When I finished my bachelors at Unifacs in Brazil, I thought, one day I will be teaching as many people as I can about my passion…..foreign languages and that will inspire, especially children, to spark some interest for this amazing new world!

Well, some years later and more than 200 students later,  for three foreign languages, I surprisingly had my goal revised and expanded this month.

A parent from South Africa contacted me to teach their children Brazilian Portuguese, I was so excited, especially because our online classes had never reached anybody further than PA. Needless to say, we will start classes soon!  The internet surpasses all the boundaries of service offering and demand…..the possibilities are endless….

We were also pleasantly surprised to have added three new centers to our locations where classes are offered, only now this time the classes will be offered to senior citizens. The old concept that you can’t learn a language after a certain age was demolished by our Spanish made Fun ™ Program, where seniors learn in whole different way…….through activities they enjoy!

The next time you make an excuse for trying to learn a foreign language, think twice!

For more information on senior programs and online classes, please contact me directly here on the website.

Hasta Luego,

Claudia Krusch

CK Translations Director

EasyLearn Programs – Where a second language means fun!

Hi Welcome back! Have you checked out our other language instruction website?Easy Learn Blog. Thanks for visiting again!

Easter is celebrated differently around the world. In Brazil, the largest Catholic country in the world, meat is definitely a no in 99% of the households. I still taste the flavor of Vatapá and Xixim de Galinha with rice, the smell of dende and cashews cooking while my father stirs frentically to avoid burning….hours of preparation, not a Rachel Ray’s meal.

We don’t have Easter Egg Hunts, our eggs are a pound or more with toys and other different things inside.

Friday is called Sexta Feira da paixão  and it is the most important day, when families get together, a lot of businesses close that day and Sunday is called Domingo de Páscoa.

Some Words:

Easter – Páscoa

Egg- Ovo

Rabbit- Coelho

Basket – Cesta

Family, a home cooked meal, gathering and talking, all the ingredients to a great Easter Party anywhere in the world!

Vatapás recipe:

Vatapa
ingredients

• Dried shrimp
  100 grams or 1/4 pound

• Halibut
  Or other firm-fleshed, non-oily fish.
  700 grams or 1 1/2 pounds

• Coconut milk
  5 deciliters or 2 cups

• Dende (palm nut) oil
  30 milliliters or 2 tablespoons

• Chopped onions
  12 centiliters or 1/2 cup

• Minced garlic
  15 milliliters or 1 tablespoon

• Water
  5 deciliters or 2 cups

• Bay leaf
  1 medium sized

• Chopped fresh chili peppers
  6 centiliters or 1/4 cup

• Salt
  5 milliliters or 1 teaspoon

• Peanuts
  Freshly ground unsalted, shelled, skinned and roasted.
  8 centiliters or 1/3 cup

• Fine-grained cornmeal
  6 centiliters or 1/4 cup

Vatapa
cooking steps

• Chop the shrimp in a food processor or electric blender.
• Bone and skin the fish. Discard the skin. Reserve the bones for step 3. Cut the fish into 2 1/2 centimeter (1 inch) cubes and reserve them for step 8.
• Add the shrimp, coconut milk, and fish bones to a thick-bottomed 1 1/2 to 2 liter (1 1/2 to 2 quart) saucepan. Bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Simmer the mixture for 30 minutes, stirring now and then.
• Heat the oil in a thick-bottomed 2 to 3 liter (1 to 3 quart) saucepan over low to moderate heat. Sauté the onions for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the garlic and sauté this mixture for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
• Stir 4 deciliters (1 3/4 cups) of the water into the onion-garlic mixture. Stir in the bay leaf, chili peppers, salt, and peanuts. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook it for 10 minutes.
• Discard the bay leaf from the onion-garlic preparation. Strain into this preparation the shrimp coconut mixture. Simmer the combination for 5 minutes.
• Soak the cornmeal in the remaining 6 centiliters or 1/4 cup water for 5 minutes. Slowly stir the moist cornmeal into the pot. Simmer the mixture for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add the fish cubes to the pot. Thoroughly submerge them and gently cook the preparation over low heat for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally and very gently. Serve the Vatapa immediately.

Bom Apetite!

Claudia Krusch

CK Translations

If you are interested in learning Portuguese, about other cultures or other languages, log on my website for more information:

www.cktranslations.com

Dear Members,

I hope you enjoyed the rabanada recipes. In this posting, I’m adding a recipe of one of my favorite recipes for a special “stuffing”, that we call farofa. A friend from Brazil gave me this recipe, when I told her I was going to cook our Christmas dinner for the first time and I was looking for the best of both worlds for our meal!

I hope you enjoy it:

Farofa de Natal
Ingredientes
2 pacotes de biscoito tipo a¡gua e sal
200 grs de presunto
200 grs de castanha de caju
1 lata de milho verde
100 grs de passas pretas sem caroco
100 grs de manteiga
1 colher de gordura de porco
1 cebola madia
sal
Modo de Preparo
Passar em um multiprocessador, ou no liquidificador mesmo, o
biscoito e reservar. O presunto e reservar. A castanha e
reservar.
Levar ao fogo a manteiga com com a gordura de porco, com a cebola
ralada. Sem deixar escurecer por a farinha de biscoito, mexer bem
e em seguida ir colocando a castanha, o presunto mexendo sempre
para nao escurecer. O milho e as passas por altimo qdo o fogo ja
estiver desligado. Colocar o sal depois da farofa pronta, e muito
cuidado com ele, pois alguns ingredientes ja tem sal.

For translation and more information on the recipe, please contact me.
I also wanted to add a song, which was sung to me during my whole childhood:
Deixei meu sapatinho
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4Ojb5K6aQM

In Brazil, we don’t put the stockings out for Santa, we put shoes on the windows,
because it’s not cold enough for fireplaces…
Sharing memories of my childhood in Brazil is so difficult because I have so many memories, smells, flavors stories, songs….I think the appetizers, the paozinho, the champanhe, the brigadeiros, queijo de cuia….
Tenho saudade destas coisas, de sentar junto com a minha fami­lia e lembrar dos
natais em que aramos pequenos…
e que eu ganhei 10 bonecas e no ano novo estavam todas quebradas, dos amigos
secretos, da casa do meu  ava e todas nas dormindo no saton!….
( brigadeiros, sharp cheese. I miss those things, such as sitting with
my family and remembering Christmases past, when we were children and I got 10 dolls in one Christmas and they were all broken by New Years, memories of secret santa, my grandad’s house, the attic where many of us girls slept for many years!….

It was a pleasure to share my memories with you!

Today I went to a Brazilian Market- Victors In Riverside, NJ and I bought a Chocotone, a panetoni made with chocolate. Sendexnet, also sells it online, great website!

I will continue to share more memories, please share your memories here.

Feliz Natal!

Claudia Krusch
CK Translations LLC
Offering Portuguese, Spanish and 10 other Foreign Language classes on
line and on site.
www.cktranslations.com
Check out my newly released book to introduce Spanish to children:
www.easylearnlanguages.com
I included a little bit of Portuguese for Portuguese learners.