La versión en español está después de la versión en inglés.
BEFORE COVID-19, WE WERE OUT for dinner five nights a week. Since the pandemic we have dinner out usually no more than once a week. And that once is spent at Mesón Salvador. Monday night, San Geraldo wasn’t in the mood to cook and I wasn’t in the mood to wash dishes. So I phoned over and said we were on our way. Lolo had a table waiting for us and we were happy (as happy as anyone can be given the current state of things). We even shared a slice of cheesecake for dessert.
The Paseo, the street we live on that fronts the beach and the Mediterranean Sea (our part of the Mediterranean is called the Alboran Sea), is lined with apartment buildings. But the modern monotony is broken up by a few private homes that didn’t give up the ghost to the 1960s and ’70s tourism boom. A nearby home is a bit grand, while others are small and, to my eyes, charming. One of the smaller homes that always catches my attention currently has a huge old trumpet vine (I think it’s called brugmansia or angel’s trumpet) in full bloom.
The wind picked up yesterday evening and I saw from the terrace the tail end of a battle between two people and a beach umbrella. I grabbed my camera in time to capture the couple’s success, but not the comical start of the episode when they both held tightly to the inverted umbrella as it flapped desperately to escape.
San Geraldo added spice to the house yesterday with a new (to him) recipe for “Super Moist Spice Cake.” We had it after dinner last night and I had a big piece for dessert after breakfast. I’ve included the recipe below but click here for the website.
We both agree it would be even better with the suggested cream cheese frosting. But we decided to forego the extra fat and sugar (this week at least) — and save it for dessert at Mesón Salvador.
Anyway, San Geraldo, who had an apple for dessert after lunch today cut another piece of cake for me. He added a large dollop of apple sauce, which was excellent, although I sacrificed my first piece while trying to get a good photo of it out on the terrace. While adjusting the camera with one finger of my right hand and holding the plate in my left, the cake slid off the edge and onto the tile floor. I got a shot of the apple sauce puddle, but forgot to get a shot of the deceased cake.
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ANTES DEL COVID-19, SALIAMOS A cenar cinco noches a la semana. Desde la pandemia, normalmente no cenamos más de una vez a la semana. Y que una vez se pasa en Mesón Salvador. El lunes por la noche, San Geraldo no estaba de humor para cocinar y yo no estaba de humor para lavar platos. Así que llamé y dije que estábamos en camino. Lolo tenía una mesa esperándonos y estábamos felices (tan felices como cualquiera puede estar dado el estado actual de las cosas). Incluso compartimos un trozo de tarta de queso de postre.
El Paseo, la calle en la que vivimos que da a la playa y al Mar Mediterráneo (nuestra parte del Mediterráneo se llama Mar de Alborán), está bordeada de edificios de apartamentos. Pero la monotonía moderna se rompe con unas pocas casas particulares que no renunciaron al fantasma del boom turístico de los años sesenta y setenta. Una casa cercana es un poco grandiosa, mientras que otras son pequeñas y, a mis ojos, encantadoras. Uno de los más pequeños que siempre me llama la atención actualmente tiene una enorme enredadera de trompeta vieja en plena floración.
El viento se levantó ayer por la noche y vi desde la terraza el final de una batalla entre dos personas y una sombrilla. Agarré mi cámara a tiempo para capturar el éxito de la pareja, pero no el comienzo cómico del episodio cuando ambos se agarraron con fuerza a la sombrilla invertida mientras aleteaba desesperadamente para escapar.
San Geraldo agregó especias a la casa ayer con una nueva receta (para él) de “Pastel de Especias Súper Húmedo”. Lo comimos anoche después de la cena y yo comí una gran porción de postre después del desayuno. Es delicioso. He incluido la receta a continuación, pero haz clic aquí para acceder al sitio web.
Ambos estamos de acuerdo en que sería aún mejor con el glaseado de queso crema sugerido. Pero decidimos renunciar al exceso de grasa y azúcar (al menos esta semana) y guardarlo para el postre en Mesón Salvador.
De todos modos, San Geraldo, que hoy se tomó una manzana después del almuerzo, me cortó otro pedazo de pastel. Añadió una cucharada grande de salsa de manzana, que estuvo excelente, aunque sacrifiqué mi primer trozo mientras intentaba sacar una buena foto en la terraza. Mientras ajustaba la cámara con un dedo de mi mano derecha y sostenía el plato en mi izquierda, el pastel se deslizó por el borde y cayó al piso de baldosas. Hice una foto del charco de salsa de manzana, pero olvidé tomar una foto del pastel fallecido.
Aunque es Gerald con una “G” y Jerry con una “J”, como era de esperar, todos se equivocan.
Un surtido de croquetas.
Salmon a la plancha.
Tarta de queso con arándanos.
Mi pequeña pieza después de la cena de anoche. Super húmedo.
El pastel estaba demasiado oscuro en esta foto. Así que hice algunos ajustes…
… Y dejó caer el pastel al suelo.
Fui más cuidadoso en mi próximo intento (con un pedazo de pastel fresco).
Click it. / Haz clic aquí.
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Ha! I am first in line for once!
My father liked spice cake at his birthday. I think of him when I have any.
Urspo:
I love spice cake baked at home… as much for how it makes the house smell as for the cake.
Beach umbrellas can be quite crafty creatures when they don’t feel like working. This is why we live inland. The umbrellas can’t be trusted.
wickedhamster:
There’s a dumpster that’s usually filled with twisted umbrellas at the end of every day.
Beautiful trumpet vine at that lovely house. I’ve also heard it referred to as Devil’s Trumpet. It makes some toxic compounds that can be deadly if ingested. So try not to eat those flowers, Mitchell! Shouldn’t be a problem with all that beautiful food you have available, apparently enough to even throw some on the floor. I would have cried. Or maybe just sliced the downside off and eaten the rest anyway.
Wilma:
I just read about the toxicity of the trumpet vine while writing this post. Wow! But, you’re right, I haven’t been tempted. Crap! I never thought to slice the downside off!
Food porn!!!
We used to have trumpet flowers at our house in Miami. Very loverly.
Carlos made as delicious spice cake for company the other night and it is sooooo good. I am not normally a sweets person, but I’m making an exception.
Bob:
I’m enjoying the cakes SG has been making lately. Less sugar and fat. I almost feel like I’m eating healthy (almost).
Wonderful photos today, as always. I’m playing taps for your deceased piece of spice cake.
Debra:
It was so sad. Wilma said she would have just slice off the part that was on the floor. I wish I had thought of that. (Although SG simply cut me a bigger piece.)
I love the pictures of the angel trumpets! There beautiful, and I hear can be poisonous.
I think your smart to go to the same place to dine all the time. That’s what I have done on my whole four outings to dine out. You know then they are safe, taking precautions and good to support those you know truly appreciate your patronage.
Mistress Maddie:
I just read about the toxicity of the trumpet flowers. So glad I decided not to taste it yesterday.
I’m sure there are other safe places around town, but we’re comfortable at Mesón Salvador and we love them all. So, we’ll be back again Thursday night with friends! (Twice in one week!)
That trumpet vine is unreal! Good on a few people to hold on to their properties in spite of everything around them.
Who doesn’t love spice cake with apple sauce….
Jim:
I’ll try and get photos of the house nearby that kept a large piece of property (large enough for a pool and sprawling gardens) right on the Paseo. Large sprawling house. Beautiful. Completely surrounded by the grounds of a 10-story hotel. But it’s walled and so lush that I think it’s very private. My fantasy home … but way too big for us and looks like it needs “some” updating. That trumpet vines amazing me every year.
The all important question is, why Jerry with a J instead of a G if Gerald begins with a G? Jerry could be Jerome, or Jerimiah etc.. With a G you sort of know the name is Gerald. Oh, what a conundrum! I probably would’ve just brushed the cat hair off of the cake and ate it anyway 🙂
Deedles:
I’m so glad you asked that. I was going to tell the story, but it took too much space as a caption. When Jerry was in his teens, he asked his mother why she spelled Jerry with a J and not a G. She said: “Well, Gerry with a G is a girl’s name.”
As for the cake, there would have been cat hair, cat paws, bug guts, and who knows what else. Blech. But I DID miss an opportunity. Wilma said she would have simple slice off the surface that was on the floor.
I have never seen trumpet flowers before; pretty.
and SPICE CAKE; mos def needs da cream cheese frosting though.
5 second rule for floor droppings; I would have eaten the dropped cake.
anne marie:
Oh, yeah, the spice cake would be amazing with cream cheese. I’m so glad we don’t have any in the house. I’m not a fan of the 5-second rule, but SG is and even he wouldn’t observe that rule when it falls on the terrace floor — or 6 days after Isabel last cleaned!
Happy to read your news today, we get such click and bait news in Canada that you simply can’t trust what you are being told. The pandemic is bad everywhere but as I said to my doctor yesterday, I know no one who has been sick, did she? No, no one, nonetheless you have to be careful and follow guidelines, which we do. I still don’t quite understand how you can eat so much cake every day and not look like the Michelin man, must be Jenny Craig genes.
larrymuffin:
We don’t know anyone personally in Fuengirola who has had covid. But we do know plenty of people (here in Spain and in the US) who have. Thankfully, all are well and didn’t have serious symptoms.
I avoid the Michelin Man look by lots of activity, exercise, (and miles and miles of walking)… plus genetics. This pandemic has slowed things down a bit and I have for the first time in my life put on a little bit of weight that I’m not happy about… but I’m getting rid of it quickly (or at least I was)!
Dropped a piece of cake, oh the humanity! Looks good. The perfect breakfast. The last time I saw Trumpet Flowers was in Union Square in San Francisco.
David:
I was heartbroken when I dropped that cake. But SG made a huge pan.
Spice cake is very good with caramel frosting, but when a cake is super moist, it doesn’t really need sugar on top of it. How nice to go to a restaurant and find a sign that says you’re loved. At my pre-COVID restaurants, I loved going in and being greeted with hugs.
Love,
Janie
Janie:
Oh, SG would be in heaven with caramel sauce on that spice cake. One of his favourite things. It’s also good when dipping apples! I really miss the hugs at Mesón Salvador. We can’t resist every so often. Masked. Facing opposite directions. Our heads apart. Mostly it’s just elbow knocks.
Hugging is healthy.
Janie:
And I really miss it. So grateful for SG!
I have a friend named Geraldo who goes by Jerry (or Gerry) and I have always wrestled with how to spell it! I think I switch back and forth, which probably confuses him. LOL
That’s an amazing Brugmansia. So many flowers!
Steve:
The brugmansia gets more impressive every year. I wonder if your friend is also a Jerry. Apparently it was thought Jerry with a G (Gerry) was the feminine version!
Everything you eat makes me DROOL! You live in a gastronomic paradise, Mitchell!
The cake on the floor might have brought a tear to my eye. 🙂
I love the Angel Trumpet flowers. Sometimes people grow them around here. I think they might be poisonous…do you know if that’s true?
Jennifer:
Eating IS a pleasant experience here. The cake on the floor brought a tear to MY eye… and then I laughed. While writing this post, I looked up brugmansia and learned that just about every part of it is toxic with the leaves and seeds being the worst — seriously so, hallucinations, paralysis, delirium, heart attacks…