Defeated by the Smoky Mountains

On Good Friday we decided that we needed to take off and drive somewhere else, visit a new place in the big country we are living. Our first thought was to go south, since none of us had visited the southern states, and hoping that the southern we went, the better weather we would have (although, ironically, what happened was the opposite ;)). We read about a very well known scenic road called the Blue Ridge Parkway, which runs for 469 miles between the states of Virginia and North Carolina. The end of the parkway enters the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, therefore we decided to start in the Smoky, and do part of the scenic drive from there.

The first day we decided to stay in the city of Knoxville, Tenessee. We drove for about 8 hours though the states of Ohio and Kentucky. The way was, despite the length, very pleasant, spring had already began, and the trees had started to blossom. Once we arrived to Knoxville, we walked around the city, happy about leaving the car behind us ;)

This university city turned out to be very lively, with a nice little center to walk around. We saw the most famous icon, the tower, that despite being a bit ugly, it served very well as orientation point for us to find our hotel, which was just some meters away.

The touch of the spring had made the city specially beautiful, given the fact that it had snowed in Michigan that week, we thought this was a miracle ;)

The next day we entered our journey into the Smokies. This park is part of the Appalachian Mountains, and the denomination "smoky" comes from the natural fog that hangs over the range. This fog results from the exhalation of the vegetation present in the area.

Just before entering the National Park we passed though a city called Pigeon Forge that looked like a small Vegas, with casinos, amusement parks, aquarium, zoo, a house upside down, thousands of restaurants, ... It was an amusement park near the mountains, and we found it partly weird and partly sad, because it seems sometimes that spending time in the nature is not enough, and it is needed to have entertaining 24h additional not to get bored (how is it possible to get bored in the nature?).

The entrance of the national park was a pleasant road with abundant vegetation. It reminded us of the forests in northern Spain. But the charm of the scenery lasted very short, because as we started to climb into the mountains, the sky started to look less blue and more gray, and our mood for vacation started to turn into concern with the weather.  The weather report had not forecasted any rain!! You can see in the picture below how threatening the sky looked (still beautiful, though).

And just as expected, the rain didn't wait too long to start. As we were driving, we found that the rain was only at one side of the mountain, kind of a microclimate, that didn't affect the whole area. And to make things worse, at a certain height, and without the protection of vegetation around the road, the smoky mountains showed us why they have this name, because we entered a thick fog where we couldn't see three meters in front of us. It was very hard to drive, it goes unsaid that the beauty of the scenery remained unseen, making us anxious for the driving and disappointed for missing it all. It was similar to the picture below, which comes from a blog entry explaining this same experience that other people have been able to capture in pictures. For us, sadly, it was more priority to drive safely and get out of there, so we didn't spend much time taking photos.

That day we learned that the Smokies are unpredictable, they can get "too smoky" at times...

After this experience we felt kind of defeated, and sadly started our journey back home. The drive was not so bad, but it seemed as Detroit was being pushed further down the road, we never seemed to arrive! Ironically, when we arrived there was around 20 degC, sunny and nice outside... Our willingness for nice weather made us drive long miles, and in the end the best temperature was at home. It happens sometimes ;)

Nevertheless, I don't intent to do bad publicity of the Smokies, which is the most visited National Park in the US. I found gorgeous pictures though the internet, and will post some here, so you can see why we were interested in visiting. And although we were not very lucky, in my opinion this argument should never stop someone to try and collect new experiences, instead we have to take our chances, for better or worse, don't you think?

Thanks for reading, 

Lita&Andres

Intro to Spanish Food

With April the sun visited after so many weeks of snow and wind, giving us something to smile for. The last days we have been going for walks without the feeling of ten thousand needles sticking the skin. Now the grass is starting to become green after the cruel snow melted, and birds and squirrels look desperately for food, starving after a cold winter. Yes, there is a lot of action all around us.

And this new energy gave us power to prepare a Spanish dinner for our friends here. We love Spanish food, but just for the both of us it is not worth the effort to cook our typical meals, it takes a long time and we normally prepare a lot, so we end up eating the same for several days. But given the opportunity to have more people at the table, we didn't think it twice. 

Spanish food has a long tradition, but it is very much unknown by the rest of the world. Except for a couple of things that are really famous, like sangria or paella, there is not much more that foreigners identify as typical Spanish dishes. And I think this is in part because we Spaniards haven't been able to sell our products and culture to the world as well as other countries, like for instance the Italians or the French have. We like to spread our culture wherever we go, we already did it with our friends in Germany, and are doing the same here as well. 

And one of the things that in my opinion characterize our cuisine is the different "tapas", which are small plates of a dish. Spaniards like to go out for tapas, that way you can try 3 or 4 small plates without being super full. It is similar to the Italian "aperitivo". I would like to describe some of the tapas we prepared last week, together with a small background of it.

Tortilla de patatas (Spanish Omelet)

The tortilla is one of the most typical Spanish tapas, you can find it in every bar or restaurant. It is just made with potato, eggs and olive oil, although other ingredients can be added, usually onion and green pepper. The first reference to the tortilla in Spanish is from the year 1817, in a description of what people normally ate in different regions of Spain. It is said that it was created during the siege of Bilbao due to the scarcity of the Carlist army. 

One good recipe for Spanish tortilla can be found here.

Paella

The paella is a rice dish originated in Valencia in the mid 19th century, which takes the names from the pan it is cooked in (paella means pan in Catalan/Valencian, it comes from the French "paelle"). Outside Spain it is considered the national dish, but in Spain it is rather known as typical of Valencia. The main ingredients are the rice (it has to be small and round grain, typically used are calasparra or bomba), vegetables, beans and seasoning. The rice takes a golden color from the saffron, although nowadays it yellow colorant is also used instead of the expensive .

There is infinite ways to cook the paella, but I will share just one link. The most important thing is the type of pan and the type of rice, the rest can be modified according to the ingredients you have at home, as you can see in the picture, we just did it with chicken (many Valencians would say that "then it is not  real paella"). 

Salmorejo

The salmorejo is puree made of tomato, bread and oil originated in Cordoba, in Andalusia. It is like a gazpacho but thicker and creamier, and we like to serve it on bread, accompanied with Serrano ham and boiled eggs.

Empanada gallega

An empanada is a stuffed bread or pastry, often baked or fried. There are very different kinds of empanadas depending on the country, but they were originated in Galicia (Spain) and Portugal. A cookbook of 1520 mentions empanadas filled with seafood.

The empanada gallega is usually a big pie that is cut in individual pieces. It is made with tuna, onions, roasted pepper and boiled eggs. Here is the recipe we used, along with other typical spanish recipes. Sorry, again in Spanish. 

Croquetas (croquettes)

The croquettes are not only specific from Spain, but widely spread though the whole world. They are made with a base of bechamel (a sauce made with milk and flour), and mixed with meat or vegetables. We did them with pulled chicken and onion.  

The croquettes have origin in France, but it has become much more famous is countries like Netherlands, Italy and Spain. The recipe we used is here (sorry, it is in Spanish, but it is pretty easy to understand with the video). They were very good, in fact so  good that every time Andres put 4 or 5 on the plate, a second later they were gone ;)

Ensaladilla rusa (Russian Salad)

This is, as its own name shows, not a Spanish originated plate, but it is also one of the most typical tapas, so I include it here as well. The name "Russian" also points out the whiteness of the salad, since it is made with a lot of mayonnaise. It also has potatoes, carrots, tuna, peas and roasted red pepper, delicious!

Fried Eggplant with Honey

This dish is another typical tapa that although isn't originally from Spain, can be found very often. It is as simple as its name, and the contrast of saltiness of the fried eggplant with the sweetness of the honey make a perfect bite.

Yemas de Santa Teresa

The yemas are pastries identified with the region of Avila. They have a very distinctive yellow color, and are surrounded by fine powder sugar. It is very tedious to cook, because the sugar and water has to be stirred until it becomes gooey, probably that is why it is normally made by the nones, who have a lot of patience. The recipe can be found here

Pudin 

The pudin is not really Spanish, we actually wanted to make it because we tried it in Mexico when we last were there ;) It was also really good, although it was one of the things that didn't get finished in the party. Despite being delicious, it is not a good-looking pastry, so I will not pull up any pictures.

Sangria

The sangria is the probably most internationally known beverage from Spain and Portugal, it has a base of red wine, usually accompanied by brandy and pieces of fruit.

Additionally to this abundant combination of food, Marianna, a friend of us, brought a big cheese cake, as it was her birthday. In return, she got the beautiful flowers that you can kind of see in the picture below.

And to conclude this entry, I would like to repeat that the Spanish food has just started a journey into the rest of the world, hopefully we can get to many cities (we visited a cool Spanish restaurant in Detroit that just opened, called La Feria) and let everybody know how good Spain tastes.

Thanks for reading,

Lita&Andres