Thursday, February 15, 2018

Happy Belated Valentine's Day!

Here is a post from a couple who "collect" images of hearts, in building design and everywhere in their travels. 

Bruce and I do not "celebrate" this day, we are more spontaneous about showing our love. We did buy Rocio a box of chocolates and card, last week was a tough one for her, personal reasons, so we wanted to cheer her up a bit.

We owed a rather urgent bill to a company in Germany. I don’t understand and have complained before about this. Bruce had some updates done to his wheelchair about a month before we left Freiburg, we did not receive the bill and he offered to pay it on the spot but no go. So they finally send the bill and expect payment immediately or maximum 15 days, what? We can hardly remember what the charge is for! 

Pepe came over to install the bathroom light, before he got here I unwrapped the one we bought to discover a large crack in the casing, darn it! So Pepe goes to the store, same one we were at earlier in the day and picks up another. We take the cracked one back and have some trouble with language, the clerk gets frustrated with us which is unusual, maybe because it was a Monday morning?

We’ve been craving king crab after our wonderful dinner of it in Amsterdam, but wondered if it was available here and it is! So we bought a mess of it, frozen and invited Angela, Ryan and Pepe for a feed. 

Pepe is cutting down the side of the legs for easier access, Thanks Pepe! Angela's photo.
And a feed it was, served with melted butter, lemon and garlic bread. 

Me checking temperature, we steamed them. Angela's photo.
I put out tomato and cucumber but they will now be a salad for me, everyone seemed to keep their appetites for the crab. Very messy meal but very tasty. A treat for everyone.

Ryan's photo, Ryan's plate
I’d put the packages in the fridge to thaw overnight and they leaked all over so had a fridge to clean out before they arrived of smelly sea water. Now I’m learning how to make bisque from the shells but first had to look up what is bisque anyway? Fancy name for soup really, but typically refers to a soup made from shellfish. https://www.thespruce.com/what-is-bisque-995579  I think I’ll make a chowder instead.

Bruce has missed several dental appointments due to lack of energy and upset stomach so this last appointment he was feeling better and went. Pepe picked us up and drove us there to Espartinas where the office is. Lovely drive this time of year through very green fields and orchards of olive trees. Appointment didn’t take long and Pepe had an hour to spare so he took us to LinoyFino - yah! Finally got there, but she has no stock! I did get two men’s shirts and she said she’s bringing all the spring stock in beginning of March so you can bet I’ll be back, her name is Yolanda. The spring colours she showed me are great! I expect this will be a productive and expensive visit, which I look forward to! I was in and out in about 15 minutes, doesn’t take me long, not with two men in tow. 

We take Lexi to the vet for a pedicure and have to wait so we admire the other animals in the waiting room, a beagle and a pug. We get the vet this time, not her assistant and she does an inspection of Lexi, ears, teeth, whole body through, and then does her nails, Lexi hissed once but was otherwise okay. We really like this vet and her staff, they are friendly, capable and the office is close.

Bruce wanted "Swiss Chalet" sauce, which I don’t like, never have, but made it just for him (after procrastinating about a week in hopes he would forget, he didn't). We left out the vinegar, all-spice and ginger, mostly because we didn’t have them in the house. Surprise to me, it tasted really great with the chicken we bought pre-cooked. Made another run of broth from the carcass. P.S. Swiss Chalet, in case you don't know, is a Canadian chain of restaurants serving mainly chicken with their signature sauce.

Went up to the Setas (Metropol) market, had lunch prior to going into the market, but by the time we were done the market was closing and couldn’t find the root vegetables (turnip, parsnip, beets) we needed for borscht soup. We'll have to wait for borscht when we get back to Germany where the vegetables are more widely available. Who has heard of Spaniards eating borscht anyway? Definitely not a Spanish dish. Went to El Corte and found ingredients for mushroom soup instead, which I'd never made before but turned out tasty. I found this bit amusing from the recipe:

"Let the soup cool for a few minutes, then transfer to the blender and carefully blend at high speed until smooth. Do I have to remind you to do this in stages, with the blender's lid firmly held down, and with the weight of your body keeping that thing from flying off and allowing boiling hot mushroom purée to erupt all over your kitchen?"

From Reprinted with permission from Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook by Anthony Bourdain with José de Meirelles and Philippe Lajaunie. © 2004 Bloomsbury
Cheers, Bev, Bruce and Lexi Cat




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