There is always a first time for everything.

I always was the weak kid, the one who couldn´t stand hospitals, blood, shots and funerals. My brother and my sister were the strongest ones when it came to the items above.
But when the dreaded phone call arrived and I found myself alone, because my Beloved Husband was on a business trip. So, I had to find a “cape” and help in the funeral arrangements.
Let me just stop for a moment and explain the Br@zilian Law when it comes to funerals and burials.
Under the Brazilian Law, the body must the buried no longer than 24 hours after the time of death. So, a funeral arrangement is a run against the clock, to say the least.
So, P@ulo called me at 5 in the morning to tell me the news. By this time, my MIL and her sister had already gone to the hospital and made the funeral arrangements, but we still had to do the cemetery arrangements. So, it was my task to drive my MIL to the cemetery.
Pause - P@aulo descends from a really traditional family in the city, so they have their “tomb” in one of the fanciest cemeteries in town – Unpause.
I asked why I couldn´t take the papers to the cemetery by myself and to my surprise I was told that I wasn´t one of the direct successors of the tomb (Go figure!!). So, I drove my MIL to the cemetery and while she was filling out the paper work, someone had to go to the tomb to see if there were available spots inside.
And guess who the someone was?!??! Me, the one who is terrified of going to hospitals, funerals and so on….Can you imagine ME doing this kind of things??? I couldn´t until I had to do it.
So there are two conclusions of all of this:
1. We just overcome our fears as soon as we can’t rely on nobody else to do something; And last by not least
2. P@ulo owns me BIG TIME for this help ; )

Have a nice weekend,
Fabiola

My Fil.....

..... Passed away on late night Wednesday.
He will be truly missed and may he rest in peace.

Fabiola

Vacation Wrap-up - 3 of 3

And for the final wrap-up, the sweet summer memories, beautifl sunny days, beautiful beaches and really lazy days.

Fabiola

Vacation Warp-up - 2 of 3

These pictures are from Morretes.
Morretes was founded in 1721. The city is surrounded by exuberant native forest. It is called Mata Atlantica, where mata = Forrest and Atlantica comes after Atlantic Ocean.
The city is considered one of U*N*E*S*C*O sites and the city has to follow all the rules to preserve the original architecture.

Vacation Wrap-up – 1 of 3

As you all know, our vacation didn´t go according to our plans. But we were still able to spend a week at my parents’ beach house down south.
One of my favorite’s spots, on the Parana State, is a city called Morretes. They are famous for their dish called Barreado. This dish is served in the typical restaurants in the city.
Its origins go back to the Portuguese Colonization, the Portuguese from Açores Islands. The dish is made with Water Buffallo meat, bacon and loads of seasoning/spices. It is cooked in a ceramic pan and the lid is sealed with cassava flour. The dish cooks for a long time, until the meat almost dissolved. It is served with Cassava Flour, White Rice, Banana and Orange. On the most traditional restaurants, the barreado is served with fish stew, fried fish and fried shrimp. So, we drove there and had lunch, just check the pictures bellow, my mouth is watering just as I type this.

Fabiola

The restaurant

The view from the restaurant

Barreado - right from the kitchen

Barreado with cassava flour and banana

Proper Sunday Lunch

Due to all the craziness that's going on around here, I haven´t cooked a proper meal since New Year's Eve.
This weekend I decided to go for a nice meal on Sunday at lunch time.

Filet Mignon with Madeira Sauce;
Rice;
Batata Palha (kind of a Brazilian Potato Chips);
Green Salad with honey mustard sauce;
Manjar Branco for dessert.

For the Fillet Mignon:

500 grs of cubed fillet mignon;
1/2 onion;
2 cloves of garlic;
Salt and pepper to taste;
80 ml of Madeira Wine;
500 ml of Beef Stock;
1 tbps of Dijon Mustard;
2 tbs of butter;
40 grs of flour;
2 tbs of Extra Virgin Olive Oil;
Nutmeg to taste.

Preparation:
Season the filet mignon with salt, pepper, onion and garlic. Let it sit for about 20 minutes.
Melt the butter in low heat and add the flour. When the flour is cooked, ( I am not sure how long it takes, I just go with my feeling), add the wine, the stock and the mustard. Stir it all together and let it simmer for about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, add the olive oil in a pan and brown the meat, until golden. Add the meat to the sauce and simmer for more 10 minutes;
Serve immediately.

This dish goes perfectly well with Red Wine, but we are having really warm temperatures, so we went with a really cold German Beer.

As for the Manjar Branco or Coconut Flan with prunes sauce

Manjar Branco is one of the traditional desserts from the Brazilian Northeast. It was introduced in the Brazilian Culinary by the Africans. It was originally used in the African Religious rituals.
Today, the whole country enjoys this dessert that is really delicious and very easy to prepare.

1000 ml of milk;
7 tbs of corn starch;
8 tbs of granulated sugar;
1 small pintch of salt;
200 ml of coconut milk;
200 grs of coconut flakes (unsweetened).

In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, milk, salt, corn starch, the coconut milk and the coconut flakes. Cook it in a low heat for about 15/20 minutes until the cream thickens it up. While the cream is cooking, stir it with a wood spoon.
Rinse a Bundt pan in cold water and pour the cream on the pan. Let it cool, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

For the sauce:

1 cup of water
1 cup of pitted prunes
6 tbs of sugar
a few cloves (optional).

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and cook until it turns into a tick sauce.
Release the flan over a serving plate and pour the sauce over.

100th Post = 100 Things About Me

Since this is my 100th post, I will keep following the blogland tradition and I will write 100 things about me.

Shall I start???

1. I was born in November;
2. Of 1974
3. So, I’m 34 years old
4. I was born
5. And raised in Curitiba
6. In a truly Southern Family;
7. I lived there until I got married;
8. I have a 100% Italian heritage;
9. I was baptized as a baby in the Catholic Church;
10. My middle name is Andreia;
11. I am the older sibling;
12. I have one niece;
13. I have a sister and a brother
14. We were pretty close until I decide to get married;
15. My parents didn't approve my marriage;
16. They didn't show up at the ceremony;
17. I forgave them, but I will never forget this;
18. My husband is my best friend;
19. He is 9 years older than me;
20. We’ve been married for 8 years;
21. In 8 years, we moved 5 times;
22. We lived in D*e*a*r*b*o*r*n – M*i*c*h*i*g*a*n;
23. We lived in S*a*l*v*a*d*o*r – B*a*h*i*a;
24. We lived in P*a*r*i*s;
25. We are currently living in S*ã*o P*a*u*l*o;
26. I love to live in S*ã*o P*a*u*l*o;
27. I hate S*ã*o P*a*u*l*o’s traffic jams;
28. I decided I didn´t want to have kids when I was 12 years old;
29. I am still rethinking that decision;
30. I cannot recognize a singer
31. Or an instrument for that matter;
32. I get those two characteristics after my father;
33. I don´t know how to draw;
34. I love museums and
35. Antique fairs
36. I have no sense for decorations
37. I am frustrated about that
38. I have a degree in Computer Science
39. I have two post graduation degrees ;
40. It is one step before a Master’s Degree in the Brazilian Educational System;
41. I am a computer analyst;
42. I used to be a software developer;
43. Now I am a test analyst;
44. I love my job;
45. I get along with my boss pretty well;
46. I love to cook;
47. Italian is my favorite;
48. I wish I was a chef;
49. My favorite fruits are pineapple
50. And Apple;
51. I am a Light Coke addicted – the Brazilian diet coke;
52. I have a sweet tooth;
53. And I love desserts;
54. I love to have company to come over ;
55. I love to travel;
56. I am really a disorganized person;
57. And that is the only reason P@ulo and I fight;
58. I love to take pictures of people;
59. I wish I knew how to do a scrapbook;
60. I never thought that I would keep a blog for so long;
61. I never thought that I would meet so many nice people in the blogland;
62. I've been overweight all my life;
63. I am a TV junky;
64. I am following G*O*S*S*I*P G*I*R*L, P*R*I*V*A*T*E P*R*A*C*T*I*V*E and L*I*P*S*T*I*C*K J*U*N*G*L*E;
65. I hate reality shows and
66. Brazilian Soap Operas;
67. I have a goal to become fluent in French and Italian in the same way I am fluent in English;
68. I am a control freak;
69. And a worrier;
70. I always think that something bad happen to people I love;
71. I am a hands-on housewife;
72. I have a problem to delegate things to others;
73. I am working on that;
74. I lost my grandparents recently
75. I miss them terribly;
76. I love to read;
77. If I am reading a book, the world can end and I won´t notice;
78. I read the T*w*i*l*i*g*h*t Series in 7 days;
79. I didn´t watch the movie yet;
80.I love to go to the movies;
81. I love candles
82. And incenses;
83. I’ve been reading about f*e*n*g s*h*u*i.
84. I am working on my house´s bagua;
85. I still have closed boxes from our last move;
86. I am a freak when it comes to my hair roots, manicure, pedicure and waxing;
87. I have a manicure every week;
88.I have a pedicure every two weeks
89. I have the waxing done every four weeks;
90. I have my roots done every 5 weeks;
91. I keep all these dates on my PDA;
92. I am running out of things to write about me;
93. I love coffee;
94. I wish I could drink a Moccachino at S*t*a*r*b*u*c*k*s every day;
95. I don´t do that because it is too fattening and it is too expensive;
96. I miss my childhood friends;
97. I am thinking of organizing a party or some kind of venue back at my hometown;
98. I love winter - M*i*c*h*i*g*a*n kind of winter for that matter;
99. I hate high temperatures;
100. I made my 100th blog post in March of 2009.

WOW!!! That is a lot of stuff about me. I hope you enjoyed.

Have a nice Sunday,

Fabiola

Happy (late) 8th Anniversary

P@ulo and I passed our 8th Anniversary last Saturday.
Since we met, our lives have been “kind of crazy”. A lot moving and turn around, that is for sure. But if you take into account the way we met, date and married…. It is nothing much different….
We met at Chicago O’Hare Airport in October 1999 and it was love at first sight, but our lives were so busy and he had this great chance to work outside Brazil that we just kept our lives in the destiny’s hands. Every time he came to Brazil, he went to my hometown and we had those wonderful memories to keep us going. He is from São Paulo and I am from Curitiba. It is about 450 kilometers (280 miles). We talked over the phone every day and we exchanged e-mails all day and on weekends. But the distance was our constant enemy.
June 25, 2000 was a Sunday night, right after the Corpus Christy Holiday. I had worked all weekend including the holiday, because I used to work in the IT area and we were about to implement a new ERP.
He called with a very serious voice. He was sounding really nervous, when he told me that on the previous Friday his boss had changed his employee status from traveler to International Service Employee and that he wanted to marry me.
It was quite a fairy tale, especially because we had seen each other 6 times in person. Our relationship was based on phone calls and e-mails. I didn’t have any doubts about what I felt for him that I just said yes. And on the following minute, we started to plan how we would tell to our parents and how my life would change a lot. It was a dream coming true.
It is funny to tell this story to everyone, because just a few people know it the way that really happened.

Fabiola