Hola de Espana!

Hola! I'm back from Spain safely and with much to tell! I will start by bragging on my girl RW and myself. We chose to order EVERYTHING from the Spanish menu even though each waiter brought us the English version. I'm not sure how, but everyone knew we weren't from anywhere but the good 'ol US of A. Is that a compliment?! Not sure ... Anyway, we were glad to pick and choose the words out of the menu we knew and most the time happily surprised at what came to the table, especially after a glass of wine or two. =) It forced us to learn a lot of the language and I think the Spanish people appreciated us trying to learn too. (As badly as we may have sounded trying to speak it). Actually, I have a confession to make: RW knows way more Espanol than I do and if I were there by myself I'm pretty sure I would have gotten on the train to Siberia accidentally or missed the train all together. Yes, we all know what a scatter brain I can be.

My thing is food, we all know this. So, we went to the San Miguel Food market in Madrid which was great! If you can imagine an upscale food flea market, that's exactly what it looked like. Huge glass windows surround the entire building giving passersby a glimpse of the succulent food inside. It would lure me in anyway. We took a few pictures but the prettiest ones were the fruita. I haven't met a fruit I don't like and in Spain it was no different! Have you heard of an Higo? Pronounced I-go ... silent "H." I'm not sure if I'll do it justice by explaining: the Higo is small. You peel the skin down like a banana even though it's circular in shape. The inside has a few seeds but they're tiny and barely noticeable. These babies are juicy and taste like a mixture of many tropical fruits. See, I told you I wouldn't do it justice.



Moving on to Pardon Pimientos. I believe it's translated "green pepper" but I also think the word "spicy" gets lost in translation. When we were in Barcelona we went to an awesome Tapas place. I saw a man across the restaurant eating a plate of broiled peppers sprinkled with salt. I had to get my hands on them, I love spicy food, plus I'm a sucker for anything as pretty as these shiny, small tamales! (They're not really tamales) I ate half the plate, they were delicious!



I had just arrived in Madrid and of course barely slept on the plane. RW and I walked around and explored our new surroundings for a while and stopped at a little cafe where it seemed we were too early for lunch. Remember when I told you we screamed "Americans?" Well, I'm pretty sure it was noon on the dot and Spaniards don't eat lunch until 1:30pm or later. Need I mention the slow service we received or how I pretended to eat the bush behind my chair? A 10 hour plane ride can make a sister hungry, ok!? All kidding aside, we were pleasantly surprised when we ordered from the menu. This is the sandwich I ordered from the menu that read : Bocadillo Especial. I had no idea what was on it and frankly at that point didn't care. When it came out looking like this:



I was happy. By the way, in Spain they either serve everything with fries or eggs. It's their 'thang' I suppose. We both gave this sandwich two thumbs up!


Back to reality. It's almost fall here in Bowling Green, has anyone noticed? Fall is my favorite time of year and most always I'm urging the calendar to hit September first so I can break out my pumpkin throw pillow and fall decor, but, not this year. I'm actually very sad about summer coming to a close. =( Sorry to be a downer, but I tried to ring in the fall-like weather with a fall-like dish I found from Better Recipes. The flavors in this dish are so ... opposite. The spicy sausage mixed with the sweet maple syrup really gave the meat a kick of it's own kind. Don't skimp on the rubbed Sage, it's big flavor really enhances the meat and onion mixture. Acorn squash is sweet and versatile, you can make it taste like anything you want. (Squash Pizza Dough, anyone?)

Sausage Stuffed Acorn Squash
2 Medium Acorn Squash, halved and seeds removed
1 LB pork sausage (I used HOT)
1 Small onion, chopped
1 TBSP Rubbed Sage
1/4 C Maple Syrup (I believe you could use less!)

1. Place the squash, cut side down in a shallow baking dish or pan. Add 1/2 C water and bake at 350 degrees 30-40 minutes or until tender. Meanwhile brown the sausage (stirring frequently to loosen) and add chopped onion and sage. Cook until tender.
2. When squash is finished remove from oven. Add maple syrup to sausage mix and spoon into the squash halves. Serves 4.








Have a great week, Don't forget to ENJOY and Mangia! Mangia! xxoo