Kitchen Corners

Cereal Humor

noreply@blogger.com (Damaris @Kitchen Corners) — Wed, 23 May 2012 18:42:22 PDT

{sources: 1, 2, 3, 4}

I'm not really sure why I have cereal on my mind. Maybe because Chris is gone until Saturday and I'm tempted to lazy parent and just feed the kids cereal for the next 3 days. Or maybe it's because Chris is gone so I am spending my kids-are-finally-asleep time hanging out with Pinterest, where I found the first poster and then decided to search the web for more cereal posters.

And because cereal is such a happy topic here are 10 more cereal-sly funny finds

1 // This is so me
2 // and this is so true
3 // Do you find this creepy or funny?
4 // I find this funny, I know I shouldn't, but I totally do
5 // This totally happens to me, and since I am the only soy milk drinker in the house it makes it even worse because I have no one to blame but myself.
6 // Normally I would say this is true, unless it's your birthday and you are a Palmer and you get to choose any cereal you want on your birthday. In that case go all out.
7 // My kitty's dream.
8 // I thought this picture was hilarious because it totally reminded me of women laughing alone with salad (if what I just wrote means nothing to you then do click on the link, it's just so classic). I know the woman in the cereal picture is not alone but still, it's just so staged. Come on why is there a fork and a knife next to the cereal bowl? Stop it already.
9 // Right?!
10 // and in case all this cereal talk got you hungry for some cereal then this can help you choose what to eat.

A Photo Journal of 2 Sisters and a Cool Photographer Dad

noreply@blogger.com (Damaris @Kitchen Corners) — Tue, 22 May 2012 18:45:50 PDT

I know we just had Mother's Day but now I'm in Father's Day planning mode. Some dads are just so cool and definitely need to be celebrated. Jason from JLWPhotography is one of my favorite daddy bloggers. I love checking out his personal blog and seeing what fun pictures he's taken recently of his two girls, Kristin and Kayla. Seriously, what a fun dad. Naturally, the ones where he uses food as props are some of my favorite pictures.

Vacation is Good for the Soul

noreply@blogger.com (Damaris @Kitchen Corners) — Mon, 21 May 2012 19:24:30 PDT

Yesterday after a 12 hour drive we made it safely home. Christian's one advice to anyone taking a road trip in Brazil is this - if the map says that the road is paved, it may or may not be paved. In other words take your time, expect surprises and detours, expect beautiful brand new roads one minute and dirt roads the next. It was good practice for our 2014 trip, the one where we want to take 6 months to drive from California to Brazil so we can watch the World Cup in Rio and Sao Paulo.

Remember how we thought we were going to drive back to California, and then I got pregnant? Speaking of pregnancy I've been feeling like myself again, only with popcorn popping inside of me. I love this phase, where the nausea and fatigue is gone and where I can start to feel the little flutters of my little baby.

Life is good again.

Last year when we did our long road trip through the West Coast of the United States Christian and I discovered audio books. It makes the drive go by so much faster. Last year we were enthralled with the Hunger Games saga, this year we listened to The Happiness Project. I'm semi-skeptical of such books and Christian is ultra-skeptical, but we both really enjoyed it. It was pretty fitting to be on vacation, driving through beautiful places contemplating happiness. It's a good read (or listen) and I strongly recommend it.

One of the things that makes me happy is being a mom. It's also what makes me most tired, most impatient, and most enraged. But right now I'm really enjoying parenting Enzo and Maria even if I still do get impatient with them. It was so hard feeling so sick during my first trimester and not being able to do basic things. Getting up to get a cup of water for Maria seemed like an unsurmountable task, I really couldn't get myself to do it.

It felt so good being able to chase them around, go swimming with them in caves and waterfalls, and just feel like their mom again.

Chapada Diamantina | Palmer Family Vacation

noreply@blogger.com (Damaris @Kitchen Corners) — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:06:08 PDT

Every year Christian and I (mostly Christian) plan a family vacation. The first time we did it Enzo was just shy of turning 1. We went to Maui and camped at a volcano. I'm sure we saw other things in Maui but I mostly just remember the volcano, and Enzo being little. I also remember thinking, "this is beautiful" at least a hundred times during our vacation. Christian is really good about taking us to beautiful places. There are lots of things I like about Christian, but his love for the outdoors and his patience to take us with him is one of my favorite things about him for sure.

Growing up I had heard of Chapada Diamantina and remember seeing the steep cliffs, the majestic waterfalls, and the caves on T.V. Consequently it feels a little unreal to be here. It is more beautiful than I could ever imagine. I have taken lots of pictures. None of them do this place justice. Never the less here are a few.

Happy Mother's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Damaris @Kitchen Corners) — Sun, 13 May 2012 08:18:02 PDT

Excuse my French but Christian is a total badass. He made croissants from scratch and served up a super delish breakfast. He takes Mother's Day seriously.

He wrote me a card, gave me coupons, and is waiting patiently so he can talk to his mom in Hawaii. Because of the 7 hour time difference we'll probably only be able to talk to her later tonight. Also, because of the time difference I figured most of you are still asleep, which gives me plenty of time to write this post and wish you a Happy Mother's Day.

I love being a mother to the little person pictured below, and to my medium person, and also to my apple sized fetus. And before being a mother I loved being an aunt to my nephew Bruno and to Christian's nieces and nephews.

I love being a mother. I love homeschooling Enzo. I love teaching them how to cook. I love reading the scriptures with them and sharing my testimony of the Savior in small but significant ways. I also love going to my mother's house and having them watch cartoons on my mom's T.V for hours and hours and hours with her and my grandma while I relax in the other room re-reading something silly like Breaking Dawn. I like taking my kids to the museum and other cultural events. I am also excited to take them to Disney this Summer.

When I was pregnant with Enzo I had the opportunity to meet Winona LaDuke, a Native American Environmental activist. I asked her opinion on something I was worried about. My friends were throwing me a babyshower and I didn't want any plastic toys as gifts. I also wanted all the baby clothes to be organic cotton. And I definitely did not want anyone to give me pacifiers (something I was totally against, and then of course ended up using with Enzo and wished Maria would of used too). Ms. LaDuke kindly replied "Do not be a politically correct island unto yourself, otherwise you'll end up very lonely." She was right. And if I have one one advice to give to new mothers it is to not be lonely. Surround yourself with friends, with other mothers, with fathers, with a diverse community that will respect you and will love your kids. Your kids will be made better for it and motherhood will be a lot easier.

You know the saying "Don't sweat the small stuff, and it's all small stuff" well, a lot of parenting is small stuff. Seriously, don't sweat it.

I also want to wish a happy Mother's Day to women in general. We've been lucky having our friend Juliana living with us since February. She's so kind to Enzo and Maria and has helped mother them while I was too nauseous to even get out of bed. And like Juliana we've been lucky to have other wonderful women in my children's lives who've been good examples to them and at some point or another have mothered them.

Oh, and of couse a special shout out to my Christian, who not only makes a killer breakfast but also makes cute kids with me. Being a mother is very rewarding when you have the chance to share the joys and the burdens with someone else.

Kiwi Crate

noreply@blogger.com (Damaris @Kitchen Corners) — Thu, 10 May 2012 07:16:54 PDT

I have yet to meet a child that doesn't love hands on projects. That's why I am so intrigued by Kiwi Crate, a subscription service that delivers curated "crates" with all the tools and materials needed for a variety of of age-appropriate projects. Kiwi Crate is designed for kids ages 3-7. In other words I think both Maria and Enzo would love it. I think the garden project, for example, would be a lot of fun.

Because I homeschool I tend to spend a lot of time online getting ideas for projects I'd like to do with the kids. However, most of the time I just end up giving them a big roll of white paper, paint, crayons, and let them make their own projects.

What about you, is Kiwi Crate something your kids would enjoy?

Babies and Limes

noreply@blogger.com (Damaris @Kitchen Corners) — Wed, 09 May 2012 07:05:09 PDT

My little fruitavore.

This morning when we were snuggling in bed, trying to stay quiet so as not to wake up Enzo she turns to me and says

"I have a baby in my tummy too and when my baby comes out I'm going to nurse my baby. On one side I'll make milk and on the other side I'll make fruit juice, it's boring to just have milk."

She's content with the juicer for now.

Brazilian Style Lasagna

noreply@blogger.com (Damaris @Kitchen Corners) — Tue, 08 May 2012 12:10:48 PDT

There are two traditional types of Brazilian lasagnas. The one I always make, is the ham and mozzarella cheese, red and white sauce lasagna. Sometimes I add ground beef to the red sauce (Bolognese sauce) but more often than not I don't. Mostly because it's an additional step. Also, I love meat but I don't need ground beef and ham together.

I'm a fan of lasagna, specially of Brazilian lasagna because it's kid friendly, and pregnant mother friendly. I work really hard to get my kids to eat everything. On a good day I lovingly encourage them. On a normal day I just lay down the law and force them to eat what's on their plate. But on a pregnant day I don't even try to reason with them or force them, I pretty much leave them to eat whatever they want. So now that I'm slowly feeling better instead of fighting with them I'm trying to make food they'll eat and enjoy. Brazilian style lasagna with loads of ham and cheese is something we all enjoy. Plus it's easy to make and there are always left overs.

And I can find all the ingredients in the little market down the street.

When I get back to fancy California with it's fancy stores where I can find all sorts of good ingredients I'll make lasagna with white sauce made from raw almond milk and I'll sprinkle pumpkin seeds on top for a nice nutty crunch. But for now I'll indulge in homemade creamy white sauce and simple ham and cheese.

For this recipe you'll need 8 cups red sauce and 6 cups of white sauce. You can use store bought but I recommend making it at home because it tastes better and it's easy. No news there right?!

Red Sauce or Plain Tomato Sauce

I love homemade tomato sauce that's simmered for hours and hours, the one I dream about but rarely make. Usually if I want to make tomato sauce I'll just throw some tomatoes in the blender with water and vegetable broth, warm it up and we're good to go. This sauce was just that with a couple cups of left over pumpkin puree.

Here are some excellent tomato sauce recipes you can try
Fresh Tomato Sauce from Smitten Kitchen
Marcella Hazen Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter from Steamy Kitchen
Basic Tomato Sauce from Simply Recipes

White Sauce
(printable version)

1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup flour
6 cups milk
1 teaspoon nutmeg
100 grams shredded parmesan cheese

Warm up the butter in a medium sized pan until it's melted. Sprinkle the flour on top.

Mix until the flour and butter comes together.

Then Slowly add the milk and the nutmeg and stir constantly over low heat until it becomes creamy. If the flour and butter mixture isn't dissolving then use a whisk. When the sauce starts to thicken up (about 8-10 minutes of constant stirring) add the parmesan cheese and mix.

Now, on to assembling the lasagna

Brazilian Lasagna
(printable version)
prep time: 30 minutes
cooking time: 40 minutes
rest time: 15 minutes
Makes about 10 portions

500g of dried lasagna noodles
8 cups tomato sauce
6 cups white sauce (see above for recipe)
500 g of sliced ham
700 g of sliced mozzarella

Preheat oven to 350*
In a large rectangular sauce pan pour 2 cups of tomato sauce and then layer dried lasagna noodles on top.
Add 1 1/2 cups white sauce and then layer cheese and ham and another 2 cups of tomato sauce. Repeat with noodles, white sauce, cheese, and ham, red sauce.
Make a last layer of cheese on top of the lasagna. Cover with tin foil and bake for 40 minutes.
Remove the lasagna from the oven and let it sit for 15 minutes.
Serve warm.

Anatomy of a Piñata

noreply@blogger.com (Damaris @Kitchen Corners) — Mon, 07 May 2012 11:05:23 PDT

So, how was your Cinco de Maio? I'm planning on making Taco Salad sometime this week. I've been shying away from Mexican food because I can't find tortillas, taco seasoning, or sour cream, all things I'm going to have to figure out how to make from scratch. I'm excited for the challenge because I am finally cooking again. That first trimester was a real doozy. I'm still not 100% but even feeling 50% is an improvement from how I've been these last three months.

Thanks for being so kind to me. Thanks for your emails and your comments. Thanks for caring. I've missed blogging a lot. I'm excited to get back to cooking, to eating, and to writing. I feel like I need to celebrate!

Piñata Anatomy from Carmichael Collective found via this pinboard

Easter in Bahia

noreply@blogger.com (Damaris @Kitchen Corners) — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 11:33:22 PDT

Hi,

I know that by now you've probably moved on to the next Holiday which is .... ? For us it's May 1st. What I've noticed is that in the U.S people really look forward to the next big Holiday by stocking up the stores with decorations months in advance. Here, decorations are kept to a minimum. It's really all about stocking up on beer and music and hitting up relatives that live on the beach so you can escape the city life.

Last week we had some friends/relatives come visit us. Christian's twin's wife's brother and his family came to visit. So my sister-in-law's brother came to visit and in Brazil that's considered family. In fact there is even a term for it it's called concunhado. Is there a term for it in English too? I couldn't figure it out.

For the record Ben, my concunhado did not bring beer or loud music. I just mentioned that because that's what it seems like everyone else does to prepare for a a long weekend here. Ben only brought good things - his wife Yuki, his three kids, and his mom. We like Ben and his family a lot. We used to hang out with them when we lived in MA and they lived in NYC. In fact, they came and hung out with us in MA when Enzo was a newborn. It was his first Easter. Six years later and we've added 3 1/2 more kids between the two families.

Our guests were easy, fun, and so adventurous. Their kids eat everything. No joke. The word on the street is that French parents know what's up but after seeing Yuki, Japanese, with her kids I want to send my kids to intern at her house so they'll eat raw oysters and sea urchins.

Our Easter week was filled with beach and waterfall trips (I only went on a few, I'm still feeling more sick than not), a lot of sea food, fruit juices (I think cacau juice mostly), kids playing, capoeira, good conversations, hard boiled eggs, chocolate eggs, and good memories.

How was your Easter? Were you able to share it friends and family?

Iemanja's Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (Damaris @Kitchen Corners) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 05:32:26 PDT

I took these pictures in the beginning of February. It was Iemanja's, the goddess of the sea, birthday and people were celebrating. I went with Christian and the kids to dance a little and shoot some pictures. It was a nice afternoon.

I need to remember that nice afternoons happened.

I've been in the worst funk. Lately I haven't been liking Itacare very much. I just want to leave. It's partly because of the absurd heat but really it's about me feeling so sick. I don't leave the house for days. In fact most days I just lay on my bed or on the hammock.

When you're in a rut it's easy to feel like you've always been in a rut. Right now I'm mad at Itacare because it's so hot, so smelly, and the heat and the smell is driving me insane.

Pregnancy is tricky. You're so excited and so happy about the new addition and at the same time you're so tired and so nauseas and if you're me you're so weak and so dizzy it makes you loose your mind. I know there are women out there who have it worse to the point where they're hospitalized because they throw up so much. If that happened to me I would never have any kids. Good thing God knows how heavy a load we can carry.

We bought our tickets back to California. We leave in August. It's still a ways away and even though I'm thrilled to be leaving I know that once I start feeling better and enjoying myself again I'm going to really miss this place.

Instagram and Food

noreply@blogger.com (Damaris @Kitchen Corners) — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 12:07:19 PDT

Instagram is my fave. If I was on a deserted island and I had to choose only one social media platform to use, Instagram would be it. Instagram was created by two dudes. Dude number one was Kevin Systrom who then got together with dude number two, Mike Krieger, and together they brainstormed, hashed out, and coded Instagram. Dude number two went to High School with me. He's two years younger than I am, also a Brazilian, and from what I remember a very nice and creative guy. Thanks Mike and Kevin for creating Instagram!

I love looking at food pictures on magazines and blogs but I kind of love it even more on Instagram. For some reason Instragram gives me the feeling of movement, of the behind-the-scenes which I've always been fascinated with.

Here are 8 Instagramers I follow that have a good eye for capturing food. I'm always thrilled when one of their pictures pops into my feed.

1 // dianecu
2 // glutenfreegirl
3 // withstylegrace
4 // nicolegerulat
5 // whitneyingram
6 // dessertfortwo
7 // mattbites
8 // sweetapolita

You can follow me on Instagram @kitchencorners. If you don't have an Instagram account you can see my pictures here, also I post most of my pictures on my Facebook Page. What about you are you on Instagram? Do you have any Instagramers that you enjoy?

I am Violet

noreply@blogger.com (Damaris @Kitchen Corners) — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 08:30:55 PDT

(photo source)

Have you watched the movie, or better yet read the book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? Do you remember Violet Beauregarde, the girl who chews gum all day? I have become Violet Beauregarde. I think that by the end of this pregnancy I will hate gum so much I will never want to chew it again. But for now, it's helping with my nausea. Enzo thinks it's funny that I've become Violet. I think it's a little depressing. There are other movie characters I'd rather be associated with.

But for now I'm just happy to be feeling a little bit better. Was there anything in your pregnancies that helped with nausea?

Letter Playground

noreply@blogger.com (Damaris @Kitchen Corners) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 02:08:40 PST

In my quiet time I've been checking out all the creative ways people write letters at Letter Playground. I've been putting in names at the generator to see what it looks like. It always looks cool.

Have you ever played with food to create the alphabet? When Enzo was learning how to read we threw him an ABC party where we re-created the whole alphabet into food the kids could eat. That was fun.

ps. You can also find me today on Jane Reaction where I share what I need, what I read, and what I greed. Have a great weekend. xoxo

Potato Vinaigrette

noreply@blogger.com (Damaris @Kitchen Corners) — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 04:26:21 PST

There is no story to this post. O.K maybe just a little story. I missed going to the beach with the kids and Christian because I just had to eat some potato vinaigrette. I know, it's a totally boring story. I've been very boring these days. All I do is sleep and feel nausea, so much nausea that it's debilitating. I only kind of home school these days, and I definitely only sort of parent, and on a rare occasion when I can tolerate the kitchen I sort of cook. It's scary how fast I go from loving food to loathing food when I am pregnant. Does this happen to you too? Please say yes.

There are small windows where I feel the need to eat something, because I am a rational being and I have to remind myself that eating is necessary. There are also rare moments where I just know what I have to eat to help me feel better. This potato vinaigrette was one of those rare inspirations.

The combination of potatoes, radishes, olives, parsley, vinegar and salt was exactly what I needed.

Potato Vinaigrette
(printable version)
serves 6

1 lb potatoes (it can be any variety you like)
1/2 lb radishes
1/2 cup green olives whole
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
vinegar and salt to taste

Peal and chop the potatoes. Boil them until soft. Drain the potatoes and run under cold water for a couple of minutes. Set the potatoes aside. Wash the radishes and slice them, then toss them with the drained potatoes. Add the olives and chopped parsley and season with vinegar and salt. Serve immediately.

New to me Blog | THE COZYHUNTER

noreply@blogger.com (Damaris @Kitchen Corners) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 03:21:41 PST

I think I'm going to do a new series on Mondays where I introduce to you a new blog I've become smitten with over the last week. It's a nice way to start a Monday, don't you think?

Kitchen Corners meets The Cozyhunter.

I met The Cozyhunter through a Pin. In case you were wondering what Enzo would wear if a) I could convince him to wear what I wanted him to wear and b) we lived somewhere cold c) I could convince Christian that suspenders were cool this would be it. When I clicked on the Pin it took me to The Cozyhunter blog. So from one simple Pin I found a world of inspiration. Thank you suspenders!

The Cozyhunter is written by Golriz Lucina, Co-director of Soul Pancake and mama to a new baby boy.

The Cozyhunter is about creative expression. If something food related falls into that category then Golriz will blog about it, so you'll find some food treasures there too like those delicate bowls and those textures spoons pictured above. Definitely check out The Cozyhunter.

On a side-not I'd like to acknowledge Golriz's pretty white nails. This weekend I removed the chipped nail-polish from my toes and Baby Maria screamed "go to the salon right now, go paint your toes!" It was 8:00 in the morning. I was equally shocked/fascinated with my natural toe nail color. I don't think I've seen my toe nails unpainted for at least 6 months. In a nutshell our weekend consisted of unpainted toe-nails, feeling very sick, and seeing a tarantula that was the size of Michel Jordan's right hand. The tarantula should have been in a zoo but it was on the path we hiked on. Juliana almost stepped on it. The other part of the weekend was gathering Juliana's personal information like her parent's phone numbers and insurance information, you know just in case.

How was your weekend, were there any new blogs you discovered or creepy tarantulas?

Burfday!

noreply@blogger.com (Damaris @Kitchen Corners) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 07:38:49 PST

Hi!

Today I fed my babies cookies with brigadeiro (Brazilian chocolate fudge) on top and threw in some sprinkles for good measure. All this before 9:00am. Let's pretend I was trying to be festive, you know, for my birthday. But really I was just craving cookies with brigadeiro and sprinkles. Yesterday I was so nauseous the only thing that sounded good was store bought cookies with nutella in the middle and brigadeiro in the outside and sprinkles on top. I had about 10 of these homemade overly sweet pretty disgusting (if you think about it) sandwich cookies. And then I felt sooooo good. I eat horribly when I'm pregnant because all I crave are horrible things, though I do force myself to eat a vegetable here and there.

Today I thought about writing 30 things I want to do before I turn 30 but after thinking about it for 5 minutes I changed my mind because the only things I could think of wanting to do is sleep, eat Cheetos, and watch movies with the kids, like lots and lots of movies. A couple years ago I would of never admitted this to anyone because I wanted to be the perfect parent. But we all know who the real perfect parents are - the Frech. In fact grant me my birthday wish and read this article, because it's just so good, like sprinkles on top of a cookie.

So now you know two things about me. One, I eat junk when I am pregnant. Two, my parenting skills diminish ten-fold when I am pregnant and I don't feel bad about it one bit. I do believe the best thing you can give your kids are siblings and if they don't like it too bad.

I'm not going to post a bucket list. But I will post a list because I love lists.

How about a 29 things you probably didn't know about me list.
(O.K the first two you already know)

I crave junk food when I am pregnant
I kind of become a mediocre parent when I am pregnant, mostly during the first trimester when I'm too tired to do anything but watch Wonder Pets and Dora.
I rarely go to bed before midnight and I usually have a really hard time waking up in the morning, except when I am pregnant. I've been waking up every day at 6:00am and going to bed no later than 10:00pm.
I don't share a computer with my husband. We are definitely a two computer family.
In the last year I took over 11,000 pictures. Mostly of food.
I haven't read a book in a very long time.
I listen to audiobooks like crazy. Right now I'm listening to Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me by Mindy Kaling. F-U-N-N-Y!
I'm not good at keeping up with the news. I mostly rely on my mom to tell me what's going on.
I used to want to have 10 kids
I still really want to adopt.
I dream about food all the time but in my dreams the moment I'm about to take a bite I wake up. So frustrating.
I'm lactose intolerant.
I love white chocolate
I ate a Twix bar every day my Senior year of high school.
I was captain of my high school's cheerleading squad for 2 years.
I listen to a lot of Lady Gaga when I'm running.
I run 3 days a week, rain or shine, pregnant or un-pregnant.
I believe in friendships.
I believe in love.
I believe in Jesus Christ.
I love roller coasters.
Ferris wheels freak me out.
I cry at sappy stuff all the time, like this video.
I am really unsympathetic when my children cry, specially when they get hurt. In fact I kind of get mad at them for not walking straight and tripping, for bumping their heads, falling off the swings, etc...
I almost never leave the house without wearing earrings.
I probably wear make up once a year, at most. I have nothing against make up I just never think about putting any on.
I speak English, Portuguese, and Spanish and after 1 year of studying Japanese in college I speak zero Japanese.
I learned to drive when I was 23.
I love learning new things. Lately I've been obsessed with Khan Academy. In fact I should write a list of things I want to learn before I turn 30. But I'll leave that for another day.

Halfway Mark | Living in Bahia for the Past 6 Months

noreply@blogger.com (Damaris @Kitchen Corners) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 07:31:59 PST

Today we've hit our 6 month mark of living in Itacare Bahia Brazil. I have mixed feelings about leaving in September. For one thing I despise moving and the thought of packing our stuff and then unpacking our stuff...yeah I'd rather not even think about it. For another thing I'm really going to miss it here. Not everything, but a lot of things.

For the past 6 months I've showed you pictures of the beach and waterfalls and fresh delicious fish that is always so readily available. Mostly though I've showed you a piece of what our life looks like. A life I love.

But the truth is I have a love/hate relationship with living here. I think this is normal of any place you live and has more to do with attitude than with anything else. So instead of focusing on the things that are hard I tend to focus on the things that are great, because not only is life too short to play the role of a Debbie Downer but my time here is too short to even be down at all. When you live some place where you have an expiration date I say enjoy it as much as you can. Even if there are some things that just plain piss you off.

So in all fairness here are the things I love/hate about living in Itacare

|1| I love our big wooden table / I hate the bathroom in our bedroom that is more often stinky than not.
|2| I love that everyone is so friendly / I hate that it's hard to have anyone over for dinner because everyone works in the tourism business and they all work until late at night.
|3| I love our big open kitchen / I hate our wimpy fridge
|4| I love how fresh shrimp is / I hate that good cheese is hard to come by
|5| I love the weather / I hate that sunblock is so expensive
|6| I love Brazilian waxes, manicures, and pedicures / I hate that I can not find a swim suit or a tankini to buy.
|7| I love that we can walk anywhere we need to in the town / I hate that there is no L.D.S church in Itacare and in order for us to attend church we have to rent a car and drive an hour and half each way.
|8| I love that we are surrounded by amazing historial sites / I hate that the local government is so junk that it doesn't care a thing about the historial sites, or anything for that matter.
|9| I love that we found a wonderful, trustworthy, talented person to help us. Yes, I love that we have a maid / I hate that we live next to a dirt road and that as soon as you clean, it just gets dirty all over again.
|10| I love that we have so many vistors/ I hate that our visitors always leave.

On Saturday my once student now turned good friend moved to our house. She and my sister Iris are now roomies. Juliana is here to volunteer at an NGO and to help document Baby Maria's fashion statements. My favorite thing about living here is that I get to share this experience with my family, with friends like Juliana, and with you.

So you have 6 months to come and visit. What do you say?

Moodboard | White Kitchen Trinkets

noreply@blogger.com (Damaris @Kitchen Corners) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 12:34:00 PST

Happy extra day of the year. Today I let myself indulge in wishful thinking. Today I thought about buying stuff! I pride myself on not caring for new things, but that's because I used to live in a place where finding cool used things and even free things was easy. That place is called the United States of America. Also in the United States of America a lot of new things are cheap, which is why people buy so much and then give perfectly useful things away, no problemo, to Goodwill and hence why used things is so accessible.

But today I'm in the mood for new things. Pretty things. I mostly want to buy things I don't need, just things I find pleasing to the eye. Things to make my kitchen a little more pleasing to the eye.

Today I'm in the mood for

// Eat Me small artwork
// medium off white bowl
// Spinning Top Tea set
// Marimeko Oiva White Serving Pot

Birthday Heart Cake | A guest post with the Mr.

noreply@blogger.com (Damaris @Kitchen Corners) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 06:30:24 PST

This is the heart cake I made for Damaris' early Birthday. This is also a long post but making the cake took the better part of my Sunday so I guess it makes sense. On Sunday we celebrated Damaris' birthday early to include her mom, sister, and nephew who were visiting. A week earlier Damaris sent me the link to the Heart Cake from I am Baker with instructions on how to make it and said that this cake was all that she wanted for her birthday, no presents, nothing else. It sounded like a good deal. Our relationship works like this, if Damaris tells me exactly what she wants I will almost always get it for her. Sometimes I might even surprise her by acting like I forgot what she told me she wanted. If she makes me guess what she wants then I will mostly get it wrong.

The first step here in Itacare was finding a round cake pan. The two round pans we have are small pizza size and not cake size. This was the hardest step and I had to check every supermarket in the city to find one kind of large 24cm (9.4inches). This seemed just a little bit bigger that an 8 inch pan but that is misleading. (The math goes like this. pi(3.14) times the radius of the circle squared = area of a circle, thus 8 in= 50.25 sq inches and 9.4 in= 70.24). This means I would have had to make one and half recipes but I ended up making two because I just did the math now.

I made one recipe and baked two layers and then decided to make another recipe and bake another two layers. I have all the recipes written out for you at the bottom of the post. If you have more than one cake pan this process is made a lot easier because you can bake more than one at a time. But surprisingly the cheapest and only aluminum pan in the city worked like a miracle and with a little butter and flour the cakes just popped right out without even waiting for them to cool.

Before you decide to make it realize that this is a lot of cake. Three full sized cake recipes in order to make one mega-cake. After I baked all of the cakes I took a nice long walk to let them all cool down. This makes them easier to work with. You can also freeze them if you have a freezer that works.

So you stick together two cakes to make the bottom and the other two to make the top. You might want to level the cakes to do this although I didn't because I put the curved part of the cake onto our curved plate and the other curve was cut off when I hollowed out the middle. Another curved part was the top of the cake and the fourth layer wasn't that curved to begin with. Make two halves of the cake by frosting and making two two layer cakes.

On the bottom cake you carve the bottom part of the heart which is basically a cone carved out. I measured around the edge (4 cm from the edge) and the center of the cake with a ruler to make sure that the cone is centered which is essential for the design to look good when you put the cake together.

I also measured the top part (4 cm from the edge) to make sure that the two sides would meet up. To carve out the top part of the heart you start in the center to make a cone and then carve out the sides to make the top part of the heart until it looks like the picture below. Use a spoon to scoop out some of the insides.

Next you get a red velvet cake that you made and mix it up with a cup of cream and sweetened condensed milk. Then you mix it with a fork and pack it in the top of and bottom of the cakes in the spaces that you carved out. Pack it down good so there is no empty spaces, especially because this is going to be the main structural part of the cake.

The next step is to put the top and bottom of the cake together. Do this carefully. And in the end you should have something that looks like this with the red velvet cake in the middle.

Next you should frost the whole thing. There are probably some good tutorials somewhere on the web to do this nicely. This is perhaps the best looking cake I've ever frosted so most of you probably know how to do this better than me.

The long cake frosting spatula helps a lot.

Then lo and behold, you cut it open and get this amazing heart shape in the middle of your cake.

Here are the recipes for you.

White Cake
(printable version)
(although it turned out yellowish because I used egg yolks. The original post used a box white cake but then posted a recipe with eggs in it which means you will end up with an off-white cake. If you want it white you might want to stick with a box recipe or use another recipe without egg yolks. But this is the recipe I used)

Makes 4 eight inch round cakes. Double the recipe for 4 slightly larger 9.24 inch round cakes.

1 cup butter (softened)2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

The original recipe had a bunch of different steps and order you do things in but I don't really believe in all of that. So here's what I did which is easier.

Cream the butter, sugar, eggs, and milk together. Add the dry ingredients together and mix so that there are no obvious lumps.
Prepare pans with by greasing the inside of the pan with a thin coat of butter or margarine (not oil) and then lightly flour (1 tsp of flour) them. This is essential to get the cakes to come out easily and is probably one of the most important steps. If you haven't made layer cakes before find a video that shows you how to do this right.
Fill up four pans, or one pan four times and bake each for 20-25 minutes until you have four delicious round cakes. They are ready when you insert a toothpick or knife and it comes out clean (without batter on it).

Red Velvet Cake
(printable version)
Makes one large cake (9" by 13" rectangle pan more or less but the pan size doesn't matter). I don't really like red velvet cake but I was just following instructions. If you don't care about the color then make a dense chocolate cake which will probably taste better. But here is the recipe I used

3/4 cup butter3 large eggs
2 1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
6 tablespoons red food coloring
3 tablespoons unsweetened baking cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cream the butter, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and red food coloring together.(The original recipe called for 6 tablespoons red food coloring which I didn't have. I used a whole bottle of red and then threw in the bottle of pink for extra measure but it still basically looked like a chocolate cake. It probably didn't help that I used brown sugar instead of white sugar because we ran out and some extra cocoa for good measure. That's probably why it ended up brown. If you have more ingredients and are better at following directions you will probably get a nice red cake for the heart.)
Add the cocoa, salt, flour, and buttermilk together.
Mix the cider vinger and baking soda together in a separate cup and then add the mixture to the cake batter. Mix it all up until the big lumps are gone and put it in a greased and floured pan.
Bake for 30-40 minutes but keep an eye at it because every oven is different.Its ready when a knife or tooth pick comes out clean.

Buttercream Frosting
(printable version)
Makes enough to frost a huge cake and then some left over.

1 cup butter or margarine, softened
6-8 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla

Mix the butter with four cups of the sugar until creamy. Add the milk and mix well. Sift the sugar if it is lumpy because you live somewhere with lots of humidity.
The original recipe called for colorless vanilla to keep the frosting white. I left it out because I can only get the colored stuff here. Either way.
Gradually add the rest of the sugar until it is thick enough that is won't run and still thin enough to spread well.

Poppyseed to Pumpkin

noreply@blogger.com (Damaris @Kitchen Corners) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 11:09:11 PST

After two lines appeared on my pregnancy test we were able to confirm what we already suspected - I'm pregnant! We are all over joyed. My mom, my sisters, and my nephew who were all visiting us from Sao Paulo last week and were able to be here when I took the test.

After coming to the sad realization that we were not going to be able to adopt last year we decided to try and get pregnant. If all goes well we'll have a new addition in the beginning of November. We'll be returning to the U.S in September. The last 2 times I was pregnant I was either working on my undergraduate thesis or my graduate thesis. I'm really excited to be in Brazil during the majority of this pregnancy where I have a lot of help, a lot of time, and access to all the foods I normally crave when I'm pregnant.

The kids are also really excited and of course they're asking lots of questions. Their first questions was "how big is the baby right now?"

Baby Center has a very cool slideshow called poppyseed to pumpkin which shows how big the fetus is at every week, starting at 4 weeks when you are able to confirm you're pregnant. The kids watched the slideshow at least 10 times.

Can you guess at what week the baby is when it's the size of a heirloom tomato?

My Birthday is a Comin!

noreply@blogger.com (Damaris @Kitchen Corners) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 21:30:53 PST

My birthday is in exactly one week. I am just as excited about turning 29 as I was about turning 5, or 6, or 10. For as long as I can remember the thought of getting older thrills me. I like that each year I live I travel more, I eat more, I meet new people, I experience new things. Yesterday Christian's grandmother celebrated another year of life. She is now in her 90s. There is so much to celebrate about her life. I hope one day I get to be in my 90s too.

I plan to never outgrow birthday cakes, or streamers, birthday hats, or presents. The plan is to get older and enjoy it and to celebrate it every chance I get.

// polka dot garland // cake stand // straws // pennants //

A Brazilian Birthday Party

noreply@blogger.com (Damaris @Kitchen Corners) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 05:10:26 PST

Brazilian birthday parties are a big deal. The decoration revolves around the cake table, with mini rolled up fudge balls (brigadeiros) covered in sprinkles and other little treats.

Rosita had her first Brazilian birthday party last month.

Rosita was born in Italy. A little over a year ago she moved to Itacare with her father who married a native of Itacare, a wonderful hear dresser, and my sweet friend. Rosita's step-mother wanted to throw Rosita a birthday party fit for a princess. Here are the pictures from Rosita's special day.

Have you ever been to a Brazilian style birthday party, if so what did you think?

p.s. Speaking of party did you know the whole country is in one big party right now? It's Carnaval!

Morro de São Paulo

noreply@blogger.com (Damaris @Kitchen Corners) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 09:57:52 PST

This year was my turn to plan our Valentine's Day celebration, so I planned a little getaway to an island off the coast of Bahia. Have you ever heard of Morro de São Paulo?

272 km from Salvador Bahia is an island called Tinharé, and Morro de São Paulo is one of 5 villages that make up Tinharé.

The only way to get to the island is by boat or by private plane, and since cars are forbidden to enter the island the only mode of transportation is by tractor, bikes, horses, or carriages. We took the carriages. We also walked a lot.

The beaches are very different form Itacare, where we currently live. Because of the reefs you get these warm natural pools that form during low tide. We did some snorkeling and saw some amazing fish. Christian saw a black fish with bright blue dots. I saw a fish that was transparent, with big bulging eyes. Does anyone knows the names of these two mysterious fish?

During the colonial period, Tinharé was often under attack either by the French or by the Dutch, due to it's distinct geographical location. The Portuguese build forts in Tinharé in order to keep the enemy from advancing into Salvador Bahia, which at the time was the capital of Brazil. There were many battles fought in Morro de São Paulo. Did you know the Northeast of Brazil was under Dutch rule for 24 years?

The Fort in Morro de São Paulo dates back to 1630. There are old rusted cannons just laying around and big ornate pieces or what I think could have been an old fountain. Exploring the Fort was our favorite, that and spending time together of course.

I'm putting more pictures of our trip on my Facebook page. Do check it out, there are some cool old fountains, and quite a bit of historical monuments all surrounded by beautiful beaches. If you come to Brazil and you have the chance to visit Morro de São Paulo here are some things to consider,

//Food//

Oh right you like to eat. Well so do I and we were not disappointed. The Villa has everything ranging from traditional Bahiana food to Sushi. There are also brick oven pizzarias, a Mediterranean bistro, and small bakeries where you can get a quick bite. There are plenty of restaurants as well as little beach shacks that sell fried seafood, and of couse pastel. On our first night there we went to Bianco e Nero, a very nice Italian place. If you want a fancy sit down dinner, with great ambiance, and good steak this is the place to go. Living in Itacare, another tourist town, we've seen so many eateries open and close just in the short 6 months we've been here. I can't guarantee that Bianco e Nero will still be there when you or we get a chance to go again, but from what I saw you'll have plenty of options to choose from.

Another thing to consider is that Brazilians eat dinner late, anywhere from 8pm-11pm. Most hotels, or pousadas, and even hostels offer breakfast. Here is what a breakfast from a pousada looks like, it's pretty big and perfect if you eat gluten-free because a lot of food in Bahia is made from tapioca. Then grab a late lunch at the beach and dinner at restaurant and you'll be good to go.

//Places to Stay//

Morro de São Paulo is separated into 4 beaches. the first two are close to the Villa and close to the little harbor where you'll come in. These two beaches have hotels and pousadas (bed and breakfast) ranging from $500 a night to $50 a night. The first and second beaches are a good place to stay if you want to be close to the restaurants, the night life, and pretty much all the action, including some cute shops. Third beach is a little more quiet, with a handfull of places, and 4th beach is farther away, very quiet, with ocean view pousadas and pousadas that are tucked away in the jungle, with a short walk to the beach.

We stayed in 4th beach at a very cute pousada called Vila Mato Verde. 4th beach is beautiful and every time we went to the beach there was hardly anyone there. It's also a nice walk from 4th beach to 1st beach. If you don't want to walk you can always take the carriage, a horse, or a bike. Vila Mato Verde had a large 2 bedroom chalet with a full kitchen. There was a family from Denmark staying there with two young kids. If you're traveling with kids check around because I know a lot of pousadas have this set up.

// Things to do //

We took one full day to just walk around, see the historical sites, and visit the different beaches. I think we saw everything except the colonial theater.

If you're looking for something more adventurous you can zip line down to the beach. This picture was taken from where the zip line starts. It's a total of 340 meters long. Here is a little video. Just watching this makes me a bit queasy. I don't love heights. But I do love snorkeling. Plenty of places to snorkel and also dive. There are snorkeling, diving, wind surfing, and surf board rentals everywhere. You won't be bored.

// Getting to Morro //

If you fly into Salvador Bahia you can take a 2 hour boat ride. Boats leave from Mercado Modelo. There's a boat leaving at least every 2 hours during the low season and every hour during the high season. If you're coming from the south of Bahia then you'll need to either drive or catch a bus up to Valença, and from there you'll catch a boat to Morro. Boats leave every 1/2 hour.

// Other resources //

Here are some other webistes that can help you plan your trip

// Rota Tropical
// Morro de Sao Paulo Travel
// Trip Advisor
// Zulu

Have you ever been to Morro de São Paulo? Is this the type of place you'd like to visit?

What Breakfast in Bahia Looks Like

noreply@blogger.com (Damaris @Kitchen Corners) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:15:40 PST

When people ask me what a typical American breakfast is like I say pancakes, eggs, bacon. You know. But if you come to my house I'll probably just feed you cold cereal.

People ask what breakfast is like in Bahia. If you come to my house breakfast is just a paozinho (small French bread), some juice, and fruit. But, if you want a traditional breakfast it's more than that. It's fruit and a lots of things made from tapioca.

It's seriously, delicious.

1- Pao de queijo - small cheese breads made with tapioca flour. Easy to make, I promise.
2- Cuscuz de tapioca- tapioca couscous made with coconut milk and fresh shredded coconut.
3- Bolinho de estudante - deep fried tapioca couscous sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.
4- Banana da terra frita - fried plantains, sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.
5- Rabanada - Basically, deep fried French toast.

It's like Christian says, most things are way better fried and if you add sugar and cinnamon it's a win.

We were able to eat well in Morro de Sao Paulo.
Tomorrow I'll show pictures from our trip.