Nov23

Baking across the miles !

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Well what a few weeks, living the dream NOT ! Weather, floods, landslides, bureaucracy, hospitals, banks – Enough is enough, Basta Ya !

It’s Friday & I need that Friday feeling, and that means creating comfort and all things sugar & spice.  My trusty Banana, Walnut & choccie bread is on order, filling La Rosilla, with aromas good enough to calm the most stressed soul.  Whilst baking in the oven, & stirring rumbles in my tum, I tweeted my doings, and a twiend @mosscottagebnb replied ‘have a go at my recipe’.  I perused said recipe, and it confirmed Bill & I had very similar tastes & recipes, mine a little more thrown together, well It’s Friday after all, but I’m sure the outcome just as delish.

While browsing Bills blog – I came across his Shortbread recipe, so easy I thought I have to have a go – So it’s in the oven as I type, and Bill is making some too some 1560 miles away in my old hometown of Stratford -upon- Avon, it’s my first attempt so fingers crossed , A little taste of home 🙂

Banana, walnut & chocolate loaf recipe

Banana, Walnut & Choccie Bread (Well more like a tea loaf / cake – you know what I mean )

Prepare a loaf tin with greaseproof paper

preheat oven 160 degrees

200 g SR flour

125 g sugar

handful of mixed fruit

handful of chopped walnuts

handful of chunks of dark choc or choc drops

2 eggs

3 very ripe bananas mashed up

grating of lemon rind

100g butter.

  • Cream sugar and butter together
  • add eggs one at a time until combined
  • add mixed fruit and lemon rind, stir
  • fold in sifted flour
  • stir in walnuts & choc

Bake in the oven 50 mins to 1 hour, until golden & risen and a skewer come out clean.

Allow to cool, or if like me eat when warn out of the oven, before others get their hands on it 😉

How lovely to share recipes with from afar but for now – TGIF

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nov23

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Tales from my local Pueblo 🙂

tamaraessex's avatarA Foot in Two Campos

 

8am on the dot.  No need for an alarm clock.  The digger starts up, the sound echoes loudly, bouncing off the walls in the narrow street.  They’re very punctual, the workmen.  Damnit.

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Nov12

Mountaineering in the morning.

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What a great way to start a week, mind you I didn’t think that this morning, when I got up and it was so chilly and the car had  no fuel.  I made a mad dash to Colmenar to rectify this, even though I was spitting feathers as it was 18km there and back in the wrong direction to where I was heading… Note to self * Forward thinking* .

But the shone was finally shining again, and the air was crisp and clear, and today my group ‘Views from the Hills‘ was meeting up for a mountain trek. First things first, we met at El Duende in Los Ventorros, an Aladdins cave of all things calm, Ruth was waiting for us, with fire roaring, hot coffee & delicious mango & apple cake, to give us the necessary strength to go on our way.  New members came along, visitors too, from the Cheq republic, coming to enjoy the dramatic scenery we have on offer.

Boots on, dogs raring to go we began our climb up Mazmullar , following ancient mule tracks, and paths carved out from running waters.  Flora & fauna, in its early stages of re-growth after the recent rains, wild herbs of fennel and lavendar, lined our way.

View points gave us respite and breath gathering time.  The summit a plateau, is home to ancient ruins and caves, used throughout history for shelter and hiding.  We climbed over rocks to pinpoint our homes on neighbouring hills, and marveled at snow on the peaks of Maroma, and the Moorish town of Comares perched high on it’s rock.

Our descent was leisurely, and we enjoyed the warmth of the sun on our faces, returning for a wholesome lunch of homemade soup & bread in beautiful Moroccan bowls, alfresco in November , oh and a little more cake for good measure.

 

 

 

 

Nov9

The rain in Spain.

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Well I suppose we had to have it eventually, and have it we have – continuous rain & storms since Monday, I’m deluged in water at La Rosilla & last night we had the most spectacular electric storm, keeping the house awake all night.

The thing is our idyllic setting, is just so in all seasons when it’s dry, but now matter how well we prepare, it’s never quite enough, to stop natures force of never-ending rain when it starts.  So today on the mountain I have been digging ditches & getting soaked in P.J’s & pink hunters, trying to persuade the water flow, to take not such a devastating course .  Located half way up a mountain, the water only goes one way, & that is down to the river at the bottom of our land and it doesn’t go slowly but at full  force.

My children’s fairy garden, their den, for making potions, hiding and living their Swallows & amazons’ lifestyle, had it’s own water feature today, it’s going to take some renovation, but at least they didn’t loose their teapot 😉

Check it out here – La Rosilla fairy garden, water feature.

So today at La Rosilla we have had wet dogs & that delightful, NOT  ‘eau de pouch’, Kitty & Cat  not wanting to venture out – A drenched ‘Me’ with backache and mud encrsuted nails, from shovelling ….. and two ravenous children about to return home from school.

Only one thought for lunch …It’s a home made soup, kind of a day ….

So raiding the fridge,

2 Onions chopped, sauteed in oil & butter until softened

1 head of broccoli, floretted ( such a word ? you know what I mean 😉 ) and stalks chopped .

Stalks added to onions .

Hot chicken or vegetable stock about 1 1/2 litres poured over.

Simmer until stalks al-dente .
Then add, broccoli florets , and simmer until just cooked and still lovely and green.

Whizz up with a hand blender & season with Salt & Pepper.

That’s it , easy !

I topped mine with a little crusty bread and a melting round of goats cheese, the children, mopped there’s up with hunks of bread, and refilled their bowls with seconds, before donning their wellies to investigate & have fun in the mud

As I type the rain has taken a breather, but the river torrents are still flowing and the clouds on the mountains in view are hanging low, but hang on a chink of blue & a ray of light.

Chink of blue 🙂

Buen fin de semana todos stay dry !

Nov6

Fireworks & feasting .

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Well the bonfire didn’t get lit, but we were not going to let the deluge of rain dampen our spirits.  The log fire was stoked up, and the bangers were in the oven, our bonfire bash was enjoyed in the dry & warm of La Rosilla country kitchen.

Joined by friends, we feasted & drank together, roasted our chestnuts in the embers & melted our marshmallows on sticks gathered by the children on the mountain.

We braved the elements for sparklers & our solo rocket, to the delight of all.  Childhood memories of the heady scent of gunpowder in the damp air, came flooding back.

A fabulous chocolate ‘Firework’ cake , cleverly created by my friend Kate topped the evening off superbly, before the little one, crashed & burned with the kitty.

Sharing & keeping traditions alive, with family, friends & of course food, what else 😉

Nov6

Book chatter with tea & cake.

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The sun shone for a few brief hours, enough to raise my spirits, hang my washing on the line, and sweep the fallen leaves off the terrace, but it didn’t last long.

The rain clouds returned to the mountain and the afternoon sky turned dark & grey, but no worries…It was La Rosilla Book Club time, so that meant afternoon tea & cake and book chatter with friends.  After a spring & summer of book club alfresco, we’re back to snuggling up in doors, so candles were lit, tea poured & carrot cake enjoyed.

We were joined by Joan Fallon who was the author of our monthly read ‘ Between the sierras & the sea‘ an endearing read, about the troubled times of our area of Andalucia in the civil war.  So thought provoking, to read of places so near that were affected so brutally, and yet have survived and risen again from the ashes. 

Joan talked about people & books that had inspired her like ‘Malaga Burning’ by Gamel Woolsey published in 1939  and also her new writings she is working on.

Chat veered off course like normal, which is great 🙂 We discussed Jamie Oliver,  Fanny Cradock & Delia, our favourite cook books, tapas restaurants, bureaucracy, troubled teens, manners & discipline, coastal versus mountain temperatures , the weather, did we discuss the weather ? Can’t quite remember, but we must have , we’re British….I know one thing, I forgot my washing on the line, by then sodden ! hey ho, cake was good 😉

 

 

 

Nov3

Cocktails, cruising, oh and a little culture ;)

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I was a cruise virgin,

I have visited many cruise ships, and been wined & dined on them in my past life as a Travel tour operator, but my sailing away, was limited to many Portsmouth – Bilbao crossings on a ferry through the bay of Biscay, not really a comparison.

So last week-end, a treat from my girlfriends I was whisked away on a cruise from Malaga to Morocco, 4 days, of cocktails, cruising oh and a little culture .  We started how we meant to go on, with a chilled glass of white in the wonderful Muelleuno port in Malaga (Morocco take note) , before embarking and being sped through to the dining room ready for our lunch, well it would’ve been rude not to, for this cruise was fully inclusive.

Our ship the Pullmantur Empress, was perfect for the short break, cabins compact & bijou, but we were not planning to spend much time in them 😉 .  The cuisine, was well presented, plentiful, and to suit every taste, wine forever flowing & breakfast was leisurely and calm, (much needed) and enjoyed with Mimosa’s to kick start our days.

Our first port of call Casablanca,  not for the faint hearted, I had be warned, but even then I was shocked.  I have never in my life been in a taxi so unroad worthy, with a driver reading the newspaper as we went ! I prayed 😉  The site of the Grand Mosque Hassan II was a welcome site in a city for of chaos, even on a dismal day, the mosaics and towers shone in all their glory.

We visited a herbalist and bought the obligatory Argan Oil and spices, paying was an experience !!

Second port of call Tangers, more up my street, for one thing we could walk into town, so no dicing with death in a taxi.  We wandered the streets, and markets, watching the people go on about the daily business, bought tagines, baskets & sheeshas, from bazaars ladened with goodies.

I enjoyed a time, of dancing till the early hours, feasting, laughing till it hurt, letting my hair down, meeting people, bartering, praying for my life (taxis in Casablanca, enough said) , getting drenched (it never stopped raining), bunk-bed sleeping & prank playing.

I returned back home, needing sleep & rehab, but with memories that provoke laughter.

 

 

 

 

Oct26

Tapas treat

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A warm sunny stroll along the beach front promenade, with a wonderful tapas lunch at the end of it, is my idea of heaven

Whilst I sit here in the clouds on my mountain after 48 hours of lashing down rain, it seems an age ago, but looking back on my week, spending some quality time with my Daughter who was over for half term for the U.K, remembering that sunny day & delightful lunch, makes my grey, damp day more bearable-  yes I know we need the rain in Spain, but enough already 😉

Malagueta beach was the location, and a leisurely walk from the wonderful Muelleuno port after meeting Twitter friends old & new Lisa @familyinspain Fred (@Fredshively)  Graham(@Grahamhunt) on his #spanishroadtrip, found us at La Moraga- Antonio Martin. 

 

The light , airy and retro interior was a welcoming sight.  We sat around high natural wooden islands and were presented with our tapas menu, we chose 5 each, well one likes to sample a little of everything.

We were not disappointed, a fusion of flavours, and textures.  Some a little tricky to eat gracefully, like the Porra on crystal bread, with jamon, one bite and it dropped down me, though that’s not too unusual for me, note to self *remember a bib*.

My favourite was the Ajoblanco with pina colada, so smooth and velvety with a sweet edge.  A couple of glasses of chilled white , some great conversation and our grazing lunch was complete.

I love to dine out with my children, and always find tapas an ideal way for them & me come to think of it, to try new tastes with often unusual ingredients too, presented in a tiny delectable way.

 

 

Oct26

Spanish Cooking – Book review

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Nothing makes me happier or more content, than to while away a few hours, reading a good book, especially if it is full of recipes, beautiful food photography and writings of a chef from the stories experiences and memories from their lives that have been centered around food, sharing and families.

Miguel Maestre’s new simply titled book ‘ Spanish Cooking’ delivers just that, traditions, and tastes from his life in Spain growing up in the South Eastern province of Murcia.

To read my full review visit the fabulous site Books4Spain .

Books4Spain has an extensive selection of over 70 Spanish cook and recipe books as well as has thousands of books in English about Spain,