Citron Salad

by Diana

Back in November when booking our Easter holidays, we naively imagined that going hiking in the Dolomites was going to imply green pastures, drinking fresh spring water and the ocasional barefoot walk alongside the shores of the lake. And thus, we reached mid April and arrived to a little hotel in the middle of the mountains completely surrounded by the purest white snow.. freshly delivered for us. Our tropical selves managed to survive for a few days with our very unprepared luggage and the unmanaged expectations of the 2 year old we are responsible for, whom we convinced prior traveling that the little hiking trip was going to be just like the one we read in his book, not the Christmas one though. Next time we’ll just trust that the weather app was not just miscalculating our location (otherwise called pre holiday denial!).

So we gathered all our resilience and replanned our trip, returning to Verona where very springy 20C were brightening the city of pink roofs. And from there, we took a round trip to Sirmione, a beautiful town in Lake Garda, where a tulip festival, the sound of non hibernating birds and the discovery of citron fruit were awaiting us. After an idyllic lakeside and almost summery atmosphere, we contemplated the view one more time and sighted of satisfaction whilst tasting citron for the first time, from the touristy fresh fruit stand in the entrance of the old town. We bought one of those oversized lemons to take home and tried, as instructed, its truly delicious salad application. I hope it brightens any weather spoiled holidays to you too. Enjoy!

© The Teaspoon   

Patacones

by Diana

Patacones are a twice-fried plantain snacks typical from Latin America and the Caribbean. In Venezuela, where I grew up, they are the normally sold in 'chiringuitos' or beach bars at the seaside. But as my family was always quite peculiar and followed its own 'traditions', when going on beach holidays mum always packed snacks for us so it was unusual to buy any other than empanadas then. Some Saturday mornings we would have patacones at home for breakfast, topped with grated carrots, fresh white cheese and drizzled with 'pink sauce'. I loved those mornings when we would seat at the table, Tom and Jerry or Top Cat in the background and not much else to worry or think about rather than looking forward to visiting my grandma, doing errands with mum or going to a birthday party. 

As an adult, it's funny how I now associate patacones with going to the beach. I blame Jung's collective unconscious. So when craving a beach escape but then realise I am trapped in an urban jungle, I would recreate Saturday's breakfast at home. Some dishes have that ability to transport us, not only to places, but to people, to memories, to my mum, and they allow us to hold on to our culture and to somehow strengthen our identity.  Maybe it's not so much about the beach after all, but a way of going back home and be a child again, and remember there is nothing to really worry about. Enjoy!

© The Teaspoon   
 

Blackberry Goat Chees Bruschettas

by Diana

I never thought that reading stories to a toddler would bring so much joy and tenderness to my life. When not trying to build a big Lego train to wind down a busy day (at both work and nursery of course), we usually spend some time before dinner going through some books. Some of them are actually a great meal preamble and act as an enticing appetizer. Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit always makes reference to what the little bunnies are having for supper and the 'blackberries, bread and milk' quote never fails to make me regret having cooked my mistaken idea of a toddler appealing menu. So to celebrate February I am going to reinforce my son's affection by recreating a version of the mischievous hare's dinning feast. I hope it does too transport you somewhere charming. 

© The Teaspoon         

Apple Cider Cookies

by Diana

January is always victimised as a somehow slightly dull month, compared to its predecessor, festive December, the soul of the party. It’s hard to embrace an urban winter without the abundant fairy lights, the ongoing carols soundtracking the busy commute, the decorated (and murdered) Christmas trees and the pre-new-year-resolution food feasts. 

I miss how lockdown gave us thematic weekends to keep us going during those toughest months and I am determined to keep alive the idea of celebrating the every day, reviving traditions and discovering new ones to hold on to and make our lives reacher and more nurtured even though popular December is not here to give us permission to do so.

Continuing with the blog is always part of my list of intentions. As Christians we celebrate epiphany, without the traditional kings cake though, but want to also mark wassailing as a tradition that fosters gratitude to nature, singing and blessings the trees (around the playground at least) hoping for good health and abundant shade in the summer.  Hopefully we won’t go too deep into hell when embracing pagan rituals. We are marking it with a flask filled with mulled cider and warmly packed apple cider cookies, to recover from running around our tiny hyper toddler. 

Have a happy 2022! 

© The Teaspoon