i finally made a cover for the outside table.

i keep thinking about the wonderful food we had in lisbon... the day we went to the Gulbenkian, we didnt have to wander very far to find a place to lunch. two places, really. a vegetarian place and an african place. it was a tough choice. a few kind strangers exited the african place and told us it was amazing. and so, we went for it. it was a tiny joint and quite crowded. the daily menu was simple--a meat dish, a fish dish, and a i-cant-remember dish.

i got a spicy tuney fish plus rice and beans dish. the rice and beans were so perfectly spiced and the super spicy fish was fried in dough.

the other day, christian made some leek soup so i decided to make us some baked tuna pockets to go with that.


i used:
1 can tuney fish
handful of fresh parsley
2 large spoons of plain yogurt
a few good shakes of piri piri
pâte à strudel

the dough i used was a bit dry and quite fragile. i put all the ingredients together and divided the tuna mixture up into even lumps and wrapped it in dough. we baked it at 190 for about 20 minutes.

while the dough was quite different than what i had for lunch, it had the right crunch. i was pleased. but mostly, i was excited that the flavor of the fish rang true.

but, for me, a highlight of the week was when the sun came out and we got to eat on the balcony without freezing. the light on the mountains was a gorgeous pink, the trees were happily growing...

and we ate stuffed eggplant with salad and roasted mushrooms. and beer.

first, i cut into the eggplant and sprinkled them with salt. the salt encourages all the water to flee the eggplant, making for a silkier roasted veggie. i let them sit for about a half hour before prepping them with oil and roasting them for about another half an hour at 220 degrees.

once the eggplants cooled, i scooped out their guts.

i combined leeks, chopped sundried tomatoes, and cottage cheese... then added the eggplant guts.

into the oven they went! after about 15 minutes, i added a slice of mozzarella cheese to the top and let them continue baking for about another 15 minutes.

i also roasted mushrooms with garlic and parsley.

deeeee-lish.

the mister also made some bolognaise this weekend (i made some tvp crumbles), and chocolate mousse.


plus he surprised me with some tulips.

but did i mention the chocolate mousse?


chocolate mousse.