Thanks Maribel!
June 28, 2025
I feel all Sunset Magazine-y.
Picture this: smiling people, casually standing around a kitchen island, drinking cocktails and wine and laughing, eating gorgeous looking appetizers, while the host puts the final touches on dinner.. music playing (though not too loudly, in deference to Jim who believes people need to be able to hear one another… lol).
Backstory: tonight it was our turn to host what is becoming a nice dinner eightsome — Carrie & Marc, Joe & Janet, Pam & Bill and Jim & me. Since Jim and I had just returned from Spain, France and Portugal, we decided to cook some somethings from said countries. As we’d had such a fantastic culinary experience at the Terra Hotel in Bonansa, Spain, courtesy of proprietor and chef extraordinaire Maribel, we decided to replicate (or attempt to replicate) a couple of her dishes. We built a menu around her very picture-worthy cold squash soup and an equally picture-worthy zucchini carpaccio. I should say that when I contacted Alejandro and Maribel, Maribel was delighted to share the approximate ingredients of both of these dishes, but she generally cooks by feel and couldn’t provide the exact quantities. So we improvised as best we could! I’d taken photos when in Bonansa and, amazingly, we got very close to her presentation on both.
Rounding out the menu:
Cocktails: Joe was the cocktail meister and brought ingredients for three different concoctions reminiscent of the regions of travel… I can’t even begin to describe, but I loved the two I had!
Appetizers: I put out some Mediterranean cheeses and olives, and Carrie brought a traditional Spanish shrimp tapa. Incredible.
Soup course: Jim made Maribel’s chilled butternut squash soup w/ roasted pepitas, an edible flower, and a corn cracker.
Dinner: I made a Mediterranean-style baked salmon with tomatoes, olives, red onions, capers, lemon, garlic, herbs (it was an impressive slab-o-salmon surrounded by vibrant color) and smashed roasted tiny red and yellow potatoes. And this is where we served the zucchini carpaccio.
Dessert: Jim’s cookies (two kinds), garden strawberries, and Pam’s amazing fruit crisp w/ ice cream and sorbet.
I, myself, did not take photos during the evening.. but Pam did.. so here are some shots of tonight’s dinner party (I guess I can call it by its fancy name).
[Fun fact: Pam was actually the food editor for Sunset Magazine sometime in the 80s.]
No pic of the salmon or potatoes, but here are the ingredients I prepped earlier in the day
Joe bartending…
My favorite of my two cocktails used these ingredients:
Jim and me assembling the cold soup…
Our finished version next to Maribel’s…
Here’s a side by side of our zucchini and Maribel’s:
Not bad, huh?
And here we all are:
The one picture I took tonight…
National politics did not come up once. Now that’s a nice evening.
Day #1: Sunday AND Monday, a Travel Day + Madrid
May 26, 2025
Let’s get this party started.
Sunrise over the farm fields on our way to the airport:
The day started yesterday (it’s still going.. as of this writing, it’s Monday evening, 6:00pm on the 26th, in Madrid.) Let’s see, we got up at 5:00am Sunday in California, and as of this moment, it’s 9:00am in California on Monday… that would be 28 hours. No sleep yet. A bit weary. Going to go to bed early and hopefully wake tomorrow morning with the roosters, raring to go, on Europe time. We’ll see.
So I get to report on all day Sunday and all day Monday.. given a 9 hour time shift.
A bit of detail for the travel log:
Uber picked us up at 6 ish. We flew to Dulles (4.75 hours), then flew to Madrid (7.25 hours), with some airport time in there. Landed at 8:00am got through passport check and grabbed a taxi quickly, and we were to our hotel by 9:00am Madrid time. Bottom line: Walked out of door in Davis, and walked into the hotel in Madrid: 18 hours. Changed clothes and brushed my teeth in a lobby bathroom, checked our bags and headed out about 9:30. Wuhoo, Spain on a gorgeous May morning!
On Spanish soil:
Just a bit before 8:00 am…
The Hotel Europa is on the Plaza Puerta del Sol.. central as can be.
We looked around the Puerta del Sol, then headed southish to the famed Plaza Mayor. We were in search of a cafe or tea spot and found a LOVELY place: The Teaspots.. on Calle de Postas, a block from the Plaza Mayor. Ordered and sat down around 10:00 and sat for a solid hour.. tea, iced latte, puzzles, email, texts.. shady, cool on a warm day. Heaven.
We then returned to Plaza Mayor to get a better look (read about its history and saw the 10 gates…
Outside the gates.. some bendy buildings (or is it an illusion?):
… then to the Mercado de San Miguel (fantastic)…
… then to the Plaza de la Villa (cool!)
There were numerous groups of folks, including some school kiddos:
and finally to the Plaza de la Armeria where the Palacio Real de Madrid. Lotsa folks, great view, mid 80s.
So enjoy the vibe of a Monday morning in Madrid.. before the crowds ramp up.. places haven’t all opened yet, it’s fresh and so .. European.
I like this woman.. getting her shop ready.. scraping gunk off her gate, in her heels:
This is the bear under the Strawberry tree.. unclear on its significance, but it’s a landmark in the Puerto del Sol plaza..
Returned to the Hotel Europa at 12:30 and our room was ready. Our bags were already up there and we were escorted up. Great room with a view of the Puerto del Sol (paid extra for a room overlooking the plaza). Room is nice, balcony is nice. Air con, waters, plenty of wall outlets to charge (had a lot to figure out there). Check this out.. so sweet:
Chilled for a bit over an hour, then took off for a late lunch. I’d made a reservation at El Social, a place to the northeast of Hotel Europa.
A short walk and more nice streetscapes:
And El Social..
…a sweet, lovely service, chill, charming and we picked well on most of our dishes. Olive tapenade with crackers: fantastic, red wine fantastic, tomato tartar FANTASTIC. We ordered Moroccan spring rolls .. just fine, nothing fabulous, but well done, and a flank steak with stubby fries and a chimichuri sauce. Steak was tough. Still.. enjoyed the walk, the neighborhood, the restaurant, service and most of the food. A couple food and wine shots:
Slow stroll back.. as we are dog tired and so so full… more fabulous streetscapes, but the sky caught my eye..
Walked back to hotel, enjoying the Madrid vibe. We are exhausted.
And… we left again… out on a hunt for dessert. Seems that more and more people come out the cooler the evening gets, and, true to Spanish culture, restaurants stay open til way late.. so it’s busy out there! A couple more shots of architectural beauty…
Our first choice had closed (from the looks of it very recently), so Plan B was this place that specializes in cookies and cheesecakes.
We had both a cookie and a cheesecake.. the cookie won. It was a peanut butter cookie infused with actual peanut butter. It was truly the most different peanut butter cookie I’ve ever eaten. I liked it. Inspired to have Jim try it at home. It’s the one third from right.
A nice bookstore I dropped in/out of on the way back our hotel.
This is the front of the Hotel Europa.. the side that borders the plaza. Our window is fourth floor, third from left, open shutters. We’re home now, the shutters are still open wide and it’s pleasant as all get out.. but it might get too noisy to sleep. We shall see.
Life of Wry 