Campo de Ourique market

I am kind of person that adores ‘small talks’, ‘simple chats’ with people on the street ,in the shop ,in the park…so that is one of the reasons I adore markets.
You know the feeling when you enter at some place and it feels like home. All familiar nice faces, people complimenting you, even if you didn’t go there for some time they behave as they spoke with you yesterday. This is how I feel at Mercado do Campo de Ourique.

Burek

One of the most usual question people ask here, when I say I am from Bosnia, is what is traditional Bosnian food. Really often I leave it to my husband to explain it ,I am not objective on this item :-).
Personally I think Bosnian food is a big mix of various influences but one dish for me is really typical. It is BUREK ,kind of meat pie. I just can’t live without it...so I make my own version ,since here I don’t have all ingredients that I need, and it is enough to survive until I go back home and eat one prepared by my mother.

Blueberry muffins with crumble

Some weeks ago we went to Jardin de Estrela for crafts and design fair and knowing that there is no possibility to buy something to eat and drink there I made blueberry muffins and some coffee and brought with us. I met a fried there and while kids were playing we were sitting on the bench, drinking coffee, eating muffins and chatting .
So when I announce that I would like to start taking orders for cakes and other goodies the same friend call me and said immediately :’I want that muffins we ate in Jardin the Estrela’. So...I got my first order...

Focaccia

I realised few days ago that I am going to speak a lot here about one simple , but divine, thing… bread.
Magic of bread starts in the moment you mix flour, yeast and water ,my kids really often asked me to see how it grows...they like to put their small fingers in it, make wholes, feel texture...
To bake a good bread it is needed a lot of patience and care but it is worth for sure. Moment you take it out of oven smell spread in all parts of house and the only thing I can think about when I feel it is butter melting on top of it and taste of it...

Something....

Something for Sunday night,before going to work in the morning.
Something for tired mother that just put kids to sleep.
Something to refresh and taste good at the end of the day... lemon tart.

My kitchen pegboard

Here it is, I can say we succeeded to install kitchen pegboard and I am proud of it.
It was not easy ,it is not used here and it was difficult to find hooks but after some shop search we found and finally finished it last week.


Here are some ideas where you can use it indoor or outdoor.


I am still planning to paint kitchen storage, that won’t be easy...but now after finishing this small ‘project’ I am full of will to do a rest of the thing missing to make ‘my space’ perfect.

Oat and Raisins Cookies

My daughter started first grade in September 2009 and I got new duty ... making snacks for her. It is not easy task I must say, so really often I make a bigger quantity of cookies for her.
One day she came from school ,so happy because her teacher asked a recipe. From that time one these are her favourite cookies :-).

Edith's oranges

Last week I got full bag of sweet, big oranges from Alentejo from a friend and first I made full bottle of orange juice but I still stood with half a bag of oranges and then I decided to make jam.

I remembered my grandmother use to dry orange peel with some cloves on and that would smell just great so I add some cloves while making jam and BINGO!!!

I immediately used it in on desert that I really like and is super easy and super light, just put layer of smashed cookies, layer of greek yogurt and on top some jam. Yummy!!!

Pumpkin Cupcakes

Last week product in my house was pumpkin. I bought one butternut pumpkin to try to make ‘Sopa da abóbora,maçã e salva’ from Mafalda Pinto Leite (she is young, famous chef in Portugal and I am her big fan ) and I still had some rests so decided to make pumpkin cupcakes. They disappeared in same day. Pumpkin and cinnamon are definitely one of the best matches possible.

Sunday coffee

A period after Sunday lunch is saint for me...I think it is the only time in the week when after a good lunch I can seat and drink a coffee peacefully, fully enjoying it.
So this afternoon I devote to cappuccino with homemade saffron biscuits.

Saturday breakfast

I think probably majority of people, as me, have certain tastes, meals, fruits, vegetables…connected with certain happening in their lives. Watermelon remains on the birth of my nephew, Russian salad on New Year, grapes with family gatherings… and smell of fresh bread on winter breakfasts at my parent’s house. During the winter my mother would get up early in the morning to bake bread and I would get up with that smell . I loved these breakfasts with fresh cheese and butter and hot bread and I would like my kids to grow with same memories.

My new eco book

Some days ago I got a book A Slice of Organic Life from Sheherazade Goldsmith and I loved it. It is full of good tips and trick and not just for people who are lucky to have a big gardens but also to ones who have small or don’t have any outdoor space. You can find advices of how to make organic bread, aromatic oils, make your own ecological bath gels and a lot more. I have a lot of herbs on my terrace but I am planning to make small space to plant vegetables this year (until now I just had some tomatoes and strawberries) so a book was a good start.
A Portuguese version is also available :-)

Berry tart

As I already wrote in one of the previous posts, I had ‘girls’ gathering’ on Sunday and I was in charge of dessert.
My first idea was to make plum tart but, since I couldn’t find plums anywhere (probably it is not even plum season) and as I had some frozen berries, I made some berry tart.
But...it was not easy I must confess. My new silicon tart form was a big obstacle.
Until now I was avoiding using silicon forms in the kitchen but the other day I found one that I thought was good because it was not 100% silicon… the base was from porcelain.
Well...tart was great, girls really liked it and silicon form is archived.

And some more things....

First of all I would like to thank all of you for your feedback. It means a lot to me!!!
I got a lot of opinions and ideas and most of them were asking me to write recipes. That is something I would like to clear out… my idea was not to write a blog with recipes, but a blog that will show what I like to do, my own handmade craft :-). What I enjoy the most is seeing people enjoying my food, and I would like to make cakes and other goodies FOR YOU!!!
And no, the blog is not the result of going to cinema and watching Julie & Julia :-). This idea was ‘marinating’ in my head for long time but, to be honest, I didn’t have the courage to do it…
Once more I really appreciate your comments and I hope you will continue following what I write, and above all I hope you try and taste and not just see photos :-)

Rainy day

It is so cold and rainy in Lisbon for a days and the only thing I can think about on the days like these is that I would like to be home, with a blanket and some nice book and have some scones and hot tea near me. Since first few parts of this ‘rainy dream’ are impossible at least I can have scones and tea :-).

Maya Made

Lately I found a blog called Maya*Made with a lot of great ideas. One of them I thought was perfect ‘to do ‘ thing on a rainy day with a kids. Get some newspapers ,some colour in hands and you can start. My daughter was so proud when at the end we put new handmade decoration in her room .I am sure I will try to do more things from Maya’s blog and I will keep you informed about results.
You can find instructions here

Saturday rithual

Visiting market in Principe Real on Saturday already makes part of our week routine, so this Saturday we didn’t miss it. I was looking for some ingredients for cake I was making to bring to my friend house for Sunday lunch and I finished with a lot more then that.
If you are looking for biological fruits and vegetables this is a place you should go.

London calling

Last time I visited London for a weekend I tried to make some ‘cooking’ tour and visit shops, bookshops, restaurant I admire. For that short time I had I couldn’t do everything I wanted but like that I have reason to go there soon :-)

Ottolenghi

Books for Cooks

Hummingbird bakery

Grissini

Usually when I am messing around in the kitchen my kids use to come to check what am I making and my older one usually ask if she can help and participate. She loves to mess around with me, put decoration on cakes, make cookies, pasta... Here is something that make kids love to eat and make.

Charm of the winter holidays

I have one relative which, as a kid used a special stick with some rope on the end of it, which kind of had special meaning to him. Every day ,and some days few time a day , when a lot of thing would happened and he would have a lot of feeling and impressions, he would take his special magic stick and walk with it in the hand and ‘reliving’ all the day.

After this special part of the year, with a lot of friends and family gathering, I kind of wish to have this magical stick also. To make these impressions and feelings lasting longer... to relive them over and over.

Christmas night with its magic, kids completely excited, great food and warm atmosphere. A day started with me giving my try with ‘Bolo Rei’ a traditional Christmas Portuguese cake, so from the morning a house smelled on fresh baked cake.

During the day it changed with some other flavours of other traditional Portuguese dishes.
Kids anxiety grow until limits so this year they even slept ‘under’ the Christmas tree thinking they can ‘catch’ Santa like that.

New year eve was surrounded with kids and friend, great mood and great food. My part was desert and entry and decided to make raspberry cheesecake brownie which everybody adored.