Lights and Mulled Wine… the Holiday Season in Portugal

November 30 was the official kick-off to the holiday season in Porto - the city holiday lights were turned on, the giant tree in front of city hall was lit, a concert in the city hall square where a large stage has been erected and fireworks! The Portuguese take their holidays seriously, always happy to get out and spend time with family and friends.

It’s colder here than in So. California so when the hubby and I went to the Christmas market on Sunday, I went in coat, hat and muffler. By the time we were finished warm gloves as well. At the market I enjoyed a couple of firsts, my first mulled wine (yes, please!) and a special treat called a bombocas, not a cake as I had guessed, but a gooey, marshmellowy filling surrounded by chocolate and sprinkled with coconut. The contrast of the crisp chocolate coating and the gooey center was lovely and lets just say, it’s a good thing they only show up for the holidays or I would be in big trouble!

As we made our way toward the metro station we discovered our favorite nata shop has a second location in Porto - that called for a stop. Pastel de Nata - a yummy custard treat in a flaky pastry shell is the official dessert of Portugal. They are everywhere. I like mine with a dusting of cinnamon. At Manteigaria they make them by hand all day long and they are always fresh, but this was the 1st time I had one so fresh that the filling was still hot, OMG best nata ever!

It was lovely walking through the city seeing all the lights. The streets each have their own designs, ornaments, angels, bows, celestial planets and it is a delight as you move from street to street seeing them festooned. The Aliados metro, near city hall, was our destination but we couldn’t help but stop to enjoy a bit of the free concert taking place on the stage. They were singing pop Christmas songs and everyone from toddlers to grannies were singing and dancing along. I got a few more pictures of the city hall plaza tree and lights then it was time to get back home and curl up with the pups.

Our apartment is small, with almost no flat surfaces, so this year decorating took no time at all - unlike the week or more it took me to do just the inside at my Glendora home. We do have a small tree and I still want to add ornaments (I had a plastic tote box full of my most prized ornaments included in our crates from California) but I’m sure I will get that done this coming weekend.

Baking cookies has been a bit of a challenge, no Nestles chocolate chips or Hershey’s baking chocolate to be found, but I have been testing substitutes and have gotten pretty close to the flavors I remember. I’ll also need to make my cream of mushroom soup for green bean casserole from scratch and the green beans are large and flat…. but we adapt. Life is good here.

I wish you all the joys of the season and a happy new year.