Thanksgiving’s here. Living in Portugal, there’s no celebration of the holiday- no turkey, cranberry sauce, apple pie or spending hours in the kitchen. Still, I decided to sort of get into the spirit of the day and cook this beautiful roasted chicken.

I believe in food that get’s family, be it by blood or friendship, together around a dinner table. I think I got it from my grandma- every Sunday she cooks lunch for our whole family and, despite the fact that we all live in very different places now, we still try to get together and eat together. Food is meant to bring people together, or so I believe. And this roasted chicken does just that.

It’s a recipe you have to leave in the oven for a long time, to achieve that perfect balance between tenderness and juiciness (so hard to get when cooking chicken), and it smells, and tastes, amazing. There’s no denying I fell in love with this recipe. So much that this will definitely be Sunday lunch whenever I’m in charge, in the future. I hope you love it as much.

As for thanksgiving- I believe we should be thankful for what we have everyday, but with all the rush the world lives in, it’s good we have a day to remind us of that. I hope you have a lot to be thankful for. As for me, I’m thankful for my family, my boyfriend, my incredible friends and being able to be studying to do what I love the most as a job. And, obviously, for this blog, a true friend and an outlet for the, sometimes, everyday mayhem.

Recipe adapted from: Half Baked Harvest

Continue reading “Roasted Spiced Chicken”

The weekend went by way too fast. It was one of those times where I had a whole lot of things planned and ended up doing none. Classic me. The saddest part is that I was supposed to bake chocolate chip cookies and make a killer steak with béarnaise sauce. And I can’t stop thinking that I failed my stomach. I mean, it was expecting cookies and steak. And I gave it frozen lasagna, which is good but not the same. Definitely not the same.

My Sunday morning went by as fast as the whole weekend, meaning, I overslept. Not that I believe in oversleeping on a Sunday morning, but when you’re supposed to have lunch anywhere but your house I think you’re supposed to wake up early enough to at least take a nice shower and dress. Let’s just say I did all of that on maximum speed.

This also means there was no Sunday brunch for me. No pancakes, eggs Benedict or this amazing Pear French Toast bake. I made it a couple of weeks ago and definitely want to make it again. It’s a fragrant dish, sweet, and perfect for a laid-back morning. It’s also super easy and fast to make, meaning you won’t have to wake up early to prepare it. And not having to wake up early is always a plus 😉

Continue reading “Pear French Toast”

Temperatures dropped A LOT this past weekend. Lisbon’s weather is kind of bipolar, so I’m not sure if there’s a hint of summer still to come, but I’m in full “blanket and tea” mode now. And, as long as the rain stays out of the way, I’m pretty ok with it. I love cold sunny days. Not that I don’t miss summer, but this is the perfect weather for a city stroll or to eat bread as hot as it can get. And, of course, it’s a time when a simple soup does the trick for dinner.

I love experimenting with soups. They’re really versatile and a life-saver whenever I have leftover veggies. Just today I made a delicious creamy soup out of a butternut squash on the verge of becoming rot and now have a great option for the chaotic lunch hours ahead of me this week. But back to soups.

They really are like a blank canvas. If you have water and veggies, pretty much any, you’re good to go. And, recently, I found another member for the soup club: spices. I started with an amazing curry soup, for which I found the recipe on a diet book. And then, I found THIS. This soup is incredible. It’s creamy. It’s delicious. It’s exotic. I never thought about using coconut milk in a soup recipe and here I am. Ready to try it again.

This soup flavors will warm you  and leave you wanting more. Even the more sceptic living with me found this to be amazing. And it is. And you should try it. Really you should. And let this soup be a mate for the coming cold days.

Continue reading “Spinach, Zucchini and Coconut Milk Soup”

One of the things I love the most about living on my own is that I’m able to host dinner parties pretty much when I want to. As much as I appreciate a quiet night tucked in a blanket and watching re-runs of How I Met Your Mother, there’s nothing quite like having your friends over, catch up and, obviously, get their insight on your latest kitchen endeavors. If you don’t like a recipe I’ve posted, well, my friends are the ones to blame! (kidding :p)

Chocolate cake is the dessert I feel never misses the spot. This one in particular, is not only super easy to make but a constant hit. And, if you feel like having your friends over after a loooooong day working, this one is definitely a good choice since it takes almost no time to make. It has a strong dark chocolate flavor to it so Vanilla Ice cream or Lemon sorbet are always a good addition to a slice of this wonder.

Continue reading “Swedish Chocolate Cake”

First of all, let me apologize for not bringing you a Halloween recipe. I intended to do so, but let’s just say the cake I ended up with was scary. Literally. I’ll try to make it up by giving you the recipe for this “out-of-this-world” bake. It’s cheesy (really really cheesy) and that says it all. I mean, what better than decadent, comfort food, to bury the sorrows of a missed chocolate cake?

This recipe is based on the Baked 4 Cheese Butternut Squash Rigatoni by Half Baked Harvest. I cannot stress how much I love this blog enough. I discovered it recently, while searching for a new lasagna recipe. I ended up with loads of recipes and a new source of inspiration. I’ll just say every darn photo on her blog is mouthwatering. And let you discover the rest 🙂

For my take on her recipe, I cut off some ingredients that aren’t that easy to find on a Portuguese supermarket, changed times and oven temperature to its metric equivalent. It turned out delicious 🙂

Continue reading “4 Cheese Butternut Squash Farfalle”