Thursday 23 August 2018

A Postcard A Day - Friday 24 August 2018 - Friday Smiles

Hello lovely ladies (and the odd man),
I'm here again to tell you about my smiles this week. It's summer, the sun is shining, the population of the village has doubled and there is a real buzz about the place. This week has been a continuation of meetings, diners and drinks with friends. Phew, living the high life can be very tiring! (I'm sounding like an old fogey).

Happy mail still seems to be one of the highlights of my week. I love receiving postcards. Here are two more that I received this week.

The first one is an old map card of Latvia. I have a fascination with maps (don't ask) so I particularly love this one



It was sent to me by Taiga who lives in Riga, the capital of Latvia. The map was published in 1919, made by Latvian artist Ansis Cirulis. And is now  in the National History Museum.
 The stamp features a beautiful freesia. I love freesias, especially the fragrant kind. 

My second card comes from Holland and it is made by the Dutch lepra charity. It features an Indian (Calcutta) woman and her son. I just love how she looks at her boy with love and pride.
 The stamp is very summery and I am so glad that they have had such a good, warm suymmer in Holland.

I seem to have been making desserts and cakes a lot this week. I made this tarta a tres chocolates (three chocolate cake). It is something I learned to make here in Spain. It is a sort of cheese cake (not baked) It has the biscuit base, then each layer is made with a different chocolate (Dark, milk and white) . Each slab of chocolate get melted directly in a pan of milk and (unwhipped) whipping cream and sugar. Then a sachet of congealing stuff (cuajado) is added and the mixture poured onto the biscuit layer. The other layers are made in the same way. When the next layer is cooked the previous layer has already congealed enough to receive the next lot. It is not difficult but a lot of work and I was so glad it turned out beautifully. 
It is not the first time I made this, so I know it will be good. Needless to say everyone was impressed.

Others smiles this week include my lovely neighbour Vicente. His wife Encarna used to come to the gym with me. He is an old fashioned gentleman and everytime I meet him in the village, he greets me by lifting his hat as a salute.  
Every time this happens it makes my day. A few days ago I met him again, and I had my phone on me. I told him how much I loved that old fashioned gesture and could I take a picture of him. So here he is posing.

This week we got given a lot of produce again. A (small) bucket of plums made its way to our front door.
We decided to eat them rather than make jam, but they were too many. It would have given me a tummy ache. So when in doubt, bake a cake:

All the plums, which I had arranged skin side up, have sunken into the cake mixture, but I shall sprinkle icing sugar and cinnamon over the top and it will taste delightful (I've made that recipe many times)
Lastly we received a bag of organic peppers from another neighbout. I love those. They have a thinner skin than the bell peppers you buy in the UK, and I love them fried with an egg in the middle (and fresh ciabatta bread of course).

Life is good!

Now to finish, here are a few random funnies. The first one is gorgeous and the last one a ...scream.





 That's it for today. Please share your smiles with Annie at A Stitch In Time and visit Virginia at Rocking Your Week Friday.

Have a fab weekend,
Hugs,
Lisca

8 comments:

  1. Two lovely postcards, awesome postage stamps, and a chocolate dessert that I would try in a heartbeat. Seems we both have chocolate on the brain this week.

    I didn't understand the first funny today, but I often don't get some of these jokes. I've heard the last one, but it was the wife had a wreck and it had something to do with the steering (sorry, it's been years and I have forgotten most of it). After learning the cause, the husband said it was the nut attached to the steering wheel, etc. The shorter version fits better on a sign board. Have a great weekend and super Friday.

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  2. Firstly I want to know who are the odd men who read your blog? 😂😂 just my sense of humour. Your cake looks really yummy....I’m sure every crumb was eaten. I love sharing a little of life in Spain ...think it would wear me out actually living it. Your funnies really had me chuckling esp the last one.
    Yes the beads were all picked up....they were gathered up firstly by me with my swify mop, then swept up by my son using the dustpan and brush and put into the big tin for Jo and I to sort. There were a few strays who met with death by hoover but we saved most of them thankfully.
    Hugs,
    Annie x

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  3. How nice to have such generous neighbours. I am like you with plums; I could just keep eating them.
    The chocolate cake sounds wonderful, but not good for me at all. I always thought cuajado was like the rennet we used to use to make junket back in the day... I see it translates as 'curdled' which doesn't seem quite right to me. Anyway, well done for even thinking about using chocolate in this heat! I am sure your efforts were greatly appreciated. Kate x

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  4. Hi Lisca, I really love the look of that Chocolate Cheese Cake it looks delicious. I have actually picked our plums this week and made a crumble with the damsons but the Victoria plums seem to have gradually been eaten by someone else in the house and I haven't even had one but guessing they must have been good. I'm thinking you must have quite a collection of postcards by now. Have a lovely weekend, Angela xXx

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  5. That chocolate cake looks sooooo yummy. The plum cake looks good too, but chocolate is a weakness for me. Sounds like a fun time doing this cake creating. I would enjoy that. Have a great weekend. Hugs-Erika

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  6. Hi Lisca, had a look at the Video it's brilliant. Yes I am on Facebook the link is here: https://www.facebook.com/angela.radford.37
    Don't worry about the lawn, they are brown but will soon grow back now we've had a little rain. Pleased to say that the farmers seem to have done well with the barley we have had beautiful golden fields which are just about all cut now. The one worry is the hay for the winter feed. As the grass has been unable to grow they are worried about whether there will be enough of it. Steampunk festival is going a Steam (No puns intended, well there might be!) Lots of photographs, lots and lots actually! Have a great weekend, Angela xxx

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  7. Ah a lovely post, your postcards are fab, I love the map one too.

    You seem to have lots going on at the moment, the baking is gorgeous and that chocolate cheesecake looks amazing.

    The photo of the chap tipping his hat made me smile - how lovely!

    I hope you've had a great weekend and enjoy your week ahead.

    Hugs

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  8. Thank you for sharing with everyone. I know everything about you. It's great and it's great.
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