Sneak Preview

Hello good folks! Spring has finally arrived... ahhh! The season for cañas (mini glasses of beer) on terraces, long walks, lots of snaps, and yes, picnics. Yesterday I shared an elaborate lunch with a group of friends in the park, Templo de Debod. For the event, I prepared crustless cucumber sandwiches with fresh mint, and substituted feta for the cream cheese that most recipes call for. Not Spanish at all, but it was a crowd pleaser. Plus we opened a couple of bottles of the wine we bought in El Fabulista bodega in La Rioja, and did a little tasting during some intense games of Uno.

I love how Spanish people always talk about "aprovechando" or taking advantage of good weather ... it's such a fabulous word, "aprovechar". Yes, we English speakers have the phrasal verb "to take advantage", but it's not as sweetly succinct as the Spanish translation. In any case, any time the sun comes out, people flock to terraces and parks, and I am all about this custom.

I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to Sevilla next weekend with my Sevillano flatmate for the April feria. It's a week long fiesta that began in 1846 as a livestock fair, but nowadays is all about comer, beber, bailar ...eat, drink, dance. I've been to Sevilla once before, and I can solidly say that overall it has my favorite Spanish regional cuisine, that is, Andalusian food. I used to be obsessed with Basque food, but it's so rich and complicated that it's not something I could eat every day. But between salmorejo, espinacas con garbanzo, seafood, jamón, and olives, I think I could live a happy life in Andalucia. Maybe that's why the people from there have so much chutzpeh! Anyway, as if the eating, drinking, and dancing weren't exciting enough, there's also the fashion. (Olé!) Women wear flamenco dresses and men the traditional short jackets, tight trousers, and boots. The second hand store across the street from my apartment has children's flamenco dresses in the window and I was thinking about buying one because I am petite enough to fit into children's clothes, but decided I'd rather look like a plainclothes foreigner than a bootleg-flamenco-dancer foreigner. But don't worry, I'll take plenty of snaps to show you the best and the delicious worst on the fashion front. Hasta la próxima!