy task; choosing the recipe, on the other hand, was a walk in the park.

Nigella says

Pine nut-crusted cheese with roasted pepper

I think you have all been there: you see a wonderful recipe but one of the ingredients is not easy – or worse, impossible – to find where you live. That’s fine - we use something else instead.

Valentina had told me that queijo coalho is similar to haloumi – it even “squeaks” on the teeth once bitten. So queijo coalho it is. But the type found in the supermarket was one already cut in sort of

Nigella’s unpestoed pesto

Part 2 - that is not something I like seeing on the title of a movie. Some do make me curious, I’ll admit it, while others... Can even become a dark spot on someone’s career - I bet that the Oscar nominee Amy Adams would agree with me here. :)You’ll think: “she’s already posted pasta al pesto”. And you are right. Since sequels can be masterpieces, too, I present you my pesto part 2.I saw Nigella

Lemon poppy seed cookies... And no poppy seeds in Brazil

After posting this cake, I received several emails and comments from people here in Brazil asking me where I had bought poppy seeds, because they couldn’t find the seeds anywhere. I had no idea there was something going on – I had purchased the package a while before that.I call the store I usually buy spices from and the employee told me that poppy seeds had been forbidden in Brazil for a while;

Cinnamon French toast

I love breakfast food. In a perfect world, people should be able to eat pancakes, waffles, muffins and bread all through the day. :)

This was the first time I tried french toast, though. We do eat something really similar here in Brazil, called rabanada, but it’s usually prepared around Christmas time and it’s not a daily breakfast meal for us. It’s equally delicious: the bread is soaked in a

Linguine with zucchini, capers, lemon, pine nuts and herbs and a tribute to Sher

As many of you in the food blog world I was shocked with the news that our dear Sher had suddenly passed away.A lovely woman who would brighten up everyone’s day with encouraging comments and kind words, Sher was a passionate foodie and shared many delicious recipes on her delightful blog. She was the queen of meatballs!I only knew her virtually, but she’ll be missed and my heart goes out to her

Garlic lime shrimp

It’s winter here now and you guys from the Northern Hemisphere keep tempting me with your ice creams and sorbets... Not to mention the cherry recipes, right, Susan? :)
To make things worse, the Mail Service is working again and yesterday I finally received the July issue of Bon Appétit – loads of ideas for barbecues and grilling outdoors. I’m not a fan of barbecues, but Joao loves them. And I

Jam sandwich cookies

Baking cookies is not something common here in Brazil, so the ones I had growing up were of the store-bought variety. As a kid, I was never a fan of sandwich cookies. My friends and cousins loved them, and they would even open up the cookie and eat the entire filling first. The cookies I liked were the simple, plain ones. Like digestive cookies and such. When I was 6-7 there were cookies shaped

Bacon and oregano homemade pasta and two silly people having fun in the kitchen together

I have read that food can bring people together. I think it’s true – many celebrations involve family and/or friends around a table. And one doesn’t need an established occasion at all – having friends over for dinner for no apparent reason is equally wonderful.

Joao and I make our Sunday lunches a special part of our life. Work and traffic jams already keep us apart on weekdays and there’s