Coxinhas

I was thinking about the food that I miss from Brazil. For example, Brazil has a whole category of food not typically found here, at least not outside of a waiter-carried serving dish from the last wedding you went to. "Salgados". Salgados translates to little salty filled pastries, which is a good description. There are many types, generally all served warm, in all shapes and sizes, with fillings ranging from ground beef, chicken, shimp or heart-of-palm (Brazilians' love heart-of-palm, but I never acquired a taste for it). One kind in particular that I miss is called a "coxinha". A coxinha [pronounced "co-sheen-ya"]is shaped by hand to look like a pear, made of some-sort-of-potato, with shredded chicken inside then deep fried to a golden brown. Not exactly what a sane person would call healthly, but damn tasty nonetheless. The regular size ones are large enough for a between meal snack all by themselves, but there is a mini variety which can be eaten a dozen at a time. The soft potato insides gush out a bit when you bite into one, but that's part of the experience. They are sometimes also stuffed with shrimp or catupiri, Brazilian cream cheese, but I always got the chicken, aka "Coxinha de Frango".

Googled

Google Earth recently updated the resolution on their coverage of Brazil. This was our house (2nd from left, brown roof):



By the way, I'm back. I guess this means I need to update the title of my blog. By the looks of it, it's been almost exactly 1 year since my last post. I have to admit, a lot has happened since the last post, including a few trips to Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, my brother and family visited us in Brazil, as did a good friend a few months later, Macchu Picchu (you may remember Macchu Picchu from grammar school - you know, Peru, Incas, death-defying cliffs), Natal, Foz do Iguaçu, and of course our triumphant(?) return to the States.

A friend of mine over at winebythecolor.blogspot.com has inspired me to at least seriously consider getting back to updating this blog. I just might.

So, if there is anyone out there who actually reads this blog, if you are waiting for the conclusion of our Lagos Andinos story...just wait longer. Maybe I'll post it.