Calçots , a Catalan delicacy

So the last day of the inlaws holiday with us arrived..

Eventhough we are always a bit sad when they have to go back home again, we decided to go for lunch in a very nice restaurant here in the mountains...

The season of the Calçots just started , and I really was looking forward to eat them again. They are soo yummy!!

What are Calçots?

A calçot is a type of green onion known as Blanca gran tardana in the Catalan language.

Calçots are milder and les bulbus than onions and have a lenght of between 15 and 25 centimeter ( the white part)  and a diameter of approx 1.7 to 2.5cm at the root.

Calçots are grilled on high fire wrapped in newspaper ( or in aluminium foil, the modern way I guess)  and eaten after peeling with bare hands by dipping one by one in romesco saus along accompanied with red wine and bread. Calçots are meant for a started and always followed up by a main course and dessert with a glass of cava.

We weren´t on a original Calçotada which celebrates the harvest of the calçots, but in the restaurant they are just as nice.

Anyhow with the family and my camera ready, off we went!

The Parc where the mountains (and the restaurant) is situated is called Parc de la Serralada de Marina and only 5 minutes walk from our house to the beginning of the parc.

Here some photos of the nice wintery walk to the restaurant...

The restaurant is very pretty with a lovely garden.

And then the yummy Calçots!!

With the Spanish Pan con Tomate.. Roasted bread which you rub raw garlic, tomato and olive oil on. Ofcourse my favorite Alioli can´t be missed either.

Equiped with bibs and gloves and a nice bottle of red wine,  it was time to eat..

In the meantime , the kids enjoyed themselved with Pasta Bolognese..

After the Calçots the bellies were full with Chuleton for the men and fish for us , yummy crema catalana, ice cream, coffee and a nice glass of Cava to finish the more than lovely lunch with.

Then it was time to walk back home and do some serious relaxing as we are suppose to do on a Sunday!

Hasta Pronto!

Jany

Christmas 2014

As I mentioned in my previous post , we celebrate christmas a bit earlier as the inlaws flew over from Ireland and its a whole lot more fun with them around us!

See here a bit of a photo bombing of the morning Santa had left us the presents..

First Sofia had left a bottle of beer and a drawing for Santa and a carrot for Rudolph under the tree..

Suddenly the presents appeared!! And my inlaws and ourselves added the rest of the presents... of course Santa cannot take care of all of it.

Can you imagine when the girls woke up, their stockings were even filled..they must have been  good girls ( sort of,,,)

Then Sofia was very excited to see if Santa drank his beer and Rudolph ate from his carrot..
And they did!!

Santa left even a letter especially to thank the girls for the beer, nice drawing and yummy carrot for Rudolph,

And then it was time to open the presents with Shayne handing them out to everyone and Sofia jumping up and down next to him...

A small part of the presents I got... I am so happy!!!

Happy Inlaws!!

Many more presents were opened and the kids ( and adults) were happy with their presents..
Sofia decided to change her name and appearance in that of Elsa from Frozen and thought she could sing with that. Poor us..
Livia is waggling about with her new puzzles, books , sensory toys and most of all her new schoolboard.

In the evening we had a lovely Christmas meal Shayne made himself..
Roasted Pork with mustard and honey glaze, Roasted Chicken , Roasted Potatoes,  Brussels Sprouts , home made applesauce, salad and a mix of pies and carrots. With a bottle of wine and Vienetta as dessert we had happy satisfied bellies and vegetated on the sofa with the new Mrs Brown´s boys movie and a cup of coffee..

Hasta Pronto!!

Jany

Walking on Sunshine..ooowoooo

It is December and would you believe that after a couple of weeks of terrible weather ,the sunshine is back!
And the good part of this is that my inlaws are on a visit here from Ireland for a pre-christmas holiday. They did the same last year, so we celebrate christmas some days early as the kids do not have an idea anyway about the day it s suppose to be.

So yesterday the sun was blazing and we decided to go for a small walk around in our little town.
Of course my camera had to come because there is always something nice to photograph.
We brought our little Livia with us while Sofia was having fun in school.

Looking at the fishes in the river and trying to find the turtle we saw once..

Father and Son engrossed in conversation...

My mother in law is enjoying herself!

Our Livia is happy out...

Animals on the way...

Before I Close this Photo post,here some art work we found on our way

Hasta Pronto!

Jany

Early Christmas Pericles

Wow yeah we as a family are also very very early this year!!
Shayne complains every year again, and again that christmas is coming earlier...
But won´t you believe how exited he is when he can put the tree up!

So yesterday , Sunday and a very miserable day weatherwise, we decided  to put the  fake *cough* christmas tree and decorations up.

We do not have many decorations yet , as last year Livia found the deco very interesting and especially de christmas balls.. she pulled them out over and over again , till all where flying through the room and we had none left at the end of the month..  Ah well...

What we do have though is those little cuties..
The angel and the photo star we got last year from the in-laws and we are very careful with them.
However today Livia was hanging in the tree again ( you would think she was a cat..) and the whole thing came down and broke the angel with it. getting angry was not an option , she does not understand the whole christmas poohaa, but fairly dissapointed I was for sure..

The little horsie is from Sofia which she also got from the inlaw on her very first christmas..pffff time flies!

Ofcourse I could not stay away from my new camera on a day like yesterday.. and a Girlie portret needed to be made..

We tried to make a family portret but that was too much to ask for with those little dragons above, so I keep that one for the next time..

So our first Xmas experience for 2014 is a fact, Advent Calendars are bought and Number 1 is opened, Christmas pressies are halfway in the pocket... So now its waiting and enjoying this joyious month!

Hasta Pronto!!

Jany