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So I had to work today! Poor me. 😉
Back home now for a quiet evening in.
Pretty sure I won’t stay awake until midnight.
new year’s eve tapas tour
31 Saturday Dec 2011
Posted in food & drink, friends, restaurants, tapas, wine, work
Category Archives: food & drink
christmas eve 2011
24 Saturday Dec 2011
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This has been one of the most relaxed and pleasant Christmas Eves I can remember. Got up a bit later than usual and had some coffee and breakfast. Luckily I got all the supermarket shopping out of the way yesterday, so today just had to pop over to the market for the fish and veg. I couldn’t believe my flatmate Peter! He was Feliz Navidad-ing everyone and being all chatty. I think maybe my delight of Christmas has rubbed off a little…
After getting back from the market I wrote a few Christmas cards and we went out again, this time to just stop by a few places – well okay, tapas bars – and say Merry Christmas to everyone. Of course we stopped for tapas at some of them, and I also got to pick up some amazing blue goat’s cheese (cabrales) and a strong cured sheep’s cheese at our second stop, to go with my Victoria Nº2. And then we took a walk through the Christmas Market. My friend Pablo showed up at our last stop and we went next door with him for yet another drink while he had a tapita. And then the owner Carlos invited us to a glass of cava…
So just got home about an hour ago. Have been getting things ready little by little. Going to roast some small potatoes in garlic and olive oil to go with the salmon steaks with jamón and cava sauce. Some simple steamed broccoli to go with that. As a starter I’m going to deep-fry some gorgeous langoustine tails we got at the market today and serve them with alioli. For afters Peter has his chocolate cake and I’m sure he’ll also partake of the three cheeses (the two bought today and also the famous and fabulous cranberry wensleydale). And then we’ll get cosy with the cats and watch a Christmas movie or two…
I hope you are all enjoying your Christmas Eve too!
sweet christmas
22 Thursday Dec 2011
Posted in christmas, fiestas, food & drink, wine
So there I was working away on the laptop this morning when the doorbell rang…
Then a messenger came upstairs with this! A surprise bottle of Victoria Nº2. I don’t usually like sweet wines all that much but the first time I tried this wine I just went “WOW”. Because it’s not only sweet but also very complex. Lots going on there. And it’s naturally sweet, not fortified like sherrys are, so it isn’t cloying. Made from Muscat Alexandria grapes, the oldest grape variety in Spain, they are picked late in the season and air-dried in the shade. It’s such a beautifully balanced wine.
So, that takes care of Christmas dessert. Now I just have to decide on what wine to have with dinner. I think perhaps that surprise Chardonnay I’ve been saving.
What are you having for Christmas dinner?
the antidote
06 Tuesday Dec 2011
Posted in cats, food & drink, friends, holidays, home
It’s a rare treat that someone cooks for me and lasts night it was a double treat when both Anna and Jorge made dinner for me and Peter. The perfect antidote to yesterday’s Monday niggles – a lovely meal and great company. And cats! What more could one want? Though I probably shouldn’t have had that second (or was it third?) glass of aguardiente…
Today is a bank holiday so I’m taking things easy. But it’s such a nice shiny day out there that I think I’ll go out soon to warm up. Feeling decidedly Christmassy.
happy monday…
05 Monday Dec 2011
I mean, it started off okay. And nothing went horribly wrong. But things kept not going right. You know the sort of day I mean? Well, this was my Monday. At least until about an hour ago (it’s now 8pm).
I was actually supposed to have taken Luna and Loki to the vet’s for booster shots today, but one of Peter’s students changed her Friday class to this morning so I changed the appointment to Friday, because there’s no way I can handle taking two beasties to the vet’s on my own.
So fine. This freed up my late morning so I could go to the hospital to get my chemo port cleaned. I’d actually forgotten all about it – really should’ve gone last week. Anyhoodle, decided to make it a good morning and go to the gym before heading off to the hospital (new port cleaning hours are 12.00-1.00). And because Peter’s shoulder is causing him grief and he’s been complaining non-stop I thought it might be a good idea for him to go to emergency instead of waiting two months for the MRI… and this is when things started to go crappy.
casa azahar 