Truffle Festival & Culinary Delights

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December 10^th was Anatolijus’ birthday so for his birthday weekend, Dec 8-9 we indulged in a number of culinary delights.  On Saturday the four of us drove 1 hr and 45 mins south to the small village of Sarrion which holds an annual International Truffle Festival.  These black truffles are cultivated and harvested by dogs and pigs.  In the small pavilion there were booths representing all different parts of the process and produce of the truffle industry.  We tasted cheese infused with truffle, truffle sausage, truffle liquor, olive oil infused with truffle and a lovely onion and truffle marmalade.  Anatolijus bought one of each and then realized his dream of buying his very own truffle and truffle cutter.  We did not spend a long time in Sarrion but came away with many delicacies.  The next day Anatolijus and I made our first Truffle Risotto which was ‘fenomenal’!!!  Anatolijus also made a peppercorn and rosemary encrusted beef tenderloin and we paired it all with a bottle of Sangiovese a friend brought from Italy.  As a starter, we made a terrine of foie gras with tarragon and granny smith apple (a recipe of our good friend Marc).  What a feast!

On Sunday Grace, Tessa and I made Anatoijus a very special birthday cake.  Tessa is obsessed with watching YouTube videos of Betty Crocker kitchens and Nerdy Nummies which teach you how to make and decorate amazing types of cakes.  So inspired by Tessa we undertook to make the “Hamburger Cake”.  The candies we needed are not here in Spain so we improvised and were delighted with the results.  Take a look!!

Lastly, after all this cooking I then proceeded to spend the next two days in the kitchen baking traditional Canadian Christmas treats for, ‘Cathy’s Canadian Christmas Coffee Party” (CCCCP in short).  I invited a number of moms from the school and prepared fresh scones, Nanaimo bar, decorated sugar cookies, banana bread and scotch shortbread.  There were a few hiccups with some people not able to come and some coming late and others leaving early – however overall I was very pleased!

Now time to get ready for Christmas and do a bit more baking, cooking, grilling, tasting….

Sarvise in Pyrenees

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On the weekend of Nov 16-18 we spent a wonderful weekend in the Pyrenees with our good friends Eduardo and Sira, and their children, Edu and Claudia.  We rented a lovely Casa rural which was grey stone and looked old but in fact is a new build so has all the heating and plumbing of a modern home.  It had two separate apartments and a lovely yard.  We arrived at night and could hear sounds and realized it was cow bells from the pastures surrounding us.  In the morning we were in for a treat, we opened the curtains and the mountains were aflame with yellow, orange, red, green and brown.  The autumn colors are particularly spectacular this year due to a warmer and longer fall.

On Saturday morning we started with a great crepe breakfast then went for a short walk down the road to where the horses were.  We all saddled up, for a wonderful one hour trail ride by the pastures, through the forest and down by the river.  This was Tessa's first time on a horse and she was a little nervous, however with a little encouragement she was hoisted onto her lovely brown mare and she was at the front of the line with the man walking leading her horse.  It was so wonderful to be in the mountains surrounded by beautiful nature, this is something we miss living in a desert.  A highlight for the girls was the four week old kitten that came to play; he basically kept them entertained the whole weekend.  One funny thing is that the kitten’s name was socks because of its white feet, and in Spanish the name is calcetines – not quite the same feeling as the English word.

In Spain Comida is the main meal of the day and it is at approx. 1:30pm - our lunch but they always have a proper hot meal.  On Sat we planned to make a big Comida as Eduardo enjoys cooking very much just like Anatolijus.  We were given the use of a chimney, literally a metal shaped structure we could build a fire in with a chimney.  You then put your food on grills that sit in the fire and cook.  Our menu included: fresh artichokes, tomatoes and large green onions cooked right in the fire, sausage, steak and teriyaki chicken wings.  We also did skewers of mushrooms, red pepper, cherry tomatoes and onion in balsamic vinegar.  WOW!!!  Anatolijus' new favorite thing is fire roasted onions.  To wash this great meal down we enjoy a number of good Spanish red wines – Protos and Priorat, to name two.  We now completely understand the Spanish siesta and its importance after drinking and eating that much in the afternoon.

On Sunday we were able to drive into Ordesa National Park which is fabulous.  It has beech tree forests that are beautiful with their white trunks and colored leaves.  There is a lovely river which we walked along and although there is a famous 4 hour walk/hike we weren’t prepared for that so will go back in spring or summer to enjoy more of the beauty of the Pyrenees.