Ever have one of those days where it feels like you just can’t do anything right? That you have to scrap everything and just start from zero again? Yeah. Me too. Today was one of those days. I pulled my car to the curb and sighed one of those sighs that wheeze out of your …
The Oxymoron of American Pizza in Brazil
Brazilians have a funny idea of what is American. It’s a cross between what they see on TV and what they think is cool (which may or may not have anything to do with actual American customs. To point, behold the “American Pizza” we enjoyed last night: sausage (check), cheese (check), sauce (check), ham (check), …
100 Brazilian Dishes: Blender Cake
I had no idea what they were talking about when I first read the list of 100 Brazilian Dishes. Blender cake? I learned later that most homemakers here make cake by throwing all the ingredients in the blender then pouring it into a cake pan. One more use for that trusty kitchen tool–juices, seasonings, and …
Fotocrônica: Too Many Avocados?
I suppose it’s possible to have too much of a good thing. Too many avocados? I’m not sure that’s possible. What? You don’t store your extra avocados in the oven?
Fotocrônica: I’ve Arrived
It’s orange season! Around here almost everyone has an orange tree in their back yard, or knows someone who does. We all sit around snacking on oranges until we can’t stand it anymore. Most of these trees are juice oranges and they don’t peel easily. Thus, the correct way to eat a Brazilian orange is to slice off …
100 Brazilian Dishes: Vaca Atolada
My husband and his construction crew are proving themselves to be excellent cooks. Although most of their recipes seem to demand large amounts of meat and the world’s largest pressure cooker. This week’s menu selection was vaca atolada. I did a little, hidden dance of joy over behind the sacks of plaster because it was on …
Foods to Welcome Baby
Ok, so we had a baby over here! That’s my rock-solid excuse for not blogging for most of December and January: lost in baby-land. (For those that are curious, it’s a girl, 3,78 kilos/8 lbs. 5 oz., healthy, and adorable–see right) Relatives and friends have arrived in droves to coo over the new little one. …
Fotocrônica: The World’s Biggest Pressure Cooker
Someone donated a pig to the plastering crew at my husband’s shop, with all the bits included. They, being working men with an average age of 24 and the corresponding ginormous appetites, decided that this meant they should make a monster load of feijoada. To their credit, it was pretty damn tasty. The endeavor also …
Festas Juninhas
June is the month of the popular saint São João, and it’s a pretty good time to be in interior Minas Gerias, Brazil. It’s harvest festival time. Each weekend a different neighborhood in town sponsors a party. Everyone bundles up in their winter gear (this is the one month where scarves and hats and/or warm …
