Fall 2011

I don't know who lives in this house but it's somewhat close to our house. I took photos of their beautiful tree. Nao sei quem vive nessa casa mas e bem perto de nossa casa. Tomei fotos da linda arvore que deles.

This one is close to the Court House and it looks so pretty. Essa ta perto da prefeitura que fica logo perto daqui.

Colors of the Fall around our town. As cores do Outono por nossa cidadezinha.

Today I recommed Elisa's blog. She is a very smart young woman and mom of three adorable boys. Recommendo que vai a este blog.
http://www.elisaloves.com

Life is a constant work

I saw this quote in another source of reading material and liked it very much. If only we could remember this often. "Life is a terminal disease, NO one gets out alive.....
Every day I wake up is a good day."
Just wanted to share this fun piece of wisdom.
Hope your day is a good day!

Baby blanket,cap and shoes

I have been using some time to make some baby blankets. I have made them in several colors and given them away to friends. At the clinic where I used to work I gave some as gifts. I wish I knew how to make crochet baby shoes but I have such a hard time with that so I decided to see if I could make one of those cloth ones we see in the net. This one in the photo was just to see if I could actually make it. I like that they are so small and cute.

I had a left over piece of flannel cloth that looks like a quilt with different squares that's a left over from a baby blanket I made. I used that to make these baby shoes. Next time I will use one solid color for the shoes.

Food

I was at the World Market and got some international food. Panettone is always used in Brazil for Christmas. I saw one made in Italy and got it right away feeling lucky since last year we didn't have a panettone since I couldn't find one anywhere. Hope it won't be too old by Christmas time. Blood orage soda is also from Italy. Got some grains including black beans. I don't have all of them in photos but here are some I got at Hy-Vee, Quinoa and brown flax seed. I got a huge amount of seeds and dry fruits like dried cranberries and cherries. The Gouda cheese is from the US.In the subject of food, I recommend you take a look at Francesca's blog (She's in Italy.)
http://www.fuoriborgo.com/fuoriborgo/2011/10/thoughts-on-food.html

Cheese - queijinho

I made some little cheeses in the past days. These are made from the raw milk I got from the farm lady. They remind me of the cheeses made in the countryside in Northern Brazil. Those cheeses in Brazil are called "queijo de coalho."
We like it fried in some butter (low fat margarine):(. It's a good thing to do with your extra milk. Get it to coagulate in the counter top with the starter and then separate the whey from the solids. You can use a cheese cloth to put the solids hanging to dry ( I let that process to take place inside the refrigerator.) It's best for me to put in the refrigerator because I do not salt it and only rub it with salt after it has been dried. In a few days you have this nice semi-soft cheese that is so delicious. It's so good warmed between two slices of bread for breakfast!

Fiz alguns queijinhos nos ultimos dias. Esses sao feitos do leite natural que compro de uma senhora da fazenda. Esses min parecem como os queijos brasileiros que se chamam "queijo de coaho." Gostamos frito em um pouco de manteiga. E uma coisa boa pra fazer isso com seu leite extra. Deixamos coagular num canto da cozinha e depois separamos o soro da parte solida. Colocamos num material tipo gaze or qualquer pano fino ta bem. Depois e so colocar pendurado em algo dentro do refrigerador pra pingar ate a ultima gota de soro. Eu deixo dentro da geladeira todo o tempo porque nao coloco sal. Somente esfrego sal depois de todo feito. Depois de alguns dias voce tem esse queijinho nem duro nem mole e que uma delicia! Gostoso quentinho entre duas fatias de pao pra o cafe da manha!

This is a "mini cherry plant" and it's not edible. It's for decorative purpose only.

These were taken a bit over a week ago around the same place I was taking a walk last evening.

I find this house interesting. This house sits between these huge pine trees and looks like something found not far from the sea perhaps.

Taking a walk around town! The temperatures has getting down lately but I love this time of the year as much as Spring. I have been feeling the result of my decision to make and live here in the small town with husband. I used to live 3 and half hours away and drive here in the weekends. I miss a lot of what I had there. Live has it's turns doesn't?

Zucchini Bread

One for us and one for the lady from church who gave lots of zucchinnis. I still had one left so I made these two breads. This recipe was given to me by a sweet lady from the place where I used to work. This makes two loaves, which is great that I can give one away! Love and hugs for you and enjoy this marvelous Fall weather!
Recipe :
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil  (canola)
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups grated zucchini
3 cups flour
1 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup nuts (optional) ( I usually omit this since I don't like nuts in bread)

Beat eggs - add rest in order given
Bake @ 325 degrees for 55-60 min.
Test with tester or toothpick to see if it's ready. Spray 2 loaf pans.   Enjoy!!

Last tomatoes and raw milk

 We have the last tomatoes of the garden inside the house and it's fascinating seeing how the get ripe even if just indoors. We were letting the pan outside with the tomatoes to get some sun during the day but in the last 3 days it has been raining. Despite being indoors it ripens nicely. I have got 4 jars of canned tomatoes and there are some more tomatoes to process.  These tomatoes in jars can be added to the regular pasta sauce to increase volume, it also can be used when I prepare chicken or beef, soups etc etc. I have finally found someone who sells raw milk and I manged to get some from her. Despite being more expensive than the ones bought at the store I think it's worth the try.  I know it's full of fat so I am boiling and let the cream settle on top and then remove it. The flavor for those who are not used to it can be unpleasant because it's very strong since it has the natural fat in it. The reason I am trying it's to see if my tolerance to milk will improve and also all these nasal/ sinus allergy. I read a few things from the people who advocate the natural milk. I have made homemade yogurt and sour cream out of it. My son says he can not get used to it so he will stay with his skim milk which is fine if it's what he wants to do. I love it since it was with milk like this that I grew up with. I know it's a very different taste for one to get used to right away.  I have been wondering what's the best method to use to separate the milk from the fat, I have an impression my method leaves too much fat in the milk. I would prefer to make this milk a skim milk. I shall search around. If you know how let me know pleeease!!

Angela ~~'s photostream

Angela ~~'s photostream on Flickr.

Autumn!

A great morning

After a brisk walk a thought came to mind, why not some old fashioned French toast? We eat whole eat bread most of the time but this time Alex had some white bread in fridge as a leftover from one of his cooking projects so I just used that. There is no need to make it too fancy, just milk, the eggs and just a tiny touch of nutmeg. We finally got some milk that is free of hormones and all those impurities but the problem is to make that make skim milk since it cames directly from the farm and thus with the cream. I did make homemade butter though. Now after all that I looked into the closet and see that I need to re-organize it. I must say that's not my favorite part of housekeeping...any ideas on how to neatly fold those horrifying sheets that are not flat?  I ask myself that question. It's a mess in there now but I have to get going on that project.  Have a great and awesome day!!

Fall / Outono

I took a few minutes to just enjoy the nice few days of perfect temperature before real cold days sets in. We must thank the Lord for beautiful days like this. Thank him for health, for our children and for peaceful moments. Using the quiet time to get some of my crochet done too.

Aproveitando os o tempo que esta muito bonito com linda temperatura antes que vem os dias gelados. Devemos agradecer a Deus por dias bonitos, agradecer pela saude, nossos filhos e por momentos de paz. Usei o tempo tambem pra fazer um crochezinho.

 When I was out at the lake walking I gahered some little "gifts" from nature and made a small group deco for the center of kitchen table. I love the little twigs. I imagined that a very small forest creature was walking home with that bundle of twigs that would warm up his burrow for days. I asked him to have it and he told me that he would trade it for a button and so it was done and I have my bundle of sticks. Ok....that did not happened but it was sweet imagining it...we used to read "The littles" not sure if you are familiar with but I loved those books and so did our children.
Quando eu estava ao redor da lagoa que fica aqui perto de casa peguei umas coisas pra fazer um arranjamento pra o centro da mesa da conzinha. Um arranjamento do outono com folhinhas mudando de cor, as folhas estao todas vermelhas ou amarelas ou laranja, lindas. Quando vi esses pauzinhos imaginei uma creatura bem pequena da foresta carregando isso  nas costas pra esquentar sua cazinha eu pedi pra os pauzinhos e ele min disse que podia trocar por um botao, eu dei o botao e ganhei o montao de pauzinhos! :)

Pumpkins and gords all around us! I love their colors!

Desejando a todos um feliz Outono!!

 HAPPY FALL EVERYONE!!