In September we talked about the Brazilian "Festa Junina"! The winter country party in Brazil that traditionally happens in June (hence the name "Junina"). Being in the South Hemisphere, the winter months in Brazil are the same as in New Zealand - June, July and August. So sometimes we have the "Festa Junina" happening in the other months too. Although we welcome the Spring in September, we had a fantastic time in our party last Saturday. And remember, the winter in most parts of Brazil is very mild, specially in the areas near the Equator Line! The south of Brazil though can get very cold.
It was great to see all the children dressed up as we do in Brazil for "Festa Junina"!! The straw hat and the moustache for the boys was a must and the checked shirts and ponytails for the girls were awesome too! Even the parents joined in the fun!
We started our meeting as usual with our talk about the country. Geography, continent, history, flag, language etc. The children were great counting the numbers in Portuguese and again I was amazed by their knowledge of the flags around the world in our Flag Game!
The fun started with our party!! Traditional Brazilian music at "Festa Junina" - "Forro" - played during the party and we danced the "Quadrilha". Check some of the photos below. Traditional games were set up around the hall and the children had fun choosing which ones they wanted to play first. Great help from the parents here supervising all the games, thank you! Our craft activity was a hit too! Buntings are the decoration you will see in every "Arraia" - as we call in Brazil (the place where the party happens).
The food was so yummy!! Cakes are very traditional in our winter party as well as corn, sweet potatoes (that we actually cook in the bonfire during the party in Brazil!) and the very tasty Brazilian hot dog with lots of home-made sauce!! The cheese bread were an extra touch of Brazilian finger food. Not used much in "Festa Junina", but you will see pretty much in every birthday party, get togethers etc... everyone loves them and it is so easy to make!! Find its very easy recipe at the end of this post.
So, enjoy the pictures below, while I will actually make another batch of cheese bread for afternoon tea!
We started with the Brazil presentation
Who knows this flag?
Great Costumes! My little helper!
And the dance starts!! "Quadrilha"
Time for some games!!
Can you dance with a potato in your forehead?
Hit the cans!
Potato on the Spoon!
Sack Race!
Food yummie food!
Making buntings
And dancing the limbo with them!
Thank you everyone!!
The Brazilian Cheese Bread - Easy Peasy!!
Easy Brazilian Cheese Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 egg*
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2/3 cup milk
- Scant 1 1/2 cups (170 grams) tapioca flour
- 1/2 cup (packed, about 66 grams) grated cheese, your preference, though we got the best results from Mexican farmer's cheese - queso fresco
- 1 teaspoon of salt (or more to taste)
Special equipment recommended:
- One or two mini muffin tins. Mini muffin tins are about half the size of a regular muffin pan. The muffin openings are about 1-inch deep, and 1 3/4 inch wide at the top.
*It helps when baking with eggs to start with eggs at room temperature. If you don't plan ahead (that would be me, usually) you can put the egg in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes to gently take off the chill of the fridge.
1 Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease a mini-muffin tin. Put all of the ingredients into a blender and pulse until smooth. You may need to use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the blender so that everything gets blended well. At this point you can store the batter in the refrigerator for up to a week.
2 Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until all puffy and just lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool on a rack for a few minutes.
Eat while warm or save to reheat later.
