September 12, 2018

Leche Merengada Granita —Granizado de Leche Merengada

Natacha Sanz Caballero Desserts and Sweets, Drinks Alcocebre, Alcossebre, granizado, helado, ice cream, leche merengada, summer

It has been raining for a few days, the temperatures have dropped, and I feel under the weather, so what better time to post a recipe for ice cream than now, ha ha! When I was preparing this recipe for the blog, a few days ago, the temperatures were in the 90’s Fahrenheit, 30’s Celsius. The landscape workers that were trimming our bushes and pulling out all my lavender (sniff) had to leave early because the heat was unbearable. I was happily making my husband’s favorite ice cream, in granita form, leche merengada (loosely translated to whipped cinnamon milk granita), and we still managed to enjoy it during those high temperatures.

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August 16, 2017

Sangría, a Harvest, and a Summer Break

Natacha Sanz Caballero Drinks fruit, harvest, red wine, sangría, Spanish beverage, summer

You’ve probably had sangría before, maybe even one of the modern versions of it. Sangría is considered Spain’s un-official national beverage. Since it can be made ahead of time, it’s usually served when entertaining. Traditional sangría in Spain includes red wine, soda, some hard liquor, citrus and other fruit, usually stonefruit like peaches, in season in the summer, when sangría is most consumed.

In the last few years I’ve been seeing all sorts of drinks labelled “sangría” that may include alcohol or not, and different fruits not seen in a traditional Spanish sangría. I wouldn’t say those mixes are not sangría. Rather, what I like to think, is that the word sangría has become a generalized term for any drink that includes chunks of fruit —much like paella, which nowadays (and only outside of Spain), many people refer to as any rice dish cooked in a shallow pan and that includes a lot of fish and shellfish. Those dishes, or rather, their names, have become commonplace.

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June 3, 2017

Lavender Lemonade, and the Vegetable Garden

Natacha Sanz Caballero Drinks citrus, huerto, lavanda, lavender, lemonade, limonada, summer, summer drink, vegetable garden

With the higher temperatures, which seem to have come now to stay, lemonade is my drink of choice. I like to make mine, because I can control the amount of sugar I add. And I particularly like lavender lemonade, because lavender is one of my favorite aromas, and I like lemon on just about everything, so putting the two together seems very logical to me. The lavender comes from my garden; the lemons —I wish.

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September 25, 2016

Blanco y Negro, Espresso Granita with Sweet Cream Ice Cream

Natacha Sanz Caballero Desserts and Sweets, Drinks blanco y negro, café, coffee, coffee granita, granita, granizado, granizado de café, helado, ice cream, summer

I don’t know about you, but I am finding it hard to focus on autumn recipes, fall products and produce. Today I did my first trip to the pumpkin farm. It was supposed to be my only trip to the pumpkin farm this season, but as it turned out, today was my first of at least two. See, the farm was still closed to the public! I should have been surprised, (more…)

March 17, 2016

Thick Hot Chocolate for “Las Fallas”, Valencia’s Festival

Natacha Sanz Caballero Desserts and Sweets, Drinks, Events & Travel chocolaste con churros, chocolate, Fallas, hot chocolate, hot drink, Las Fallas Festival, thick hot chocolate, Valencia

This is a very special week in my home city of Valencia, Spain, where every March, Spring and Fallas seem to arrive together. From March 12 to March 19, the city stops its daily business to celebrate this festival. In a ceremony called la plantà, the setting, 700 colorful statues are mounted throughout the city, in every square and street crossing. Fallas is the name of the festival, but it’s also the name of these statues, real works of art, built each year for the occasion. There are 368 children’s fallas and 370 full-scale fallas. These can stand as tall as 90 feet, and they portray popular characters, like celebrities and politicians. The children’s fallas represent cartoon characters. With the unusual political situation that Spain is living at present, many fallas this year portray our most popular politicians, in very humorous situations. Thick hot chocolate for La Fallas is the drink of choice, particularly when accompanying it with buñuelos, sweet fritters (click here for the recipe for apple fritters).

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September 4, 2015

Andalusian Gazpacho

Natacha Sanz Caballero Soups and Stews, Drinks Andalusian gazpacho, cold soup, Gazpacho, green pepper, soup, tomatoes

I find it hard to define gazpacho. In general, you’d see it classified as a cold soup —like what one usually eats with a spoon, served in a bowl or in a soup plate. Yet, that’s not how I remember my mom having gazpacho in the summers of my youth. And she should know, because (more…)