Thanksgiving in (4) Photos

It's not so easy to blog from my main computer where all of my photos are stored. I have to decide between: a shower, quick house clean up, feeding myself, dealing with industrial quantities of laundry, or blogging.Luckily I have a boppy and a sweet guy who can hang out like this in my lap while I type one handed.

Sebby has already come out of that wonderful always-asleep phase that newborns go through, and since he was in the hold-me-24/7 phase since moment one, my productivity is hovering somewhere between zero and one percent.

On to Thanksgiving! I took 4 photos during the entire dinner and didn´t get any food shots.

 Here is dinner in action. Things like beautiful Autumn centerpieces, and Pinterest worthy place settings were not present  at our Thanksgiving, but all the basics (minus the pumpkin pie, of course) of a good Thanksgiving were there, and most importantly, it was the first Thanksgiving I´ve had with my sister since 2002.

 Tinna did Zita's hair in a beautiful bun thanks to new hair accoutrements from  Claire's boutique.

 This is the only picture I got of Freddy who is putting on a funny face, but it's such a typical Freddy expression that I had to include it.

Oops- we didn´t even light the candles.

Things to note:

We are back to the " I´ll hold the baby while you eat, then we´ll switch " charade.

Deciding that it was too much hassle to come up with an activity for the little kids was the wrong move.

Moojie was a super help and even served all the adults tea and chocolates in the sala after dinner.

It took us two days to finish the clean-up. Next year I'm splurging on some kitchen help.

This was the first dinner ever where our large nice white linen table cloth did not get spilled on or stained.

Nothing broke.

My sister got our Christmas card picture taken in the kitchen in 5 minutes before dinner. Now that is something to be thankful for.

Party Planning and Other Random Happenings

Zita casually asked if she could have her friends for a dinner party this Friday. I said yes without thinking through what that means in Zita's world. She promptly came up with invitations and distributed them all at school. I never got closer than three feet from them and I certainly didn't get a chance to go over the details.

I just had a father on the phone asking about Zita's "birthday party," so I'm a little worried about the misunderstanding. He also wanted our address since it wasn't on the invite. Oops. He asked me to confirm the time and I had to ask him what the invitation said.

There are three girls in Zita's class with the same name, and those three girls were the first and only (so far) to confirm.

The tentative plan is to have the girls for a BBQ dinner where she'll serve various colorful meat and fruit/veg skewers and then do an outside marshmallow roast afterward. This is a novelty here so it should be a hit. I just have to keep her away from Pinterest for the next 24 hours.

Moojie meanwhile, came home today with a bad headache, which is not normal for him. He's not a health complainer.  He couldn't eat an after school snack and the thought that my sister-in-law is on duty in the emergency room right now immediately reassured me since snack refusal is a level 9 sign of sickness for the boys of the house. He went straight to bed and crashed. This is so out of character that my otherwise rational self woke him at 8 to check for a sore neck, fever, or any other signs of meningitis. I think he'll be fine.

We haven't properly seen Pai since Sunday and we miss him like crazy. The kids have made big signs to welcome him home every night with things like "best Daddy!" and "we love you Pai" written on them. It's not lucky to have to work such long hours, but it is lucky to have such a fan club at home.

I have no cute photos for this post since my camera sat in Pai's car all week, but I'll have plenty after the dinner tomorrow.

First Communion

Our wonderful and cherished sweet Zita had her first communion this weekend.

I'll spare the blow by blow details, and share the photos. It was held in a small modern church that didn't make for the best photos, but the rest of the day was absolutely perfect.

After arriving at the church

I sat right behind her during the mass. She came up with this hairstly after many drawings and practice sesssions.

She spoke clearly and with confidence as she narrated the offering of a candle and bread.

and finally, the culmination of 3 years of catechism, and the moment she's been waiting for.

We zoomed back to the house for a seafood lunch and cold drinks

These flowers were the extent of the house preparations.

I decided to make her first communion cake the night before, and left the frosting out of the fridge by mistake. By morning is was spoiled and stank, so I had to pull together a new batch and quickly get it frosted.

An official photographer was there taking pictures throughout the ceremony so as soon as I have copies, I'll share them.

So Far

Finishing touches before the girls arrive include frosting the last cupcake, showering (me!), and setting up the aprons and fabric paints. Girl's parties are so full of possibilities.

The cat cake was a success at school (pictures to follow), and she and a friend are setting up a game.

I got a major case of bakers burn out and couldn't get inspired on the cupcakes.

Blue Green Theme Taking Hold

I'm getting carried away here on Happy Street.
The black icing is made and looking rather aubergine, but it's nothing that oreo cookies in a blender can't fix. The table is set and looking grown up and fancy with just the right touch of fun. We're ready!

Freddy can't wait to give Zita a flower folder while Moojie is more low key about the whole thing. He's currently buried in Andre Agassi's biography, pausing to eat, do homework, and play tennis.


Blue and green accents around the dining room

This is Zita's reunion with Blackie.

One of the many lollipop boquets around the table.

a place setting: each girl has an apron rolled up above her plate

Birthday Prep

Zita and I are in full birthday prep mode. This is technically a 'B' year, which means no big outside-the-house party, but that hasn't stopped her from planning galore. Here is the beginning of a banner I'm working on. Since it matches the (yet to go out) invitations, we are running with a greens, blues, and yellow accents color scheme.
I printed the letters from Marthastewart.com, and bought and cut the posterboard using a fancy stencil (a cork drink coaster). Tommorw I have to go back to Marthastewart.com and find out the best way to string it up.

My trial run in making the cat cake was not the biggest success yesterday, but she still has faith in me.

On a totally unrelated note, tomorrow we meet the man who hit me and sign all the final papers for insurance to kick in and cover my costly car repairs.

Lastly, Blackie the cat has been missing for 24hrs. and many a tuna can has been opened with hopeful cries of "Blaaaackiiiieee" into the darkness, but still no sign:(

On Entertaining

For the past few months, things kept coming up for "the weekend of the 17th and 18th." I kept writing them in my calendar, stressing that we would never fit it all in. The weekend included: a Christmas play, 5 separate tennis lessons, a formal lunch at our house, a baptism, Zita's clarinet concert, and two birthday parties. I sent our regrets to both birthday parties, but we were still left with all the rest. Oh, and Pai would be spending the weekend in the office, driving back for the essentials only.

It was doable thanks to getting things ready as early as possible, list making, getting the kid's outfits for the entire weekend all laid out, and to setting the table a day ahead.

Here I am in between the lunch and the clarinet concert, typing on the couch with a steamy mug or Earl gray beside me, all thanks to my best move yet- hired help! We also got another arroz de marisco from a Guincho restaurant so I didn't even cook. I calculated the cost of groceries, and the time spent cooking for so many people, and the stress of it all, and the answer was clear: Hired help + restaurant food= happy mummy and happy family.

One extra pair of hands meant plates and silverware were washed and dried before dessert was over, and the kitchen and house were left clean by 5 o'clock. I actually sat with guests in the sala with Christmas music playing, and the tree lights glowing, thinking to myself that we should entertain more often.

I still spent most of Friday both baking and getting ready for the weekend, but things never feel burdensome with plenty of time to accomplish them. The crisp white linens were laid, china and silverware were washed and set, glasses were placed on the table (4 per place setting making a grand total of 48 glasses to be hand washed), and the table was decorated, which somehow swallowed up my child-free hours. I'm sure there are people who set their table in 5 minutes and think this is all crazy talk, but believe me when I say that here it's just not possible to cut corners on formality.

It's not the end of the weekend yet, but it's safe to say that we'll make it.

(note: I did take a picture of the table, and will upload it tomorrow after the baptism.)

5 Minute Prep: Fish at Home

Cooking fish at home in Portugal hardly seems worth it since every corner restaurant has delicious fresh grilled fish. We eat fish once or twice a week for dinner and this is my go-to recipe for baked fish.

Get any white fish (salmon is fine too) and remove skin if not already removed.

Buy broa bread, which if you are not in Portugal is sort of like cornbread, but the consistency of pumpernickel.  It should be dense and dry.

 In a food processor, pulse the broa, the pulp of one quarter of lemon, 1 tblspn butter, a quarter cup milk, and 1 clove garlic. Salt and pepper to taste.

Brush the fish with egg and then coat with the bread crumb mixture. Sprinkle with fresh cilantro/corriander. Below is how it looks before going into the oven. Bake on 180c (350f?) until golden brown- around 25 minutes. I bake with foil on top and then remove the foil for the last few minutes so it browns without drying out.   

I made two dinners worth-  we ate one and I froze the other. I didn't get a picture of the finished product  out of the oven, and since I got so much grief for not showing my final chocolate cake, I pulled this out of the freezer and snapped a shot with my ipad. I recognize that the ice crystals take some of the appeal out of this dish, but it is a crowd pleaser for both American and Portuguese eaters.

Scenes from yesterday

We changed this corner of our living room with big ideas of reading and drinking wine there after the children had gone to sleep. I'm sure no one is surprised that that hasn't happened once. Instead it has become Zita's haven where she draws, reads, pours over her baby albums, plays clarinet, and gets a break from her brothers.

Moojie joined in and while this scene looks idylic, they are pointing out all of the photos where I look "wierd."

I had to include this shot to showcase my evolution in hair skills from bumpy ponytails to this bun.

We realized before lunch that we had no cold beer in the house. While that might be a problem in American suburbs- here we just send our 13 year old with money to the corner shop and he returns in five minutes with 12 cold beer bottles. Moojie felt the need to explain that the beer was for his parents, but the clerk just laughed, took the money, and sent him on his way.

The dessert in the background was a delicious coffee Bavarois with strawberries brought by a guest. We ordered lunch- an arroz de marisco -  from one of our favorite seafood restaurants, Mar do Guincho.

No time for flowers?

This is a quick and easy table centerpiece. I used cleaned glass yogurt jars and thin grissini. We're having an outside seafood lunch today for 6 children and 6 adults. Might have to move it in though since the sun just won't quit!

Chicken Chouriço

This is an adaptation from What to Cook and How to Cook It. It's called Chicken Chouriço Stew. In Portugal,  it' pretty much illegal, punishable by up to 5 years in prison, to serve any meat or poultry without rice. My basic approach for having people over for dinner is this: when in doubt serve rice.  

 You'll need:

chicken: the recipe calls for thighs, I used 6 chicken breasts

1 onion

1 chouriço*

2 cups tomato (I didn't have any so substituted with "polpa de tomate" or tomato puree)

1 red pepper

2 cups chick peas- I substitued with black eyed peas, but any beans would work

2 garlic cloves

1 tspn thyme

1 tspn cinnamon

small bunch parsley

white wine

                                                     paprika (I didn't have any and subsituted with bay leaves, simply because it seemed crazy not to have bay leaves)

 -Cook the chouriço in olive oil for a few minutes using a large pot.  Take the chouriço out and set aside.     
-Using the same now orange olive oil, cook until the chicken is no longer pink.
- add garlic, onions and peppers
- cook until the onions are soft.

 -Add bay leaves, cinammon, thyme, salt, pepper, and let cook. I think the recipe said for 10 minutes. I left it longer on low heat and got distracted unpacking groceries. It was fine.
-Add the white wine, or sherry if you prefer, parsley, beans,  and add the chouriço back in. At this point I just covered the pot, turned off the stove, and left it. Below is the final result. The kitchen smelled great, it wasn't very messy, and I only have 1 pot to clean.

Since this is quite a heavy dinner,  I served lemon sorbet with blueberries and blackberries. We ate outside, candles were lit, the night was warm, and everyone enjoyed. I love Fall!
* I don't know anything about chouriço. I picked a soft one, that didn't look too dark or too light, and was priced somehwere in the middle.