Is it Spring Yet?

Let me start of by saying...thank you Mother Nature for the great April Fool's joke you are playing on us here in Japan!  Last Friday it actually started to feel like Spring.  So then why on earth does it look like this outside now:

Ok, that picture is not from today, but that is identical to what it currently looks like, and I decided to spare myself more pictures of that scene.

Let me mention that I have fared fairly well in the snow this year given that snow is not my friend.  In fact, I moved from Baltimore to Las Vegas to avoid winter type weather.  But of course, you can't tell the military you only want warm duty stations, so I suppose it was going to be inevitable.  I did, however, tell Ryan if we were to go somewhere cold it had to be somewhere overseas because snow in the US was just not going to cut it for me!  I suppose really anywhere that has a lot to offer will do because it needs to be a really cool location in order for me to brave the winter.  Japan certainly fits the bill, so I can suck it up during the winter to just get the incredible awesome experience of living overseas, particularly in Japan.

But come on already...it's April 1st!

I am so ready for spring after all the snow this winter.  I read online the average where we are is only 145 inches, and last I checked we had just passed the 200 inch mark.

Just to give you an idea about the snow, here are some pictures from throughout this past winter.

At least Ginger likes the snow.  I was happy to discover that.  This was her first winter since I adopted her in Las Vegas.

Another shot from my living room balcony.

Out my bedroom balcony window.

I went to bed with no snow that day, and came out to find this much snow.

Parking lot.

Ginger having fun in the snow.

Ryan's car, covered in snow.

My car covered in snow.

More of Ginger.

Notice there are people running in the background.  I really thought they were nuts because the roads and side walks weren't fully cleared yet.  I found out later there was a 5K that morning, and it seems as though no one cancelled it!

My car with a nice pile built up in front of it.

Now, all I ask for is a little sunshine and warmth!

QUESTIONS:  Did you experience a typical winter for your area?  Do you live in a snowy area?  What is your favorite season?

Catching up on island food and Ryan’s B-day (back in July)

I am so, so, so, so behind these days with posts, and I even found this post that was saved, but I never finished writing, way back from the summer.  I thought I would go ahead and get this done now, or else decide it was just time to move on.  Plus, it is snowing here, so I could use a little Azores sunshine to brighten my day.

This is a picture from my favorite soup and salad place on the island.  Sadly, I just found out this place has closed.  I just can't believe it.  She was always so busy and had the best food, but she told some of my friends that business was suffering and she could not keep up with the expensive rent.

Another place we tried out before we left was Fox's Pizza.  I had heard about it many times, but never went, and I knew before we left the island I would need to check it out because I wanted to write about it on my Living at Lajes website.

 

Nothing out of the ordinary when it comes to the pizza, but it was good and I definitely recommend this place.

 

I love this picture.  This is the main square in Praia da Vitoria, which is the second largest town on the island.  It isn't too far from the base, and was only about 5 minutes from where we lived.  One day I noticed they repainted the pizzeria/cafe on the corner to a nice shade of pink. 

 

I love this cute little walking street.  It may not be the longest in the world and it may not have any stores you have ever heard of, but it was cute and charming, and was always nice to stroll up and down.  In fact, I always felt right at home hanging out in town.

  

This was another place I needed to try before leaving the island.

 

I loved the colors in side.

 

Here is a galao, which is espresso and milk, similar to a meia de leite, but a little bigger.

 

I tried the omelet and fries here.  It was really good, so I have no idea why I hadn't tried it out sooner.

Another random meal I enjoyed before leaving the island.  This is a shrimp kebab.

Ryan had a nice steak.

  

Now, and this is the time when I can really have a good laugh about this, so this Caneta.  We went here once at the first start of our 2 years on the island.  It was good and we went for lunch.  I took pictures, but it was before I started this blog, so when it came time for me to add this on my Living at Lajes website, I thought it would be easy.  Nope!  I could not find the pictures.  So, the only logical answer was to go there for Ryan's birthday dinner.  It was a bit of a drive from where we lived, so we just never went back.  But I was on a mission.  You may be wondering why this is so funny.  Well, I was going through all my old pictures and updating my Facebook albums, when there, in a very, very random location, was a folder labelled Caneta.  I managed to drag and drop it to a spot where it shouldn't have been.  I can't believe after just over 2 years, those pictures magically turned up.  But that is definitely OK because we needed to go back and Ryan had to try the kebab because he was told it was amazing.

They have a nice courtyard there, but we went inside and ate in the upstairs restaurant.

We started with bread.  This place even served the corn bread, and this was where I first tried it.  I loved the island corn bread, but not too many restaurants would serve it.

 

We had the fresh island cheese and pimento spread.

 

Olives!  I miss these since olives are not too big in Japan.

 

Here is the inside.  Very quaint, and definitely has the traditional island feel.  

 

Here I am with Ryan, about to enjoy his birthday dinner.

 

This is the kebab everyone raved about.  It is huge steak chunks on a skewer and when they serve it they place butter at the top and the hot metal melts it so it drips down the beef.  I am not a meat eater, but for people that like meat, this seemed to be wonderful.  This is what everyone told us, and in fact, Ryan did enjoy it.

 

It came with a side of fruit and French fries.

 

I had the boca negra, which was my favorite fish on the island.  It always came served as the whole fish, so I learned after a while how to eat it like this.

 

Since it was Ryan's birthday we did indulge in dessert.  This was the ice cream burrito.  Basically like a crepe wrapped around ice cream and smothered in chocolate.

 

I had stracciatella, which is basically chocolate chip ice cream.  

 

Of course no Azorean meal is complete without a coffee beverage.

It was a great last birthday meal on the island.  It was hard to believe that just 2 years before we have just gotten to the island.

I have a few more pictures to share, just so I can say I finally posted them.  The first is from the American celebration.  They showed American movies and served American food.  It was really interesting to see that they were having this kind of event.

  

There was one restaurant that my friend Alexandra and I stumbled across when I made a wrong turn one day.  It wasn't so much a wrong turn, I guess, it was more like I had to turn around so I turned down this street and found this place.  We made sure to go back another day and try it out.  It was a very small, house like establishment with only a written menu out front.  They had a little lunch buffet, so I think that is why we never saw a menu.

 

We started with bread.

 

We also had some fish soup.

 

The buffet looks like it was good before everyone ate everything.  We got there a little late, and of course there was very little left of everything.

 

 

One of my very last days there, my friend Alexandra and I went to the beach so I could get in one final swim in the Atlantic before I moved all the way over to the Pacific.  There was a cafe that we passed by all the time and never went in so we decided we had to check it out before I left. 

 

It turned out to be so cute and the owner was so nice.  We couldn't believe we hadn't been in there earlier.  Well, at least Alexandra could go back.  She is still on the island and has just under another year left there.  Perhaps the military will reunite us at the same base again!

Well, that is it for now.  I am sorry I have not been able to keep up with posting, but I have been a bit (and by bit I mean insanely) busier than usual.  I actually have more island pictures to post, so they will probably get interspersed with Japan stuff from time to time.

QUESTIONS:  Is there anything you are behind on doing?  Do you have a favorite cafe?  Is there any place you have been meaning to go/try but for some reason keep putting it off?

Vegetarian/Vegan Potluck for National Nutrition Month

Here at this base we have a group for a vegetarian and vegan recipe swap.  We share recipes, meal ideas, and I am there to give nutrition advice as needed or answer questions that others (mostly those that are new to vegetarian diets and meals) may have.  We decided that it would be great to get together for a vegetarian/vegan pot luck.  I decided to get things started, I would host the first get together, and since it just happened to be the first weekend in March, this was perfect timing for National Nutrition Month.

Everyone was instructed to prepare their favorite dish (or 2 or 3!) and then provide me with the recipe so I could calculate out the nutrition information and compile a cookbook.  Foods were to be vegetarian or vegan friendly.  I had a hard time scheduling around everyone's schedule, and there were a few conflicts, but in the end we had 4 families attend.  Hopefully next time we will have a bigger turnout.

Here's what was served at the potluck:

I made a Very Veggie Bean Soup.

And I made my raspberry lemonade tofu pie!

There was a broccoli and cauliflower bake.

This is a tofu pot pie with a pumpkin crust.

It was really good!

These are molasses ginger cookies.

This is a vegetarian gumbo, with tofu.

It was so good!  It was served with rice, and then hard boiled eggs on the side, so you could add them if you wanted.

Last up is a vegan chili, served with fritos and other toppings.

Everything was so good and I think we all had a really good time at the get together.  All foods wound up being vegan, with optional dairy and egg on the side, so that was really neat.  We had so many good choices.  It was a great way to share some healthy, meat free recipes and celebrate National Nutrition Month.

QUESTIONS:  If you were invited to a vegetarian/vegan potluck, what would you bring?  Have you done anything to celebrate National Nutrition Month?  What was on your plate today?