You Know You're Brazilian When...

Graphics by Irene

I am finally taking some time to transfer some of my older posts from my HSB blog. I really need to get this done for I would like to close that one blog up.

This was a meme, that some of my dear friends had it going around for awhile, It was so much fun, I loved it.

You Know You're Brazilian When...

~ You spell Brasil with (s). (This is rule of spelling you never forget)
~ You didn't know anything about bills until you came to the US.
~ If someone tells you to be at a certain place at 1:00 PM, you don't show up until 2:30 or 3:00 p.m.
~ You like Guarana (Brazilian pop) better than Coke. You like Coke better than Pepsi, and only buy Pepsi when there is nothing else left.
~ You eat rice and beans at least 6 days a week, except on Sundays.
~ Your breakfast consists of milk and coffee, bread with butter, and a piece of cake.
~ You know what feijoada, salgadinhos and pavê are.
~ Your entire family goes to grandma's house on Sundays for a big family get together....even when you guys see each other everyday.
~ You ask for grandparents, aunts/uncles and parents blessings every time you leave the house or talk on the phone.
~ You are the loudest person in the room.
~ You travel to Brazil and instead of taking a suitcase with all your stuff, you take presents for the entire family, the dog, the neighbor, not to mention the old/used clothes that you take just in case someone needs it.
~ You leave your house spotless when you have people coming over.
~ You know who these great Brazilian singers/songwriters are: Chico Buarque, Caetano Veloso, Giberto Gil, Djavan, Roberto Carlos. And female singers: Gal Costa, Maria Bethânia, Elis Regina.
~ You know who Xuxa and Pele are.
~ You consider it odd that Americans think of Brazilian music in terms of Bossa Nova. For you, Bossa Nova is something that happened in the 60's and early 70's.
~ You have a sense of fashion. Looks do matter, no matter where you are.
~ You dress up to go to the supermarket.
~ Your jokes are always about Portuguese people.
~ You take soccer too seriously. World Cup Soccer, becomes a national holiday.
~ You are curious about American football but baseball is absolutely incomprehensible.
~ You know what Samba and Capoeira are.
~ You know something about volleyball and handball.
~ Everyone thinks you're everything but Brazilian. (this is so true with me, most of the time a Russian, Arab, Italian)
~ You understand & speak Spanish, but when you say a word in Portuguese no one understands you.
~ You don't care about race or color. And once you come to the US, you realize what racism means. (How true!)
~ Between "black" and "white" there are many shades of race. Someone who is not very distinctively black looks white to you. You probably think you are white yourself, and it is only when you travel to the U.S. that you find out it is not necessarily so.
~ You are so used to corruption that nothing surprises you anymore.
~ You believe everyone is a brother.
~ Any holiday...being it official or not, is an excuse to stay home from work and take a week vacation.
~ You are too friendly, and can hold a nice cordial conversation with your librarian, store clerk, and easily be mistaken for being uneducated or not trustworthy.
~ You expect your doctor to actually talk to you like a human being. If you ever get medical treatment in the U.S. you are shocked at the coldness of most doctors.
~ Doctors are among the most important people in the world.
~ You have a cell phone, just about everyone has a cell phone. Landline phones are difficult and expensive.
~ You believe in God. You may, or may not, care for any organized religion. If you do, you may belong to several different religious affiliations at the same time.
~ You measure everything in meters, kilos and liters (and Centigrade degrees).
~ You have four weeks of vacation guaranteed by law. You can sell half of it back to your boss.

If you would like to do the same meme, let me know and I will come by your blog and read it.
((((Brazilian hugs)))))
Katia

Microwave Chocolate Cake

Craving some chocolate and don't want to turn the oven ON because of the heat? No problema! I found the perfect solution. This is super easy, quick and delicious Chocolate cake.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons butter, softened (I used 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 pinch salt

Directions:

Spray a medium microwave-safe bowl with non-stick spray and set aside. In a mixing bowl, combine the butter, sugar, egg, vanilla extract, and milk; blend together. Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt; blend into the mixture until smooth. Pour into greased bowl (I used a pie plate)
Cover (I use wax paper loosely over the dish) and cook in the microwave on high for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes, or until cake springs back when touched. Since all microwaves cook differently, adjust the cooking time to accommodate your machine. Poke holes with toothpick, and pour some chocolate or caramel ice cream topping on top after taking it, out of the microwave.
Servings: 4

Optional -
Let cake cool, cover with Cool whip, refrigerate for a few hours, pour more chocolate topping on top some nuts and you have a dessert to impress any guest.

I will have to take a picture of my chocolate torte made with this cake. I made one last week for the Sabbath but forgot to take a picture of it.
((((Hugs))))
Katia

Mixed Berry Cobbler

I made this delicious and yet very simple dessert for the Fourth of July. This recipe has been in my DH's family for awhile now. It so versatile, you can use just about any fruit and top it with ice cream for a last moment pop in guests.

Recipe

Preheat oven 350 degrees

Place one stick of butter on a 9 X 11 baking pan, then put it in oven to melt.

While this is melting.

Mix and set aside:

1 cup sugar

1 cup flour

1 cup milk

1 tsp, salt

1 tsp. baking powder

Take melted butter dish out of the oven and pour mixture all over melted butter.Then, lay about 2 cups (or more) of diced fruit on this mixture and sprinkle it with about a 1/4 sugar (or more) over the fruit. If using apples or peaches mix cinnamon into the sugar. Bake until golden brown, or until tooth pick comes out clean.

Apple cobbler recipe (below)

May/June flowers

If you had come to tea with me in May or June, this is what you would have seen as you approached my home.

Forget-me-not

Sweet Williams

Something from out of space????? LOL Since I had never grown Sweet Williams before, I had no idea what they looked before fully in bloom; and to think that I almost pulled all of my Sweet Williams out, because I thought they were weeds. This is what they looked like before they fully bloomed.

Baby's breath

Coral Bells

Lori, these are the Iris' you gave me last year, remember????

Praying for you, ((((hugs))))
Katia

Freezing Eggs and Composting

I did a search in the Internet and discovered that eggs can be frozen and they freeze very well for baked items, homemade noodle and scrambled eggs. From all I've read in the Internet, eggs can be frozen up to one year. They need to defrost over night in the refrigerator before using it.

Preparing eggs for the freezer:
_ Beat as many eggs together, making sure yolks are well mixed with the whites. Divide into containers, label and freeze.

I freeze eggs in individual portions using small yogurt containers. After they are frozen, I slip them out of the container (allow water to run on the sides of the container to loosen it out.) Bag, label and freeze eggs.

Eggs all done in the freezer shelf for later use. I layer news paper in between bags to prevent freezer burn.

What to do with all of those egg shells?????
Did you know the shells are very good compost?
Did you know that white spots on tomatoes are due to the lack of calcium in the soil?
Did you also know egg shells are good blade sharpener for the blender and garbage disposal?

LOL, I had to take this picture, one might question what's that white stuff around those plants???? I did cover with more compost of course.

Since we are on the subject of gardening, what about other composts? Blending cantaloupe peeling (the blended results - not a very attractive picture) Actually that day I had lots of other vegetable peelings, I then added more egg shells I previously had frozen for this.

My garden this morning. For those of you, who didn't follow my blog last year, I live on a subdivision with a very small back yard and very poor clay soil. We opted for garden boxes. 

I have beets, peppers, onions above, and tomatoes, lettuce and cilantro below. We also have lots of rabbits LOL, the reason for the chicken wire.

((((hugs))))
Katia