Hot and peppery

If I had to chose between all the spices that exists and only use that for the rest of my life I would no doubt chose black pepper. I love black pepper! And even better is the combination black pepper and pink pepper.

I have a coffee grinder where I grind my own pepper mix. The perfect combination is a little bit of white pepper, some more pink pepper and lots of black pepper. That is the ultimate seasoning!

I use black pepper on almost everything! I add it to almost every dish and even sweets. My favorite fruit salad contains black pepper and oranges.
Try it and see for yourself how good it is;

Simple fruit salad with black pepper
Oranges
Cheese, use ricotta or other fresh cheese that is not too salty
black pepper
(salt)

Peel and chop the oranges, dice the cheese, add pepper and salt to taste.
Enjoy.

See how simple it is. Of course you can add apple and other fruit as well. This combination is also very nice with red onion. Of course then it´s not going towards sweet but more salty.

What seasoning could you never live without?

This post belong to Brazilian Food Love, if you see it elsewhere please tell Linda.

How did you learn to cook?

Many of my friends often say " I´m not as good at cooking as you are". And I always say: Everybody can cook.

Because I truly believe it´s something most of us can do. All we need to do is practise.  When I was a child I had no idea how to cook, in my teens my mother was very hestiant at letting me cook. She thought I made a mess only eventhough I would clean everything afterwards.

I´m not a great cook, I just like to improvise and letting my fantasy and teste buds take over. But I am far from being as creative as many chefs or hobby chefs. Or at elast I think so. I am probably more creative than I think.

How did I learn how to cook? I got married. Haha. It´s actually true, after I got married I discovered I had a great interest in cooking and I needed to do it everyday.

How did you learn how to cook or do you think that some people are just not meant to cook?

Technorati Tags: cooking, learning to cook, a good chef, creative

What will the food be like?

What will the food be like?

That is a normal and very common question when you go abroad. But strange as it seems it´s never anything that has worried me. I have never thought too much about it.

When I traveled in Thailand for 6months it was a slight problem, I don´t like noodles, I don’t eat spicy food and I hate curry. So basically you could say I don´t like Thai food. But actually I do. I learned to find other kinds of food that I enjoyed. I learned how to say “fried chicken with cashew nuts". That was my favorite food when I traveled in Thailand. The way they prepare the food varies, in the south they do it one way and in the north they do it another way. I like all ways, as long as the cashew nuts are included. *lol*

And it´s the same here in Brazil of course. We in the south don´t eat the same food as they do in the north. In the north the food is more "picante" - spicy then it´s here. Or at least that’s what I’ve heard. I have never been to the north but the culinary experience is supposed to be special there.

So what will the food be like? Well that is an impossible wquestion to answer but you will surely find something you like.  You can expect a lot of rice tha´s for sure. *lol*

Technorati Tags: food, thai food, brazilian food, cashew nuts, rice

Jabuticaba cooking

My mother in law called me on Saturday and told me that there were lots of Jabuticabas on her mother in laws jabuticaba tree. I had already told her that I wanted some so I told my husband that we needed to go there immediately.

Jabuticaba is like a big blue colored berry that grown along the tree branches. Inside it is white and got tiny kernels. Those you either spit out or squeeze out.
We got to my husbands granny and my husband climbed the tree and started picking the jabuticabas. He picked 4 plastic bags. One being really big. I ended up with almost 3.

When I came home I rinsed them all in the sink and started to think about how I would store them. All my bowls were too small so I went and got the biggest bowl I had.

I am not sure how big this bowl is but it´s huge, probably 20 liters or so. The Jabuticabas are really big so I figure I had about 10 liters in the bowl. Here you can see the differnce between my big one and a normal little bowl.

My mission was to make squash and jelly from it. I have made 2 liters of squash so far. Burned one load of jelly and managed to make one load of jelly into syrup.
So it’s going pretty good. *lol*

The syrup will be for ice cream or yogurt, it´s very sweet. And todays mission is to make Liquor de Jabuticaba, a sweet tasting liquor with Cachaça – sugarcane rum.
I haven’t started on that yet so I can´t tell you how it´s coming on. But hopefully it will be good. And I still have about 4 liters of Jabuticabas left that I need to take care of today so I think I will make more squash as that seems to be the easiest.

London dear London

I´ve lived in London twice. The first time I stayed for eight months and the second time for almost 6 years. Every day there are people from all over the world who comes to London to try a new life. Many end up staying, you kind of get drawn into the busy life and you usually end up liking the hectic lifestyle that comes along with it.

I love London but I´m not sure I would like to move back and work there. A holiday would be nice though. There are loads of things to do in London of course, and if you are a gourmet you can find several nice places to indulge at.
If you have never been to London but are going this is what I´d recommend you to do;

First you need to find a hotel, Cheaper than hotels.UK have got many hotels in London for you to choose from at a good price.
When you are ready to hit town you should start with a relaxing walk in one of the many parks.
I particularly like Regent´s Park that is close to Primrose Hill. Primrose Hill is a wonderful little "village" with some very nice cafe´s where you might spot famous actors if you keep your eyes open. If you have kids they might like to go to the Zoo. Perfect for a quick coffee while you make your way up to Hampstead Heath and it´s surroundings for lunch.

After all that walking you might be a bit tired so go back to your hotel room and rest for half and hour or so and then get ready for some nightlife.
There are plenty of good restaurants around and their is something for every wallet as well. If you really want to visit Gordon Ramseys or a similar famous restaurant it can be good to book a few weeks in advance as it tends to be fully reserved most of the time if not all.
if you need help finding a pub or a club check Time Out London.

Of course you should include a trip to the London Eye and Trafalgar Square. If you are staying in the center there is no need to worry you will miss Piccadilly.
Cheese lovers should visit La Fromagerie which is just off Marylebone High street, close to Baker Street. See you can visit Sherlock Holmes and still get some cheese. La Fromagerie offers high quality cheese, absolutely worth a visit.

I love musicals so I would definitely go and see a show!

But why stop in London if you are going to England? Why not reserve a hotel room in Manchester and see what the rest of England has to offer. Once again, you can easily find Hotels in Manchester where you can have a pleasant stay at an affordable price.

I stayed in London too long and got caught in the working wheel so I didn´t take advantage of the country as I should have. If I would go there again, or maybe i should say when I will go again, I will try and get out and see places I didn´t see.

Cheaper than hotels have got hotels in Birmingham as well as many other places in the UK. A good choice if you want to spend your money on something sweeter. I would rather spend it on food and fun than accommodation, that´s for sure!

If I can help with any London questions, please ask. Or maybe you have got some recommendations yourself that you would like to add? Go ahead!

Hey Linda aren´t you cooking?

Of course I am!
It feels as if I am eating more than ever, I just haven´t had the time to write about it.
I have a yummy cupcake recipe coming up as well as a recipe for Pão de queijo, cheese bread.

Seriously I have sooooo many recipes that I want to share with you, I just need to write them down...

Well who ever waits for something good can wait a bit longer... OK I know that is freely translated from Swedish " Den som väntar på något gott". :)

Perfect for my cup!

I came across a very smart invention surfing through some blogs.
Cupcoats!

??? Yes Cupcoats!

Cupcoats are an eco-chic alternative to the cardboard sleeves typically used on paper cups to insulate your hands from your hot beverage. Instead of cardboard or 'double-cupping', add a dash of fashion to your hot coffee and tea experience with a Cupcoat by Cup Couture.

How cool isn´t that? I loved it!
How many times haven´t you burned your hands while holding a warm paper cup? If I had a Starbucks near me I would buy one of these little things and bring with me every time I bought a coffee. *lol*

And they come in different colors as well! I´m sure you can find one for you!
Angelina is my choice:

Angelina

Classy and sophisticated, the Angelina Cupcoat looks great no matter where you go. Hot pink, lime green, deep red accents on black and white. Black lining.

Photo from Cup Couture.

Too bad there is no Starbucks here...

Btw: Did you notice that I have joined the Foodie Blogroll? To find out more, check out the sidebar! A list full of great foodie blogs!

This post belong on Brazilian Food Love, if you see it else where please tell Linda.