Portugal’s café culture

I haven’t been to France since I was a teenager and have never been to Italy, but I’m willing to wager that the café scenes of both of these countries pale in comparison to that of Portugal. The sheer amount of shops serving a combination of coffee, light snacks and pastries - known in Portuguese as pasterlarias - in Porto and Lisbon was frankly, quite ridiculous. Within a block of Porto’s main market alone I can recall at least eight from memory. And not only were these pastelarias everywhere, but the the quality of both the coffee and sweets were quite high and the prices low (a galão - the Portuguese equivalent of a café au lait/latte - and a pastry, my usual breakfast in Portugal, typically cost around €2).

I was particularly interested in Portugal’s sweet snacks, as they possess quite a few culinary links with Asia. The most obvious example of this are the pasteis de nata, egg tarts, which are now a standard sweet in parts of East Asia. These are unavoidable (and profoundly delicious) in Portugal, and I reckon I had at least one or two every day, sprinkled with cinnamon and consumed with uma bica (espresso).  With a direct link to Southeast Asia are the various egg yolk-based desserts - ovos moles, fios de ovos - believed to have been introduced to Thailand via Portuguese traders during the 16th century. These were somewhat less common, and I mostly encountered them in the way of fillings or toppings for a variety of pastry-based treats and not eaten on their own, as they still are in Thailand.

For a taste of Portugal’s café culture, click on the below to see a slide show of random images of pastelarias and sweets I encountered while there.

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Garlic Chicken Spring Rolls – My Un-Diet from Pleasantly Plump to Zip

I know I’m not the only one who has gone through this, so I thought I’d finally say it publicly after 3 years of blogging.

Food blogging made me chunky-er, pleasantly plump or what ever you want to call it. My jeans didn’t zip anymore.

I’m not comfortable with the term “fat”. That F-word is so harsh and ugly. As true, blunt and effective it might be to get the point across that I need to get my ass on the tread mill, I don’t like “fat”.

I love chunky and pleasantly plump because it’s delicious sounding. These are yummy words to say how much I appreciate my foods and eating, but are fun and kind enough to tell me to get my ass in the gym. Nicely. Or in an exercise class. Politely. To get my ass off the blogging chair and start moving again. The daily reminder was that my jeans didn’t zip anymore.

My love of blogging  has pretty much changed my life, my obsession with food and everything related. But if I wanted to continue doing this and still stay healthy,  I knew I had to make a lifestyle change again.

Pre-blogging years left me at a comfortable 135 pounds and in a size 7 size jeans. I was exercising 3-4 times a week and loved every hour I had to myself to sweat, listen to loud music and enjoy being healthy. Those were the days that I could eat anything I wanted and still zip my Levis jeans without having a heart attack trying to suck in my gut.

But then we started this blog, then we found social media and I spent my free “exercise” hours cooking, recipe testing, photographing food, eating then writing. All this required only a few steps going from the kitchen to my computer and my calorie intake always exceeded my calorie burning outtake.

Easily, I gained over 25 careless pounds because I was eating heavy foods, in larger portions and had absolutely no exercise.

When I presented at various photography workshops and speaking events around the country, I started seeing images of myself on various blogs. The person I saw on these blogs wasn’t me. Well, at least I didn’t recognize myself at 25 pounds heavier.

After not even recognizing myself anymore, the serious reality check splashed in my face like ice water. I immediately moved my bootie away from the computer and to the gym again. And the hiking trails. And out the door for the evening neighborhood strolls.

The return to exercise, sweat and feeling good about myself started to revive again.

In my kitchen I started to eat more of what I already love to eat that was healthier. I didn’t want to give up my eating because no matter what, I still love food. I’m a cooker, taster and lover of food and to give up anything that makes me happy to chew on would turn me into a complete meanie-weanie.

To keep my mental spirits happy and my body in check, I started to eat more fresh spring rolls. Fresh vegetables, light proteins and fresh herbs rolled in a rice paper is like a salad in a roll. It kept my meals interesting, versatile and most importantly, spring rolls kept my mental state happy.

I am, after all, Vietnamese and spring rolls are a comfort food that always satisfies. This garlic chicken spring roll is one of the many that I munched on for lunch and dinner.

After a few weeks dedicated to the gym, weekly meals of spring rolls and taking care of my body again,  I started to shed some pounds.

The best news of all this is that my jeans are finally start to zip all the way up again. Yes!!

a healthier me,

diane

More Spring Roll & Vietnamese Recipes:

 Print This Recipe
Garlic Chicken Spring Rolls Recipe

Fresh basil, fresh mint or any herb will be a wonderful addition. For the crunch factor, you can add raw carrots, celery, bell peppers or cucumbers. In this recipe, I added pickled Vietnamese carrots and daikon that I always have on hand.

Ingredients:

2 pounds of boneless chicken4 Tablespoons of grape seed or vegetable oil2 medium cloves of garlic, minced2 teaspoons of sesame oil4 teaspoons soy sauce or fish saucefresh basil, mint or other herbsfresh lettuce, chopped or torn in small piecescarrots, celery, cucumbers, daikon radish or bell peppersrice paper

For Garlic Soy dip:

4 tablespoons light soy sauce1 medium clove of garlic, minced1 tablespoon lime juice1/4 teaspoon sugar1/4 teaspoon of sesame oil

1. For the Chicken: In a large bowl, combine chicken, vegetable oil, sesame oil, garlic and soy sauce. Cover well and allow to marinade for about 20 minutes.

2. Heat frying pan and cook chicken. Slice in chicken in thin slices, about 1/4 inches for rolling.

3. Gather vegetables, rice paper, board surface to roll on and bowl of hot water.

4. For the Dip: combine all ingredients well.

For Rolls:

In large bowl, fill it with water and make it warm by adding hot water. Gently dip each rice paper wrapper in warm water for a few seconds till damp. Don’t over soak the rice paper. Place rice paper on plate, or working surface. As rice paper begins to absorb the water and become more soft and pliable (10-30 seconds, depending on wrappers and water temp.), begin to add the fillings.On the 1/3 section of the rice paper wrapper closest to you, start layering your fillings of lettuce, herbs, chicken and vegetables.Start rolling the wrapper over the fillings away from you, tucking and rolling the wrapper with your fingers, making sure all the fillings remain right and round within the rice paper wrapper.Serve immediately with soy dip, or cover with plastic wrap to eat a few hours later.

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Video for Jennifer Perillo: Mikey’s Peanut Butter Pie

If you haven’t already heard the news, then hopefully this video will share it all. On Monday, our dear friend Jennifer Perillo’s husband died of a sudden heart attack. Jennie is a special force in the food community and is loved by many.

We had a gathering in our garden with friends Brooke, Jen, Gaby, Penny and Rene when we heard of the news.  It was a shock to us all and were left speechless for a long moment of silence. Fortunately we were together to comfort one another in the pain.

Jennie asked that in honor of those we love, to make a Creamy Peanut Butter Pie and share it. This pie was also a favorite of her husband, Mikey. You can read it on her blog.

In full force, with fierce love and commitment, the online food community banded together as one family to celebrate Mikey and everyone dear to us. Under the twitter hashtag #APieforMikey , a beautiful explosion of peanut butter pies came pouring out of all our hearts to be shared with our loved ones.

We were devastated at the news of Mikey’s passing. To heal and share in our grief with Jennifer’s family and the whole online food blogging community, we made a pie in honor of Mikey.

To also celebrate our friend Jennifer, her strength, courage and love, we’re giving her a gift in the best way that we know how: by video.

Thank you to all of you, the food community and those who poured in to share your thoughts to share on this video. It was impossible to add all the thoughts that came pouring in, but know that we appreciate all of you who sent them in.

We asked close friends of Jennie to contribute thoughts and we also searched the hashtag #APieForMikey and found some wonderful sentiments to Jennifer. Those were added to the video. Special thank you to Kim Severson for sending us this amazing image for inspiration in the video.

Jennie, this is for you, our friend and sister, from all of us in the food community. You are loved. Deeply.

And most importantly, this pie and everything it symbolizes is for Mikey.

holding you all close,

diane and todd

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'Colorful Tika Powders On Indian Market, India' Wall Decal - Removable Graphic

WallMonkeys wall graphics are printed on the highest quality re-positionable, self-adhesive fabric paper. Each order is printed in-house and on-demand. WallMonkeys uses premium materials & state-of-the-art production technologies. Our white fabric material is superior to vinyl decals. You can literally see and feel the difference. Our wall graphics apply in minutes and won't damage your paint or leave any mess. PLEASE double check the size of the image you are ordering prior to clicking the 'ADD TO CART' button. Our graphics are offered in a variety of sizes and prices.

WallMonkeys are intended for indoor use only.

Printed on-demand in the United States Your order will ship within 3 business days, often sooner. Some orders require the full 3 days to allow dark colors and inks to fully dry prior to shipping. Quality is worth waiting an extra day for!

Removable and will not leave a mark on your walls.

'Fotolia' trademark will be removed when printed.

Our catalog of over 10 million images is perfect for virtually any use: school projects, trade shows, teachers classrooms, colleges, nurseries, college dorms, event planners, and corporations of all size.

Price:

Click here to buy from Amazon

California Roll

California Roll pictures (1 of 8)

California roll was the first sushi I attempted when I got my sushi mat many years ago. Even though California roll is an Americanized-version of sushi, many people love it because of the great taste. When I thought about posting the California roll recipe here, Nami of Just One Cookbook immediately came to my mind as she has previously shared her Tonkatsu recipe with us. Please welcome Just One Cookbook again with her mouthwatering and picture perfect California roll. You can also find the step-by-step picture guide on rolling sushi. Have fun!

California roll is one of the most popular sushi rolls enjoyed in the US. It’s suitable for both adults and kids since it uses cooked crab meat or artificial crab. Besides crab meat, the roll usually contains cucumber and avocado, and the outer layer of rice is covered with toasted sesame seeds or tobiko. California roll has become a very popular icon for sushi in the world and often served as a part of set meal for lunch in Japanese restaurants and now even offered in American supermarkets.

California roll was born in Los Angeles, California in the 1960s by a Japanese sushi chef who came to the US to introduce sushi. Uramaki (inside-out roll) was also created this time as Americans did not like seeing the nori on the outside of the roll. Since then, all the Americanized rolls like Rainbow roll and Dragon roll have become very popular, and now some of sushi restaurants in Japan even serve Americanized sushi rolls, such as California roll.

(Click Page 2 for the California Roll Recipe)

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'Chinese Take Out With Clipping Path' Wall Decal - 36"W x 24"H Removable Graphic

WallMonkeys wall graphics are printed on the highest quality re-positionable, self-adhesive fabric paper. Each order is printed in-house and on-demand. WallMonkeys uses premium materials & state-of-the-art production technologies. Our white fabric material is superior to vinyl decals. You can literally see and feel the difference. Our wall graphics apply in minutes and won't damage your paint or leave any mess. PLEASE double check the size of the image you are ordering prior to clicking the 'ADD TO CART' button. Our graphics are offered in a variety of sizes and prices.

WallMonkeys are intended for indoor use only.

Printed on-demand in the United States Your order will ship within 3 business days, often sooner. Some orders require the full 3 days to allow dark colors and inks to fully dry prior to shipping. Quality is worth waiting an extra day for!

Removable and will not leave a mark on your walls.

'Fotolia' trademark will be removed when printed.

Our catalog of over 10 million images is perfect for virtually any use: school projects, trade shows, teachers classrooms, colleges, nurseries, college dorms, event planners, and corporations of all size.

Price:

Click here to buy from Amazon

Cream Puffs

I first fell in love with cream puffs when I was in primary school. In my class, there was this boy whose father owned a popular bakery shop and their specialty was cream puffs. Every year, the bakery would sponsor their cream puffs to the students at the school; we would bring back a box filled with the sweet, puffy, custardy cream puffs. I just loved them and couldn’t get enough, and secretly wished that one day I would own a bakery with endless supply of cream puffs! Check out this cream puffs recipe from my contributor Ho Siew Loon.

The craze over Japanese-style baking and pastries continues. Cream puff is a popular snack in Japan and it is available in all bakeries, for example: the amazingly successful Beard Papa’s cream puff franchise. Last weekend, while sorting out my recipes I found this cream puff recipe and decided to bake it. The choux  puffed up so so nice and beautiful. As for the crème pâtissière filling, it is adapted from Little Teochew, one of my favorite blogs. This little puffs were so good that it was gone within an hour.

Great cream puffs are always puffy on the outside but hollow on the inside where we put in the filling. It is light in weight, too. The Japanese version is filled with crème pâtissière which has a smooth texture with milky taste.

You might also be interested in the French version of cream puff here, by David Lebovitz.

(Click Page 2 for the Cream Puffs Recipe)

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