Tuesday, August 17, 2010 - Balls Cake

There it is. For those who prefer less sweet, this is the perfect snack. To be spread with marmelade or butter. It's delicious when it's hot.

Monday, August 16, 2010 - Sigh

Today it was the first day of activities extra school after two weeks at home. I miss him so much. I sigh every second and think of him every moment. He is all cheered up there, most probably, with million things to tell when I go and pick him up in school.

But there's no doubt, the house seems so empty...

Sunday, August 15, 2010 - Rags

I don't remember for how long I've been keeping these fabrics. They are pieces with which I made rag dolls, samples of curtains, flounces, bars, ribbons and some other stuff. I don't know what to do with them but I can't throw them away either. Some have already been useful to nail some bars to the cupboard shelves. It's so beautiful, so homemade, so cozy.



My rags. They are relics. Linen. The oldest I know. Pieces given by my mother, given to her by grand-mothers. I'm almost afraid of touching them, afraid to loose the magic under my hand's touch. But I haven't lost the hope of loosing this fear and doing, just as a begining, a small table cloth with crochet around it. White. All in white, one of my favorite colors, because the white gives color to the other colors and goes well with all of them.


Who hasn't got a fabric like this, patched by a grand-mother or an old aunt? That's incredible how they could do this. It's an art. And the truth is that I feel richer by heaving them, pieces of old linen, which origin nobody is certain of, but they will certainly tell many stories. This was a good Sunday, don't you agree?

Sunday, August 15, 2010 - So green

I couldn't resist taking such green photos, today. So are my surroundings. I live in a privileged place. Quiet, nice, green and flowery. There are so many flowerbeds around here. The gardener, a very nice, speedy and talkative man, takes very good care of the area. The residents also have lots of vegetation in their balconies. It's so beautiful. We have a neighbor that I suppose she has a tremendous disgust by not living in the country side. She has so much vegetation in her balcony: vases with flowers, a pine tree, an olive tree, a lemon tree and something else that I couldn't identify. The funny thing is that it's nice to see it, since everything is proportional to the balcony's dimension. It's a very good place, this one where I live.

Sunday, August 15, 2010 - Spicy!

My father-in-law was so excited to give me this chilly plant to put in my balcony. I was a little bit upset. A flat is a flat, not the country-side. The truth is that this plant seemed to like the balcony. It has already grown up, I had to change it to a larger vase and it even flourished. The next stage, according to him, is to bear fruit. Is it? I can't wait to know if the next photo of this plant will have some little red things on it. It's good to make more homemade chilly, since my husband finds those we buy in supermarkets like ketchup. He even changes his color with this one!

Sunday, 15 August, 2010 - Christmas Training?

I use to make a desert very often. Today, Sunday, I could not miss it. Sweet Potatoes Filhós (similar to a Donut, typical from Portuguese Christmas). It seems a little bit heavy for the summer, with temperatures above 35º, but I decided to do it in the same way. It's not much sweet. I even can say that the only sweet it has is the mixture of sugar and cinnamon that covers it. Delicious.

My son was caught in the act. He stole one and cracked it immediately. We ate almost all of them after lunch! I still don't know if it was the desert or anything else, he spent the day asking how much time it is until Christmas. He's like his mother. We both love this season and everything that has to do with it. I checked the calendar today. Christmas Day is on a Saturday this year, wich will make my life difficult since I will work on Christmas' Eve. I will do myself damndest to make all the sweets and our traditional King Cake. Yuppie! It's hard-working but it's a pleasure! It is kneading, beating, mixing, working with arms and hands, getting tired and sweating in the winter. But the result is amazing, after that. A King Cake made and decorated by me. Well, what am I doing? We are in August, time for the beach, the swimming-pool, the river or any fresh puddle. It's great to have all the seasons of the year. Let's enjoy them while we have them.

Saturday, August 14, 2010 - My liqueurs

My liqueurs showcase.
They are not all here and it's not possible to show all those I've already made.
The first one I made became from one of my tangerine liqueurs recipe. Delicious! It was made with a point of sugar and was creamy. I've also already made chocolate and orange liqueur, but one of the best, in my opinion, was the wine liqueur. I made it twice, offered some and there is nothing else to show.

This one is the Tangerine Liqueur. It was made with green tangerines, which gives it a special but not unpleasant tang.

This one, according to S., almost an expert on this matter, is my masterpiece. That's why I show two photos of it here. In fact, it is very good. Pennyroyal Liqueur. A menthol, different flavor. Unique, according to him.


This one is the Fig Tree Leaves Liqueur. Very good too. It's a little bit thick due to the evaporation of the alcohol, which brings out the sugar content. It was made with the leaves of this fig tree, three years ago.

Coffee Liqueur.

Orange Liqueur. Nice.

Pineapple Liqueur. It was made with an old brandy to give it a special flavor. Although it's equally "powerful", it's mild in taste.

Strawberry Liqueur. Delicious. It's almost in the end. I have to repeat this experience, nest year, when it's the strawberry season. This one has already one year.

This one is not mine. It was made by my mother, 30 years ago! Cherry With Them (it means that the liqueur has the cherries inside the bottle together with the alcohol). This was a very famous liqueur but I've always found it a little bit agressive due to its high content of alcohol. Despite that, I admit that the passing time has given it a special taste, maybe an exquisite taste.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

"Hey aunt, you still have some brown hair behind here!" They are such a dear, aren't they? I love my nieces. But I have to find someone else to respect my khans. If this wasn't told with innocence and with that air of who is happy to confirm that someday, in fact, I had brown hair (!), they would go without dinner.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010 - More fabric

I couldn't resist. I found them so beautiful. These are two pieces of fabric. They are big; we can make table cloths or curtains with them. Delicate and soft fabric. Fancy dress them up. And they were cheap. I saw so many fabrics in the shop. Stripe, plaid, damask, fruits, flowers, etc. Clothes, sheets, towels, big pieces, small pieces sold by the kilo or meter. I couldn't own a shop like that one!

Tuesday, August 10, 2010 - Another afternoon with the cousins

It was so hot today! The swimming-pool promised fresher moments and everybody was cheerful to fill it.

While I was observing the grapes become ripe. It's good this little shadow. It's pretty and fresh.

The cousins took care of the situation. So much, that not even the little cousin wanted to interfere. He stayed out of it. "I don't find it funny." Better if he was inside the water with them, he would have more fun... or not.

Alvito "city" was in an uproar. They shouted, laughed, dove into the water. All this with only three people! If someone could hear them, it seemed like an Olympic competition, oh yes. Girls, you apply for a crowd.

Some time to rest from the swimming-pool and try to revive my son's lettuce. The intention was good, the result... However, who knows if they are potential farmers?

We went to feed the ducks once again. Remember what I said last time? I was right. The ducks have a full stomach. There was only one to eat, just to cheer up who was passing by. By the contrary, fish seemed like caged tigers, as you can see. They ate all the bread and we could see them to pirouette in the air fighting for the last crumb.

And now... Don't you think that this photo was taken too close from the water?

What about this one? Passing under the bridge? Oh yes, we went the five of us in the adventure of the Nabão's seagull (Nabão is the name of the river, seagull is the name of the pedal boats). Great!

Look to such beautiful little feet. There were two more pairs of feet behind us, but they were pedaling. So sorry. They wanted to, so... One, pretending to be a navigator and commander ("I grw up with this, I turned so many boats, I even used to swim in the pigs mud" - my hero), the other one pretending to be strong and fearless. We let them pedaling of course, and enjoyed the view. It was so good.

To repeat!

Tuesday, August 10, 2010 - Milk Liqueur

The promise is a promise. Here it is the Milk Liqueur. Better aspect, huh? It was a laborious straining, but it is delicious. We had an unexpected family lunch today and all the poeple enjoyed it.

Mondy, August 9, 2010 - Our afternoon

Our afternoon. Remembering how good it is to live pacified, in union, in family. Remebering how good it is to walk the three of us, hand in hand, as there was nobody else in this world. Remembering how good it is to be able to see the flowers and the green of the trees, to hear the birds, the children playing, the ducks quacking, the smell of the fresh grass, the sun's rays to blur through the foliage, the water in the dam to dall. Remembering that there is nothing more important than this.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Despite this awful aspect, I assure you that this will be a delicious milk liqueur! Liqueurs are anoher thing that I love to do.
It gives me an enormous pleasure to mix flavors, fruits, odors, species and whatever, to a piece of alcohol, and enjoy unique flavors.
This one has benn infused for over a couple of weeks. I will strain it tomorrow and I'll show you how it looks like. I'm sure that it will have a better aspect. It's just a pity that the photo doesn't reveal its flavor. But you're all invited to taste it!
See you in September, S.! A toast to you.

Sunday, August 8, 2010 - Day with the cousins

The cousins were already missing the little cousin; the little cousin was dying because he missed them. So they joined together in the Lego, the garage, the toys, the jobs and the games that the passing time was dictating. How nice it is to let the time flow...


Good A. A helicopter came out.


Time for a snack, because the guys are growing up and need to be feed! Toasts, yogurts, butter, ham and water to help everything going down straight to the stomach... But let's go, because games are waiting.


This was the time for I. to bright and set up this, especially for the picture. There it is.


A. keeps going on with the Lego. Such a vice! And now a tree came out.


Exterior time, at the dusk, when the heat had already gone. I use to keep all the rests of bread inside a bag because, with a small child, it always means amusement to go and feed the ducks and the fish. But the biggest children were even more excited to go.


It's so beautiful the three, feeding the ducks. Honestly, I don't know how they don't blow up with so much bread. People use to make a queue to feed them, sometimes. Just like I said, it always means amusement, so nobody wants to loose this experience.


I was registering all these peaceful moments. My pretty town is always so beautiful. The photos are always the same, but the emotion is always special. Does an emotion fit in a photo? I believe so...


Here the children were already having fun in the park, which was all for them because it was late and there was nobody else there.



Look, it's getting dark. We still had a look on the boats on the river. My son got into one, which was tied to the pier. And then we went away towards to the pizza!