Monday, November 25, 2013

Coimbra daytrip

I accompanied my hubbie to a meeting he had in Coimbra, Portugal on Saturday morning. While he was in his meeting, I walked around the city all morning. It was my first  time and I was charmed. Everything is walking distance, although it's Portugal's third largest city, and it's packed with history. Around every corner is something that looks OLD. Like as in 12th century old... see churches below!


And here you can see not only the traditional "tuna" (student choir) singing with their black capes in the backround... but you can also see the traditional selling of chestnuts out on the street... yummy!

Thursday, November 21, 2013

"Same Love"?

“SAME LOVE”?

 | 11-21-(AD)2013 [4]
Julie Machado - Same Love
I hate the fact that I have to change the radio stations that keep playing the song “Same Love” by Macklemore. What bothers me most is that these seemingly natural lines are sung along to by people bopping their heads in their cars… as if they were universal and obvious truths:



Thursday, November 14, 2013

Are you Scared of the Synod?

Are You Scared of the Synod?

1 Comment November 13, (AD) 2013
At least in Portugal, news of the preparatory document for the Synod of Bishops in October 2014 on the topic family arrived on mainstream radio stations as:
 “The Pope is asking Catholics what they think of topics such as homosexuality and divorce.”
“The Church will have a Synod to reevaluate its position on topics such as birth control.”


Keep reading at IgnitumToday:
http://www.ignitumtoday.com/2013/11/13/are-you-scared-of-the-synod/

Monday, November 11, 2013

St. Martin's Day

Happy St. Martin's Day!
Here in Portugal people usually eat roasted chestnuts on this day. We were lucky enough to be invited to a "fall snack" this weekend, which included chestnuts, marmelade and fall fruits at our marriage godparents' house...

Wednesday, November 06, 2013

Candlelit dinners

I've decided that all dinners should be important and, quite possibly, all fall/winter dinners should be candlelit. It's the end of the day, an opportunity to share about what happened, your hopes, your dreams, share food and feel warm, full and cozy. Or at least tired and not feel like washing dishes, like me. 

But if you take the time to make something like black bean and sweet potato enchiladas and salad with tomato, apples and walnuts, it deserves candlelight and it will make any dinner special. 



Tuesday, November 05, 2013

Hiking Lisbon's lung

We took one of our first "family hikes" on Sunday and I hope it's a habit we can keep up somewhat regularly. We explored a bit of Monsanto, the forest and "lung" in the middle of Lisbon city. We had a really nice friend go with us and we sang "hakuna matata". I only wish we had a dog to sniff along with us...! 


Saturday, November 02, 2013

Fall market

Did you know there are things such as fall markets in Portugal? Neither did I. So when I saw this one announced I said, "Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!" And we did. 

It was small, but nice. We tried all of the cheese samples possible. Then didn't buy any cheese, ahaha. My other half tried some liqueurs and wines and we bought some walnuts and figs. And we shared a bag of chestnuts at the end. Hooray Portugal... have more fall markets!


Friday, November 01, 2013

Halloween... #4!

My friend Sofia told me when I invited her over for Halloween, "We haven't missed a Halloween yet." And only then did I realize, this is the fourth Halloween we've spent together: we've had two dinners at her house and this is the second Halloween dinner at my house. So I guess we've started a tradition. 

My hubbie and I were especially excited because this was the first party we'd be hosting at our new house together. We were extra careful about who to invite, because we only have a certain amount of cups and places to sit. LEAVE IT TO PORTUGAL... however... to try to ruin (!) Halloween for us by scheduling a public transport STRIKE for the same day and half of our guests not showing up due to traffic. 
PS In case you don't know, I hate strikes. I've blogged about them here... and here.

But we didn't let the strike ruin our day... we had fun anyway! 

Pumpkin lasagna and "autumn" salad (w/ apples and nuts) were on the main menu...
Halloween carrots with hummus...
A really great chocolate cake recipe in the back and my favorite: headless gingerbread men! Great gingerbread recipe from Martha Stewart and I used strawberry jam for the blood.  
Eyeballs in the wine glasses...
A bun in the oven costume!!!
Some cool ninjas, angels, "dead nature" and the girl from the ring people hanging around...

Happy Halloween!