Movie Suggestions

As you know, hubby and I love to watch movies. And as we just had a longer weekend, we were able to catch up and watched three excellent documentaries:

The Last Mogul: The True Story of Lew Wasserman - tells the story of life, filled with scandals, of one of the most powerful men in Hollywood.

L'amour Fou - a beautiful and delicate story about the professional and personal relationship of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé.

Dominick Dunne: After The Party - interesting story about life's ups and downs of one of the most important writers of Vanity Fair.

These three docs are biographical and perfect for those who like Hollywood, fame, fashion, scandal and success; or for those just interested in good stories with real actors.

Griffith Park, Los Angeles

This weekend, hubby and I felt very "Angeleno": we went hiking at the Griffith Park.

Griffith Park is one of the largest urban parks in North America, and in there is located the Observatory, Hollywood Sign, Greek Theater, courts, places for picnics, hiking and many other activities.
It took us more than 3 years to do this, but since we're not an adventurous couple, it was not a priority. But the day was beautiful, the city was calm and quiet due to the holiday today, and the weather was great.
The trails are easy, not too radical (except the height!) and can be done by everyone: children, elderly, dogs etc. But since they have no signs, and there are several of them, at the very beginning we has to ask a hiker who was leaving one of them, if that trail could take us close to the Observatory (and he said yes). So off we went!

Less than 50 minutes later we were on the very top! Higher than the Observatory. From there you can see entire Los Angeles, from all sides. We stayed there for a while admiring the view and then we went down taking a different trail.

Two hours nicely spent (the time will depend on the trails you choose), breathing fresh air, sunbathing (don't forget sunblocks!) and walking. A very pleasant way to exercise and admire beautiful views!

This week's DELIGHT: Flourless Zucchini Pie

This Flourless Zucchini Pie is a combination of two recipes I had in my books for quite some time and it turned out delicious! Light, it's perfect for those who want to eat healthier (but if this is not your case, you can add any other ingredients you have in the fridge).

As a side dish, I made a good well seasoned tomato salad. Mmmm... This recipe is also great for brunch, lunch after the beach or the club or, as it was in my case, a light dinner.

Check here for this and other recipes.

Good idea: Swoop storage bag

Summer vacation is around the corner and pretty soon your kids will be at home playing with their friends with those tiny toys all over the place; or they will ask you to take their puzzles and block toys with them to that summer trip, and you have no idea where to storage them. Now you have the Swoop: a storage bag that opens up like a play mat and when the kids are done, just pull the nylon strings and it turns back into the bag so you can hang, store or toss it anywhere. Fast and easy, right?

The Swoop is made ​​of canvas, machine washable and available in four vibrant colors!

No more mess!

Details...

Waffle and maple syrup.

Beautiful signs of Spring.

Passion Fruit Cake made for a lovely friend who came to visit me!

Happy Hour - Part 1 (I'll give the recipe for this drink later)

Saturday morning with firefighters and police (it seems a lady blew her stove up)

Happy Hour - Part 2 (sparkling wine and raspberries)

Ending the weekend with a delicious Nutella hazelnut cookie!

Santiago de Chile

During my vacation in Brazil, I got the chance to go to Santiago de Chile. It was my first time there and I loved the city! Unfortunately we did not have time to visit other places (for those who don't know, Chile has ski resorts, wineries, Ilha de Páscoa etc.), so we spent the entire weekend in Santiago.

We took the hop-on hop-off (great option when you have almost no time to walk around the city) and visited turistic places;

We took the funicular (a cable car that leads to the top of a mountain from which you can see the city - I mean, when there is no pollution and the weather is good);

Ate lots of empanadas (typical food from Chile and Argentina - it's like a baked turn over);

Went to the Central Market and tried other typical dishes;

We went to the Feira de Artesanatos (handicraft-products fair) and ate more empanadas;

And ate at good restaurants!

If you have the chance, I suggest you to go on this trip. If you live close to Chile, a weekend is fine, but it's better if you have more time, so you can go to other cities nearby and enjoy the different atmospheres Chile has to offer. And doing all this while sipping Chilean wine. Not bad, right?

In love: Cake Stands

One of the obsessions a baker has, whether she is an amateur or a professional one, are cake stands. And it's no different to me! I'm in love with them because you can not only use them for cakes and pastries, but also for a quiche, a savory pie, decorating a party table, decorating the kitchen etc. You can have a huge collection! But since I can not buy all of them, I am happy to share with you some really cool ones, so you too get excited and buy some!

These and many other cake stands can be found at Williams & Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel, Sweet & Saucy among many other stores.