Fall Finds

We got a few new Fall clothes for Zita this week, and this blouse is one of my favorites. I love love love (yes 3 times) Portuguese children's clothing.

 We paired this blouse with a bordeaux knee length velet skirt.  Sadly it was one of the few non mini skirts in the store for her age. I have a tall 8 year old girl who still wants to dress like an 8 year old, and not like a 16 year old so we are  limited in shopping for clothes.  Let's get a closer look at this cutie tie collar- it looks great peeking out of her shrug cardigan.

Going to a Portuguese tea or birthday party is like stepping back in time and glimpsing life as portrayed in a Dick and Jane book. It's simple, beautiful, and something I hope never changes about this country.  Look at this picture I took of children playing outside the Basilica da Estrela in Lisbon. This could be 1950, but it was May of 2010.

Long live the peter pan collar, mary jane shoes, and bows in girls hair.

Candlelight dinner on the veranda

Hibiscus

Just so we aren't all left with images of sweaty bums, here is a shot of our hibiscus planted this summer

Sage Advice for the Gym Goers Among You

If you are a profuse bum sweater, do not wear light gray yoga pants.

It's just not right.

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.

Failing our Children

With Zita, the opportunities for this are apparently endless. Meeting the call for a fun activity, Freddy and I started to make a cake. At the very moment the last of the egg whites were folded in, a noticeably agitated Zita sighed,

"that's the third classic American Sponge in a row! And you haven't even tried to get your fondant down."


I'm pretty sure the channel with Master Chef is blocked, but maybe not...

(pictured: Classic American Sponge and Chocolate Satin Frosting, both recipes are from The Joy of Cooking)

Back to school

Moojie to me on the school run: "Mummy- Friday is parents night at school, and just so you know, you're going to be subjected to a 30 hr. presentation on the new school rules, plus another million hours sitting in my classroom."

Ok then.

Pros of a good catholic education: the educaton

Cons of a good catholic education: consistent scheduling of meetings on Friday and Saturday nights.