I've been mainly absent from the blog for several weeks, and wanted to try and get back into the swing of posting on a semi-regular basis.
It's certainly not from lack of activity that I haven't posted; rather, it's more the opposite. Above all it's been my focus on my writing that has caused me to put the blog on the backseat--it may not seem so, but writing some of these posts actually takes up a lot of time, and on days where I am not as productive as I would have liked, I often feel guilty about having spent time blogging earlier. As for the writing, it's going fairly well: I'm working on my first feature-length screenplay, which is coming along quite nicely and should be finished in first draft form before Christmas.
Other than that, Emily and I have been a bit out and about as of late. I didn't mention it at all in my blog last month, but we spent a few days in Lisbon, Portugal, which is a really lovely city. We initially made the plans to go see Arcade Fire perform on a concert there (I'm a big fan of theirs, and love the new album), and decided to turn it into a three-day opportunity to see a new city, since I had heard lovely things about Lisbon. Unfortunately the concert was canceled due to a NATO meeting being held in the city that weekend, but the city was lovely anyway, and the trip well worth it. And we just got back last night from spending a week in Vigo with some cousins; Vigo is the biggest city in Galicia (with a population a bit bigger than Buffalo), and though it's still only small-to-medium size in terms of population and area, it feels much more metropolitan to me (possibly because you've got many of Galicia's "best and brightest" living condensed in a small space). The week was a treat, it was lovely to be with family (as always), but particularly nice to spend some time in a more-bustling area than Raxo (especially during the dreary winter time here), and enjoy the things only a city can offer (namely, sushi).
Not much else is new since I was blogging more frequently. We have a tiny little Christmas tree, which helps normalize the holiday season, even while the rest feels nothing at all like the holiday season I have come to know (such as being away from primary family, not being inundated with "Black Friday"/holiday shopping insanity, and the weather [ohh, the weather, how I love thee...I could definitely get used to mid-December lunches on the balcony, overlooking the ocean, when it's 70 degrees and sunny]).
Well anyway, I'll try to be more active from now on, including on some details regarding the trips I mentioned, including photos and such, in the future. Also, if you're a reader, leave a comment some time, it's nice to hear back from everyone.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Thanksgiving Dinner
Thanksgiving definitely has a different vibe in Spain.
First of all, nobody knows what Thanksgiving is. It's a distinctly "New World" holiday, and once the Protestants fled Europe I think most of the folks over here kind of checked out on their status (this was, after all, some time before Facebook). Everything is open, its a workday, and people are going about their business with no excitement over 4-day weekends or special meals or anything.
Secondly, there's the weather. Not that I'm complaining (whatsoever), but it just doesn't feel quite like Thanksgiving when this is the morning view out your window. It touched upper-60s yesterday, with full sun, and we ate lunch with the balcony door open. I will take this over New York Thanksgiving weather for the rest of my life, but like I said, totally different vibe.
Then, there is the food. I'm not naive enough to believe that Thanksgiving dinner in most households is anything like what the Pilgrims ate hundreds of years ago (whenever you take stuffing out of a box something is amiss), but at its heart the meal that is the center of the holiday remains a celebration of (generally) American indigenous, seasonal, and homemade food. In that way, it's a little tricky planning the meal when you are living in a different continent, within a country with a different climate and in a part of which where imported and/or out-of-season foods are rare, hard to find, and often very expensive. Generally, though, I'm very pleased and excited about the meal we are expecting to eat today.
First and most important for Thanksgiving dinner, there is the turkey: turkey is rare in Spain (particularly whole turkeys), but fortunately we were able to specially order one from the local supermarket, which came fresh yesterday--and I mean FRESH. It still had some stray feathers all around the feet! The turkeys here (like everything in Spain) are smaller than the ones in the United States (ours was just over 6 kilos, around 13.5 pounds), and a bit more expensive (ours was somewhere around $3.69 per kilo, more or less $1.67 per pound...if memory serves, that's about twice what the standard bird costs back home). Even at its small size, it still barely fit into our tiny oven. I'm hoping the cooking conditions are suitable for a bird this size, because I have very high hopes for this turkey: judging by how fresh it appears to be, it's small (read: normal & healthy) size, and it's (for Spain's standards) very high cost, I'm thinking this is a free-range, organic bird that probably bears a lot of similarities to so-called "heritage turkeys" that go for around $150 in the States. At least, that's what I'm convincing myself.
For sides, we'll be preparing mashed potatoes, broccoli au gratin, homemade chorizo stuffing, and corn. Cranberry and such are harder to find, but since neither Emily nor I are big fans, we didn't search very hard and decided to leave it off the menu. For my part, I most miss in-season apple cider.
For desserts we've prepared homemade macaroons with chocolate ganache, and Emily's homemade apple pie a la mode.
First of all, nobody knows what Thanksgiving is. It's a distinctly "New World" holiday, and once the Protestants fled Europe I think most of the folks over here kind of checked out on their status (this was, after all, some time before Facebook). Everything is open, its a workday, and people are going about their business with no excitement over 4-day weekends or special meals or anything.
Secondly, there's the weather. Not that I'm complaining (whatsoever), but it just doesn't feel quite like Thanksgiving when this is the morning view out your window. It touched upper-60s yesterday, with full sun, and we ate lunch with the balcony door open. I will take this over New York Thanksgiving weather for the rest of my life, but like I said, totally different vibe.
Then, there is the food. I'm not naive enough to believe that Thanksgiving dinner in most households is anything like what the Pilgrims ate hundreds of years ago (whenever you take stuffing out of a box something is amiss), but at its heart the meal that is the center of the holiday remains a celebration of (generally) American indigenous, seasonal, and homemade food. In that way, it's a little tricky planning the meal when you are living in a different continent, within a country with a different climate and in a part of which where imported and/or out-of-season foods are rare, hard to find, and often very expensive. Generally, though, I'm very pleased and excited about the meal we are expecting to eat today.
First and most important for Thanksgiving dinner, there is the turkey: turkey is rare in Spain (particularly whole turkeys), but fortunately we were able to specially order one from the local supermarket, which came fresh yesterday--and I mean FRESH. It still had some stray feathers all around the feet! The turkeys here (like everything in Spain) are smaller than the ones in the United States (ours was just over 6 kilos, around 13.5 pounds), and a bit more expensive (ours was somewhere around $3.69 per kilo, more or less $1.67 per pound...if memory serves, that's about twice what the standard bird costs back home). Even at its small size, it still barely fit into our tiny oven. I'm hoping the cooking conditions are suitable for a bird this size, because I have very high hopes for this turkey: judging by how fresh it appears to be, it's small (read: normal & healthy) size, and it's (for Spain's standards) very high cost, I'm thinking this is a free-range, organic bird that probably bears a lot of similarities to so-called "heritage turkeys" that go for around $150 in the States. At least, that's what I'm convincing myself.For sides, we'll be preparing mashed potatoes, broccoli au gratin, homemade chorizo stuffing, and corn. Cranberry and such are harder to find, but since neither Emily nor I are big fans, we didn't search very hard and decided to leave it off the menu. For my part, I most miss in-season apple cider.
For desserts we've prepared homemade macaroons with chocolate ganache, and Emily's homemade apple pie a la mode.
Giving Thanks
It's been a little while since I posted, so I thought Thanksgiving would be a nice occasion to get back on here.
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love the simple perfection of (tons of) great food, family, and remembering the things you are thankful for. Even though this year I am abroad for this most-American of holidays, Emily and I are very happy to still be able to celebrate Thanksgiving this year.
Emily and I are happy to welcome some new family to celebrate Thanksgiving with us: Chelo, Gonzalo, Amelia, Manolo, and Margarita will all be coming to join us. It will be their first Thanksgiving--they're a little unfamiliar with the idea, but it didn't take much explanation to get them excited for it. More to come on the dinner, with pictures and all, after it's done.
For my part, I have a lot to be thankful for this year. For starters, it is another year of health and general well-being for my family; I am tremendously blessed to have this time in Spain with my incredible wife; and absolutely fortunate to have a net of family to care about us here while we are away from the rest. Lastly, it's still a few days before application deadlines, so no schools have rejected me yet, haha.
I hope you and yours all have a tremendous Thanksgiving today. Remember to consider the things that you are thankful for--most us are luckier than we ever really stop to realize.
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love the simple perfection of (tons of) great food, family, and remembering the things you are thankful for. Even though this year I am abroad for this most-American of holidays, Emily and I are very happy to still be able to celebrate Thanksgiving this year.
Emily and I are happy to welcome some new family to celebrate Thanksgiving with us: Chelo, Gonzalo, Amelia, Manolo, and Margarita will all be coming to join us. It will be their first Thanksgiving--they're a little unfamiliar with the idea, but it didn't take much explanation to get them excited for it. More to come on the dinner, with pictures and all, after it's done.
For my part, I have a lot to be thankful for this year. For starters, it is another year of health and general well-being for my family; I am tremendously blessed to have this time in Spain with my incredible wife; and absolutely fortunate to have a net of family to care about us here while we are away from the rest. Lastly, it's still a few days before application deadlines, so no schools have rejected me yet, haha.
I hope you and yours all have a tremendous Thanksgiving today. Remember to consider the things that you are thankful for--most us are luckier than we ever really stop to realize.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Call It, Cerdo (Part 3)
All the videos from the slaughtering process are now up, all in full HD. ***Graphic Images***
The Execution of Chirrichin
Hair Removal, Part 1
Hair Removal, Part 2
Washing & Scrubbing
Removing Chirricin's Manhood
Emily "Tiene un poco de miedo"
"Este puede comer un Arabe."
The Execution of Chirrichin
Hair Removal, Part 1
Hair Removal, Part 2
Washing & Scrubbing
Removing Chirricin's Manhood
Emily "Tiene un poco de miedo"
"Este puede comer un Arabe."
Friday, November 5, 2010
Call It, Cerdo (Part 2)
Call it, Cerdo (Part 1)
I really dislike the food industry in the United States, pretty much from top--the White House decides what gets planted every year on a huge portion of American farmland, and offers subsidies to encourage/discourage the growth of certain crops on the rest of America's land--to the bottom (the way animals are raised, fed, killed, packaged, et cetera). For this reason Emily and I have for a few years now been very invested in the food we eat: where we get it from, who is producing it (and how), and how we cook it. We are big advocates of farmers' markets, and were proud member-owners of the Lexington Co-op in Buffalo, and also jumped at the opportunity to get any of Larry's (Emily's father) venison to use in lieu of beef. Such habits have always made us feel healthier and closer to the food we eat; also, it happens to taste a whole lot better.
One of the things I really love about the lifestyle in Spain is that people as a whole have a much more intimate relationship with the food they eat. Emily has written about this more extensively on her blog, but suffice it to say it's something we are both very enthusiastic about. Today we witnessed the slaughtering of Chelo & Gonzalo's pig (cerdo), Chirrichin. I've never watched an animal get butchered in person before, so I relished the opportunity to have a more intimate experience with the food that I will be eating. I'll post several pictures and links to videos below...***WARNING - Many of these images are graphic*** If you are squeamish and/or offended by images of conventional, humane animal butchery, you should probably turn away (I would recommend checking out Disney's website, perhaps, or else here is a link to the classic meat industry propaganda film from The Simpsons--the joke from The Simpsons really kills me, because it exposes the hypocrisy of people who love to eat meat, but who are upset by the reality of how it all arrives so neatly packaged at the supermarket, opting instead to pretend it's something other than dead animal flesh [I'm looking at you, Mom]).
Chelo and Gonzalo used to slaughter the pig themselves, but it was recently made illegal to slaughter and bleed it with a knife, so they pay a friend with a cattle gun 40 Euro (about $55) to come and kill and dress it (remove the innards). They also had a few neighbors come by and help, whose children were towed along for good measure; the group atmosphere really added a kind of charmed sentiment to it in my eyes, taking the grotesquerie out of it and really normalizing the idea that, hey, I'm going to eat this food so I ought to have a hand in it's life & death.
It's a pretty simple process: first, the cattle gun shoots a small bullet (not a piston-action bolt as in "No Country For Old Men") into the pig's brain, then, while the pig is stunned and seizing, the slaughterer slits the carotid artery to bleed it out; then the hair is removed, it is dressed, and hung until tomorrow, at which point it is properly butchered (I forgot to ask why they hang it for a day, but I will be sure to ask when I return tomorrow for the butchering).
Fernando, the slaughterer, suiting up for the job.
Gonzalo happily showing off the cattle gun (hence the inevitable "No Country For Old Men" references...sorry, couldn't help myself)
Immediately post death
Using a makeshift flamethrower to singe all the hair off the pig's body. I had never seen or heard of this step, but it's quite a sensory overload: loud, hot, bright, and produces an interesting burnt hair/skin smell.
Group spectator shot. Emily is not sure how she feels about the flamethrower...
Then the pig is placed on the table, washed, and scrubbed clean of burns/charring.
Initial incision.
One of the things I really love about the lifestyle in Spain is that people as a whole have a much more intimate relationship with the food they eat. Emily has written about this more extensively on her blog, but suffice it to say it's something we are both very enthusiastic about. Today we witnessed the slaughtering of Chelo & Gonzalo's pig (cerdo), Chirrichin. I've never watched an animal get butchered in person before, so I relished the opportunity to have a more intimate experience with the food that I will be eating. I'll post several pictures and links to videos below...***WARNING - Many of these images are graphic*** If you are squeamish and/or offended by images of conventional, humane animal butchery, you should probably turn away (I would recommend checking out Disney's website, perhaps, or else here is a link to the classic meat industry propaganda film from The Simpsons--the joke from The Simpsons really kills me, because it exposes the hypocrisy of people who love to eat meat, but who are upset by the reality of how it all arrives so neatly packaged at the supermarket, opting instead to pretend it's something other than dead animal flesh [I'm looking at you, Mom]).
Chelo and Gonzalo used to slaughter the pig themselves, but it was recently made illegal to slaughter and bleed it with a knife, so they pay a friend with a cattle gun 40 Euro (about $55) to come and kill and dress it (remove the innards). They also had a few neighbors come by and help, whose children were towed along for good measure; the group atmosphere really added a kind of charmed sentiment to it in my eyes, taking the grotesquerie out of it and really normalizing the idea that, hey, I'm going to eat this food so I ought to have a hand in it's life & death.
It's a pretty simple process: first, the cattle gun shoots a small bullet (not a piston-action bolt as in "No Country For Old Men") into the pig's brain, then, while the pig is stunned and seizing, the slaughterer slits the carotid artery to bleed it out; then the hair is removed, it is dressed, and hung until tomorrow, at which point it is properly butchered (I forgot to ask why they hang it for a day, but I will be sure to ask when I return tomorrow for the butchering).
Kill the Pig
Chirrichin, Gonzalo and Chelo's pig, is going down today..."No Country For Old Men" style.
I'm off to watch it. Report later.
I'm off to watch it. Report later.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)