Victoria Twead's Blog, page 11

Schnitzel for dummies with tragic mash

I’ve never made schnitzels before, but my friend and website designer, Elle, assured me that it was very easy. She’s right, it’s a bit fiddly, but delicious and well worth the effort. “I’ll do the mashed potato and the veg,” said Joe. We had loads of fresh veg in the fridge, so I left [...]

Caterpillars can kill you

It’s that time of year again, and I don’t mean Valentine’s Day. I mean the time when Spain’s most dangerous creatures appear. I’m talking about the Pine Processionary caterpillars that make nests in the pine trees of Spain. Don’t underestimate them, they are deadly. Keep your pets away from them, and don’t try to destroy [...]

Receiving Parcels in Spain

Receiving post has always been a tad problematic since we moved to El Hoyo, our village in the mountains of Spain. In the old days, mail used to arrive by mule, but we’ve definitely progressed since then. Haven’t we? After moving in, because our front door didn’t sport a letterbox, one of our first jobs [...]

Indy Grace’s first taste of real food

Is it really more than five months since that long-awaited phone call from Australia, telling me that my first grandbaby was born? Five months since Indy Grace entered the world? Five months since I saw my first picture of her, at just seven minutes old? Five months since I wrote Indy her first letter? [...]

Two Old Fools on a Camel is out!

Hurrah! Just in time for Christmas,Two Old Fools on a Camelwas published! Joe edited it, and it’s been professionally edited again by the lovely Mindy Sampson. My son designed the cover, Ant Press converted it for Kindle, Kobo and iPad, so there was nothing left to do except chew my nails and wait for readers’ [...]

Two Old Fools and the Colour Red

I like the colour red. I thought about the significance of that colour as I gave my latest book, ‘Two Old Fools on a Camel’, which describes our year in the Bahrain, a final check before publishing. We’ve enjoyed eight Christmases in El Hoyo, our village in the Spanish mountains, and one in the Middle [...]

Horizon Fever

Well, we’ve finished sorting through all the scrapbooks and photos, and my son has designed a fabulous cover… Horizon Fever is finished and published on Amazon. Whew! It’s now available both in Paperback and eBook editions from Amazon and all the other usual outlets. This is the blurb from the back cover: Not only was [...]

Two Old Fools & Memory Loss

Long before we moved to El Hoyo in 2004, Joe’s been forgetful. Before now, he’s put the phone in his sock drawer, and he’s locked the keys in the boot of the car countless times.Once he left the engine running in ourparked car the whole time we were shopping, around two hours.He’s left the [...]

Tepsi (Aubergine, Onion and Potato Bake)

[image error] ‘Two Old Fools on a Camel’ is finished, apart from the twiddly bits, and choosing the Arabic recipes. I’m so lucky to have Nadia Sawalha’s permission to use her recipes from ‘Stuffed Vine Leaves Saved my Life’.
The Gin Twins came to stay this week, and they always cook up something delicious. This time, they chose three recipes from Nadia’s book, and served up an Arabian banquet, oh my! They chose Tepsi, Poor Man’s Coq au Vin (not so poor as it includes a bottle of red wine) and Creamy Pea and Bacon Pasta. Strictly speaking, the Coq au Vin and Pasta aren’t very Arabic, even though they are delicious, but the Tepsi recipe definitely deserves a place in ‘Two Old Fools on a Camel’.

Tepsi
Aubergine, Onion and Potato Bake
This dish fills the house with a delicious aroma and will soothe guests the moment they enter your home!
Top Tips:
(1) Sprinkling salt over the aubergines, although not essential, does draw out the bitterness that sometimes can be found in them. It also means they absorb less oil during the frying stage.
(2) If your oil is not sufficiently hot, you may end up with very greasy aubergines.
Serves 4

Ingredients:
2 aubergines, thickly sliced
Salt and black pepper
2 large potatoes, peeled
2 large tomatoes
2 large onions, peeled
4 garlic cloves, peeled
Olive oil
Vegetable oil
2-3 tsp ground mixed spice
200ml (7 fl oz) lamb or vegetable stock
Juice of ½ a lemon.
1 tbsp tomato purée.

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180⁰C/Gas mark 4.
Place the sliced aubergines in a colander. Sprinkle salt all over them and leave aside for an hour.
Slice the potatoes, tomatoes and onions, to the same thickness as the aubergines.
Thinly slice the garlic.
Pour 2-3 glugs (maybe more) olive oil into a frying pan. Gently fry the onions and garlic until they just begin to brown. Remove the onions and garlic with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Add a splash of vegetable oil to the olive oil and bring slowly up to heat.
Fry the potatoes slowly until they are golden brown and almost cooked through. Remove the potatoes and set aside.
Rinse the salt off the aubergines and thoroughly dry them with kitchen paper.
Add a bit more vegetable oil and bring slowly up to heat. Gently fry the aubergines until they are golden brown.
Place on kitchen paper to remove excess oil.
In a baking dish, alternately layer the aubergine, tomato, onion and garlic, and potato.
Sprinkle each layer with spice, salt and pepper.
Pour the stock, lemon juice and tomato purée into the dish.
Bake, uncovered, for 50-60 minutes.
Serve and enjoy! We certainly did, and so did the Gin Twins (below).

Two Old Fools and Memory Loss

[image error] Long before we moved to El Hoyo in 2004, Joe's been forgetful. Before now, he's  put the phone in his sock drawer, and he's locked the keys in the boot of the car countless times. Once he left the engine running in our parked car the whole time we were shopping, around two hours. He's left the chickens' gate open, allowing them to range freely through my precious raised flower beds, leaving nothing but stalks. Get the idea?
So I wasn't surprised when he returned from a recent shopping trip and couldn't find his credit card. He felt in his pockets. Nothing. He searched the carrier bags. Nothing. He checked the car. Nothing.
“Could you have left it in Carrefour?” 
“Well, I suppose it’s possible...”
Phone calls to Carrefour confirmed that no credit card had been handed in.
“I'm sorry,” said the helpful assistant. “Are  you sure you haven't lost a green draught excluder, shaped like a python? Somebody handed in one of those...”
“Perhaps you left it at the petrol station?” I suggested.
“I don't think so, I paid with cash. I suppose I'd better drive down and see. If they haven't got it, we’d better get on the phone and cancel it.”
I was nervous by now. Had it been stolen? 
I'd just discovered a free app for the iPad and smartphones. It's called 'SecureSafe', and you can store all your valuable PINs, passwords and documents on it, and access them from anywhere. 
Before I went to Australia last month, I'd laboriously copied in everything, and uploaded all our valuable items, like our escritura (house deeds), photos and the original manuscripts for my books. If the credit card wasn't at the petrol station, I could easily retrieve all the details from the app, and call to get the card canceled. Couldn't I?
Joe returned from the petrol station looking worried. “I didn't leave it there,” he said.
“Never mind, I've got all the details on the iPad, I'll phone right now and report it lost.” 
But I couldn't find the iPad. I'd used it last, so it was my fault.
We searched high and low. No iPad. I'd destroyed our credit card statements so we couldn't refer to those, we don’t possess a smartphone, and the computer's Internet connection was playing up.
“Put the kettle on,” said Joe. “I'll feed the chickens and we'll work out what to do.” 
Two minutes later, he burst into the kitchen. “I've found the credit card,” he said, waving it triumphantly. “It must have fallen out of my pocket in the chicken coop when I gave them that lettuce when I came back from shopping.”
“And I've found the iPad,” I said. “It was in the fridge.” 
So all was well. Such are the problems of ageing expats.