1.22.2015

soothing my soul

{ spiced rum irish cream }


i find it utterly fascinating when things line up in life,
caughting me startled in an unexpected sequence of coincidences.

those times i feel that maybe my mind has the same beat as the universe.
it works on randomness and on chaotic thoughts
and it slightly shivers with excitement when it all lines up,
as when i am able to sum up my messy thoughts through precise words.

i'll admit i am a bit of a perfectionist, but i'm definitely not obsessed with order.
i have seen the way some people like to plan and control everything.
i cherish the happenstances of life and i like to wander through life with wide open eyes,
trying to unleash myself from the dogmatic and from soulless certainties.

i am extremely picky with words, those who have worked with me know it,
i spend quite a long time trying to find the perfect words
- and they must absolutely fit together too -
but i've learned to appreciate the purity of raw thoughts.

maybe this attempt to pick up the slightest connections, the smallest details,
makes me feel like i have the power to invent an alternative world,
or maybe it is just further proof that we live in a paradoxal world,
where randomness is the only possible state of order,
for it all fits like a puzzle in some sort of magical way.

maybe i do pick up fortuitous connections, or maybe i just make these things up in my mind,
but i've always been captivated by the allure of chance and happenstances.




well, these thoughts didn't come out of nowhere, but let's stick to them as such.

my favourite photoshoot from these last weeks in Portugal - if rushing to your backyard in huge sized shoes from your middle brother holding a couple 'heirloom' stools, finding a place to set them against the nature-savaged wall and holding your iphone under the sharpness of the wintry mediterranean noon light counts as a photoshoot - depicts my own blend of Irish Cream. it just so happens that i had a bottle of spiced dark rum that no one was going to drink (and thus that i immediately labeled as recipe ingredient) and, for some reason i cannot quite explain, i thought it should be turned into a gorgeous irish cream. i know it should be done with whiskey, but why stick to the rules?

this was made as a gift for a friend of my brother who i have to thank for being so caring with him :)

and excuse me if you thought this was just a food blog,
but i love writting, i love falling into the depths of my thoughts
- even though sometimes the result can be as shallow and bare as it just was -
and i suck at small talk.

and as for coincidences, the only one i'll mention today is that i actually have an irish crush earbug, a voice that has been humming in a loop on my head the whole week. what a soul and what a mind, those of hozier.



~

irish cream cubano
para adoçar a alma

300ml de Bacardí Oak Heart ou outro rum escuro e/ou aromatizado
200ml de natas
1 lata de leite condensado magro
30g de chocolate de culinária de boa qualidade (50% cacau), ralado
1 colher de chá de café solúvel de boa qualidade

Aquecer as natas sobre lume médio e dissolver o café, mexendo com uma colher de pau, tendo atenção em não deixar ferver as natas,
Adicionar o chocolate, envolvendo-o e deixando o derreter bem,
Juntar o rum devagar, sem parar de mexer; retirar do lume,
Adicionar o leite condensado em fio, mexendo sempre até estar bem incorporado,
Se necessário, filtrar com uma rede fina para retirar qualquer grumo de café ou chocolate, ou mesmo resíduos de gordura das natas que tenham resultado do aquecimento,
Deixar arrefecer antes de deitar em garrafas de vidro; fechar bem com uma rolha e conservar no frio até cerca de 2-3 semanas.

~

cuban irish cream
for soul sweetening

300ml Bacardí Oak Heart or other spiced dark rum
200ml cream
1 can condensed milk
30g good quality cooking chocolate (50% cocoa), grated
1 tsp good quality instant coffee

Heat the cream over medium heat and solve the coffee, stirring with a wooden spoon without reaching a boil,
Mix in the chocolate, stirring,
Slowly add the rum, always stirring; remove from heat,
Pour in the condensed milk, mixing until homogeneous,
If necessary, sieve to remove any solid residues,
Let cool before pouring into glass bottles; close well with a cork and keep in the fridge up to 2-3 weeks.



~




i'll leave you with cherry wine
(which by chance also contains rum)

xoxo
ines

4 comments:

  1. Interesting recipe! And one that I'm looking forward to try. Besos.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Boa tarde!
    Penso que o acaso não existe, mas também podemos mudar o rumo das coisas, através do nosso livre arbítrio! Um pouco contraditório, mas na minha cabeça está tudo organizado - hehehehe!
    Adorei a tua receita!
    Excelente mùsica:-)
    Te desejo uma ótima semana.
    Bjim
    Léia

    ReplyDelete
  3. Adoro! Fica uma delícia!
    Bjn
    Márcia

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dear Inês, you certainly have a way with words - captivationg to say the least...and your pictures do match your words, in a very homogenous kind of way...love the photo session in your Portugese backyard. I hope that you had a wonderful time with family and friends and lots of time to re-charge those batteries and re-gain inspiration and strength. You have a beautiful blog, a very enchanting way with words and wonderful and different recipes!
    Hope life is treating you well these days and always.
    Ich wünsche dir von ganzen Herzen ein schönes Wochenende - ich hoffe, es geht dir bestens!
    Ganz liebe Grüsse aus Bonn (ohne Schnee),
    Andrea

    ReplyDelete