Easter

I was so glad to have Allison here for a visit. She is always tons of fun to be around and makes me laugh. I enjoyed our adventures in Madeira and then having the chance to show her around Cascais and Lisbon. We got to go to church with the Santos family on Easter. Marcia was leading a choir that the boys and Pedro all sang in. It was a beautiful day with blue skies and sunshine to celebrate Resurrection Sunday. I love this time of year - spring, with flowers coming up and trees in bloom. The reminders of new life are all around and I'm thankful for the new life I have because of Jesus death on the cross for my sins. What a blessing to celebrate Easter knowing that I serve a Risen Savior.

The day's celebration continued with a 13th birthday party for Daniel. Allison and I helped Marcia prepare the birthday dinner and enjoyed eating, playing games, and laughing together. I'm so thankful for the Santos family - they're my family away from home!

Allison's flight left from Lisbon at 6:15 am so she had an early morning and a long day of flights. Lisbon - Munich - Washington - Rochester. Hopefully she's arrived back in the states now to catch her final flight to Rochester.

Cooking Com Karen

Hi everyone! This is actually Allison. I'm hijacking Karen's blog for one post while I'm here. I wanted to do a cooking blog. While I was here, Sara Beachy sent me the link to The Pioneer Woman Cooks - a blog with photos taking you step by step through recipes. The link she shared was for lemon bars - Karen and I both love anything with lemon. I was intrigued and wanted us to copy this idea (don't think it's mine...check out the original blog at http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/03/creamy-lemon-crumb-squares/). Karen is such a good cook and I hope she might continue sharing some of her cooking adventures in Portugal with us. Here is our version of Creamy Lemon Crumb Squares. I titled this Cooking Com Karen. "Com" means "with" in Portugese. Enjoy!

You will need: Flour, Brown Sugar, Salt, Butter, Oats, Baking Powder, Lemon, and Sweetened Condensed Milk

Grease an 8x11 pan

Cream one stick of butter

Add 1 cup of brown sugar. In Portugal they actually call it yellow sugar - it's lighter than brown sugar.

Add 1 cup of oatmeal

 Add salt and baking powder

Mix in the flour

Put half the mixture in the bottom of the greased pan. Press firmly. Save the remaining mixture for the topping

Now the yummy part - the lemon filling. We decided to use fresh lemons but you could also use lemon juice.

You'll need the zest from 1-2 lemons.

Pour in the sweetened condensed milk and mix it all together

Pour the lemon mixture over the crust - be sure to lick the spatula and bowl when you're done (You can't waste any lemony goodness!).

Sprinkle the remaining topping over the lemon mixture - don't pat it down.

Now you're ready for the oven. Bake for about 20 minutes at 350 or until golden brown

Cool for 30 min and then refrigerate for a few hours till chilled (the flavor is better when the bars are cold...we sampled both ways!). While you wait here's what you have to look forward to - the hazards of cooking :O)

But it's worth it. The final product was quite delicious!

Here's the full recipe:

Ingredients

• 1-⅓ cup All-purpose Flour
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1 stick (1/2 Cup) Butter, Slightly Softened
• 1 cup Brown Sugar (lightly Packed)
• 1 cup Oats
• 1 can (14 Ounce) Sweetened Condensed Milk
• ½ cups Lemon Juice
• Zest Of 1 Lemon

Preparation Instructions

PREHEAT OVEN TO 350 DEGREES.
Mix butter and brown sugar until well combined.
Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder.
Add oats and flour to butter/sugar mixture and mix to combine.
Press half of crumb mixture into the bottom of an 8 x 11 inch pan.
Mix together condensed milk, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Spread onto the bottom layer of the crumb mixture. Top with the other half of the crumb mixture, but don’t press.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown.
Allow pan to sit on counter for 30 minutes after baking. Cut into squares and refrigerate for a couple of hours or until cool.
Serve cool.

Madeira Day 4 - Last Day

On our way down to breakfast Thursday morning we got a call at the front desk canceling our tour of the eastern part of the island. We were disappointed and unsure how to fill our last day. We headed out on our own and used the public bus, traveling to the north eastern tip of the island. Once we got off the bus we saw a sign telling about a 8km hike that took you further out on the tip and offered spectacular views to the north and south. Since we had the day free and didn't need to be to the airport till evening, we decided to go for it. The downside of taking the public bus was that we had all our luggage with us. We had packed in one duffle bag and a back pack, but I insisted we go on the hike anyways -- how else would we fill the time? Off we went with me carrying the duffle (since it was my idea).

About 1-2km into the hike Allison insisted that we stash the bag off the trail somewhere. After all, it was a round trip hike and who would want to steal our bag since we didn't even want to carry it? By that time, I was more than happy to agree and gave in.

The last part of the hike was a very steep incline for about 100 meters to the peak - Allison even ditched her backpack at that point. We were huffing and puffing and I kept asking myself why we were doing this - but the view was worth it!

Thankfully we had food with us but no water...I knew we'd need to get some as soon as we got back to civilization. Towards the end of our return trip we joked about there being a hot dog stand in the parking lot - but thought it was only wishful thinking. To our surprise and relief there was a single vendor there. At that point we were willing to pay any price for water. Under a palm tree we found some shade and rested for a few minutes before the bus arrived. We headed back towards the airport with our bags (no they weren't stolen).

We enjoyed one last traditional dinner of fish with bananas. This time it came with a passion fruit glaze - amazing mix of flavors! Tired, sore, and horribly sunburned we were ready to get on our flight back to Lisbon. It was a great trip - a once in a lifetime experience together!

Madeira Day 3 - West Coast

Wednesday we took a minibus tour to the west of the island. The buses take 8-12 people and have a guide that gives interesting information about the island and sites along the way. Most of the guides speak 3-4 different languages (German, Spanish, English, and Portuguese) - pretty impressive!

Here are a few highlights:

Cabo Girao - one of the tallest sea cliffs in the world

A small fishing village along the coast.

Beautiful views of the countryside. The longest straight road in Madeira is only about 4km long. That gives you a feel for how many twisty, windy, switchback roads we traveled. The elevation is constantly changing as well - our ears were always popping. Thankfully we didn't get "bus" sick.

We stopped for lunch in Porto Moniz on the north west coast of the island. We had our first taste of the traditional dish of fish and bananas - it was delicious!! The rocky coastline and water color impressed us the most in this town. They have natural pools where you can go swimming. We had our suits but unfortunately it was a little too cold.

Next stop was a waterfall

Final views before heading back down into Funchal

Flowers and other interesting vegetation on the island