Chicas, vamos a comer!

The title of this post is my favorite Spanish phrase. For the two days that Lindsay and I were in Ronda, I had the great privilege of staying with her host family, which meant a cozy bed and a few very enjoyable meals around their dinner table. Each day at around 3, and again around 9, Lindsay's host mother, Reyes, would yell, "Chicas, vamos a comer!" and my heart would fill with joy. I'm not ashamed to admit that food has a way of doing that to me. And combine that with Reyes, Fernando and Lindsay all speaking Spanish that I can sometimes understand, when I'm not being blown away by these amazing new dishes. It was too perfect to be spoiled by my camera, so I don't have photos of the pastel de atún (delicious tuna meatloaf) or the lentil soup or the ensalada de pimientos. But I can show you some of the other meals we enjoyed.

During our two days in London, we forewent the traditional bangers and mash in favor of more international cuisine. Thai, Indian, Moroccan. All quite satisfying. But my favorite meal there was the sweet potato quiche found at a quaint vegetarian restaurant called Food for Thought. Unless you count Guinness.

Because we stayed with Lindsay's wonderful uncle outside of London, we took advantage of the chance to cook together. Inspired by Lindsay's Korean classmates, we stopped in Chinatown for rice paper and had a little spring roll picnic in the living room. A lovely way to eat.

Once we got to Spain, I quickly realized how few preconceived notions I had about the country's cuisine. I knew paella and gazpacho, but was so pleasantly surprised by other dishes that I had no concept of. The beauty of the tapas culture is that I got to try so many things. In Granada, one can order a caña (a small glass of mediocre beer) for one or two euros and receive a tapa gratis (that's free). If one so chooses, one can hop from bar to bar ordering cañas and tapas all night. Another lovely way to eat, I'd say.

The best I can recall, clockwise from top right: jamon on little bagels with french fries, saucy mushrooms that made me want to lick the plate...with french fries, ensalada with the most wonderful olives on earth (and I don't even like olives!), and a dainty Spanish tortilla (omelette) with potatoes.

This next bit is more traditional Lindsay/Whitney cuisine than traditional Spanish, but we were delighted to find this little gem tucked among los bares de tapas. Smöoy frozen yogurt.

And it was confirmed that God was smiling right down upon us when we sat at a small table decorated with a large squash. We went twice in two days.

While Spaniards are pretty terrible at making sandwiches (my standards are high), they are adept at enjoying food and rest and family. I most certainly could have eaten a few more meals there. Who's with me?

With love.