Food with family and friends

I can't believe we're back for almost three weeks and I still didn't have time to post my photos here from my hometown. But it's a good sign, it means I'm busy and being busy sounds good for now (have to finish my thesis until the middle of July!).

My dissertation is about food, so you can imagine how much I've be reading and writing about it. And one thing that I really agree is how much food is a social "tool", how is good to prepare and share food with people you love. And I have to say that I had a lot of this amazing sharing - of food and love - in Brazil. After the tour we went to my hometown to spend two weeks with family and friend and I was also in an important "mission": to know and baptize my newly born niece (L)!

In the first week we went to this fancy place with my parents and I didn't know if we would be able to find food to me and Matteo there, but silly me, Brazil has the best fruits and vegetables ever and there's always some options for vegan. So we ate well and had tons of fun:

The place:
built around a river with natural hot water

Tropical breakfast
(the only thing we took was the soy milk)

Lunch time

Dinner time

For the rest of the days I was just eating with my parents at home or with at friends:

One of my favourites: pastel de soja

Dinner with lovely friends:
spicy beans soup/cream (caldo de feijao)

Sfiha night with more lovely friends
(sfihas filled with pumpkin and broccoli)

Last night with friends:
couldn't leave Brazil without having açai
(this one was with mint, so refreshing!)

And on the last Saturday there I had the chance to do something I wanted since before going there: cooking a vegan meal to my family. I'm the only vegetarian in the family and my parents are not into it at all (well, my dad is curious about trying everything but not my mom or my brother). So there was this family lunch on Saturday to celebrate my niece's baptism and they've asked me to cook. Because my mom doesn't like a lot of things, me and Matteo decided to go basic: we'd cook corn risotto (what a surprise, but my sister-in-law loves it and asked me for that, so not my fault this time!) and pasta with two simple sauces - ragu and white sauce. Have to say it was a success and everybody enjoyed the meal and had a great time. I couldn't be happier.

All about... 2010

Since I've started the blog I've been doing the "all about... the previous year" post and this year won't be different. I like some rituals and unpredictable since I left Brazil it sounds good to keep the "traditions" that are left ;-P

2008 sounds a thousand years ago right now, but it was an important year. 2009 was a way better, but still with too many downs between some ups. But it was definitely a "building" year. But 2010 was grand and I can't stop thanking life for giving me such a good year.

I won't be able to remember all the good bits (what is a good sign) but I'll let you know my top 10:

1. I started a Master in Journalism and Media Communications
2. We moved to a house, a lovely house
3. Me and Matteo celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary and 6 years together (L)
4. I did one more issue of my paper zine, Outspoken, and the first English issue
5. I went to Brazil to see my family and best friends and it was deadly
6. I had an amazing summer, traveling around, visiting friends and my mom came to Europe for the first time
7. I saw 7 Seconds at Ieperfest and a lot of other amazing shows. Hardcore and straight edge will always be my life
8. I started working on MUZU.TV with on-line journalism and music
9. My brother's wife is pregnant and I'll be an aunt soon (L)
10. I still have the best friends in the world, no matter how far they are

And I couldn't leave out the amazing vegan food that I had this year. I didn't cook or bake that much, but still had great experiences in the kitchen. I met new (and amazing) people cause of veganism. I celebrated my 13th vegan anniversary believing more and more that I made the right choice. Berlin is still the TOP 1 vegan-friendly city in my opinion, but I still have to go to the US. Ice cream is still the best thing in the world.

I have no idea about how 2011 will be. I have a good feeling about it but I decided to not plan too much and I have no resolutions for this year. But I'm sure my life will change again. For the best. The word for 2011 is already being "surprise".

Happy 2011

More vegan products in Italy

Last week we had to go to Italy to a short trip. The reasons weren't amazing but it was great to be there for a couple of days. Me and Matteo could relax a little bit and enjoy all the homemade vegan food and love that are always waiting for us there.

It's funny how countries have different vegan products. Italy doesn't have vegan cheese, but it has lots of biscuits and ice cream. Ireland has a lot of vegan cheese options, but not amazing biscuits and just a few (and expensive) ice cream options. Italy has vegan pizza everywhere. Ireland has potato wedges. I could keep going, but this was just to make a point: no place (that I know) is perfect, so I always try to enjoy the best food each place has.

We didn't go out too much but I could take pictures at home and in the supermarket of some great products that we had tried there this time:





This was how we left north of Italy:


This was Dublin last Saturday morning:

And this was Dublin after 5 days of heavy snow (nobody was ready for it, but it was amazing and the city looks even more beautiful!):

Happy Mothers Day

Today is the Mother's Day in Brazil and I miss my mom. I miss her every single day, even being able to talk to her with the MSN or Skype two or three days a week. She is my best friend. Yes, she is the best mother in the world, and if I am a good person today, she has the credit for it. I wish I could give her a big hug now, but I will do it soon.

I miss my grandma too. I miss the amazing lunch for the Mother Days we used to have at her house. I never had another grandma, so she was the only one. She was unique too. And she will be remembered forever.

Love you, mom! ♥

All about... 2009!

Before starting this post, I decided to read the one I wrote about 2008. It's really good to look back after some time. Remembering things with some distance (in this case, of time) is really good. And I can say that one sentence that I wrote back in January 2nd was 100% true: "I know things will be fine in 2009".

And the word I chose to describe 2009 is "building". I really spent my year building my new life: home, friendship, love, family. It was the year to learn how to keep some relationships with the distance, to make others, close, to deal with my family in the other side of the ocean, to have a new house (two, in fact, because we moved to a bigger apartment last October), to keep things and let others go, to live in Dublin, to love Dublin, to keep my marriage amazing and full of love, to start new things, to close some doors and open new windows.

As you can notice, it was a full and busy year. I could see all the seasons coming and going and have memories for them all. It's really nice when you come from a place that is always hot and always look like summer. I don't know if I would be able to write about everything that was important to me in 2009, but I want to write about some things.

In February, after coming back from our first travel to Berlin to see my lovely friend Clarissa, I decided to start baking vegan cupcakes and cakes. Some people should think that I always did that, but I never thought about it before going to the cupcake shop in Berlin. I like to bake, I was used to bake some cakes (and birthday cakes for friends) but had never done it as a "job" or a "business" before. But the crisis was all around Dublin and I couldn't get a job in my professional area, journalism, so I decided to try. I talked a lot to the owner of Cupcake Berlin and she gave me the most important tips to begin and I started to bake. First for the new friends here, then for selling in the hardcore gigs and, finally, for selling in the Govinda's restaurant and for some orders. And I had a busy year baking my vegan cakes! And everybody loves them ;-) In general, I cooked more too. Being at home made me cook more and it is a good experience that I want to keep.

Matteo and I moved all the HUP (our independent hardcore label) stuff to Dublin, released the Irish band Famine, helped to bring Bane to play Ireland in April ans released their 2 new EPs in Europe and South America; we released the Italian bands To Kill, Locked In and helped the first release of Go Back Home; we went to basically all gigs that happened in the city and to other festivals in Europe during the summer; we made the last Have Heart South America tour and I had the chance to travel with them, Shipwreck and Rise and Fall for a week and see Have Heart last shows in Europe and say goodbye to my favorite band of the new generation. All this was really amazing because I can't live without the hardcore and the straight edge in my life. We saw bands that I never imagine to see, we met amazing people, we had tons of fun.


I started to make some friends around and I could keep the best friends I have in my life, even with the distance. Friendship is really important to me and it's not easy to have true friends around. I think I'm building some new friendships here and I'm sure I'll always have the Brazilian friends in my life, doesn't matter where I am. I saw these friends - and my family - in June in Brazil and it made me happy enough for the rest of the year. I celebrated my birthday in July with my new Irish friends and I think they have no idea about how important it was for me. I spent some amazing days with Matteo's family. It's so great having them around. Barcelona in September was unforgettable! Christmas and New Year were perfect. The first in Dublin and couldn't be better.


I still don't have a job that I'd like, but I'm writing for a magazine from London, I have a column in a Brazilian website to talk about veganism and other things I believe, I have 5 of my vegan recipes published in a German book, I have an article in a new German magazine (and I hope I'll have more), I worked with my ex-boss again in a project and it's always great to keep this relationship with him and the place I worked for almost 4 years in Belo Horizonte.

I really can't complain about 2009. I still have a lot to do to make my life better here but I'm sure I built the bases, solid ones. 2010 will be a better year. It is already being. I have new goals to be achieved and I'm positive about them.


Finally, I just like to say THANK YOU to everybody that was part of my life in 2009 and I hope you're still here.

"Brasil, meu Brasil brasileiro"

Since the end of May I'm in Brazil. I'm spending some great days in my hometown, Belo Horizonte, with my family and friends! I'm going to a lot of awesome places and I hope I can update here soon with news and pics ;-)

For now, just one thing: it's so good that I can eat beans again! Love them and love the Brazilian snack "pastel" (need to get a recipe to post here!)

I'll be back!

All about... 2008

I was thinking if it would be a good idea to write about 2008. I can't say it was a great year to me. But I can't say it was bad too. So I decided to write some lines. If I had to choose one word to define my year, it would be “messy”. 2008 was the year of changes. I changed my life. And we started 2008 knowing about that. And I thought I was prepared. But looking back, I know I wasn't and it was not that easy. But I am happy with my choice, so I know things will be fine in 2009.

Because we knew we would leave Brazil, we decided to spend all the time we could close to the people we love – family and friends. And our best way to do that is being together, having fun together, and eating together. In this way, we celebrated as much as we could. We made parties at all friends' birthdays until July (when we came to Europe) and we tried all the vegan food we could. We knew those moments wouldn't last forever and we enjoyed them. It wasn't that easy try to leave everything done to move while going out as much as we could with our friends. But I couldn't do different. This made a huge difference to me. I said “goodbye” to all of my favorite Brazilian vegan food and to my best Brazilian friends. I spent my time with my family and laughed together. We celebrated Matteo's birthday in April and mine, in July, some days before we traveled. Even when I wasn't in a mood to go out or celebrate, we decided to do it because it was worth it. And the last time I saw my friends in 2008 was at the premiere of “Batman - The Dark Knight”, with popcorn and lots of fun.


And now, looking back, it's so easy to think about all these days and smile. Each vegan food has a specific memory. Garlic bread at New Year. Donuts at Digao's birthday. Chocolate cake at Matteo's birthday. Raquel's awesome snacks all those Friday nights. Pizza and burgers with friends at lunch. Mom cooking great soups some weekends. And the list goes on... Full of happiness.

Then July came, it was time to say goodbye to everybody and to everything. We were so excited with the new life that was difficult to be sad. We spent two months in Italy with Matteo's family and going to some hardcore shows and festivals around Europe. We deserved some vacation. Being in Italy is always good and we eat a lot there too because, as you all can notice reading this blog, my sister-in-law is an amazing vegan cook. There, I decided to create this blog. Not just to talk about food. To talk about things I care about and that bring me some happiness. These include vegan food, vegan lifestyle and a cruelty free life.

Since October we're living in Dublin and things are still messy around here. But we're happy to be here and we started to build a new life that already has great memories. And to share this new life with people that care about me and about a better world, a vegetarian/vegan world, I kept this blog alive.

In 2008 I had completed 11 years being vegan. And I still care about it. More than I cared when I decided to be vegan. And it's really good to know that I care so much when most of the people I know just gave up. I feel happy being vegan. And even in a year confused like my 2008, this is always a sure thing in my life.

A little bit about… Christmas

We’re in Italy since December 24th and I can say I’m having a great time. I got a bronchitis but I am really happy to be here. As I wrote on the post about my grandma, I was a little bit worried about this first Christmas far from home, but we had a great time.

We had an awesome Christmas lunch. Just us, me and Matteo’s family. And a lot of food, as I wrote before too! My sister-in-law cooked everything she said she would and much more. We spent almost 4 hours eating, talking and having fun together.

Thinking about all the food we ate, one is definitely my favourite: the vegan salty muffins. She cooked some with peas and others with black olives. I could eat them forever!


And this wasn’t everything. In Europe they have the Saint Stephen holyday on December 26th, so we had two days of party and a lot of food. And one more time, my sister-in-law did her best with an amazing vegan menu. And she’s not vegan, not even vegetarian, so, my dear friends, don’t think it is that hard to have a vegan meal. All you need is some vegan recipes in your hands and creative ideas!

All about... grandma

This is a hard post to make, but I'll try to make it in a happy way because it's about a special and happy person: my grandma. She passed away two days before last Christmas and this is my first Christmas without her in fact (last year was so confused with the funeral and stuff) and without my parents close to me. But she was the funniest and the happiest person I met in my all life, so I try to keep just the good memories about her.


I didn't meet my other grandma, so she was always the only one. And she was my godmother too. And I never met other woman like her. Always strong and always trying to see the good side of everything. Always making jokes, even about her own problems. When times get hard to me, I think about her. She used to love Carnival. For years, she made costumes and went on the streets of the small city she lived with lots of friends and relatives to celebrate and dance. She didn't like her birthday, so every year she used to choose one day to be the “birthday day”. She was religious, but didn't want to go to heaven. To her life on earth was the only one she knew and the sky seemed to be boring (with just “white clouds and souls dressed in white”). She always knew she wouldn't live after her 84th birthday and that's how it was. She didn't like go to weddings because “I went to mine and it wasn't that good!” and she loved Christmas.

We used to celebrate Christmas with a big party every year the night of December 24th. My mother's family isn't that big (considering most of the Brazilian families), so we used to be together – my parents, my brother, grandma (and for some years, my grandfather too) and all uncles and nephews, at our house in this small town (just her lived there in fact). And she always arrived carrying the big red bag of gifts and using Santa Claus' hat. This is the best memory ever. And that's why I still love Christmas. Not because of the religious part, not because of Santa Claus, not because of the gifts. Because of my family and because of my grandma.

It wasn't easy to her to understand why I decided to be vegan. She grew up in a farm and used to cook with animal fat for years. When I told her that I wasn't eating meat, eggs and milk anymore, she was really pissed off. She couldn't believe I wouldn't eat her food anymore, and most important, I wouldn't eat all desserts she used to cook with love for me. But after some time, she started to think about some alternatives. She found out a place in that small town that had soy and she learned how to cook some vegan food for me. And after, for Matteo. She loved him. It was love at the first sight. She used to call him “Matteozinho” (little Matteo) and everything she was cooking was for him. Sometimes she forgot about the things, and asked us if we wanted something with chicken or meat, but it wasn't to make jokes (like so many people do), it was just hard to remember or to understand. She was doing her best.

She was the best person I ever met. She will always be an example for my life. She was my sunshine and she will be always in my heart.

Cooking with pleasure - Pics

Yesterday was an awesome day and I decided to cook. Nothing special, but we enjoyed our lunch!

Red peppers with soy + roasted french fries

Rice + beans + red peppers with soy + roasted french fries

Rice and beans is a typical Brazilian mix

Cooking with pleasure

As I wrote here before, I'm not a great cook. Neither my husband. We like to cook sometimes and I just know how to do (fine) a few things like lasagna, pasta, sandwiches and cakes. But some days we are really inspired to cook and this is the best thing.

Nobody needs to love to cook to do it. Most of the times you need to cook (because you need to eat, of course!). Or you can choose to always go out to eat. We enjoy eat at home even when we aren't inspired to cook something special. I admire those people that love to cook. It's a talent. My sister-in-law is one of these people. Every time she goes in the kitchen we can expect great food and dessert. And I have a Brazilian friend that is like that too, but she cooks more food for parties (like snacks and sweeties). Not that we just eat them at parties, we used to go to her house every weekend to watch movies, chat and eat those delicious things. But when she cooks for parties is even better. Last week she did cakes and small sweeties for a reggae party. Everything yellow, green and red! Amazing. I wish I could be there.

Well, the thing is that after I started this blog and after I have had more time at home (I'm not working yet since we moved), me and my husband are reading more about recipes and watching some TV shows about cooking. And it's so inspiring! So we decided to try to cook more things we like. It will not be some kind of obligation because the best part is to make it with passion and having fun. Yesterday was a bad kitchen day. I was so excited to cook my classical pancakes and none of our frying pans worked. It was so frustrating. I got pissed off and we just ate junk food during all the day. But today was a great Sunday with my husband in the kitchen! He decided to go out to buy some special things and he cooked an awesome pasta that he called Penne alla Ferrari. I helped a little, but he did the hard work. And we have had a great time cooking together and an amazing meal!

So, this is our deal: we will experiment lots of recipes every day we feel inspired to cook. And we already have 3 recipes to start: Rice balls from Brazil Nut, pizza from What The Hell Does A Vegan Eat Anyway? and Polpettone from the Italian Veganblog! Thank you for all these inspiring blogs and I'll let you know our experiences some day.

All about... my father

Today is my father's birthday. And it's the first year I'm far away and can't celebrate with him. But I will do here a small homage to him, to a man who always helped and supported my choice of being vegan.

When I told the news that I would stop to eat meat at home, it was not a big surprise because I have never been a big fan of meat. So my mother said something like “what's the big deal?”. Than came the second part: I would stop to eat (and use) all kind of animal product. Well, this was a big surprise and something they couldn't understand at that time. For the first one or two years, my father thought it was a kind of “rebellious attitude” that was coming with the punk/hardcore lifestyle. He used to say that it wouldn't last for a long time. Even without understanding (and believing in my choice) he started to help me. First, I was still living with them at that time, so he (and my mother) started change some small, but important things to me, at home. Everything that we could eat together (like pasta, margarine, biscuits) they started to buy the vegan option of (oh yes, pasta in Brazil usually has eggs). And many times he was going to the supermarket, he was coming back with something that he discovered (reading the ingredients) that was vegan.

He has never let any of his friends or our relatives make funny (and stupid) jokes about the vegetarianism. Every time we have been out to eat, he always talked to the manager of the place to ask to some vegan options for me. Every party he did at home, there was lot of food for me. This may seem not a big deal, but most of my friends hadn't the support of the family when they decided to become vegetarian or vegan. And he was there, for me. Trying to make my choice easier in a city and in a time when there weren't many vegan options around. When people didn't even know what was veganism. He was one of this people too. He didn't even know how to explain my choice. When people asked him if his daughter was vegetarian, the answer was always “she is more than vegetarian, she doesn't eat nothing that comes from animals”. This was the way he found to explain the veganism. And I couldn't be more proud.

Today he's celebrating his birthday with friends and family in his house. And I am here. And I will have a big and great vegan salted cake to celebrate!

Happy Birthday, daddy.
And thank you for always being by my side.

PS. 1 I will have to translate this post to him, but it's worth it.

PS. 2 Today is also the birthday of a great vegan Brazilian friend. Clarissa, we will celebrate this day together in Berlin soon!