united by love and compassion

Photo of a photo from our album

Today me and Matteo are celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary.

We have many things in common and we're different in many other things. But what made me fall in love with him was his compassion for the animals and the values we share.

As a friend told me today, we're keeping the vegan edge family alive. Hope we're doing it right ;-)

we had a 100% vegan buffet but no photos
this was the cake and the Italian confetti

Love you, husband.

"Cheezy" love crackers

First things first. I know it's not Valentine's Day yet but I don't care. Love is always a good reason to make special things. And also I'm not that used to VD at all. In Brazil the celebration is on June 12th and while me and Matteo were living in Brazil it was the official date to celebrate (although we started to do something on the February 14th as well because it was the right date for him). Since we've moved to Ireland we've inverted things, but still celebrate on both dates. But you know I will always do things for him out of these dates, they are just one more excuse to celebrate.

Now, the crackers. I receive the C'est la Vegan newsletter and this week it brought two main topics: Valentine's Day and Super Bowl Eats and between the links I found the "cheezy crackers". The recipe mentioned in their post is about Celine's "cheezy quackers" recipe (she writes the amazing Have Cake, Will Travel blog that I've been following for a long time). So I decided to give them a try. BUT I am not that kind of person that follow too much the rules and I came up with some changes in the recipe. And because of that I wrote to Celine to ask her the permission to write my version of her recipe. "Go for it!" she said, so here it is:

Cheezy Love Crackers

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup dairy-free/vegan parmesan
(I used Parmazano by Life Free From)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper and garlic
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon dried paprika
1/4 cup vegan margarine
1/4 cup soy milk

Combine flour, pepper & garlic, paprika, salt and parmesan. Cut butter on top, add the milk and combine with your fingers until dough forms.

Preheat oven to 180°C. Roll it out and cut. I used the heart cutter this time. Place crackers on baking sheets. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, depending on thickness. Let them cool and enjoy it!

I made more than 40 crackers and they didn't last too much.

My personal (vegan) chef

This November me and Matteo will celebrate 6 years together (L). And looking back I'm sure that we always shared everything to make our lives easier - and happier. People say that I'm a lucky woman and I know I am. But I think that having a guy at home that helps out with the daily stuff is not that hard to find anymore (or at least, shouldn't be!). And because this blog is all about the (vegan) food, I'll limit the post to the cooking. Me and Matteo always shared the cooking at home. He's great in some kind of food, I'm good in other things and sometimes the restaurants are the best place to be. And now that I'm staying out all day to work and study, he's cooking more than never.

Last Sunday we were watching a Jamie Oliver TV show. I have to say that as a vegan I almost hate him, but he's a good chef and when I see him doing vegetarian (and also vegan) dishes I try to get all the good tips and use them. We watched three of four episodes and Matteo was very excited after it. On Monday he went to the supermarket and bought tons of stuff to cook as a real chef ("better than Jamie Oliver, cause I'm vegan!" - his words, couldn't agree more).

When I got back from College on Monday night I had this waiting for me:

Focaccia sandwich with artichokes, sun dried tomatoes, olives and fried polenta cubes

Chocolate cake + yogurt berries ice cream

None of these pictures are good enough to show how good everything was and I had even more amazing food on Tuesday, but I didn't take the pictures (was too hungry to think about them, sorry!).

It's really amazing to have someone to share love and passions and important choices like the veganism.

Today I didn't have classes and I baked some tomato rosemary scones, from Isa Chandra's book Vegan Brunch. Yep, it was my turn and my chance to say thanks to this amazing guy ;-)

I believe in love

Today is our 4th anniversary! It's unbelievable how fast time is passing. I still remember all the details of that day. The most beautiful day of my life.

I am not a religious person but me and Matteo decided to get married in the church as well. At the time it seemed to be the best thing to do to our families and it was 100% worth it. Everybody that was important to us was there and it was amazing! We had a small party after the ceremony with a vegan menu (including the cake) and the food was just perfect.

But the most important thing today is to celebrate these 4 years. I don't believe in marriage in the way some people do. I don't think that the law or the church can change two people's lives. I believe in love. Signing a piece of paper or talking in front of a priest didn't change nothing in my life. I was married before and it didn't work, so I could just give up. But I didn't. I still believe that living with someone you love more than everything is the best way to spend your life. I believe that this relationship between two people is really amazing. It's not always easy, but it's totally worth it. I don't believe that the law or the church make a marriage. Love, respect and friendship are the ingredients. And you must take care of this every single day. It will be enough, I promise. I don't understand how people think that getting married could change the relationship. I do believe that moving together changes a lot of things. But if you learn how to live and be happy with the person you love, you are already married.

Today I'm celebrating this amazing day and all the memories that it bring to my mind.

Matteo, thanks for being my husband. The love of my life.

My day to say thanks!

We don't celebrate Thanksgiving in Brazil and neither in Europe, so yesterday was almost a normal day, except that it was a holiday for my husband that works for an American company :)

But today, in my small selfish world, is my day to say THANKS.

In the 27th of November of 2004 an Italian guy started to own my heart. Five years later he is the most important person in my life. My boyfriend, my husband, my best friend.

November 27th . 2007

Matteo, thank you for these 5 years. Thank you for all good memories. Thank you for all the dreams that we have. Thank you for sharing with me your life, your values, you. Thanks for being my partner in everything.

PS. I love you.