Friendsgiving + Sweet Potato Casserole

from Meghann:

We hosted Friendsgiving at our casa on Friday night. A bit early, but we knew many of our amigos would be traveling during the holiday and for some of us, this would be the only opportunity to stuff our faces full of turkey and all the sides for a traditional meal.

No fancy tablescape (Does anyone else think that is one of the weirdest words? Makes your table sound like the surface of the moon.) just some apples, candles, and the lace runner from our trip to Bruges last winter, over a textured tan tablecloth. Textured = it wasn't ironed. Also, no elaborate place settings, because dinner was buffet style. Settle down over there, Martha. 

Kept the mantle simple with some votives, dried corn, and a glass pumpkin that I found on sale a million years ago that is now my go-to decoration from October to December. 

We picked up some real pumpkins at the commissary (grocery store on base) a while ago, but never carved them since Halloween got lost somewhere between our time in DC, my sister's wedding, and getting stranded by Superstorm Sandy. So, we turned them into non-Halloween themed pumpkin luminaries instead. 

To me, Thanksgiving is a Fall celebration and is about being thankful for bounty - from the fields and in our lives. So, no tree trimming here and certainly no Christmas decorations yet. Thanksgiving is special in its own way - there's no gift giving, just giving thanks for food, friendship, and family. And no matter where you are (I've celebrated in Italy, England, and Spain) it's an American holiday. 

And nothing says America like deep-frying a 12-pound turkey fresh from the Spanish butcher shop. 

Thirsty Jueves: Dark & Stormy edition

One of Graham's favorite drinks (and one of the only rum cocktails that Meghann likes) is the Dark & Stormy. There are only a few ingredients - black rum, ginger beer, and a lime wedge. But the most traditional rum, Gosling's, and the star ingredient, ginger beer, are impossible to find aqui. 

We drank "a few" of these sailor drinks when we were holed up during Superstorm Sandy in DC with friends (the area was so lucky and we didn't even lose power where we were staying). And the rainy weather that is typical in Spain during the Fall has us thinking about them again. Unfortunately, there is only a little bit of our stash left. So, if you can get your hands on the ingredients, make some and think of us.

Dark & Stormy

In a tumbler with ice, add

-2 ounces of black rum (more or less)

-fill with ginger beer (not to be confused with ginger ale)

-lime wedge (not just for looks)

A Dark & Stormy is a great way to brighten up a day when you're stuck indoors and is just as good on a sunny deck or beach. Something we are really missing right now... 

Not-so-Dark & Stormy at Pusser's in sunny Annapolis, MD in July.

DC love

from Meghann:

Alternate titles:

Something about DC that's not political!

  Watch me piss off all the Parisians that don't read this blog.

Graham and I have both spent a lot of time in DC, have friends that live there, etc. But we haven't been "on vacation" in DC since either of us were little kids. Graham's professional training in the city was an opportunity to stay in downtown and treat the time like a vacation (well, except for the time that he was working). I decided that since I live in España now and am technically a tourist whenever I go elsewhere, there was no shame in my game in visiting some of my favorite monuments and museums (and some new additions) and taking pics with the big camera the whole time. Just what I would normally do in Europe, but here in the good ol' US of A. 

My first stop was the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden. The garden was looking extra lovely in early fall. It also made me realize that I hadn't seen a real fall, with changing leaves and sunny but brisk days in 2 years. I'm definitely a summer girl, but autumn does have its charms. 

iWeekend

Hope you all had a great weekend! Here are some iPhone snaps from ours:

Thursday night's beautiful sunset. Yes, Thursday counts as the start to the weekend, because Friday was Spanish National Day, also known as Columbus Day. Yeah, same one. No matter how you feel about the guy, he's still a big deal here. After all, the town that we live in, El Puerto de Santa Maria, is the place where one of his three ships sailed from. Guess which one! 

We watched the Orioles game at Molly's (since our American satellite hasn't been set up at the new casa) where the staff was nice enough to turn on ESPN America, after the soccer futbol game was over, of course. The O's lost but it was still great to be able to watch the game - they haven't had such a good season since Meghann was a freshman in high school and way before Graham met a Maryland girl and became a Baltimore fan. 

Even though the loss stung, getting asked by multiple British sailors (there was a Royal Navy ship in town) if those were REAL baseball hats did make it a little better. And then they showed off their Casio watches and explained that they are cool because they aren't.  Apparently Casio watches are the across-the-pond version of an ironic t-shirt or drinking PBR. Ahh, cultural exchange. 

Saturday was gorgeous and sunny. We ran some errands, had lunch in Rota, and stopped to take a peek at the beach and boardwalk. 

Then we went home and enjoyed some time by the pool.

Chloe caught up on current events while working on her tan.

Thanks to the mild weather (and no thanks to our brown thumbs), the garden is still looking great with lots of flowers blooming.

The warm weather combined with the holiday weekend meant lots of people went downtown on Saturday night, including us. We met up with a friend and met a couple new friends for a tapas hop. One of our fave places was featuring some Mexican small plate specials. Enchiladas + tamales + rioja + amigos = perfecto! (If you live in Rota or Puerto - go to Antojitos!)

Yesterday we got productive around the house. We finished repainting the vintage dresser that we use as an entry table.  

It was originally white, then green, and now it is gray London Grey. 

 Meghann got festive and arranged some little pumpkins that we found at the commissary. Sorry, Martha, that's all we've got. Can't even find any decorative gourds - fall fail.

Graham installed a paper lantern lampshade over the bare bulb that was hanging above our patio table (sorry, no "before" photo, but we figured if you've got the internet, you know what a light bulb looks like). Luckily, no electrical knowledge was needed and Ikea was kind enough to include these very thorough step-by-no-other-steps directions. 

And probably the most important thing we have done lately - we both voted! Graham is the base Voting Assistance Officer so he would like to say, in his best public service announcement voice "Please exercise your freedom by voting." 

It was a busy, still summery but almost fall, productive and fun weekend. Of course, there was still time for a siesta.