A Brigadeiro Army

Brazilian Truffles in Cake Form

How much do you think a brigadeiro cake costs? one of H's crazy aunts asked me last weekend. I don't know, I replied, 50 reais? I don't buy cakes at bakeries so i really don't know, but this being Brazil where everything is overpriced probably a little steap. R$50? she wrinkled her nose in a slight disappointment. Twenty minutes later i learned that that she was actually asking how much a brigadeiro cake would cost me to make. My Portuguese is still in toddler form. Ahhh, a cake order. Our first cake order in Brazil, hot dog. For how many, and when? Next saturday, she replied, for seventy people. Seventy? Oh boy I'm in trouble.

A brigadeiro is a small squishy condensed-milk based chocolate truffle covered in sprinkles. So a brigadeiro cake would be some type of cake covered in a squishy condensed-milk based chocolate coating topped off with sprinkles. Easy enough, i can do that. The first time i made brigadeiro truffles was about two years ago, and happens to be posted here on this exact blog. But a cake for seventy people...foreget it. I'll spread upward but not out; sheet cakes horrify me. Yep, can't do it. Large rounds or squared, tiered if they must be are the only type of large cakes i'll do. Plus, i don't even own a bowl yet so what makes you think i have a sheet cake pan. As a snob, the only answer to cake for large parties is cupcakes. So seventy cupcakes and a large cake to cut into and adorn with candles. Let's do it.

The cakes were done up on friday, which was also a Brazil game, so the plan was to finish baking everything before it started at 11am. One cupcake pan and three boiling pots for mixing and we did it; seventy cupcakes and a three lawyer round all before the start of the game. As this is Brazil, H came home to watch the game...2 hour work day. His excuse was that we (we actually did) had to go to the dentist right after the game. My first dentist visit in Brazil...we can talk about that later. Unfortunately, brazil tied with the colonizers. But that's ok. We had homemade pizza for lunch and a lovely trip to the dentist to follow it.

The brigadeiro army of cakes was for the birthday party of a 13 year old cousin, last weekend was the birthday party of a 7 year old cousin. Not sure yet whose birthday party is next weekend. This family is way too big. Birthday party every week. I have never made this many cakes at the same time before, not even for my graduation party a year ago. My birthday is in about two weeks... i think i will make ice cream instead.

The brigadeiro cake topping consumed four cans of condensed milk. That's a lot of caramel. The cakes are chocolate truffle cakes; meaning that they contain both actual chocolate as well as cocoa powder. Brigadeiros are about as famous as the pão de queijo is in Brazil; traditionally brigadeiro is a birthday party staple, but they can be found pretty much year round at any bakery. Or, you can spend a few pennies and make your own. Brigadeiro truffles are usually rolled into balls and then covered in chocolate sprinkles, but there is nothing wrong with simply eating it on a spoon.

Chocolate Truffle Cake (makes one dozen)

Ingredients: 2 cup flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 cup butter, 1 cup sugar, 2 eggs, 2/3 cup milk, 1/2 cup cocoa powder

Method: Mix together the dry ingredients. In a seperate bowl, whip the butter, eggs and sugar. Add the dry mixture and milk alternately to the wets. Pour in muffin cups and bake at 350F for 20 minutes or until done.

Brigadeiro

Ingredients: 1 can condensed milk, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, 1 1/2 tbsp butter

method: Mix all ingredients together in a pan and bring to a boil over low heat stirring constantly. Unlike in my last post where i suggested to cook the brigadeiro for 15 to 20 minutes, the number has dropped to 5, somehow. Remove from heat and stir briskly. Allow to cool for about five minutes and and then top and cupcakes or cake and top with sprinkles immediately.

The awestruck look on all the faces of my new little cousins' was enough to justify the entire day spent smothering brigadeiro on the top of seventy little cakes. Cupcakes aren't big yet in Brazil, in fact there are many who have never had a cupcake. Today we helped to fix that even if only for a few. When the kids crowded around the table H turned to me and said, now you've won the family. I replied, I thought i already did that? He, well now you have all the kids on your side.

After cake we all sat down to watch the U.S.'s last game in the world cup this year. Even though i was the only American in the room, there were no Ghana supporters. There's an American in the family now, therefore the U.S. is now ours too. The amazing thing with Brazilian families is that there is no such thing as familiar levels. It doesn't matter whether you're a first cousin, the son of a third cousin twice removed, or the foreign wife of a nephew, family is family, and here, family is everything.

a bientot

New Photography Website

Exciting.

I have been working on my photography website with my web designer/developer (my sister) remotely for over a year. There's a lot of work behind what makes a website a website; a blog is easy, it's a template that's already there. A website is a bit trickier, it's built from a white page. No way in hell could i do it on my own, but having 5 sisters and brothers has it's perks; like everyone says it's good to have a doctor or lawyer in the family, well i like having a web designer and painter in mine.

As of now, the site has three galleries; food, travel and life and will be updated periodically. Soon a fourth gallery of weddings will be added. If you're outside of the US like me, give it about a minute to load as the server is stateside. I can't tell you how excited we are about this, and if you like the design and style, and want to hire a web designer and builder who can work for you completely remotely, contact my designer, Megan Elisabeth by visiting her portfolio.

Here it is! malloryelise.com!!!!!


One more photography note, we forgot to mention on our birthday that we were interviewed on the food photography site Great Food Photos owned and operated by photographer and blogger Donny Tsang. Check it out, it's full of great photos (there are other photographers interviewed, such as Aran Goyoaga) and wordy interviews.

Salty's Third Birthday

a look back

I can't believe it's been three years. I could have sworn it's been ten. Has your birthday ever snuck up on you? Has your spell check ever tried to tell you that snuck is not a word? Yesterday, i was sitting here in my chair not wanting to work like every other human on a monday morning, and i realized suddenly that the following day was my blog anniversary. How could i have forgotten? Two years ago my one year anniversary celebration was planned for over a week! Invitations were sent, reservations were made, cakes were baked and a tiny bar in Paris, France, was rented out. And now, two years later, three years from the beginning of it all, i let it sneak up on me. I'm not sure if it is coincidence or not that my life started at the same time Salty did. no no, it is true, my life started three years ago and i have lived a whirlwind lifetime within that margin. Three years ago we didn't know what we wanted and didn't know what we were doing. We've figured out a few of those things as best we can within the past few years, and have a passport full of stamps, a diploma, a job resume, a marriage license, a permanent visa, a house, a pot of sunflowers and an aging blog to prove it. In three years our life and our blog has been through an awful lot. Salty's fault.

Aside from my impulsive live today as if dying tomorrow personal life outside of blogging, three years has shown a tremendous growth on my blogging abilities, well perhaps my writing is suffering (i'm not as cheeky as i used to be) but my photography has gotten a hell of a lot better. It's almost creepy to have your progress and ability in your work cataloged weekly on a blog. I look back at the old posts and my nose does that embarrassed wrinkle; i took that photo? There is nothing in the world that can prove more the notion of progress through practice than the progression of a photo portfolio (i am not being paid for this article so i can state absolutes). The thing with photography is that you can only teach yourself, and you can only teach yourself through interest, passion and practice. Very few are ever born to do anything, and i certainly was not born to photograph. But in three years i've grown to love it as if it is who i am. Plainly put, i am excited for what i will put out look after the next three years of practice as i have come to the conclusion that we can only get better.

Some before and after shots in commemoration of three years? Yes i think so. Before is on the left, after is on the right.













I recall saying in high school photography class that i never wanted and never would be a photographer. There's no money, too risky, you may go through all the trouble and nothing will come out of it other than teaching photography in a dank high school dark room (desculpe, yes i had a bit of resentment for the photography teacher...hasn't evaporated after five years?). But now, as strange as life has it, as strange as learning French in order to live my life in France and ending up in Brazil struggling to learn Portuguese is, I of course want to be a photographer. Go figure, nothing is ever as we want it to be.

Today is Salty's birthday; haven't gone grocery shopping in a while...no eggs, no planning. However, today is also the first game Brazil plays in the World Cup so it is just slight of a national holiday. Workers get the time off to race home and catch the game. Yes it's true. H is coming home early, we're going to a party to watch the game, and in the back of my mind i will be dedicating the celebration to Salty, for the fact that i'm here, doing what i'm doing, thinking what i'm thinking, and feeling what i'm feeling. Life changed with the Salty. Happy birthday buddy, we may have slowed down a bit, but we are still here more alive than ever.

a bientot

A Book - O Livro

55 Knives

No not my book (don't worry we're working on it) but a book in which i happen to have a small part in (one chapter to be exact). 55 Knives; a compilation of 55 recipes and prosy personal stories from 55 different food bloggers. Now, there are assuredly more than 55 food bloggers out there, i would say there are undoubtedly more than 500 (maybe 1000, 2000?), so stating the 55 chosen as the "best" is impossible as no one can really get to know every food blog, and it would sound very conceited of me as i know of many better chefs, writers and photographers on the web. So i'm no really sure if i'm in the top of anything. The fact of the matter is that some blogs are better than others, but it depends on the category. Some food blogs are better for the food itself, some for photography, the layout, and some for the writing. So who's the best depends on what you are judging. The 55, in my opinion, are a just a random sample of what's out there.

I know many of the 55 authors behind this book, and know many food bloggers who aren't part of it but are just as if not more skilled than i am in one of the three food blogging categories. For this project, however, writing and story telling seem to be the linking thread amongst the chosen bloggers. The wordy bloggers who want to write poetry about the beauty of mushroom spores, the sound of a buttered knife as it scrapes across a nearly burnt slice of toast, or the memory of their grandma peeling garlic for 7 hours until she passed out in a bed of broccoli are the ones who are part of this project. Ah, verse. If you like that and don't mind it accompanied by full detailed recipes, then buy the book!

Nick Evans of Macheesmo, the organizer behind the project, settled on an e-book rather than a paper book as well lets face it, the publishing industry can be quite a bitch eh. If you think about it, a compilation of internet writers should be in an electronic book. You read my words on the screen already, just think of the shock you would suffer if they were actually in print. Furthermore, this book can be downloaded anywhere in the world. How long do you think it would take to come to print here in Brazil? Exactly. And at a 80% price inflation.

The book is split into appetizer, soups, salads, entrees and desserts. There are plenty of vegetarian recipes and at least one gluten free recipe that i know of (mine). So, what is my chapter on? (Brazilians, you will laugh) pão de queijo; an extremely simple little tapioca and cheese bread. When Nick contacted me for a chapter he mentioned that the recipe should be one that has a personal story attached to it (since we love our food bloggers for their wordy turn of phrase) so i knew immediately what i had to write about. (this recipe was actually already posted on Salty about 2 years ago, if you can be a scout and search it out, parabéns!!). But, in order to get the full love story (oh yeah) you have to buy the book. Actually, reading the old post and then this one back to back would be quite entertaining. I'm not sure if its gratifying or horrifying to realize that the last three years of my life are capsuled in this blog.

The price is $14 now, and then it jumps to $19 at the end of the week. But guess what; if you buy it from my link i receive 50% of the revenue. What will the profits be put toward? A weekend in Rio. Or, perhaps a mixing bowl so i can stop using my boiling pots for stirring batter and dough.

follow the link below if you would like to purchase a copy.

Click here to purchase through my feed!

Senora Cenoura,

meet my friend Miss Ginger

Ginger and Carrot Rice Cake (Gluten Free)
Bolo de Arroz com Cenoura e Gengibre (Sem Glúten)

Why's it a rice cake? Guess. So in a few weeks i will have been in Brazil for four months, officially a third of a year. How is my Portuguese you ask? Am i participating in friendly banter with the locals at the corner bakery early each morning and making dentist appointments by phone? No. Strangely i am still worse off than a three year old when it comes to speaking. Writing, reading and listening i would say i am at about a third grade level (special ed third grade) but what can i say, i'm not enrolled in a class and during the weekdays my only Portuguese is television (oh wait, i meant soccer announcers) and eavesdropping on the quarblings of strangers at the gym. Of course there is the everyday use of comprehension, such as discovering that the bag of corn flour i purchased to make bread with was in fact actually corn starch (soup rather than dough alerted me to the findings). During my first week living in France i recall washing my clothes solely in fabric softener.

I've realized that i have to learn a word four and a half times before it makes any sense or has any chance of remaining inside my memory. When the word carrot (cenoura) finally stuck, i stammered, wait a minute, isn't that a Mrs.? no no, laughs my [cough] Portuguese professor (the reason i'm not enrolled in a class), that's senora, not cenoura. Eh? Where is the difference? I have a phobia of some day calling a madam a carrot. The phenomenon continues to plague me. After being asked how my parents were about six dozen times, it finally clicked that pais were parents. Oh they are fine. but wait a minute....parents are breads? the Portuguese word for bread in the multiple is pães, which sounds exactly like pais (to me). wonderful. Mrs. Carrot and my parents are breads. The list goes on, but my fingers do not. Plainly put, Portuguese is not an easy language. When Holly Golightly believed that Fred was in league with the butcher, she really didn't know what she was getting herself in to.

Carrots are fascinating creatures, i love to make cakes with them and have been known to proclaim on multiple occasions that the carrot cake is indeed my favorite. That is, if one can have a favorite cake (i don't think so because whenever i make cinnamon cake i say the same thing). So carrots; we were at the grocery store on sunday as usual (sunday is our grocery day as i am yet unable to drive and get myself anywhere on my own) and spending way too much time in the yogurt aisle as we always do. who doesn't love yogurt. H puts a yogurt in the cart, this was my favorite flavor when i was little. i look. carrot? carrot flavored yogurt? try and find me an American kid who pines after carrot flavored yogurt. how bizarre. but hey, i make cakes out of carrots so what's the difference? The yogurt escapade inspired the cake, which i have now made three times in the past two weeks to ensure to you dear readers that the recipe is perfectly flawless, so you better not screw it up.

The first and second cake (second cake was baked as cupcakes) were carrot and orange; cenoura e laranga, the orange came from the second ingredient in the carrot flavored yogurt which i couldn't taste in the yogurt. To make sure the essence came through in the cake, i used an entire orange peel (the whole thing). As i don't have a zester or food processor, i blended the carrot and orange peel together in a blender until the pieces were fine enough. The same recipe (minus the orange) was used to make the carrot ginger cake. Why ginger today? Because i'm making Japanese food tonight and have a monstrously heavy ginger root that tends to dry out if kept for too long. Ginger caipirinha is next. After tasting both the Salty preference stands at: Carrot Ginger!

You'll notice that there is no xanthan gum, gelatin, or what have you in the cake. I have yet to find xanthan gum in my grocery markets, so i have gone au-naturel. But lo and behold it rose, bound itself, and tastes good all without a mountainous list of ingredients. hmmmm.

carrot ginger/or orange rice cake- gluten free

ingredients:
1 cup white caster sugar (use 1/2 white 1/2 brown if you prefer), 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 2 large eggs, 1 cup white rice flour (wheat flour if you prefer), 1 large (extremely large, practically 2) tbsp tapioca flour or starch, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder (only 1 if using wheat flour), 1/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 cup finely ground or grated carrot, peel of 1 orange finely ground or 1 tbsp finely ground fresh ginger.

Method:Beat sugar, oil and eggs together in a large bowl. Add the rice flour, tapioca flour, salt, cinnamon and baking powder to the same bowl (i don't mix the wets and drys separately in this recipe) and stir until evenly incorporated.

Chop one medium carrot into small pieces and place in the blender. Add one whole orange peel removed from the orange using a paring knife or add the freshly chopped ginger. Blend the two ingredients until they are finely ground. The final product should be about one cup.

Add carrot mixture to batter and stir until incorporated. Pour into a buttered and floured 8 in round or into about 10 cupcake tins (less for wheat flour, about 8).

Bake at 350 F for about 20 minutes for a round and 10-15 minutes for cupcakes. All ovens vary in temperature (especially gas and electric) so watch them until they are dry in the middle.
(optional) Cream 8oz of cream cheese with 1 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar and 1 tsp vanilla for a frosting.

Bolo de Arroz com Cenoura e Gengibre - Sem Glúten

Ingrédientes: 200 grama de açucar, 210 grama de óleo, 2 ovos grandes, 125 grama farinha de arroz (ou trigo), 7 grama de fermento em pó, 10 grama de farinha de mandioca (só para bolo de farinha de arroz), um pouco de sal, 1 colher de canella, 110 grama de cenoura ralada, 1 colher grande de gengimbre ralado ou casca de laranja inteira.

Método:
Combina açucar, óleo e ovos na uma tigela grande. Adiciona farinhas, fermento, canella e sal. Mistura bem.
Colocou cenoura e gengimbre/ou casca de laranga no um liquidificador. Ralado bem. Adiciona no bolo.

Cozinhe para vinte minuto a 250 graus.

May is nearing an end and it's becoming quite cold here. Winter mornings and chilly evening runs. It's funny how we think of South America only as a hot tropical local completely forgetting that there is a South Pole too. Inside the tropic of Capricorn by just 30 minutes; the Antarctic cold fronts that sweep in off of Argentina aren't pretty. It's starting to actually feel like winter, despite the fact that it is almost June. So maybe i'm getting used to things here. Maybe. Mrs. Carrot. Oh wait no, i still don't have a Kitchenaide mixer.

Fin d'Avril - Final de Abril

April is supposedly the equivalent to the northern September, it's the autumnal month that brings in the winter months of May, June and July. I suppose it has been a bit chilly, sometimes getting as low as sixty degrees. Evenings and the early morning are the only ones who suffer, or how you look at it- benefit. It's almost May, almost one year since i first set foot in Brazil. How can so many things happen in just one year. One year ago to this day, i was just ten days shy of a college graduation, working as a photographer and writer for a magazine, and planning an utterly insane voyage to a country i (bear with me) had no business being in. One year later, as i sit here typing to you, it seems like a lifetime has elapsed. One year without school, without professors, without exams, one year of paying bills and loans (merde), one year of writing (and crying) freelance, a stage in a bakery, a hundred ferry boat rides, a series of months thrown in that seemed to have no purpose whatsoever aside from their role of ticking down, a decision that did not need to be decided, a move, a wedding, a visa, a new home, a new life - and here we are. Ready to discuss dried peppers and gluten free muffins. How is this life? Who said it would be like this? Somehow Salty did.

As we live alone without any mothers to feed us, i cook. I didn't know i could cook. Well, anyone can cook, but i didn't know i would be as excited by it as with baking. Uh oh. There's something about just making flavors work, and somehow knowing that they will. As much as i am fond of Brazilian food, i can't handle eating the same thing as nauseum. I need Mexican, Asian, Indian, French and even some American. Bingo. I can't tell you how much i am intrigued by Indian foods, particularly curry. Simple food made amazing simply by the intricate combination of spice. I know i sound a bit like prosaic Tony here. My kitchen is the international kitchen, as i am a foreigner myself, i feel at home with any and all other tings that are also out of place. The only problem is finding the ingredients i was so well pampered with at my fancy-pants international has-everything market in Seattle.

Enter chilies. I am a spice wimp, but yet i love the taste of chilies. Brazilians, for the most part, do not eat spices. At the grocery store i sought out red chilies, hmm, a pack of 30. Guess not too many people are in need of a chili here or there. So with 30 scalding hot chilies to my name, i did what any good preserver would do; i dried them. Feeling like the California raisin girl (minus the bonnet) i slit them in two and lined up their plump bodies on the balcony. In two days they were shriveled snakes barely reminiscent of their former self. Now the idea of drying things out in the sun makes you wonder about those who choose not to wear sunscreen...Either way, when people hear about my chili antics, eyebrows are raised: hmmm mexican....

Moving on to yet another topic, i have been making muffins quite frequently in an attempt to make a proper pizza dough. The muffins are now a success while the pizza dough is still a large cracker. Maybe it doesn't help that i have no bowls, trays or stones....frying pans and rice pots for everything. The muffins, as light, fluffy and airy as they are, are gluten free and made without any added binding agent. No xanthan gum, no gelatin, nada. Equal parts (1/2 cup each) of 3 alternative flours, 2 tsp baking powder, 2 eggs, a dash of milk, cinnamon, ginger, sugar, butter, pureed mango (or whatever you have on hand right) and all the other yada that goes into muffin making. It's quite surprising but in Brazil rice flour costs less than wheat flour, and there are more kinds of tapioca (manioc) flour than one could ever think possible. There are many recipes that rely on tapioca and corn flour alone, and never does there seem to be any rising or binding problems, and these recipes have been used for, well, for a long time. Makes you wonder why when you see some gluten free recipes out there you see an ingredient list of a length that surpasses even the most complex of curries. I think the moral is that we always make things harder than they actually are.

Gluten Free Cinnamon Ginger Muffins
Ingredients: 1/2 cup each of any three gluten free flours, 1/4 butter or oil, 2 tsp baking powder, 2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/4 cup milk, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, grated ginger to your taste.

Method: mix dry ingredients together and add wets (all in the same bowl, no need to mix wets before adding). Fill muffin cups 3/4 of the way full, and bake at ~350 F (my oven is in C now) for about 10-15 minutes or until they are done (dry in the middle).

I'm still playing in my kitchen, still playing with my life. Learning what i can do, and what i have to work harder to be able to do. Looks like i will have to grown my own herbs and wash all the dishes by hand. Hang the laundry up to dry and tweak the the original road i had planned. That seems to occur on a yearly basis. But we're still headed for the same goal, whatever that may be. Brazilian autumn is a beautiful time of year, and in the country side, one can say that it is dangerously close to perfect.

a bientot

upcoming: not sure yet

Paraty - RJ

the gold stops here

Thinking about going to Rio de Janiero? Why not try for something a little smaller, a little cozier, and a little more colonial. The coastal city of Paraty (par-ah-chee) is about a three hour drive from Rio and is thus easily accessed by bus, taxi or van from the airport. Paraty rests on a natural bay on Brazil's Costa Verde (green coast). The bay is protected from waves surrounded by coastal mountains, and spotted with so many small islands that one feels planted in the middle of a Pirates of the Caribbean scene. The waters and sands of Paraty are not the typical images of sprawling sands covered with sun bathing bodies. The beaches are shallower, dotted with shade trees, and offer more than an arm's length of personal space between you and the sun-bathing Brazilian next to you. But more than the beach, more than the private jungle swimming with pool-side monkeys, more than the five-hour boat cruise through the bay with quick blue-water dips, is the fact that Paraty is an historically preserved colonial town complete with original cobble stone streets, Portuguese tiled and painted buildings, and an overall feeling in the air whispering that you have been transported back in time, and if you just look over your shoulder, there will be a majestic caravel sailing off the port with its bounty of Brazilian gold. How romantic. Just keep the murderous pirates out of your fantasy.

Paraty was "founded" by the Portuguese in 1667. The original inhabitants were the Guaianás Indians, but the Portuguese felt their need for a gold port was slightly more relevant than a complete way of life. However, in well-known Portuguese courtesy, the original name of the region was kept. Paraty, which in the Tupi language means "river of fish", became the destination exit port for gold mined in Minas Gerais (view story on Ouro Preto). Today, Paraty is an historically preserved heritage site with a down town reserved only for pedestrians willing to navigate the uneven hand-size cobble stone alleys puddled with sea water and the occasional crawling crab.

We arrived in Paraty at night, after a six hour drive (four hours under good conditions) from Sao Paulo through the foggy Serra do Mar, the coastal mountains that separate the sea level from the upper plains, and the never-ending stretch of coastal high way through machine-gun rain. With nerves wrecked (Brazilian rain can kill, and it often does), we entered the town through stone gates. Priceless. The rain trickled off as we made it through the city center toward "pousada avenue" as it appeared. There is no lack of lodging in this vacationer's destination. Of the some one hundred pousadas, the Brazilian equivalent to the bed & breakfast, out destination was Eliconial Pousada & Spa (website); a paradise inside of paradise already. A private pool surrounded by palm trees and tropical vegetation and visiting monkeys. Each room is fashioned as a miniature suite complete with kitchen and private bathroom. The private secluded atmosphere is undoubtedly one of the strongest features of the place, as are the welcoming staff typically Brazilian breakfast served each morning. Eliconial, and the majority of other pousadas in Paraty, are within walking distance (about 3 minutes) of the beach and of the downtown (about 20 minutes).
The best way to explore Paraty and it's breathtaking bay are to first simply stroll through the historic down town on your way to the port, and then jump on one of the many boats ready and waiting to take you on a cruise through the bay's many coves and miniature islands. A boat ride through the bay is undoubtedly the number one must-do in Paraty. The rides are extremely affordable, between 20 and 4o reais per person for a four to five hour cruise. Mine, however, was free as i was on my honeymoon. Remember that tid bit. The dock is packed with an immeasurable number of schooners (escunas) and their crew calling-out for customers. Choose whichever appeals most to you, however, i recommend "The Name of the Rose," (O Nome da Rosa) a comfortable and friendly schooner whose crew lead you on a five-hour tour to numerous islands and inlets, anchoring for blue-water swimming dips straight off the boat and a snorkeling dive to view any willing sea life. Many of the locations visited are only possible via boat, so don't miss out. My husband and i both agree that lounging on the deck of boat while sailing through the warm blue-green waters was the biggest highlight of the trip.

As far as food goes, Rio de Janeiro does not have as distinct a regional food as say Mineira cuisine (from Minas Gerais). However, when in Paraty, take advantage of the fresh seafood. If the area is crowded by pousadas, it is overrun by restaurants. Aside from tourism and art shops, the down town hosts no less than three restaurants on every street. The atmosphere is not unlike the nightlife in Paris' Latin Quarter, complete with a variety of gelato (sorveteria) shops to make the cobble stone walk after dinner a little sweeter.


Visit the churches, view some local art, read up on some of the town's history, buy a t-shirt--but when you're ready to relax, grab a towel and a coconut water, and plant yourself under a palm on the beach and just enjoy the beauty around you. I could not have wished for anywhere better for my honeymoon. History, beach, privacy- paradise on earth.

A bientot

upcoming: my new kitchen

There Was a Wedding

Cupcakes and Cakes

Readers, i know you will forgive me for my absence when i say that i have been busy with a big project: a wedding. Yes a wedding cake! In Brazil, fondant is known as "American Paste" or something like that, as very few wedding cakes in Brazil are covered with the stuff. Leave it to an American to fulfill the prophecy. Petit in size, the two-tiered cake was accompanied by an army of cupcakes; also unheard of in Brazil. I signed up to make the cakes from the minute i found out about this wedding, and of course i planned all along to bake and decorate it all on the day before the event as i knew there would be a few other things to do; such as getting the rest of the event planned and legalized. Wedding planner too? Whose wedding was this? My own :)

Yes. me. wedding on Saturday at 10:35 am in a civil registry office wearing a very tight (but coutour) pearl white dress that hit the knee. No fluffy "Say Yes to the Dress" princess gown. The plan: small wedding as un-wedding like as possible. But do not think we are rebels; it wasn't because we didn't want, but because i wasn't interested in having a real wedding with my side of the aisle empty. With the rest of my family back in the United States, there was no possiblity of asking everyone to fly to Brazil at the same time. The result: civil registry office with 16 witnesses followed by a lunch at a Brazilian steak restaurant (yes the ones with the dressed up Gauchos) and my laptop computer planted squarly on the table in lieu of my plate. Wedding reception via skype. Yes much different, but to me, the day was perfect.

Because of cake.

What is the perfect day to bake the cake for a saturday wedding. Answer: friday. I woke up friday morning (with an unexpected hangover from the previous night's dinner with fancy pants business men visiting from the US. i am asked along of course because i am an English speaking curiosity. what?) to do all the shopping for the cakes. Started baking about 2 (after a nap of course) and finished the army of cupcakes and small two-tiered rice and tapioca flour lemon cake. I covered the cake in white fondant and embellished with white fondant polka dots and white fondant ribbons to cover the horrid seams. I dusted the dots and ribbons with an irridescent pearl dust (not particularly visible in the photographs). Cupcakes, well they are too many flavors to list. The point is, I made my own wedding cake. And everyone, in particular my husband and I, loved it. So in my mind, the day was a success. Well, that and also driving to Paraty in Rio de Janeiro state right afterward. But that's for another post.


I moved to Brazil two months ago to attempt a new language, a new culture, a new career, a new life, and above all the rest, to get married to the man I love; The crazy brazilian who has been part of the Salty Cod since the beginning, the "editor" for those of you long-time readers who can recall. This blog began three years ago because of Paris, and that's exaclty how H and I began; three years ago because of Paris. Two months of paperwork, two months of house work (moving in tomorrow!), and just 6 more months of pending permanent residency, but we're married. We're happy. And now we're back on track with more regular posting.

Upcoming: Exploring the colonial town of Paraty, Rio de Janeiro & inaugurating my new kitchen. Stay tuned.

a bientot

Ice Cream 2 Ways

Avocado Lemon & Lemon Mint

Ice cream? In March? Remember i'm in the Southern hemisphere now and it is (the end) of summer. Over the past (almost 4) weeks i have realized a few things: i am not going to use the oven to bake anything until i move into my house, i'm not interested in baking yet in the heat, and i enjoy using serial commas. Now obviously it is possible to bake in the heat, millions do it and i have no doubt that i will. But the oven in this house.....and it's not because it's gas, thousands of bakers bake with gas, even my new still-in-plastic shrink wrap oven is gas (though it has a nifty ignite button, so no matches). It's something else....this oven just doesn't like me; it knows i'm North American. Actually there is no thermometer or temperature gauge anywhere to be found and i am not yet quite to the level (and loss of sensory nerve) where i have skill enough to stick my hand inside and determine "yup, 219 celcius." For example. The other day there were 7 blackening bananas, and so before they were mashed 50-50 with sugar in a sauce pan for "dessert" (read: plain) i said hey, stop, let's make banana bread, because after all that is what we Americans do with bananas is it not? Alright alright they nodded, (this of course came out of my mouth in my wonderful present tense Portuguese) and i made the bread. Not cake, i insisted they call it bread. Sweet bread seems to not compute. As the story goes, the thing came out charred black. This was a problem the last time i was here as i recall. But cut away the bottom and sides and it's perfect inside. You've spleened me for the last time oven, now i am only making things on top of you or with no heat at all.

While we were in the middle of miserably hot weeks (90 degrees is miserably hot for me) i thought, ah, i'll make ice cream....no one makes homemade ice cream here. No kidding. But i didn't actually want to be right with that statement. Why make it when you can buy it everywhere? that's something that is starting to pop up more and more around me. The bakeries make bread, so why make it? Cookies come in packages, so why mess up a pan? Well, i guess the answer to all of it is i like to do it. It's not the product i am crazy over, it is the process. However, one thing, at least in this household, that is homemade more often than bought is juice. Juice? Granted there are dozens of varieties of juices at the grocery market, but fresh fruit is not expensive, and buying an entire pineapple for one pitcher of juice is quite reasonable. I watch H's mom make juice daily out of pretty much anything. One carrot and one apple? Done. Chop, put in blender, add water and sugar, then strain and drink. She has a pretty fancy pants juicer that happens to be named Mallory (the name of the electronics brand, seriously. they manufacture coffee makers, toasters and fans too) but she does it this way. Lemons, avocados, oranges-seriously it takes a lot of fruit to make a small amount of juice. But no one has scurvy around here that's for sure. So yesterday there was a bag of passion fruits, about 6 apple-sized yellow globes. I (myself) will make passion fruit juice. When you cut into a passion fruit it is quite hollow, there is a glob of seeds attached to a pink membrane with a little juice surrounding. Once that is scraped out all that is left is white sponge and quite unattractive nodes that look like sea anemone tentacles. Whoever thought to call this fruit 'passion' has a sick mind...the Brazilians actually believe it to be a sedative fruit, quite ironic actually. Can't get to sleep? Suck on a passion fruit. In Portuguese it is called maracuja. I mixed it with squeezed lemons, sugar and water and thought it extremely tart (but good). Later i noticed H's mom added about 50 percent more water. Guess i'm too tart.

What? Ice cream? As i was set on making ice cream to do a post for poor Salty, i had it stuck at the front of my mind. We went to Sao Paulo last week for another visit to the US consulate to finish up a few things, and on the way we stopped at my favorite place smack on the corner of a highway exit ramp, the kind with large obnoxious billboards- where? None other than the extremely corny Castelinho da Pamonha, also known as the "Corn Castle" to grab some corn ice cream to make going to the consulate less dreadful. Now, i wrote about this place last August when i recreated the sweet corn ice cream in a post here. I guarantee you that anyone who visits will be forced even against their will into this place. there's even a corn playground. Neither here nor there, but i couldn't make and post corn ice cream again...so i keep moving.

Two days later i went for a visit to an aunt's house (there are about 20 aunts) which is settled in the garden of an extremely large mansion in a private condominium surrounding a river. Why in the garden? Her husband is the gardener. We were there, of course, for "afternoon coffee" and snacks...slightly British if you ask me. We went into the kitchen and she opened the oven; each rack was lined with avocados (Brazilian avocados are huge, bigger than mangoes) that practically spilled out over the floor. jesus, i said, your oven is full of avocados. well, what a wonderfully obvious statement. Now the sky is blue. But at least i'm trying. Aunts, uncles and cousins are the only ones so far who i am comfortable attempting to practice my wretched Portuguese on. Now there were two more large buckets of avocados on the porch; how is she going to use all these? Horrific thoughts returned to last January in my grocery market in Poulsbo (near Seattle) where i unfortunately had to pay $2.50 for a single rotten avocado that was smaller than an apple. yeesh. Another bucket of lemons, a bucket of oranges, and every 5 minutes one of the caged-quails seemed to pop out yet another spotted egg. Well, i have to say being a gardener looks quite rewarding in more ways than one. When we left we took a shopping bag full of avocados and lemons. i'm going to make avocado and lemon ice cream. Thanks tia.

Back to the nobody makes ice cream here statement. I want an ice cream maker for my birthday (which is in July), i told H a few weeks ago. Anyways. Haven't yet seen one at any kitchen store....gulp. So i'm making it by hand for now. Guess they aren't the most popular selling of products-First sign. Now for cream; everyone knows you need cream to make ice cream (hence the second part of the word.) So we be at the grocery store, "where is the cream? doesn't anything come in bottles?" Poor H who tries to help as best he can to accommodate my outrageous projects that make no sense to Brazilians. He looks, thinks, then says "what kind of cream? What does it come from?" uh, a cow. Oh. We shuffle to an aisle with cardboard boxes full of already prepared whip cream mix that you simply whip. No, not this. I want pure cream, this has sugar and chemical junk in it, isn't there anything fresh? Something that has to be kept cold? At this point he is quite confused and my attitude doesn't help. The people at the store inform us that they don't sell it-second sign. please please, this is not the time to have one of those breakdown culture-shock moments. Over the weekend we stopped by the pharmacy at Carrefour and thought to see if they had cream in a bottle, they did (i think it's cream....) have cream in a bottle. Fresh whipping cream (i hope that's what it is...). Hooray Carrefour! However slightly expensive. At this point i decided to make two flavors, because i'm like that. I need mint now. For lemon mint ice cream. Mint?...again i have confused the poor man, like toothpaste flavor, i clarify. I head over to the produce section with green leaves and herbs, H asks "why are you here then?" I pick up a bundle of mint and say uh, to get the mint. "That's mint? Mint is blue." interesting....wait what?? Let's laugh and move on. We are so lucky to be awarded so many possibilities to laugh at the smallest of things each and every day. Culture is such a wonderful thing, nothing is wrong, nothing is right, all it is is different.

So here is my ice cream, no machine, only hand. It is a combination following the methods of David Lebovitz and Jamie Oliver (both don't mind machine-less cream). I made them both at 5:30 this morning since H left early for work (we have an appointment at the registry office early in the afternoon, immigration stuff). All ingredients were thrown in the blender, and then poured into casserole dishes and placed in the freezer. As they are thick (in depth) they took quite a while to freeze, stirring every 30 minutes to break up the clumps. Would you believe 5-6 hours? Avocado is a great ingredient to use when attempting the dish method to make ice cream as it is a naturally fatty food and allows the ice cream to remain creamy with fewer ice crystals. And, not surprisingly, the lemon mint tastes exactly like a mojito. Now we have homemade ice cream, probably the only homemade ice cream around for miles. Was it worth it? I think so.

Avocado Lemon Ice Cream
Ingredients:
500ml cream, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 can sweetened condensed milk, 2 Brazilian avocados (like 4 of the wimpy ones in the U.S.), juice of 2 lemons, 1 tsp vanilla extract (or powder).

Lemon Mint Ice CreamIngredients:
600ml cream, 1.5 cups sugar, 1/2 can sweetened condensed milk, juice of 2 lemons, 1-2 tbsp finely chopped fresh mint leaves.

Method (for both):
Combine all ingredients in a blender and whirl until smooth (you need to use a blender or you will have avocado chunks...mmm). If using a machine, follow the instructions for your particular model. If making by hand, poor into a shallow baking dish (plastic, glass, etc.) and place in the freezer. Check it after 45 minutes and stir with spatula or whisk. Keep checking every 30- 60 minutes (depending on size of container and temperature of freezer) keep stirring until it is consistency enough to serve.


a bientot

ps. i'm experimenting with banners, this is the third in the past three weeks....can't quite get it right. Yes i do take constructive criticism as useful. So keep it coming.