Christmas at home, my films of the week, more dinner parties and finally an iPad

Sunday 30th December 2012

 

All of us on Christmas Eve

Hello again

I hope you have all had a great Christmas.  Ours was great and the best thing is that Christmas isn’t over yet.

Let me start this week from last Sunday.  The highlight that day was watching the Indian film My Name is Khan with Eladio in the lounge after dinner. It was a film recommended to me by Sandra when we visited her in Brussels in November and I loved it.  You would too I’m sure.  The story is about an autistic Indian boy whose mission, after the 11^th September, is to meet the American President to say “My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist”. To whet your appetite you can see the trailer here.

One of my films of the week

Monday was Christmas Eve, always a lovely day.  I spent most of it preparing for our family dinner and made all our usual favourites that we normally only eat on that most magical of nights: potato salad, prawn cocktail, smoked salmon, perushki (little Russian meat pies), homemade ham croquettes and of course bacon rolls.  The innovation this year was lobster salad, delicious. This was followed by Oufa’s brownies of which we still have some left over, one week later.

The photo illustrating this week’s blog is of the 6 of us just before starting.  You may wonder who took the photo. It was Juli, the girls’ Colombian friend and my sort of adopted son who would have been alone that night as his Mother and brother have gone back to their native country to live.  Thanks to Juli I now have a great collection of Christmas photos which you can see here.  Some of them are panoramic, a great gimmick on my new iPhone, like the one below of our Christmas Eve table which you can see in all its glory before we devoured nearly everything on the table.

This was what our table looked like as we sat down to eat on Christmas Eve

After dinner, the grandparents, my Father and Eladio’s Mother went to be bed and we stayed up drinking champagne in our lovely Christmassy lounge.  We played Trivial and Eladio and I actually won!

Playing Trivial after dinner on Christmas Eve

The next day was Christmas Day and we celebrated it as we always do according to the English tradition I was brought up on at home.  In Spain the main celebration is Christmas Eve and not much happens on Christmas Day but in our house we celebrate both.  The day starts with the girls opening their stockings, stockings that my Mother knitted for them when they were children and which we treasure.

The girls' Christmas stockings knitted for them by my Mother when they were small

Then we have a special breakfast all together in the dining room, after which the most looked forward to moment of the year takes place, the opening of presents around the tree in the lounge. 

Sitting down to open the presents on Christmas Day

We go more for quantity than quality but this year the presents were a little more generous than usual.  Eladio was especially happy with his present from my Father and I, an HP laptop I acquired from my friend David S.  Thanks David, Eladio is delighted and now technologically up to date.  In the album of photos one I especially like is of my Father smiling at receiving one of his favourite books, the World Almanac and Book of Facts.

My Father with one of his presents

While everyone is putting away their presents or trying something out, it is my job to make the Christmas lunch which takes a few hours.  The menu on Christmas day is traditional too: roast bird, this year a capon instead of turkey, roast potatoes, gravy, brussel sprouts, sage and onion stuffing and never to be forgotten cranberry sauce.  The dessert, of course, is Christmas pudding this year accompanied by shop bought brandy butter instead of white sauce.

Here is probably my favourite photo of my Christmas album, all of us sitting down to lunch on 25^th December.  Notice too again the table is adorned with crackers as the festivities wouldn’t be the same without them.

Lunch on Christmas Day

After lunch a siesta was in order and that was when I had a little accident and fell over a ladder in our room which was there to change a light bulb.  I hit my big toe and it was so painful I had to get Eladio to give me a painkiller injection.  That certainly did the trick, except that I could hardly walk until the next day.  Even now I can feel a little pain but am walking nearly normally.  There was nothing to do but take a rest, so we decided to watch a film in the TV lounge which at Christmas has the fire lit.  Believe it or not, our choice was Holocaust, or rather part of the series we hadn’t seen, perhaps not the best choice for Christmas Day.

Tuesday was Boxing Day which is not a holiday in Spain.  Both girls worked and Oufa returned home. Lunch on Boxing Day is always leftovers of which there were plenty.  On that day, in the afternoon, as on many days at Christmas, Eladio and I read in our Chrismassy lounge which looks lovely with all the special lights and the candles on.  The abuela (my Mother in Law) asked me why I lit them if we have electricity.  I suppose candles for her bring back memories of when there was no electricity and it is hard for her to appreciate them as an atmospheric enhancer. I have been playing most of the week with the panoramic photo application on my new iPhone and love this photo I took of the whole lounge as described above.

Our Chrismassy lounge, the photo is taken with the Panoramic app on my iPhone

The highlight on Boxing Day was a trip to the cinema to see the new British musical version of Les Miserables directed by Tom Cooper.  I had no idea it was a musical and at the beginning was a little put off but as the story continued I became mesmerized.  Suzy was watching the same film with her friend Elena and boyfriend Antonio and at the end we both looked at each other and realized we were both crying.  The film is absolutely marvelous and I loved Russel Crowe who played Javert the police inspector. Hugh Jackman is equally good as Jean Valjean. But I cried most when Anne Hathaway who plays Fantine sang I dreamed a dream.

Anne Hathaway singing I dreamed a dream in Les Miserables

Afterwards Eladio and I had dinner at nearby Gino’s and couldn’t stop raving about the film over our pasta and risotto.  If you haven’t seen it yet, please go, you won’t be disappointed.

On Thursday Eladio and I went shopping, mainly for me to get presents to take to Julio’s annual dinner which was taking place that evening at his bachelor flat in Madrid.  This year was the first year the girls would not be attending and I was a little sad but could not do much to change things.  We picked up Fátima from her house down the road and by 9 were approaching Julio’s block of flats.  As usual it felt like getting inside a fortress with so many gates to go through and numbers to press. He had everything ready, the table laid, the music on and soft lighting too.  He served us a glass of Arzuaga red wine from the Ribera de Duero region.  Arzuaga is a place I organized a Nokia team building event some years ago when both Julio and Fátima attended and Eladio knew too because I took him there on the site inspection trip.  We all agreed it is one of our favourite wines. Here are my friends sitting down just before dinner.

The dinner party at Julio's on Thursday

The best part of dinner at Julio’s is the cream filled “roscón” he always serves at this traditional dinner.  We took a piece home for my Father for breakfast.  I had brought along some crackers and sparklers.  I must say my favourite joke this year is this: “Why did the donut maker give up his job?  He was fed up with the “hole” business”.  Then it was time for opening the presents; most of which were quite predictable as, being the close friends we are, we had told each other beforehand what we wanted.  For the record I got one of my favourite perfumes: Flower bomb by Victor Rolf. Julio being Julio soon got tired and was yawning so ushered us out of his home before midnight which I actually appreciated.

Friday 28^th December was the day of the innocents, the equivalent in Spain to April Fools’ Day and there were jokes and fun pieces of news all over the internet and on TV.  My favourite was one I found that said Yoigo had been bought by Google allowing the American company to enter the operator business in Europe.  Whoever the artist was he or she had even designed the logo.  I don’t suppose anyone believed the story of course, but I did find it funny.

Friday 28th was the day of the innocents and I found this misleading piece of news that Google had bought Yoigo!

That evening we were having guests again for dinner  -  yes, yet another dinner party.  We had invited our friends Roberto and Mari Carmen, who, although recently divorced have a very civilized relationship.  They loved our lounge too and commented that Christmas was really here in our house. I hope they liked the dinner too.  Here is a picture of me at the table with everything ready, just before they arrived.

All ready for the dinner party at home on Friday for Roberto and Mari Carmen

I had made lobster salad with mango and avocado for starters and baked salmon and fresh asparagus for the second course – a really easy dinner to make actually.  Roberto and Mari Carmen brought the wine and a delicious apple pie from my favourite gourmet store, Mallorca.  It was good to host our friends as we haven’t seen much of them since they separated.  

And yesterday was Friday and I had an appointment at the Apple Store at the Grand Plaza 2 shopping centre.  I went to check my new iPhone was ok as the battery doesn’t seem to last.  I got some good advice from the Apple Store trainer, Leticia, who told me to “calibrate” the battery at least once a month.  That means letting the battery run out completely, then leaving it another hour until charging it completely again and then when the battery is full, leaving it to charge for another hour.  

Before going to the Apple Store I had already made up my mind I would be buying myself an iPad as my Christmas present to myself.  Of course I could live without one and I don’t really need it but I know that it will be very useful when travelling or using around the house.  And so I bought one, a white 16gb iPad 2 with wifi and 3G.  Here it is, together with the wireless keyboard and cover, just before my own personal unboxing.

My iPad and accessories just before unboxing yesterday

I am so pleased to say that I finally have an iPad, a device I always thought I didn’t really need.  But now that it is set up, I am already in love with it.  One of my favourite applications is the BBC iPlayer where for just over 7 pounds a month you can see lots of series, films and documentaries, many of which I enjoyed in my childhood such as Steptoe and Son, Fawlty Towers, Oliver Twist, etc.  I will also enjoy my Amazon Kindle account on the iPad, something I was not using on my black and white Kindle.  

And today is Sunday and the abuelos (grandparents in Spanish = my Father and Eladio’s mother) are looking forward to visiting Suzy’s flat this afternoon where we are all invited to tea and some Christmas cake. Maybe I should add that I sent Oufa there to clean it yesterday especially for their visit.

Tomorrow, of course, will be New Year’s Eve and Eladio and I will be leaving mid morning for León where we look forward to seeing the New Year in with his family, but more about that next week.

Meanwhile I wish you all a great New Year.  All I wish is for 2013 to be just as good as 2012.  Have a blast my friends,

All the best/Masha

Finally a new iPhone, a happy week, some good news, parties, a day trip to León, foreign food for the “abuela”, last minute preparations for Christmas and more.

Sunday 23rd December 2012

Lunch in León on Friday

 

Hello everyone

This week running up to Christmas has been great.  It may sound corny but I am so blessed and have such a happy life, I just couldn’t ask for more.  And just in case it’s tempting fate, I will not.  All I wish for is for is for everything to stay just as it is.  

Monday was a happy day as were most days of the week.  On Monday all the Yoigo employees were given a fabulous Christmas hamper from Sánchez Romero (my favourite and most up market food store in Spain) including a “5 jotas” ham which we haven’t opened yet.  The joy didn’t end there as on Monday too we were all given a brand new iPhone 5, Apple’s latest flagship mobile phone.  So yes I finally have an iPhone, or rather finally I have a new iPhone because do own the old iPhone 3 which now sees very outdated compared.

We are very lucky at Yoigo as in these times of crisis it is unusual for companies to be so generous.  I guess that the secret is how well the company is doing.  Proof of this was when we were mentioned on the TVE1 news programme, on Monday too actually, when they did a report on the sector and included the fact that while the other big operators were losing customers, Yoigo was actually gaining them.

It was great to see this picture on TVE on Monday

I couldn’t wait to set up the new iPhone up, including the nano sim  and that took some time but now it is has everything I need including the great new corporate mail application. I am in love with it as I imagine my colleagues are too.  I have always raved about my Samsung Galaxy S3 so you might be interested to know how they compare.  The verdict is that they are both great phones.  The Galaxy has a better camera and bigger and brighter screen and the battery lasts longer, but oh the iPhone is just so cool.  I actually haven’t given up my Galaxy as I love it too much to do that so right now it has another sim card in it and I use it mostly for taking photos.

Unboxing my new iPhone 5

On Tuesday Olivia was sent to Ciudad Real to report on an extreme case of bullying at a school where the Ecuadorian teenager Mónica had committed suicide.  Olivia interviewed the parents before the live report and said she was nearly in tears when she spoke to them and had to control her voice during the TV piece.  You can see her here if you fast forward to both 12.04h and 13.45h.  Later that week Olivia and I spoke about the case and I confessed to her that I sympathized a lot with the teenager as I myself had been bullied at school; something I think that leaves a mark on you for life.  But I was able to get over it and get on with life and become a happy wife and mother unlike poor Mónica.

Olivia reporting from Ciudad Real on Tuesday

As Olivia was being driven back to Madrid she got some good news which she shared immediately with us; she had passed the exam she took last week for the permanent position with TVE in Melilla.  I should correct myself and add that she passed the first part.  Now she has to take the second and final exam which will be on camera this time.  So please keep your fingers crossed.  It is still a shot in the dark as there are lots of other candidates but now we see some light at the end of the tunnel and can begin to imagine her living in Melilla.  For those of you who don’t know, Melilla is Spanish territory in Morocco.

That afternoon, over a cup of coffee with my ex colleague from Nokia, D. Shalab, we both commented how lucky we have been since leaving the Finnish company.  D.  It was great seeing you and thanks for the help.

Wednesday brought with it the first party of the week and as the Communications Manager its preparation was my responsibility again.  It was for the children of the Yoigo employees. Some 180 came, together with their proud parents and there were children of all ages from months old to about 14.  

As at most events of mine, the girls came to lend a hand and this year were accompanied by “Ele” and Juli.  I love this photo of them below.

The girls and their friends giving a helping hand at the Yoigo children's party on Wednesday

We put on a show of what’s called “canta juegos” here (kids’ songs performed by a jolly group of young singers in blue dungarees) and which are hugely popular with children.  Afterwards, the more traditional Three Kings came, and believe it or not they were accompanied by a live camel.  That was the bit I liked best.  As you probably already know I love animals and am fonder of them than children.

With the Three Kings at the Yoigo Children's party on Wednesday

The real camel was the star of the show at the Yoigo children's party on Wednesday

You can see all the photos of the party here on Flickr.

Wednesday’s event was yet more proof of how Yoigo looks after its employees.  Take note other companies. 

The very next night was my last event or big project of the year; the employees Christmas party.  This year it was held at an indoor gourmet market called Mercado Isabella in the centre of Madrid.  I had about 200 guests (the employees and their partners/spouses) to cater for and I heard later that they were most impressed with the food as I was myself. After the buffet dinner, they went through to the discotheque where 400 balloons were released with prizes inside.  The idea was to win as many prizes as possible whilst bursting them. The “balloon moment” was great fun.  Later there were drinks and dancing but at midnight I surreptitiously left to go home as I had to be up early the next day.  You can see what a good time was had by all in the photos we posted later on Flickr.

The "balloon moment" at the Yoigo employee party on Thursday

The next day, Friday, Eladio and I were driving to León to pick up his Mother and bring her home to spend Christmas with us.  If you are an avid reader of this blog, you will know that every time we go to León we nearly always stop at the Palacio de Bornos winery in Rueda, the white wine capital of Spain or of the world in my opinion.  Here we always enjoy a plate of ham and wine and then stock up on some of their lovely produce which on Friday included 36 bottles of wine!

Enjoying a glass of wine and ham at the Palacio de Bornos in Rueda on Friday

We arrived in time for lunch with Pili and Andrés (Eladio’s youngest sister and her husband), the “abuela” (means Grandmother in Spanish) and were joined for coffee later by Adela, Eladio’s other sister.  The photo illustrating this week's post is of lunch on Friday with Eladio's family.  You can see more photos of our visit here.

We were eager to set off home as the day was short and the drive long, but I thought Eladio should get a rest before driving again and so we headed back to Pili and Andres’ flat.  Just as we were about to leave Marta, Adela’s daughter made an entrance and I got a good 10 minute natter with one of my favourite nieces. 

The abuela found the 3.5h drive home very long but for us it was even longer as we had driven out in the morning.  We were home by 8pm and actually very soon in bed.  

You can see the rest of the photos of our trip to León to fetch my mother-in-law, “the abuela” whose name is actually Ernestina, here.  I must say she is in very good shape for a nonagerian and although seemingly a little frail probably much stronger than she looks. 

Eladio and his Mother on Friday in León

I must add that on Friday night when we got home, there was a wonderful surprise waiting for me: a gourmet basket of tropical fruit.  This is what it looked like, as now it has been dismantled and much of it eaten. Thanks Gloria, we loved it.

The beautiful basket of tropical fruit Gloria sent to me on Friday.

Saturday morning was taken up with last minute preparations for Christmas.  I have been preparing on and off since November and now everything is almost ready.  The tree is heaving with presents as you can see below.

Our Christmas tree today, heaving with presents

I took Eladio with me for some last minute present shopping and we had some quality time together at Grand Plaza 2. As we came home the girls passed in their car on their way to another shopping centre and they were given strict instructions to be home for a family lunch with the abuela not later than 15h (yeah we eat late in Spain).

I’m not sure whether the abuela liked the lunch that day.  I made Mexican fajitas and I am sure she was trying them for the first time.  Today we had left over “pastela” (Moroccan chicken pie with almonds) which she said she liked.  So you see, we continue to eat  food from afar in this house which you will know about if you read my post from last week.

That evening my friends Julio and Fátima were coming for the annual Christmas dinner party at our place and everything had to be perfect.  Oufa helped me throughout and thanks to her I was able to get a walk in my tight schedule as well as a bath before dinner.  The menu was bacon rolls with fresh asparagus, followed by Pastela (made by Oufa’s sister Fatima) and Waldorf Salad.  The dessert was very English: Eton Mess. 

The amazing Moroccan pastela - filo pastry chicken pie with almonds made by Oufa's sister Fatima

I have to mention that Norah ate the hors d’oeuvres we had prepared for when our guests arrived: a plate of ham and seafood vol au vents.  Eladio went to open the door to let Julio and Fátima in and Norah somehow got into the lounge where she managed to devour the hors d’oeuvres in seconds.  I couldn’t believe my eyes when I walked into the lounge and saw the two empty plates.  Luckily we were able to rustle up another plate of ham and laugh at the antic.

The annual Christmas dinner here at home on Saturday with Julio and Fátima

Dinner was followed by a game of my new Trivial Genius Edition.  I played with Julio against Eladio and Fátima.  Truth to tell, they won but they had been in the lead for most of the game, thanks to what Julio and I thought were far easier questions.  I now look forward to playing with Eladio and the girls on Christmas Eve.  

And today is Sunday 23^rd, the day before Christmas Eve. It has been quiet, the highlight being another family lunch all together.  As I write, my Father is watching the BBC, the girls have gone out and Eladio is with his Mother upstairs who is knitting more socks for us all.  It is time for our walk and time to close and wish you all a great Christmas.

Next time I write it will all be over, but don’t worry there is another good time to look forward to after that; New Year’s Eve.  Right now we can look forward to both festivities. I sometimes think the best part about festivities is the preparations and looking forward to them.  Do you agree?

Love and best wishes to you all till next time

Masha.

A flea market at home, food glorious food, Oli reporting on Christmas prices, a special date, the Connecticut tragedy and the magic of Christmas at home.

Sunday 16th December 2012

The magic of Christmas at home

Hi everyone,

How was your week?  Ours was dominated by food in many ways as you will read throughout this week’s entry. I have titled this part of the blog as “food glorious food” because it was and because of course, we are huge foodies in this house, enjoying dishes from all over the world.  At home we usually eat a mixture of dishes from Russia, England and Spain but from other places too as you will learn. 

However, let me start with last Sunday when we held a flea market at home to sell lots of the girls cast offs, some of which still had the shop labels on, as was the case of a few of Olivia’s items.

With the help of Juli, we set up everything in the lounge as the girls’ friends were arriving at about 16h.  The bazaar went quite well.  There were bags and belts and jewelry, boots and shoes for sale as well as coats, dresses, trousers, t-shirts, blouses, jumpers and jackets, most coming from Zara. However we will be setting up another market after Christmas to sell even more stuff, as well as some of the items which didn’t get sold on Sunday.  In a way a great time was had by all, although it was a big task to set up and even bigger to take down.  Guess who did the latter?  Me, of course.



With Suzy - the flea market we created last Sunday - what fun!

 

My story of food actually begins on Sunday, just before the flea market.  Oufa, our lovely Moroccan living in home help, made us a Moroccan meal for the first time.  I’m sure you are not surprised to know that she made couscous with vegetables and chicken.  We loved it, or rather the girls and I loved it, the men being not so fond of the Maghrebian dish of semolina.  This is what my plate looked like.  Delicious don’t you think?

 

Oufa's couscous

 

If we ate food from the Maghreb on Sunday, we had Swedish fare on Tuesday. I made my favourite Nordic dish for dinner that day, the dish I always eat when in Stockholm, “räksmörgås”.  In English I’m sure it would be called prawns on toast which doesn’t sound half as nice.  The recipe, if you are interested is cold cooked and shelled prawns (I cheated as mine were from Ikea) with salad and mayonnaise and sliced boiled egg, all placed on a piece of rye bread or toast.  This is what my “räksmörgås” looked like.

The Swedish platter I made for dinner on Tuesday: räksmörgås

On Tuesday, fittingly for this week’s theme of food, Olivia reported on food prices on her morning programme, La Mañana de la 1.  The story was about the difference in the prices of fish and seafood in Madrid and Barcelona.  Olivia was at a market in Madrid (Ventas) and her colleague, Laura, was at a market in Barcelona (Santa Catalina).  Here Oli really got into the spirit of the story and took the place of the fishmonger and stood by the stall in a fishmonger’s apron.  At one stage she lifted a huge fish in her hands and placed it on the scales.  She turned the story into the rivalry with Barcelona alluding to football and the 8 points that Barça have against Madrid.  I missed the live report but later saw it here on this clip (fast forward to 12.10h).  Olivia admitted afterwards she hadn’t a clue about the names of fish or seafood and had to learn them on the spot.  I suppose this is my fault as I have not brought her up to be a housewife or have any interest in the names of fish.  Later she appeared again at 13.50 doing a similar story, this time about meat and again she had to learn the parts before her appearance. 

Oli having fun after her report on food prices in Madrid vs Barcelona on Monday

 

On Tuesday I had another Christmas engagement.  Ketchum, my PR agency had their annual bash which this year took place at Teresa and Tony’s house and wow was that lovely.  They live bang in the centre of Madrid and on the top floor of their block of flats – sounds normal right? What wasn’t normal was their roof top terrace which includes a private swimming pool.  Inside the house was beautiful and Teresa, unlike me, already had all the decorations out.  If I thought I had a lot their `place looked like the Christmas department of the Corte Inglés (Spanish department store).  

Tuesday was the 11^th December and as I drove home after the party, I suddenly realised that the next day would be a very special date: 12.12.12 – the 12^th of the 12^th of 2012.  I posted that on Facebook and my cousin André who lives in Canada replied that his father, my Uncle Sasha (my Mother’s oldest brother), would have been 100 that day.  That is something, so yes Wednesday was a very special date.

On Wednesday there was good news for Spain and it was great to read that Inditex, the company behind Zara, the world’s largest clothes retailer and my favourite shop, reported a 27% increase in earnings. It’s not often good news come out of Spain, so I, for one, was very pleased to read this.  I do think I have contributed to their success hahahaha.

It was good news for Zara on Wednesday as the company reported increased sales

And on Wednesday as we were digesting the news at lunch, Norah made her way surreptitiously to the table and I caught her on camera in the sweetest pose possible.  Isn’t she irresistible?

 

Norah hoping for a little something from Eladio at lunch on Wednesday

 

Thursday was a full day. I had a meeting with the girls from my events agency, QuintaEsencia, and as always, we met at Zielo, a luxury shopping centre in Pozuelo.  We were to go over the preparations for the two up and coming Yoigo Christmas parties.  I went early so as to get in some more Christmas shopping, visiting Sánchez Romero, the most up market Spanish supermarket, and then H+M where I bought this dress.

 

The new dress I bought at H+M on Thursday - please note size S!

I wore the dress that night for the Christmas Management Team dinner. Our new boss had invited us out to celebrate together, something new for us.  It was a very special place he took us to; El Club Allard, possibly the most popular restaurant in Madrid at the moment with 2 Michelin stars.  Here food becomes an art and was certainly glorious I can tell you.  The best bit possibly, because all was wonderful, was the dessert called “la pecera” or fish bowl.  It resembled a fish bowl and each element was made of something sweet.  If you ever get the chance to try Diego Guerrero’s creations you will be just as surprised and awed as me. 

 

La Pecera (fish bowl) dessert at El Clulb Allard, amazing!

 

Friday was a great day at least for us.  I went shopping in the morning with Oufa to do the weekly food shopping and as always we went for a cup of coffee and a long chat, a bit like Mother and daughter.  Both girls were home for lunch and I made a tex mex meal of fajitas and all the trimmings – you see food again!  However the pièce de résistance was the dessert, a wonderful pear and almond tart made by Oufa.  The recipe, by the way is French.

The French pear and almond tart Oufa made this week, superb.

 

In the afternoon Suzy and I went Christmas shopping to Gran Plaza Norte 2 where we shopped or rather walked till we dropped as I only found one present there.  I commented to Suzy that even though I had missed our daily walk I had probably made up for it with all the walking around this rather macro mega centre which I find far too big.

As we walked in the door at home, my Father was watching the BBC news and it was then that I heard about the Newtown tragedy.  It later became known as the Connecticut school killing where 26 people were killed by a 20 year old boy and former pupil at the now world famous Sandy Hook Elementary school.  I ask myself just how many tragedies like this have to happen before the US government bans hand guns?

This picture sums up the story of how privately owned hand guns kill so many people in the good old US of A. and so few compared in other countries where their use is banned. Come on Obama wake up!

 

On Friday too I have another food story.  Eladio and I went out to dinner as we do most Fridays.  I fancied pasta, as I often do, and my husband suggested a restaurant we used to frequent and haven’t been to for many, many years, Capitolina in Majadahonda.  It was great to be back and I was amazed to see that the waiters were still the same.  My husband being my husband, ordered fish at a pasta restaurant but I, of course, had my favourite Italian dish, paglia y fieno (straw and hay called paja y heno here) so called because of the mixture of white and green pasta I suppose.

Food was again the note of the day yesterday, Saturday when I spent most of the morning cooking.  I made meat loaf, a staple item in our diet and also stuffed mini peppers and as I ran out of peppers but had lots of stuffing left over, I experimented and made stuffed potatoes.  I got lots of compliments at lunch.  I also did some Christmas baking and made more “perushki” (Russian pies) using the good quality pastry I had bought from Sánchez Romero.  These have now been frozen and will be baked on Christmas Eve.  

Whilst I baked, Eladio bathed the dogs and Olivia was doing last minute revising for her exam that afternoon.  The exam was for a permanent post with RTVE at their Melilla unit on Moroccan soil.  It’s a shot in the dark as many other people were taking the exam but I was proud of her making the effort.  The exam was very difficult multiple choice questions on current affairs.  Even if she doesn’t pass, the revision will make her even more informed on today’s world of politics.  Her prize afterwards was being picked up by her boyfriend Miguel who came yesterday from Valencia to see her.  

As they came home, they caught me putting up the Christmas decorations around the house.  This year I did it completely alone, although Eladio did the tricky bits of course.  I remembered with nostalgia how the girls used to help me, but now they no longer do.  I was pleased with the result and happy to see how the magic of Christmas was once more with us. 

Christmas came and brought its magic to our home on Saturday

You can see more photos of the decorations here.

Just as I was finishing, Olivia and Miguel left for a reunion dinner with her friends from school.  Being a good photographer, Miguel took this great photo which I was pleased to see this morning on Facebook.  I know all the girls in the photo since about the age of 3 and some of them I haven’t seen for many years: Sonia, Elena, Tamara, Cristina, Begoña and stunning looking Paula.  They must have had a great night.

 

Olivia's school Christmas dinner reunion on Saturday night.

And today is Sunday and I look forward to a family lunch, a walk in the afternoon and some reading by the tree with the candles lit and Christmas music playing.  There is only one more week and a few days until Christmas and we are nearly ready.  Are you?

Hoping you are, I leave you here until next week.  Be good, be happy.

All the best/Masha