Fall Fashions

Posted in Beauty & Style by listen2mama

Once again, my beautiful daughter decided to jump on the blog bandwagon and helped me out with this post. We both love the Fall season and she particularly loves fall fashions (boots, cozy sweaters, etc.) But since we live in Miami, we rarely get a chance to wear any of these items (although may folks here break out their coats when the temperature hits 70)! Browsing through Pinterest and several fashion blogs we follow, she came up with this great list of Fall must-haves, take a look:

Ray-Ban Erika Sunglasses, $115; www.jcrew.com Loving these sunglasses, the perfect accessory for this outfit.
Anthropologie Split Shade Purse, $388; www.anthropologie.com Not sure this awesome bag is still available, but browse their website for many other beautiful Fall bags.
Turtle Neck Openwork Solid Color Sweater, $20; www.zaful.com This great cozy turtleneck is perfect for a walk through the city, not too heavy, just right for Fall.
UGG Bailey Button Suede Boots in Chestnut, $165; www.uggaustralia.com Does it get any cozier than UGGs??? My daughter and I love them!
J Brand Mulberry Mid-Rise Jeans, $188; www.jbrandjeans.com Great looking pair of jeans, available in other colors too.
Go On Today Drape Cardigan, $27; www.cupshe.com I absolutely love the look of this draped cardigan, and also the color.
Stila Eternal Love Liquid Lipstick Set, $20; www.stilacosmetics.com I am a huge fan of Stila cosmetics and have a lot of their lipstick, blush and eye shadow sets. I really love this set with the gorgeous Fall colors.
Starbucks Toasted Graham Latte, available during the Fall at all Starbucks! Not a fashion item, but who doesn’t love the Starbucks Fall drinks? My new favorite is perfect for this time of year, graham and sweet cream, combined with steamed milk and espresso, finished with a sprinkling of cinnamon graham crumbles. Absolutely yummy, and of course in the Fall themed cup!

What are some of your favorite Fall fashion must-haves? I’d love to hear….

10Nov2015

National Vanilla Cupcake Day

Posted in Food & Recipes by listen2mama

So today is National Vanilla Cupcake Day…celebrated each year on November 10. Now, if you follow my blog, (and I hope you do), you know that I love cupcakes and have featured a few other cupcake shops before. However, in honor of this “holiday”, today I would like to introduce you to The Cupcake Shoppe Bakery, Raleigh’s first and finest cupcake boutique and bakery. I had the pleasure of living in Raleigh for 5 years and can I say, there are many great cupcake shops in this city, but no one makes a yummier vanilla cupcake than this place. We always pop in and get some cupcakes on all our visits back to Raleigh. When you first walk in, you are usually greeted by 12-15 different cupcake varieties with fun names like “What’s Up Doc?” (carrot cake with cinnamon cream cheese icing), “Mint Condition” (chocolate cake with mint buttercream), and “Cookie Monster” (vanilla cake with Oreo buttercream). They also feature flavors of the week. My favorite was always “Pretty in Pink” (fresh strawberry cake with strawberry buttercream), but my entire family’s favorite was always the “Plain Jane” (simple vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream).

The Plain Jane…so yummy!

The Cupcake Shoppe Bakery believes in small batch baking and providing top quality sweets with no shortcuts. Oh and their open kitchen concept allows visitors to watch the staff at work (my daughter always got a kick out of that). Whether piping away on a tray of freshly baked cupcakes, or mixing up a homemade batch of cookies, the shop is both a delight for the young and old.

Oh and if cupcakes are not your thing, you can also feast on their homemade brownies, truffles, cookies, breakfast muffins, and marshmallows. And I should mention that they also make the prettiest custom cakes and cupcakes around, for all types of occasions, look at these beauties:

So when you visit Raleigh, make sure you stop by this adorable little cupcake shop. I guarantee you will be back for more!

The Cupcake Shoppe Bakery in Raleigh , NC

The Cupcake Shoppe Bakery
104 Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh
919.821.4223
http://www.thecupcakeshopperaleigh.com

Have you been to The Cupcake Shoppe Bakery? If so, I’d love to hear what you liked most.

3Nov2015

The Cookie Dough Cafe

Posted in Food & Recipes by listen2mama

I don’t know about all of you (although I can take a guess), but my family loves raw cookie dough so much that when we buy the package at our local super market, half the product does not make it on to the cookie sheet. And yes, we’ve all heard of the dangers of getting salmonella by eating raw cookie dough, but does anyone ever really listen to that? Well, luckily for us cookie dough lovers, there’s a new product in town that will let us enjoy all the raw cookie dough we desire, without the worries.

The Cookie Dough Café has created a delicious cookie dough product that can be eaten like ice cream but contains no raw eggs, it is actually meant to be eaten raw right out of the cookie jar, not cooked. What??? Yes, sister entrepreneurs Joan Pacetti and Julia Schmid have created what we’ve all been dreaming of since childhood…edible cookie dough. The product was featured on Shark Tank (hubby loves watching this show) and its success led the products to be sold through many dining locations, select grocery stores, and online. Oh yeah, and it comes in 4 different flavors. Chocolate Chip, Cookies & Cream, Monster (natural peanut butter and oats loaded with chocolate chips and M&Ms) and last but certainly not last, Naked Dough, for the non-chocolate lovers (I’ve never met one but OK). They also offer 3 gluten-free flavors, Peanut Butter, Creamy Oatmeal Raisin and Chocolate Chip.

Four different flavors available.

You can purchase it in pint size and keep it refrigerated or you can also buy the single serve cookie dough cups, that come in a pack of 4 (these are great for a lunchbox treat on special days).

Pack of 4 single serving cups.

To find other product locations, or to check out other cookie dough flavors, visit the Cookie Dough Cafe website at www.thecookiedoughcafe.com.

Do you love raw cookie dough? Have you tried The Cookie Dough Cafe? I’d love to hear your thoughts…

19Oct2015

The Intern

Posted in Entertainment by listen2mama

I love any movie Anne Hathaway is in, (I’m a huge fan of The Devil Wears Prada, have watched it over 20 times with my daughter). So when I saw the commercials for The Intern, I knew I had to see it. The Intern is a comedy that stars Anne Hathaway as Jules Ostin, the founder of a fashion based e-commerce company who hires Ben Whitaker (Robert De Niro), a 70-year old widower bored with retirement, as her intern. Ben is seeking something more in his life. “There’s a hole in my life and I need to fill it,” Ben explains in the opening narration of The Intern. “I still have music in me,” he adds.

So naturally, after coming across a flyer seeking senior interns for the company Jules runs, Ben simply cannot contain his excitement and decides to apply as an intern. The company, About the Fit, is ironically seeking people with a lifetime of experience instead of kids who have spent the last four years updating their Facebook status and getting drunk at frat parties. So naturally, Ben is perfect. Of course he gets the internship after an interesting interview process (being asked at age 70, “What do you see yourself doing in 10 years?)” and that’s when the film takes off.

The plot revolves mainly around Jules, how she must figure out how to balance being the owner of her company while preserving her personal life as well. It’s told from Ben’s perspective, as he is her intern, and very quickly figures out her life. As can be expected, they form a great friendship based on loyalty and trust, a partnership where both learn a lot from each other.

Wouldn’t you enjoy working in this environment? Photo Courtesy of http://www.theinternmovie.com

The Intern was written and directed by Nancy Meyers who is well-known for “What Women Want,” “Something’s Gotta Give,” and “It’s Complicated. Yes, you may be thinking that it’s a chick flick, but I personally love chick flicks. This one deals with the world of work, retirement, millennials in the new workforce vs. the old school workplace. In my opinion, the message in this movie is that a lot can be learned and shared between generations. In today’s world, many think the older generation is just not “with it” simply because they don’t know how to use the latest smart phone or don’t have a twitter account. Yet this film shows us that there are still many things that the older generation can teach the so called “millennials”, that simply can’t be learned from the internet.

Photo courtesy of http://www.theinternmovie.com

I will say, although I really enjoyed this film, after all I love anything these two actors are in, I did find it a bit slow at times. Having said that, I still think it was a great “feel good” film and I recommend you go check it out if you haven’t had a chance yet.

Have you watched The Intern? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

12Oct2015

Radiant Rhodes

Posted in Travel & Adventure by listen2mama

Rhodes, (Rodos) is one of the most beautiful of the Greek Islands. Situated in the gorgeous Aegean Sea and the largest of the Dodecanese islands, it’s actually closer to Turkey than it is to mainland Greece. We have traveled to Greece several times, primarily to Athens, Mykonos and Santorini, and somehow had never made it to Rhodes, until last summer. And boy am I glad we finally made it.

To begin with, out hotel was magnificent. Rhodes was the last segment of our 17 day trip and we were exhausted from so much sightseeing, not to mention the August heat. After extensive research (like we typically do), we decided to stay at the Atrium Platinum Hotel in Rhodes Town. This place was gorgeous from the moment you walk through the lobby and we had the luck of getting upgraded to an Executive Family Suite which had a sea view and a personal pool on the balcony! The room itself was super spacious and our daughter had her own bedroom and bathroom. The beds were so comfortable we had a hard time leaving the room after our nap. The breakfast buffet in the mornings offered everything you could possibly imagine, my hubby’s favorite being the crepe station with all sorts of toppings, especially melted white chocolate! However, if you’re planning on having dinner in the restaurant, men have to wear a jacket and pants (no shorts), and since we packed light for this island trip, we couldn’t have dinner there. Not a big deal for us though, we rarely have dinner at our hotels, as we love to explore and find recommended places in town. And the hotel’s main pool is amazing. My daughter never wanted to leave. Also worth mentioning is the mini-mart by the pool, selling everything from food and suntan lotions to souvenirs. Extremely convenient and less expensive than ordering from the poolside café, which took 30 minutes to bring us cold drinks. And if the beach is more your thing, just cross the street and enjoy the water. Take a look at this:

The pool at the Atrium Platinum

The Atrium Platinum Hotel

Crepes with white and milk chocolate.

Our daughter enjoying the heated private pool on our balcony.

The Old Medieval Town of Rhodes, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the oldest continuously inhabited medieval town in Europe. To wander through the town is a unique experience for all to enjoy, since it’s mostly a pedestrian area, with streets full of shops and restaurants. Although the back streets are mostly residential, particularly in the Jewish Quarter. The town is surrounded by medieval walls with several gates as entry points, most folks enter through Marine Gate, the main entrance to the town from the harbor. Inside of these walls are roughly 200 streets or lanes that simply have no name. However, in my opinion, getting lost and wandering around the streets is half the fun. It reminds me of the winding streets of Mykonos, which also have no rhyme or reason.

The entrance through Marine Gate.

The largest shopping streets appear to be Orffeos, Socratous and Aristotelous. Orffeos Street is a wide road with tourist shops and restaurants near the Gate of Saint Anthony, which connects with Socratous Street, the main shopping street of the old town. This becomes Aristotelous Street when you get to Ippokratous Square, the main square in front of Marine Gate, which surrounds a modest Castellania fountain, and is framed by the old Chadrevan mosque on the west and the Palace of the Castellan on the east. All around, coffee shops and restaurants are bustling with tourists hanging around, eating ice cream, sipping drinks and snapping a million photographs.

Shopping on Orffeos Street

More shopping streets

Shops on Socratous Street with the Suleiman Mosque in the background.

My daughter not knowing where to go next?

Beautiful ceramic hand painted crosses

After touring the sites of the old town, you might want to walk around the walls, which is a remarkable example of a fully intact medieval structure, although it can be viewed from just walking around the outside. Here are a few more photos for your enjoyment:

The d’Amboise Gate

The beautiful Suleiman Mosque, located on top of the town's hill at the end of Socratous street.

Beautiful Suleiman Mosque, located on the town’s hill at the end of Socratous street.

Ippokratous Square, the main commercial hub of the old town.

Gorgeous ceramic pottery sold at various stores.

St. Catherine’s Gate

The beautiful fountain on Ippokratous Square

Beautiful building behind us.

Another view of the shops.

A view of the harbor from St. Catherine’s gate.

A view of one of the island’s beaches.

View of the Acropolis of Rhodes from the taxi.

I would also strongly recommend if time permits, to take a day trip to Lindos and to also visit the nearby island of Symi. Unfortunately we ran out of time, but both places are high on our bucket list when we return to Rhodes. And don’t worry about driving if you aren’t renting a car, there are plenty of bus and ferry excursions available.

Have you been to Rhodes or any of the other Greek islands? I would love to hear what you enjoyed most…

6Oct2015

Think Pink

Posted in Beauty & Style by listen2mama

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a post dedicated to my beautiful mother, mother-in-law and sister, all brave women who have fought and won their battles against this awful disease. Here is my annual favorite pink products list, and I should mention all of these companies donate a portion of their proceeds to breast cancer foundations and research, so please support them when you can. Take a look at some of these goodies:

Coach Women’s Breast Cancer Awareness Stainless Steel Charm Bracelet Watch; $295 www.macys.com From October through December 2015, 10% of the proceeds from sales will go to support the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
Ralph Lauren Pink Pony Collection, Pink Pony Soft Ricky 27 bag; $2,250 (yes, I know, a bit pricey) www.ralphlauren.com 25% of the purchase price of Pink Pony products benefits the Pink Pony Fund of the Polo Ralph Lauren Foundation to support programs for screening, early diagnosis, treatment, research and patient navigation. Internationally, a network of local charities benefits from the sales of Pink Pony products.
Marimekko Galleria Scarf; $129 www.marimekko.com Marimekko will donate $25 from the sale of every Galleria scarf from October 1-December 31, 2015 to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation with a guaranteed minimum donation of $10,000.
Bobbi Brown Breast Cancer Awareness Peony Set; $50 www.bobbibrowncosmetics.com Bobbi Brown will donate $12 of every sale to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
Ralph Lauren Pink Pony Collection, Pink Pony Racerback Tank; $68 www.ralphlauren.com
Clinique ‘Great Skin, Great Cause-Dramatically Different’ Moisturizing Lotion+; $38 www.clinique.com Clinique will donate $10 from the purchase of this product to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
Aveda Limited-Edition Hand Relief Moisturizing Creme with Calming Shampure Aroma; $26 www.aveda.com $4 of purchase price supports cruelty-free research through The Breast Cancer Research Foundation from 9/27/15-9/24/16. Maximum donation of $314,000 to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation to support research focusing on environmental and life style factors that possibly affect risk of breast cancer.
C.O. Bigelow Freesia Scented Candle; $42, www.bigelowchemists.com 10% of all sales will be donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
Tweezerman ‘Precision in Pink’ Neon Classic Lash Curler (Limited Edition); $14 www.nordstrom.com A portion of the proceeds from the sale of each curler will be donated to breast cancer organizations.

Many of these items are available in various other colors, but this month, it’s all about PINK! Have you bought any Pink items to support the fight against breast cancer recently?

28Sep2015

Beautiful Ruins

Posted in Books by listen2mama

Continuing with my book reviews, here’s my next pick…

Beautiful Ruins, a New York Times Bestseller, immediately caught my eye (I was judging a book by its cover, literally.) But who can blame me with that magnificent photo of the Italian coastline. I figured this was something I would be interested in as I have a slight obsession with Italy. This was the first novel I’ve read by Jess Walter, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I must say I really enjoyed it. I’m looking forward to reading a few more of his books. Beautiful Ruins is the story of an almost-love affair that begins on the Italian coast in 1962…and is rekindled in Hollywood fifty years later. This book has romance, drama, a beautiful setting, and tells a great story.

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter (synopsis from Goodreads)

The story begins in 1962. On a rocky patch of the sun-drenched Italian coastline, a young innkeeper, chest-deep in daydreams, looks out over the incandescent waters of the Ligurian Sea and spies an apparition: a tall, thin woman, a vision in white, approaching him on a boat. She is an actress, he soon learns, an American starlet, and she is dying.

And the story begins again today, half a world away, when an elderly Italian man shows up on a movie studio’s back lot—searching for the mysterious woman he last saw at his hotel decades earlier.

What unfolds is a dazzling, yet deeply human, roller coaster of a novel, spanning fifty years and nearly as many lives. From the lavish set of Cleopatra to the shabby revelry of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Walter introduces us to the tangled lives of a dozen unforgettable characters: the starstruck Italian innkeeper and his long-lost love; the heroically preserved producer who once brought them together and his idealistic young assistant; the army veteran turned fledgling novelist and the rakish Richard Burton himself, whose appetites set the whole story in motion—along with the husbands and wives, lovers and dreamers, superstars and losers, who populate their world in the decades that follow.

Gloriously inventive, constantly surprising, Beautiful Ruins is a story of flawed yet fascinating people, navigating the rocky shores of their lives while clinging to their improbable dreams.

Well, there you have it…so, pickup a copy of Beautiful Ruins or download it to your e-reader, and enjoy this great story.

Have you read any good books lately? I love suggestions!

21Sep2015

Sanibel Shopping

Posted in Beauty & Style, Travel & Adventure by listen2mama

Sanibel is one of my favorite places to visit for a quick, relaxing vacation. Living in Miami, we have the luxury of being less than a 3 hour ride away, so we take advantage of this, and spend many weekends (sometimes even day trips) in Sanibel. If you’re not familiar with the area, Sanibel is a barrier island located near Fort Myers off the Southwest Florida Gulf Coast. The island has a laid-back tropical, Caribbean feel that also offers breathtaking sunsets, great eateries (my favorite being The Island Cow) and fantastic shopping. It’s no wonder Sanibel was recently named the #1 family-friendly vacation spot in the country during NBC’s Today show. We love everything about the island and while we also enjoy visiting Naples and Marco Island, Sanibel remains our favorite. It’s so relaxed and cozy, I just love to spend my days on the white sand beaches collecting shells or riding bike through the adorable streets with the beautiful houses, and finishing off the day with a great meal and some fun shopping. And if you’re looking for beachy themed and preppy stores (think Lily Pulitzer, Vineyard Vines and Spirit Jersey), look no further. On our last trip it rained pretty heavily, so I had hubby take me from shop to shop (after all, I had to make use of my time there). Here are my favorite stores on this amazing little island.

FantaSea
2075 Periwinkle Way, #37
239.395.3300
www.fantaseasshells.com

This has to be the store that I loved most on my last trip. Everything in this shop is beach themed, including gorgeous bedding, scented candles, bath & body products, clothing, home accessories….you name it. Simply gorgeous, both the items sold and the store layout. Trust me, once you walk into this place, you will convince yourself you need to by a beach house and completely decorate it with items found here. Take a look at these…

I just had to buy the wooden sign and add it to my beach life collection on my windowsill.

Naples Soap Company
2075 Periwinkle Way
239.312.4236
www.naplessoap.com

So lately I have been coming across so many new soap, bath and body products stores (I have blogged about a few already). And I can’t help it, I love them all. On this last trip to Sanibel I came across The Naples Soap Company, offering all sorts of sea salt scrubs, bath bombs (I love those), olive oil soaps, body butters and shampoo and conditioner bars. Their soaps are all hand made in the US, and they use quality ingredients, which are all vegan-based, eco-friendly, and never tested on animals. Well, all of this sounds terrific, but all I know is that I bought my daughter a lavender lime bath bomb, which was literally…the bomb. The scent was amazing and she loved her bath. I also splurged on a Lavender Vanilla Sea Salt Scrub, which I just fell in love with.

Sand Castle Gifts & Gourmet
2075 Periwinkle Way, #20
239.472.2201
www.sandcastlegiftsgourmet.com

When you walk into Sand Castle Gifts & Gourmet you are immediately drawn in by the spicy scent, a result of their Sand Castle Seasonings, party dip mixes and seasoning blends, made in small batches on Sanibel, and sold exclusively in this store. This terrific little shop also sells many other Floridian treats like coconut patties, salt water taffy, Tortuga rum cakes, local honey and drink mixes in beautiful gift packaging. They also sell adorable coastal themed home accessories and gifts such as tumblers, kitchen towels, mugs and beach bags. You can’t miss this place.

I had to by one of these starfish kitchen towels, so cute!

Gifts for all!

Three Crafty Ladies
1628 Periwinkle Way
239.472.2893
www.threecraftyladies.com

OK, so I am super crafty, but sewing and knitting have unfortunately never been my thing. I can barely sew a button on. However, when I came across this beautiful shop, (the name of course caught my eye), I just had to stop in. The store had an incredible and unique selection of quilting fabrics, sewing notions, cross stitch patterns, scrapbooking papers, paints & canvases, arts and crafts supplies and so much more! They specialize in high-quality cotton fabrics, including a large selection of batiks and tropical prints. And if you have time and love to craft, drop by and create one of their Make-it-and-Take-it Souvenir Crafts, available most Thursdays from 10:00-4:00! I actually found some very unique Sanibel and Captiva scrapbooking papers that I had never seen anywhere else. Definitely a place to make a stop at, especially if you enjoy sewing.

My daughter, being the crafter that she is, loving this store!

Sanibel Island Bookshop, Jewelry & Boutique
1571 Periwinkle Way
239.472.5223
www.sanibelbookshop.com

The Sanibel Island bookshop carries a large selection of books, many by local authors, of which I picked up a few and can’t wait to read and review on the blog soon. They also carry some exclusive lines of jewelry, including Trollbeads, Kameleon and Lovelinks, as well as, Lindsay Phillips switchflops, Spartina bags, candles, toys and stationery items. Definitely a very unique bookshop, as their tagline says “A Great Place To Be Stranded”. Also worthy of a mention is MacIntosh Books & Paper.

Beautiful notebooks and journals for sale.

Many books by local authors.

Fresh Produce Sportswear
2075 Periwinkle Way, #33
239.395.1839
www.freshproduceclothes.com

This is one of the many locations of Fresh Produce Sportswear stores, offering fun, coastal designs and also a great selection of jewelry and Vera Bradley products (you know how much I love VB). Make sure to check them out when you’re visiting all of these great stores of Periwinkle Place. Also worth a mention, Simply Boutique, a few doors down from here, selling Lily Pulitzer, Spirit Jersey and various other accessories and clothing.

Great Vera Bradley selections at Fresh Produce.

Jerry’s Foods
1700 Periwinkle Way
239.472.9300
www.jerrysfoods.com

This is a charming grocery store, which anchors Jerry’s Shopping Center, also on Periwinkle Way, (most everything in Sanibel is located on Periwinkle Way), and it’s only one of two supermarkets on the island. The shopping center has a pretty courtyard, which offers outdoor seating for the eateries and also houses some gorgeous tropical birds in some very large cages, which attract a ton of attention from the tourists. You will also find some great shops in here, but the market is the main attraction. Oh, and inside the market, there is a café, serving local favorites such as the Grouper Sandwich. But what cannot be missed is their famous Jerry’s Key Lime Pie, voted the best in all of Sanibel, and trust me, I tried it and it’s got my vote as well.

The courtyard with outdoor seating in Jerry’s Shopping Center

One of the many tropical birds outside in the courtyard.

Jerry’s Cafe Interior; the best Key Lime Pie in Sanibel!

H2O Outfitters (Jerry’s Shopping Center)
1700 Periwinkle Way, #2
239.472.4717
www.beachstuffinc.com

Conveniently located inside of Jerry’s Shopping Center you will find H2O Outﬁtters, carrying a complete collection of apparel, accessories, swimwear and jewelry. Some of the premier clothing lines include Tommy Bahama, Tori Richards, Columbia, Billabong, Quicksilver, Life is Good, and the famous Spirit Jerseys (my daughter loved her Sanibel one). Definitely stop in if you’re looking for some good quality t-shirts and beach accessories. Owned by the same company, check out Beach Life in Chadwick’s Square, directly across from the South Seas Island Resort in Captiva, for additional brands from Lily Pulitzer and Vineyard Vines.

H2O Outfitters, photo courtesy of Beach Life.

H2O Outfitters, photo courtesy of BeachStuff Inc.

Sanibel Spirit Jersey

No matter what you like to shop for, I am sure you will find it in Sanibel. Have you ever visited Sanibel? I’d love to hear which shops you enjoyed most.

14Sep2015

Things Moms Say…

Posted in Family by listen2mama

I recently came across this list on nickmom.com and I just had to share. Our daughter is 14 and I still find myself saying many these things almost on a daily basis! Of course I have been referred to as a helicopter mom, but I’m curious….am I alone on this??

11048609_10152646592556216_865594920384740501_n

Photo courtesy of nickmom.com

7Sep2015

Pasteis de Belem

Posted in Food & Recipes, Travel & Adventure by listen2mama

My family and I recently visited the gorgeous Portuguese capital city of Lisbon on our summer vacation. I promise a full post on this stunning place very soon, but today I would like to share one of our favorite memories from this trip….the cream custards found all over the city, the famous pasteis de nata. Let me start off by saying that we all love sweets in my family, but oh my….the moment I tasted these warm custard mini pies…I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Being Cuban, I have had my share of pasteles in my life, but I guarantee you, these were something quite different.

The yummy pasteis de nata

Pasteis de nata, traditional Portuguese custard tarts, are everywhere. All the cafes and bakeries have them, and in both of the hotels where we stayed at, they were a staple in the breakfast buffet. It is a common sight to see the locals enjoying their pasteis with their cafe in the morning. However, if you are looking for the absolute best ones in town (even considered the best by the Portuguese themselves, as our taxi driver was telling us), you must pick up some pasteis at Pasteis de Belem, a bakery in nearby Belem that’s been making these treats since 1837 when monks from the neighboring Mosteiro dos Jeronimos started selling them as a means of making money (their history is quite interesting and can be found on their website). The cafe is usually bustling with tons of tourists just waiting in line (yes there is a line outside most of the time, but it moves rather quickly), to order their delectable pasteis. Once I tasted these, I understood what makes them so famous. While most of the other pasteis throughout the city were also delicious, (they truly are sold everywhere), these were simply perfect. The flakiness and crispiness of the crust combined with the smooth, warm and creamy egg flavored custard was just divine. Oh and if you first look at them and think you got a burned one, do not worry, the tops are slightly burned so the sugar caramelizes. Some folks like to sprinkle cinnamon or powdered sugar on top, but I just ate my plain, I truly wanted to savor the flavor of these heavenly tarts everyone was talking about.

The lines of tourists and locals outside of Pasteis de Belem in Lisboa…

All I can say is thank goodness we walked for miles everyday in Lisbon, because we were eating these pasteis on a daily basis, and boy are we glad we experienced that slice of heaven.

Other delicious pastries and snacks sold in the cafe.

Pasteis with a cafe.

Pasteis de Belem, Lisboa

Interior of the cafe. Photo courtesy of Maisturismo News.

Have you ever tasted the famous Portuguese pasteis de nata? I would love to know your thoughts.

Listen2Mama

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Author Archives: listen2mama

Fall Fashions

National Vanilla Cupcake Day

The Intern

Radiant Rhodes

Think Pink

Beautiful Ruins

Sanibel Shopping

Things Moms Say…

Pasteis de Belem

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