Happy Friday, kids! Put on your dancing shoes and enjoy the day!
H&M: Winter Collection
H&M's Winter Collection is looking so good. Loads of faux fur, neutral tones, leather and wool.
I'm missing a little pop of color, but I'm in love, especially with the faux fur hat, and the animal print sweater!
When is H&M in Denver opening?
I was hoping for October, but I'm thinking now it will be November! Maybe for the Versace collection? Let's hope!
{I need to have it}
{love the animal print sweaters}
Cooking: Mousse de Maracujá {passion fruit mousse}
I'm not into sweets at all. I'm a girl who enjoys her salty food. But this fall I took the time to create one of my favorite deserts of all time, a traditional Brazilian recipe: Passion Fruit Mousse or mousse de maracujá.
It's one of the easiest things to make. I found a recipe {here}.
5 Passion Fruits
1 can of condensed milk.
1 can of heavy cream.
I understand that it's hard to find actual passion fruit in the US (I just asked my boyfriend, he has never seen a passion fruit in his life, much less eaten one), so you can easily substitute the actual fruit for concentrated passion fruit juice, found here. In this case, you use the same can of condensed milk to measure the amount of juice you are going to use. You can mix everything together using a blender and chill it. Serve after one hour.
In our case, I used our very cute Missoni for Target martini glasses, put sugar cookie in the bottom and the mousse on the top. It was absolutely delicious!
Happy, happy, Monday!
Good morning, friends!
Happy Monday!
I'm feeling very positive about this week, I believe it's going to be awesome!
Here in Denver, we are enjoying a true summer day, with temperatures in the 80's.
We will have snow later in the week! But, for today, it's still summer!
I'm sharing with you images of the flowers my boyfriend brought home yesterday to brighten my workspace and the home while it's cold out.
I'm in love with them!
Have an amazing week!
Cooking: Bolo de Cenoura {carrot cake}
I've been trying to focus on recipes that match the fall weather {even though it's still hot in Denver, with 70's and 80's degrees during the day}, and one of the things I miss the most from Brazil is our version of the carrot cake covered in chocolate. I found the recipe {here} and started working on it. Unfortunately, one of the hardest things to do in Denver is to get a cake to bake right, because of the altitude.
That's the reason there are no bakeries or good bread in Denver. It's impossible. I have to say that the cake did not turn out the way I wanted it to, but still, it was half decent and I have to say that my boyfriend is a saint, even though he is not Brazilian, he tries all the Brazilian food I make, never resists anything and says he likes them all. I'm not sure if he is lying or not. I hope for his own sake he is not lying. But I really enjoy the fact that doesn't matter what I make in the kitchen, he will eat it all.
Here is the recipe, translated into English:
1/2 cup of oil.
3 medium carrots.
4 eggs.
2 1/2 cups of flour.
1 tablespoon of baking power.
Using the blender or food processor, mix the carrots, eggs and oil. Add the sugar and mix it for 5 minutes until you have a homogenous paste. On a separate bowl, put the flour and the baking power. Add the carrot mixture and stir it all together. Bake for 40 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees. {Don't do what I did, on my first try, I heated the oven to 180 degrees - Celsius - like in the Brazilian recipe. Big mistake!}
After the cake is ready and cooling. Mix on a pan 1 tablespoon of butter, 3 tablespoons of chocolate, 1 cup of sugar and 5 tablespoons of milk. You can pour it on top of the cake and let it dry. It's absolutely delicious!
The video you can find here is very helpful and easy to follow!
Inspired: Sabrina Soto's home via Apartment Therapy
I'm so absolutely in love with her home, her painting in the living room {musica}, the books in her home office, the bathrooms, there is so much I absolutely love in this home and identify with... It's simple, gorgeous, with color... Oh, Sabrina, I LOVE your home!
Images via Apartment Therapy
Cooking: Arroz Doce {rice pudding}
This period that I'm spending at home has been great! I have more than enough time to take on projects that I always dream of executing and one of them has been learning how to cook!
Before we moved to Denver, I had never cooked in my life. I never had the interest or space {read: there are no kitchens inside studios in NJ} and now that I do, I decided to learn.
This fall, I selected a lot of recipes, especially, Brazilian dishes that I miss so much and don't have access to them living in Denver and have been spending a lot of time in the kitchen. I only feel sorry for my boyfriend, who is the one trying everything out.
Last week, I decided to make arroz doce, the Brazilian equivalent to the American rice pudding, but much, much better. I found a recipe {here}, called my mother for some assistance and started.
Here is the recipe in English:
1 1/2 liters of milk
2 cups of rice (washed)
3 cups of sugar
1 can of condensed milk
Cook the rice in a very large pan with the milk. 20 minutes later add the sugar. Another 20 minutes and add the condensed milk and cook for another 20 minutes.
The only problem with this recipe is that 2 cups of rice is the measurement for a gigantic batch of arroz doce. In our case, since it's only my boyfriend and me, I decided to make only 1/2 a cup (a quarter of the recipe) and it is already a lot. We ended up with two large bowls of sweet rice. I cannot imagine the amount of rice that two cups will generate. It's really only in the case that you have a party or large family.
The result was amazing! I'm not very good at making regular rice, so I was apprehensive that this was not going to work out well, but it tasted amazing and my boyfriend ate everything in two days. Thankfully, he is not diabetic.
Our First Date
30 months ago, my boyfriend took me to Eagle Rock Park for the beginning of what was a perfect first date.
{the view of Manhattan from Eagle Rock Park}
This is a day to celebrate! \O/
Happy anniversary!
Trend Alert: Navajo Print
It's already everywhere: every store in the US has its interpretation of the Navajo print in pieces in their windows. This is going to be the winter of the Navajo print, fringes and everything Navajo inspired!
What do you think?
Do you like it?
H&M Conscious Collection
The 2011 H&M Conscious Collection hit stores last week with gorgeous flowery prints and loads of lace! I'm completely in love with the lace pieces and hoping I'll be able to put my hands in the lace skirt as soon as I land in NYC next month!
I have not hear anything anymore about H&M in Denver. Last word was that the store was supposed to open in October and then it's this silence and nobody knows.
I have here a video about the Conscious Collection and my favorite pieces below!
{gorgeous lace}
{my favorite piece}
{totally need this beanie}
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