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

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

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

Venetian carrot cake

I’m not one of those people who think that one has to love everything about their country just because they were born there – no, definitely not my style. There are lots and lots of things about Brazil I’m not fond of, lots of things that need to change.

That said, I have to be honest with you: Nigella’s Venetian carrot cake is good, but our Brazilian carrot cake wins by a landslide. ;)

Baked ricotta with olive salad

Anyone who’s been reading my blog for a little while might have probably noticed I’m insanely partial to sweets – don’t get me wrong, I love food as a whole, but desserts ARE the best part of a meal. Don’t you think? :D

As a very responsible person, ahem, I know that one can’t live on cakes, cookies and ice cream – that’s why I’m always searching for delicious savory recipes that will be as

Little couscous cakes

I sometimes get the weirdest looks for saying this, but it’s true: I love the cold. To me, cold days are perfect for staying in, baking, watching TV under the covers... So good!

My mom was from Santa Catarina – in the South of Brazil - and I spent many vacations there as a little girl. My favorite time of the year there was in the middle of the winter, in July – my aunts used to prepare

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

Olive gnocchi with parsley garlic sauce

Thank you all for being so supportive about my disastrous bread. I learned that KJ and Jenjen, two of my favorite bloggers, did not have any luck with this recipe either. And Syrie, tks for the suggestion of leaving Jamie a message – it had crossed my mind, but I thought I was being too childish... :)

With all the info I have received from you and from the people who read my blog in Portuguese

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

Grilled eggplant with tomatoes and cheese and a new home

A quick post this time - I’m moving today and lots of boxes surround me right now.

If you like veggies, please, make this dish. It couldn’t be simpler and the flavors are so good. Serve it with some crusty bread and you’ve got yourself a meal.



Grilled eggplant with tomatoes and cheese
inspired by a recipe from Family Food

2 eggplants, sliced
1/3 cup (80ml) olive oil*
salt and freshly

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

Linguine with olives, thyme and lemon

Some people hate Martha, but I’m one of those who love her. :)I got this recipe from her website; the original version calls for pappardelle, but I chose to use linguine (one of my favorite pasta shapes). I think the substitution worked well.It is a quick, easy to put together sauce and it smells wonderful, but one thing that didn’t please me much was finding large pieces of zest in my pasta – as

Artichoke and lemon linguine and I've won a book!

Food bloggers are the best, aren’t they?The talented Allen had his first book giveaway and I won! Yay!!He’s sending me this amazing book, which comes with a DVD. I can’t wait to start making recipes from it!Thank you, Allen!I once tried a no-carb diet. Needless to say, it was a huge failure. I avoided rice and potato and bravely resisted cakes and cookies. But there are two things I can’t live

Parmesan wafer salad

Donna Hay again. Bear with me, please. :)

This salad was published on her magazine #29, in 2006, and it was part of an article in which she showed the readers some of the recipes from a book she was releasing back then. Such a teaser! I chose this salad because I love each and every ingredient in it, but I must admit that seeing it on the cover of the book made me think of how special it would

Sage and ricotta ravioli

Some things are worth repeating; there are movies I have seen more than five times and I’ll gladly catch any TV reruns.

So here I am, more than a year later, making raviolis with Deb’s pasta recipe again. It’s so divine I don’t know what took me so long.

I still haven’t bought a pasta machine but made it anyway, so put a little faith in your arms, grab a good rolling pin and you are good to

Baked pesto chicken

Some things sound wonderful but don't turn out so fine...Take “Arrested Development”, for instance. Such a great show – perfect writing, sharp cast. To think that the poor boy’s name is George Michael makes me laugh already; nothing against the name - to be clear about it, in case there’s a George Michael reading me right now – but for someone my age it’s impossible to read that name and NOT

Focaccia

I had a few oregano sprigs left from this dish and did not want them to go to waste. Add to that the fact that I love baking bread and hadn’t baked any in ages. So there you have it: my first focaccia!

This dough is great to work with and I really liked the result – the focaccia smelled wonderful while in the oven and waiting for it to cool down a little was pure torture… 5 minutes (yes, I

Arugula with baked saffron ricotta and your opinion about something

Before I start with the salad, I’d like to ask you guys something... Have you ever purchased something on King Arthur Flour.com? If you have, how was it? Any problems?

I was more than glad when I found out they would deliver their products here in Brazil – I won’t even mention things I desperately want but the stores won’t send them over – so I purchased a couple of things (butterscotch chips,