The Spaghetti Luncheon A Ticket for Two

I’ve found myself adulting a little too hard. I’ve been working my 9-5, and then going to class, tutoring every other day, then going to work on Saturdays. This is what a ton of people do every day, but ME, nah, I’m having a mini crisis right now. I’m too young to be acting this grown! So when I went to tutor one of my Brazilian friends Lidia (pronounced lee-jyuh or lee-dya, depending on your accent), she mentioned that she was having lunch at her on-campus apartment on Saturday. A big lunch, if you recall, is a pretty Brazilian thing to do, so even though I planned on going to work that Saturday, I really, really wanted to go.
So around 12pm, after being at work for about three hours, I decided to get in my car and head out.
When I walk in, Lidia and her friend Sandra are hard at work cooking in the kitchen.

Lidia and Sandra

Lidia was working on the sobremesas, desserts. Meanwhile, Diogo (pronounced jee-oh-gu dee-oh-gu, depending on your accent), was hard at work “helping.”

Lidia and Diogo

See? He blended the ingredients for the spaghetti sauce.

(and I helped with the noodles!)

Lidia was especially worried about her desserts. She made pudim de coco (poo-jeem jee coco), or… maybe better known as in the US coconut flan. I told you this would be the all coconut summer, and the idea of pudim de coco was all I needed to hear to get excited for dessert. Lidia wasn’t too sure though.

She was upset because the bundt pan that she used to make the flan somewhat destroyed its proper form.

She got over it once she tasted it though!

We played tunes throughout the cooking and eating process from Lidia’s laptop.

We broke out the lemonade and chowed down on spaghetti.

And it was great! Sandra was testing a recipe from memory that her family makes, it included a habanero pepper! It was great. The perfect kind of spicy.

Later, Lidia decided to bring out her desserts.

This is gelatina de espuma, or… jelly mousse/foam? Lidia came to prefer the name, “bubble jelly.” It’s essentially a jell-o top -with bubbles,
it adds a different texture to it- and a cream base. It was delicious.

This is me attempting to eat it with all the class and fanciness I’m capable of.

And next was the pudim,

I LOVED IT. Kudos Lidia, both desserts were wonderful!

So yes, that was that. I was super happy that I took the time away from worrying about my job, and enjoyed a Saturday. And to top it off, I spent the time with good people, good food, and good conversation.