Morro de São Paulo

This year  was my turn to plan our Valentine's Day celebration, so I planned a little getaway to an island off the coast of Bahia. Have you ever heard of Morro de São Paulo?

272 km from Salvador Bahia is an island called Tinharé, and Morro de São Paulo is one of 5 villages that make up Tinharé.

The only way to get to the island is by boat or by private plane, and since cars are forbidden to enter the island the only mode of transportation is by tractor, bikes, horses, or carriages. We took the carriages. We also walked a lot.

The beaches are very different form Itacare, where we currently live. Because of the reefs you get these warm natural pools that form during low tide. We did some snorkeling and saw some amazing fish. Christian saw a black fish with bright blue dots. I saw a fish that was transparent, with big bulging eyes. Does anyone knows the names of these two mysterious fish?

During the colonial period, Tinharé was often under attack either by the French or by the Dutch, due to it's distinct geographical location. The Portuguese build forts in Tinharé in order to keep the enemy from advancing into Salvador Bahia, which at the time was the capital of Brazil. There were many battles fought in Morro de São Paulo. Did you know the Northeast of Brazil was under Dutch rule for 24 years?  

The Fort in Morro de São Paulo dates back to 1630. There are old rusted cannons just laying around and big ornate pieces or what I think could have been an old fountain. Exploring the Fort was our favorite, that and spending time together of course.

I'm putting more pictures of our trip on my Facebook page. Do check it out, there are some cool old fountains, and quite a bit of historical monuments all surrounded by beautiful beaches. If you come to Brazil and you have the chance to visit Morro de São Paulo here are some things to consider,

What Breakfast in Bahia Looks Like

When people ask me what a typical American breakfast is like I say pancakes, eggs, bacon. You know. But if you come to my house I'll probably just feed you cold cereal.

People ask what breakfast is like in Bahia. If you come to my house breakfast is just a paozinho (small French bread), some juice, and fruit. But, if you want a traditional breakfast it's more than that. It's fruit and a lots of things made from tapioca.

It's seriously, delicious.

1- Pao de queijo - small cheese breads made with tapioca flour. Easy to make, I promise.
2- Cuscuz de tapioca- tapioca couscous made with coconut milk and fresh shredded coconut.
3- Bolinho de estudante - deep fried tapioca couscous sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.
4- Banana da terra frita - fried plantains, sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.
5- Rabanada - Basically, deep fried French toast.

It's like Christian says, most things are way better fried and if you add sugar and cinnamon it's a win.

We were able to eat well in Morro de Sao Paulo.
Tomorrow I'll show pictures from our trip.

Strawberry Twix

I wanted to make something pink for Valentine's Day and I wanted to make something decadent. So I made Twix. I saw a Twix bar recipe on King Arthur Flour Recipes and went for it, tweaking it here and there. For one thing I didn't want normal caramels, I wanted pink gooey strawberry flavored caramels. I also wanted bite sized twix, I'm into bite sized things. But if you like Twix bars and you don't want any of this bite sized nonsense don't let me hold you back, this recipe works for a full on chocolate bar as well. Also, if you want to skip the chocolate and just eat the shortbread with strawberry caramel I say go for it.

If you make these over the weekend, they'll still be totally good come Tuesday when you want something sweet and something pink to eat and to share.

I hope you have a great Valentine's Day. Early Monday morning, before Enzo and Maria wake up Christian and I will be on our way to Morro de Sao Paulo, an island 4 hours from our house where cars aren't allowed to enter. We'll be getting around on a carriage, doesn't that sound romantic? We'll be there for a couple of days celebrating our Valentine's Day and 9 years of having met. We're excited for a mini getaway. I'll be sure to take pictures, from what I hear Morro de Sao Paulo is pretty darn beautiful. You can follow my Instagram feed for pictures and Facebook and Twitter for updates. When I come back I'll post pictures. I hear the food there is excellent.

Also, I want to thank everyone who entered the $100 ProFlowers giveaway. I loved reading your comments about what you love in your significant other. I'm so glad that so many of you are with the best person you can be with, the right person for you. I know I am. I'm thankful for that every single day.

Strawberry Twix
makes 2 dozen full sized candy bars
(printable version)

You can use a mixer or you can use your hands. Mix the butter, sugar, and vanilla. Then add the flour and mix until the dough comes together, looking like this.

Next put the dough on top of a prepared cookie sheet, and press the dough down, spreading it with your hands as much as you can.

Next roll out the dough with a rolling pin. A cute dollar store metal water bottle works too, because where is a rolling pin when you need it right?

Prick the crust with a fork and also cut the dough into bars. Bake at 300*F for 35 minutes.

After the crust cools prepare the caramel layer.

In a small saucepan melt the caramel and cream over low heat. Then pour over the cooled crust and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

After the crust with the caramel has been refrigerated, flip on the other side and finish cutting into bars. The lines that you made before you baked the crust will be there, making it easy for you to cut.

Melt the chocolate over medium-low heat and dip the bars into the melted chocolate. Let it cool before cutting into bite size.

How Kids React to An Empty Plate

This is great a comercial for a great cause. I love how the kids reacted, their cute faces, and their adorable Spanish.

If you don't speak Spanish here is what they have witten in the end "In a world where we have the capacity to feed double its population 3,5 million children still die because of mal nutrition each year. We need to learn. Visit www.experimentocomparte.org " 


Something to think about for sure.

5 Easy Valentines you Can Make with your Kids

Today baby Maria did not take a nap so we did the only sensible thing a tired baby and a tired mama was left to do, we ate sugar. We laid down on my bed and we sucked on lollipops. She had one and I had one. Hers I decked out with a pink moustache just because I thought it would be funny, and it was!

Specially when this started happening.

Last year I made heart-shaped gluten-free alfajores and turned them into lollipops. They were awesome, and delicious, and mega-time consuming. If you have the time you should totally make them. If you don't here are some ideas for quick and easy Valentines you can make with kids, even tired kids.

Moustache Lollipops // draw a moustache on pink card stock paper (or any color you want) cut it out, make a small hole, stick the lollipop through and BAM(!) your  two year old will have a very cute moustache, all in 30 seconds. If you want nice even moustaches, or even a handlebar moustache perhaps, then go to freemoustache.com for free printables.

A School of Fish // I know and you know that Swedish Fish is one of the greatest candy ever. Kids know that too. So for a total classroom success use printables that say things like "I'm glad we're in the same school" and add it to a baggie with some Swedish Fish.

Wrap Up a Candy Bar // If your kindergartner is like my kindergartner than you probably have a bunch of pictures right now laying around your house. Enzo loves drawing pictures. Currently he's into drawing castles. Instead of  throwing away saving the pictures, you can reuse your child's pictures as wrappers for individual candy bars. Then all you have to do is use some pretty ribbon to tie a bow around the whole thing. Enzo loves giving his pictures away so this would be something he would really enjoy. If they don't want to use their pictures as wrappers you can make these robot valentine's, I bet they'd like that. And if you want fancier wrappers I would go for these.

3-D Valentine's // I'm pretty sure you've seen this before, no? Those were the original lollipop-picture valentines and they were a hit specially once Design Mom made them too,  then they became THE thing to make. This is still one of my favorite crafts ever. I've used it many times. I've even used it as a party favor for Enzo's birthday. You can also make it with chocolate if lollipops aren't your thing.

Valentines Popcorn Snack // Popcorn is such a great snack and a great alternative to all the excessive candy. If you want to tone down the sugar a bit try putting some popcorn in a baggie with a few red and pink M&Ms. I'm thinking something like this.

Less than a week before Valentine's Day. Have you started making valentines yet? What are you thinking of making?