Sunday Stuff 8-6-23
Lots of Coincidental Stuff Happened in Spain (And Italy and France)
Apparently we weren’t the only ones that decided that a vacation around the Mediterranean was a great option this Summer. It appears that many more Americans than ever headed to Europe this year. And oddly we kept running into or nearly running into people from our lives and in the most unexpected ways.
Here’s just a quick run down of the completely random things that happened to us on this trip:
My nephew, Chase, fresh from his NCL cruise on the Mediterranean.
My nephew, who is in the Army and stationed in Germany, texted me the night we arrived in Barcelona to ask me what he should do when he was in Barcelona the next day. Apparently he had decided with a couple of buddies to get on an NCL Cruise Ship the previous week and he was disembarking from his ship the same morning we were going to the port to get on our Cruise. So I told him to meet us at our hotel and we would have breakfast together and put together a quick itinerary before he headed to Paris. So with no planning on either of our parts I got to see my nephew, who is stationed halfway around the world, for the second time in a year (the first being when we both wound up in Mykonos on the same day last Summer and it turned out he was eating at the same restaurant where we were, just two tables over).
While looking at Facebook, my partner noticed that his cousin and aunt from Bolivia were traveling to Madrid. His cousin had posted some photos of the plane trip and then she started posting photos around Madrid. In one photo on Facebook his cousin posted a photo of her mother sitting aside a fountain and in the background you can see our hotel room window very clearly. We walk by that fountain every time we are in Madrid because it is so close to our hotel. Unfortunately, we were always about 12 hours and half a city apart so we weren’t able to get together, but at least he had an opportunity to talk by phone and they left for Rome the afternoon we left for Barcelona. So close, but yet so far.
After walking from Santa Margarita to Portofino we settled in for lunch on a floating platform. We were content to spend the afternoon drinking Rose Wine and enjoying the prefix lunch and people watch. As we were killing time we were posting photos from the restaurant and the walk. Suddenly my partner gets a text message from an old childhood friend asking if we were in Portofino. Mind you this is someone he grew up with as a child in South America more than a few years ago. Turns out she was living in Berlin, but had moved for a few years to the hills above Santa Margarita during Covid to research her family history in Italy. Again, timing is everything and unfortunately we had to get back to the ship before she could meet us in person, but it’s just amazing that we travel half a world away and are so close to our past (and sometimes present).
Old friends of ours moved to Valencia, Spain a few years ago. We actually visited them last December, but it turns out they were staying in France in July to escape the Spanish heat and we wound up spending the day with them while we were in Toulon, France since they were staying about an hour away from the French coast at a home they rented.
We spent a few days in Sitges, Spain to relax and enjoy the coast and get out of the heat of Madrid. One morning I posted a photo of us relaxing poolside and an hour later I got a text from an old friend that I hadn’t seen in years telling me that she was in Barcelona and did I think it was worth them driving to Sitges to go to the beach. We insisted that they come down and we would get another cabana and spend the day. It’s amazing that someone you haven’t seen in 8 years can be 40 minutes from you half a world away and that is what it takes to reconnect. We had such fun catching up all day at the pool, drinking wine and lounging in the water.
Betsy, Abby, Jaime and I in Sitges Spain. I hadn’t seen Betsy in 8 years and yet it was like no time passed.
Georgie, Mike, Jaime and I enjoying the streets of Toulon, France.
I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to be open to new experiences, traditions and people. Some of the best time we’ve had over the last 9 years were a result of making connections with strangers and saying yes when they offered to host us at their home, join a trip with them or any number of experiences.
Connect with other Humans and you’ll have Good Stuff.
How About Some Hot Stuff
I’m not even going to talk about the weather because I am way over that sh!+. It’s so hot here in Dallas my plants are feeling suicidal. Let’s talk about Hot Stuff of the Saucy Variety.
I love my hot sauces and spicy foods and I want to introduce you to two of my favorites today:
Sriracha (specifically Ninja Squirrel) - I think most people are familiar now with the traditional Huy Fong Rooster Sriracha. It’s the classic, go-to, Sriracha. However the other day I was at Whole Foods and needed Sriracha and there was none of the Rooster variety, however, they had one called Ninja Squirrel ( A Whole Foods brand). Friends, I’m here to tell you that this stuff is DELISH. The Rooster (Huy Fong) hits you with acidity, sourness and fermentation and it considered the traditional Thai Sriracha.
However NINJA SQUIRREL offers up a rich, mellow, red jalapeño pepper flavor with surprising depth and just hints of fermentation and salt. I’m obsessed with this sauce. Mix 1 TB of Ninja Squirrel with 3 TBS of Mayonnaise and 1 TB of water and stir. This will make a delicious, spicy salad dressing or topping for a Poke Bowl or to mix with Tuna Fish…Yum.
Enjoying a Bottle of Ninja Squirrel Sriracha
Calabrian Chili Paste - Not the Whole Pepper and not the Dry Flakes -
Calabrian Chilis are generally made up of three varieties of pepper; skinny and pointy, which are known as sigaretta; cone-shaped, which are known as naso di cane, or dog's nose; and round, which are known as carasella, or cherry pepper. While these are not particularly unique styles of pepper their unique flavors come from the climate in the Italian region of Calabria (the toe of the boot that is Italy). The region is enclosed by three separate mountain ranges and situated between the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west and the Ionian Sea to the east. This region enjoys a moderate climate and very little rain during the growing seasons.
While there are a number of varieties of this Chili paste, I love the jar from my local Italian market, but I can’t seem to find an online resource for them. The most comparable I see are these Tutto Calabrian Brand Chili Pepper Paste. This pepper paste has such a unique flavor profile. They are hot without being overpowering, there is definitely a slight fermentation and vinegar flavor that comes through and the olive oil is the perfect suspension to transfer their flavors. I find myself eating this by toasting some rustic bread and spreading ricotta over it and topping with spoonfuls of the chili paste. I also love to toss this into pasta dishes instead of red pepper flake. I will even toss this into citrus marinades for chicken to add a spicy note. Jars of this don’t last very long. If you like spice, I highly recommend you give this a try.
This is the brand from my local market, just be sure the one you buy is from Italy and is the paste rather than whole peppers.
