"Fruits" - in progress

I joined a painting group with ladies from the IWCP. Guillemette is so kind that she offers us free painting class twice a month. So far, we have learnt about complimentary colors, different tones and today we painted still life- fruits. The class was very enjoyable. This is what I have done in this class.

Peru

Sid and I went to Peru in August. Click here for the journal .

A Painting by Brazilian artist, Priscila Lima

A lovely painting that we bought at Largo de Ordem on Sunday.

The "Eye"

The "Eye", originally uploaded by cr-eat-ive.

I took an intensive photography course at a school called Portfolio for the past two weeks. This picture was one of the photos from the very first project that we did - B&W picture using a fully manual camera. We were off with a camera and a roll of Tri-X B&W film; spent about 4 hours near the museum and the bosque to wait for the "perfect" lighting to take the picture. The film was later developed and printed in the lab at the school as well.

Best soup in town- Pamphylia

It sounds crazy to have a post about soup. Many people think it is not something special and not really worth to talk about. But this is what we craved for after stuffing ourselves with meat and more meat in churrascos in the initial days in Curitiba. Soup suddenly became so refreshing. Ever since we found this restaurant (Pamphylia), we became regulars; not only for the soups, but also their pastas and pizzas.

Wine Tasting at Vino

A wine tasting night of New Zealand wines in Vino. The wines that we tasted are:

1. Matua Single Peak Riesling (Marlborough) R$53
2. Palliser Sauvignon Blanc (Martinborough) R$78
   
3. Pencarrow Pinot Noir (Martinborough) R$105
4. Kaituna Valley Pinot Noir (Marlborough) R$209
   
5. Hunters Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough) R$109

Asian Dinner

Last Sunday night, we had a small dinner at home with a couple from Sid's office. I decided to give Sid a challenge with the wine list, so I chose an Asian-themed menu to see what Sid would come up with. The menu was:

1. Vietnamese Spring Roll (recipe)
2. Pan Fried Shanghainese Wontons
3. Cantonese Shredded Chicken Salad
4. Thai Chicken Green Curry
5. Satay Beef Wok-fried Rice Noodles
6. Mango Pudding

Sid opened a bottle of rose to start the evening. We had brought this bottle back from Chile from our last visit. We had tried this Cousino Macul 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon at the vineyard and I really liked the flavour - like fruits (red ones, not bananas, pineapples, or durian) bursting in your mouth! Strangely enough, we had actually bought this bottle in 2005, so I guess this wine does not need to spend much time in the barrel. (fresh from the vine to my mouth - hence the explosion).

Actually, the southern hemisphere is slightly different as the harvest period is in the first quarter of the year (rather than 3rd quarter in other parts of the world). Actually, the wine did not have very powerful aromas but tasted excellent. Given the unseasonably warm temperatures, it was a good start to the evening. During dinner, Sid chose an Argentinean Sauvignon Blanc from Santa Rita (Reserva 2005). Again, fresh from the vines - almost like we had to pick the grapes ourselves. The wine had a very interesting (actually not very interesting, as it was very pale) colour. I can't remember anything about this wine as the first wine had already left me slightly light-headed. Sid said that the wine was refreshing and had good acidity - actually went well with the green curry and the spring roll. He also said (for R$ 45) - it was a good buy!

After desserts, we had opened a box of swiss chocolate thins but had completely forgotten about the beautiful hand-crafted chocolates from Curitiba that our guests had brought. Check out these chocolates - each one was individually hand painted and they were totally yummy. (Cuore di Cacao, fone: 3014-4010)

Wine Tasting

We are lucky to find a couple who enjoy wines as much as we do. So we decide to have regular meetings to enjoy wines from different countries. This time we tried two wines, Gran Feudo rose 2005 (Spain); and Dona Paula cabernet sauvignon 2004 (Argentina).

The rose had a fantastic fruity nose and was a good wine to start the evening. It was an excellent companion for the strawberries and soft cheeses we had that day. We had left the Dona Paula in the decanter for a good half hour or so and it was surprisingly drinkable for such a young wine. We had tortelloni com molho de funghi that night and the slightly earthy flavour of the wine matched the flavour of the funghi well. Probably worthwhile to keep this wine for another year or so before drinking.