All posts tagged coffee

Winners of mystery gifts from Brazil

by noel.piper on October 13, 2011 in South America with 4 Comments

Congratulations to the winners of the mystery gifts from Brazil.

  • Lonely Planet Brazil guide book (2011)(better for someone else to enjoy it than for me to store it on a shelf till it’s outdated.
  • Ground coffee, 1/2 kilo (Brazilian product)
  • 2 packs of cashews, 50 grams each (Brazilian product–see below for a cashew story)
  • Wooden Christ the Redeemer–a reminder to pray for Brazil– 4-5 inches tall
  • Magnet of Brazilian flag — a reminder to pray for Brazil
  • Vase from porcelain works in Monte  Siâo (Mount Zion) — You can see my photos visiting the porcelain factory.

If your name is the same as one of the winners, you’ll know whether I mean you if you get an email from me. The winner’s commenter names are:

  • Fanny
  • Kat
  • Pamela Nees
  • Susan Lytle
  • Connie
  • Mel

Cashew story . . .

Soon after our daughter-in-law first arrived in the US from Brazil, she was playing the fruit game with a bunch of people. It’s a fast-moving game and C was the letter on her turn. She named the first thing that came to mind–cashew. All the North Americans laughed because they all knew cashew is nut, not a fruit.

But guess who was right? She was. The cashew nuts that we know, are the inside of a lower appendage on the cashew fruit. Cashew juice, made from the fruit is one of the many, many fresh fruit drinks to try in Brazil.

What makes a protein complete?

by noel.piper on October 5, 2011 in South America with 13 Comments

Brazilians have the reputation of being meat-eaters. Statistics put them 2nd behind us in the US. But it seems to me that Brazilians have a lot more conversation than we do about meat, meat, meat.

During a conversation at breakfast about food. . . .

Husband: Beans and rice. Yes. If you eat rice without beans, it just doesn’t seem to have enough body, enough substance.

Wife: They say rice and beans together give us protein as good as meat. . . .

She takes a sip of her coffee.

Wife:  . . . . but just to be sure, we have meat with our rice and beans.

Which reminds me, what foods should we try to have while we’re in Brazil? Answer in the comments to this post, and that enters your name once again for the Mystery Prize from Brazil.

__________

Additional opportunities to add your name into the Mystery Gift drawing are here and here and here.

Jet lag strategy

by noel.piper on September 6, 2011 in Oceania with 1 Comment

My strategy for jet lag is to milk it for all it’s worth for as long as possible. So, since today is just my 2nd full day back home from a 15-hour time zone difference, I must still be pretty much good for nothing, right?

That means I better just take it easy and finish organizing photos from the trip. I’ll let you look over my shoulder to see some Sydney scenes and some Brisbane shots and some favorite food and coffee in Brisbane.

As long as I’m woolly anyway, staying amongst my photos lets me feel like I’m still traveling. (Woolly is one of the useful words we picked up in Australia–fuzzy-headed, muddled).

What’s your jet lag strategy?

Clarification on flat whites–maybe

by noel.piper on August 24, 2011 in Oceania with 4 Comments

You’ll need to read yesterday’s post for this one to make much sense. It’s about coffee-speak in Australia.

I admitted my ignorance about why a flat white (coffee with milk) is called flat. Miss Katie (US) offers an answer and asks another question. Jenny (Australia, I presume) answers her.

So that’s what I think I learned. For the sake of responsible journalism, anyone want to confirm?

You, my faithful readers, are an education for me.

 

More travel miscellany:

We experienced in both Sydney and Brisbane airports something I thought was long-gone in flight history. Non-flying Australian friends accompanied us to the gate for our domestic flight from Sydney and other friends greeted us at the gate when we arrived in Brisbane.

Please . . . 

Make sure your name is entered for the Mystery Prize(s) from Down Under. So far, you can enter up to 3 times–#1 and #2 and #3.