09 Thursday Jan 2020
Posted in birthdays, casa azahar, cats, christmas, holidays, home, retail therapy, shopping
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So I went Christmas, Reyes Magos and Birthday shopping today… all for me! I had suddenly run out of both my Clinique Elixir perfume and Clinique moisturizer – eek! – and had to re-stock. While I was at it I also got a travel-sized tube of the moisturizer, and would have also bought a smaller perfume for travelling (I’m out of that too), but they were sold out of the latter. Anyhow, a good haul and all was on sale. Yay. 🙂
27 Friday Dec 2019
Posted in casa azahar, cats, christmas, food & drink, friends
So Martha is back in town! And so we planned to meet up on Christmas day for a Christmas Hanukkah mash-up at my place. Well, first we had to stop at Las Teresas for jamón and cava. Then it was back to Casa Azahar for the carrillada al oloroso I’d prepared the day before. We were also prepped, wearing comfy clothes and ready to eat, drink and watch Christmas movies with the cats. And so we did. And it was fabulous. 🙂
26 Thursday Dec 2019
Following the lovely pre-Christmas Eve family dinner on Monday was an actual Christmas Eve dinner, this time with the family of my pal Jota (owner of La Chalá and Lola por Diós), and our friend Esteban (Vermutería Yo Soy Tu Padre) and his mother. When I arrived Jota was busy in the kitchen – he prepared the entire meal on his own – so I chatted with his parents and other family and friends while we waited for Esteban and Tanya to arrive. Everyone was so charming and friendly… and as it turned out most of them are originally from Galicia.
As you can see, it really was a feast. Not showing are the four thousand desserts and endless bottles of wine… I ended up rolling home around 2.30 and was far from chipper on Christmas morning. But it was another wonderful family gathering. I think this has been my best ever Christmas in Sevilla!
Fabulous feast!
My boys! Jota & Esteban ❤
25 Wednesday Dec 2019
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Feliz Navidad.
This broke my heart a little, walking home from a (second) family Christmas Eve dinner last night. I tucked a fiver under his pillow, wishing (as always) that I could feed all the homeless people in Sevilla. Well, at least I could buy this guy breakfast.
What are you doing today?
23 Monday Dec 2019
I was thrilled to be invited to a pre-Christmas family lunch by María Paz (on the right in photo), whom I’ve known since I first arrived in Sevilla over 26 years ago. I thought it was just going to be a casual thing with immediate family so imagine my surprise when I got to her place to find about 30 people spanning 4 generations gathered around various tables set up for the meal. This was supposed to be their usual Christmas Eve gathering, but some of the grandchildren were leaving the next morning for Madrid so they decided it move it up a day.
It was a potluck affair with everyone bringing something they’d prepared at home, with the star dish being María Paz’s famous partridge in chocolate. But really, all the food was wonderful, and there was so much of it. Plus plenty of wine, and desserts galore. I could barely move when it was finally time to move. In typical Spanish fashion, lunch finally finished around 8 pm, but this also included a lengthy sobremesa and everyone (one at a time to cheers and applause) opening their Secret Santa gift. It was total chaos most of the time and I totally loved it. Such a lovely way to start Christmas. 🙂
