Category Archives: food & drink

sevilla tapas updates

15 Friday Oct 2010

Posted by in blogging, food & drink, sevilla, spain, tapas, websites

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For those of you who haven’t been over to the Sevilla Tapas site for awhile … a couple of updates.

I’ve rewritten the tapas tour page a bit and at the bottom have included this collage of “happy campers” who have enjoyed tours in the past. I’ve got another tour coming up on Saturday that I’m really looking forward to.

I also updated the Vegetarian Cuisine page, which I now hope will be helpful. A recent visit from a London-based travel writer who is vegetarian reminded me that I’d left this page “under construction” for far too long. In fact, other than restaurant updates, I haven’t been doing much on the Sevilla Tapas page of late so it felt good to spend some time on my baby. Also had a good time yesterday in my English class with Agustín, as we talked about which tapas bars and restaurants to include in my top 30 list for SimonSeeks, which is now what I’m mostly going to be doing for the next three weeks. Next deadline is November 5th…

 

omg! green peppercorn dijon!

13 Wednesday Oct 2010

Posted by in food & drink, home

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Maille dijon mustard is a staple here at casa az and I always have three varieties in my fridge – originale, l’ancienne grainy and bordeaux classic. Or so I thought! The other day I was shocked to find I was totally out of the original dijon, and even more shocked after various trips to different supermarkets when it seemed that there must be a Spain-wide shortage going on. Sure they had several other varieties, including a couple I hadn’t tried before, but really, what can take the place of the original? After my fourth attempt at finding some I decided to go for one of the other “flavours” and chose the green peppercorn dijon. And my world changed. Have you ever tried this stuff??? It’s amazing! Words actually fail me, so I’ve opted for a photo (with a bit of pale green “dijonaisse” shown there for tonight’s tortilla) … not sure if it will ever take the place of the original but it was a happy day that I discovered this stuff.

What’s been your most recent culinary discovery?

bristol sunday

27 Monday Sep 2010

Posted by in food & drink, friends, restaurants, retail therapy

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Had a lovely Sunday in Bristol with Lizzie. We got up quite late and then enjoyed some coffee before heading out to The Maul and M&S where I stocked up on the basics. Then we took a nice car tour through town and I got to see my old hood and lots of familiar places, and ended up at the waterfront to have lunch and – I was assured – the very best chips in Bristol, at the River Station. And they truly were amazing. Later on we took a walk over to the Avon Gorge Hotel hoping to see the sun set behind the Clifton Bridge, but clouds rolled in and so we headed home for cava and snacks.

This morning I am off to pick up a prezzie for Nog and to visit Lizzie’s Folk House Cafe (can’t wait!), before packing up and getting on the train to Paddington, and then making my way to Heathrow to fly home again. I’ve had a wonderful time –  especially meeting with friends old and new – and I hope you’ve enjoyed me sharing my trip with you.

london – bristol

26 Sunday Sep 2010

Posted by in food & drink, friends, london, travel, trips

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Yesterday I said goodbye to Clare & Joe and their pretty Hackney flat where they really made me feel like home. But before heading off to Bristol, Sara & Steve took me out for my first ever Vietnamese meal – it was amazing! Then they even came with me to Paddington and saw me off so I could be there in plenty of time without worrying about missing my train, and so I wouldn’t be there alone. We had one final drink and chat at a bar there and then I headed out to Bristol, where Lizzie picked me up at the station and took me to her very comfortable house. A couple of old friends were there for a quick visit before heading back to London, so we all had dinner together. Then Lizzie and I sat up drinking wine and chatting until well past midnight. Today we are planning a trip out to the HUGE Marks & Spencer here, but other than that I am happy not to have to plan anything or be anywhere at any specific time … just happy to be here. Haven’t seen Lizzie since the summer of 2001 and it feels like no time has passed at all. It’s so nice to have these couple of days to just relax and catch up before heading back to Sevilla.

london day three

25 Saturday Sep 2010

Posted by in food & drink, friends, london, travel, trips, wine

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Coffee in bed, then ran out at 10.30am to meet Ben (friend of José’s) in deepest darkest Hackney, and afterwards whipped back down to St Pauls to meet Teutcher, who then asked me how I felt about fish… thought she was talking about lunch but she was in fact talking about fish eating ME. But lunch first. Off to Covent Garden to sample 32 Great Queen Street West, which was fabby, then off to Kensington to have feet nibbled upon by tiny fish. Loved it. And also the half-hour foot massage afterwards. And then – eep! – was getting late, so planned to meet up with Annie and T’s husband for a drink in Charing Cross before Annie & I headed out for dinner with twitter friends. Needless to say we arrived late after racing there on foot for a good half hour (buses were not making any sense by then). Met Rachel, José & Alessio in gastropub… had okay meal (the company was much better than the food) and around midnight Annie walked me to my bus stop and sent me safely on my way home. It was a day and then some. Click to enlarge the pics…

Today I leave for Bristol at 5pm…