Thursday, December 31, 2009

Feliz Año Nuevo/ 新年快乐


Today is the last day of the Year, so I send you all my best wishes for this year that is ready to begin.
In Spain, we normally have dinner with the family and afterwards, we go out with friends..
At 23h55'48'' almost everyone in spain is waiting for the 12 last seconds of the year. We have a tradition which consists in eating a grape with each bell strike at mindnight. According with the tradition, it leads to a year of prosperity. This tradition started in 1909 (to know more about this, visit http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Grapes)

Im waiting for that moment, but in the mean time I will write what we had for dinner. We were just two, so it was an easy to do dinner.
GULAS

I dont have a clue of which is their name in english. They are the baby eels. Its quite typical to eat them here during christmas time. The fresh ones are really really really expensive and are called angulas (900€/Kg!!!!), so we can find fake ones in the supermarket (called gulas) that are really nice too (3€/1/2Kg!!!!)

They are really easy to cook....as they are already boiled. They are normally cooked in a clay pot

Slice garlic and pour it into the pot with hot olive oil. Add some dried chili. Once the garlic is brown, add the gulas and leave them for 10 min.

Ready to eat!
Steamed Razor- Shells

Another very easy dish. You only need fresh Razor-shells :D

You put the shells in a pot with a finger of water. You put the lid and wait for about 10 min. You have to check that all the shells are open. Serve them with some lemon

Ready to eat!

We also had boiled shrimps, but I know you all know how to do that ;)

Time to eat the grapes! Happy New Year! 新年快乐!

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Christmas Flower

This is one of the small things you take for granted as its part of your own culture. The other day, a good friend of mine from Xi'an asked me why we can see this flower almost everywhere during Christmas time...
Its common name is Ponsetia or Easter flower. It is originally from Mexico.The plant's association with Christmas began in 16th century in that country, where legends tells that a young girl who was too poor to provide a gift for the celebration of Jesus' birthday was inspired by an angel to gather weeds from the roadside and place them in front of the church altar. Crimson "blossoms" sprouted from the weeds and became beautiful poinsettias.
From the 17th century, Franciscan friars in Mexico included the plants in their Christmas celebrations, until nowadays

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Merry Christmas!

聖誕快樂!!
¡Feliz Navidad!
Merry Christmas!
¡Felizes Festas!

Sunday, December 20, 2009

anything essential is invisible to eyes

Looks may capture the eyes but it's the personality that captures the heart...and sometimes, a picture is worth a thousand words...

This is the start of this blog, and we hope its going to last long ^_^