It may be 19 days until the Spring Equinox...but the arrival of MARCH has always signified Spring to me...let the house-cleaning, decorating, "garden dreams" and budding flowers and trees (and accompanying pollen season) BEGIN!
My Daughter-in-law and I, discussing gardening plans over coffee this morning. She and I are going to work together out at her house and make a nice combined effort kitchen garden! And a strawberry patch for some of those Tributes, again. Yeah...we are both pretty excited!
Seeing a gradual green up of the lawn, the Weeping Willows thinly veiled with yellow green, trees budded and the daffodils and just starting to pop up long dark green blades. Wake up in the morning to the sound of the Canadian Geese back honking over in formation during their morning commute to where ever...they fly by at 6 every morning. You can set your watch by them. It is uncanny.
So began Virtual Portugal this morning in Lisbon (Lisboa)
https://youtu.be/mnnfYtKsuN4
with a dish of creamy Flan with caramelized sugar sauce and cinnamon. (recipe to follow)
A City on the Edge.
With long angling streets much like San Francisco and cable cars/trains winding up, down and through the same.
The above video giving a close tour of Lisbon (the capital) and sights within.
I can't believe I've never given any thought to exploring this ancient city. So much to see and learn!
Beginning with the Port.
Incredible carvings...architecture...and hand painted tiles.
Grand castles and monasteries, parks and fountains.
So much to see.
And try.
Picked up this book from my local library to accompany my virtual journey...so
I can sample some of the cuisine (and share here).
Which is where I found this morning's Flan Recipe. Flan with a Portuguese Twist.
Also accompanying my journey with Rick Steve's: Europe Through the Backdoor
which gives some wonderful tips on what to do/see/try.
And listening to some Portuguese language/dialect which is a mash-up of Spanish/French/Italian and some as yet unidentified quantity...agreeing that several of the vowel combinations do have a particular "sounds heard before only by the use of a washing machine" quality. How does Carlos end up Car-Loosh, anyway?
Without further ado...that Flan Recipe.
Pudim Flan
Caramel Sauce
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup water
Pinch of Cinnamon
Cook together over medium heat until sugar reaches a golden brown...add a pinch of cinnamon. Remove from heat and pour inside custard cups or baking dishes coating inside evenly. Set aside. Mixture will cling nicely to the walls of the ramekin.
14 ounces whole milk.
14 ounces sweeetened condensed milk.
Pinch of Cinnamon.
4 whole eggs
Use a blender to mix all of the above ingredients thoroughly then pour into prepared dishes.
Sit ramekins/custard cups into baking dish filled with 1 inch of water.
Bake for 1/2 hour or until set.
Chill well.
Invert over serving plate. Caramel will flow over flan.
Garnish with a sprig of mint.
Best (and easiest) Flan EVER.
Tomorrow we will continue to check out Lisbon Port and Maritime Museum.
Here back in The Real World we have
Super Tuesday
and excuse me for going off on a small rant here...but is it too damn much to ASK that the major media just cover the damn FACTS for a moment.
Seriously...all day I have attempted to just get the numbers. Just the numbers so far. Not CBS or MSNBC or FOX or CNN's SPIN on what is happening...just the raw numbers. I have come to the conclusion it is IMPOSSIBLE.
The last polls close around 9:30. Maybe someone will be reporting by then, eh?
What the hell happened to Journalism...and GOD do I miss Walter.
"Now, you kids get off my lawn..."
Happy to hear Bernie will be staying in through all 50 States (caucuses and primaries) so in this for the long game...regardless.
Kind of anxious to see how Hillary makes out through all of this. Evil, lying. manipulative creature.
And admittedly, kind of amused, in a decidedly shadenfreude kind of way, at the GOP who are now basically soiling themselves when they realize that the Frankenstein Monster they built from scratch has suddenly turned on THEM (Trump) and they can no longer control it or kill it. Mary Shelly wrote a book about this. They should have taken notes.
So...relaxing with a glass of wine, acrylics and a fresh canvas. Beginning a Spring landscape!
Until Tomorrow...
