Also in Spain it is 5 december. Homemade speculaas following a recipe of an Israeli-British chef (Ottolenghi) using all the original Eastern spices. You cannot get more fusion than that!
From: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/apr/11/easter-recipes-yotam-ottolenghi
Gevulde speculaas
You'll have more spice mixture than you need for these biscuits, but it will keep well in a sealed jar. Not until 5 December, perhaps, but certainly long enough to use in other biscuits over the coming weeks; it's also lovely with stewed cherries or plums. I thank Hennie Franssen, who translates my books into Dutch, for this marvellous recipe. Serves eight.
For the spice mix
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground aniseed
¾ tsp ground white pepper
¾ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cardamom
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp ground cloves
For the dough
120g unsalted butter, softened
100g soft golden sugar
1-2 tbsp full-fat milk
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
180g plain flour, plus extra to dust
Salt
For the almond paste
200g blanched and peeled almonds
150g caster sugar
1 egg
2 tsp lemon juice
Finely grated zest of 1 small lemon
60g mixed candied peel
To decorate
50g blanched almonds
1 egg, lightly beaten
Mix together all the ingredients for the spice mix and set aside.
For the dough, put 100g of the butter in a large bowl with the sugar and a tablespoon of milk. Beat until smooth, then add the bicarbonate, four teaspoons of the spice mix, the flour and one-third of a teaspoon of salt. Mix to a firm, elastic dough, adding more milk only if needed. Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate.
For the almond paste, put the nuts in a food processor and blitz for a minute: you don't want them completely smooth. Add the sugar, egg and lemon juice, and blitz again, until slightly smoother but still grainy. Add the lemon zest and candied peel and blitz once or twice, just to mix through. The paste should be sticky and softer than the dough, but still hold its shape. Transfer to a small bowl.
Heat the oven to 170C/335F/gas mark 3. Roll out the dough on a floured work surface to a 20cm x 40cm rectangle that's 0.5cm thick. You will need to keep dusting with flour to prevent it from sticking. Transfer it to a 40cm x 30cm parchment-lined baking tray. Melt the remaining 20g of butter and brush two-thirds of it over the dough. Spoon a 6cm-wide sausage of almond paste lengthways down the centre of the dough from top to bottom, and brush this with the remaining butter. Lift the lefthand side of the dough over the paste, then bring in the righthand side on top so that the two sides slightly overlap. Press gently to secure, then carefully turn the whole thing over so the seal is at the bottom, a bit like a giant sausage roll. Brush evenly and lightly with beaten egg, arrange the whole almonds on top and brush again with egg.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the dough begins to colour and the almonds are golden. Don't be alarmed when the roll flattens out: that's meant to happen. Leave to cool for 15 minutes, then slice and serve warm or at room temperature.
Mango, or not?
Meet Estrella, Lucero’s older sister.
Frangipani/Plumeria. Bought two new ones, big, but quite cheap. One is standard white yellow, but the other is pink and yellow! It has just one flower now, I can still hope it’s a multicolor one, like we lost a few years ago. The best thing is their smell. Luvvly!
Unhappy: the motor of the car ran a bit irregular at low speed. Jittering a bit when starting to drive. Not normal. Looked at the bill of the last workshop visit, no spark plugs were changed, and no valves were adjusted, a thing they did about every year, or two, in NL.
Making watermelon pickle, using the leftovers of Monday's salad.
A brilliant pickle, actually.
From: https://www.theguardian.com/food/2018/sep/08/watermelon-rind-skin-pickle-recipe-waste-not-tom-hunt
Take 400g watermelon rind with a little flesh still attached, peel off the hard skin and cut into 3cm pieces. Put 275ml water, 100ml vinegar, a teaspoon of red pepper flakes, four teaspoons of salt and 100g sugar in a saucepan, bring to a boil, add the rind, return to a boil and turn off the heat. Fill a clean jam jar with the pickled watermelon and juice, top with a few slices of green chilli and screw on the lid. They’re ready to eat once cooled, and will keep in the fridge for a month or longer.
Suddenly we have ripe figs. They’re good! 3.5 kg figs, 2kg sugar, 3 oranges, 3 lemons, both zest+juice, 5-spice, extra star anise, cinnamon, vanilla, orange blossom water, elbow grease. Result is 4 liters jam.
For a special jar add some orujo or marc.
Kaasplankie, cheese platter, plateau de fromage, selección de quesos.
2nd AZ dose in. (Vaczeuria)
and yell at you.
! Damn! Blast! *naughty words* 
Then a few weeks later, there he is again, at a house not far from here:
Skinny!
But, as soon as one gets a bit agitated there still probably is trouble.
So, in March 2022 they both lost their goolies, and we now have to see how things develop. Currently the separation regime is bearable. The alternative would be to rehome either Tex or Lucero. Tex would have the better chance of finding a new family, he's a really very good dog. But were quite fond of them both, so.. We hope the best of their castration, and will see how things develop.
