Another Year

Today is my 38th birthday. There....I typed it.

Hubby and I, along with 12 members of his family drove up to Sonoma today to try a Portuguese restaurant I had heard of but not tried yet. I had joined their email list last year and had read about a promotion they had during the winter called Sopa Sundays. The best way to describe them is from their website - 'Sopas is a classic Portuguese dish served at Festas throughout California. It consists of roasted beef and braised cabbage accompanied with crusty bread moistened with a beef-mint broth.' Hubby's mom (and hubby) make sopas a couple of times a year (minus the cabbage). We call it Soggy Bread.....but very yummy!

I had received an email saying that today was the last day that they were serving sopas for the season and I forwarded it to my mother-in-law. Hubby's parents take us out to dinner on our birthdays and she suggested we give this restaurant a try. She then thought it would be a fun idea to invite other members of the family in the area who like sopas. We sent out an email to everyone and got the large response. I let people know that this was not a party for me - we just wanted to try out the restaurant and their sopas.

Here is the chef's interpretation of Sopas:

I strayed from the group and ordered a favorite from my past -

BACALHAU à GOMES de Sá

-a Traditional baked casserole of North Atlantic salt cod, potatoes, onions and olives

And this is our group outside the restaurant:

The verdict on the sopas was 'thumbs up' from everyone who ate them. I had a bite of hubby's and enjoyed it. We had appetizers before the meal of linguica and blood sausage. The verdict is still out for me on the blood sausage though. We also ordered desserts to share after the meal. They offer dessert 'trios'. The "trio" we ordered to share had miniature malasadas, rice pudding, and a pumpkin spice cake.

Hubby and I will definitely return. The drive was beautiful, even though it rained all the way up there. We will have to plan to go in August or September during the grape harvest, so we can see the vineyards along the way in full grape mode.

Fat Tuesday

It's Fat Tuesday and I decided to make malasadas tonight. The last time I made these was in 2000 before hubby and I married. A lot of Portuguese bakeries here in NorCal only make these on special days and today is one of them. I come home for lunch everyday so I decided to make the dough today when I home. I used a recipe that my mother had written on a piece of paper. Next time I make these, I may make some with filling like they do at Leonard's on Oahu.

The dough after rising:

The balls of dough in the fryer (above)

Finished product - dipped in cinnamon sugar

These are addicting. Thank goodness I don't make these often!

A Rainy Valentine's Weekend

It has been rainy here all weekend. We really need the rain here in NorCal so it is a welcome sight.

Hubby and I have had a quiet weekend. Yesterday he gave me candy in the morning and then he was off to soccer practice. Then for dinner he cooked pasta (gluten free so I could eat it). We went out to dinner on Friday night because we knew that the restaurants would be packed yesterday.

I have the day off tomorrow for President's Day so I am feeling fairly relaxed today. I am trying to catch up on family history reports and miscellaneous projects around the house.

My oldest sister went on a Church retreat this weekend. Each participant received a bucket of flowers. Our house smells like a florist!

A Photo from Arizona

You would think since hubby is a photographer, I would get first dibs at the photos he takes when we travel. I had to snag the one below from someone else....lol.:

This was taken at our new friend's house (Max). I am in the 2nd row, far right. This is actually a photo that I don't think I look completely awful in. Hubby is in the 2nd row - far left...lol...and no, not sure why we did not stand together. Wow....hubby and I are short. OC down in front does not count.

To Where You Are....

My mother died of a form of cancer called Multiple Myeloma 7 years ago today here at home....right in this room, which is now my office. She was only 7o when she passed. She found out only a few months before that she had cancer.

The title of my subject is actually the title of a song that I first heard near the end of 2001. I was watching the television show 'Ally McBeal' and saw then newcomer Josh Groban singing this song:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2e20l_ally-mc-beal-josh-groban-to-where-y_music

I thought of my mom when I heard it and now my father too.

My parents on their 50th Wedding Anniversary in 1999

Random Thoughts...

Ok...I should be in bed. I woke up at 7:13 am on Thursday morning and I leave for work at 7:15am!

We are still trying to nail down a guest speaker for our Seahawks booster club event next weekend. I am not sure why this is such an issue this year. After the fiasco last year (that will be another post some day) we would have hoped that our problems were solved this year with our group staying at the team hotel and having the party there. Nope!

Ok....off to bed....I think.....lol.

Madeira Heritage Day

Back in June, I blogged about having a booth at the Dia de Portugal Festival. Thru that festival, I found a group called the San Pedro Association. They are a group near Sacramento, Calfornia who is dedicated to the preservation of the Madeiran Portuguese culture and history. Since both of my parents were born in Madeira, I knew I had to join. A lot of the Portuguese groups and festas here in the Bay Area are centered around those with ties to the Azores Islands (where hubby's family is from), so it was nice to find a group with heritage from Madeira. I was with my peeps! lol

Today they had Madeiran Heritage Day, which they hold every other year at a small park they Association owns called San Pedro Park - a small park located on a residential street.

Here are some photos of the chapel in the park:

Today we took a slight detour from the shakes and ate some Carne de Espeto (cubes of top-grade beef spiced with coarse salt, bay leaves and garlic and grilled over a pit. Here is a photo of two of the cooks tending to the meat:

A view of the pit afterwards:

There were also folcloric dancers performing dances representing various parts of Portugal.

The striped skirt costumes represent Madeira. Ever since I was a child I recognized those costumes from photos and my trip there when I was 12 years old. My parents took me there for 3 weeks that summer. I still want those boots....lol.

This is a group posing by the Santana house. Does it look familiar? It's my 'house' from the Dia de Portugal Festival. Hubby's dad made it from my father's 90th birthday in 2005. The director's of the Association requested that I bring it. Glad we did!

This is a photo of the leaves off of a huge bay leaf tree/bush in the park. A lot of Portuguese recipes used bay leaves. I remember my mother had a lot of this in the cupboard!

There was also silent and live auctions of gift baskets and other items. I donated a Madeira ornament that I sell on http://www.celestial-creations.com for the live auction. The woman who won the bid is also going to buy more as Christmas gifts!

I really had fun today and I hope to be able to participate in more of their events. I only wish my parents were both still here to have found this club!