Broken eggs, huevos rotos, Mama Ía blog

Broken Eggs with Serrano Ham, and the Naval Medal of Merit

Broken eggs, huevos rotos, Mama Ía blogThe eggs in this recipe don’t look perfect but, who cares! They will be broken up just before serving to blend their flavor and texture to that of the other ingredients in the dish. They are huevos rotos, broken eggs, after all.

Naval Medal of Merit, Cruz al Mérito Naval, Mama Ía blog

Naval Medal of Merit, Cruz al Mérito Naval, Mama Ía blog

Huevos rotos con jamón, broken eggs with serrano ham, are a comfort food dish in Spain. It’s a dish probably made in every household in the country, with different variations between them. In fact, one will usually (more…)

Chocolate and coffee mousse cake, Mama Ía blog

Chocolate and Coffee Mousse Cake, St Augustine, and the First Thanksgiving

Chocolate and coffee mousse cake, Mama Ía blogThanksgiving will be in just a couple of months, so it is not too early to start thinking and planning for it. In my case, it means getting flights for my sons to come home! But it also means starting to think about delicious meals to prepare while they are home. I think they are going to love this chocolate and coffee mousse cake. It could be made for the big day, but also for any of the other few days they will be home, since each of those days will be precious and celebratory.

St Augustine, Mama Ía blog

St Augustine, Mama Ía blog

Castillo de San Marcos, on Matanzas Bay

The chocolate and coffee mousse cake is a Spanish recipe, but not a very traditional one. Still, and like all the dishes that I make, it is a simple recipe that doesn’t take much to put together, yet looks beautiful and tastes delicious. The chocolate cake base, topped with (more…)

Baked sea bream, Mama Ía blog

Baked sea bream, besugo al horno —and a girls trip to Greece

Baked sea bream, Mama Ía blogI promised in my last post that I would tell you more about trips I did in the spring, so even though it is summer, I will honor my promise. Because how could I not tell you about my first ever trip to Greece?

I thought it very appropriate to accompany this post with the recipe for besugo al horno, baked sea bream, a Spanish dish that is so Mediterranean that it is more than fitting for a post about a neighboring Mediterranean country.

Baked sea bream, Mama Ía blog

Orthodox church, Mama Ía blog

The charming Panaghia Kapnikarea Church in central Athens

I am lucky enough to be able to now find whole fish at my local Costco store, so I hope you can find it in your area as well and make this healthy, delicious and (more…)

Coca de pasas y nueces, Mama Ía blog

Coca de Pasas y Nueces, Raisins and Walnuts Cake —and David, our High School Graduate and Salutatorian

Coca de pasas y nueces, Mama Ía blogWhat a whirlwind the last few months have been. There’s been travel (a lot of it!), for celebrations, for vacation and for soccer. But most importantly, there have been milestones and “the last of” for my son David. I’ve been able to prepare a few recipes to share on the blog, but for this post, I wanted a sweet one, coca de pasas y nueces, raisins and walnuts cake, because sweet always means celebration.

Pasas y nueces, Mama Ía blog

David graduate, Mama Ía blogI will tell you about some of the trips in future posts, but for now, I want to celebrate David. Because my youngest, the “baby,” is wrapping up his life as a minor (he turned 18 this month!) as a high school student (he just graduated!), and (more…)

Mussels with white beans and tomatoes, Mama Ía blog

Mussels with white beans and tomatoes —and the revenge of the land

Mussels with white beans and tomatoes, Mama Ía blogThe recipe I am sharing today, mussels with white beans and tomatoes, combine products from the primary sector, fishing and farming, many of whose purveyors are demonstrating on Europe’s streets and highways as we speak. And I have to say, with good reason.

Mussels with white beans and tomatoes, Mama Ía blog

Tracxtores en Puerta de Alcalá, Mama Ía blog

Tractors demonstrating at Puerta de Alcalá, Madrid (photo credit Info Bierzo)

Manuel Pimentel, agricultural engineer, farmer, editor, author and former Minister of Labor of Spain, has recently published a book entitled “La venganza del campo”, the revenge of the land, where he explains some (more…)

Lemon marmalade, Mama Ía blog

Lemon marmalade, Spain eating habits and la merienda

Lemon marmalade, Mama Ía blogCitrus marmalades are my favorite ones and since I already featured the recipe for orange marmalade  (one of the blog’s most visited posts!), today is the turn for lemon marmalade.

If you like very sweet marmalades, I have to warn you, this one may not be the one for you. It is citrusy, therefore, more tangy, but obviously, also sweet – otherwise it wouldn’t be a marmalade, right?

Lemon marmalade, Mama Ía blog

Lemons, Mama Ía blogAnd with this recipe, it’s time to address the beloved and most idiosyncratic meal in the Spanish culture: la merienda.

I could translate la merienda to something like the afternoon snack, the (more…)

Galette des rois, Mama Ía blog

Galette des Rois, the Feast of the Epiphany French style

Galette des rois, Mama Ía blogGalette des rois is not, as the name implies, a Spanish treat but a French one.  Usually made and enjoyed on the feast of the Epiphany, I thought this was a good moment to make it. 

Galette des rois, Mama Ía blog

Catedral Fort Wayne, Mama Ía blogThe feast of the Epiphany, celebrated on January 6, commemorates the visit of the Three Kings, the Three Wise Men, to baby Jesus in Bethlehem. In Spain, the feast is widely celebrated, marking (more…)

Spice and rosemary pork roast, Mama Ía blog

Spice and Rosemary Pork Roast with Onions, and the festive awaiting of Advent

Spice and rosemary pork roast, Mama Ía blogThe preparations, the excitement, the arrival of loved ones to spend the holidays together. I want to help you out by offering a recipe that looks and tastes extra special but that it’s easy to make and will not break the bank: spice and rosemary pork roast with onions.

Spice and rosemary pork roast, Mama Ía blogThanksgiving Mama Ía blog

The weeks leading from Thanksgiving to Christmas are some of the busiest of the year and yet, when Advent starts, they should become some of the most still and serene. Easy to say but hard to achieve, right? And if you’re (more…)

Shortbread sandwich cookies, Mama Ía blog

Shortbread Sandwich Cookies with Lemon and Coffee filling—and the First Circumnavigation at the IFLTA Conference

Shortbread sandwich cookies, Mama Ía blogChristmas is just around the corner, and nothing says Christmas more than Christmas cookies! This is at least the case in this part of the world where I live, where cookie exchange parties are common—and where shortbread sandwich cookies will be on our menu this year. Of course, they will share the dessert trays with chunks of turrón, polvorones in their silky wrappers, cute mazapanes, marzipan figurines, and the always present homemade nanaimo bar. Our three nationalities are always represented at our Christmas table.

Shortbread sandwich cookies, Mama Ía blog

IFLTA 2023, Mama Ía blog

Our exhibit table at IFLTA 2023 in Indianapolis

Thanksgiving weekend was the start of it all. After the yearly longed for and always warm gathering with our friends and family around the table, the long weekend allowed us to get started on the Christmas spirit. In a series of (more…)

Revuelto de setas, scrambled eggs with wild mushrooms, Mama Ía blog

Scrambled eggs with wild mushrooms, Revuelto de Setas —and the walled city of Avila

Revuelto de setas, scrambled eggs with wild mushrooms, Mama Ía blogIn my aim to make the most of my time, I love it when I can make two different dishes out of one. Wild garlicky mushrooms with sherry that I made as a side dish for an entrée, become today one of the main ingredients in revuelto de setas, scrambled eggs with wild mushrooms.

Wild garlicky mushrooms, Mama Ía blog

ralla de Avila, Mama Ía blogToday’s recipe for scrambled eggs with wild mushrooms is simple, because it uses the previous post’s recipe. This is one of those comfort food, rustic dishes that are made all over Spain, but are specially popular in central Spain, in the Castiles. 

Last summer, I had the chance to taste some of those dishes during my trip to the cities of Salamanca, Avila and Segovia in the region (more…)