18 November 2007
We´ve been busy these last few days. This weekend here in Júzcar, we´ve had a festival of mushrooms. This was organised by the town hall and local hiking club called Pasos Largos. It all started on Friday evening with a seminar about wild mushrooms. There were about90 people here for this including some village people. Yesterday (Saturday), there was also a review in the evening of mushrooms which was held in our restaurant.... it was packed. the road was completely full of cars and this is one of the reasons I did not have a break. Fortunately, we had Iris in the kitchen helping Ivan, Toñi was helping me put plates out in the restaurant and Delia, who used to work here, came in to help out for the day; without this extra help, there would have been no way to make it through the day sanely!!
The hotel was also full both Friday and Saturday nights. So we had all of them for breakfast plus passing traffic waiting to go on the mushroom excursion. Busy busy busy!! The mushroom excursion was up onto Los Riscos and into the countryside in search of mushrooms, "setas" in Spanish. Here in the hotel, we had a special menu of the day that was all about mushrooms, a mushroom soup or risotto to start, dorada (fish) or jamon estufado as a second course and a fantastic mandarin mousse dessert in the form of a mushroom as seen in the photo below... another fantastic creation by Chef Iván Sastre.
We´ve been busy these last few days. This weekend here in Júzcar, we´ve had a festival of mushrooms. This was organised by the town hall and local hiking club called Pasos Largos. It all started on Friday evening with a seminar about wild mushrooms. There were about90 people here for this including some village people. Yesterday (Saturday), there was also a review in the evening of mushrooms which was held in our restaurant.... it was packed. the road was completely full of cars and this is one of the reasons I did not have a break. Fortunately, we had Iris in the kitchen helping Ivan, Toñi was helping me put plates out in the restaurant and Delia, who used to work here, came in to help out for the day; without this extra help, there would have been no way to make it through the day sanely!!
The hotel was also full both Friday and Saturday nights. So we had all of them for breakfast plus passing traffic waiting to go on the mushroom excursion. Busy busy busy!! The mushroom excursion was up onto Los Riscos and into the countryside in search of mushrooms, "setas" in Spanish. Here in the hotel, we had a special menu of the day that was all about mushrooms, a mushroom soup or risotto to start, dorada (fish) or jamon estufado as a second course and a fantastic mandarin mousse dessert in the form of a mushroom as seen in the photo below... another fantastic creation by Chef Iván Sastre.
Mushroom Dessert - Amanita Caesaria - Mandarin Mousse on Baked Merengue with Kiwi Sauce and Chocolate SprinklesLast night, the village held a tostón, a chestnut roast. This year, the chestnut harvest here in the Serranía de Ronda was the best its been in a quite sometime. There was a reported 2 million kilos more chestnuts than last year... that made a total of 5 million kilos of chestnuts harvested this year. So, as one may imagine, lots of people were happier this year than in recent years when the harvest was suffering due to lack of rain. Anyway, the town hall bought 50 kilos of chestnuts to roast for anyone who showed up... it started at11.30 p.m. We did not go because by the time we left the hotel, it was well after midnight (I had been in the hotel since 8.45 a.m. with no break all day). We were just booming yesterday with this mushroom event. In fact, we had 63 people for lunch, Iván´s menu was completely gone by the end and people were still trying to get in at 5.00 for lunch!! A bit late for lunch, even by Spanish standards.
And even now as I write (on my laptop), I am standing in front of a group who are here looking at a mushroom exhibition in the breakfast dining room with a mushroom expert discussing them. There are even mushrooms here that would kill you, dangerous to touch even.
Last weekend, we had a group of English couples here for a two nights from Nerja. They had stayed here before having discovered us when Iván and I were on the radio on the coast a few months back, REM-FM. This group was actually quite surprised that they were the only ones to follow through and book in with us after we were on the radio. They thought we would have been over whelmed with people seeking rooms or food... sadly, that was not the case. Perhaps we should try to get on that radio station again for some more publicity. anyway, they stayed for a couple of nights having booked six rooms, and all were very happy with everything, yet again.
Last week, I also saw a flock of vulture soaring above Júzcar one day on my way into Ronda. Another day, I watched a couple of vulture catching the thermals above the valley, again when I was on my way to Ronda, as I went to Ronda four of five days last week.
The pool project has not advanced at all as the architect we have is quite incompetent, I think. We have to arrange for him to see the pool we want built at a hotel on the north side of Ronda. He can´t make a design change to our project without seeing the pool first. And we´ve now only been waiting more than a month for this to happen.... very frustrating as I was all set to just get this pool built the minute I got back from NY in August. Ah well!
A package arrived a couple of days ago from one of the ladies that were here for the Maggie Price Painting holiday in October. Martha sent us this very thoughtful package from Texas and included some beef jerky, tortillas with hot sauce, peanut butter, music CDs, pecans from Texas which she sells on her website which arrived in a tin can in the shape of the state of Texas (which is very cool!!) and some photos for the resident ladies of the village. How very nice of her to send us this package!!
¡Hasta la proxima!
And even now as I write (on my laptop), I am standing in front of a group who are here looking at a mushroom exhibition in the breakfast dining room with a mushroom expert discussing them. There are even mushrooms here that would kill you, dangerous to touch even.
Last weekend, we had a group of English couples here for a two nights from Nerja. They had stayed here before having discovered us when Iván and I were on the radio on the coast a few months back, REM-FM. This group was actually quite surprised that they were the only ones to follow through and book in with us after we were on the radio. They thought we would have been over whelmed with people seeking rooms or food... sadly, that was not the case. Perhaps we should try to get on that radio station again for some more publicity. anyway, they stayed for a couple of nights having booked six rooms, and all were very happy with everything, yet again.
Last week, I also saw a flock of vulture soaring above Júzcar one day on my way into Ronda. Another day, I watched a couple of vulture catching the thermals above the valley, again when I was on my way to Ronda, as I went to Ronda four of five days last week.
The pool project has not advanced at all as the architect we have is quite incompetent, I think. We have to arrange for him to see the pool we want built at a hotel on the north side of Ronda. He can´t make a design change to our project without seeing the pool first. And we´ve now only been waiting more than a month for this to happen.... very frustrating as I was all set to just get this pool built the minute I got back from NY in August. Ah well!
A package arrived a couple of days ago from one of the ladies that were here for the Maggie Price Painting holiday in October. Martha sent us this very thoughtful package from Texas and included some beef jerky, tortillas with hot sauce, peanut butter, music CDs, pecans from Texas which she sells on her website which arrived in a tin can in the shape of the state of Texas (which is very cool!!) and some photos for the resident ladies of the village. How very nice of her to send us this package!!
¡Hasta la proxima!
