Our Christmas

from Meghann:

This was our second Christmas in España and the second year in a row that we celebrated with just the two of us and no other family (well, besides Chloe and Cora, of course). We still miss our families, the big dinners, opening gifts together, but we've gotten used to and learned to appreciate our simpler, more relaxed holidays. And we know how lucky we are to be able to spend Christmas together, when so many others cannot. Our family might be small (and 50% four-legged) but we can still be festive!

 Our Christmas was filled with food - some traditional dishes, along with some Spanish favorites. For both of us, food helps us feel closer to home, especially during the holidays. So there was plenty of cooking, baking, canning, eating, and drinking.

We canned homemade cranberry sauce on Christmas Eve.

And I used it to make cranberry coffee cake, which we ate on Christmas morning.

Another lovely thing about Christmas in Spain - the weather was gorgeous. Christmas Eve was sunny and warm.

You can see some people in the water in the background (for the record, we didn't think it was that warm, but people come down from the North over the holidays, so maybe it was warm to them...?).

There was a lovely Spanish sunset...

Surf, Soirée, Snacks!

from Meghann:

Our weekend turned out a little differently than we had planned. The weather ended up being a downer. The living nativity in Arcos de la Frontera that we had wanted to go to on Saturday was cancelled due to rain, and my horseback riding lesson was, too.

We did go to a Christmas party on base Friday night and got to get spiffed up for that. It's not every day that Graham wears a suit and tie (or hardly any day, since he works in a flight suit) or that I wear lipstick (heels on the other hand, are a short girl's best amigos).

It's always a good time to hang out with friends and coworkers (even better when the coworkers are friends) and have some hors d'oeuvres and cocktails. There was even a venenciadora - a professional sherry pourer! 

Thirsty Jueves: Rebujito

Last Friday, we went down to the beach to enjoy the sunset with some beverages and snacks.

We packed up the ingredients to make rebujitos - the unofficially official beverage of feria, but also a refreshing drink for summer.

The most important ingredient (there are only 2, unless you count ice) is manzanilla. Manzanilla is a type of sherry - let's stop right there. We know what you're thinking. Gross, the stuff that you keep in the kitchen and hardly ever use, unless you're from Maryland and you put it in your cream of crab soup. Unrelated note: Marylanders are weird and particular when it comes to crab products. 

But that is not Spanish sherry and definitely not manzanilla. Manzanilla is a dry sherry and can only be made in the town of Sanlucar de Barrameda, home of the beach horse races. Because it is produced so close to the sea, people say that there is a faint salty taste to it. And more importantly, it's delicious. 

Making Moroccan

Hola, it's Meghann! Hope you had a fantastico weekend. While Graham was out playing golf yesterday, I was in Vejer de la Frontera taking a Moroccan cooking class. Vejer is a lovely, pequeño pueblo blanco about 45 minutes from Puerto. It was inhabited by the Moors for centuries and like many towns in southern Spain, that influence is still reflected in the architecture, culture, and food. Which is why spending my Sunday making Moroccan food while sipping mint tea without having left Spain made perfect sense. 

Off to the races!

Tomorrow is the running of the Belmont Stakes and I'll Have Another, the horse that won in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, could be the first Triple Crown winner in 34 years. We normally watch the races (Graham's parents even have an annual Derby Party and we had a Preakness Party last year) but due to the time difference and traveling, we weren't able to watch the previous 2 races this year. 

Update: Turns out there will be no Triple Crown contender after all, I'll Have Another was scratched due to an injury. 

We did go to some races here in España last summer. During 2 weeks in August there are horse races on the beach in Sanlucar de Barrameda, which is a town just north of Puerto. Despite the casual atmosphere of the playa, the races are a big event. The horses are both local and from various European countries, and there are cash prizes for the winners. The first time we went, we watched from the beach, while enjoying some tintos de verano with friends.