The English Countryside -- Cotswolds

We always have a rough draft of a "places we'd like to see" list in the works...We've started the list several times, added, removed, and (happily!) checked some off over the past year.  The English countryside was on the list from day one.  Chris had visions, I had visions (which may or may not have come from a certain Cameron Diaz and Jude Law flick  ), and Evan wanted to see the land of steam trains and Peppa Pig....really, it was a must see for all of us.  We just weren't sure when and where exactly it would all go down. 

I regularly peruse the discount flight websites to see what deals are out there, and when I came across a Ryanair flight direct from Barcelona to London for 15 € each way -- we jumped on it.  We weren't sure where and what we would see at the time we got the flights, but at that price, I was sure we'd figure it out and be glad we went. 

Were we ever. 

Ultimately, after chatting with some folks and getting some tips, we decided on The Cotswolds .  An incredibly picturesque cluster of medieval towns about 2 hours west of London.  After some poking around on various accommodation websites, I came across an incredible deal for a cottage...exactly what we were looking for.  The cottage itself was located adjacent to the main street of Stow-on-the-Wold (one of the Cotswold towns), and complete with its own little yard, kitchen, wood burning fireplace, and two bedrooms.  Since this cottage was new to the market, and offered off-season, the price to stay for a long weekend was less than what we've paid to stay at a Days Inn in Virginia.  I freaking love a bargain, and this was the steal of my lifetime.  It was absolutely gorgeous, decorated as the cheeriest of quaint cottages, and the perfect combination of cozy and roomy enough for the four of us.

The Primrose Cottage

I have to say, the flight with the kids from Barcelona to London was our best yet.  Typically, traveling with children can be a combination of brain numbing tests of patience along with moments of sharing "look how cute and amazing our kids are" glances with Chris during a (often short-lived) quiet moment.  The airport can be tricky to say the least...children who want to run in opposite directions in a crowded airport is not conducive to getting from point A to point B relatively quickly.  Usually, we bring our double stroller so they can be restrained--er, I mean strapped in --  while we get checked in, get through security, and get to our gate.  This time around, we opted to just check the stroller to start, and let them walk.  At ages 3 1/2 and 2, they are finally at an age where they understand what you are telling them, stand in line for a relatively short period of time, and can walk with the group.  Ok, so Mia still ran ahead through the security machine sending me chasing her, and the TSA guard getting all stern with me for crossing "the line" before they were ready.  But we made it through the airport without any meltdowns or lost children.  Score one for us. 

Ryanair is a budget airline and the tickets are the price of lunch for a reason.  There is no assigned seating, no free drinks, no free snacks, and you are only allowed one teeny tiny carry-on (they count a diaper bag or purse as a carry on).  They DO however, give you the option of reserving a seat in the first few rows for an extra 10 € -- and even better, if you reserve your seat ahead of time, you don't have to wait in line to board, allowing you to board first.  Usually, if traveling alone or with another adult, I would suck it up and sit wherever I found a seat, but with kids -- we sprung the extra 10 € a piece for priority seating, and it was more than worth it.  After completing three transatlantic flights with these guys, this 2hr flight was a breeze.  Evan has always been a pretty good traveler -- give him a juice box and an ipad, and he can sit still for hours.  Mia was always the wild card, and without fail, would wail bloody murder as we were waiting to take off...I swear kids that age sense every one's anxiety about taking off, and it makes them crazy too.  However, for this trip, Mia was finally old enough so that she was not a constant wiggle worm on the plane.  She was happy with lots of snacks and her coloring books.  It's all about food with these two.  If they are able to eat constantly over the period of 2 hours, they are happy. 

It was a challenge packing for 4 people for 4 days in 4 tiny carry-ons...but it really helped knowing we were heading to a place that had a washer dryer, so really, we just needed two outfits a piece, enough entertainment for the plane, and our camera.  It was kind of liberating to travel so lightly!  We did also bring the double stroller, which has now been halfway around the world and back.  We bring that thing everywhere.  City Mini double stroller, folks.  If you have two kids, it will be your best friend.

After landing in London, we grabbed our rental car -- Chris was the brave soul who volunteered to drive standard on the left side of the street.  I don't know that I could have gotten the hand mechanics down to be able to use my left hand to shift, while simultaneously remembering to stay on the left side and look for signs.  A little crazy.  But Chris did great...it helped that we had rented his old car, the beloved Golf TDI, so it was a mini-reunion of sorts for him. 

So...we LOVED the UK.  It was kind of like visiting a one stop shop that housed all the things you miss about home.  Quaint villages, hearty comfort food, farm side bakeries, fireplaces and great (big) glasses of beer...It felt like we were home for the weekend.  Life was simple and easy again.  Not to mention, the people living there were insanely nice.  Everywhere we went people were practically tripping over themselves to help you, or offer advice.  It was interesting after living in Spain for a year, I've kind of become accustomed to certain social norms here in Spain.  One of those happens to be that people in Spain rarely apologize to you for anything.  Not because they are mean, or rude, but it just isn't part of their culture to be very apologetic (from what I've experienced).  For the first few months in Spain I felt like an idiot constantly saying "lo siento" every time I bumped into someone by accident, and never hearing it back...so I just stopped saying it.  In England, it was the total opposite.  I bumped into someone in the grocery store day one, and my instinct now is to just keep walking...I felt like a total jerk when I ignored her, and the woman gave me a look of total concern saying, "Excuse me, so so sorry!!!"   Oops.

Also interesting to note is the difference in the way children are perceived in the UK vs. Spain.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again.  Spain is obsessed with children.  Here, children are king.  They go everywhere and are included in everything.  They are out all hours of the night, and can be seen in the fanciest of restaurants having dinner just like everyone else.  I didn't quite get that vibe in the UK.  We stopped for lunch in Oxford on the way from London to the Cotswolds, excited to have our first pub lunch by the fire...and as soon as we walked in with two small children in tow, it was as if the record stopped.  The staff were all very kind, but were quick to direct us to the "family room" downstairs.  We walked passed the warm inviting dining room, past the fireplace, and down the stairs into the unheated basement area (aka "family room") that was cold and empty.  The waiter was very nice, and offered to bring in a space heater, and turn some cartoons on the big screen TV, but still...we weren't in Spain anymore.  Regardless, lunch was delicious, and we could care less if we were alone.  It was actually kind of better that way, as we didn't worry about the kids disturbing anyone.

I felt this again the day we were walking through the city center in Stow-on-the-Wold.  An incredibly kind woman stopped her car when she saw us taking pictures to ask if we wanted a picture of all four of us.  After she took our picture we all started chatting about things to do and see in the Cotswolds.  As she was talking to us, Mia decided she had enough of the small talk, and decided trying to run across the parking lot was a much better idea...as I held her hand to keep her close, the terrible-two-tantrum was unleashed, and Mia started screaming.  In mid-sentence, the woman who had been helping us, looks down at Mia, gives a frown of disapproval and says, "Oh, dear." in her fancy-pants British accent.  It was classic (Chris and I laughed about this for days).  Had we been in Spain during a Mia meltdown, at least four people would have stopped on the street to practically do a puppet show for her until she smiled.  Usually, it is the parents who get the dirty looks while a child is sad in Spain, as if to say, "How could you let this beautiful creature be sad!!!" 

None of this detracted for our experience in any way...and certainly some places were, indeed, very child friendly.  It was interesting to me to see some of the cultural differences among the places we visit. 

Anyway, I'll let the pictures do the rest of the explaining.

We arrived at our cottage early evening to find the owner had baked us a homemade strawberry jam and cream cake, which was waiting for us in the kitchen.  This scored big points with the kids, and Evan declared he loved this "holiday house".

I had my slice with my first cup of real English Breakfast Tea...perfection.

We had gone grocery shopping at the local Tesco prior to arriving at the cottage, and stocked up on some familiar favorites...Cheerios, PB&J, cupcakes, granola bars, etc.... Amazing how many more American foods there are in the UK vs. Spain.  One of my favorite parts of visiting England was drinking the milk.  For some reason the milk in Spain tastes very different from the US, and for the most part, is shelf-stable and not fresh (you CAN find fresh, it is just not as abundant).  I am weird about milk, so I rarely drink it in Spain.  The milk in England was DELICIOUS, and I had my first bowl of cereal in a year. 

Breakfast on Day 1

Our adorable cottage

Trying to cheer up the little man with some kisses

Happy again, and all bundled up for our first day of exploring

One of the few times they agreed to wear gloves

The first day we actually ended up driving out to Worcester -- a town about an hour away -- to pick up a lens replacement for our camera.  We had been limping along with a broken lens for about two months, and were unable to find the lens we needed in Spain.  Chris located a store close to where we were staying in the UK, and we agreed we needed to get the replacement so we could truly capture how beautiful this place was.  After scoring the lens, we headed back to the Cotswolds region, stopping at Chipping Camden for lunch.  This time we ate right in the pub, fireside and all :) 

Loving the home baked bread

...and local ale.

Outside the restaurant in Chipping Camden

Window Shopping in Chipping Camden

Chipping Camden

After finishing lunch and walking around a bit, we headed back home to light a fire, pour some wine, snuggle up, and....do absolutely nothing.  It was fabulous.

Fire master getting us all set up...

Success!

Actually reading a book!

Before bed that night, I had promised the kiddos we could make cupcakes...a box of Muddy Puddle Peppa Pig cupcakes had magically found its way into our food cart at the grocery store.  So together, we whipped them up.  Miss Mia especially enjoyed this...

 

Playing some games they found in the "goodie closet"

Day 2 dawned, and we had plans to head out and explore more of the town we were staying in, Stow-on-the-Wold.  

 

 

View from our bedroom window at sunrise

Miss Mia and I ready to explore

Heading out of the cottage

The light in this place was absolute magic.  It was like a fairytale...

Mia in the Magic light

Heading through the little path beside our house that connects to the main street...yes, we made them hold hands because it was too cute not to!

Peeping through

It was Sunday, so some of the stores were closed, and the town was pretty sleepy at 10am...we wandered through the Main Streets, snapping pictures, and looking at the architecture.


Stow-on-the-Wold

 

 

After getting our big tip about The Farm from the woman I mentioned previously (the "Oh dear woman"), we jumped into our car, and headed out to find the famed farm and farm store.  When we pulled in, we were speechless.  This wasn't just a farm.  This was the most beautiful piece of property I'd ever seen...huge stone homes clustered together alongside perfectly manicured farm land.  The cars parked at the store to this place were pure craziness...SUV porches, BMWs...a family got out of a Range Rover that looked like they were there for a Ralph Lauren photo shoot.  I looked down at my 10€ converse sneakers and cringed a bit. 

The Farm

Homemade organic soups inside the farm store

Organic produce...it was so beautiful it looked fake

Cured meats

Pheasant!

Inside the stinky cheese room

Seriously on the verge of a happiness meltdown. 

I was trying to play it cool in front of all the fancy locals, but we were snapping pictures like lunatics and yelling, "OH MY GOD THEY HAVE POTATO SOUP! HONEY! LOOK AT THIS QUICHE! THE PASTRIES! DID YOU SEE THESE PASTRIES?!"  Kind of not so cool.  I couldn't help myself.

Inside the beautiful farm gift shop...we scored some homemade lavender candles and a real wool XMAS ornament

The farm grounds also had a spa with treatments and yoga/pilates classes.  Seriously, this was the life.

Exploring the farm

It was freezing outside, so after we had enough walking, we loaded our farm goodies in the car, and headed home to have some lunch and let the kids take a nap. 

A lunch of homemade bread, beef stew, meat pate, vegetable quiche, olive tempenade, cherry tomatoes, and real Gloucester cheddar cheese.  And English tea of course. 

And wine of course.

Sharing a room was way too fun...after giggling under the covers for 45 minutes, down they paraded, VERY proud of the fact they were not napping that day.

Haha!  No nap!

Let's PLAY!

After the non-nap time, we regrouped and decided to head back out to explore another of the Cotswolds towns -- Bourton-on-the-Water.  This town was described at the "Venice of the Cotswolds", as it was built around a network of little streams and rivers.  Yet again, another picturesque town, full of beauty and friendly folks.  .

 

We mostly just wandered until we found a Railroad store that was set up with a huge model train display. Evan is positively obsessed with trains, and was more than excited to have found not only a toy train store, but a huge exposition of model trains. He sat inside staring at the model trains, and used the little controls to make them start and stop. We stayed inside close to an hour, and then had to practically peel him away...He likely could have spend the entire afternoon in there.

We stopped on the way home to snap a few pictures of the countryside...I never did get any good shots of the sheep that were everywhere. 

Our final day we woke up to a light covering of snow!  It was the grand finale to this magical weekend.  I was very sad to leave...often while traveling, 4 days is plenty of time before we all feel ready to get home and get back into our routine.  But this place felt so comfortable.  It felt like we were home, it was very hard to leave.  I recommend this area to anyone looking to visit the UK, it was well worth the visit, and a vacation we will most certainly always remember fondly.

Catalan Christmas

**Small disclaimer here: our pictures from Christmas are horrendous.  Our good camera lens broke a couple months back, which totally took the fun out of taking pictures for a while.  We were forced to use our old one point nothing megapixel camera from 1991 until we finally purchased a new lens a few weeks after Christmas before our trip to the UK.  What we have here is a pieced together mishmash of broken lens pictures, old crappy camera pictures, and iphone pictures.  Poorly documented in my opinion.

Anywho.

Christmas time in Catalunya.

After powering through Thanksgiving, determined to keep traditions alive and managing to enjoy the holiday as a family so far from home, it was hard to remain quite as inspired for Christmas. This time of year usually involves Christmas parties, visiting family, and hosting our parents for prosecco and hors d'oeuvres on Christmas Eve....and the ever enjoyable "whose family do we see when and where" conversations, last minute shopping panics, and snow to shovel.   Good or bad, there wasn't any of these things this year.   Our lives will continue to be a balancing act of accepting the loss of some traditions, people, and places, while embracing new experiences and the positive changes that come with living in a new place.  I will say, it was especially nice not to be surrounded by the consumer crazed mania.   In Barcelona, the majority of residents hold off on exchanging gifts until they celebrate Three Kings, the first week in January, and even this holiday does not carry that same panic driven spending craze, also known as "Christmas in the USA". The malls were no more crowded the week before Christmas, that I could tell, and there wasn't the advertising explosion reminding us that time is running out, and we need to buy, buy, buy. That, I must say, was nice. But we missed our family something fierce. I wished our parents and siblings could have seen the excitement on Evan's face when we talked about Santa coming...It was truly magical to live this experience through their eyes this year, and probably one of my favorite parts of Christmas this year.  But, fear not, we have video.

 

 

Our attempt at a candy sugar house this year...note the missing pieces off the roof.  Ahem...CHRIS.

New boots.  New easel.  Psyched.

Some of my favorite things about Christmas this year in Barcelona:

The Christmas Market

Europe is known for the Christmas Markets. Some countries and cities do it better than others, but most cities do have some version of a Christmas Market to visit.  The markets usually involve a tented exposition of Christmas ornaments, mangers, trees, wreathes, food, drinks, handmade crafts and gifts, etc.

 Our plan initially was to travel to Bavaria, Germany this year to spend some time in Munich and drive the Romantic Road to see the castles and markets in this region.  However, time got away from us, and alas...you can't do it all. So we postponed the trip until next year (must do), and decided to focus on what Barcelona had to offer this year. And while the Christmas Market here is not necessary the most impressive in Europe, visiting the market was still a very festive, and wonderful, way to spend a few afternoons. We browsed the decorations, picked out a new ornament to remind us of our first Christmas here in Barcelona, and also bought a star tree topper.

 

 

Simplified Decorating

 

My family will tell you I am a minimalist decorator to begin with – I have an unnatural fear of clutter, and keeping decorations around simply to be used for 3 weeks out of the year...well...not my favorite.   Also taking into consideration that we are kind of missing our basement at the moment, and the only outdoor storage space is currently housing our washer and dryer -- clearly our limited collection of Santa and nutcracker knick-knacks did not make the travel-overseas cut.  And I have to say, decorating for Christmas this year was kinda nice.   Not something I would like every year...I DO actually really enjoy the whole opening up the ornament bin and going through each one and remembering where we got them.  I'm not that much of a decorating Grinch, but I appreciated the no-muss no-fussiness of this year.  We bought a tiny little 3 foot tree (potted no less – no death, no needles, and we can keep it outside until next year!), one box of plain 'ol shiny ball ornaments, a few strings of lights for the stair banister and tree, and a poinsettia plant. Voila! Christmas. 

 

Living in Poblenou – AKA Sesame Street

"The Inner Circle" we call them.  The wine shop owner, the boutique owner and his partner, the pink haired girl who works at the photo shop, and the furniture store owner pretty much run this street.  They are behind all the festivals, organize all the holiday parades and events, and pretty much keep our street the most hoppin' place in Poblenou.  This year?  Totally broke into the inner circle.  OK...not quite.  We are now on a "stop and say hello" basis with a handful of residents and shopkeepers here, which is kind of a feat in this old school Catalan neighborhood.  Not to generalize, but it can be kind of a tough crowd for foreigners.  Regardless, after one year of living here, it was pretty cool to feel like we were part of the 'hood for this holiday.  For once, we weren't on the outskirts of the festivities taking pictures and keeping to ourselves.  People recognized us, ran over to dance with our children, and made sure to get them a balloons right away.

This year, they set up a little Christmas village, right outside our door in the plaza. Literally, about 50 feet from our front step, there sat Santa (or Papa Noel as they call him), handing out balloons and lollipops to all the children. Two weeks later, they had one of the Three Wise Men, I believe, celebrating Three Kings, doing the same thing.  There was a Three Kings parade that wound its way through the streets, down the main drag, Rambla Del Poblenou, completely made up of floats carrying children throwing candy to all the other children waiting the streets.  I need better photos of this whole celebration next year...

 



We hope everyone at home at a wonderful holiday season...we love and miss you all!

Putting it Out There - Have to Start Somewhere

I've been neglecting my blog.

The one place that will hold our memories, experiences, thoughts, plans, reactions, fortunes and misfortunes...has been left sad and lonely for weeks.  I intended to start this blog so I could remember this short and life-changing experience from beginning to end, and to stay connected with friends and family back home.  Yet, as the weeks fall by, and important moments like our first Christmas, New Years Eve, and Three Kings drift further and further behind me... suddenly this blog is feeling more like a term paper I just don't want to start. 

My blog entries were sparse when we first arrived because I was so overwhelmed with life I had no brain power or time to write at the end of the day when the kids were finally in bed.  Now I am faced with a whole new roadblock -- peace and normalcy have resumed, but (my perception of) the magnitude of our experiences, both sensory and emotional, have been such that it is intimidating for me to attempt to capture it in writing.  If I can't capture what we are seeing and feeling in exactly the right way, or invoke the same feelings in print as it was experienced, then what's the point, really.  I write.  I re-read.  I revise.  I edit, and write some more.  It doesn't feel right unless it looks the way I envisioned it would look when I set out writing.  I am a perfectionist with no patience.  And so... I watch Top Chef. 

This all ends here. 

 

We are coming up on our one year anniversary here in Spain, and my belated new years resolution is to write at least every few days.  It won't be perfect.  It won't always be an exact representation of our thoughts or adventures, but at least it will be out there.  Our memories captured.  I don't want to just look at pictures in 10 years and think...where did those two years go?   What was our day to day life in Spain like?  Like our wedding day.  I wish someone had told me to wake up the next morning, and write down everything I could remember from the day before, because really -- you don't remember much from your wedding day.  I would kill to know what every hour of that day was like.  And so, I want to remember this.  Because what is happening right now is significant in our lives.  I feel that.

In the week ahead, I have some catching up to do, but my hope is that eventually this blog will become more of a weekly journal into our journey here, rather than random chapters of a book. 

Here's hoping anyway. 

In the spirit of a more "in the moment" attitude, here are some pictures from today.  Rocking the new watercolor set from Christmas, and new smocks!

I don't know why I bother giving them paper...really, they just want to paint their faces.

See you in a few days.

Food

The food issue.

This is beyond June Cleaver of me, and perhaps a little cliche, but I actually really liked going to the grocery store at home in the US.  Free samples, a place that housed everything I needed...choices.  I was a Trader Joe's and Whole Foods junkie, loving all the healthy choices, and more importantly, loving the fact that 70% of what I was buying was already at least semi-prepared (by Spanish standards).  Seemingly guilt-free kid food like turkey hot dogs, free-range chicken nuggets, yo baby, bunny crackers, frozen waffles, GALLONS of milk and OJ.  The Applegate company?  My savior.  My kids would eat it, it was quick, and, for the most part, was pretty healthy as long as I tossed some fruit and veggies on the plate too.  Yeah, of course, there were Happy Meals, lollipops, and cupcakes too -- but for me it was (and still is) about balance: mostly good, so I didn't feel guilty about the treats and junk that were inevitable.  And if I could quickly assemble a decent toddler meal for my kids in less than 10 minutes, that was paramount. 

It was kind of a rude awakening when we got here in Spain.

A couple things about the food.

OK, let me give my small print disclaimer here: you can likely find anything you are looking for somewhere in the city. Different grocery stores have different stuff, and there are a few huge departments stores with international grocery sections, along with American specialty shops, that have a lot of stuff like prepared soups, sauces, etc. However, on a day to day basis, when you don't want to travel across the city for salad dressing, this is my reality here in Poblenou.

The grocery stores, in general, do not sell a lot of prepared foods -- and if they do -- there is usually just one or two options for that kind of food.  One brand and style of hummus.  One sour cream.  One butter.  And by prepared foods, I don't mean those lovely salad bars and displays of ready-to-eat dinners.  I mean things like canned soup, pancake mix, spaghetti sauce, rice pilaf, dessert mixes -- they don't exist.  And if they do, they aren't what you expect them to be.  My grocery store is 80% whole foods (ironic play on words here).  Bread, meat, cheese, beans, pasta, veggies, fish, oils...yet, oddly enough, there IS  an entire aisle dedicated to potato chips.  This could explain my new found obsession with Pringles.  Regardless, most of the prepared stuff is cookies, crackers, pastries, and pickled stuff.  The frozen prepared foods usually require frying, and aren't terribly healthy or appetizing.   

This used to be kind of a big deal for me.  I can remember the first week we were here, I had absolutely no idea what to cook.  I was all turned around.  I didn't know what kind of meats were at the grocery store, I was scared of the produce section because you had to weigh and label your own fruits and veggies, and I couldn't find half of what I needed because things are never where you expect to find them.  The cream is shelf stable and located over by the pasta.  The eggs are room temperature at the end of the meat aisle.  The tuna is in the cheese aisle.  There was a stretch of time when our meals consisted of bread and cheese, because that was all I was capable of figuring out. 

As a result, we've had to make a few changes around here...

1.  If I want to eat something (and have it taste the way I want), I have to make it myself -- from scratch.  Don't get me wrong, I love to cook, but this is a whole other level.  Because there are practically no places for take-out (aside from the rotisserie chicken joints, which are amazing and our Sunday afternoon ritual), and very few prepared foods in the supermarket, I am making everything we eat from scratch most days.  Feeling like salsa?  Better find me some tomatoes and cilantro.  In the mood for chicken soup?  Better get myself a whole chicken and start boiling.  So many foods I would have just bought ready made, I now cook from scratch-- chicken nuggets, rice pilaf, mac & cheese, pancakes, salsa, dip, spaghetti sauce, soup, muffins, salad dressing, etc.  All me.  And over the past year, this has gone from annoying...to kind of challenging...to no big deal...to my preferred way of doing things.  As long as I have a pantry stocked with 10 or so staples, all I need to do is swing by the butcher to grab a protein, and I'm set for dinner.

2.  Our children no longer eat "kid food" for dinner.  In fact, they rarely eat it at all.  They eat whatever we eat, because it takes enough effort just to make one dinner, there's no possible way I'm going to make two.  They get a smaller plate of whatever I made for Chris and I.  Do they always eat it?  Nope.  Mia has always been my rock star eater and will eat pretty much anything, but Evan is ultra picky so this has been a challenge for him.  There are days I definitely gear it more towards stuff I know they prefer -- making my version of chicken nuggets or spaghetti and meatballs, but gone are the days of a separate kiddie dinner 7 days a week.  Remarkably, as a result, not only are they now eating a much wider variety of foods, but Evan in particular has stopped whining for specific foods when he doesn't like what is in front of him.  They know dinner is dinner.

3.  Our grocery bill is about 1/3 of what it was in the US.  Produce is cheap, cheap, cheap here, in comparison to the US, and the whole foods like sacks of rice, flour, and eggs aren't racking up a big bill.  I love that you always know what is in season, because it is offered very cheaply in bulk.  I know my food is fresh and local, and I can get a whole cart full of fruit and veggies for less than $20.  Plus, since we have a small fridge, I can only buy for 2 or 3 days at a time, and we generally almost always eat all the food before it goes bad.  What a concept. 

4.  I dig Mom and Pop shops.  The traipsing around to 4 different stores for stuff used to drive me nuts.  But I'm loving it now...the shop keepers know their stuff, and it kind of makes you feel like everyday is a special occasion, because they treat the products with such pride and care.  Seriously, I know this sounds odd...but there is something to be said for a chicken specialty shop that starts with a whole chicken (head included), and expertly butchers it in front of you in order to get you your kilo of ground chicken breast.  For a while I used to avoid going to the same shops too often because I was afraid if they saw me too regularly, we would get beyond the "Hello, how are you?" phrases, and they would start asking more questions about myself (in Spanish) forcing me to stumble through and make an ass of myself.  Pathetic, I know.  I'm starting to get over this...maybe because my Spanish is improving, but mostly because I really like my Mom and Pops.  We pretty much live on Sesame Street -- everyone knows everyone, and it is very child focused -- so the fact that they wave at us across the street and give my children free fuet (tiny cured little sausage type things here --I have no idea what is in them, or what is used as the "casing", nor do I want to know, but my children love them) when we come in, makes me want to keep coming back.  It appears they are slowing chipping away at my shy little introverted exterior...

Anyway, I am sure when we get home to the US, I'm going to happily embrace Eggo waffles, Rao's Marinara Sauce, and Goldfish once more (my sister recently sent us a care package for XMAS that included Goldfish...they were gone in less than 10 minutes.  SO.  GOOD.) But I'm thankful for the eye opening experience here that has actually made me a better cook and helped me realize that not only is it easy to make things yourself, it often tastes better and is much better for you.   

Some of my "keeper" base recipes that will save you big $$$ in case anyone is interested:

Basic White Sauce

*  This sauce has been a life saver for me.  It can take the place of Cream of Chicken Soup for a lot of recipes (if you add some poultry seasoning to it), and is so easy to make.  I add Parmesan cheese to this for an Alfredo sauce, a cheddar blend for Mac & Cheese sauce, or curry powder for a Chicken Divan type of dish.  Good stuff, and always have the ingredients in the pantry.

3 tablespoons of butter
3 tablespoons of flour
1 cup of chicken stock
1 cup of milk
salt and pepper

Melt butter in medium pot.  Once melted, add flour and whisk together.  Cook for 1 minute over low/med heat.  Add stock and milk, and raise heat while whisking constantly.  Keep whisking while bringing to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer for 5-10 minute until it thickens. 

 Rice Pilaf

* I used to buy the Near East boxes religiously at home in the US for almost $2 a box.  Turns out -- no need.  If you buy a sack of rice and a sack of orzo, you can have pilaf for a month for $2.  It is easy.

1 tablespoon butter
1-2 tablespoons of orzo pasta
1 cup of rice
2 cups of chicken broth

Melt butter in sauce pan, add orzo.  Saute orzo over med heat until it starts to brown, then add rice and chicken broth.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, and simmer for 20 minutes or until rice is done according to rice directions.

My favorite pancake recipe (easy and so good):   PANCAKES

My favorite chicken soup recipe (Ina is a genius): CHICKEN SOUP

Enjoy!