You know we made and devoured these last weekend… Do you like how this post follows my “diet” post.
They were squishy and small and seemed to disappear in three bites. I swear that was why we ate so many. Continue reading
Espresso Cupcakes
Monthly Archives: January 2012
Wendy tries a diet… teehee
Being a nutritionist, I’ve never been one to condone dieting. Or diets with names… either for the person who defined the diet nor the place from which it came. It’s so simple it’s mind blowing. When one consumes more calories than the body needs, one will indeed gain weight. Now of course there are variables involved. Primarily, physical activity and from where the calories are derived, a slice of pumpernickel or an oreo. These things certainly have an effect. But it is still so basic. What stands in the way of these simple calculations are our minds and emotions. One doesn’t require a degree in nutrition to know these things and for the most part within the structure of a decent education, we learn what we need to eat to maintain a healthy weight and physical well being. So why in God’s name is it so easy to stuff our gobs till we are sick. Eat because we are sad. Eat because we are bored. Eat because it is raining. Eat because we are celebrating. Eat. Eat. Eat.
I’ve discovered my own personal trend. I tend to work hard for 4-6 months, exercising and using some form of magic emotion portion control. I get “in shape”. Then I sort of coast off that for about 3 years until I notice the circulation starts waning around my bra straps leaving red indented tire tracks in my back and shoulders. The same starts happening around my waist and I look down a) to make sure I can see my belt and b) to see just what notch on this belt I’m actually penetrating. Continue reading
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Dog love and loss
Domesticated animals are a gift to humans and should be treated with the upmost respect. My favorite domesticated animal, the dog, above all else, requires love, attention and fun. Then food, preferably from the table, but they really should stick to kibbles. And finally, an outlet for voiding bladder and bowels. Their needs are simple really. In my opinion dogs provide an unconditional love like no other. I like cats. A lot actually . But tell me a dog who goes and pees on your couch after you’ve returned from a 10- day trip just to get back at you. Your dog is just so happy that you came back.
Dogs are keen observers, have 3-5x the auditory capacity of humans and up to 220 million olfactory cells compared to the human’s 5 million. They wait to hear you rustle in the morning. They come nuzzle their wet nose up under your warm hand, again with
a hello, I’m happy it’s another day to spend with you. And another day to play and eat. They watch intently waiting to accept the next stroke, belly caress and listen for the rattle of the leash. They have an eye on your hand or the treat bag in all waking moments.
They sit by your side, follow you from room to room, wait for you outside the bathroom, sit it the middle of the kitchen while you make dinner, make gurgling, light growling sounds when you’ve waited too long to take them for a walk. They get bored when you sit in front of the computer too long and beg you to play or just snuggle up with them instead. They don’t mind if you bring a book.
In the evening they sit next to you on the couch, head or tail in your lap, just wanting to make some sort of contact. They could sit there for hours. Before bed, one last acknowledgement as to the lovely day they had with you. Then they sleep at the end of the bed till they are hot and choose to sleep on the cool tile instead.
One day, inevitably it comes too soon, it’s time for them to say goodbye. They look up at you one last time, breath out one last I love you, then lay still and peaceful. This is the moment we must make every effort to let them go in peace and be thankful for the unconditional love, grace, and presence they bestowed in our lives.
Thank you Henry. What a great 12 years!
Sir Henry... Oct 15th, 1999 - Jan 18th, 2012
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Last of Spain
So I’ve reached the final post for Spain. Wie schade (German), quel dommage (French), qué lástima (Spanish), what a pity (English). Although we missed friends and family over the holidays, it was a wonderful experience, and the memories will last a lifetime.
The first pics are of our last day trying to make our way to the Macarena barrio. As I mentioned previously, I didn’t quite hit the desired target but the route we did take, amused us immensely. 
We found several craft markets as it was days before Three Kings Day, Dia de los Reyes Magos, which falls on January 6. The epiphany is as celebrated if not more that Christmas and New Year’s and you see many of these guys dangling from balconies. Combined with the crafts were always food. Great, right?
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Seville part 3 – tapas & streetlife
The atmosphere and vibrancy of Seville, influenced I’m sure by the sun and warmth, is something to behold. It’s one of those places I plan to return. Someday, I’ll spend a month reading, writing, walking and eating….. and blogging.
Click to enlarge
People enjoy being outside day and night. Who wouldn’t when the sun shines and the air is cool. I’ll remind you I did grow up in Florida, and too much of anything, including sun, has its downside. But my life with sun was like 2+ decades ago. So at this point sun everyday sounds dreamy.
And how about a little street music?
Or iceskating?
And they are still out at night…..
Honestly, I couldn’t get enough of the fresh oj and coffee. I like my coffee strong with a little milk and pretty sweet. The sugar packets in this country were fat with about 3tsp of sugar/pkt.
One morning we bought churros for a euro at a little mini booth, took them next door, sugared them up and ate with… you guessed, sweet coffee. Once again, a photo after being half eaten. I just can’t get the camera out before I start chowing.
And lastly, as I’m all jazzed up about this video option… a parade clip.
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Seville Pt. 2 New Years Eve
After our paella, we were out the door to Plaza Santa Cruz, about an 8 minute walk from our apartment, to watch a flamenco performance in a little place called Tablao Flamenco Los Gallos. A first for all in our party, I myself, had no idea I would love it so much. I’m ready to plan a trip entirely devoted to flamenco. I’m dying to look up love stories between dancers, callers and guitar players. Inspired, I even wrote ideas of love stories down in my little notebook after the show. I’m sure completely original.
“Between 800 and 900 A.D., a large exodus of people occurred from the Punjabi region of India. These people are believed to be members of the Untouchables, a group within the Indian caste system comprised of animal traders and trainers, acrobats, dancers, musicians, palmists and metalworkers. These nomadic groups, generally referred to as Roman and/or gypsies, divided into two major migratory routes, the most traceable moving west across Asia and the European continent, including Spain. The first recorded account of Spanish Gitanos “Beticos” dates from 1447 in Barcelona.”
Read more: Flamenco Dance History
After the flamenco show, we walked round and round trying to figure out the “place to be” at midnight. We had almost given up when we noticed a general movement in one direction and decided to follow the herd. Sure enough we ended up in front of the town hall clock with the rest of those who chose to expose themselves to the public masses (well not that kind of expose…). As I was saying, there is a grape eating tradition on New Years. When the clock strikes twelve in Spain on New Years Eve, for each stroke you eat a grape. By the time the clock has finished chiming, everybody has to have finished their grapes and the New Year starts. If you manage to eat the 12 grapes before the 12th stroke, then you will have 12 months good luck.
Grapes and yet to be popped champagne in people’s hands, in the last 20 minutes of 2011, we inhaled the sights and sounds around us… the good and not so good. People were selling horns, party favors and grapes. Finally, a few firecrackers went off just before the second hand moved to join the big hand at the 12…. We all stood waiting for the clock to chime but when the little hand started continuing on, we all realized shit, this things not ringing- people checked their cell phones holding them up displaying 12:01/12:02 to each other. We stuffed 12 grapes in our mouth, kissed while chewing and passed around happy new years to our loved ones and strangers. Only in Spain could new years be late.
We headed home back to our rooftop, lit small pieces of tissue paper containing our hopes, wishes and concerns on fire, giving them up to the universe, opted not to open a bottle of champagne but celebrated as if we had.
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Seville Pt 1
We arrived in Seville without problems, dropped the car rental off at the airport and taxied into the Santa Cruz barrio near the cathedral. Again in awe of the unknown we stared out the car windows grasping the newness of another city. Traveling with 5 now, required us to take two taxis and they clung to each other, front bumper to back, straight for 20 minutes through streets so small you could spit from one side to the other.
Our apartment, actually divided into 2 separate places, spewed charm and authenticity with a small central courtyard up through the 3 stories. The kids in one and O and I in the other. Plenty of privacy but we could check up on when they went to sleep at night through the random glass tiles in the floor. We enjoyed a rooftop terrace where the sun beat down in the day. Two straight, heavenly weeks of sun. Feel like I’m charging up a trunk load of D size batteries with sun to take back to hamburg.
Our days in Seville have been mixed with sightseeing, loads of walking and hours of reading. This is a place I’d like to return. I love the bells every morning at nine that chime long enough to wake the dead. They start at 9am and like a puntual snooze button again at 9.10 9.20 and finally at 9.30. The city wakes up.
The Alçazar palace on New Years Day was a highlight, but for me just walking, absorbing the vibrancy of this city, standing at a bar in the morning for cafe con leche and churros, standing at a bar at night for cerveza and tapas….brilliant. Our barrio (neighborhood) is probably the most popular for tourists, but I don’t mind. We did walk about 2 hours one morning north near the Macarena neighborhood, wandering the streets seeing a little more real daily life.
The Alçazar, originally a Moorish fort and now a Unesco World Heritage site is a royal palace that still serves the royal family in the upper quarters. I tried to imagine little children here. I 
could not. But I could see them in the beautiful garden chasing the peacock.
I preferred the Alçazar over the Alhambra partly because it was easier to take in and partly because we took it upon ourselves to tour and learn, instead of a guided tour. Wouldn’t you have liked to be the one to come up with the hand held guide in 13 different languages?
brains exploding with information
Varieties of jamon. I want to put one in my suitcase.
Following our tour of the Alçazar, our next stop was the grocery store for New Year’s Eve dinner. With the kids and costs, we weren’t particularly interested in the set menu options offered by restaurants. All I can say is wow. I love visiting food stores in foreign countries. Highlights were legs of jamon, an entire aisle of jarred olives, peppers and asparagus that you didn’t have to take out a second mortgage to afford, loads of crazy fish options, and enough tuna and anchovies to feed a pescatarian platoon. Love it.
New Year’s dinner was a simple paella with shrimp and chicken, then we headed out for the evening. I know I’m not winning any awards here with the pics but the tiled table was pretty.
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Tarifa
We spent over 2 hours winding through the mountains. Never ending views of white washed villages, houses posed on sides of mountains, terraced almond and olive trees…. and me trying unsuccessfully to snap photos from a moving vehicle, hoping to catch one tenth of the beauty we witnessed.
We drove southwest from Ronda and as we approached Algeciras, we could already see Gibralter and its infamous rock. Oh how we wanted to stop. But it was already inching towards 4pm and if we made another stop… monkeys or no monkeys, I think the teens might have rebelled. Traveling with two teens, albeit lovely and respectful, fun and adventurous to a point, you must have some limits of how much you fit in. As our necks craned behind us, the rock got smaller, and we decided in wasn’t in the cards this trip, and we put it on the list for next time. The girls were happy knowing after 2.5 hours driving, we’d be in our next destination for 2 days. (So no, we really weren’t going to squeeze in Gibralter. Period.)
Tarifa, located at the southern most tip of Spain is only a 45 min fast ferry to Tangier. (also being saved for next trip)
Arriving in Tarifa, the first thing I saw were the wind energy generators. You know, those big 3 armed white steel things sticking in the ground. My picture wasn’t so hot but check out this photo of a wind farm. Spain is the 4th largest producer after China, US and Germany. Then we came round to the ocean… yes still from the moving vehicle. Continue reading
Wendy's Place 