Memories of paellas past

What is the trick to a good paella? Persistence. Other techniques come in handy and we will revisit them here periodically. I have many Spanish friends who taught me their own tricks for the proper paella. Some work and others do not. In any case…read more

Impromptu Backyard Dinner with Friends: The Farewell Tour

Last month Charla and I met Claudia, an Italian urban planning professor who visited a San Diego university a few years ago. She was described to us as “very Italian: warm, generous, and loved to throw parties.” It turns out that during her stay in…read more

Charla’s 40th Birthday Celebration

“I don’t really like sweets,” Charla said. “You can just skip the birthday cake.” She skillfully ignored my disbelieving look and started talking about Spanish food again. Really? No cake with candles? Not even cupcakes? Cookies? Flan? She was unimpressed. I had a problem. Charla’s…read more

When in Madrid, we must eat

This is the second of a three part series, “To Madrid: A love letter”. The first post is here. In this second post, Madrid eating should be an entire blog by itself so we will just touch on it here. Winter 2016 We staggered with…read more