Inma and Jose invited us over for dinner on Friday, December 18, 2009. It was the biggest spread we have ever sat down to in our lives.
When I arrived, I showed Inma the boots that my mom had bought me for Christmas and she actually jumped up and down and hugged me which Collin thought was really funny. He claims to not get excited about clothes, but I know better, he's just more subtle about it.
Inma said she tried to make all the yummy Spanish things she wanted us to try before we left. First she had a bunch of appetizers spread out on the coffee table: chips, nuts, Japanese crackers, anchovy stuffed olives, tortilla, chorizo, jamon serrano, jamon iberico, manchego cheese and rolls. Pretty much every Spanish family has a leg of jamon serrano in their kitchen complete with hoof. We drank mosto and coke (not mixed together), while she and my mom had wine. Jose didn't come home from work until about 8:30 pm and we had arrived at 7 pm. Emma had gone home from school with Marta and Lucia at 2 pm. We were all really hungry so we mistakenly stuffed ourselves with the appetizers. Inma really does make a delicious tortilla. We all sat around chatting and eating while we waited for Jose to come home. The kids were playing spoons in the twins room with my mom. They also put on make up. Emma was all made up before we even arrived with blue eye shadow and lots of sparkles everywhere. Aidan and Ian let the twins make them up, which later proved to be a mistake since they put nail polish on Aidan's face and it started burning. But they were loving all the attention from the girls and I think also the taboo aspect of boys wearing make up.
When Jose did come home Inma started frying up quails' eggs to put on some pisto manchego that was in little pie crusts. She also made a dish I can't remember the name of, but it had chickpeas in it and COW STOMACH more commonly known as tripe. She didn't tell us what it was until we had already eaten some, but that just proves that anything can taste good if cooked with love. She made salmorejo sauce which she topped with bacalao and shredded egg yolk, couscous with raisins and pine nuts, bacon wrapped pork loin with caramelized onions. Everything was absolutely delicious. I ate until I thought I would burst. Even Emma loved the bacon wrapped pork loin. She actually asked for leftovers the next day which we didn't have , unfortunately. For dessert Inma made strawberries with sugar and orange juice served in waffle cone cups. After that she offered us coffee or herbal tea and then had tons of chocolates, pastries, candy, etc., in addition to the desserts she had bought, I had brought peppermint bark, miniature pecan pies, baklava and gingersnaps.
I think my mom had a hard time following the conversation since she hasn't taken Spanish classes since 1964. It was kind of strange to see her so silent since usually she is a a very active conversationalist. Maria could speak and understand English, so she and my mom chatted a little. I was impressed with Maria's level of comprehension. We made plans to meet Jose and Inma's family in Ronda a couple days after Christmas. We went home with very full stomachs, the kind that make you want to make yourself throw up just to get some relief. But everything was so delicious it was worth it. Inma really went all out with the decorations as well as the food and even had New Year's party bags for all the kids. We gave Marta and Lucia plastic play food and a kitchen set as well as a framed picture of them with Emma for each of them with our address and info on the back and a dedication from Emma.
Emma and Marta did a cheer in the kitchen that they would only let the girls see. I don't remember exactly how it went, but the gist of it was that Emma was the prettiest and the best friend ever. They used streamers as pom poms and had Emma emerge mysteriously from behind a giant umbrella. It was really cute.
We made many plans for our next stay in Spain and hopefully a visit from the twins family to Pennsylvania in the near future. I hope both things work out. We all really like their family. Inma sent us home with a whole zucchini tortilla, a jar of salmorejo sauce, a ton of couscous and a variety of desserts. We grateful for the yummy leftovers the next day, but wished we had brought home some of the bacon wrapped pork with onions. I will definitely be making some of her recipes in the future, but I'll probably switch out the tripe for something a little more palatable like ham or bacon. We didn't get home until midnight so Emma had a 10 hour play date and we all slept really well (or had food induced comas).
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