Celebrating the 4th of July in Brazil!
As you know its not a holiday here but I set out to enjoy and share a little piece of America here.
Friday I prepared a wonderful macaroni salad, baked potato dish and big juicy burgers. The macaroni salad was epic and I found all the ingredients needed except for celery. It is very hard to find celery and I didn't feel like heading into town to search for it. I made about four pounds of macaroni salad to last the whole weekend. The baked potato dish is very simple and only needed parsley and butter. The burgers I went all out with getting a good high quality ground beef and mixing chopped up onions, eggs, salt, pepper and garlic powder in it. I then topped off the burgers with a yellow cheese.
Usually every Friday night we do happy hour with the family which includes: mother & father in-law, my wife's sister & husband and the four of us. It's a wonderful tradition and I have really grown to love it. When we miss a Friday night together it seems weird now. Like we missed something and didn't start our weekend off right. Just like our Sunday lunches at the in-laws. Every Sunday we are there and we have even woken up early while away on vacation to make sure we drive back in time to eat together. Its great to have these traditions and for the grandchildren to spend a lot of quality time with family. Sometimes these meals are attended by friends and other family members too.
So Friday evening we set up our outdoor grilling area for guests. A table so we all sit together, placemats, plates, silverware, glasses, ice, etc. Fired up the charcoal grill, which I am now addicted to. That propane grill from America has been collecting dust every since it got here. I don't actually see myself using it because the taste of everything cooked on charcoal is amazing. Next blue tooth music, of course we started out playing American music but then we ended up listen to Spotify later in the evening. I'm not too picking on music and love a little variety. Usually everything is set up and nicely arranged before guest arrive. You must also specify American or Brazilian time for guests to show up. We choose American this evening. I plan on writing a separate blog on what this entails. It took me awhile to master this concept and I now find myself following the Brazilian time more often.
The guest started to arrive and immediately I can sense the "oh no" what are you making. Brazilians expect appetizers like olives, bread with butter spread, peanuts and other little things to snack on. Then a main course that comes out a little at a time. Definitely not American style where we eat it all at once. They like to take their time and eat a little here and there. Most of the time Brazilians don't even make it to the main dishes because they eat too much of the snacks set out. So on to my meal I was making. I had potato chips, macaroni salad, baked potato dish, chopped up lettuce / tomatoes / onions, hamburger buns and huge meat ball ground beef balls all set out ready to go. The burgers were made to order and I don't flatten them out until I place them on the grill. So they look like huge meat balls.
The first comment I got was "what is that"? I replied we are having cheese burgers tonight. The response after that was "like McDonald's"? No these are homemade burgers, not fast food! The concerned look was of bewilder. How dare you make us fast food burgers. I assured them it was going to be really good. Then in typical Brazilian fashion the search for the snacks. I found one of my family members digging out olives to eat. It was hilarious with all of them being concerned about the meal. I opened up the potato chips for them to snack on while the fresh burgers cooked over the very hot grill.
I timed it just right to have an almost well done juicy patty with melted cheese over it. Put them on a plate and had the family start the assembly line of building their burgers. Everyone loaded up their plates and started in on those huge burgers. They all loved it! I got the comments of "I never thought a burger could taste this good" and "In America I have never ordered a burger from a restaurant". Well they didn't know what they were missing. The burgers were a hit and seconds were asked for! Plus the amazing macaroni salad and baked potato dish added a little extra American to there experience.
Now a funny thing about Brazilians, they usually never touch the food with fingers. Tonight they all man handled these burgers and made me proud. Chances are if you see anyone eating a burger or pizza in America with a fork and knife, they are Brazilian. Case in point recently in January we saw a family of four at the Hard Rock Café in NYC eating like this and I knew they were Brazilian before I heard them speaking Portuguese with each other. French fries are usually eaten with tooth picks too.
Saturday we had two events to go to. That happens a lot here and sometimes that lunch party you went to will turn into an all day / night affair. The first one was a lunch time Brazilian BBQ which we showed up early too...like American time early. They were still setting up and not totally prepared but these are close family so not a big deal. I had set a time for departure which I knew we wouldn't make. But I added some fluff time to start the process of leaving. It usually takes about 30 minutes to leave a Brazilian's house and this includes saying good bye to each person. It can also take longer than this and sometimes you get talked into staying longer. I have also been offered and accepted a place to nap so we can stay for the evening party.
Finally we departed a little late and traveled an hour away to an American expats families farm for an internationals event. Its a website I found shortly after arriving here where expats from all around the world that live in your area meet up once a month to hang out and share experiences. I enjoy it a lot and have made some very good friends that are going through the same experiences I am. On the way there we stopped back by the house to get some of that macaroni salad to share with all of the expats. And headed that way stopping to get more beer, ice and gas on the way.
Of course my bank cards were cut off and I had to use all the cash left in my pocket on the way there. This is a common thing and if in a jam I can call through Skype and get turned back on immediately. I caution any expats on opening up bank accounts here. It cost a lot of money to maintain an account and you may open yourself up to double taxation. So I deal with the pain of my American bank continuously turning cards off because they think its fraud activity with me using them in Brazil.
Well anyways we headed across town, down a nice new highway and out a very rough dirt road to a wonderful oasis. Yes its a farm to a certain extent but its much more than that. I was thoroughly surprised at how awesome it was with a nice large house, pool and grilling area. It has a bunch of chickens and some crops that were growing. Plenty of room for the kids to run around. And the best part the majority of everyone there was speaking English. The kids were running around with other English speaking kids. It was awesome!
We showed up fashionably late and enjoyed another American meal of cheese burgers. Just like I made the night prior. Everyone enjoyed the macaroni salad we brought along and there was many other American style dishes. Unfortunately I filled up on that Brazilian BBQ early in the day and only had enough room for a burger and brownies. We enjoyed a great conversation with many diverse backgrounds from all around the world. I had also planned ahead and brought a tent, blankets and pillows in case we ended up staying. Which we did and it was amazing our friends had an extra room for us to sleep in. Its a little chilly this time of year and we were very grateful to have a room. There was a small fireworks show and the kids ran around outside late into the evening.
The next morning the rooster had us up at the crack of dawn. Well not all of us, just one of our children asking to go outside and play. We kept trying to get him to sleep longer but eventually sent him out to play. Not long after he came running back in saying an avocado fell out of the tree and hit our car. Huge dent in the hood. Arrived after dark and didn't realize I parked under a huge avocado tree. Its repairable and shouldn't cost too much I guess. In the day light the farm was even more amazing with a swing hanging from the tree, volley ball court, and many other cool things. We started to pack up and get ready to go. Remember its Sunday and we have lunch at the in-laws we must get back for. As usual it took us a little while to say good bye to every one and we definitely had to partake in freshly baked cheese bread and sweet strong coffee. We also had to get the children in the car. They were busy playing with some of the English speaking children.
We arrived fashionably late to the in-laws and enjoyed a wonderful lunch. It was fish and many other little things including that macaroni salad I made Friday night. It didn't last long and actually filled me up so I only had a little bit of the tasty fish. The kids are relaxing and we are enjoying a great conversation telling of our night away. How much fun the kids had and what we experienced. Today we chose to go home instead of napping there. Sometimes we do and sometimes we don't. Our house is a quarter of a mile away but its nice to stay and let the kids nap with their grandparents. It will be a great memory when they get older!
The rest of the evening we relaxed at home, had a small dinner and watched Netflix. It seems like we have been eating non-stop all weekend...yes. Also My wife needs to return to work the next day, Monday July 4th. Not a holiday here! We were in bed early and got caught up on much need rest. Remember the rooster woke us up so early.
Monday morning the wife was off to work and we were at home with no plans. I caught up on house cleaning and laundry. Took the kids for a bike / scooter ride to the grandparents house. We returned and played around the house. Watered the grass, the normal week day stuff. I reflected on the meaning of July 4th and talked to the kids about it. They are learning Brazilian history here and I try to tell them American history as much as possible. Being dual citizens they may return to America and live in the future.
We then got invited out to dinner this evening to wonderful Outback Steakhouse Restaurant. Its one of three American restaurants in this area. The other two are Subway and of course McDonalds but we hardly ever go to them. Its very expensive and you could get a better meal for far less at another place. Had a very good time and guess what? The children asked to not go and spent the evening with the grandparents. Getting that grandparents time in for sure!
So as you can see it was an awesome weekend of many events. This is the usual here and Brazilians are very social. Lots of get festivities that are planned or even last minute. Some weekends we have to make the tough choice of which ones to attend. Sometimes we will attempt to get to each one but the process of saying goodbye at one prevents us from going to another.
I hope this gives you a look at how a typical weekend goes here. This is definitely not typical of our American lives we just left not too long ago. My American weekends usually consisted of yard work, grocery shopping and catching up on cleaning the house. Not anymore!
As you know its not a holiday here but I set out to enjoy and share a little piece of America here.
Friday I prepared a wonderful macaroni salad, baked potato dish and big juicy burgers. The macaroni salad was epic and I found all the ingredients needed except for celery. It is very hard to find celery and I didn't feel like heading into town to search for it. I made about four pounds of macaroni salad to last the whole weekend. The baked potato dish is very simple and only needed parsley and butter. The burgers I went all out with getting a good high quality ground beef and mixing chopped up onions, eggs, salt, pepper and garlic powder in it. I then topped off the burgers with a yellow cheese.
Usually every Friday night we do happy hour with the family which includes: mother & father in-law, my wife's sister & husband and the four of us. It's a wonderful tradition and I have really grown to love it. When we miss a Friday night together it seems weird now. Like we missed something and didn't start our weekend off right. Just like our Sunday lunches at the in-laws. Every Sunday we are there and we have even woken up early while away on vacation to make sure we drive back in time to eat together. Its great to have these traditions and for the grandchildren to spend a lot of quality time with family. Sometimes these meals are attended by friends and other family members too.
So Friday evening we set up our outdoor grilling area for guests. A table so we all sit together, placemats, plates, silverware, glasses, ice, etc. Fired up the charcoal grill, which I am now addicted to. That propane grill from America has been collecting dust every since it got here. I don't actually see myself using it because the taste of everything cooked on charcoal is amazing. Next blue tooth music, of course we started out playing American music but then we ended up listen to Spotify later in the evening. I'm not too picking on music and love a little variety. Usually everything is set up and nicely arranged before guest arrive. You must also specify American or Brazilian time for guests to show up. We choose American this evening. I plan on writing a separate blog on what this entails. It took me awhile to master this concept and I now find myself following the Brazilian time more often.
The guest started to arrive and immediately I can sense the "oh no" what are you making. Brazilians expect appetizers like olives, bread with butter spread, peanuts and other little things to snack on. Then a main course that comes out a little at a time. Definitely not American style where we eat it all at once. They like to take their time and eat a little here and there. Most of the time Brazilians don't even make it to the main dishes because they eat too much of the snacks set out. So on to my meal I was making. I had potato chips, macaroni salad, baked potato dish, chopped up lettuce / tomatoes / onions, hamburger buns and huge meat ball ground beef balls all set out ready to go. The burgers were made to order and I don't flatten them out until I place them on the grill. So they look like huge meat balls.
The first comment I got was "what is that"? I replied we are having cheese burgers tonight. The response after that was "like McDonald's"? No these are homemade burgers, not fast food! The concerned look was of bewilder. How dare you make us fast food burgers. I assured them it was going to be really good. Then in typical Brazilian fashion the search for the snacks. I found one of my family members digging out olives to eat. It was hilarious with all of them being concerned about the meal. I opened up the potato chips for them to snack on while the fresh burgers cooked over the very hot grill.
I timed it just right to have an almost well done juicy patty with melted cheese over it. Put them on a plate and had the family start the assembly line of building their burgers. Everyone loaded up their plates and started in on those huge burgers. They all loved it! I got the comments of "I never thought a burger could taste this good" and "In America I have never ordered a burger from a restaurant". Well they didn't know what they were missing. The burgers were a hit and seconds were asked for! Plus the amazing macaroni salad and baked potato dish added a little extra American to there experience.
Now a funny thing about Brazilians, they usually never touch the food with fingers. Tonight they all man handled these burgers and made me proud. Chances are if you see anyone eating a burger or pizza in America with a fork and knife, they are Brazilian. Case in point recently in January we saw a family of four at the Hard Rock Café in NYC eating like this and I knew they were Brazilian before I heard them speaking Portuguese with each other. French fries are usually eaten with tooth picks too.
Saturday we had two events to go to. That happens a lot here and sometimes that lunch party you went to will turn into an all day / night affair. The first one was a lunch time Brazilian BBQ which we showed up early too...like American time early. They were still setting up and not totally prepared but these are close family so not a big deal. I had set a time for departure which I knew we wouldn't make. But I added some fluff time to start the process of leaving. It usually takes about 30 minutes to leave a Brazilian's house and this includes saying good bye to each person. It can also take longer than this and sometimes you get talked into staying longer. I have also been offered and accepted a place to nap so we can stay for the evening party.
Finally we departed a little late and traveled an hour away to an American expats families farm for an internationals event. Its a website I found shortly after arriving here where expats from all around the world that live in your area meet up once a month to hang out and share experiences. I enjoy it a lot and have made some very good friends that are going through the same experiences I am. On the way there we stopped back by the house to get some of that macaroni salad to share with all of the expats. And headed that way stopping to get more beer, ice and gas on the way.
Of course my bank cards were cut off and I had to use all the cash left in my pocket on the way there. This is a common thing and if in a jam I can call through Skype and get turned back on immediately. I caution any expats on opening up bank accounts here. It cost a lot of money to maintain an account and you may open yourself up to double taxation. So I deal with the pain of my American bank continuously turning cards off because they think its fraud activity with me using them in Brazil.
Well anyways we headed across town, down a nice new highway and out a very rough dirt road to a wonderful oasis. Yes its a farm to a certain extent but its much more than that. I was thoroughly surprised at how awesome it was with a nice large house, pool and grilling area. It has a bunch of chickens and some crops that were growing. Plenty of room for the kids to run around. And the best part the majority of everyone there was speaking English. The kids were running around with other English speaking kids. It was awesome!
We showed up fashionably late and enjoyed another American meal of cheese burgers. Just like I made the night prior. Everyone enjoyed the macaroni salad we brought along and there was many other American style dishes. Unfortunately I filled up on that Brazilian BBQ early in the day and only had enough room for a burger and brownies. We enjoyed a great conversation with many diverse backgrounds from all around the world. I had also planned ahead and brought a tent, blankets and pillows in case we ended up staying. Which we did and it was amazing our friends had an extra room for us to sleep in. Its a little chilly this time of year and we were very grateful to have a room. There was a small fireworks show and the kids ran around outside late into the evening.
The next morning the rooster had us up at the crack of dawn. Well not all of us, just one of our children asking to go outside and play. We kept trying to get him to sleep longer but eventually sent him out to play. Not long after he came running back in saying an avocado fell out of the tree and hit our car. Huge dent in the hood. Arrived after dark and didn't realize I parked under a huge avocado tree. Its repairable and shouldn't cost too much I guess. In the day light the farm was even more amazing with a swing hanging from the tree, volley ball court, and many other cool things. We started to pack up and get ready to go. Remember its Sunday and we have lunch at the in-laws we must get back for. As usual it took us a little while to say good bye to every one and we definitely had to partake in freshly baked cheese bread and sweet strong coffee. We also had to get the children in the car. They were busy playing with some of the English speaking children.
We arrived fashionably late to the in-laws and enjoyed a wonderful lunch. It was fish and many other little things including that macaroni salad I made Friday night. It didn't last long and actually filled me up so I only had a little bit of the tasty fish. The kids are relaxing and we are enjoying a great conversation telling of our night away. How much fun the kids had and what we experienced. Today we chose to go home instead of napping there. Sometimes we do and sometimes we don't. Our house is a quarter of a mile away but its nice to stay and let the kids nap with their grandparents. It will be a great memory when they get older!
The rest of the evening we relaxed at home, had a small dinner and watched Netflix. It seems like we have been eating non-stop all weekend...yes. Also My wife needs to return to work the next day, Monday July 4th. Not a holiday here! We were in bed early and got caught up on much need rest. Remember the rooster woke us up so early.
Monday morning the wife was off to work and we were at home with no plans. I caught up on house cleaning and laundry. Took the kids for a bike / scooter ride to the grandparents house. We returned and played around the house. Watered the grass, the normal week day stuff. I reflected on the meaning of July 4th and talked to the kids about it. They are learning Brazilian history here and I try to tell them American history as much as possible. Being dual citizens they may return to America and live in the future.
We then got invited out to dinner this evening to wonderful Outback Steakhouse Restaurant. Its one of three American restaurants in this area. The other two are Subway and of course McDonalds but we hardly ever go to them. Its very expensive and you could get a better meal for far less at another place. Had a very good time and guess what? The children asked to not go and spent the evening with the grandparents. Getting that grandparents time in for sure!
So as you can see it was an awesome weekend of many events. This is the usual here and Brazilians are very social. Lots of get festivities that are planned or even last minute. Some weekends we have to make the tough choice of which ones to attend. Sometimes we will attempt to get to each one but the process of saying goodbye at one prevents us from going to another.
I hope this gives you a look at how a typical weekend goes here. This is definitely not typical of our American lives we just left not too long ago. My American weekends usually consisted of yard work, grocery shopping and catching up on cleaning the house. Not anymore!
No comments:
Post a Comment