Fig and Walnut spread

Our neighbor gave us 9 figs. We had our fruit bowl full of fruit and Hungry Dad is not crazy about figs, so I'd be the only one eating all the figs along with the rest of the fruit. I decided to make a spread that we all could enjoy over bread, crackers, or, as shown above, english muffins.
I took the recipe from a French book I have that I'll post later.

Fish Rice

Being a coastal country, it shouldn't be a surprise that fish is one of the best things you can eat in Portugal. And that is what I make sure I eat a lot to compensate for the lack of it during the rest of the year.
While at the beach, we picked a bucket of mussels, right off the rocks that are covered during high tigh. Then we went to the market and bought fresh fish to make a fish rice. We put the mussels in the rice with the rest of the fish and it was simply delicious.

Lunch at the Farm

Our farm has a traditional outdoor oven. These ovens, regionally, are used to bake bread or cook meats and potatoes. We always like to make a special meal and enjoy our oven when we are there.
We cooked a chicken and ribs, white and sweet potatoes. Served with a cucumber and tomato salad, local bread, and finished with watermelon and Honeydew.
Here are some additional photos.

Our Farm

I spent the past few weeks at our farm, located on a corner of Europe where life is simple, neighbors are generous, people are happy, the air is clean, and the food is delicious.
There are no McDonalds or Starbucks, no dry-cleaners, nowhere to be at a certain time. No TV, no computer, no dishwasher,... heck, we don't even have a kitchen sink! (the house came with large, old fashion, clay bowls, where the old owners washed their dishes).
The closest town, 2 miles away, has 1 market the size of my small living room, 1 carpenter (the husband of the lady that has the market), 1 magazine/newspaper store, and 1 cafe. And one bench where all the locals hang out, right in the center of the village.
The second closest town, 5 miles away, is a beach town with restaurants and couple other small stores, where we buy our bread, eat out once in a while, or go to the beach.

When living on a farm, we only go to the supermarket to buy meat (if the neighbors didn't stop by, generously, to give us a chicken they just killed for us, or ribs from a pork they killed the week before), drinks, butter, milk, and some treats like cheese or yogurts (I guess we need to invest on some cows to resolve that).
The farm has a wide variety of vegetables and fruits that are available all year round. When we go there in the winter, all the citrus are ripe and sweet. This time of the year I found a lot of vegetables for salads, melons and watermelons, green and dry beans, onions, and garlic. Other things were planted and growing, but were not fully grown or ripped yet.
I find it so peaceful to be surrounded by nothing but the sounds of the wind, the smell of the salty air, the sandy dirt on my shoes, and the open fields. Oh yeah, and the neighbors' donkey.

I find it inspiring to see all the food growing right out of the earth and be reminded that cucumbers and watermelons do have a flavor. It's also so much fun to say "I'm going to make a salad" and instead of going to the fridge, run outside.
Here's some pictures I took of some of the goods.

Tuna and Rice

On a hot, summer day, light meals prevail. This tuna salad served on top of butter rice is light, yet filling, and very nutritious.
I added red onion, black and white pepper and olive oil to the tuna.

Picnic sandwiches

I make this sandwiches whenever we go to the beach, a park, or just to make a picnic. Everyone loves it and my little assistant can eat half of these portuguese roll without even thinking.
I often change the type of meat I put in - sometimes veal cutlets, sometimes roasted pork, chicken, or turkey breasts. I add mayo or mustard, cheese (swiss or some kind of portuguese), sweet pickles, and olive oil bathed sundried tomatoes (I let them stand on a bowl with olive oil for a bit before putting in the sandwich).
I wrap the sandwich well because they can drip, but they are absolutely delicious!

Stripped Bass

Grandma Cookie's nephew fished a big bass and shared with the whole family. Luckily, we were given a piece of it and cooked it on the same night. This was what I did - added some thinly sliced potatoes, sliced red onions, and small cut red peppers on the side. Cooked with some parsley, olive oil, garlic, and sea salt.

Spaghetti with vegetables

Another day using the left overs around the kitchen.
This time I cooked onions, red peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, and scallions on olive oil and garlic. I used a little broth to make the sauce and mixed it with the pasta. I loved it.

Creamy pasta with chicken and sundried tomatoes

I had a pack of chicken breast still half frozen by the time I should start making dinner, so I cut the chicken as small as I could to help it defrost and cook really quickly. I had no tomatoes, no tomato sauce, and no vegetables at home, as I was trying to empty the fridge before going grocery shopping again. But I found half of a zucchini and some sundried tomatoes in the fridge. While the pasta was cooking on the side, I cooked the chicken together with the zucchini and sundried tomatoes, with onions and garlic and olive oil. Added some broth from the pasta to help make some sauce, and added a bit of heavy cream to give it texture. Salt and pepper and dinner was done in half hour.

Tomato and herbs Frittata

This frittata is a recipe from a Food & Wine book I have and it is perfect for a brunch. The fresh parsley and a hint of fresh oregano and thyme gives it such a nice taste. And the tomatoes are so pretty set in a circle.