Thermal Weather

The Benidorm Council may have beaches on there minds but the weather lately has us all hunting out our woollies. Spain has had some very very cold weather, we may have escaped the worst here but its still a little on the chilly side. We read that Malaga had the lowest temperatures since 1969 and saw news reports of snow in other parts of the Alicante region. We could see snow over on the mountains on Friday ,thought we were back in Scotland for a minute. Suzi the cat has become a recluse, she hates the cold wet weather and the snow has been falling as rain here as they say. We have been looking at installing solar panels but John is yearning for a wood burning stove after sitting in front of Becs log fire. Trouble is we have no where to put one in our wee flat. You can get some nice little stoves for outside that burn wood, I can see us now out on the Solarium huddled around the stove. You know it would be quite nostalgic, a bit like being back on the picket line, ah happy days. Cheers comrades

Benidorm Beach Clamp Down

Benidorm City council have introduced new legislation that is going to affect most people in one way or another, so make sure you know the new laws or you could end up well out of pocket.
1 You cannot enter the beach between Midnight and 07:00hrs. Penalty 750 Euros
2 You must not place parasols and towels to reserve space. Penalty 150 Euros
3 No playing ball games outside designated areas. Penalty 120 Euros
4 Swimming when red flag is flying. Penalty 1000 Euros
5 Peeing in the sea. Penalty 120 Euros (beware there maybe frogmen swimming round testing the water near you!)
6 Building Sandcastles. Penalty 150 Euros
7 Fishing with a rod, net or harpoon. Penalty 750-1100 euros
8 Drinking alcohol on the beach. Penalty 750 Euros
9 Sex on the beach. Penalty 750 Euros.
I agree with the swimming penalty, as quite often others lives are put at risk to rescue people who get into difficulty. but the some of the others seem over the top.

Food Glorious Food

It was Becs birthday on Saturday and Jochin made us all a meal. I am telling you his Paella is just second to none. He was taught to cook this famous Spanish dish by an elderly lady many years ago. Jochin prefers to cook the traditional dish over a wood fire, but however he does it its a real treat. Sitting in one of the house's cave rooms in front of an open fire made the occasion a birthday not to be forgotten.
We all seem to get even more interested in food when the weather cools down, guess you don't really feel like eating so much when the temperatures 40 degrees. Well its not 40 degrees now so as I said in an earlier post we do love our soup. I also like the fact that you can get lentils, chickpeas and all sorts of beans precooked in jars, very convenient and not expensive. We always get ours from Inter Marche now as their prices are best. Of course fresh vegetables come from the street market. At our house we have whats called our Wednesday soup. That's when I try to use up any remaining vegetables before the market the next day. So here's the basic recipe you can adapt to use any veg as necessary. The only vegetable I would say is essential are onions, you can manage with leeks at a pinch, if you only have them and not the afore mentioned.
Dice all your vegetables. Typically I would use the following
Onions,courgettes,aubergine,leeks,carrots,turnip,parsnip,tomatoes.You not not need masses of any particular type.
Saute the onions, do not brown, add the rest of your ingredients in order of hardness. For example, from this list carrots and other root veg next ending with courgettes, then tomatoes. You do not let the veg brown at all just "sweat" untill they are quite soft. Now you add fresh or dried chili to taste, (when my sisters here its big chili time!) You now add cartons or tins of tomato frito. You can get away with other tomato products but we like the intensity of the fried tomato puree. If I have a good large pan full I would use two 350-400 gram containers of frito. You need enough room in the pan to add stock or water of roughly half the volume of the mixture. Bring to boil, then turn down and simmer, by the time the soup has reduced to a nice thickness it will be ready. You can liquidise for a smooth soup if you prefer. Season to taste, eat or cool and freeze. By the way if you have an apple or two languishing in the fruit bowl, core and chop and add at the sauteing stage. Remember chili gets hotter if you are reheating. This is a good basic recipe that can be changed by omitting the chilli and adding Basil or lots of garlic. You can add lentils or chickpeas or any kind of bean for a really hearty meal. It can also be further reduced, poured over pasta or used in a Lasagna.

Over the Hills and Far away

Well not so far as it happens. Hands up if you have great view of the mountains that almost seem to encircle the Vega Baja. It really was this view as the sun set behind the mountains that sold us on our apartment. At anytime of of year the ever changing sunset is a sight to behold. However we have really only just started to explore the mountains and hills we have admired for so long from our roof solarium. Today we took a trip to Crevillent, and what an interesting town it is, Very different from the Spanglish feel of places near the coast. Lovely church and that usual mixture of new, old well persevered and crumbling building you find in Spain, even in the capital Madrid. After a look around a coffee and a bargain buy,( more of that in another blog! ) we headed for the Sierra de Crevillente . It was hard to believe we were only a little over 30KM from home. Not a soul in sight very very quite, only the bird song. John saw a Rock Thrush almost a soon as he got out of the car. It was heaven to have a peaceful walk along paths bordered with wild herbs and flowers. We will be going back to explore more of the marked paths amongst these hills. Stouter foot wear and a compass are called for the tracks are rough and it would be easy to stray so you need to be able to get your bearings. We hope to see some birds of prey next time and given the terrain I am sure we will.

Games People Play

In his thoughts for the millennium the Dalai Lama said "Remember, that not getting what you want, is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck." It always reminds me of another favorite line of mine "You can't always get what want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find you get what you need". Rolling Stones released on their 1969 album Let It Bleed, Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Very different sources, but I think the same sentiment.
Anyway why I am telling you this? Well I was reminded of these two quotes in connection with the lack of Brit TV. Many many ex pats have definitely not got what they want in this respect. It maybe, just maybe, however that some have got what they need. We have spent many a fun evening with TV exiles playing board games, cards, domino's, looking at family albums that had been gathering dust, sharing a home cooked meal and sharing lots of chat and laughter. And guess what, despite the fact that Brit TV is once again accessible, to some extent anyway, the fun continues. Tomorrow its meat and tattie pie with a few games of rummy cup. We don't know how to play yet, but we're sure it will be fun learning.