Caipirinha, Capoeira, & Tina

In case you weren't cool enough to have your own viewing party, and your World Cup runneth under, here are some related things to get you through.

Perhaps you should start by filling that cup with a Caipirinha (pronounced kie-purr-REEN-yah), Brazil's national drink!  It is made with cachaça, an intensely sweet Brazillian style of rum that is made from sugarcane juice. Enjoy! (recipe)

photo credit

Total Time: 3 minutes

Yield: 1 Cocktail

Ingredients: 

• 1 lime, quartered
• 2 teaspoons fine sugar
• 2 ounces cachaca

Preparation: 

1. Place the lime wedges and sugar into an old-fashioned glass. 
2. Muddle well. 
3. Fill the glass with ice cubes. 
4. Pour in the cachaca. 
5. Stir well. 

Note: Keep the sugar mixed in the drink by stirring often

World Cup: The Brooklyn Brazilians

I almost forgot that the World Cup started today.  I knew it was starting soon, but for whatever reason didn't ever register the actual date, and then I walked out my door into a sea of yellow, and then one sad looking fellow with a red jersey (poor Croatia).

In any case, I'm so excited to follow the games, but also see the national pride in my neighborhood.  The street was filled with a pre-thunderstorm Brazilian contagious energy. 

One of the kids pictured walked past me earlier and as he did an elderly man said, "Ay Brazil!" and the pre-teen grinned and patted the logo on his chest with a nod. The cross-generational enthusiasm made me smile.

Speaking of smiling, it's closing in on a year since I've lived here, and longer than that since I had the dreaded dentist check-up.  I was already considering making this my dentist, but this World Cup score keeping may have sealed the deal.


I wonder if it will be Brazil all day, everyday (they seem to be the favorite anyway), or if each day I'll get to see new colors flooding the street.