Weekend Update: Terror on Av. das Americas 666

This weekend was so much work, but so much fun as well. On Saturday my sister Meury and I had to run some errands. I had to buy some little gifts for my nephews and mail it to them so that they would arrive in the US in time for Christmas. Do you want to know how stupid we were? We went to the mall to do this. The mall, of all places! And it wasn’t just one of those regular Saturdays at the mall where it’s crowded, uncomfortable and feels like you’re walking through the market in Madureira Shopping Rio, no, that would’ve been too much to ask for. This was an overly crowded day at the mall where it felt like we were pushing our way through throngs of tweens at a “High School Musical” concert, or hoards of bratty children at a Saw VIII premiere (or whatever it is kids are watching these days), and they were giving out free popcorn.

There were people running to the exits in a desperate attempt to escape the nightmare they had inadvertently gotten themselves into. There were children throwing exorcist- like fits and seizing on the floor trying to get their parent’s attention. The parents of course were paralyzed with fear, so instead of helping they were contributing to the situation. There were parents who had accidentally wandered into a toy shop and had gone catatonic, completely unable to move or think. There were fathers leaving screaming children with their mothers and running as fast as their feet could take them in an overly crowded mall – which wasn’t very far at all, poor buggers.

There were others who it seems had a lot of practice with demonic fits and were just ignoring their kids and looking at books. It looked like the right thing to do if you were the parent, but if you were the victim/customer, which was my case, it was not. For one, who brings a child to a bookstore that doesn’t have a reading corner for children? If one walks into a book store and there’s no space for small children, one automatically deducts that the bookstore is not set up to inspire infant happiness, therefore it would not be advisable to stay, but leave high tail it out of there and find another more suitable activity for your little angel (and by angel of course I mean spawn of Satan). This is all assuming the parent has all of their faculties in order, which obviously, these particular parents did not. I, of course, gave them my best “I hate you, I HATE YOU! I can’t make up my mind if I like the Prada or Mark Jacobs tote better if your child is screaming bloody murder and squirming on the floor like he’s on fire!” look, but like I said, they were ignoring the child, and it didn’t take much more effort on their part to ignore me as well.

I really hate that the mall is the only practical place to go if you need to buy something. The only reason we went there was because there was no other place we could go that had an endless variety of shops and a post office, a place that is safe and protected from the rain. I’m thrilled that I have absolutely no Christmas shopping to do this year. The reason for this is because I have no money to throw around willy nilly for no better reason other than that it’s what Santa did. This year I bought a couple of things for the babies and as for the rest of my friends and family, they’ll be getting books, used books. There’s nothing as fabulous as receiving a book someone else has read before you, beautifully wrapped, and carefully chosen (except maybe a brand new hardcover, but we’re so not gonna go there). I plan to put a whole lot of thought into each one of the books I give, which should make it acceptable if not special.

Sunday I made homemade pizza. I don’t want to exaggerate and overstate this, plus it seems odd to toot my own horn, so I’ll just say; it was the best pizza in the whole entire universe! There, I said it. It was crispy on the bottom and sides and soft on the inside. It tasted like olive oil (which makes perfect sense since I made it with olive oil), and so, so delicious you could easily eat in all on its own. There were different toppings: ham and pineapple, lombo (ham) and catupiry, sun-dried tomato and arugula, and I also made a calzone with mozzarella and apricot jam. Delish! The outside was crispy and the inside was creamy, salty and sweet. The stuff inside spilled out a bit and that caramelized in the pan, what a treat. It was definitely a meal to blog about. I must say that I’m sorely disappointed with myself for having forgotten to take pictures. I can make any number of excuses for myself (which would all be true and understandable), but in the end, I should be a more responsible blogger. The one you see above is just to make your mouth water even it barely illustrates how wonderful it was, it comes pretty close. Will you forgive me? I promise to make it again and take pictures this time. I know, I’ll post the recipe sometime this week and you can try it at home and let me know how it went. Does that sound good?