Tomatoes Galore

It's that wonderful time of year when there are lots of tomatoes in the garden.  Even after last week's heatwave which scalded about half the unripe tomatoes on the vines, there are still plenty to eat.

One of the lovely things about growing your own tomatoes is that you can grow heirloom varieties rarely seen in shops.  I have tigerella and Amish paste tomatoes, periformes, tommy toes, green zebras, and other varieties from unnamed seedlings provided by friends.

The scent and taste of home-grown tomatoes is very different from mass-produced ones.  They are hardly recognisable as the same fruit.

I think my favourite way to eat tomatoes is split in half then roasted in a slow oven.  I add a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and a little salt and pepper.  You could add fresh herbs or some crushed garlic before putting them in the oven too, if you like.  Delicious!

What is your favourite way to eat tomatoes?

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Spring is on its way!...

A Primavera está a chegar e hoje queria deixar aqui umas flores de agradecimento à Marcela e à Juana, que têm acompanhado este blog e deixam sempre palavras de apoio e atenção. Ontem ajudaram-me, ao enviarem os links de tutoriais acerca de como melhorar a qualidade das fotografias que se postam no blogger, por isso, o meu muito obrigada! Uma peónia para cada uma! :)

E para quem gosta de viagens e quer acompanhar as imensas aventuras da Marcela, visitem o seu blog Diario de Una Trotamundos. O blog da também viajante Juana, Sweet Visual Aids, mostra, entre outras coisas, as suas experiências gastronómicas - não aconselhado a quem estiver de dieta! :) 

Obrigada, meninas! Acho que já se nota uma diferença nas fotos, não?

Spring is coming and today I want to give these flowers as a huge thank you to Marcela and Juana, who follow this blog and support it by sharing their lovely words with us. Yesterday they helped me and sent in the links that taught me on how to improve the quality of photos that I upload here. Thank you so much! Here's a peony to each one of you! :-)

And if you like travelling and want to read about Marcela's adventures, visit her blog Diario de Una Trotamundos. In Juana's blog, Sweet Visual Aids, where you can also find some of her travelling experiences, she shares her sweet visual delights - not appropriate for the ones who are on a diet! :-)

Thank you, girls! I think one can tell the difference in the photos, right?

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Tea for two

Olá! Hoje fui passear e apanhar ar, andava cansada de passar os fins-de-semana fechada em casa com as minhas meninas. Está sol, bom tempo, só me apetece sair e mudar de rotina!..

Já tinha dito aqui que aproveito os Sábados e Domingos para saborear o pequeno-almoço com mais calma (às vezes, calma demais! :-)) e uma das bebidas que mais aprecio, principalmente no Inverno, é o chá. Tenho aí umas 20 variedades de chá no armário - recentemente, fico-me pelo Earl Grey e pelo chá verde. Não aprecio particularmente chás de frutos, gosto mesmo dos tradicionais Darjeeling e English Breakfast. Quis mostrar-vos algumas das chávenas de chá que juntei - com alguma tristeza minha, uma vez mais as fotografias que tiro perdem qualidade quando as publico no blog. Se alguém me souber explicar como é que se dá a volta a isto, ficarei eternamente grata! A alma gentil que quiser dar-me uma ajuda, pode também partilhar connosco o que fez neste dia de sol!

Pormenor de algumas das minhas chávenas favoritas

Details of some of my favorite teacups

Hi everyone! Today I went for a walk and got some fresh air, I am starting to get tired of staying at home all weekends with my little ones. It sunny, the weather is fine and I need to change my routine and get away from here!...

I alredy told you here that I love to have my breakfast at home at the weekends, slowly and appreciating each moment of it. I particularly like tea in the winter and I have something like 20 kinds of tea in my kitchen - I stick to the traditional ones though, like Earl Grey, Darjeeling or English Breakfast - I'm not that much into fruity teas, for that matter. I wanted to show you some of the teacups that I have been collecting - I'm a little sad that once again my photos loose quality when I blog them. If some gentle soul wants to explain me how to post photos the proper way, without loosing definition and adjusting its sizes, I'll me more than thankful! And please do share what you've been up to this Saturday!

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For Any Adelaide Locals Out There

This Sunday, 6th February, will be the first Essential Edibles food swap for 2011.  Come along, bringing a lot or a little to share (or just yourself), and meet some friendly and inspiring people.

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Pretty delight

Adoro esta fotografia da Elena e a feliz conjugação de cores. O rosa, laranja, roxo e lilás. A chávena de chá antiga. Se um dia tirasse fotos assim, seria ainda mais feliz.

Gosto de tudo.

Credits: Pretty Light

I love this photo by Elena. The colors pink, orange and purple. The delicate teacup. If I could take photos like this, I would be so happy, more than I already am.

I like everything about this picture.

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Blackberries

Every so often a lady comes to the office where I work selling flowers that she grows on her property in the Adelaide hills.  Today she came with blackberries freshly picked this morning, and along with just about everybody else, I bought some.

The difficulty is deciding what to do with them.  Blackberry crumble?  Pie?  As they are with thick, yellow cream?

However, the way they are disappearing from the bowl on the kitchen bench, I suspect there won't be any left for dessert.

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Not a Good Year to Be a Queenslander

It's just not a good year to be a Queenslander.

First there were the terrible floods that devastated much of the state and took many lives.  Now, only a few weeks later, Cyclone Yasi threatens the north of the state, causing tens of thousands of people to evacuate.

For all those in Queensland, we are thinking of you.  I hope and pray that everyone who needs to, gets away before Yasi hits.

And hopefully, sometime soon, Queensland will go back to being the place that is "beautiful one day and perfect the next".

image is courtesy of wikipedia

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