7 veg tortilla

Tortilla de patata is a Spanish staple. I´ve changed it a little. Jorge always asks me why I like to mess with perfection. I can´t help it. Um, just wanted to note, he did have seconds...
You can make this with any vegetable. I used these because that´s what I happened to have in the fridge.
Finely dice the following vegetables. (If making with just potatoes, deep fry in oil on a very low heat until tender-not crisp.)
1 tomato
1 zucchini
2 artichokes
1/2 red pepper
1/2 onion
1 carrot
broccoli
olive oil
5 eggs
salt
1 non-stick frying pan
Cook vegetables in olive oil until soft. Meanwhile beat eggs and season with salt. (You will also have time to test your kid on the kings of Spain, get someone to feed the dog, and plan tomorrow´s shopping list...) When the vegetables are cooked, add them to the eggs and mix. The heat will start to cook the eggs. Add more oil to the same frying pan and add the egg mixture back to the pan. Let cook, on low to medium heat, evenly without stirring. When the bottom and sides are cooked, loosen the tortilla from the sides of the pan and swirl to make sure nothing is sticking. The top shoud still be uncooked. Place a plate over the pan. Offer a small prayer to the tortilla gods and flip so that the tortilla is now sitting on the plate (and probably starting to run a little). Slide the tortilla (uncooked side down) back into the pan so it can finish cooking. Do not overcook. It should be a little wet and mushy on the inside.
Eazy peazy...ooh tortilla with peas...just kidding Esti!

how many spaniards does it take to launch a sailboat?

Weekend in San Sebastian. Need I say more...

how many spaniards does it take to rescue a calf stuck in the mud?...ask b

100€ running shoes...ruined
60€ sweat pants...ruined
25€ pedicure...ruined
Laughing until your ribs hurt...priceless

you haven´t lived

An Irish friend of mine told me about this. Bananas, sweet butter, and bread. It´s like a banana cream pie without the baking. Ok, not very Spanish, but the bananas are from the Canary Islands... Don´t try this if you have an addictive personality...really...

And Joyce, I promise I´ll post more traditional recipes. I actually trained at a culinary school in San Sebastian. But you know what they say, "In the house of a chef, one eats cold cereal for dinner..." Or is that just in my house...

hey!

Someone found my jelly beans! A friend brought these back from the States for me, and I hid them- because that´s the kind of person I am... Forget playground rules, we´re talking jelly beans. Then I forgot about them- one of the drawbacks of hiding things... But someone else found them...and didn´t tell me! So yes, I´ve learned my lesson...start writing things down...

guetaria

We took Daniel and a friend to Zarauz on Saturday. Before heading home we stopped in Guetaria. Guetaria is a small fishing town within walking distance of Zarauz. Here you will find narrow streets, typical fishermen homes, and the best seafood restaurants. Be warned, if you ever have the priviledge of eating here, you´ll never look at a fish in the same way again.
I didn´t realize that my camera was on the wrong setting. (Last time I lend my camera to Coco.) So the pictures are a little off, but you get the idea...

high rent district

The storks have closed up their winter homes in Africa and have come back to Spain for the warmer months. Spring is here!

your average sunday morning

Jorge reads the newspaper, while I take pictures of croissants...

i saw it first

You should have seen me trying to take these. You would have been laughing like every other person that walked by. When I first saw these flowers floating in the fountain I thought, "camera" ... Coco thought,"yum!"... Unfortunately, Coco has never learned playground rules. You remember number 3, if you see it first, it´s yours. (that´s right after share your cookies and take turns on the swings.) I definitely saw them first! That didn´t stop her, though. Every time I turned my back, she´d try to steal the flowers. It took me forever just to get these. And, of course, when I finally let her take the flowers, she didn´t want them anymore... Which rule is that?
Have a happy weekend!

lentils...again...

I love lentils. We eat them often... My family would probably say too often...Jorge says that every time he passes through airport security he sets off the alarm from all the iron in his body...He´s kidding, right? Just in case, don´t make this before any trips...
1 lb of lentils (soak in cold water for a couple hours or overnight)
1/2 onion (finely diced)
1-2 carrots (finely diced)
4 tablespoons tomato sauce
1 garlic clove (finely diced)
salt to tastes
6 cups of chicken stock (if you are organized, if not, water, like me..)
Fry onions and carrots in olive oil until soft. Add garlic and tomato and cook together for another minute or two. Rinse lentils and add them to the pot. Add chicken stock or water and bring to a boil. Once it starts to boil, lower heat and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes or until lentils are soft. Add salt to taste. If there are any leftovers, try serving them over pasta...really...!

spanish tip

Daniel´s friend told him that using camomile shampoo will keep his hair blonder.
So in case you were wondering;
-to keep hair blonder- use camomile shampoo...
-what 13 year old boys talk about- hair products...

skinny times

When Sara and Daniel were about five and three we lived in Zarauz for a year. Zarauz is a pretty, small, coastal town, about ten minutes from San Sebastian. We lived in a small apartment with no heat or oven. (Didn´t miss the heat as much as the baking...) When the weather turned warmer, my friends and I would take all our children down to the beach after school. Once there, the children took their uniforms off and started splashing around in their underwear, while the mothers sat along a wall watching, gossiping and eating the children´s after school snacks. It felt like a scene from an Italian film (...or a Spanish film...). I remember often thinking at the time that, "it doesn´t get much better than this..."

a spanish* joke

There are two cakes baking in an oven.
One cake says to the other, "It´s hot in here."
The other cake says, "Caramba!*... a talking cake!"

(Coco laughed...)

happy sunday!

What a little sun can do.

and you?

1. I met Jorge (my Antonio Banderas lookalike) in Philadelphia when he was studying for his MBA.

2. I have two gorgeous children. Sara is 15 and Daniel is 13. Yikes!

3. I have lived in 4 different towns in the past 17 years. San Sebastian being my favorite.

4. I wear a size 12 (43) shoe. I have never bought a pair of shoes in Spain. The last time I tried....cameras were pulled out of nowhere...money was thrown...I´m not exaggerating...

5. My dad told me that fashion models wear a size 12... My dad always knew the right thing to say...

question: how many spaniards does it take to hammer a nail?

How Jorge (my Antonio Banderas look alike) hammers a nail.

1. Tell Daniel (my little Antonio Banderas look alike) to bring the toolbox.

2. Tell Daniel to open it, and pass him the "right" hammer. (Between you and me, don´t they all do the same thing?)

3. Proceed to hammer nail.

4. Give hammer back to Daniel so he can put it in the toolbox.

5. Tell Daniel to put the toolbox back in its place...

answer: 1 1/2.

pan con chocolate*

This sandwich is the reason why I run, hike, do pilates, and yoga. Maybe it would be easier to give it up...then again, maybe not...
I ate three of these trying to get the right shot. The sacrifices I make...

*milk, dark, white, or all three...

hecho en españa

I luuuv this magazine. It´s a cross between LIVING ETC and MARIE CLAIRE IDEES with a few recipes thrown in. So if you are into deco mags like me, you should definitely check out this little gem! On second thought, I hope you aren´t like me. I buy deco mags from all over and still have a naked light bulb hanging in my kids´ bathroom. There´s a Spanish saying, "in the house of an ironmonger, there are wooden knives..."

"look a train!"

When Daniel was younger he was obsessed with trains. At the time, we lived in a small town that had two train stations. We´d often get on a train at one stop and ride it to the next one. I think he had more fun riding that train than he did riding the rides at Disneyland. A few years later we moved to Vitoria. Here, we´d head to the station after school, and while eating his snack, he´d guess where the trains were going. (Great way to get a four year old to eat all his fruit...) For the longest time he only wanted to be a train conductor. Now it´s a toss up between professional tennis player, architect, and chef...