'Till We Meet Again

My Mother-in-Law passed away a few days ago.  She had cancer, but had been doing really well, and it still took us all by surprise.  I feel for my husband, his Dad, and his other family.  We'll miss her positive outlook, her infectious happiness, and the way she tried to make everyone feel good about themselves.  I once witnessed her meet a perfect stranger in the laundromat- a woman who was obviously having a really bad day and having a hard time physically and emotionally- and after talking to her just a few minutes, the woman was reduced to happy tears and they parted with big hugs.   She was so good with my kids, too; they loved spending time with her and looked forward to it.  She just tried to make everyone feel special and always seemed so happy, even going through cancer treatments.  Today is her funeral, and I can't be there, unfortunately.  We will all miss her, and look forward to seeing her again someday.

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Massa Sovada (Portuguese Sweet Bread)

A while ago, I was missing the Azores and some of the food, so I made this homemade Massa Sovada Bread and Canja.  The kids were very excited to come home and find the dough in the kitchen.  In fact, they got into the action of punching it down.  They LOVED doing that, lol.  

You need to plan ahead for this quite a bit, as it takes all day long to rise.  Then, quite a long time to bake, since the loaves are so big. This wasn't quite like the Massa Sovada I had back in the Azores so often, but it was almost as good.  It might have been my fault; maybe I added too much flour or something.  But it was still very, very good.  (My homemade bread is never as light and fluffy as store-bought stuff.)  I've made this once before, but wanted to try another recipe this time.  

Massa Sovada (Portuguese Sweet Bread)

adapted from Azores Gal

I cut recipe in half- makes two round loaves

2 cups milk 1 teaspoon salt 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter 4 teaspoons yeast 2 1/2 pounds flour 6 large eggs 2 cups sugar 1 large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for glaze, optional 1.  In a saucepan combine the milk, salt, and lard and bring to a boil. Set aside.  In a small bowl combine the yeast, 1 cup of the flour, and 1/2 cup warm water and set aside. 2.  In a large bowl, with a whisk, combine the eggs, and sugar, and mix thoroughly. Add the milk mixture, yeast mixture, and remaining flour and thoroughly combine. (I kneaded here.) Set aside to rise, kneading 6 times every half hour. The bread will take 6 hours to rise. 3.  Prepare 2 round loaf pans with butter or lard. Divide the batter among the pans (pans should be half full). Press the dough evenly in the pan and let it rise again until it reaches the top of the pan. 4.  Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Brush with beaten egg and bake for about 1 hour, until golden brown. (I usually skip egg wash). Yield: 2 loaves

Pics From Venice

We went to Venice recently (twice, actually!).  I've been wanting to go for a while, and we finally had a sunny Saturday.  It was great!  Venice is beautiful, of course.  We walked around, window shopped, and got pizza and gelato.  The first time we went, the gelato we got was pretty crappy.  I can get better gelato in my town at about 10 different shops, lol.  We did get some good stuff the second time around, though.  Anyway, here's a bunch of pictures... no more words.  :)

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