A ' FRESH' WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON TUESDAY.

TUESDAY 11^th/ FEBRUARY 2020.

I was up first this morning to see little ‘ Miss Bella ‘ back with us for the day, she shot upstairs and joined Brenda for a further lie in, she’s back tomorrow morning also, on Thursday evening ‘ Scruffy’ is with us for a sleep over, until Friday evening, then on Saturday ‘ Chico’ is joining us for his extended 3/ 4 week holiday, we now have a booking for Lola, at the end of February for over two weeks, so it’s going to be a busy start to March! Watch this space.

After a quick freshen up I then popped along to the local Bank in ‘Calle Mar’ to pay out water bill, Brenda reads the meter, once a week, and then checks the bills when they are dropped off, she does the same with the electricity readings/bills. We had a light breakfast of toast & tea before getting the day on the go. I then popped down to ‘Talleres Tony Garage ‘ to pay him the bill for the latest repairs etc.

We have another glorious morning down here on the ‘Costa Del Sol’ – the sun was out early and the sky has cleared and is bright blue and cloudless, there is just a very light breeze so by lunchtime it’s due to reach 20/21 degs+  during night time down to 11/12 degs+ - over the next few days and across the weekend we are in for more of the same, staying warm & sunny, with a few patchy clouds at times, hovering in the high ‘ teens’ and even going a little warmer by the weekend, next week is starting warmer and very sunny, but by next Wednesday, as the new cold, wet & windy ‘ Atlantic’ front comes we could be in for the return of the ‘ Wet-Stuff’ Watch this space.

We have now greed/planned the ‘ Menu’s’ for this week;  tonight we are having ‘Escalope’s of Chicken Breast ‘ – seared on a very hot griddle-plate and finished with a ‘Balsamic & Lime Butter’ salsa, served with Baked Stuffed Peppers ( Red & Yellow half’s) – filled with the ‘Risotto’ rice, with finely sliced ' French' Green Beans and ‘Pommes Rissolees ‘ – Baby Boiled Potatoes, in their skins, tossed in foaming Parsley Butter until crisp & golden.

On Wednesday evening it’s going to be ‘ Grilled Gammon Steaks’ topped with seared Pineapple and ‘ Campo’ Fried Eggs, with Garden Peas and triple-cooked Chips, our favourite ‘Pan- Fried Chicken Wings’ with Baked Potato for Thursday, then for our ‘ Valentines Supper’ we are having a starter of ‘ Suchi’ – followed by ‘Paupiettes of Hake’ ( rolled & poached ) coated with a ‘ Prawn & Lobster’ sauce,  for the dessert I’m making my special ‘ Crepes a la Mode’ ( very thin pancakes with Vanilla Ice Cream)  with Strawberries!

As usual on Saturday it will be our ‘ Steak Night’ and on Sunday, for a change, ‘ Grilled Medallions of Pork Fillet’ accompanied with a ‘Green Peppercorn’ salsa, with a selection of fresh Vegetables and ‘ Breton’ style Potatoes.

Last night after catching up with all the ‘Quiz Shows’ that we follow, we after supper caught the pen-ultimate episode of the award winning ‘ Cold Feet’ – this evening it’s the start of the new series of ‘  The Spilt ‘ about a family of sisters, working as divorce lawyers, starring Nicola Walker.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

....

A STILL VERY ' CRISP' & SUNNY MANILVA ON WEDNESDAY.

WEDNESDAY 22^nd/NOVEMBER 2017.

I was up early again this morning to see ‘ Reina’ back with us for the day, as usual she shot upstairs and went on the bed for a little lie in with Brenda, I freshened up and then got things on the go for this evenings supper, before Brenda came down for breakfast, Lee & Daniela are joining us for an early supper this evening.

We had our regular breakfast of ‘ Weetabix’ toast & tea, I then, with the ‘ Second Chefs ‘ help, made the ‘ Chicken & Mushroom Tarragon Casserole’ – I diced/cubed the Chicken Breasts, dusted them in seasoned ‘Tarragon’ flour and lightly browned them off, all the ingredients are then sweated off in White Wine, diced Onions, Shallots & Garlic, Sippits of Smoked Bacon,( most important!) Carrots, Leeks & Celery, Garden Peas and Baby Mushrooms, with a dash of ‘ Lea & Perrins & Tabasco’ and lots of ‘ Tarragon’ before adding a strong ‘Chicken & Vegetable’ Stock and the Chicken, I adjust the seasoning and then leave the pan to cook-off slowly under the eagle eye of the ‘Second Chef’! I will finish off the ‘Casserole’ this evening with a handful of Chopped Parsley & a dash of Double Cream, after adjusting the consistency.

Meanwhile the ‘ Vegetable Chef’ was preparing Whole Baby Green Beans, Cauliflower Florets ‘ in a three-Cheese sauce, Glazed Carrot Batons, ‘ Parsley’ New Potatoes and as a garnish twice-cooked ‘ Stringfellows’ I was going to make a ‘Pie’ but the new ‘Puff Pastry’ ( I couldn’t find my regular one) is in small square sheets, so it’s ‘Plan B’ – I’m going to bake them in the oven, after marking them with a fork and egg-washing, and then serve them individually on top of the ‘Casserole’ We are offering a small selection of light ‘Tapas’ to start and for the dessert a selection of fresh fruits with a slice of Apple Sponge Tort with Vanilla Ice Cream/Double Cream!

We have yet another glorious day down here on the ‘ Costa Del Sol’ – the sun is out and the sky is bright blue, it’s hovering in the low 20s, the rest of the week and over the weekend is now looking the same, next week has now picked up, the rain has been blown away and it’s forecast to be ‘ crisp’ warm & sunny in the low 20s, watch this space.

Yesterday evening Lee re-registered the new system and it’s now back to normal, he showed me another hint to help with re-setting the TV, at the same time.

No news yet about the car, we are awaiting to hear from Pedro, at the garage, he said that he will call in, this has changed our plans, for the next couple of weeks, at least, we won’t be able to get go up to see Joyce in ‘ Alhaurin El Grande’ over this weekend, next week, on Wednesday it’s our 46^th wedding anniversary, we were going out for supper but will now wait until the following week, when we go on the coach to Malaga to see the Christmas Lights, we will go for supper in a restaurant in the city, for a change, we also have an appointment across at the hospital past Marbella in the middle of December, for Brenda’s check up with the ‘ Heart Consultant’  - watch this space.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

...

A VERY WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON WEDNESDAY;

WEDNESDAY 21^st / SEPTEMBER 2016.

I was up first this morning to welcome back little Princess ‘Reina’ for the day, she’s here for three days this week and then back to normal next week for five days; still no sign of ‘ Chispa’ who has gone away on another holiday down to the family ‘ Campo’ For our breakfast we had ‘ Smoked Back Bacon Butties’ with mugs of steaming tea to set us up for the day ahead.

I then made the ‘ Red Wine, Onion & Mushroom Casserole ‘ for this evenings supper, I sweat-off the sliced Onions & Shallots, then add the diced button Mushrooms, add the secret ingredients and a good slug of Red Wine, then I use a strong ‘Beef & Vegetable Stock’ and leave to cook, finally I adjust the seasoning, to taste, and adjust the consistency.

At the same time I griddled the ‘English’ Pork Sausages & Smoked Back Bacon and added them to the casserole, this evening I’m going to at the last minute pan-sear the dusted, thinly sliced, Calves Liver and serve it coated with the savoury casserole sauce. The ‘Vegetable Chef’ is at the moment preparing her famous ‘ Mashed Potato’ along with crushed Carrots & Green Cabbage to go with the casserole! The aromas are wafting upstairs as I’m typing & posting the Blog.

It’s another very pleasant day here in sunny Manilva, the sun is out and the sky is blue, there is a little breeze making it a perfect day for the time of the year, the rest of the week and over the weekend we are in for more of the same, getting a little hotter, its hovering on the 30 degs mark and during the night it’s a cooler 18 degs, just right for catching up with the sleeping. See the picture below of some of the fishing boats down in ‘ Puerto de la Duquesa’ – the rest of the ‘fleet’ was still out fishing!

Yesterday evening we watched our regular Quiz shows and then after supper the new series with Michael Portillo of ‘ Great Continental Railway Journeys’ this week is Romania, later we watched  ‘Later with Jools Holland’

Before the Michael Portillo programme we caught the next episode of ‘The Hairy Bikers Chicken and Egg’- this week is Morocco and then next week in the USA; the first episode started in England and last week’s was in France.

They started in the ‘ Gastronomic Capital of France . Lyon’  showing the early history of the ‘ Meres Lyonnaise- The Mother’s of Lyon’ They then travelled to Vonnas through the World famous ‘ Bresse Chicken’ region to go to the three star ‘Michelin’ restaurant of George Blanc, it’s our favourite ‘Michelin ***’ and we had the same dish back in the early 80s when we were on a gastronomic tour of the area ‘ Roast Breast of Bresse Chicken in a Morel sauce’ See the picture below of  the classic ‘ Bresse Chicken’ with its Red Comb, White Body & Blue Feet – the ‘Tricolour of France’!

On the same trip we stayed in Lyon   and went to ‘Jean & Pierre Troisgras’ eponymous restaurant in Roanne where we had their classic  ‘Fillet of Salmon resting on a Sorrel sauce’ – the Salmon is very lightly steamed and translucent – I can still taste it now!  We also went to the then  ‘God of Nouvelle Cuisine’ Paul Bocuse, at his L’Auberge du Pont de Collonges’  next the main railway line from Paris, amongst various dishes we had his classic ‘ Soupe Aux Truflees V.G.E.’ and a ‘Baked Sea Bass baked in Puff Pastry’ served with a Choron sauce, a classic Tomato Hollandaise sauce – both dishes we served back at the ‘Hotel Seventy Degrees’ in the  ‘Horizon Suite Restaurant’

On Brenda’s 40^th birthday on the 22^nd June 1983 we travelled across France and stayed at George Blanc’s Hotel and re-visited the restaurant before staying in Bourg-en-Bresse and on the way back to Chagny en Bougogne outside Beaune to go to Jack Lamaloise *** Michelin restaurant for her birthday!  Those were the Days!! " Happy Memories " !! 

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

..