19 Friday Sep 2008
Posted in humour
My pirate name is:
Passion is a big part of your life, which makes sense for a pirate. Like the rock flint, you’re hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you’re easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!
Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network
Celebrating Talk Like A Pirate Day
19 Friday Sep 2008
Posted in food & drink, friends, photos, restaurants, sevilla, tapas
Yesterday my friend Judy (aka La J) took me out to Tre Fratelli for lunch. It was her first time there and she loved it. And coincidentally, the AWC will be having their first luncheon of the season there in October, but I reckon I’ll be missing that one. Anyhow, that’s my pizza up there – half prawn & spinach, half chorizo & peppers – which was fabulous (and I even took some home for Nog). Below is J’s fettucini with chicken in creamy dijon mustard sauce. And below that is something new they are trying out called crostini. Guess I’ll have to wait until November to try those, but they sure looked good.
Thanks again for such a nice afternoon, Judy! 
18 Thursday Sep 2008
Thanks to this little gadget (and the lovely & amazingly wonderful Pipocas) my looming hospital experience is now looking to be much less tedious than the last one. I was planning on taking Nog’s laptop with me to watch DVDs anyhow (his is smaller and more portable than mine) but now I’ll also be able to go online! Isn’t that fabulous? So I’ll be able to blog and chat and play scrabble whilst trying to ignore my roommate’s blaring television programmes. Of course this will only happen once I am able to sit up and move around … I’m hoping by day 3 after the op.
Muchísimas gracias, Pipocas!
17 Wednesday Sep 2008
Posted in food & drink, friends, restaurants, sevilla, tapas
Juan Manuel & Manolo with wild chanterelles
This lunch treat week has been a lot of fun. Yesterday Pipocas took me out to Becerríta – it was my first time there and I loved it. Then today, after getting my ‘hospital haircut’, Nog and I went over to Bodeguita Romero to give Pedro Romero the menu translation I did for him at his request (he’d asked me last week when Sara & Steve had taken Nog & me out for lunch there). And so we had a small snack there – on the house – and then Nog suggested that he take me out for a ‘last fritura’ (at least until November) at Modesto.
Well, I hadn’t been to Modesto since the prognosis lunch at the end of June so everyone there made a big fuss about seeing me again. And also about me going into hospital on Monday. Nog and I had the usual fritura and I was captivated by a huge platter of wild mushrooms on the bar (see photo above), so I asked Juan Manuel what they were and how they were prepared … his description sounded so scrumptious that I really wanted to try them. What the hell. And it turned out that we got quite a nice discount on the price (I’m feeling very spoiled these days). Here they are … wild chanterelles sautéed in garlic and olive oil with thinly sliced chocos (cuttlefish/squid).
At both the Bodeguita and Modesto I was hugged and kissed by the waiters and was given all their best wishes, and was also told not to worry because we’d all see each other again soon … it was really nice. It’s also just one of the many reasons why Sevilla feels like home to me.
15 Monday Sep 2008
Posted in food & drink, friends, sevilla, spain, tapas
Yesterday Nog took me out for a real treat – my first proper Greek food since I left Toronto in 1990! It was at a place called Helas that I’d read about on a few different websites and apparently it was also written up in El Mundo as one of the 15 best international restaurants in Spain (not just Sevilla).
My original idea had been to go there for lunch the day before I check into hospital for my operation, but I actually think I’m going to spend that weekend eating light and drinking lots of water to prepare my system a bit … and so we went yesterday instead. And it was fabulous. My favourite olives are kalamatas and although the spanikopita pastry was a bit tough (I suspect they heated it up in a microwave) the meal was a success, especially as Nog hadn’t tried Greek food before.
The photo above shows a starter of metitzanosalata, tzatziki, dolmades, feta cheese and taramousalata, served with freshly baked hot pita bread. To see more have a look below. . .
[looks like this is going to be a week of special lunches as I’ve been invited out almost every day this week – another reason to take things easy this coming weekend]
casa azahar 
