We are Back!

It's been a week since we came back home and only now it seems like I am getting back to our normal routine.
We had a great time this past month in Brazil! We had lots of time to do things we like, see our family members, and pass some good time with wonderful friends!
It was truly a trip to keep in our hearts, but I have to say that after 5 weeks away from home I was starting to miss my things and it was more than time to come back.
Even though my parents and sister are still all in Brazil now my family is here and this is our home, and as they say... there really is no place like home!
I missed my kitchen and I was glad to be back to my own schedule and way of doing things, which of course include posting on my beloved blog!
And now I promise I will post on a regular basis, I really promise, I do!!
With the summer weather I haven't been cooking much indoors, but I have been grilling and sure have recipes and pictures of goodies we have been making to share, so please visit me again soon because I am really back this time!
So, to get things going I will post some pictures from our trip, and tomorrow I will be back to what this blog is really about: cooking, cooking and more cooking, yay!!
Ana

This is a very young coffee plant on my dad's backyard!









Here are some coffee beans...












And here they are opened. The coffee beans are white/yellowish inside when harvested, they only turn black after being roasted. And did you know that when picked like these they are sweet inside? Yep, when we were kids it was a lot of fun to pop the coffee bean into our mouth and suck the sweet nectar that comes from the inside. At first my grandma had one coffee plant, but with the kids spiting beans here and there soon she had about four little plants for us to destroy...!! :o)









While there, I got a beautiful basket of goodies from my brother in-law, it was full of nuts, dried fruits, sesame seed bars and the most delicious natural cookies that I have had! Everything was so delicious, and so pretty. It was all wrapped with bows, both on the outside wrap and on each little baggie of nuts/seeds/fruits inside. We all liked it so much that the basket was into pieces soon after I got it. We started sampling the goodies in a matter of seconds! I should have taken a picture before opening because, believe me, it was beautiful!









He also brought our family some "Pao de Mel", honey cakes covered in chocolate, that his mom makes, oh my, those were really yummy too!









And here is a picture of Matheus having some fun at the pool! Even though it was winter, the weather was nice and I was able to get him into some swimming lessons at an indoor pool. He had some fun and at least had a chance to play with some kids. He is the only child in both sides of the family, so I guesses that seeing someone of his own height would be good for him too!