Fiesta and a slideshow

December 21, 2023

One last look back

There's a fun discussion going on in the forum about what people do in the off-season. Lately for me it's been all about Spanish food, so I'm back with one more post about my efforts to pretend we are still in Spain.

I left off the last entry here in the middle of a batch of croquetas with jamon and manchego that I was trying out for a tapas party to celebrate Barry's 75th birthday. Sadly my croquetas were inedible. Even with a long session of cooking the flour in butter and olive oil, they tasted like flour. I took one bite and threw the whole batch away.

No biggie, the rest of the menu was fairly successful. I've discovered that empanadas are ridiculously easy to make with frozen dough disks from the Spanish market and an empanada mold. I can freeze them uncooked and bake a few whenever we get a hankering.

The veggie empanadas turned out so good that I made another batch with pork.

Other successes were Spanish Tortilla de Patatas, fried goat cheese, Salsa Brava, olive-topped oranges and Cordoban Flamenquines - a fried roll of pork, ham and cheese. I found it a whole lot easier to make the Spanish Tortilla in a 7 inch skillet after a messy attempt to flip one in a 10 inch pan. The whole kitchen fidget served to integrate my Spain obsession with the return to life at home.

While I played with food and listened to flamenco music, Barry toiled away on the deck replacement project and we both fretted over how to accommodate the 36 people who RSVPed for the party. I didn't expect so many people to say yes. The impending crowd incited a cleaning fit to make more of the house presentable after a long season of neglect while we were off riding bikes.

These projects always come with surprises, like the rotted stringers that had to be replaced. He got the steps done and the tools put away the day before the party.

As if he didn't have enough going on, the birthday boy cheerfully wielded the carving knife for a Serrano ham from Costco. The ham holder didn't hold it that securely so he locked it down with a couple of clamps from his shop.

The party was great fun even with the usual chaos in the kitchen. My daughter, sister and brother all came early to help with all the last minute stuff. It was wonderful to see so many friends after being away for so long.

My brother Matt works on a fancy tray of Jamon Serrano, Manchego and piquillo peppers after he assembled a pile of Bocadillos.

We took hardly any pictures at the party, but did catch one of a few of our friends late in the evening. Many of them ride bikes and totally get our obsession.

Our friends were a great audience for a test screening of a slideshow of our six week trek through southern France and Spain. After the party I tweaked it to slow it down and add a Spanish soundtrack. Thanks to Rachael Anderson for the inspiration to try this. Her photo shows have another level of polish with cool push and pull effects I haven't figured out yet, but I don't get tired of watching this one. It takes me right back.

Music: Las Nubes by Ottmar Liebert

Since the party we've been working on leftovers and a 520 piece puzzle made from a photo of our ride in Madrid's El Retiro Park - an awesome birthday gift from my friend Paula. There's more Serrano ham left than I imagine we can ever eat. Between all the tapas, Christmas cookies, and lack of saddle time I am steadily undoing any fitness gains from our ride around Spain. I really need to get back on the bike.

Puzzle night with leftover Spanish Tortilla, olive-topped oranges, Flamenquines pinwheels, empanadas, ensalada verde and garlic alioli, all washed down with Sangria.

This is the 35th birthday that Barry and I have celebrated together. We have the same birthday, nine years apart, so the big ones don't fall at the same time. His 75th was definitely worth a special celebration. We've had an awful lot of fun together on bikes this year - in Tucson, the Pacific Northwest and Spain. We're both very thankful to be in good health and able to travel around this way.

We didn't think to get a birthday photo together, so this one from our last night in Madrid will stand in.

We are so ready to head west and south of St Louis for better cycling weather. Next week we'll hitch up the trailer for a road trip to visit our son in Colorado Springs and our daughter and her family in Burbank, before we get to play in Tucson for a month. According to NOAA it got up to 80 degrees there this week and breaks 60 most days. Sounds much more agreeable than the deep freeze this week in St Louis.

We're bringing as many bikes as I can get away with. Tucson has so much great riding - single track, bike paths, roads, gravel. I'm there for all of it. Looking forward to riding with some Cycle Blazers. I'll be back here soon to start a journal of the next adventures.

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Scott AndersonYou have the same birthday! That’s outrageous. Happy birthday X2!!

And great slideshow! It really does make a nice recap of the whole experience. It’s remarkable how much ground you two covered.
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11 months ago

Suzanne GibsonHappy Birthday to you and you!

Great food and video! What a brilliant way to bring some Spain into your lives while at home!
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11 months ago

Rich FrasierLove the slideshow! And Happy Birthday to both of you!
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11 months ago

Rachael AndersonHappy birthday to both of you! Your slideshow is fabulous and makes me really excited about going back to Spain and seeing Mallorca. We look forward to seeing you soon.
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11 months ago

Janice BranhamTo Scott AndersonThanks to you and Rocky for inspiring me to do one of these. I'm still not tired of watching it.
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11 months ago

Janice BranhamTo Suzanne GibsonThanks Suzanne. It's been a fun way to squeeze a little more juice out of the experience.
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11 months ago

Janice BranhamTo Rich FrasierThanks Rich. It was indeed a very happy birthday.
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11 months ago

Janice BranhamTo Rachael AndersonThanks Rachel! Mallorca was really spectacular; I look forward to following your trip there. I was a little afraid the rest of our tour would suffer by comparison but absolutely loved all of it.
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11 months ago

Betsy EvansHappy Birthday to both of you!

So much fun to enjoy all that Spanish food at home. And hopefully your guests didn't have to wait until 9 pm to eat anything :-)
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11 months ago

Janice BranhamTo Betsy EvansWe ate early and often. I overdid things as usual and there was so much food. The fried goat cheese was the best, it disappeared.
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11 months ago