A Portuguese Love

This photo is courtesy of Miguel Monteiro.  Check more photos of this tree on his blog . Hello Friends and Zazzlers! I've been wanting to write more but unable to do it. This last week went by very quickly. At last, I find some time to write more about cork. Zazzle has surprised us with some cork products. I liked it a lot. But for now, it's just cork coasters . I hope someone convinces Zazzle to add some more! Cork is a fascinating raw material. At least for me, it is. The origins of the use of cork are lost in time. This raw material from the cork oak (Quercus Suber L.) was already in use thousands of years before Christ. Today cork is used in endless objects but Ancient Egyptians used cork for the soles of their sandals and Romans also use it for footwear! Portuguese caravels sailed to discover new territories and also made use of cork in their construction. But mostly cork was used to keep wine protected in containers. This started n the 17th century wh...

   OMG, I can't believe that next week summer will end and that I just bought myself a new bikini...! Last week I got lucky enough to watch the marés vivas - some photos here - at the beach for the first time. Huge waves, quite a show. Ice cream is something we associate with summer. I want to tell you about Portuguese ice creams. It will be a sweet post! I am not sure but I think this video is a collage of Olá Ice cream commercials. They still use the old logo. Olá is the most popular ice cream brand in Portugal. Olá began to manufacture ice cream in 1959. Portuguese do not eat a lot of ice cream. In Europe, my country is second with lower consumption. Finland consumes lots of ice cream as a dessert especially and it's at the top of the list. The country that consumes more ice cream in the world is the USA. You can find it everywhere. But beyond this brand, there are several smaller brands that have great quality and that built quite a reputation. If you visit ...

Yesterday I took an hour and went to the beach in the afternoon. The summer end is fast approaching and so I try to enjoy the last warm days every minute I can. With the start of school next 13th September, most families with children are no longer at the beach. The background noise is different. The light is different. Now everything is more quiet and slow at Figueira da Foz beach. In photo number four you can see a lifeguard talking to some boy surfers about the sea conditions. Lifeguards dress in red and yellow. In photo number five there's a man dressed in white with a container. He sells bolacha Americana, literally, it means American wafer(or cookie?!). It's thin and crispy like the one in the photo below. (That last photo isn't mine because I always eat the waffle before I remember to click the machine...!) These men walk the beach all day long selling bolacha Americana and some are witty and say funny things to catch people's attention an...

Summer is my favorite time of the year. As I live by the sea it’s a great time to enjoy the beach every minute I can. My readers may remember Licor Beirão. I wrote a post about this traditional Portuguese liquor some weeks ago. Licor Beirão enjoyed my post and sent me some merchandise to distribute to my blog readers. It’s time to accessorize for the Summer that officially starts today and these are the gifts Licor Beirão is offering 10 of my lucky readers: - A fabric case for your laptop as I know you will be going outside to enjoy the sun! - Cute tattoos (4 different ones) to show with your summer light clothes! - Magnetic bookmarkers because reading in a garden or on the beach is a must with this weather! - A diary where you can draw or write down stories about your summer days… - And 6 very cute small bottles of Licor Beirão, 6 of my readers will have a chance to taste this traditional Portuguese drink. All winners will also be sent an informative sheet on Licor Beirão with a fe...

Vinho Verde is a unique product. Portugal is the one place to find it. This great wine has a blending of aromas that makes it one of the most delicious natural beverages. Some of it can have light bubbles. I love to drink it very fresh on Summer days - 8-10º C is the ideal temperature. It's ideal to go with seafood. Most times I just pick a beer because it's less expensive. Vinho Verde is Medium in alcohol and has great digestive properties due to its freshness. In the market, you can find red and white wines. The reds are full-bodied wines with an intense color and a rosy or light red foam. The whites usually present a lemony or straw color. Verde is the Portuguese word for green. But Vinho Verde hasn't relation with the color. Verde also means not ripe. But that does not mean that this wine is made from unripened grapes. The main characteristic is that Vinho Verde should be drunk while it's still young. It will not get better as time goes by. The Demarcated Region ...

Video 8th March is International Women's Day. I wanted to post about Portuguese notorious women. I know by heart the names of pioneer women who fought for women's rights in Portugal. I also admire some Portuguese women painters and poetry writers. But I thought it all would be tedious in the end for my readers. So I decided to pick just one: Antónia Adelaide Ferreira, Portuguese vineyard manager. She was born in 1811 into a wealthy family in the North. She’s an example of entrepreneurship. She was passionate, she had a vision, she searched for perfection and she treated workers with respect. She’s an example for both, men and women. She dedicated her life to the cultivation of Port wine and introduced notable innovations. Her first husband was not interested in wine cultivation. After his death, she changed into a complete and insightful businesswoman. She was affectionately known as “Ferreirinha”. Besides being in the business she cared about workers and their families. S...

"Progetto Qualigeo realizzato dalla Fondazione Qualivita; in particolare verrà illustrato il primo Atlante dei prodotti agroalimentari europei DOP, IGP e STG che rappresenta una vera e propria mappatura dell’agricoltura di qualità europea. Con i contenuti dell’Atlante è stata realizzata una piattaforma web Qualigeo.eu con la georeferenzazione delle zone di produzione, delle aziende che costituisce il primo social network di settore a livello internazionale per le produzioni agroalimentari ad indicazione geografica". Qualigeo Atlas is Qualivita Foundation project. It's the first world editorial work that describes 850 European PDO PGI and TSG products through exhaustive product fiches written in easy language. The atlas turns out to be an indispensable tool both for specialists in the sector and for consumers who want to know about new healthy products. An agri-food product database shows 116 hundred Portuguese products listed . Portugal occupies 4th place in agri-food e...