Roasted Pumpkin Seeds & Roasted Cubed Squash

I've previously written about baking squash halves. Often, I'm in the more in the mood for roasted squash cubes than for pureed baked squash, but peeling squash can be a pain. I wanted to roast a small pumpkin that we grew in our garden. I found an old plastic peeler in the back of the drawer that was easier to use as the peeler blade was less offset from the handle. I peeled it, then cut it into cubes, sprayed it with a little oil and salt and roasted at 400 for 35 min, stirring a couple of time during the roast. 

Ready to peel and cube

We enjoy roasted pumpkin seeds. Here is a classic recipe we've been using.

Pumpkin Pie Seeds

• 1 c pumpkin seeds, rinsed and dried
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 6 tsp sugar (I often reduce this)
• 1 Tbsp oil

Spread seeds in a single layer on a large baking sheet and roast them in a 250 oven for 45 min or until the seeds are completely dry and lightly browned (large seeds may take slightly longer). In a large bowl stir together the spice, salt and 2 tsp of the sugar. Heat oil in a large skillet over med-high heat. Add the seeds and the rest of the sugar to the skillet, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until the the sugar melts, about 45 seconds. Scrape the seeds into the bowl with the spice mixture and stir to coat.

Portugal and Viking Cruise on the Rhine

We flew to Amsterdam Thursday night and had a connecting flight to Lisbon. Our first flight was delayed, and because we hadn't booked the flights through the same airline/together, we had to figure out new flights to Lisbon and pay for them (there goes an extra $1,200). Oh well, we made it to Lisbon, picked up our rental car, found the AirBnB and secured groceries for breakfast. Meg and Ben landed and joined us a few hours later. Now it was 11 PM on Friday and folks were hungry, so Meg and Ben looked up the doner kebab neighborhood on Google Maps. The streets were filled with young people drinking and carousing- it almost had a Bourbon Street vibe.

Waiting for our food outside of Hunger Station. Andy ordered the "Big Daddy"

On Saturday, we started with a Rick Steves' self-guided tour, then Andy hired a tuk tuk to take us around with a driver that cracked jokes and disparaged the traditional Fado music style.

Checking out the local seafood displays

Santa Justa lift

Our tuk tuk driver

We enjoyed late afternoon coffee/happy hour at Ludo's where we first tried (and loved) vinho verde. 

Ludo's

We stumbled into a parade celebrating different kinds of ceremonial masks.

Back at the AirBnB, Andy opted to rest and the three of us walked to Manteigaria for the local pastéis de nata. We ended up standing in front of the glass bakery area watching the bakers for almost 45 min, mesmerized. During that time we had to go back for a second round of the warm and delicious custard tarts.

Our first batch

Our second batch

When we got back to the AirBnB, Andy had researched a good restaurant for dinner, and we enjoyed delicious grilled fish, as well as a pitcher of vinho verde on tap.

Two orders of "mixed grilled fish for two" at Duque

On Sunday we packed our things into the rental car and started to head north out of Lisbon, stopping at the Ancient Art Museum.

We all have a great appreciation for Hieronymus Bosch 

We drove to Belem, where we admired the Belem Tower and the Jeronimos monastery (from the outside as the lines were hours-long) and tested the quality of the pastéis de nata in Belem.

Belem tower

Jeronimos Monastery

pastéis de nata in Belem

We drove on to Ericeira, where we stayed in an AirBnB with a view of the ocean. The Vikings were playing at Noon in the US (6PM for us) so we went to the grocery store and bought hamburger patties, frozen french fries, salad and (of course) Magnum ice cream bars. I cooked and we enjoyed the game.

AirBnB balcony

Monday we drove to Sintra where we toured the National Palace and the Moorish Castle. In the afternoon we hit the beach where the three joined a couple of volleyball games. We ate a lovely dinner with a variety of small dishes.

Sintra National Palace

Moorish castle, high up on a mountain

Beach volleyball

I'm mid-bite from a delicious assortment of dishes at Caminito

Tuesday dawned gray and rainy, so Andy postponed our planned kayak tour. We drove to Obidos, letting Meg and Ben out of the car a few miles outside of town so they could run in and meet us. Obidos is charming and completely encircled by its medieval walls.

Obidos Castle, now serving as a hotel

Strolling up on the city walls

The weather on Wednesday wasn't improved, so we ultimately cancelled the kayak excursion (I booked a food tour in Porto instead). We packed up and drove to Porto, stopping in Batalha for coffee, pastéis de nata and a tour of the monastery.

Batalha Monastery, built between 1386 and 1517

After a 3-hour drive, we arrived to our AirBnB in Porto. We explored Porto a bit and had dinner at Cafe Ceuta.

Cod- very popular in Portugal

Our food tour started at 10 on Thursday and included these stops:

1. A small family-owned restaurant where we were served cod cakes, a bifana pork sandwich and Super Bock beer
2. A coffee house where we each had a pastel da nata and a coffee
3. The restored covered market Mercado do Bolhão where we tried olive oils from both the Douro and Alentejo regions
4. An old-school shop, Casa Natal, where we were served platters of cheeses, 3 kinds of cured meats, pumpkin jam on bread, fresh figs stuffed with walnuts and a glass of vinho verde
5. Another shop, A Favorita do Bolhao, where we tried white, tawny and ruby ports

   

   Mercado do Bolhão

   
   
   

White, tawny and ruby ports

When the food tour ended, we went back to the market and bought fruit, meats and cheeses for our own "board" dinner back at the AirBnB after some time on the beach.

Enjoying the sunset

Friday we drove to the Douro Valley, stopping for coffee at Amarante. We arrived at our first winery hungry and learned most don't serve food, so we headed to the nearby town of Largo da Videira for sustenance and then stopped at two wineries. I'd booked us for a grape stomping experience at the second one, which turned out to be goofy fun.

Amarante

The views were beautiful

Quinta da Bomfim

Grape stomping at Quinta da Pacheca

Saturday we slept in a bit, then packed up and left the AirBnB at 11. We had a little time to kill before getting to the airport, so it was back to the beach where we watched a surfing competition for a bit then lucked into a few more volleyball matches. We dropped the kids at the airport for their flight to Amsterdam then returned the rental car and caught our EasyJet flight to Basel.

Andy and I enjoyed exploring Basel on Sunday, including climbing to the top of the Basel Munster, going to the art museum, and hunting down some apple strudel before getting on the Viking Hlin cruise ship at about 4 PM.

Basel Munster

Basel Town Hall

We were immediately impressed with how the Viking ship was designed. There were 188 passengers and an extremely friendly group of staff. We enjoyed our first dinner, and the food on the entire cruise was very good.

Monday we started the morning with an excursion to the Black Forest, including a short hike to some waterfalls and demonstrations for cuckoo clocks (Andy had to buy one, of course) and black forest cake.

Black Forest-Hofgut Sternen Village

In the afternoon we took a second excursion to the medieval village of Colmar.

Colmar

That evening, we joined a music trivia game on the ship. We made a team consisting of 4 couples- us, two from Australia, two from New Zealand, and a Mormon couple from Utah. We ended up winning the game, and divided the prizes of a box of chocolate, a coffee mug and some gin. The Mormons told us to take the gin. They took the mug, and indicated they would use if for hot chocolate as they don't drink coffee.

On Tuesday, we did a "Strasbourg from the top" excursion which included an overview of the complex geopolitical history of Strasbourg, a detailed explanation of the amazing astrological clock within the cathedral and a climb up the cathedral platform. Our local guide was tremendous and we learned a lot. She recommended a local restaurant (Le Tire Bouchon) to have lunch and we wondered where Alsatian food had been all of our lives. 

Strasbourg Cathedral

Astrological clock

Beyond charming

Lunch- 5 kinds of meat served on sauerkraut- Andy's dream-come-true

Wednesday we took an excursion to Heidelberg. Our guide took us through Heidelberg castle, and our group had lunch with two students from Heidelburg University. We had a lively chat with Brian from a small town in Italy, studying space engineering.

Heidelberg Castle

Lunch with fellow cruisers and Brian the student

Thursday morning we cast off at about 9 AM and started the cruise up the middle Rhine, filled with small towns, vineyards and castles. It was cold and windy, and Andy was able to get blankets from the crew so we could stay up on the sundeck for the views of castle after castle.

Map of the sites along the Middle Rhine

In the afternoon, we went on excursion to Marksburg Castle.

Friday we had an engaging tour of Cologne from a local guide, climbed to the top of the cathedral and went to the Chocolate Museum.

We climbed the tower, 533 steps, 25 years after first climbing it

Coffee break, more apple strudel

Chocolate Museum- no regrets with this stop

Viking menu- the right side changed every day

Our final cruise day, Saturday, we spent in Kinderdijk. We took an excursion to a local dairy farm that makes gouda, then toured a windmill preservation park. 

Sunday morning we disembarked in Amsterdam at 6AM, took a taxi to the airport and flew home. 

It was a magnificent trip.