This week's DELIGHT: Homemade Granola

Tomorrow is Monday, also internationally known as "starting-a-diet day", so I will end the weekend with a healthy recipe: homemade granola!

I was interested in making a homemade recipe for quite some time because I wanted to have a little more control over the ingredients. When we bought granola at the grocery stores, usually the best ones (in taste)  are always packed with sugar and, those healthy ones have some grains I'm not too fond of.
Anyway, hubby who only eats one type of granola, from one certain brand, from one certain grocery store, loved it!
And the cool thing is that you can change the ingredients whenever you want and have a different version each and every time (of course I didn't have all the ingredients at home, so I made my own!)
Check here this and other recipes.

Have a nice week you all!

San Francisco, CA

Hello, hello! It's been over a month since the last time I was here, but the last few weeks have been pretty intense! Fortunately I could get to travel a lot as well and go back to one of my favorite cities: San Francisco. Are you ready for another trip?

It all started with a road trip of about 350 miles. We left LA on Friday morning and opted to take PCH so we could have a perfect view of the California coast.
The trip is beautiful and you can stop anytime to admire the view but it definitely takes longer than a "regular" freeway (it took us about 8 hours).

We arrived at night and went to Pizzeria Delfina.

We had to face almost one hour of waiting - in the cold! The place is super cool, small, with a young and trendy crowd and the pizzas are really delicious!

On the next day we did a cultural tour: we visit the Schulz Museum to learn a little bit more about Snoopy and Charlie Brown ;)

And we went to the de Young Museum to see The Girl with the Pearl Earring! (beautiful!)

The museum is really nice, its gardens are beautiful and the restaurant is very good!

After that, we had to stop at Miette so I could finally "meet her".

The shop is super charming and the sweets/cakes are delicious. To be honest, I had already tested several recipes from her book (they are super laborious) and hadn't found anything extraordinary. I thought it was me, but after trying her version, I made up my mind: there is nothing special about them. But it was worth the visit and I satisfied my late-afternoon sweet craving anyway!

Then, a a quick drive by the Fisherman's Wharf...

And some more charming steep streets...

As we were feeling beaten up by SF (in a good way!) and the next day we had to drive back to LA, we decided to do something I love when I'm staying in a hotel: pic-nic in the room!

And that was it! A weekend in SF.
Whenever I get the chance to visit the city, I am more in love with it and its "almost" perfect blend between New York and Los Angeles (and I say almost because of the weather, oh my... Do we need all that wind and low temperature every time!?)

Vacation - Part 3: Germany

Finally, here's my post about Germany! Over there we had several "first time" experiences, lots of sausages and beers (in my case, wine!).
We went to Zwingelhausen and Heidelberg but we also stopped by Stuttgart.

We started our trip by going to a typical local Christmas fair. And, for the first time, I had hot white wine (good, but I like the red version more)

The Christmas dinner had typical food and desserts by Camila - Baked Goods ;) And, for the first time, I had boar (loved it!)

In Zwingelhausen, also, for the first time, I saw an apple tree! (not in its best shape, but I loved it anyway!)

For the first time, I had brunch with sausages, pretzels (the originals!) and beers!

In Stuttgart, more beer and sausages!

We went to Heidelberg, a beautiful, historic town, with a huge university campus and a castle with bridge and dungeon!

More traditional food ...

Our last meal was in a cozy restaurant whose specialty dish is a cut of meat that comes raw on a super hot piece of stone for you to cook it yourself.

And there was much more that, unfortunately, was not photographed: a Portuguese restaurant with one of the best cod dishes; delicious meals made by my sister in law and her in-laws; on Christmas night, we walked on a vineyard under the moonlight; we had apple liqueur; tried many delicious mustard (some jars came with us!)... I mean, pretty good, right?

And that was the last part of my delightful visit to Europe! Looking forward to the next visit!

In Love: Bord Bar

When I found these trolleys of BordBar was impossible not to remember the days I worked for an airline company ;)

BordBar had the excellent idea of taking the trolleys out of airplanes and bringing them into people's home. Loved it! And you can personalize the whole thing (outside and inside - they have different types of trays: for bottles, coffee capsules, made of glass, aluminum, etc.)

You can also rent the pieces. Which maybe a good alternative, since they're not cheap. But they are multi-purpose and can be used not only as a bar, but also as a coffee station or even to store books and dvds.

Airplane lovers will love this! (I did!)

This week's DELIGHT: Baked Donuts with Chocolate Glaze

After a long time without posting any recipe, here's a pretty a easy and cute one: Baked Donuts with Chocolate Glaze.

To be quite honest, the dough does not have an amazing taste (next time, I'll add either cinnamon or cocoa powder), but the texture is great to make into this donut shape. And the glaze is simple and delicious. Pretty, right?

Movies, flowers and food!

After an intense week at work, the weekend was pretty good and Spring showed up both inside and outside. We stayed outdoors to enjoy the weather but still had time to watch movies, cook and relax!

Beautiful yellow roses for the house ...

A bowl full of sweet clementines...

The incredible film Intouchables (You have to watch it! One of the most beautiful films of the year - along with Amour!)

Chocolate cake (I know, it doesnt look like one. And we did not like it, so I am not giving you the recipe this time)

Another really funny movie that deserves to be watched (available on Netflix): Bernie

New cup to make my coffee even better!

Relaxed and recharged!

Milk

I still need to post the last part of my vacation (Germany!) but I haven't chosen the pictures yet (so many!!). Meanwhile I will give you a very good tip from LA: Milk.

A mix of restaurant / bakery / ice cream parlor, with an unpretentious vibe and good food!

We had salads and ice cream. The salad portion is generous and everything was very fresh and well seasoned!

They have a delicious dessert counter with cupcakes, cookies, cakes, and they're also specialized in ice cream. We chose mint, banana and peanut butter. They are super creamy and available in cones/cups, bars and take-out versions.

A small place, affordable and perfect to go any time of day. Makes me want to go back and try everything!