So, 5th January, the night before our celebration of Los Reyes or The Three Kings. Big Man and I sit quietly contemplating the last few celebrations that lie ahead over the weekend.
A family get together at our house the next day. Yes, we´re ready for that. Saturday a lunch with 10 friends in a nearby restaurant. Oh yes, we´re definitely ready for that. No cooking, no clearing up, and hopefully a lift there and back so we can kick back and relax. And then Sunday, a meal with 10 other friends in one of their Cortijos in the Campo. Cooking a celebratory goat. It should be fun, the host is a butcher and a grower of grapes and producer of wines. A recipe for a thoroughly good lunch.
Big Man gives our butcher pal a call to finalise the arrangements for Sunday and I can tell by his face and the conversation that something is amiss. He gets off the phone and says “you know we thought we were going to Rafael´s Cortijo…” Mmm, yes I think, where is this going? “Well, it seems everyone thinks they´re coming here”.
Oh dear. Oh well. Here we go again. Big Man does a mad dash on Saturday morning for the extras we need, I crank up the oven and get baking, and it all turned out fine in the end.
No recipes today, more of those in a later post, but I thought you might like to share a little in the celebration…and our exhaustion today.
We enjoyed a lovely ham and cheese board with Spanish curado and semi curado cheeses, tetilla (do click on the link if you share my childish sense of humour), a gorgeous stinky stilton my parents bought over, and an amazing hard cheese (rather like a fresh parmesan) which is rolled in rosemary.
We ate home cured olives which the Spaniards were most impressed with. They thought Big Man had made them as they didn´t think a “guiri” or foreigner could make them taste so good…huh!
A chicory (or endive) salad with walnuts and blue cheese dressing lightened things up a bit.
Our butcher pal, Rafael, got to work in the garden doing his job. He looks fierce, but he´s really a gentle giant.
Look at the size of his hands – he couldn´t have been anything BUT a butcher!
Jointing the meat.
Working on the ribs.
Another pal took charge of frying the goat pieces in olive oil, bay leaves, chillies, peppercorns, garlic and white wine.
We tucked into a plate of Rafael´s “embutidos” – chorizos and morcilla.
Of course we ate desserts too, but more of those another day as I´m feeling full up again just thinking about what we ate.
And drank. A very messy but happy table by the end of the day.
Ok, I think I need another lie down now.
Chica Andaluza 
I am crazy with olives… They seem so beautiful. Thank you, with my love, nia
ha, by the end of this holiday season I didn’t want to go out and see anyone! props to you for throwing another party!!!!!!!!! Yikes!
Wow… the party never ends at your house. What a feast, I would have liked to have sat down and sampled every bit of this… Looks like so much fun!
Hi T, Full marks for stamina!! Great to hear the festivities ended on a high.
Regards Florence x
OMG! Well done you – that looks like a fantastic feast 😉
When I was doing the book shoot in Barcelona, we had an English guy filming it. He insisted that I took him to the Boqueria to help him buy a tetilla.
You’ve probably seen Spanish Paps and here a once popular Elizabethan pudding, with a remarkably similar look to tetilla!
I think you would have enjoyed it! Just checked out thise links – that was new to me. I need to make Paps now!
I just looked at your pictures again – I most definitely would have enjoyed it! Glad you like the paps 😉
One day…!
What wonderful food!
What a wonderful party, even if the location was a bit of a surprise! The food looks wonderful, especially the olives….oh, and all the cheeses and meats.
Oh what a fantastic day you all enjoyed! Think I would have gone into a wild flap had I realised at the 11th hour that everybody was coming to us – kudos on being so cool!
Looking forward to the desserts segment.
🙂 Mandy
Well, there was a bit of foot stamping at the start! And not just me, I have to say …. 🙂
That’s my kind of table Tanya! A well done feast…and lots of empty bottles! I love that platter; I could simply make dinner out of that alone! Everything looks fantastic; you certainly know how to party and feast well!!
Thank you – my mum always likes to sit back and look at the table at the end of a meal when it´s a complete mess…the sign of a meal enjoyed she always says!
I am not surprised that you need a wee lie down, what a fantastic spread and lovely sunny day AND a butcher.. awesome. I did not get the change of venue so i was waiting at the restaurant but the lovely waiter fellow took good care of me! Hope you saved me some cheese board though.. c
Ah, sorry no one told you about the change, but it sounds like you had fun anyway! And yes, sunshine too. All this good weather is making me nervous – it´s so freakishly warm for this time of year….
LOL they say the Mediterranean diet is the best to lose weight, but after seeing all that food, I’m starting to have my doubt 😉 I guess it’s only valid for day-to-day food and not Holidays period kind of feasts!!
I don´t think the last couple of weeks have done much to reduce our waistlines! Hey ho, soup and salad for a while I think 😉
Todo tiene una pinta buenísima!!! A mi también me encanta ir comer fuera para no tener que recoger al final… pero cuando puedes disfrutar con un grupo de amigos en casa tambien es genial. Veo que teneis un tiempo inmejorable por allí. Me alegro.
Besos,
Giovanna
Hola Giovanna – estás otra vez en España? Espero que los has pasado muy bien con la familia! Pues si, a veces es bueno comer fuera, pero tener los amigo en casa es también muy divertido. Un abrazo….
Hola!
Yes, I’m home 🙂 Trying to figure out what to post after such a long break 😉
I´m sure it will be worth the wait! Bienvenida a casa 🙂
Chica, I mentioned once before that you are brilliant at going with the flow, changing direction mid-stream with such grace and good humor, and here you’ve done it again! You deserve a big round of applause! Bravo bravo Chica! The photos were great, but I especially love the last with its smoke wafting over everything and the table telling the whole festive story! Loved this! Thank you! Enjoy your lie-down. You deserve it!
Ah, thanks so much! I have to say, I´m not a person who stresses out too easily, but when I first moved to Spain all this last minute stuff drove me to distraction. I´m more used to it now…but because I like to do things as “nicely” as possible, a little bit of notice is always helpful 🙂
Looks incredible!!! What a party! 🙂
It was, it was…slightly sore head today!
I wanted to jump right into the middle of every bit of that fabulous feast! What a fun day and amazing looking food.
Ah thank you – it was a lovely, lovely day….if somewhat tiring by the end!
Of all the wonderful photos, that last table shot might just take the cake! Looks like a fantastic time. My hands are twice that size by the way. No, not really.
You know what they say about men with big hands….big gloves!! I like that last shot, a bit blurred, a bit tired, but the end of a wonderful day!
That was quite the feast you threw together, Tanya, especially considering it was at the end of the holidays and you had house guests the entire time. You and Big Man really pulled it off! Take the rest of today off.
Thank you – I am sitting on my sofa with the pups and watching the fire…don´t even have the energy to read or watch tv today!
Did my invite get lost LOL! Looks amazing and well done 🙂
Damn….I thought I´d sent it First Class! Thanks Tandy 🙂
What a feast and a wonderful day enjoyed with friends
I have to say it all looks brilliant but the picture of the olives really made me hungry..they look so tempting
They were the best of the different ones we did – really fleshy and with a nutty flavour!
Wow! Looks like you guys had a great time! Lots of great food and company! 🙂
We needed some of your sweet treats!
Hey, is that sunshine in them there pics???????? And worse still, are you all in shirt sleeves???????? I hate you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry – but yes we are having freakishly warm weather and it´s been getting up to the mid 20s. Please don´t hate me – I´ll send some your way!
If you’ll adopt me I’ll bring Ma! 😉
You´ll have to bring the little ones too!
Deal!
What a fantastic celebration!! But where was I? 😉
Ah – you were at home feeling poorly 😦
I clicked the link:)
and what a story, a planned but unplanned party – they are the best! And the food, I’ve started to drool so I better go!
That was it – planned but unplanned! It all came together in the end and glad you clicked the link 🙂
Looks fun! If I was one of your friends, I think I would prefer eating at your house instead of a restaurant. However, it is a lot of work for you and Big Man.
I think it felt a little daunting as we were just so tired from the last few weeks. But after a couple of glasses of wine, and with good food, friends and sunshine…it was all good fun! And we´d love to have you join us for a meal if you´re ever in the neighbourhood 🙂
What a spectacular feast. Delectable foods of so many kinds, not least of all home-cured Foreigner Olives, wonderful guests, an array of dazzling bottles and dishes glinting on a groaning table. Heaven. Your butcher friend has truly astounding hands! They belie the delicacy and refined artistry with which he so clearly treated his subject matter. Glorious post!
Thank you so very much – I wish our butcher pal spoke English so that he could see the beauty of the words in your comment. My translation for him will not do them justice!
Oh yes, this looks exactly like my holidays over in Cordoba. Eat. Drink. Eat. Laugh. Drink. Eat, laugh, drink. Repeat 50 more times.
That goat looks delicious!
These Spaniards know how to party…..!
Hurray to the two of you for pulling off such a fantastic day. If we were neighbors, my husband would be with the guys cooking and I could help preparing the platters. We are totally up to last minute parties…maybe a little stressful but fun when you realize that you got it done.
Oh that would be fun – let me know if you ever want to head to southern Spain and we will make sure we have plenty of parties!
Oh my word!! My mouth is watering, just looking at those photos! You sure know how to through a party, Chica 🙂
Ooh, that was a long few days! Good fun though 😉