First Visit to a Pastelaria

As we were wandering around looking for an elusive cell-phone shop (we swore somebody said it was down this way.... nope!) we came across a Pastelaria. I believe it was called "Pasterlaria Artesan". It was a cafe, as well as a place to buy pastries. My daughter had to use the bathroom, so we had an excuse to go in. ;) My husband chatted with the friendly staff, asking questions about the food.

I love the simple meals one can get for lunch here. I opted for a sandwich of ham, cheese, and tomato, all on a crusty mini baguette. On the recommendation of the staff, we tried a local orange soda, made in these islands; "Laranjada". In Portuguese, "Laranja" is "Orange". It was pleasant and not too sweet. Plus, it contained real orange juice. (Yay!)

Since we were eating at a Pastelaria, we couldn't leave without trying the pastries. Ok, I confess.... we actually ate the pastries first, before our meal! :D

They had chocolate croissants, which I didn't manage to get a good picture of. But I'm sure you've seen those before! Sometimes else they had, which was to die for, was a Dulce de Leche cheesecake, but they just called it Caramel. ;) It was sooo good. The texture was different than cheesecakes you might be used to- it was very light and almost spongy. It was delicious. I wanted to ask for the recipe, but I thought it would be fun to try to make one up later. It was topped with a thin caramel sauce that had almost a burnt flavor, like the topping of flan. I know I probably won't get the texture right, but I can't wait to experiment with a Dulce de Leche cheesecake.

Last were the Pastels de Nata, or Cream Pastries. These are a common pastry all over Portugal, so I was excited to try one. They have a flaky crust, covered by a rich baked custard. Here is a recipe that I'd like to try: Custard Tarts.

Simple, Fresh, and Local Food

I love being in a new country and discovering their food. Yesterday, we finally made it to a semi open-air market I have been wanting to go to ever since we moved here. On these islands, they grow watermelons, pineapple, figs, citrus fruit, olives, grapes, bananas, and all kinds of veggies. The market is a colorfull feast for the eyes. The watermelons that grow here are small, perfectly round and very dark green. They are brilliant red inside and deliciously sweet and juicy.

We randomly chose a shop from which to buy a watermelon- just a watermelon. Well, the man who ran this particular shop was incredibly friendly and helpful. We practiced our Portuguese (my husband is learning it so fast.... I'm still stuck on "thank you" and stuff like that) and he told us about some of the local food here. He had two huge wheels of cheese in his shop. He cut us a piece and gave it to us with a small banana, and told us that they are very good eaten together. The semi-hard, salty cheese was indeed very good with the sweet banana. He then let us sample some local olives, and cut open a few fresh figs for us to try. I had never had a fresh fig in my life! It is beautiful; ruby-red inside. The texture is different; almost stringy. Here is the shop-owner and myself; we wanted just a picture of him, but he insisted I get in the picture as well.

So, at the market, we had only intended to buy one watermelon, but this man was so friendly, and such a good salseman, that we ended up buying that watermelon, but also a dozen brown eggs (their yolks are a deep orange), about 8 fresh figs, a slab of cheese, some olives, a bunch of bananas and some local juices. The cheese is made on a neighboring island, but everything else comes from this island. The olives are tiny and dark; some are green, some are dark brown.

We later had lunch at a very nice Pastaleria/Cafe; I'll write more about that later.

We've Moved!!

We've moved, and not just to another neighborhood. We've moved to another country! We're living on a Portuguese island now, and it's wonderful here! The view is incredible, and I'm loving being so close to the ocean again. The houses remind me of houses in Spain, but it's very green here. I haven't been able to take as many pictures as I've wanted, as I've misplaced the camera I usually use, but we've taken a few. We've been here almost a month now! The date of my last post, July 21, was the day we found out we were moving overseas. It was also the date of my 7th wedding anniversary! We're staying in a small, one-bedroom apartment until we find a house. So I haven't cooked or baked very many new things lately!
My connection isn't very good right now, and the poor computer is having trouble uploading photos, so I'll be back later. Excuse me while I go eat my simple dinner of local cheese, bread, olives, and fruit. ;)