Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Tasty Tuesday: Casa Julio

a.k.a. I Eat Where U2 Eats
a.k.a. If It's Good Enough for Bono, It's Good Enough for Me

What happens when three girls are left with enough money to feed themselves for a week and are told to enjoy “a nice dinner”? They go out for drinks, of course!

Monday, October 25, 2010

November's Coming!

Hi guys!

As October slowly draws to an end, guess what I'm preparing for?  No, not Halloween - every time I come to live in a European country I'm told drily that Halloween, my favourite holiday, is "a stupid American thing."

Boo-urns.

Luckily, I had the opportunity to dress up this month anyway for a friend's farewell party.  She moved to Germany for love, to be with her long-term squeeze, since she was able to find a job in his city and is now ready to settle down, after five years. 

So to say goodbye to her, we had a Germany-themed party at a (sort of) German restaurant here in Madrid, and guess what I went as?

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Madrid Mini-Giveaway!!!

*snap!* You don't  KNOOOW ME! 
(That's my favourite line from trashy reality shows as well as garbage talk shows.)

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Tasty Tuesday: Mercado de San Miguel

This is a MUST GO in Madrid. Must! It’s the kind of place that I’ve been bringing all my visitors to, because it’s just that delightful. I’m talking about, of course, the Mercado de San Miguel.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Stinky McGermbody

The following is a work of fiction. Any similarities with real people is pure coincidence. And if you read this entire post you will probably think that I am very angry and/or a terribly mean-spirited person. You'd be right on both counts.

He is the annoying kid that repulsed and irritated everyone in the class - all grown up and pushing 30. A steady stench of dirty, wet towels and fish guts emanate from him...


Thursday, October 14, 2010

Job Search Advice from A Gatekeeper

I receive a ton of résumés every day at work because I manage the general inquiries e-mail at my company, and you wouldn't believe the kind of tonterías I witness on a daily basis. And as you all know, contrary to only child stereotypes, I firmly believe that sharing is caring, so I thought I'd pass on some career advice to all of you, from the position of the first person you have to get past to even nudge a toe in the door of a coveted position.

Some of these may seem totally obvious, but from experience I can tell that they may not be, so here goes:

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Tasty Tuesday: Re-Vamped Amatriciana


*Author's note: So sorry this is late!  Was having trouble with the pic uploader yesterday, and a recipe post just isn't the same without pictures!

This and authentic carbonara are probably the biggest gifts my two Italian former-roommates have given me, living with them.

One night, after I came home from work, I saw that they were in the kitchen making something. I always want to know what people are eating - especially them, because I love Italian food. So I asked and the one cooking told me she was making arrabbiata, while the one assisting told me they were making amatriciana. They then engaged in a five minute debate in Italian, volume on full blast with arms waving and gestures flailing, to dispute what kind of sauce they were actually cooking...

Well, the assistant won, because after that she turned to me and told me decisively in her lovely, lilting English, "Thees eez pasta all'amatriciana."

I did a quick search on Google and saw why she won. Arrabbiata is spicy tomato sauce, and amatriciana is spicy tomato sauce with bacon, cheese and sometimes onions; sitting there on our counter were diced onions, matchstick jamón and their prized brick of Parmegiano-Reggiano, which they brought from home.

They offered me some, probably out of politeness, and I declined, also out of politeness. But they must have caught the enticed gleam in my eye because they insisted - "Please, Teena, have some of our food" - so I delightedly and gratefully accepted.

It was love at first bite, and I just had to learn how to make it. They gave me some general guidelines, then I tweaked it according to my Asian-North-American tastes, and the following dish was born. I kind of like it more than the original, actually, and I hope it works out well for you too! :D

Friday, October 8, 2010

My ass. It looks amazing.

And I never thought I'd ever say that because, actually, I have a bit of a complex about that part of my anatomy. I'm enormously insecure about it. Longtime readers might remember that I wrote a little jig about it a couple years ago, entitled "If I only had an ass"

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Tasty Tuesday: Terra Mundi

I am that girl. I had a meltdown and threw a major hissy and just made a huge drama out of not having my needs met. But in my defense, it was a pretty basic need (in the developed world) - my internet wasn't working. My laptop just couldn't pick up the signal for my router, which is situated in my landlady/neighbour's apartment, while all of my roommates were blissfully connected.

I even cried (three times on the third day without connection). I was envisaging the rest of my stay here in Spain sans internet - how absolutely pathetic and sad I'd be - in between desperate gulps of air and sobs of "I don't expect to live in a mansion or any kind of luxurious setting! I just wanted my basic needs covered!!! But I had no hot water and no working toilet in France and now I have no internet in Spain! Why do things like this keep happening when I come live across the pond?!"

And so on.

So that was silly of me. But you're not here to judge me, are you? Of course you're not. Because it's Tuesday and that means I'm going to tell you about something yummy to eat!

Friday, October 1, 2010

I ♥ Fútbolistas

Sorry for disappearing yesterday, guys! I hope all three of you who actually read my blog weren't too traumatized. :P

Last night, my laptop was being a diva and just refused to receive the signal for our router, while all my other roommates were using the internet just fine. Let's hope it'll co-operate from now on, or else I might lose the will to live. I had no hot water in France and now in Spain I have a faulty internet connection, paired with a crappy computer. Yay.

But enough whining from me now - let's focus on happier thoughts. Like Christmas!

I've decided that for Christmas I want a harem full of fútbolistas.

Okay, okay, that's a little greedy...I guess I'll settle for just one. But which one?