Kitchen Lab

My last post made me think about my cooking experiences. Sometimes this blog looks like a movie review web site, because I like to share my movie experiences with you! eheh But besides movies, one thing that I do a lot is cooking but for some weird reason (yes, I'm always about weird things!)

I never talked about my cooking experiences (with one rare exception almost two years ago). I always leave this "hard" task of updating the blog for a better day... and that day never arrives! eheh

But today I said "enough is enough" so I've uploaded some pictures from my last cooking experiences. Yes, because usually eyes eat first, and besides cooking I like to take pictures of it... but I have to improve this skill.

My kitchen lab photo album

Bon appetit!

Carnaval!

Samba, feijoada and caipirinha! All the ingredients required for a real Carnival (spelled "Carnaval in Portuguese) before Mardi Gras... well, I would still need sun and hot temperatures, but I'll manage with the cold and grey sky!

For those who don't know, feijoada is a stew of beans and pork meat, very typical in Portugal and Brazil. Although beans are the main ingredient, the portuguese feijoada (which uses white beans) is different from the brazilian one (which uses black turtle beans).
As we are celebrating Carnival, the brazilian feijoada is a must.

As for the caipirinha, I believe you've already heard (and maybe drunk) this brazillian cocktail made with cachaça, sugar and limes.

Enough of chit-chat, now it's time for some brazilian sounds to cheer up your Carnival: batucada percussion

And the nominees are...

Yes, the Oscars are coming and we always start with the nominees. As always there aren't many surprises, but two: this year we have 10 movies nominated for Best Picture and we have... two hosts! eheh

Still, is curious to see a Quentin Tarantino movie, "Inglourious Basterds", nominated for Best Picture, along with "District 9" which was for me the best surprise of 2009.
There's once again an animated Picture, "Up", nominated for this same category and the Cohen brothers couldn't miss it too! eheh

Well, I'm not going to exhaustively talk about each nominee, but I'll leave you with thoughts:

Avatar - it deserves all technical awards and the best director for James Cameron (for putting it all together), but it's not the best movie.

Inglorious Basterds - if you watched it you may remember Col. Hans Landa, the evil german officer, but it deserves a good Oscar for best actor in a supporting role.

Best actress - Meryl Streep kicks ass in "Julie and Julia", but I believe the award is going to Gabourey Sidibe for "Precious" a very very heavy drama.

Coraline - usualy the Oscar for best Animated Feature Film goes to a Pixar movie, but I would like to see Coraline get the award. Good story with a dark side and a great stop-motion animation.

The 2010 Oscars ceremony will be hosted by Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin. Is it a good choice? Well, usually I watch the ceremony live and it's a fact that audiences aren't the same anymore. I believe it will be a funny mix ;-)

And the Oscar goes to...