A couple great recipes from our Memorial Day barbecue

We decided to do a barbecue for Memorial Day, as it was also my last weekend with my family before heading home to Rio.  Since all the meat would be prepared by my father, the master griller, I chose a couple side dishes to make.  I made a delicious salad with pears, gorgonzola, blueberries and candied pecans and I also made a yummy bowl of guacamole.  They were both big hits (if I do say so myself).

For the salad, I made the dressing and candied pecans the day before, just to cut down on time on Memorial Day.

Mixed Greens with Pears, Gorgonzola, Blueberries and Candied Pecans

Baby Spinach and Mixed Greens
3 pears, chopped
6 oz Gorgonzola Cheese crumbled
1 small container of fresh blueberries
1 avocado, peeled and diced
1/2 med red onion, chopped
1/2c dried cranberries
1/2 cup pecans (I actually made used a cup of pecans and 1/2c sugar but had a ton left over)
1/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup olive oil
6 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon yellow mustard (dijon would also be good)
1 clove minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
ground black pepper


In a skillet over medium heat, stir 1/4 cup of sugar together with the pecans. Continue stirring gently until sugar has melted and caramelized the pecans. Carefully transfer nuts onto waxed paper, sprayed with Pam. Allow to cool, and break into pieces.
For the dressing, blend oil, vinegar, sugar, mustard, garlic, salt, and pepper.
In a large serving bowl, mix all ingredients except the avocado and pecans. Pour dressing over salad, mix well, gently add avocado and pecans and serve.

This guacamole recipe is my absolute favorite!  I got the recipe from a guy I used to work with many years ago.  This is the only guacamole recipe that I use. I love to serve it with jalapeño chips for a nice kick.


Juice of 1 med lemon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp chipotle powder
½ tsp ground black pepper
½ large red onion
½ c finely chopped cilantro
2 med green onions
3 med roma tomatoes
3 large ripe avocados
1 med lime
Whisk first 5 ingredients together until spices dissolve. Chop red onion and add to mix, along with the cilantro. Mince the green onions and add it to the mix, along with the tomatoes. Peel the avocados and use fork to soften/smash them up a little. Squeeze lime juice into bowl and fold the mix together. Don’t over mix! Salt and Pepper to taste and then chill for at least an hour.

This makes a nice, chunky, slightly spicy guacamole that is highly addictive!  Enjoy!

Weekend in Beautiful Buzios

Knowing we had a long weekend coming up, we decided to check out Buzios, a small beach town that has been called Brazil's St Tropez.  It lived up to every wonderful thing I had heard about the place!  We had such an amazing time there that I'm hoping we will be able to go back again before we leave.

The hotel (pousada) we stayed in was perfect for us.  It is very kid-friendly which is important to me.  This place has a kids pool, a playground, an art room, planned kids activities throughout the day, and a wonderful staff.  Besides being kid-friendly, it is just plain awesome!  It has a beautiful pool, a turkish bath, jacuzzi, gym and a nice pool bar.  Each room has a balcony/patio with a huge hammock (ours also had a jacuzzi tub). The hotel also provides beach chairs and umbrellas that you can carry to the beach which is just two blocks away. Oh yes, and they give you a welcome caipirinha or fresh squeezed juice upon arrival.  Bliss! I guess I should admit that I actually liked the caipirinha!  I have said in the past (frequently) that I am not a fan of this drink but the one at the hotel was really good.

hotel pool and jacuzzi

The hammock...one of Reagan's favorite things about the hotel

She finds friends wherever we go...

We spent our time on the beach, at the hotel pool and downtown Buzios on Rua de Pedras.  Buzios is made up of seventeen different beaches, each with their own character.  We were next to Geriba beach with is the largest (a little less than 2 miles long).  It was stunningly beautiful!  Clean, beautiful blue water with soft waves.  It was not too crowded (probably because of the cold front here now, highs only in the 80s) but there were enough people there so as not to feel empty.

Beach in the evening, near Rua de Pedras

Rua de Pedras

Rua de Pedras is the main street in Buzios where most of the action is - restaurants, shops, bars, waterfront view, coffee, ice cream, etc.. We had dinner in this area each night of our stay.  One night,  we had moqueca (a Brazilian fish stew popular throughout the country) and it was great!  It was full of seafood and cooked in a coconut milk sauce.  It was served in a giant caldron that was supposedly for 2, but could have easily of fed 4 with leftovers.  

Posing with a statue 

Rolling around in the sand.  I don't really understand why this is fun

Taking a break from walking around to play in the arcade

Reagan at dinner - showing off the marbles she got with her arcade tickets

Brigadeiros...chocolate heaven

Brigadeiros are the awesome little bonbons that are frequently served at birthday parties.  They are made up of butter, cocoa powder and sweetened condensed milk then rolled in chocolate sprinkles.  They are easy to make but they take a little while.  Worth it, I promise.

Cute story about these little treats. A Brigadier (Brigadeiro) General was running for political office in the 1940's.  His wife made these candies and served them at his political functions.  The candies became so popular, people would ask "have you had the brigadeiros candy?" and there is the history of the name.  Supposedly. Either way, it makes a good story.

2 Tablespoons butter (+ extra for plate and your hands)
1 can (14oz/395g) sweetened condensed milk
3 Tablespoons cocoa powder (I used dark cocoa powder)
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 heaping Tablespoons almond butter
mini baking cups

Confession - I didn't even think about adding the almond butter until the very end of the cooking time.  I love nut butter/chocolate together and as I sat there stirring and stirring and stirring, it came to me in a vision.  I like the addition but if you're not as crazy about chocolate/nut butter, you can always leave it out.

Melt 2 T butter over low head.  Once it's melted add the sweetened condensed milk, cocoa powder, salt and vanilla extract. Stir.  Stir. Stir.  You have to cook this over low heat and it takes a while (took me 25 minutes).  You have to continuously stir it so it doesn't burn.    When it was almost done,  I added the almond butter.  You can add it at the end but I'd just add it at the beginning with the rest of the ingredients.  Once it's reduced down and thickened to where you can part it with a spoon and have it stay apart for a few seconds, it's thick enough.   Pour the mixture onto a buttered plate and place in the fridge to cool.  You want this to be cool enough for you to pick it up and roll it in your hands, so let it cool for at least half an hour.

Once it's cool, butter your hands and roll the mix into small balls.  Next comes the fun part - roll the balls into the chocolate sprinkles and place in mini baking cups (mine were full size because I couldn't find the minis)
.  Put back in fridge for a while to firm up (another 30 minutes, if you can stand it).

There are other toppings you can use on them besides the sprinkles - chopped nuts, coconut flakes, crushed cereal, etc.  Be creative and use what you like.

I hope you enjoy this recipe!

the ingredients

the correct thickness

going into the fridge to cool

ready to roll

finished product

My Favorite Brazilian Dessert (so far)

Fried bananas with cinnamon and ice cream and drizzled with chocolate

1. this is so easy to make (which is always a plus)
2. it's delicious!
3.  it has fruit in it, so it's healthy (right??)

Slice the bananas, saute them in butter (let them stay on one side long enough to caramelize a little before flipping).  Melt some chocolate (microwave or double broiler). Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar (I used 2tsp sugar mixed with 1tsp cinnamon but use whatever ratio you prefer). Drizzle with the chocolate and top with a scoop of vanilla or pistachio ice cream. Heavenly!

Terrible picture but taking pictures is the last thing on my mind when this is ready to eat!

Spinach Quiche

For dinner Friday, I decided to make a nice vegetable quiche (Catholic = no meat on Fridays in our house).  I found a nice recipe for a spinach quiche on Smitten Kichen's page and played around with it a little and came up with my version - Spinach, caramelized onion and mushroom quiche.

For the crust, this recipe from Martha Stewart is super easy and it makes enough for two crusts which is great because you just freeze the other and have it on hand for the next quiche or pie or whatever.  If you hate the idea of making your own crust, you can always buy a pre-made crust (unless you live in Rio because I have definitely not seen them in the grocery stores here). I made the crust the day before and left in the freezer overnight.  I took it out in the morning and let it defrost in the fridge all day.

For the quiche, preheat the oven to 425.  Then, caramelize the onions and mushrooms.  This takes maybe 30-45 minutes because you want to do it at a low heat and give the onions time to get nice and brown and delicious.  You can always do this earlier in the day (or the day before) to save time.  Once the onions and mushrooms are almost done, throw in a minced garlic clove to add a little more deliciousness. Remove from heat and let cool a little.

Caramelizing the onions/mushrooms.  They aren't quite done here but getting close.

Next,  take the cream cheese and and beat until nice and fluffy.  Then add the eggs, one at a time and beat before adding the next egg.  After that add the half and half.  I couldn't find half and half here so I made it (half milk, half cream, duh).  Next add the onion/mushroom mix, drained spinach, cheese, green onions and salt and pepper.  Mix well and pour into the pie crust.  Bake until the top is nicely browned and the the filling is set (not jiggly). Let cool and rest for a few minutes.


1/2- 1 medium onion, chopped (I used 1/2 an onion but next time will use a whole one)
5 oz shiitake mushrooms, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 3-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 cup half and half
3 eggs
1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1/2 cup grated Gruyere
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
3 green onions, sliced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

I served this with a nice salad, fresh fruit (mango and papaya) and some extra Gruyere cheese chunks.

Chocolate Banana Cranberry Bread

I love the bananas here.  I mean, I love bananas period but here they seem more flavorful and a little sweeter.

So, we had a couple bananas that were getting pretty ripe and I decided banana bread would be perfect. I also have a lot of dried cranberries and some chocolate and thought that might all work together.  And it did!   As I sit here typing this, I can't wait for my afternoon coffee so I have an excuse to have another delicious slice.

Here's the recipe --

1/4 cup softened unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
2 small bananas chopped
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped dark chocolate (or you can use chocolate chips)
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cup flour, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, sifted
1/2 teaspoon baking soda, sifted
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat to 350.  Butter or spray a loaf pan.  Cream sugar and butter together.  Add the eggs, one at time, and mix between each one. Fold in the bananas, cranberries and chocolate, water and vanilla.  Add everything else and mix just until its incorporated.  You don't want to over mix it. Bake for about an hour - until the top is nicely brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

Let it cool in the pan for a few minutes then loosen with a knife and put on a pretty dish.

I really like this bread but I think I'll use more chocolate next time. And maybe throw in some nuts.

Walking around Rio

There are so many cool things that I see on a daily basis that I thought might be interesting to blog about, so here they are in no particular order...

Popcorn, coconut water and lots of other random things

People here LOVE popcorn!  There are carts on almost every block with both regular popcorn and carmel corn.  Apparently, it's the snack of choice here. You can also get fresh coconut water everywhere. You can get it in bottles or drink it right out of the coconut (with a straw of course).  These guys will chop open the top of the coconut with a huge machete (ok, maybe it's just a large knife) and I'm sure they pray not to lose a finger with each chop.  I should really get a video of this. You can also see people with carts selling other random things like clothes, pots and pans, and books.  It takes impulse buying to a whole new level.

Juice

There are also tons of juice shops here.  You can get fresh-sqeezed juice of almost any fruit you can think of.  They have great mixes (one of my favorites is pineapple and mint) that you can have just with ice or with frozen yogurt or ice cream.  Delicious on a hot afternoon! This is my juice shop of choice...a few seconds walk from my hotel.

Benches 

The benches here are so much more laid back than in the U.S.  They are definitely more comfortable to hang out on.  I've seen several people who look like they just sat down for a quick break and have fallen asleep in the nice shade of tree.

Trees

Speaking of trees, there are big shade trees everywhere here!  It is so nice when it's 90+ out and you are walking downtown in the shade of these big beautiful trees. It's really great to be in a downtown area and still have lots of trees and plants around.

Cleanliness

One of the things that really amazed me is how clean things are here.  Maybe it's because I lived in Naples, Italy before but this was a big (pleasant) surprise.  Every morning, as I walk my daughter to school, I pass people along the route, sweeping up leaves and other debris.  Not only that, but during Carnaval when the street parties/parades were passing, at the end of it were street sweepers, cleaning up as they went.  At the Sambradrome, it was the same thing - as the samba school finished up there were big cleaning crews that came out and cleaned up before the next school started.  I LOVE this!! Oh, check out the pretty designs in the sidewalks.  It's like that just about everywhere here.

The people here are just wonderful!  They really love kids.  Reagan can't walk further than a block without someone trying to speak to her or pat her head.  After we first got here, she tried walking around with her arms covering her head so no one would pat it, but I put a stop to that. I'm also really surprised by how active people are here.  I don't just mean that people walk and bike everywhere to get around but the running and biking trails are full of people running/biking solely for exercise.  There are also parks everywhere with exercise equipment for people to work out.  It's such a nice thing to see and helps keep me motivated - especially on those 90 degree/90% humidity days.

This picture wasn't taken for my blog or I would have made sure to pose and look like I was hard at work.  Instead it was just me and Reagan playing around on the equipment.

Here is a (bad) picture of a monkey that you can see hanging out in the trees.  I don't see them all the time but when I do, I just want to stop what I'm doing and stare.  So cute!  I've heard about a family of toucan's that live in a tree close to my hotel and plan to stop by and try to see/photograph them but I forgot their address.  As soon as I get it, I'll be there - looking like a tourist! Oh well, it can't be helped sometimes.








One other thing I have to mention but didn't get to get a picture of - two guys with a jack hammer getting ready to blast a sidewalk.  Their footwear of choice?  One had on a nice flimsy set of flip flops and the other was bare foot.

Love this place!