LoL's Portuguese Christmas

Well, we finished doing a bit of decoration today so thought I'd put up a couple of piccies .... ha, ha, realised certain rubbish is not moved out of the way! :D :D

We have put up the tree. with nothing really dangly on the bottom due to the two new members of the household, so it looks a bit bare. It is in the fireside part of the living room ... you can just see the edge of the fireplace jutting out on the right ... the ceiling is 15 foot tall at that point.

This one is from the living room area ...



... and this is obviously our fireplace and a fire is lit but you can't see it ...



... and our little tree on top of the fridge/freezer in the kitchen (you can see we're having a picnic whilst decorating ) and you might see that the back door is open to the left although it's in the evening :rolleyes: ...



My other pics weren't so good so you can imagine how bad they were :eek: not that these are Home and Gardens material ... but I'll try to do a few better ones and some outside also.

[ 06. December 2006, 09:46 PM: Message edited by: Lady of Leisure ]

 

very nice LoL at last it is great to see other members xmas decorations

 

I will be putting my xmas deco. this weekend

 

Lovely, LoL!
Eldest son put our stuff up a couple of days ago - much earlier than we usually do, so that it will be all decorated for my Aunt visiting on Sunday, her last visit before Christmas, as she missed out on Christmas totally last year by having a stroke last autumn, and having to go into a nursing home last December. So we want to make this year extra special......

 

No, they don't, miraflores. They do celebrate a traditional Christmas in probably the way most Europeans do on Christmas Eve.

The family gathers about 8pm and a few drinks are partaken and then the meal is served at around 10pm, not quite to my tummy's liking! The meal is always bacalhau (salted cod) boiled, along with kale topped with whole boiled eggs and a side dish of boiled potatoes! This is washed down with copious quantities of beer out of a bottle and usually home-made wine. :eek:

The next course is several kilos of tiger prawns. Nice you say, but they would be even nicer served with garlic butter or piri-piri sauce to add some flavour to their blandness! Following is cheese and bread, a lump here and a chunk there washed down with more copious quantities of beer or wine or perhaps medronho (Algarvian fire water made from the Arbutus shrub which grows wild here).

The it's time for pressies and in our experience one of the daughters playing "Pai Natal" leapt up and down taking one present at a time from under the tree, handing it to the recipient who opened it whilst everyone else ooo-d and aaa-d. By the way, the daughter in question was about 28 and a teacher!

During all of this, the TV will be on a full blast with one of the national holiday game shows up and brought right up to the table for fear someone misses something!

By now it's midnight, and every mobile phone in Portugal goes off at one time. Did you know that Portugal has the highest number of mobile phones per capita than anywhere in Europe? Some families don't even have landlines. Now you have everyone shouting, at each other and to their family and friends on the telephones, wishing them a Feliz Natal. The phone lines will be clogged for about six hours. Obviously during all this activity, more of the nectar is poured down the gullet.

These activities are only surpassed by New Year's when the same occurs but at midnight is augmented by the neighbours going outside and clanging together saucepan lids whilst talking, no SHOUTING their merry Bom Ano Novo wishes to their family and friends on their mobiles!

An experience to behold! :D :D

I know you only asked if they ate turkey, miraflores, but I thought perhaps you and other members of GC would appreciate the finer side of life living in the country in Portugal.

Saude, feliz Natal e bom ano novo!

 

LoL do you participate in these activites or do you have our traditional turkey on xmas day.
couldnt fancy the fish myself but would love the prawns and i would still love the xmas day turkey its what you are brought up with i suppose

 

Rosa, we have participated in one of these celebrations next door a couple of years ago.

T'other half and I prefer to have a quiet Christmas together, celebrating on Christmas Eve as my sister's family celebrate then and then just snack on cold cheese and meats. On "the day" t'other half and I usually have duck with cranberry/redcurrant sauce and Leonese potatoes and something green (green beans, snap peas, etc) if we are by ourselves, but if we have friends here who like duck also we will do that.

Tiger prawns, spiced, are something we eat in the summer here ... you'll have to wait till then for the recipes unless you plan on doing them over the Christmas season .. then you'll have to ask!

Other than than we like a turkey breast split open and stuffed with Gruyere cheese and ham and mushroom soup.

 

Everything looks really nice LofL!

Rosa, the bacalhau is awful! But LofL's t'other enjoys it cooked in all sorts of ways. I've tried it twice but neither appealed to me. However, I would chose it over your snails, ugh! As you say, it is mainly what you are brought up with.

 

Ditto, K-G!

Must go sort out my signature ...

 

if i stayed in portugal for a holiday, i certainly would try everything, as i do like trying different things from other countries but i,m not a fish lover anyway, the only fish i really enjoy is cod in batter from our fish shops

 

Ain't the same, sweetie! Believe me!

 

when i lived in america although i went along with their traditions i still had my turkey on xmas day

 

Roast hams, as opposed to Beef or Turkey is a far cry from boiled fish, cabbage and eggs! :eek:

 

quite agree with you :D