My Week!!

 Why pine nuts cost so much and other things...............................

And what a week it has been, firstly jetting off from Bristol Airport in the pouring rain and landing in Lisbon 2 hours later 28 degrees and full sun!  Travel is so strange, I can never get over the changes, every thing happens so fast there is no time to adjust at all.
So all our soap making ingredients have arrived at Shelleys house and we are all go for making lots of soap.  Firstly, we decided to have a go at making the trugs that we will paint up and use for our display during the exhibition in November and our first proper selling fair at the Meruge Medieval Pork Festival!  I tell you, it is all kicking off. So for those of you who don't know, I have teamed up with my very best mate in Portugal Shelley Barnes, and we are launching a brand new company 'Puro' which is designed for the Portuguese market using local ingredients (and I mean local).  First pick up your olive oil, from our local co-operative press in Lagares da Beirra where we both live.

Beer and Power tools, should not really go together, but it was the end of the day!!

So we made two sample trugs, one for the hotels, a bit smaller, and one for our stalls, now we know what we are doing!!  we will make them in no time at all.

Then coming home last night, after seeing Shells lovely pine cones with pine nuts falling freely from the trees, I decided to make my own pesto for supper!!  Armed with my trusty rucksack I went up the drive to our one really big pine tree, which happens to be a pine nut bearing one and found lots of ripe cones.

our big pine nut tree

So then you have to get the nuts out of the pine cones, not an easy job, you get covered in pine sap and the cones are really tough.  After this, the nuts are covered in a really strange black dust, a bit like soot, so I decided to rinse them off before trying to crack the shells.

Shells, garlic, cones and bioligical (organic) olive oil from our local press

washed pine nuts ready for cracking to get the kernals out

Very hard work, see the empty shells V the tiny amount of kernals

But I got enough for my pasta sauce last night and it was very good indeed, fresh pine nuts taste different, more sweet and oily, really lovely, I have never tried this before but definitely will again.

Then today, what a day, I was invited to our wonderful neighbors and very best Portuguese friends, Grandaugters Baptisma - Very, very important and quite a celebration.  lots and lots of family and friends, it started at 9am with food at their house, dressing the little girl Eva Margerida in her outfit and generally drinking (I stuck to coke - lots were already on the red and white wine!), we then all paraded up to the church for the ceremony.  it took ages but was really lovely.

she really is a little sweetie

More to follow.  I finally got home after an amazing lunch, at 5.30pm after eating so much I think I could burst.  I got right into the shower, then decided to start on this blog.  I have run out of energy now, I will post more later in the week. I hope you are all having a good time, keep reading and following my Portuguese soap making adventures.  More actual soap stuff this week.

Dont forget to leave a comment.......................