Uphill Downhill

                                      Moon rising at 8 pm yesterday evening.

 I've been posting daily weather reports on a local forum and so it has encouraged me to get out and have a little walk most mornings.  Something which has always been on my must do list of things.

                                                  The Teide this morning

 My sister in Canada gets up around 5 am every morning and walks over a mile around the perimeter of a golf course.  She stays slim and looks much younger than her age!  So here in this wonderful climate I have only one excuse for not doing the same every day....the whole island is shaped like a pyramid so walking anywhere is either uphill or downhill.

The downhill is easy...although they say it's not so good for your knees.
Sometimes the downhill is in the form of stairs.

But in order to get back home after walking downhill.....one has to face the uphills....or jump on a bus. 

So I try to find the flat bits.  Here a childrens' playground where one can sit on a bench and read or rest.

 

And then for a walk through the Canary Center where white roses are still blooming and the magnificent pruned Plumeria Alba (frangipani)  gives shade to people sitting outside the deli eating tapas.

 Plumeria Alba...also known as Frangipani

And passing the German bakery window, Doris tried to tempt me with fresh Berliner jelly doughnuts!

I resist and choose instead a raisin Danish pastry....it was in that empty space at left.

Well that will teach me to walk past the bakery while out for my healthy morning walk.  Next time I'll go in the other direction, as long as it's not up a steep hill!

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a good week and hasta la vista!

October Garden

I have been out of time these past weeks and have had a house guest arrive this morning.
So I'm again saying sorry for such long delays between posts.

But I did want to show some of what is in flower today in our garden.  Weather is warm and sunny and after some rain, everything is growing wildly.  Here are some photos I took just a couple of hours ago.

I hope everyone has been having a good weekend.

Like most people I know I was also glued to the television watching the miraculous rescue of the Chilean miners.  What an unbelievable feat of faith and determination combined with the engineering expertise of all involved and the leadership of the head man in the mine who kept the men alive with his belief that they would be rescued and his knowledge of survival procedures.  It was such a happy ending to what could have certainly been another tragedy and more sad news for the media to report..  Sometimes miracles do happen!

Thanks for dropping by...so until the next one...hasta la vista!

La Greixonera

This is my favourite cooking vessel.  It's an earthenware casserole or cazuela which I bought many years ago in Mallorca, where it's called a greixonera.  (Pronounce it more or less as GRAY-shon-ERA.)  It has given rise to a dessert by the same name from the neighbouring island of Ibiza where it is made in such an earthenware casserole.

The dessert consists of ensaimadas which are a day or two old mixed together with egg, sugar, cinnamon and milk to make a sort of firm pudding which is sliced and served on a plate.  I use mine for making stewed dishes, meatballs and slow cooked meals which can sit on the back of my gas stove on a low flame until the contents are tender and flavourful.  It was customary in the Balearic Islands to use a cabbage or lettuce leaf to act as a lid for whatever was cooking inside.

Here are some more items from my collection of earthenware cooking vessels.  It amazes me that these cooking utensils cost so little - most of them under ten Euros, and they can be found in most supermarkets and hardware stores.  Although they will break when dropped or banged on a hard surface, my greixonera is over 25 years old and if I'm lucky it will still last for years.  I don't use a ceramic cooktop, and I don't believe these earthenware dishes could be used on them.  But they will go in the oven for baking and only need a little careful soaking in warm water for a few minutes before the first use.

I swear that anything cooked in them tastes superior than it would if it were cooked in a casserole made from another material.

Here is yet another of my cazuelas de barro or earthenware casserole dishes, together with another useful item...my wooden mortar and pestle which I use for grinding dry spices.  Both can be found in supermarkets here and are inexpensive.

And how I love my little olive oil can,  I keep it beside the stove and use it every day for a fine drizzle when cooking. This one holds half a liter but I recently found another one which holds one liter of oil.

Here is another supermarket find.  I was so pleased when I saw these individual earthenware soup bowls that I bought a couple and although we've had soup in them, I also tried them out for baking individual chicken pot pies in my toaster oven.

They turned out perfectly!

This morning we had beautiful sunshine and warm temperatures.  When I saw the sun lighting up my Phormium I had to run out and take a photo.  I brought this one with me from Canada one year and enjoy looking at it through my computer room window as the colours seem to glow in morning sunlight.

Thanks for dropping by.  Have a good week and hasta la vista!

Spanish Kitchen Utensils

Mortero and Lebrillo

One can find some interesting and inexpensive kitchen utensils here. For many years the yellow earthenware mortar with painted green splotches and a wooden pestle has been used in Spanish kitchens.  Called a MORTERO in Spanish, the pestle is a PILÓN or MAZA. And matching them is the old fashioned mixing bowl, the LEBRILLO.  This useful bowl is now also found in antique shops, having been used just as often for hand washing the laundry as for mixing bread.  But I have seen these bowls still for sale in shops which deal in typical artesan ceramics and earthenware.  

When I lived in Ibiza and Mallorca, I remember seeing those mortars used as ashtrays in some bars and cafes.

The groove for pouring out the sauce, was used to hold a burning cigarette!

Well I use mine quite regularly, but for mashing garlic with flat-leaf parsley and salt, to make the beginnings of a sauce.  And the lebrillo....well it sits on top of a shelf as a decoration from yesteryear, as I now prefer a lightweight plastic or glass mixing bowl in my kitchen.

The typical yellow earthenware is also seen used for garlic pots as well as soup bowls:

Canary Chicken Soup...always topped with a mint leaf (hierbabuena)

Another curious object, with a very modest price is this cutting board for slicing crusty baguettes:

 Baguette Slicing Tray

 This useful cutting board is made up of a removable slat top and a tray underneath which catches the crumbs that fall from a crisp bread roll or baguette.  What a clever idea!  When finished slicing your crunchy loaf, just lift the top to collect the crumbs, to pass on to the birds or to sprinkle onto your soup!

Here is a closer look:

I will be back soon with more unusual items from Spain that I have adopted for use in my home.

Weather here in Tenerife North is warm with very high humidity - over 75%, which is high for us.

No sun today but we are happy for the few drops of rain that have fallen.  

Our weeds are growing well!

Have a good week and hasta la vista!

Autumn Began Today

Summer has ended! We had the first real rains in a long time here over the past couple of days but today the air has turned warm and muggy again. Not complaining though because the garden is lush and green. The weeds are growing at their usual fast pace and I can drag the loaded laundry racks out of the musty tool shed where I pushed them as the first drops fell and put them in their rightful place on the back lawn.

Just before it rained I took photos of the brugmansia in the front garden. I'm always tempted to run out with the camera and see if their upturned edges can be viewed from a new angle. Well I guess not this time but I'm happy to capture their clusters of pristine trumpets as long as they hang so gracefully in our front garden.

You see what happens when you have your sprinkler turned on for a morning.
It will bring on the rain for sure a few hours later!



Thanks for dropping by. Have a good weekend and hasta la vista!

More Garden Macros

Anthurium

It's always fascinating for me to see the world through a macro lens and discover the array of perfect miniature patterns and textures not always detected by the naked eye.

Here is what I found when wandering through my garden the other day.

Strelizia

Spider Plant

Vinca

Seed Pods of Clivia Nobilis

Jade Plant

Strelizia

Haworthia Attenuata

Clerodendrum

And following me around, loving to hide in dark hidden corners is my ever present Minnie.



Thanks for your visit, and Hasta la Vista!



Photos taken with Canon EOS 30D DSLR and f/2.8 100mm USM macro lens.

Seen in Passing

Spider Lily - Hymenocallis Littoralis

We still have lovely warm days here in Tenerife, many with high humidity, others with a little sea breeze blowing across my garden. Here are a few photos taken on recent walks around the town.

Passing by a Sunday flea market, I met and chatted with this gentleman from Madrid who was trying out a classical guitar for sale. He said he was on holiday and missed his own guitar so was happy to be able to sit down, borrow the guitar and practise for a few minutes.





Leather bags - real or imitation, are popular in flea markets here.



I bought a pot of thyme from this plant stall. It's one of my favourite herbs so I always have some growing year round in large patio pots.



Headless models display summer dresses.



A stroll by Alvaro's newly furbished tennis and sports centre and Quintana restaurant. There is a well equipped gym, machine and mat Pilates classes and paddle courts as well as tennis and a soccer field there, located in the La Paz area of Puerto de la Cruz.



Doris offers me some German cheesecake when I buy a loaf of bread at the bakery window.



A Canary palm with branches of tiny dates graces a small street garden.



And overhead a paraglider floats into the late afternoon sun.



Thanks for dropping by and hasta la vista!