Custard with Port Wine Sauce

Oh my, how things have changed. When I created this blog, it was in large part to give myself a challenge. Things are slower here in Portugal than they were in my action-packed workaholic US life, so cooking Portuguese food, taking pictures of it, and writing about my attempts was a fun new hobby and filled many quiet hours.

Now, as the mother of a ten-week old, I shake my head nostalgically at the thought of those quiet hours.

Bottles and blender... Port and high chair.  Counter space has suddenly gotten tighter around here.

We have a brand new baby in the house, an adorable tiny boy who keeps us in constant motion and fills our kitchen with things like bottles and play chairs with five point harnesses. He is also adept at filling my hours from dawn until dusk and through to dawn again, making it hard to carve out time to cook new things and even harder to find time to take pictures and thoughtfully blog.

This weekend, though, Bacalhau Boy took charge of the baby for a few hours while I shut the kitchen door and-- like any good Portuguese mom-- pulled out a bottle of Port wine. (For cooking purposes only, of course.)

The High Price of Good Bacalhau

Lily the kitty loves bacalhau, too. (Or is that fear in her eyes?)

It may seem strange for a blog called The Bacalhau Chronicles not to feature bacalhau in every post. After all, if my goal is to cook 365 different bacalhau recipes, why do I only cook it once or twice a month?

Erm... good question. There are two solid answers to this one.

1. I am growing to like bacalhau more and more. It is a learning project for my tastebuds which I am embracing and appreciating. But I am not ready to eat bacalhau every day, not even in the name of blog science.

2. It is very expensive stuff.

Fresh Peach Pie

I believe in happy accidents. Especially when they lead to fresh pie.

Bacalhau com Grão

Hello? Remember me? Bacalhau blogger who went missing for a few months? I feel horrible about my long absence, but I have an excuse for at least four months of it. Morning sickness.

That's right, a Bacalhau Baby is on the way, and for quite a long while the little munchkin made it impossible for me to eat anything normal. Cooking? What's that? Bacalhau Boy ate a lot of frozen meals and a lot of pizza while I tried to keep nausea at bay with plain pasta, bread, and any fizzy drink I could stomach. Good times!

Thankfully, that has passed and I am feeling great. In fact, I am getting good and pudgy and ready to make up for lost time by cooking and eating as many good things as possible.

Included on that list of good things: a delicious meal of Bacalhau com Grão, or saltcod with chickpeas.