The season of holiday parties was upon us and we said yes to almost any reason to celebrate the remaining weeks of 2022.
Two parties in the countryside: One of our classmates lives in Moncarapacho which is about 7 kilometers from Olhão and we attended two social gatherings at her house. The first was a lunch date that included some classmates from Ireland and Portuguese friends of the hostess. The food was incredible and we felt fortunate to be eating authentic Korean dishes. Jinnah is a talented gardener and cook; she even makes her own kimchi and soy sauce. We feasted on dumplings, Korean pancakes and bubbles. Our contribution to the day was a platter of Christmas cookies and fudge.
The second party was a birthday celebration for Jinnah’s husband who had recently returned from work in Denmark. The group was international, conversation was lively, and the food ranged from fancy seafood salad, to curry, grilled meat, and a homemade chocolate cake. We stayed well into the wee hours of the morning for an after-after party which included us talking to Jinnah and one other friend, way too much wine, and even more amazing food like sushi, kimchi, and dumplings.
School Christmas Party: We had a party in school on the very last day of class before Christmas break. Our professor planned to bring a Bolo Rei (King Cake) and some port, but a classmate suggested expanding the party to include a surprise celebration for his birthday which happened to fall on the same day. Some classmates took care of purchasing cakes, gifts, and snacks. Other classmates supplemented the feast with homemade goodies and wine. We brought lemon bars (Surprise! Still trying to get through our never ending supplies of lemons), and homemade mini cheeseballs with a variety of toppings. We listened to music from A Charlie Brown Christmas and communicated in a variety of languages for the two hour celebration.
Christmas Eve: We hosted our Ukrainian friends for Christmas Eve. We made roasted chicken, carrots (we failed on finding fresh Brussels sprouts), mashed potatoes with gravy, and mulled wine. Our friends brought potato salad and fish which we grilled on our roof. Dessert was Christmas cookies and fudge. Post dinner, we watched A Christmas Story with subtitles in Ukrainian. We enjoyed watching them watch a movie we have seen many, many times.
Apparently a lot of the food we have cooked for these friends is very similar to traditional Ukrainian cuisine. Most Ukrainians (and Russians) actually celebrate Christmas and New Years later in January so this was a bonus celebration for our friends.
Christmas Day: Michelle was coming down with a head cold, so Andrew went to our friend Karen’s house for Christmas lunch. She had family in town, including 2 of her grandsons, so Andrew brought over board games. After he returned, we stayed at home, watched romantic comedies and ate leftovers including mulled wine. We made the BEST sandwiches with chicken, mashed potatoes, and gravy on toasted bread with butter.
New Year’s Eve: We planned to spend the evening at our friends’ home over authentic Ukrainian cuisine and some champagne, but unfortunately one of them got sick so we spent a quiet evening at home. We celebrated with some old school favorites: baked brie in puff pastry with jam, seven layer salad, and a variation of calico beans which Michelle’s grandfather used to make every Christmas Eve. We also had a few rounds of mimosas with fresh squeezed Algarve oranges and they were some of the best brunch cocktails we have ever had. There were a few audible fireworks towards evening, but not enough for even Zoe and Basil to get too excited about. After more than a week full of activities and visiting (and honestly months of hectic activity) it was nice to have a relaxing day at home for the holiday.
We are still discovering ingredients that are standard fare in United States grocery stores that just don’t seem to exist here. The bean dish used pork ‘n beans which Andrew had to make from scratch (he learned that the beans are actually white beans instead of some unknown type of magic brown bean).
