A knight in Siguenza

Last weekend, and in celebration of David's tenureship, we spent the night in the Parador at Siguenza. The hotel is a medieval castle from the 12th century and a makes a really atmospheric getaway for a wintry weekend; suits of armour and stone fireplaces aplenty. One of the best places to eat in the town also happens to be the parador where we had roast suckling pig (cochinillo) and migas which are, er...breadcrumbs...though so much tastier than they sound - chunky breadcrumbs fried with a fatty paprika rich sausage known as chistorra and served in this case with a variety of acompaniments: fried egg, baby green peppers, bacon, gammon, cheese, preserved red peppers and grapes. The idea is that you roughly chop the runny egg and greasy chistorra into the crumbs then eat with the rest of the garnishes. Sounds yucky but tastes yummy. Prior to this I had only ever stayed at Paradores when travelling with work - basically they are state owned hotels, almost always in historic buildings and usually 4 star. Also it worked out to be great value as we managed to get an escapada joven (youth getaway) which is about 40euros less than the normal pruice - funny how in Spain joven is up to 35 -  funny in a good way of course, but surprising compared to the UK where your 'young persons rail card' is no longer valid at the 'ancient' age of 26... and I only have a couple more years of escapadas joven to go so I'd better get my skates on ;-)

Here are some photos of the weekend plus an example of what migas look like.

Siguenza Parador



This second photo is taken in a castle in Jadraque that is closed to the public but seeing as some local youths had already broken down the fencing we sneaked in :-)



Migas with accompaniments - source

Views of the deserted castle

 







Bling coveting

Boy is it scary blogging when you haven't done it in a while. I feel expectant, like the words should just flow like they used to, and they don't... at least not yet. So to ease myself in, here's a light and airy little list of some stuff I like, jewellery to be specific - a bit odd for me as I barely even wear jewellery, but over the years there have been a few pieces that have caught my eye and that I thought I'd post here.

Swatch Bijoux Love Explosion ring. I think this one of the first pieces Swatch came out with years back when it launched its Bijoux jewellery collection and it's been a best-seller ever since, apparently even Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston bought them for each other back in the day. So whimsical and pretty.

A cute mother's day present would be this pendant from jcjewelry design on Etsy. Personalised with the names of of you and your siblings and adorned with a freshwater pearl, this is a lovely gift. There is also the option of birthstones instead of pearls.

Also on my love list (after seeing one on the wrist of one my glamourous colleagues) is the Links of London friendship bracelet. The photos don't do these justice at all - in real life they are so pretty.

Something cute by Thomas Sabo, like this charm carrier bracelet. I'm not a fan of charms when it looks like you've got most of the monuments in western Eurpe hanging off your arm, but something a little subtler I'm all for. And how about this little olive green flower or hand of Fatima charm to go with it?

Cartier Love bracelet. Would I look like a gangster's moll wearing it? Maybe, But I like it. And the romantic in me (or perhaps the prison warden in me :p)loves the idea of your adored one 'locking' it onto your wrist.

Well it's Sunday evening now and I'm going to get off to bed as have a long day tomorrow, but this post has got me wondering why I'm happy to spend money on clothes and cosmetics but not jewellery? Maybe it's time for a little gift from me to me :-)

Have a nice week!

Winter in Madrid and a recipe to share

This winter in Madrid is proving to be particularly enjoyable; not too cold this time round, plenty of home-cooking and good wine, browsing art galleries, day trips (Aranjuez in the photo) and staying in and watching Caprica (and no, I don’t normally like SciFi but this is one of those series that doesn’t include characters that wear spandex jumpsuits or have bony knobbled foreheads or pointy ears, so I’m actually not averse to it!). I just wanted to share a little side dish that I cooked the other day as it was perhaps the first time that I cooked fennel and it turned out just right. Normally I cut it into lengths then braise it with white wine and butter, and while it’s tasty it’s not ‘come back for seconds’ tasty… but the other day D did roast lamb and I decided that I’d do a side to accompany – a quick Google and voilá (Sp?) – fennel with pine nuts and raisins (a mix of various recipes found online). I’m sorry that as usual I don’t have a photo but promise this is delicious and easy peasy!

Ingredients (for 2-3 people as a side)

1 bulb of fennel

Tablespoon of butter

Slug of olive oil

Small handful of raisins/sultanas

Small handful of pine nuts

Salt and pepper to taste

Chop the fennel into more or less 1.5 cm cubes, meanwhile heat up the butter and oil in a pan. Add the fennel and cook for around 5 minutes on a medium heat, add the pine nuts and raisins, cook until the fennel is done – about 10 more minutes in my case. You might want to partially cover the pan if you find the pine nuts and fennel are getting too dark. Add salt and pepper to taste. Goes beautifully with lamb. Enjoy!

Happy New Year!

Well, it wasn't actually that happy as it was spent arguing with money-grabbing pen-pushers in Khartoum airport, but I feel quietly optimistic about what the year ahead might bring :-) Looking back to last New Years, I think this post reveals that I knew certain aspects of my life were not going well and were about to come to a sad end. I'm happy to say that this year things seem to be looking a lot brighter and that the old saying that time is a great healer is at least a little bit true (other stuff like good food and great people also help)

This Christmas/New Years break has been a little unusual to say the least - there was no turkey, no crackers, no carols and no presents. My brother got married on the 27th December in Sudan (of all places) and so yuletide festivities were cancelled this year and replaced by the mayhem that is a Sudanese wedding - think 1000 guests, tribal bridal dances (go to minute 1.57), fertility ceremonies, intensive ululation and enough food to make you explode. There's a preview of Sudan photos below but I'll post more soon. As for Christmas, D and I plan to do our own Christmas and New Year in one here in Madrid on Reyes (Epiphany, 7th? January)

I feel surprisingly relaxed at the start of this new year, none of the intensive 'I must improve' lists of resolutions - I feel reasonably fit, work-wise and relationship-wise things are going great and my big bro just got married :-) Perhaps more than looking to the future (there are a few exciting trips and events in the pipeline that I hope to be able to share here soon :-)) I'll reflect on what I've learnt this year - it's not much I'm afraid and perhaps very obvious but I feel I ought to record it nevertheless:

1. Know when to give in and ask for help - I've really had to swallow my pride and do that this year - and funnily enough sometimes those closest to you are not the people to get advice from.
2. Don't be afraid to travel alone - I did it for the first time this year (Marrakech and Bali) and it was possibly one of the most enriching experiences of my life - I met great people, had a wonderful time and forgot my woes in a big way.
3. When you want something (a better job and a happy relationship in my case) just keep gnawing away until you get it. That probably sounds awful doesn't it? At the start of this year both of these were looking truly and utterly dire with no light at the end of the tunnel - but I have to say that perseverance, direct communication (i.e. letting people know clearly what I want) and coming at the problem from different angles paid off despite often feeling that I was getting nowhere.

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year and that 2011 turns out great for all of us!

My sisters and I at my brothers wedding

Henna time

Where the blue and white nile converge before travelling north (and on to Egypt)

A lovely bank holiday and a recipe to share

We are in the midst of a huge bank holiday here in Madrid - all in all it's five days off from Saturday to Wednesday. I so needed this break, and although I haven't done anything particularly exciting I feel like a new woman. On Saturday D and I had a G&T night in, and I wanted something light and fresh to accompany so I made sweetcorn blinis, topped with greek yoghurt whipped with a little Philadelphia cheese (which makes a decent substitute for sour cream, which you can't get in Spain) smoked salmon and..er...Euro Caviar - I promise I wasn't being stingy and would have bought the real thing, albeit a tiny thimble of it... but alas El Corte Inglés's rincon del gourmet isn't always all that gourmet and I couldn't get any... Still, we enjoyed them as luckily I'm a big fan of roe of all types. Sorry, they were devoured so quickly that I forgot to take photos - ok, that plus the fact I was a little tipsy - embarassingly, all I have left is the one remaining sad little blini that somehow managed to miss my mouth and that I have pictured below. Anyway, to make up for my lack of journalistic detail, I will share the recipe :-)

The recipe is one I adapted from one I scribbled down on a back of an envelope years ago and while it isn't totally orthodox (no buckwheat flour, and no buttermilk - partly as they're hard to get here and partly due to laziness) I can promise they are very tasty and won't disappoint .

Ingredients: (makes about 30, 5cm diameter blinis, though again, due to tipsiness I can't vouch for my this 100%)
150g plain flour
250ml milk (you may need to add a little more less when done, check how the texture is, it should be like a thickish cake batter)
3 small eggs, beaten
1/ tsp salt
dessertspoonful baking powder
2 tablespoons of melted butter (I cheated and used a good slug of olive oil)
200g sweetcorn drained (I got mixed up and thought the recipe required fresh corn on the cob, so I removed the kernels from one cob and boiled them for about 15 minutes then let them cool down)

Mix the flour with the milk with a wooden spoon, beat in eggs, salt, baking powder and butter/oil then add sweetcorn. Fry spoonfuls in a pan with a little oil/butter and turn over when bubbles begin to show on the surface. Serve with soured cream and smoked fish/roe with a twist of lemon. If I had had any mixture left over I would have served it with bacon and eggs the next morning, yummy. Anyway, I'm going to get on with enjoying the rest of this lovely little break and if I get up to anything interesting, I'll let you know :-)

Running tops

The sheer amount of stuff happening in my life at the moment mean I haven't done a yoga class in a while. My body feels stiff and cranky and in need of a good stretch. I haven't been completely idle these past weeks though, as thanks to David I've taken up running. Yes, me, running. It's something I always thought I'd be totally crap at, but surprisingly in just a couple of weeks (and 4 sessions) I've got up to 5km. Not exactly a marathon I know, but it's a start. Image conscious as ever, I've noticed that I feel much better jogging in D's figure-hugging dri-fit leggings than my own baggy junkie-style tracksuit bottoms. Despite my supposed 'busyness' I've managed to find the time to browse the web in search of stylish ladies running gear - namely tops as I'd rather wear some plain leggins on my bottom half - I'm too lanky to look good in bootleg.

I love this Alpine top from Lululemon, the colour and the fit are just gorgeous and I think the hole in the hood for your pony tail is ingenious - no more ponytail scrunched into a ball and no more looking like a boy when you have your hood up. Sorry the other thumbnails pics are so small.

Equally gorgeous but a little more spring-timey is this option from Sweaty Betty...

And now, something that even body-conscious old moi would find too daring to run in but that is undeniably very sexy, this Stella McCartney top for Adidas...



And for summer in beige from Sweaty Betty - wouldn't it look nice with a tan?

For some reason I actually believe these tops will make me run faster...I just need to find out where to get them in Spain.

Bits and bobs

I'm a wee bit stressed at the moment (in a good way). I've recently been promoted at work and I'm finishing off my old job and starting the new one and trying to do my best in both. Also I seem to have a tonne of personal bits and pieces to do - arranging my visa and jabs for my trip to Sudan in December, kidney doctor appointments here and there, friends and family that I feel I haven't paid enough attention to recently and fights with the evil telecoms company 'telefónica' who seem to be intent on robbing me of every last penny I own.

Anyway, enough ranting! I just wanted to share this link (sourced via SwissMiss):
Tapi - I think this is ingenious! (no more dribbly slurping from ones hand - I know, I know, civilised peolple have glass cups for this kind of thing...)