Fried calamari pieces with anchovy stuffed olives

Seeing as this is something of a food blog, I thought it about time to write something about the food in Spain. Tapas is a great invention of the Spanish and I think it's right up there with discovering fire or the wheel and stuff. I mean, you go into a bar for a drink and get full-on food. Five drinks and you don't need supper anymore. You are also paralytic, but hey, what I don't do for this blog.

It's 25°C on January 6th, 2013, and I'm sitting here in Maro southern Spain unable to believe my luck. The sky is the most amazing blue and we've just gotten back from a walk to the beach where I sat in my bra in the sunshine. There were some rudey nudeys on the beach, both male and female, but I opted to keep my big sports bra on, thank you very much.

Merry Christmas everyone! Big hugs and kisses to all of you and may all your wishes come true in 2013 (uness they involve George Clooney then none of them will come true as he's mine).

The favourable terroir of the Nuy Valley (South Africa), with its lime rich soil and
Mediterranean climate, is especially suited to the production of premium
quality olives and it is here that you’ll find the international award-
winning Willow Creek Olive Estate. True to their reputation as producers of
excellent olive oils and leaders in olive oil packaging, Willow Creek this
week launched two new products that are sure to please consumers no end.

Squeeze Me

My mother recently had her 65th birthday and so I happily flew over to England to spend it with her and my Dad. They are in the deevine Victoria Nursing Home and the chef made a wonderful birthday cake for her, with candles and the whole 9 yards. Then my aunty Wendles and my uncle Peter organized a wheelchair accepting van and we took them down to the Hove beachfront for a walk/push and a meal.

Exchange the hustle and bustle of city life for the farm-friendly atmosphere
of the Cape Dairy Experience, taking place from 2-3 November at Sandringham
(next to the N1, halfway between Cape Town and Paarl). Experience the
complete journey of milk: meet the 2012 Absa Dairy Queen (SA's best bred
cow), cook with dairy, taste a variety of dairy-related products and enjoy
the thrill of a real agricultural show where more than 500 world class
animals brag about their breeding.

The Marciac Jazz Festival 2012 started 3 days ago and I haven’t even gotten round to posting about last years event… What can I say, I have on occasion been overtaken by snails. So without further snail-poo, let me tell you about a wonderful event that takes place in the middle of nowhere, but which attracts large crowds and big name artists.

“Home computers are the perfect thing for women who don’t feel that Men provide them with enough frustration.” Unknown*.
How do I get to combining computers, defrosters AND dinner you may quite rightly ask. This is actually quite new to me to, and I am thinking of patenting it, because it is such a damn clever idea. My well-worn-but-still-working computer, unlike my brand-new-one-that-wants-Euro379-to-continue-to-do-what-it-should-have-been-doing-all-along computer, overheats. It not only overheats, it gives your legs third degree burns before crashing and losing everything you’ve been working on, including my sanity.

Do YOU know the answer to this very poignant question? What the hell is she talking about being another. Allow me to give a loooong explanation. This past December I had the pleasure of meeting the wonderful Tony, my mate Sally's brother, and of having a super supper cooked by him. He was on holiday from Oz – you've got to really love your Sis to leave 35°C for 5°C – and very kindly cooked a lovely meal in a foreign kitchen where you a) can't find things, b)your sister washes things as soon as you put them down (so what if it was the cat food fork..), etc, etc. And just for added pressure, there's a world famous blogger invited. That's me by the way...

I took this photo on one of my beach walks in January and arrived back home a few days later to this.

I was only gone 5 weeks and look what you people have done to the weather! Next year I'm not coming back before spring I tell you. We also arrived back to no water, no telephone and no internet. Might I mention that is ever so slightly displeasing to my tan.