Author: ajeanneinthekitchen

I see and hear the little black-capped chickadees all the time, but they are usually pretty evasive and hard to catch with my camera. This time, I got lucky though and one was kind enough to let me get a few good shots before flying off. It’s just a few, but I will take what I can get. 🙂

Have a great day and make everyday great. Take life’s opportunities while you and make the most of them. 🙂 ‘Til next time.

In yesterday’s post Pieces of Portugal – Part 16 – Faro I mentioned it was a good opportunity for another “intermission” since we moved on to the Northern part of Portugal, into Porto. So I will give you some of my cooking instead today. I hope you are not too disappointed. 🙂

Spring in Colorado is all over the place. One minute it is cold, then it is warm, then it snows, and back to sunshine and shorts, and then rain; all in one week. With weather like is, it makes it very difficult to plan meals, yet somehow I manage, and we always eat well. 🙂

On one of our very warm days, I made another delicious Mediterranean salad. This one was loaded with chicken, olives, artichoke hearts and much more.

Chicken, Artichoke and Olive Salad

Mixed baby greens

1 cup mixed olives, sliced in 1/2

1 tomato, diced or sliced

1/4 red onion, sliced very thin

2 cooked chicken breasts, sliced thin

1/4 cup sliced beets, optional

feta cheese, optional

pepita seeds, optional

lemon herb vinaigrette

Larry’s salads always get cheese, since he is a big cheese eater. I vary his cheeses depending on what kind of salad I am making. Since this is a Mediterranean salad, and feta cheese is very Mediterranean, feta cheese is what he got on his salad this time.

Assemble the salad, adding the sliced chicken on top and add the dressing. I added beets and pepita seeds to mine.

Lemon Herb Vinaigrette

1/3 cup olive oil (my olive oil is some we brought back from Portugal this time)

2-3 TBSP lemon juice

1 TBSP capers

2 tsp fresh herbs – I used oregano, thyme and tarragon

fresh ground black pepper

Mix everything together well, and let rest a bit before using. Delicious!

This is a simple, easy-peasy vinaigrette that went very well with this light salad. It is very Mediterranean. A lot of the Mediterranean dressings are very simple like this. They are very light and refreshing, especially when the weather gets warm.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Life is what you make it, so make it great. Live life to the fullest. It’s not the destination that matters, but the journey. Enjoy the ride. ‘Til next time.

Faro was our last stop in the Algarve region. It is also the capitol of the Algarve region. Once again, Faro is a very old, Medieval city, surrounded by the old Medieval walls. We had yet another tour, which turned out to be another private tour. This time our guide was Flavio. He was great, and again, very knowledgeable, informative and a lot of fun. He took us all around his home town and shared a lot of fun information, about the city of Faro and about is own personal experiences.

Our tour with Flavio actually ended here, but sometimes endings are good places to start. 🙂

We met Flavio in the park and while we were waiting, of course I was busy taking pictures. The Moorish influences are all over.

Faro was originally built by the Ancient Romans as the Roman town of Ossonoba, becoming a crucial Moorish port, and finally falling to Christian forces in 1249. Known for its resilience, the city survived significant sackings by English troops and the devastating 1755 earthquake, eventually becoming the Algarve’s administrative center and a modern tourist hub.

The protected storks get free reign. If they decide to make a nest somewhere, nothing can be done or changed about it. They liked this crane, and built a nest on the bricks. Everything is at a stand still for as long as the storks keep their nest here.

Entering through the gates to the old walled city of Faro.

Storks in art.

These were once fishermen’s cottages. Today they are abandoned and covered in graffiti.

The first Christian King after defeating the Moors in 1249, with the church and monastery behind him.

More azuljelos telling the history.

The story behind this beautiful building was that it was built by a wealthy businessman, but he never got to live in it. He died right after the construction of the house was finished. Today, it is a government building.

Before returning o sapo and heading to the airport to fly into Porto, we had time for a quick little snack at Faro Beach, where we were joined by some friendly sparrows who were begging for some scraps.

The Faro airport, while waiting for our flight to Porto.

This ends our southern tour of the Algarve region of Portugal. I fell in love with the whole Algarve. It is just stunning. It is also a good place for another intermission. Porto is our next destination. Porto is up north.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Live life to the fullest. It’s not the destination that matters but the journey. Enjoy the ride. ‘Til next time.

Eating in Silves wasn’t really an option for us since most of the restaurants were closed at the time we were there. No problem. He got back into o sapo, and off we went. We just drove around until we found something that looked appealing. Beleive it or not, I don’t think I even got the name of this delicious restaurant. Nor do I really even know where we were. All I know is that we were on the road somewhere between Silves and Albufeira.

Larry is checking out the menu. We thought about dining out on the patio, but it was getting a little chilly outside, and opted for the indoor dining instead.

The restaurant was pretty empty at first, but really filled up later. As I’ve said, the Portuguese tend to eat much later than we do, so no surprise that it filled up later.

I have no idea why there was a giraffe in the middle of the dining room, but it certainly added character.

For starters, we had a bread, olive and vegetable plate. Larry was driving, so no wine for him, and I ordered a Portuguese steak, so I went with a red wine.

Larry ordered grilled octopus, which was delicious.

Everything was delicious and our server was very friendly and helpful.

The kitchen was actually on the outside, by the door, instead of “the back of the house” like they usually are. I got a quick pic of the chefs at work on the way out as we were leaving.

It was yet another jam-packed, fun filled day, but it was time to call it a day and to head back to our hotel.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Live life to the fullest. It’s not the destination that matters, but the journey. Enjoy the ride. ‘Til next time.

From Sagres, we headed towards Silves, which is more inland. We were off to see yet another castle or castelo. We were going to the Se de Silves, A 13th-century Gothic cathedral built on the site of a former mosque.

Silves is a historic city in the western Algarve region of southern Portugal, renowned as the former Moorish capital and home to the region’s most impressive red sandstone castle. Located about 25 minutes inland from the coast, it offers an authentic, quiet alternative to coastal resorts, featuring medieval architecture, a cathedral, and citrus groves.

Maybe we are so fascinated by castles because we don’t have them here at home. We went to as many castles as we could on this trip.

There was a commanding view of the area from atop the castle walls.

The castelo gardens.

After the castelo, we walked around the town of Silves a bit too. We were looking for a place to eat, but decided to move on and find something closer to our hotel instead. The main reason was because most everything was closed. It was an in between time, since most Portuguese eat late. Silves is a very cute, quaint little town though.

I love how they dress up their electrical boxes too.

Next destination – Faro.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Live life to the fullest. It’s not the destination that matters, but the journey. Enjoy the ride. ‘Til next time.

After leaving Lagos, we continued our day’s journey, exploring more of the gorgeous rugged coastline of the Algarve region. We headed to both Sagres and Silves and beyond. It was such a beautiful day.

Sagres is a destination shaped by the raw power of the Atlantic Ocean. Sagres was once known as the end of the world because it was the extreme western point, where the sun, at its setting, boiled the ocean waters – The end of the inhabited world to ancient mariners. It became known as Sagres because of the  Romans Cabo de S. Vicente and Ponta de Sagres were known as the Promontorium Sacrum, which gave rise to the name Sagres.

This old fort was one of our stops. There isn’t too much left of the old fort itself, but the coastal views are spectacular. We enjoyed our walk around the fort grounds.

How can one NOT enjoy these spectacular views????? The water was so many different shades of blue and green. Blues and greens are two of my favorite colors, along with purples. Why you may ask. Because they are the colors of the sea, and I grew up loving the sea. Like my daddy, the seas are my home.

The old church was still standing, but it was closed for repair.

We found these two perfect Nautilus type sea shells, but they still had critters inside, so we threw them back into their home, and back to the sea they went.

The lighthouse and a little maze.

These views are just AMAZING. I hope you like gorgeous sea views because I’ve got a bunch of them. 🙂

There were also some pretty flowers scattered about and some friendly birds who felt they needed their pictures taken too.

After taking in all the gorgeous sites at the fort, we started heading towards Silves. We made some more little stops along the way too. We had o sapo, aka Freddie, and we were making him hop all over the place.

Things we saw along the way. This must have been a plate factory. Whatever it was, it was definitely colorful and whimsical and caught our eye.

I think this was another Spanish border.

This is a good stopping point for now. Silves was totally different, so I will make it a posting on its own.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Live life to the fullest. It’s not the destination that matters, but the journey. Enjoy the ride. ‘Til next time.

Lagos is a very beautiful, old coastal town in the middle of the Algarve region. We took yet another morning tour, this time with Arturo. He gave us the history of the town as we walked up and down the narrow, Medieval streets. We met Arturo outside the walls of the old castle. I know, right?! Another castle in Portugal. 🙂

Arturo grew up in Lagos and still lives there today. So this was his personal history too. It was fascinating.

The only parts that remain of this castle are the outside walls. The old city of Lagos is behind these walls.

Lagos is an old fishermen’s town. Originally, most of the inhabitants were connected to the fishing industry. Not so much any more though. It is becoming gentrified and is now place for a lot of people of all kinds of backgrounds who like to work remotely from home. There are also a lot of B & B’s there too. it is a cute, quaint and charming town wit a rich, diverse history.

These small, tiny houses were some of the original houses, with traditional designs, with the low roofs and the simple designs on top of the buildings.

Once again, the streets were beautifully decorated depicting the lifestyles of the region.

Everything has a story. These door knockers represent the home of a wealthy married couple. There is a knocker for the man and a knocker for the woman. Even the knocks had their own meanings. Often times you could tell who was knocking and the message they were sending by the knocks and codes that were being used.

This is an old water station. The little house contained fresh water for people to drink and to use. It came in very handy during the hot summer months. Today, it is just a beautifully decorated reminder of the past. The gate behind it opens up the world between the old city and the new, modern city.

Arturo said his dad helped construct it in 1932.

These little round windows at the top of the house also indicates a very traditional building style, particularly for the wealthy.

Since graffiti is a big problem all over Portugal, more and more cities and town are encouraging street art through street art festivals to try to clean up the graffiti problem. This is nice. I like it and I like the idea behind it.

But I still prefer the “old” street art. I think it has a lot more personality and character. 🙂

This is one of the oldest churches in Lagos, and like so many other old churches, is still in use today. One of the fun facts Arturo shared with us is that most churches in Portugal have the Saints and other statues outside on the tops of the churches. You can see the spaces for them. But in Lagos, most of the churches do not. When Napoleon and his soldiers invaded the area, they stole a lot of the statues, as well as many other things. So as a way of saying “no more”, the people of Lagos left the statues off the churches when they were rebuilt after the terrible earthquake of 1755.

This building is one of the original buildings that is still owned by the same family in the town square. The green tiles, and the design of the railings are French, back from the Napoleonic days. The family lives above and their store is on the ground level.

Wine anyone? How thirsty are you?

Our tour ended at the old fish market, that is still thriving today.

Storks are all over the place and are protected. They were once endangered, but through Portugal’s protections, they are once again thriving. Portugal hosts the only known white storks in the world that nest on sea cliffs, particularly on the Alentejo and Algarve coasts.

This was only the beginning of our day. We were off galavanting around the area all day. I have lots more coming your way, just not today, not right now. Anticipation my friends, anticipation. 🙂

Have a great day and make everyday great. Live life to the fullest. It’s not the destination that matters, but the journey. Enjoy the ride. ‘Til next time.

I know I have only been home from Portugal for 2 weeks, but as usual, I hit the ground running as soon as we got home. I am still taking my jewelry classes. Now I am in silversmithing 2. In the first class, we had assigned pieces. This class is more of our own ideas. Last night I just finished another bracelet. This is my own design and concept.

The design for this piece was inspired by a bracelet my dad bought me years ago, that is one of my favorites. My instructors weren’t quite sure about it, and were perplexed by my idea and concept. But, I proved them wrong and proved I could do it. 🙂

It is a “floating” rope design. If you look closely, the center rope is suspended in the middle. I only soldered it on the ends. This is after the first cut.

Then I soldered it together and sanded, polished, sanded, polished, and sanded and polished again, until I had a new finished piece.

And now, I have a brandy new shiny piece of bling. 🙂

Here are the two bracelets I made – the lightning bracelet and now my floating rope bracelet.

I already have a few more pieces in the works too. Hopefully they will be finished before too long as well.

Have a great day and make everyday great. We are never too old to learn new things. Learning new things keeps us young, even if only young at heart. 🙂 ‘Til next time.

It was yet another early morning wake up call (we got up early every morning though) to head to Benagil for our dolphin and sea cave explorations. Benagil is a fishing town in the Algarve, but it is also known for its beautiful sea caves that dot the Algarve coastline between Lagos and Albufeira. We got to see those sea caves and a pod of about 30 common dolphins on our boat cruise out of Benagil. The caves were great, but I was there for the dolphins. 🙂

Our cruise was a 2 or 3 hour cruise. We were looking for dolphins first, but none came out to play with us for quite some time. Fortunately all the boats in the area communicate with each other and someone a little further out from us spotted a pod of about 30 common dolphins. They waited for us to arrive, since the dolphins love to play between the boats and their wakes. Most of us on the boat were VERY happy with this decision, but there are always those who object. Believe it or not, someone on the boat was disappointed we were spending more time finding dolphins than visiting the caves. I wanted to throw her off the boat and let her find the caves on her own. I will ALWAYS take the dolphins and whales. Dolphins are one of my spirit animals. 🙂

When we did find the dolphins, they were so fun and friendly and were swimming all around the boat, for quite some time too. I would have loved to be in the water swimming along beside them. (We’ve done that quite a few times).

The dolphins disappeared as quickly as they came. Once they were gone we went in to see the caves (from afar) too. The caves were impressive and beautiful, and I am very glad we got to see them, but I will still take the dolphins over caves ANYDAY! 🙂

This is Marcos, our guide for the trip. He too was great and very knowledgeable and entertaining. We shared a lot of our adventures with him and got to talk to him quite a bit. We got very lucky. All of our guides were great. Most usually are, though we have had some bad ones too; fortunately NOT on this trip though. 🙂

After getting off the boat, we decided to drive around as much as we could, since we only had o sapo for a limited time. We stayed along the coastal roads and just enjoyed the ride.

There was yet another castle we were trying to go see, but this is as close as we got. So many of the roads are VERY narrow Medieval roads, and are not really meant for cars. We tried very hard to find roads that would take up us to the castle, but we literally kept running into dead ends. One “road” we ended up taking led us straight to a staircase. Larry had a hard time getting us out of that one. But he did. All the walking paths to the castle were up very steep hills, so we declined (plus we were desperate need for the facilities, so walking up steep hills was NOT an option at this time).

We finally just had to give up on the castle. We had other pressing matters that needs to be attended to. 🙂 We stopped at the local visitor’s center and took a few minutes to check out their cultural displays.

The whole eastern part and southern part of Portugal borders Spain. This is one of the bridges at one of the many border crossings.

Our boat cruise was the main thing we did this day. Our hotel had laundry facilities and we thought it was a good idea to take advantage of them and do our laundry, so we would have clean clothes for the rest of our trip. So this is a good place to stop for now. Don’t worry, I have lots more in store. 🙂

Have a great day and make everyday great. Live life to the fullest. It’s not the destination that matters, but the journey. Enjoy the ride. ‘Til next time.

After taking in the spectacular sights of the Algarve region and getting familiar with the area, it was once again time to find a place for dinner. The Portuguese, like the Spanish, like to eat late (I do too actually). So it was already dark, and around 8:00 PM. This is a normal dinner time all over Portugal.

We found this lovely family owned and operated restaurant called Festa da Praia. It has been going strong since 1990.

We almost ate outside, but it was a little too chilly to be really comfortable, so we opted to dine inside instead. I am so glad we did too, for a number of reasons.

After we ordered and before our food came, of course I wondered around and took a few pictures. Like so many restaurants, they had a display of their fresh catches of the day. They offered seabass, salmon, tuna, barnacles (a Portuguese favorite) and clams.

Then our food came. Again, we ordered a delicious Portuguese white wine and some garlic bread to start us off.

Larry ordered a curried seafood pasta as his main dish. It was loaded with shrimp, mussels and clams.

I ordered a Portuguese traditional classic, the bacalhau, or salt cod casserole.

Everything was delicious. We would have been very happy if our perfect day and dinner ended here. But …. it got even better, if you can imagine that! The owner, Paola, came out and was talking to the guests, and she made her way over to our table too. We hit it off immediately, and have so much in common. She sent us some port to enjoy before giving us on a little tour of her restaurant and the kitchen.

To me, Paola’s kitchen was small, but she insisted it was actually a large kitchen. Regardless of the size though, everything that comes from that kitchen is delicious and made with the number one ingredient, LOVE. Everyone was very friendly and a lot of fun too.

Paola also hosts weekly arts and crafts classes, and was proudly showing off some of her other creative skills. We would be best friends if I lived there, that’s for sure. We talked like we had known each other all our lives.

Thank you Paola and staff for sharing your lovely hospitality and “home” with us. You and Festa da Praia are true gems. We thoroughly enjoyed our short visit with you. We hope to see you again one day.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Live life to the fullest. It’s not the destination that matters, but the journey. Enjoy the ride. ‘Til next time.