We are back home, but a little piece of our hearts is still in Brazil...
It is not easy to come back, every time is the same thing, sad, the goodbye at the airport is hard, and then we get home and there is this huge feeling that we are already desperately missing our family that stayed behind...
But, life is going on, now and here, so we have to take a deep breath and keep going, happy and more than anything, strong.
The trip to Brazil was great!!! We had a ton of fun, spent our time exclusively with our family members, and ate a lot of yummy Brazilian foods!
We brought back with us not only a bag full of Brazilian goodies that will help us stay connected for the months to come, but also a lot of good memories from the awesome time we had there!
It was sunny and warm, the peak of summertime. We went to the pool, had lots of fresh fruit juices, ice cream, and even had time to go fishing with my dad, as you can see above!
This time though I didn't cook much... 21 days was definitely not enough to do all I wanted to, but it certainly was fun. I made a few things while there, some I photographed, but a few others I forgot... including two yummy cakes that I will definitely make again here at home and share the recipe here for sure.
And talking about pictures, here are some of them:

This is a dessert that is as easy to make as it is delicious to eat! It is called "Torta de Sorvete" or Ice Cream Pie, a creamy summertime concoction that everyone enjoyed!









These little cookies brought us back wonderful memories as we sat down to eat them with some coffee. It is a recipe from my grandmother that I haven had in many years... You need real cream from cow's milk (called "Nata" in Brazil) to make them. Nowadays not many people have fresh cow's milk, so it is hard to collect the "nata", but one of my aunts has a cow in her farm and saved some for me so we could make these delicious "Nata Cookies" again! Ohhh, how much I miss my grandma...









One of my Dad's favorite desserts (after Rice Pudding!), Bread Pudding, Brazilian style of course!









Another great moment of my stay in Brazil was a few days before I returned, when I met Karen (from Kafkanapraia) and Miki (from coisascabecagorda). It was super cool! I loved meeting them, they were very nice and we had a great time talking and eating all the delicious things they made! Miki made a wonderful fruit salad with gelatin and vodka that I could not stop eating and can't wait to make myself, and with so many cookies and cakes I didn't even get a chance to try Karen's great looking cocoa cake, which I will also make here at home soon!
Miki was a great host and Karen was such a delicate girl; I had the best time that afternoon learning more about two of the many friends I made through my beloved Kitchen Space!









And can you believe that besides all the yummy goodies I even got little gifts!?! Aren't they really nice?!?!
Thanks Karen and Miki for such a nice time! I just can't wait to go back to Brazil and see you both again!









All in all we had a wonderful time in Brazil, among family and friends, what else can you ask for right?!!
Today I went back to the kitchen and already whipped up two new recipes that turned out really good and will certainly be posted this week to come, and I will also post a few of the recipes from the pictures above! By the way, I have them in both languages, so if my Brazilian friends want them in Portuguese, just let me know!
Ana