One of Us

I participated in a Portuguese March for Life last Saturday that is part of a larger European initiative to protect the human embryo called "One of Us":

http://www.oneofus.eu/

About 500 people marched down downtown Lisbon's main streets and it was fun to march along with them. Unfortunately, my lovely husband was working, but I met up with several pro-life friends and we marched away. Here is a post in Portuguese with more pictures about it:

http://o-povo.blogspot.pt/2013/10/caminhada-pela-vida-2013-one-of-us.html

Homemade oreos with white chocolate filling

After several failed attempts and different changes, I finally have a homemade oreo recipe I'm sticking to. They are on several blogs, but the original I think is from Smitten Kitchen. 

Here you go...

For the cookies: 

1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup (140g) unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg

Mix together all the ingredients, roll out with a rolling pin and cut small circles with a glass or cookie cutter (or just flatten dough balls as flat as you can). Bake at a high temperature (375F) for about 10 minutes. 

For the filling: 

100g white chocolate
2 tablespoons butter

Melt in microwave and spread on cookies to make sandwiches. Enjoy!

Home life

This weekend was one of those cozy, raining outside and warm inside weekends that are perfect for welcoming fall. Our married home life has been hard to get under control. At first we had no furniture and were sitting on pillows in the living room. Now we are slowly getting into some cooking, cleaning and general routines that make life a lot cozier and lovelier. 

The rain outside, our hot chocolate, lasagna for one of our first lunch guests (the parish priest), and his beautiful housewarming gift to us (the Mary and baby Jesus statue)...

AVE MARIA, FLORIDA

Julie Machado | Sep 26, 2013 | 0

What if you could create the ideal town, based on your Catholic beliefs? What if you could build a town centered upon prayer, open to life, in pursuit of integral truth and centered around family?

Well, apparently someone has beaten you to it. Welcome to Ave Maria, Florida. This small town in Southwest Florida used to be 1,000 acres of tomato plants. Since 2007, this swampland has been transformed into a college town with modern amenities and very distinct religious lifestyle. 76-year-old founder of Domino’s Pizza, Tom Monaghan, sold Domino’s pizza for an estimated $1 billion in 1998. With local developers, he has invested his money in this dream town. Although town and university operate independently, Catholic culture is apparent everywhere, even in Street names such as Assisi, Avila and Cana.

Keep reading at: 

http://catholicstand.com/ave-maria-florida/

Drake White - The Simple Life

Sorry for the long hiatus in my blogging activity! Married life has been really amazing, but my to-do list is endless and I feel like I am unable to get a single thing on it done. 

In search of the simple life...

I'm a fan of beer ice cold,

Of waving at my neighbor when I meet him on the road,

Of kissing my woman in the moonlight:

Yeah, I'm a fan of the simple life

Give me an old pair of boots, 

a small piece of land, 

a little old house where I can hang my hat:

I'll be a happy man, 'cause I'm a fan of the simple life.