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Vegan and Vegetarian Food and Recipes in Portugal

Over the last few weeks, I have shared some of the abundance that Portuguese cuisine has to offer. David asked me in one the comments how well Vegans were catered for in Portugal.  It was time for me to do some research.  On the face of it, Vegetarians can manage quite well as a lot of traditional Portuguese dishes incorporate eggs and cheese.  There are even some places where Vegetarian cheese can be bought.

If you are a Vegan, however, it is a very different story.

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David Cameron has Blood on His Hands

“David Cameron has blood on his hands.”  Yes, I dare to write those words because, apparently, that is the most evil and disgusting thing I can say — at least according to one judge in the UK — who fined a disabled woman £450 for saying the same thing.

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Suspended in Terracotta

The house stands square and proud, tenaciously clinging to the last vestiges of dignity it once owned. The once vivid rose-coloured paintwork, now weather worn, peels to reveal aging stonework below.

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Banishing the Monday Morning Blues

It is a grey day here in Portugal — the sun has temporarily deserted us hidden behind layers of cloud. I have a day full of chores ahead after a weekend of relaxation. Cleaning, laundry, changing cat litter — all the mundane things I love to “hate” but know have to be done. Mr P is already fielding phone calls, organizing international transports from France to Portugal via our usual third-party who just happens to be in Brazil this week — the usual Monday mediocrity.

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My Portuguese: Neighbourhood Watch

As I am new to Portugal, and as I do not speak the language apart from a few basics, I had expected that there would be times when I would feel lost or be at a loss as to how to approach certain things.

I had also anticipated a fair amount of anonymity and had certain expectations — false ones it turns out — about how I would be able to live my life in and around my house and how I would be able to carry out my everyday business and chores such as shopping, banking and other vital necessities.

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Alentejo Staples: Wine, Olives, Bread, Cheese, Porco Preto and Eggs

Food in rural Alentejo revolves around these six ingredients: wine, olives, bread, cheese, porco preto and eggs. Almost every household will dine on a combination of these for at least one meal a day if not both.  Wine drives the Alentejo economy and the stomachs of its workers, from simple house wines to celebrated international award winners.  This is my Christmas present to myself — a presentation box of five reds from the renowned Cortes De Cima.

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Too Close for Comfort with Guarda Nacional Republicana Guns

I spent Monday morning sitting outside our local council tribunal in Odemira waiting for a civil case to be heard.

I came face to face with one of the few things in this life that makes me physically and mentally uncomfortable.  Unusually for a tribunal on the civil circuit as opposed to the criminal circuit — the local GNR (Guarda Nacional Republicana, the Polícia de Portugal) were “tooled up” — yep I was in the same room as a gun — in fact not just one gun — but four.

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False Expectation vs. False Representation

Do you find yourself complaining a lot, suffering a lot of let downs and disappointments? Is your life blighted by ongoing sagas about poor service or products that do not perform as they should?

When faced with being let down, or being disappointed, do you look for someone to blame — or do you acknowledge somewhere in your psyche that the problem may actually be one of your own making — the problem of false expectations?

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Papa Francisco’s “To Do” List

Although it is always a possibility to become Pope and CEO of one of the world’s largest churches once one enters the Catholic priesthood, I can only imagine the enormity of the tasks that await Pope Francis I, who at the age of 76 and with only one lung is already at a considerable disadvantage compared to some of the younger and fitter Cardinals. I thought it might be interesting on the day of his inauguration to take a look at his “To Do” list.

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Sunday Seafood Special from Alentejo

Living close to the sea in Portugal, we are blessed with an abundance of seafood.  A favourite starter is often a shared dish of clams. These are usually cooked in a little olive oil, some wine, coriander and salt and pepper. All that is needed to finish is a squeeze of lemon.

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