At the end of February and beginning of March, one week holds two birthdays in our family of five. You will then understand that some Lenten promises take a break, and we pause to celebrate. Two cakes, two special meals, and a whole week of anticipation and celebration. This year, in fact, those two birthdays are (more…)
I’m multi-tasking as I write this, trying to get tickets for our trip to Spain as well as writing this post. I’m looking forward to our trip, and as they say, getting there is half the fun! This includes trying to make sense of the dates available for every member of our family, accomodating summer jobs, work, soccer camps and (more…)
This is not the post I was going to do for this week. In fact, this post was not even planned. What was planned, and what is almost finished, (as you will soon see), is a different recipe, of one of my favorite tapas. But Matthew came home this weekend, almost by surprise (we had known for just a few days), and we had to celebrate. Add to it (more…)
This is a very short post, because the recipe was posted in the Braised Short Ribs in Two Wines Sauce post. I like accompanying mashed potatoes with any meat with a very flavorful sauce, and the two wines sauce, made with sherry and red wine, and shallots, garlic and leek, is unbeatable. But I particularly like these red (more…)
My brother-in-law Jorge is an animal lover. And if he has a weakness for an animal in particular, that would be the cow. And the bull. Jorge is a veterinarian by trade, and after years of working as the purchasing director of the meat department of one of Spain’s largest supermarket chains —traveling to many parts of Spain as well as (more…)
Have you noticed how, more often than not, the end of something good only means the beginning of something better? It happens to me everytime I bake: the end of a good dessert brings me inspiration for the next. But most often, it’s the ingredients, or rather, what’s left, the scraps and by-products, that are the spark (more…)
As promised in the Velvety Lemon Tart post, this week I’m also sharing the recipe for Strawberry Tartlets. The recipe for the crust is the same as the one for the lemon tart —no wonder, you’ll say, considering that I used the leftover dough from the lemon tart! However, because the strawberry tartlets will be smaller, the time in (more…)
I grew up surrounded by orange trees. Almost literally! The name of the place was El Taroncheral, and the property, an expansive orange tree grove that included a large stucco dwelling and a circular basin where rain and well water for irrigation were collected. Eventually, three houses where built: I grew up in one of the houses.
Taroncheral, by the way, (more…)
After having shared the recipe for allioli in my previous post, it was only fitting that I would share the recipe for seafood paella, which is what I mentioned I would be accompanying the allioli with. Matthew, the most paella-loving of my children, left yesterday for his second semester in college, which means I might not make paella for (more…)
I can’t believe today is the feast of the Epiphany, Three Kings Day, and I am making allioli while watching the Three Kings Parade on Spanish television. But these are Matthew’s last few days at home before he returns to college, and he wants to have homey, special dishes before he leaves, like the seafood paella I’ll be (more…)
