Oats

When we were kids, Sunday morning breakfast was special! My mom would prepare the most delicious stuff, we would set the table and everyone had the longest breakfast of the week. Most of the times my mom would make oatmeal with biscuits and fruit or bagels with all the toppings in the fridge! This healthy habit has followed me ever since. Normal people get up in the morning and the first thing they do is head off to the shower. Well, the first thing I do is head to the kitchen to prepare myself the first meal of the day: coffee and milk, toast, cheese, ham, jam, butter and (this is a must) cucumber! Sometimes I have fresh cheese, yogurt, fruit, and a muesli mix. On the weekends it’s brunch with scrambled eggs, pancakes and maple syrup (of course)! I recently discovered this blog and I thought to myself: finally someone that understands my craving for a delicious breakfast!!

oatmeal. raisains. waltnuts. sesame seeds. banana. cinnamon.

OIL… MILK… OLIVE OIL…

For the past two years I have helped as a volunteer at the Banco Alimentar (Food Bank) in Braga. My job was to coordinate volunteers for a major supermarket. I really enjoyed doing it, though a bit stressful at times but since everyone is always glad to help out for such an important cause the two day campaign would go smoothly and I still would have some spare time to actually be a volunteer handing out plastic bags at the entrance of the supermarket and repeating the phrase “Hello, would you like to participate in this campaign?” about 500 times!!

But I always wanted to help out at the warehouse where all the goods are shipped to for separation and shelving. And on my third year as a volunteer I got the chance! Here is where all the action happens: dozens of happy helpers all frenetically processing tons and tons of goods in an extremely well setupassembly line, listening to loud pop music to help stand the cold and keep the rhythm and cheerfulness! Its amazing how thousands of people get together and work together to help feed their community!

I helped to clean out the trucks that arrived with the goods and helped out at the first clearing phase where milk, oil and olive oil are separated from the rest of the goods which are placed in a treadmill. Here is where the assembly line comes in: each team must grab their specified goods and pack them in boxes for shelving.

But what I most recall from the thrilling experience were the sounds: aside from the Macarena, the top Shakira songs, the every other song that no one admits listening to but everyone knows the lyrics and the steps, was the shouting out of OIL… MILK… OLIVE OIL…

Sweet November

... December, January, Febuary, March...

Feira da ladra

Even though I have my very own rise and shine rooster, it took me awhile to get up Saturday morning, crawling from the bed to the couch. We had thought it through the night before: wake up early and do as much things as possible on the weekend.

But, Saturday mornings in Lisbon always mean one thing: a walk to the Feira da Ladra. You can find the most amazing things amongst other people's junk!

And negotiating the prices is always fun:

- how much?

- it’s 15€
- I’ll pay you 8€

- 8€? (#%&*... ???) ok, take it!

I have a list of stuff I always look for: scarves, a sugar bowl, old photo albums, picture frames, linens, tin cans, vintage cameras, film, and anything nice that might catch my eye.

This Saturday I bought a beautiful hand embroidered handkerchief from Madeira and a tin can just like the one my mom puts all her buttons in. It now holds walnuts and almonds.

Since I’m always on the lookout for old photo albums, this time I got lucky and bought someone else’s family album, filled with black and white photos from the 40’s and 50’s. It’s a family vacation album. I still don’t quite know what I’m going to do with it but, for now it’s just the curiosity of looking at another family's special moments and trying to recognize the places they were taken.

Peter Piper bought stuff he had been looking for, a Swiss knife, a small moleskine notebook and a black ink pen that came with a bonus: a bottle of shampoo!!

On our last visit, we came home with a bunch of things: an old fashion toaster (the type with flaps that open to the side) cause the one we had burnt to melting point, stencils, a traditional blue head scarf from Viana, a salt and pepper mills, a black paper photo album, which got me a name for this blog and black and white photos Pedro is going to transform into lovely postcards.

The stroll back home is always the same. Maybe next time we’ll stop for an urban picnic with bread, pumpkin jam and cheese… what do you say Peter??

A work with a view

Weather forecast for tomorrow: clear skies and sunny day.

My grandfather is always right. He looks up and can easily tell what the weather will be like for the next day or how much it will rain depending on the wind if it’s from the north or south. 

The persimmon thief

A weekend away from the city and the only thing I can think of is how am I going to get my hands on some ripe persimmons? Climb the wall, crawl around the wires into someone’s property and feast myself with the treat! I have this thing for stolen fruit… I just can't help myself.

Sisters in crime

This is my sister Helena (the one on the right). She came over for Halloween and this is what we looked like… I think the pictures speak for themselves… but if you are looking for further information as to what exactly occurred that night it best be told by a third party member: the red head with the briefcase.

By the way, we are 3: me, Helena and Luisa.

It's a date.

 ici

May 1st, 2010

My two dearest friends are in love and getting married!

They have this thing for nice pretty bicycles... it’s going to be a wonderful ride!

My name is Persimmon

This Friday 13th has given me a linguistic pleasure: I have finally discovered how to say “diospiro” in English!! Persimmon...

It sounds like a name from some greek tragedy... but I don't care, they are my absolute favorite fruit! And only being able to enjoy them this time of the year, makes me love them even more!

Pumpkin jam

Every year, while sowing corn in the fields, my parents plant the pumpkins seeds they had put aside the year before. I don't usually participate in this process. My part in this play comes along around October when I make pumpkin jam!

Secret recipe:

1 kg of pumpkin chopped into small squares

700g of sugar

1 sliced orange

2 cinnamon sticks

A bunch of chopped nuts (I used my grandma’s walnuts)

Mix the pumpkin, sugar and oranges in a large bowl, cover it up to let it settle until the next day. By this time the sugar will have melted and became a sweet sap. Squeeze some of the oranges slices into the sap and then throw the oranges away. Drain the liquid into a large pot, toss in the cinnamon sticks and bring it to a boil for around 30 minutes. Next throw in the chopped bits of pumpkin and let that boil. Now this is the part you have to stir every once in a while so it doesn’t stick to the pot. You should remove it from the heat when the jam is at a point where it’s not too liquid but also not too solid because it tends to harden up as it cools down.

Throw in the nuts and fill up jam jars.

Now the secret to conserving the jam is to boil the jars in a pot half filled with water so it creates an air tight condition and the lid slightly rises, then it goes “pop” when you open it!

Enjoy!