Happy New Year and Happy New Jar!

Antunes family  - December 29 2013

Happy New Year friends and followers of my blog!  I hope that you have all enjoyed a wonderful Christmas and that 2014 finds you well and in good spirits!  Life here is returning to normal after all the fun and festivities of the holiday season.  Christmas vacation, spent at home with my girls and my husband, has to be my favorite time of the year.  The snow can fall...and fall...and fall, and it's okay because we have nowhere to go and nowhere to be.  "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!"  We enjoyed sleeping in, sharing late breakfasts together, lazying around the house, watching movies, snuggling by the fire, afternoon naps, holiday baking, spending time with family and friends, the list goes on and on.  I was even fortunate enough to celebrate my birthday at Niagara-on-the-Lake again this year (one of my favorite places on earth). Suffice to say, the holidays were lovely and magical, and I am so grateful!  

For those of you who are regular followers of my blog, you may remember my post from last February, My Happy Jar and Gratitude Journal.  I spoke of starting a Happy Jar for 2013 and filling it with things (handwritten notes, receipts, stubs, small tokens) that made me happy during the year.

 Well, here it is!  It became something like a memory jar, filled with happy recollections. I encouraged my hubby and girls to add to the jar as well.  We added many things during the course of the year.  The fun thing about the happy jar is that you can't read the notes and additions until the end of the year. Only then do you crack open the jar  together to read/share/remember all the happy things that happened that year.  Isn't it a wonderful idea?  I just love it! 

Here are some of the contents of our happy jar!  It's a great way to remember all the blessings of this past year. It has been a challenging year for our family. With the joys, came too, sadness, fears, struggles, and difficulties to overcome.  This jar of happy memories serves as a reminder that even in the midst of tough times, joy can be found always, everywhere, and in the simplest of things, if we only allow ourselves to feel it.

The happy days, the good times, and the fond memories of 2013 are what I choose to take with me into this new year.  My jar is once again empty and waiting to be filled with fabulous, happy things to come in 2014!

I encourage you to create your own happy jar so you can fill it to the brim with your own happy memories!

Thank you for stopping to visit!  I really appreciate your time here and all of your comments.  May this new year fill your homes and hearts with love and laughter!  Let's make this the best year ever!!  

  

Florida...Finally!

Has it really been three weeks since my last post?  Oh my goodness, it has!  I do apologize for not posting sooner.  Summer days have taken over.  School's out and my girls are home on vacation.  Summer always seems to flutter by too quickly, so we have been busy filling up our days; always doing something, going somewhere, and keeping things interesting!   But today, it is SO hot and muggy out there, the only thing this girl wants to do is keep cool indoors and catch up with you!

We arrived in Ormond Beach, Florida on the afternoon of Friday, June 7th.  Here is a picture of the sweet little bungalow we rented.  It was the place we called home for nearly one week.

We loved it so much, we may return again one day!

One of my favorite things about Florida are the beautiful palm trees.  You can find them everywhere!
I wish I could buy one and plant it in my backyard, but we all know that wouldn't last!  The poor thing would be buried by snow in no time!

Gorgeous Ormond Beach!  We spent many hours here; beachcombing, walking along the shore and soaking up the sunshine!

My little mermaid carrying our collection of shells

Nuno doing some shore fishing

We took a drive to Downtown Disney - one of our favorite places to be in Florida!  Isn't this Mickey Mouse Fountain gorgeous?

My girls and I enjoying our first ever Mickey Mouse ice cream bar!
Can you say, happy?!



On Monday, June 10th, we celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary at one of my favorite places on earth!

Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World!  The day couldn't have been more perfect!

Driving through the gates

Let the memories begin...

Our first ever visit and photo with Mickey Mouse!  "He" was so sweet!

Walking right down the middle of Main Street, USA!

The breathtaking Cinderella's Castle!

Big Thunder Mountain roller coaster, definitely the ride where I screamed and laughed the most!
I am a chicken when it comes to roller coasters, by the way!  However, it was so much FUN!

Another highlight was getting an autograph and our picture taken with Minnie Mouse!



An entire day filled with fun, magic, and excitement made for a very tired little girl...

and the rest of us, as well!


I will leave you with these two links.  They are short 30 second video clips from our
visit to Magic Kingdom

I still have more photos to share with you from our road trip, but I will have to save them for next time!  Until then, try to keep cool and enjoy these lazy, hazy days of summer!  xoxo

Cavacas, Fond Memories, And The Recipe!

Hello dear friends,

Thank you for stopping in.  I love when you come to visit!  Yesterday afternoon, I posted a photo of the "cavacas" I made on my facebook page. I was so overwhelmed with comments, questions, and requests for the recipe, I wanted to share it with all of you. 

First of all, for those of you who don't know, what is a cavaca? It's a traditional Portuguese confection whose origins date back as far as anyone can remember, but there is no documented proof of where or when it originated. 

Cavacas are simple to make and require very few ingredients, usually only eggs, flour and oil, as well as a rich sugar coating.  You can find these popular sweets all over Portugal in bakeries and markets. Although the ingredients don't vary much from one recipe to another, the baking technique, shapes and sizes can vary from one village to the next. 

Outside of Portugal, cavacas are sometimes called Portuguese popovers, as they are somewhat similar in texture.  Cavacas, however, are drier, contain oil and are much sweeter.   Yes, they are similar, but still very different. 

The recipe I used to make my cavacas comes from the facebook page Azorean Green Bean.  You can find the recipe there on her page.  I saw the photo she posted; they looked so yummy, I had to try them for myself.  Indeed they were delicious!   Thank you to Azorean Green Bean for the inspiration!

My husband has enjoyed cavacas since his childhood days in Portugal. I was introduced to them many years ago, when his grandmother, Avo Emilia, brought them over from Portugal to Canada on her yearly visits.  She also adored them.  I vividly remember her thorough enjoyment of the sugary confection!  Baking these brought back memories of those days long ago.  I miss her and think of her often.  Most times, memories of Avo Emilia come to me when I eat foods that she enjoyed, like leafy greens, fish, potatoes, salad, and homemade bread.  One thing she couldn't stand was reheated potatoes.  I will never forget that.  She is dearly missed and thought of often. 



Here she is displaying her homemade bread.
I took this photo of her.  She loved taking pictures!

Here is Azorean Green Bean's recipe including my changes/additions/comments in red

Cavacas:

2 cups of flour *all-purpose
1 cup of oil  * I used olive oil
½ cup of whole milk *I used milk, but can be replaced with oil/olive oil

8 eggs at room temp

 

Sugar Glaze:

 2 cups of Confectioner’s Sugar
 zest of one lemon
 2 tablespoons of milk (more or less depending on the thickness you like)  * I used 1/4 cup of milk as I prefer the glaze thinner. 

 

Directions:

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease regular size muffin tins or popover tins. *I used butter to grease. I tried the recipe twice, first using popover pan, second using muffin tins.  I preferred the muffin tins.
Using an electric mixer beat all ingredients for at least 20 minutes without stopping.
I highly recommend using a stand mixer on this recipe with the mixer set on level 6.
Fill the muffin or popover tins no more then half way.  *I filled mine using a 1/4 measuring cup, which was less than half way.  These really rise!  Be careful not to overfill them!
Bake on the middle rack; for moist Cavacas, bake for about 45 minutes; but if you like them on the dry side, bake for 1 hour. They will get to a nice golden color and “popover“ the pans.
While they are still warm, spoon the glaze over each one or just submerge each one in the glaze. Either way you can’t go wrong.
Serve on the same day, since it will dry even more for the following day.  Mine are on day 2 and tasting fabulous still!

 

If any of you decide to make the recipe.  Please let me know how they turned out!  Maybe you can send me a photo and I can share it here on my blog!   Wouldn't that be wonderful?!

 

Wishing everyone a happy November.  Santa Claus is coming to town this weekend.  Can you believe there are only 39 days, 12 hours, 58 minutes until Christmas.  Have you started your Christmas shopping yet?  I haven't!  EEK!