A Portuguese Love

Gourmand’s 16th Awards took place at Paris’ famed music hall, Les Folies Bergeres, following the opening of the second Paris Cookbook Fair . The Gourmand World Cookbook Awards was founded in 1995 by Edouard Cointreau . It's free and open to all languages. On March 3rd and for over two hours Edouard Cointreau’s cookbook awards ceremony paid homage to chefs, publishers, photographers, and designers. Check Gourmand Magazine for more information and the winner's list to discover wonderful books about worldwide food! I am not much of a cook but books about food look so yummy and irresistible. I also like to read about wine culture. One of the winners is a book about the Portuguese Madeira island and its famous wine - Madeira wine. A Portuguese book got an award too - it's a book about bread. I've seen it at my local Post Office station - A tradição do pão em Portugal . (The tradition of bread in Portugal) It's a beautiful book indeed. It shows you the story of b...

Porto has lots of shoe shops. You can find designer shoes and simple ones, cheap and expensive ones all in one street. As it was sales time I could not resist returning home with a new pair of shoes for half price! Portugal is the world's eighth-largest producer of wine (Port Wine, Vinho Verde, and Madeira Wine) and the world’s largest producer of cork. Other major exports are clothing, synthetic fibers, paper products, and footwear. From January to June of 2011, Portugal exported footwear to over 130 countries on five continents. More than 95% of Portugal's production was exported. "The Portuguese footwear industry, a youthful, sexy, modern, forward-facing industry that combines tradition with cutting-edge technology and know-how with the best in design, is constantly evolving." - Check the blog Portuguese Shoes for all information on Portuguese shoes if you are curious! Well, I bought a pair of Aerosoles shoes. I like this brand a lot. These shoes are very comf...

3 Filigree Clover - mug by silvianeto Browse other Clover Mugs Filegree Clover - button by silvianeto See other button designs Portuguese Heart - black red pillow by silvianeto More Valentine American MoJo Pillows Portuguese Heart Candy Jar by silvianeto Shop for another candy jar . Portuguese Heart mug by silvianeto Join one of the largest artist affiliate programs Hello readers! It has been a long time since my last product showcase. I had a problem with one Zazzler if you remember. He disliked my blog linking to his store and made a complaint to Zazzle. I thought about giving up showing products. But I think there's no need for that. I can make it this way. Instead of showing multiple products from several stores at one time, I'll pick one store at each time and first I will ask the owner if I can promote. It will be the end of any possible problems. Today's collection of products is the work of Sílvia Neto ´s. She's also Por...

A few weeks ago, you know, I went to Porto. As usual, I try to make the best of my time when I go there. As the weather was fine I crossed D.Luis bridge over the river Douro and went to Gaia, the city that stands in front of Oporto. The view from there is superb. In Gaia, I found this super cute store that sells contemporary handicrafts. The store is very small but packed with beautiful crafts. And the girl in the store was so very nice. I really enjoyed our little chat while watching all the pieces on the display. Quite an exquisite selection of modern handcrafted dolls, necklaces, purses, and toys. If you have seen my previous post now you can understand where some of these modern crafters get their inspiration - the heart shape you can see on the store wall is from a traditional filigree heart. I loved a purse with this shape and a necklace too. Unfortunately, my souvenir budget was already spent by the time I reached the store. The name of the store is Amor de Galo ( Roost...

The art of filigree found its origin in the Far East maybe China and India. It's a delicate, lace-like ornamental openwork composed of intertwined wire threads of gold - 19.25 Karat gold is used in Portuguese jewelry -or silver. It's been known since the Greek and Roman civilizations. One of the most ancient known traces of filigree work was a pair of earrings found at Citânia de Briteiros, an Iron Age settlement located near Braga in the northern part of the country. If you are familiar with traditional Minho region folklore, you maybe remember women using several pieces from this art, necklaces, and earrings. The gold hearts were considered essential for a bride's dowry in the Minho. Filigree is flourishing in Portugal today as it has for generations. Today in the northern area of Portugal there's an active goldsmith industry that produces beautiful works like the ones you can see in the video. Póvoa de Lanhoso and Gondomar are the most representative places. It is...

World of Dreams by janettedengo More World Posters Compassionate Fury by janettedengo Find more small canvas prints at zazzle.com “I receive daily inspirations in my emails, stay in touch with friends and “butterflies” (people who come and go in and out of my life) I meet online. I love getting to know people. Once in a while, I run across a person who I may have a strong connection with and similar interests, and these are our balance partners. “ I was impressed by the beautiful photos I found on Janette Dengo’s blog and by her paintings too. Just look at the two posters she’s yelling at her Zazzle store . I decided to discover a little more about Janette and headed for her complete website where I found links to all the places where she sells her artwork and writing. Who is this lady? She has an interesting life philosophy and while I was reading her About the artist I got the impression that she’s a very strong and sensitive person. Janette was born in Kosice, Slo...

Hello again! This week I went up north to Oporto. As many of you know Oporto is my favorite Portuguese city for sightseeing and taking photographs, shopping, enjoying cultural events, having fun and so much else. I am trying hard to find a job there so I can go back and stay for good. I lived there twice and I believe I will get a third chance. But so far I had no luck! When I go to Porto sometimes I stay with friends and sometimes I book a hotel. I tried three and four-star hotels and other accommodations. But lately, I can't afford that anymore and I constantly search for affordable alternatives. I am sharing with you some photos and my opinion about  Residencia Pedra Antiga , the place I booked this time. It's located on Sta. Catarina street is one of the biggest and most popular streets in the city with a large number of shops on it. It's in Porto downtown which means you're near important monuments, theatres, and bars, and maybe some 15-20 minutes away fro...