One for the girls!



Nerja (photo courtesy of fotothing.com)



My fabulous friend, Jayne and I had a wonderful girlie day out this week.  What's so special about that I hear you ask?  Well for many reasons, this was a much needed & definitely well deserved day for both of us.

Those of you that know me well are aware that for a couple of years, whilst trying to sell our house, Barry (my husband) and I have not had much spare cash for luxuries.  To make life even more difficult, I was diagnosed with cancer in January and this year has been very hard.  Not just for me, but equally so for Barry, our families and friends too.  Glad to say, the house is now sold, yay.

Then in February, my friend Jayne & her husband Michael came over for a holiday.  They used to live here, but unfortunately returned to the UK full time almost 3 years ago.  They still own their lovely town house here though and fortunately for us, they regularly visit for holidays.

So when they visited in February, shortly after my release from hospital, we were delighted to see them.  Plus, it was Jayne's birthday too, so a fun filled night out was planned.

We went to dinner in a local restaurant with some other friends, Tony & Sue, plus Debbie & Karen. We all had a great evening, but unfortunately it ended in disaster!!!!

Anyway, I won't rant on too much about it but basically on her way home, Jayne slipped and broke or ankle.  It was a bad brake which resulted in surgery.  It has also taken her a long time to recover properly and consequently they were unable to return to Spain, until now.

During my illness, Jayne kept in contact with Barry on a daily basis via skype.  Plus when they were here in February I was showered with not only support and love, but some fabulous gifts too.

This current visit happened to coincide with Jayne & Michael's 20th wedding anniversary too.  So, what better excuse is there for a right royal girlie day out?

Tuesday morning, Jayne & I headed off to Nerja for the day.  A truly wonderful place, full of shops, bars, restaurants, etc and of course amazing beaches too.

Our plan was to do a little shopping, a little pampering and have lunch too.  The day was perfect.  Upon arriving, we visited a local nail bar to make an appointment.  I booked for a french manicure and Jayne decided to opt for a foot massage.  Great choice considering her earlier accident!

So with our appointments booked.  First stop was a coffee after the short journey.



Jayne during coffee



View towards the sea from the plaza

After coffee, we hit the shops and yes, we did treat ourselves to a few prizes too!  Then, it was time to head back to the nail bar for our pampering.



Me, having my french manicure



Jayne, relaxing and thoroughly enjoying her foot massage

After my nails has dried and Jayne had woken up from her foot massage, which she enjoyed so much it sent her to sleep.  We headed off for lunch.

The choice of restaurants is mind boggling, but as it was market day.  Most patrons were on the other side of town, leaving Nerja fairly quiet and therefore no problem getting a table for us.

We decided on an italian restaurant and we both ordered a pasta dish.  Unfortunately, we were chatting so much I forgot to get the camera out again.  Sorry for that.  It also means I can't do a restaurant review, sorry for that too.  But I'm sure I'll return there one day and will provide a review then, I promise.  However, I can say the food was delicious and I had my favourite dish.  One I often create at home too, called Aglio-e-olio, shown here on my other blog.

After lunch we ventured back up the mountain to Competa. I dropped Jayne off at home and then I went home too for a quick nap before Barry & I returned to Jayne & Michaels, with our friend Sue, for an evening of drinking, chatting and of course wonderful food as always supplied by Michael.

Thanks guys, you are all truly special friends.

Sunflower - an expat guest from China & an authentic recipe too.

For the last week, I've been so busy packing boxes in readiness for moving house. I'ts been a long & difficult journey getting to this point (more about this to come soon). So, this afternoon, I've taken a break in order to post about our expat guest.

Sunflower is a chinese lady, now residing in the UK. Her blog is all about Chinese & other asian recipes. Mainly home cooked food, not what you may be used to from your local restaurant or takeaway. This is authentic food at its best!

If, like me, you love chinese food I suggest you pop on over to her blog, Sunflower's Food Galore, here and check out the amazing recipes. There are so many as Sunflower is a constant blogger. She works hard to provide us with mouthwatering recipes, almost on a daily basis.

Read on to discover more about Sunflower & get a taster of one of her latest recipes to...................

Q - You are Chinese, but grew up in Brunei, tell us about it and what life is like there?

A - Brunei is a Muslim country, it's hot all year round. It's small country but quite wealthy. Lifestyle is generally comfortable though not as cosmopolitan like any big city. Muslim belief and lifestyle is optional.

Q - When did you go to England and what prompted this move?

A - I come to England to study and have stuck here since.

Q - Where does your love of cooking stem from?

A - I think from my mum who was a good cook.

Q - Have you ever, or do you, work with food in a professional capacity?

A - No.

Q - Tell us a little about some of the recipes published on your site, i.e are they what chinese eat at home, or are they more geared towards recipes you think the western world want to see?

A - I think most of my oriental recipes are as authentic as I can manage to find the right ingredients. I don't like fusion Chinese/western (or takeaway menu) too much unless the recipes are originated from the the far east. I have expressed my dislike of Chinese/English curry on BBC messageboard.

Q - How often do you eat out at restaurants & what type of food would you mostly choose?

A - I don't eat out much in England, especially Oriental food. If I am abroad I like to eat out nearly everyday. My favourite eating out food if not oriental, probably Mexican. Love Mexican food to bits.

Q - Are there any recipes you'd like to try, but have thus far been a bit intimidated to do so & why?

A - Can't think of any yet.

Q - If you had to pick one dish as your favourite, what would this be & why?

A - Authentic Peking duck with skin so crunchy it melts in the mouth.

Q - Tell us about your blog, why you started it, what have you gained from it, etc, etc?

A -The blog has been going on for few years now. I only post my everyday cooking, and concentrate on oriental recipes. I am not very good with taking pictures and they can be boring. I only hope readers will try the recipes and like them. I don't think I can be a flashy professional blogger that will earn money from blogging.

Q - We would love to see another recipe from you. Do you have a new one for instance, that is not yet on your blog, that you would like to share here with us first?

A - Of course, here is a simple but finger licking good recipe..........

Sweet and sour dry fried super king prawns.

Sunflower's sweet & sour dry fried super king prawns

 

Recipe written & kindly provided by Sunflower 

You need to get raw king prawns in shell as big as you can afford. Chinese supermarkets have them at reasonable price.

For this recipe, I used super large king prawns about 6" long. You can use smaller. Great as a simple and impressive starter with a few salad leaves.

8 - 10 raw king prawns in shell (fresh or frozen)

about 8 -1 0 cloves garlic, about 1/2 a large bulb

about 1 tbsp chilli sauce

about 2.5 tbsp tomato ketchup

about 2 - 3 tsp oyster sauce

about 4 - 5 tbsp oil

Method:

Crush the garlic cloves in the skin. Do not beak them up too much. Peel but do not chop or cut, leave whole.

Trim the prawns with scissors, cut off sharp edges from the tip of the head and tail. Keep the heads they have plenty of flavour.

Heat oil not too hot, add garlic pieces. Fry gently till garlic has turned light golden brown. Push garlic to one side.

Heat high and add prawns. Fry till colour changes to red and brown a little on the shell, turn over and fry the other side. You should get a very strong fragrant. This will only take 2 - 3 minutes.

Add the tomato ketchup, chilli sauce and oyster sauce.

Stir fry sauce, prawns and garlic together till sauce has reduced and thicken.

The garlic pieces should taste sweet and tender.

Thanks Sunflower, this looks & sounds delicious. I'm sure it'll be a real winner with all our readers too.

Enjoy everybody.

Please join me in thanking Sunflower for her time & effort in creating this post.

Oh, and be sure to visit us again here with your comments. Additionally, if you try Sunflower's recipe above don't forget to leave a comment on her blog too.