Days 263 - 269 - News, pictures and a festive message!

Well, it's Christmas eve, we have just finished our last day in the downstairs Cafe and have just got Christmas day left in the restaurant and then it will be all over! It's been a bit weird this week really. I've just been waiting for it to end!!

Last Saturday was a good night. We had a finger buffet for a ladies 65th birthday party and it was a very enjoyable evening. We have had some groups in the past who can hardly muster a smile and who have lost any manners they were shown as children, but Saturday's party goers were the complete opposite. It is so nice to have a group of people in the restaurant who appreciate their food, service and surroundings, and every one of them was polite and very complimentary. Such a refreshing change!
I listed the menu in my last blog, so I will show you some of the finished food...

I thoroughly enjoyed all the preparation, all the plating and all the eating of the food that wasn't eaten!!! Now that our new venture will give a little more freedom than the restaurant ever did, I may start to advertise a buffet service. It's what I love to do and with the feedback we got on Saturday, maybe it's the way forward...

Sticking with food for a minute or two, here are some of the things I have been eating this week...

...the left over meatballs from Saturday night with some spaghetti

A rocket, mozzarella, avocado and cherry tomato salad

and some pasta with spinach and pine nuts...

I made a terrine yesterday that hope fully will set in time for Christmas day as it is one of the starters! Here's how I made it.....

Started with some minced pork, apricots, sweated leeks and pistachios

Lined a loaf tin with streaky bacon

Blanched some asparagus

and filled it in! Cooked it for about an hour and fifteen minutes, then weighted it down and it's now sitting in the fridge waiting to be ordered!

I'll post some pictures when its cut.....

I had a little fun on Sunday and had a go at making whopper Yorkshire puddings again. Every now and then I get the urge! Here is one of the big ones from yesterday...

While on the subject of big ones, I was asked by Laura's dad to make him some breakfast as he was very hungry. This is what he got...!

I also thought I'd garnish the potato and leek soup with my attempt at a Christmas tree. Art never was my strong point!

Here is an apple pie we made for a customer today...

Okay, okay, enough food pictures. Thought I'd let you know that they have FINALLY finished 

the roadworks outside the Cafe! Its a complete cowboy bodge up, but nevertheless, it's finished. Not sure if you'd call it 'sod's law' or irony that it's finished just as we are about to depart to pastures new, but here's what it looks like up the street now...

Well that's about it for now, except to thank you all for supporting me and my blog so far and to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a spiffing 2013. It's going to be a massive year for me personally and I hope you will all keep following my progress. Who knows... I may even have time to finish  writing my book....

Thanks again for reading and I'll speak to you all soon

Jimbo xx

Days 257- 263 - Hello again!

Well, hello again. Just thought I'd keep in touch. Nothing much happening at work for the last few days... Calpe is sooooooooooooooo quiet at the moment, it's like a ghost town at times. I spoke to the guy next door who owns a sport shop and he hasn't taken a penny for the last 2 days. Nothing at all... Times are definitely hard at the mo. Enough of this doom and gloom though and on to pastures new!

Only 7 days left! Wow, that seems really weird. It's all we've done since moving to Spain and now, all of a sudden we won't be there anymore...., a very strange feeling. It's a little sad as we have put so much time and effort into making it a success, but the opportunity offered to us was too good to pass up. So on one hand it will be a sad day, but on the other, an exciting time lies ahead.

We have sent our menus to the printers and they should be ready in a couple of days, so looking forward to that. Although I'm having to compromise and cook 'Wetherspoons' type food, I will still be using fresh produce and still put the same passion into every plate of food that leaves the kitchen. Think I'm gonna stick a weekly special on as well to slowly show my new customers what I cook. We'll see how it goes down...

I'm quite excited as on Saturday we have private party at the restaurant for a lady's 65th birthday and she has requested a finger buffet. Right up my street! Although she has asked for a couple of specific things, I basically have carte blanche do create what I like. It's what I love doing, so well chuffed with that. It's ironic though that it will be the restaurants last night of trading, (we will be open on Christmas Day), and it's the first booking of this type! Typical!

Here's what I'll be making....

Individual Caesar salads

Goats cheese and caramelised onion crostini

Lemon and coriander chicken skewers

Smoked mackerel pate crostini

Individual mini cheesecakes

Tomato, basil & mozzarella pinchos

A mixed sausage selection

Smoked salmon and cream cheese blinis with caviar

A quiche

Individual mini cheeseburgers

Meatballs

I did have a mini Greek salad on a skewer as well, but the customer wanted cheeseburgers instead! Even with that slight adjustment, I must say what a pleasure it is that they don't just want Vol au vents, sausage rolls, cheese and pineapple sticks etc! I look forward to preparing it all on Saturday and will take some pictures of the finished spread for you to feast your eyes upon when it's finished...

I'm also doing the food for the Sports bar on New Years Eve, so I'll update you with that a little nearer the time. It will probably be more like the buffets we are all used to, but I will put my twist on it without making it too poncy for my new punters!

Away from food and on to my weight loss. I have to be honest and say that I have not been as strict over the last few weeks and I need to snap out of my current frame of mind and get back to doing what I was doing. I keep saying I'm going to do it, but I haven't yet done so. Although I am exercising regularly on the gym and cross trainer at the moment, I'm using that as an 'excuse' to not be strict about what I'm eating. Just because I'm exercising and burning calories, it doesn't mean that I can relax my concentration and slide down that slippery slope again. I have PROMISED myself that I will never get into that downhill spiral again, so I need to focus again, and quickly. I make no excuses, I have just been slack, and hopefully this public slagging off of myself will kick me back into gear....!

Right, I'm off to eat a bargain bucket to myself, so I'll speak to you all soon!

Only kidding, there are no KFC's within 30 miles of here!

Speak soon and thanks for reading 

Jimbo xx

Days 246 - 256 It has been sometime since I blogged....

Its me! Hello! It has been some time since I last blogged. My offer my humble apologies, but as there really hasn't been anything worth talking about, I thought it best to say nothing!

The road works continue outside our door, (you know, the ones that were supposed to take place between Sept 3rd and October 20th)! These muppets really haven't a clue what they're doing.....

Work has been very quiet recently, but to be honest, I am so focused on the venture that lies ahead, I am not really bothered! We've had a couple of Christmas lunches in the last week that have gone very well, but apart form those, there isn't much to write home about.

I had a shock on the scales this week..., I gained 3lbs. Not a happy bunny, but only have myself to blame as I haven't been careful enough with my food intake. I've got into a mindset that says 'don't worry about eating that, you can burn it off later on the bike'. All well and good, except if I don't get on the bike...........

 I need to get out of this frame of mind, and get back to basics. Basically, I need to start from scratch and get back to doing the things that worked for me in the beginning. Although it can be difficult at times with all the food preparation and tasting I have to do, I just have to refocus.

I have a cross trainer now, and I aim to do 20 minutes a day. If after a couple of weeks I find myself becoming fitter, I will up it to 30 and see how it goes.

I haven't been too creative with the menu at work recently as it's been so quiet that I find it difficult to motivate myself into thinking up interesting dishes. What's the point of creating food that isn't going to sell... I may as well just throw money down the drain. We had a women's lunch group in today, so I could express myself a little bit. Here's the menu I prepared...

Starters
Tomato & Basil bruschetta
Home made mushroom soup with truffle oil
Goats cheese, caramelised onion and Serrano ham tartlet with balsamic reduction
Mushrooms pan fried in a garlic infused butter on toast
Char grilled vegetables

Mains
Confit of duck leg served with chilli spiced noodles
Pasta with courgette and cream
Pan fried Cod with crushed new potatoes and pea puree
Chicken & Chorizo hunters stew with crusty bread
Spaghetti with deconstructed pesto

Desserts
Home made Baileys and chocolate cheesecake
Apple and plum crumble
Banana split
Ice cream
Home made Sherry trifle

Ironically, 4 out of the 5 starters on offer were ordered by the 9 diners, but for main course, 7 had the cod and 2 had the duck! So, my creativity wasn't really needed after all!

The menu at the new venue will be much simpler. It will be more along the lines of a 'Wetherspoons' type. I will put on weekly specials, and will try to incorporate as much fresh produce and ideas as I can. Once we have finalised the menu, I will shove it on here for you to see.

I tried my hand at making a pate this week. I know it sounds weird that someone who has been cooking for so long has never made one, but to be honest, they're not my most favourite thing in the world, and I usually make a terrine. I did however give it a go, and was most pleased with the result.
I decided to do a chicken liver pate with brandy. It was a really simple recipe, and now I have done it, I think I will put my own little twist on one next time. Here's how it looked...

Be careful if you have long hair, as this really flames when you add the brandy! Fortunately, I do not have that problem!

Here's the finished product...

I made a second pate for tasting purposes, but by the time I took this picture, there wasn't much left!

I am not an offal fan, but it tasted very nice. Next time I will be adding more brandy and a little sweetness I think...

While uploading these 2 pictures, I remembered that I had taken a snap of the chicken and chorizo stew that I made today, so I've stuck this on as well!   

We have a Christmas music quiz at the restaurant tomorrow night, so as I have no idea how many people may or may not turn up, I am just going to make a beef casserole type affair with a lump of topside that I cut of my Sunday joint this week. I will post pictures when it is finished.

Until then, I will trot off and bid you a very good evening!

Sleep well all, and I will make a concious effort to blog a bit more often!

Hasta la pasta!

Jimbo

Days 241 - 245 - I've been stealing!!!!!

I'm back again! Not much to report as Calpe has been a bit of a ghost town this week.

We had a fund raising event at the restaurant on Wednesday in aid of a local dog charity which was organised by Laura. It went pretty well and some much needed money was raised. Although the road is STILL closed off to traffic, many people turned up to support the cause, so a big thank you to them. It was great success and if we weren't undertaking our new business venture, I am sure we would have organised another. Who knows, maybe we will anyway...

Back to work..... It's been an awful month, (November always is), and Calpe is currently like a ghost town. The road works are still continuing and I have to tell you that the road they have only just laid is being pulled up again!! Guess what.... I don't give a flying hoot!!! They can work on the bloody road forever now, I really don't care!! Roll on Christmas Day! Roll on new business venture! Roll on the roadwork free zone! Here's a piccy just to show you what utter muppets they are.....

Adios muppetos!

So financially, even though we had a decent Friday and Sunday, it's been a pretty difficult month for us, which really has reinforced the fact that we are doing the right thing in making the move. Time will tell, but noting ventured, nothing gained. Got to take a gamble in life, or you just stagnate. If it goes 'tits up', at least we tried. Better to have tried and failed than to have not tried at all.......... Can't think of any more cliches at this point!

Doom and gloom over, and it's on to the weather! It's bloody freezing!! I'll tell you how cold it is.... I wore tracky bottoms to work today! I genuinely cannot remember the last time I was not wearing shorts! I'm pleased I wore them too, as when we arrived for work yesterday evening, the internal oven temperature was 8C. The kitchen was probably a degree or two below that. Stark contrast to the 50C temperatures of just 3 months ago.

At home it's even colder! Although we have central heating, we have a problem with the workings etc, so until it gets looked at, the house is a fridge. In Spain they don't insulate their houses as most of the time it's hot and it would be silly to retain too much heat, so you can imagine how cold it gets! We have a real fire in the living room, but it only really heats the living room and the rest of the house gets no benefit. When we breathe, you can see the steam coming out of our mouths! We have found an old gas bottle fire in the garage, so we are using that now too! The funniest bit for me is... the price of firewood here is extortionate (130€ per cubic meter), so we have been stealing the wooden pallets that the block paving has been delivered on for the roadworks! Soon as they stop for their numerous breaks, I nick 'em and chuck 'em in the car!! Gotta get something back from those muppets!

I didn't get weighed this week, as I had too much to do, so I am now going to do it bi - weekly! I am hoping to acquire a 2nd hand cross trainer this week, so I will be upping the exercise in time for the next weigh in! 

Okay, I'm off to put the little fella to bed now, so I will speak to you all again very soon.

Take care

Jimbo 

Days 235 - 240 - HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU !!!!

So, last week has been and gone and it was pretty much the same old story!

More roadworks, the quiet November continues, but a good Friday night and a good Sunday! Oh, and I lost 2 lbs!

That's more or less what happened at work, apart from one major piece of news!!!

For a few months now, I have been teasing you with news of an impending something...... Well, that something has NOT come to fruition! I was talking to a hotel about he possibility of 'taking over' their kitchen and talks had reached an interesting stage. That was until I was informed that they would be closing the hotel for a few months in the new year for refurbishment and then were unsure as to the direction they were going. It is possible that it will be turned into apartments or similar, so I shelved that particular project. There was also interest from a 'company' who wanted to talk to me about the possibility of me becoming a chef for them in their 'new venture' in the new year. Nothing happened there.

So there I was on Thursday afternoon, prepping the food for the evening service and wondering what next year was going to bring, when a chap came upstairs to talk to me..................

He is the owner of a successful sports bar about a mile up the road from us and he came to talk to me about taking over his kitchen. We had a good chat and he left me with a huge decision to make. I had to weigh up whether to continue in the restaurant that we had built from nothing over the past 3 and a bit years, or undertake a new challenge.

On one hand, we have a restaurant that we have put our all into and turned from an ailing pasty shop into a very successful concern. Maybe its not the most financially successful concern, but customer wise, we have grown from strength to strength. We reached no.1 on the Tripadvisor rankings and received a achievement of excellence award for 2012 from them. At one point we were ranked 3rd from over 4,000 restaurants listed on the Costa Blanca. The problem we have are the overheads. You cannot begin to imagine the crap we have to pay out! Without listing every bill we have, if I was to say that we have to earn 5,000€ a month JUST TO BREAK EVEN, you can begin to understand how difficult it can be. So yes, we have made a 'success' of our restaurant, but financially, it has been very difficult to survive at times, especially during this recession. So, on the other hand, when we receive an offer like the one we got on Thursday, we have to give it plenty of thought.

We have thought and thought and though again and have decided to undertake the new venture! From a financial point of view, we wont have anything like as many commitments as we do now, so a huge weight has been lifted from our shoulders. From a challenge point of view, I probably need a new one, and am really looking forward to it. The bar is currently NOT serving food, so we are basically starting from scratch again. I don't think I'll be able to serve 'my food' at first, but I look forward to designing a menu more in tune with my new clientele. It'll probably start off pretty basic, but I hope to introduce them to my talents quite soon! I am happy to listen to any food suggestions or ideas you have...

Although it will be sad to leave the restaurant, it wasn't a difficult decision in the end. We have decided
 to make Christmas day our last and we start at the Sports bar on Wednesday 2nd of January, so we even get a week off! It'll probably take us a couple of days to move our stuff out and in to the new kitchen, so still might be able to relax for a bit.

Okay, that's it for now, apart from letting you know that today they started paving the little section outside our doors that they have left for 6 weeks! A touch of irony there somewhere!

Sweet dreams all and I  ill speak to you all very soon. Thanks for reading

Jimbo

Days 229 - 234 Busy Friday, Busy Sunday, but Thursday and Saturday a little quiet. Oh, and they've dug the bloody road up AGAIN...

I haven't blogged for a while, so here is the last 6 days news for you all to peruse! I will quickly start by telling you that they've just dug the bloody road up AGAIN. Yes, only 4 weeks after laying it, its up again. Don't know what the heck they're doing... Some pictures to help set the scene for you...

 Absolute joke. There is nothing more to say on this subject. Well, at least until I whinge about it again next week!

Back to the Friday of last week. A decent day in the cafe for November and a good night in the restaurant for  fish and chips. Really hate doing the whole fish and chip thing, but it pays the bills. Well, some of them anyway!

Saturday was desperately quiet both in the restaurant and the cafe, so nothing to report there. Nearly forgot to report that I gained 3lbs this week. Not sure how, not sure why, but sure as hell gonna shift it this week!

Sunday started off as a bit of a worry as we only had 14 bookings. Doesn't sound too bad having 14 bookings, but we're used to having it in the 20's. The problem I face on a Sunday morning is not knowing how much food to cook. How much of the 25 kilos of potatoes do I cook for the roasties? How much for the mash? How many Yorkshire puddings do I cook. How much of the 5 kilo piece of Topside do I cook? How much of the 3.5 kilo piece of Pork Loin do I cook? It goes on.... We always get phone calls on Sunday morning asking for tables, and we always have people just turning up on the day, but it's still a dilemma when the bookings are down.

I took the decision to cook the lot, and fortunately it paid off. We ended up being full! I have decided just to cook the lot now every week irrespective of the booking situation. I hate waste, but if there are any leftovers, they always end up getting eaten at home!

So far this week has been pretty quiet in the cafe, so we'll see how the rest of the week goes. I will update you all with news as soon as it happens!

Nite nite
Jimbo xx

Day 227 & 228 - ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzz...........

It's been a VERY quiet couple of days at work, SERIOUSLY quiet, so not much to report on that score. I will put a picture up of tonight's set menu, so you can salivate...

Oh, and a picture of the Christmas Day menu...

Well, that's about it for work! On to home life...

I have cycled 10km for the last 2 nights, but still not really over this cold yet, so no cycling tonight... Limp excuse I know!

Thats it! The most boring blog I've ever written, (actually there are probably more boring ones!). I hope something happens over the next couple of days to excite you lot.

Speak soon

Slimbo xx

Day 223, 224,225,226 - 10,000 views on my blog!

So, after whizzing round the supermarket first thing on Saturday morning, I popped over to the 'Beauty Box' for my weekly weigh in before work. I felt lighter and was very confident of a loss. I was right to be confident, as I had lost 3lbs! Yipee, I have finally started losing weight again. I had been on the exercise bike on Tuesday and Wednesday night and managed 10km each time, but man flu set in on Thursday, so I was too achy and run down to attempt it again that week. In fact, tonight, (Tuesday) is the first time I had been back on the bike since and I managed 8km before having enough. Although I feel better than last week, it hasn't completely cleared yet...

On to work...

Not only have they STILL not finished the paving outside, but they've now stuck some fencing up where we have been temporarily  putting our chairs and tables whilst we have no pavement! I think the young ones out there use the phrase WTF! Absolutely ridiculous...

So, although no one can currently sit outside our cafe AGAIN, we were pretty busy on Saturday. I say pretty busy, we ticked over nicely... It was a quiet night in the restaurant though. November is notoriously the quietest month of the year, and this year is no different!

Sunday's never disappoint though, and this week was no exception. Once again we were full and we didn't even manage to take any leftovers home! I suppose it's a good thing that a) we sold out of food, and b) I didn't have to fight the temptations of roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings etc. 

The last 2 days at work have been pretty much a wash out, both financially and weather wise. I spend a lot of my time winding up old mates in England about how great the weather is here, but at the moment, Calpe seafront might as well be Blackpool, Brighton, Hastings, Torquay or any other seaside resort back home. Its horrible here at the moment and the forecast is not much better for the next week or so! To show you how bad it is, here's a short video that Laura took from the car whilst I braved the weather and collected Harrison from school!...

I've only lived here for 3 1/2 years, but this is definitely the worst I've seen it. Spain has virtually no drainage, so the roads are under inches of water and everything gets flooded!

Okay, that's about it for now, I hope to bring you some more news soon. Can't say too much, but may have some interesting news at the end of the week............. ;0)

Take care all, thanks for reading, and speak to you all soon

Slimbo!

Day 218, 219, 220, 221, 222! - My thought's on menus......

Helloooooooo!, I'm back! It's been a funny old week...

Monday was our 1 day off in 14, and as usual, it was spent doing all the things we cannot do on the other 13.... There isn't a lot we can do anyway, as we drop Harrison off at school at 9am and collect him at 4.30pm. Calpe doesn't have much in the way of shopping facilities, so we either have to go to Benidorm, (which is a 30 minute drive), Alicante, ( an hours drive), or Murcia (an hour and 45 mins). The nearest 'Ikea' is in Murcia, and we have only been there once in 3 1/2 years! I used to go to the one in Brent Cross once a week! So you can see how not much in the way of shopping ever gets done. I bought a bean bag (on Monday)for a fiver off one of those local Facebook selling sites, as I've always wanted one for playing games on the TV etc. I am yet to sit in it yet, (it's Friday night as I type this), as Harrison has accosted it and it's now his....(little shit!)

Tuesday was a pretty slow day in the cafe, and by about 10.30am I was really bored, so I started 'playing' with food in the kitchen. I had been thinking about doing some sort of sushi type thing, a) because I like it, and b) because on the whole, it's pretty healthy, but as I didn't have ANY of the necessary things to make some, i.e nori roll, wasabi, sticky rice etc, I decided to improvise! Here's what I made...

Nothing to do with sushi, I know, but it's what I had, so it's what I used! As always, the picture isn't great, so if you cant work out what it is, here goes. It's simply 2 eggs, whisked, and then poured on to a plancha, (a flat hot plate thing used a lot in Spain) in a rectangular shape. Once cooked I put it to one side and made the filling. It was just 1 rasher of bacon, (fat trimmed), 1 hash brown and a couple of mushrooms. all cooked and then chopped pretty finely. I placed the 'omlette' on a board and spread some grated tomato, (seasoned with a little salt, pepper, sugar and olive oil), all over. Then spread the filling over and wrapped it up into a long sausage shape, using a bamboo mat... Simples!

Okay, so it's not sushi, but it's the best I could do with the ingredients I had! Didn't taste bad either!

Wednesday was a slightly better day financially, but nothing of any excitement to report,  unless you count the 94th minute winner from Moses for Chelsea in the Champions league! Another game that I don't think we deserved to win, but happy with the result!

Thursday was prep day, and as always, at about 11am, I left the hustle and bustle of the cafe for the relative tranquility of my upstairs kitchen. My music choice this week was predominantly Jaime Cullum, with a little bit of 'The Script' thrown in for good measure.

Here's the menu, so I don't have to keep explaining what I was doing...

I had seen some sweet potatoes in 'Aldi' of all places and,  as I hadn't cooked with them since moving to Spain 3 1/2 years ago, I thought this was the perfect opportunity. I am trying more and more to not think about what I am going to put on the menu, but instead, let the produce guide me. I know that sounds a bit poncey, but I think it's far better to see an ingredient and be inspired by it into coming up with a recipe, rather than composing a menu and then trying to look for the ingredients. Surely that's what being a chef is all about? I know some restaurants here in Calpe, (and probably everywhere else), that have had the same menu for years and never changed it. How can they call themselves 'chef's', when they are just content to churn out the same boring old food every night for 20 years? It shows a complete lack of passion, invention or care. So many take the easy option and just stick a load of starters on their menu that they can just chuck in a deep fat fryer. Okay, so it's easy to deal with several tables at once when you are just chucking everything in the fryer, but it's not cooking. It's not creating anything, it's just putting frozen produce into a fryer to be cooked and served on a plate. What does that tell the person reading the menu? I grant you that 90 percent of the population of Calpe couldn't give a toss, but I personally, wouldn't want to eat in a restaurant that never changed its menu. Do these places not use the seasons to determine which produce they will buy? What they are saying to their customers is that they are not using seasonal produce, they have no inspiration to come up with different and interesting recipes, so therefore they are not in it for the love of cooking, they are just there to earn a crust. As I said, I would not want to eat food made by a chef who didn't give a shit....

So, with the sweet potatoes staring me in the face, I wondered off into a moment of thought and decided to put them with some belly pork and a little sauce made from the pork juices, a few bacon lardons, a little of chicken stock and a touch of cream. The picture is a terrible one, as I didn't present it particularly well, but believe me when I say it's one of the tastiest things I've EVER cooked. Firstly, a picture of the mash, and then the completed dish...

I really believe that I would not have come up with that dish if I had not seen the sweet potatoes. That's why I believe that the produce should dictate some of the choices on the menu. Not every choice can be made that way, but there has to be some inspiration somewhere, or menus become boring. Maybe some people would look at my menu and find it boring, but at least I try to change it around and come up with new ideas, and most importantly, serve food that no other restaurant anywhere near here is serving. It wont be everybody's cup of tea, but in my view it's better than just eating the same food over and over again....

There, it's off my chest now!

On to today... Another really busy Friday in the cafe today and we managed 38 covers for Fish and chips, which isn't bad for this time of year. 

Thought I'd give you an update on the state of the pavement outside. Instead of explaining, I'll just upload these pictures and they will tell you all you need to know.... The first is right outside our door, and the second is a view of the rest of the street. You will see that the road is STILL closed and the pavement is STILL not finished outside our door...

It's weigh day tomorrow and although I have only been on the bike twice this week as I have been a little under the weather, I still managed to cycle 20km and I feel that a loss of weight is on the cards! I feel lighter and thinner, so I'm hopeful. I will of course fill you in with the result tomorrow. If you can't wait for the blog, just have a look at my Facebook page... www.facebook.com/groups/185455448234743/

I'm off now to suck on a Halls mentholyptus and watch Eastenders!

Nite nite

Jimbo :0)

Man flu....

Sorry for my lack of attendance over the last couple of days. I am shattered and in the middle of a bout of 'man flu'. I hope to be back tomorrow....

Poorly Jimbo :0(

Day 214, 215, 216 & 217 - A good Thursday, an okay Friday, a fantastic Saturday and a good Sunday!

Well, the unfinished pavement works still remain! The eyesore is still outside, but it doesn't seem to be doing trade any harm. For the beginning of November, we're doing pretty well. We will never get back the money we lost during September and October, but at least we're ticking over int he cafe. The figures are up on this period last year, so we'll just keep on plugging away and see what happens...

The restaurant is performing well too, and Thursday night was exceptionally good for this time of year. We had 24 in and I was so pleased that 12, yes, 12, had the set menu! I have added a couple of choices to the menu so that there is a little more choice. It used to be three starters, three mains and three puds, but as more and more people choose it, I can afford to put a couple more options on. This weeks menu looked like this... (forgot to take a picture of it, so had to type it!)

STARTERS

Home made 'Jiminestrone' soup

Tomato and mozzarella salad with Basil oil

Goats cheese, Serrano Ham & caramelised onion bruschetta with balsamic syrup

Home made smoked 'Jimackerel' pate

MAINS

Italian sausage casserole with polenta

Spaghetti with tuna and tomato

Pan fried cod with lentils

Confit of duck leg with cannellini beans and bacon lardons

Tagliatele with bacon and cream

DESSERTS

Home made Strawberry cheesecake

Pears poached in cider with caramel and pecan ice cream

Affogato

Ice cream

Coffee

All for just 11.95€ including a drink!

Everything fresh, everything freshly cooked, everything made with love ....!

Friday was okay... Managed 25 for 'Fish and Chips', which is down on a normal Friday, but still a decent turn out. I think there's many a restaurant that would be glad of those sort of numbers...

On to Saturday and 'Race night'! Every so often, we hold a 'race night' at the restaurant, which is always a cracking night. Hosted by the very talented Matt Mason, it's an evening of horse racing, a bit of fun, a quiz and some grub. I managed to win 7€ on the last horse race and 15€ on the pig race at the end of the night! Good times. Really enjoyed the night, it almost feels like I'm not working on these nights as it's one of the few occasions that I can get out of the kitchen and get involved a bit. A very big thank you to Linda Banks for rounding up a huge group of customers for us too! I owe you a drink or 2 Linda :0)

We served up our usual fayre of Steak, ribs, chicken, coleslaw, potato salad etc, but this time I decided to experiment with the chicken a little. I normally serve chicken breast, but decided to do something on the bone for added flavour and ease of serving. Here's what the chicken looked like. Not a good picture, but....

Carrying on my tradition of renaming foods I 'invent', I have called this one 'JFC'! Didn't actually get to taste one, so will have to make some this week!

Nearly forgot..... I had my weigh in this week, and yet again, stayed the same weight. Less carbs, more exercise required. This plateau is far too long!

On to today and ANOTHER full house for Sunday lunch. We had a table of 8 who travelled for an hour to get to us today from a place called Pego, purely on a recommendation. We must be doing something right... After finishing their lunch, 2 of them booked for Christmas Day!

Got home at around 5.30pm and decided that as the pool temperature was 19C, I would have a little swim! I lasted about 15 mins and then my extremities started to numb, so I got out! It might be the last swim of the year methinks... Just in case there are any doubters out there....

I may not be Michael Phelps, but I do my best!

Ok, I'm off now, its been a hard couple of weeks without a day off and I am relaxing with a glass of Merlot and a game or two of poker.

Speak to you all soon

Jimbo xx

Day 212 & 213 - The padded shorts have arrived!!

Hello again! Not much happening in the way of interesting information at the mo, but I'm just checking in with you all to let you know I'm still alive!

Work has been pretty busy in the cafe all week, which is very heartening, baring in mind its the end of October. It is mostly regulars as well, which is also good to know. I was only saying last week that finally, after 3 and a bit years, we seem to have a growing customer base and a loyal one too! Taking into consideration that we are in the bowels of a never ending recession, I think it's quite an achievement. Now I've finished patting myself on the back, I will move on!

I am in an experimental phase of cooking at the moment, both at home for my 'change of eating habits', and for recipes etc for the book.... I am trying to embrace vegetables as much as I can, as I have never really been bothered with them much before. As I've said before, I'm not really sure why, I just haven't. So, I have been thinking deeply about how to use them as much as possible in my everyday routine. It is just another confirmation of how I am still changing my eating habits so that they become the norm. I am starting to appreciate the flavours and the recipes that can be made, just using simple, cheap, and fresh veg. They only need a little something added and they become a complete wholesome and healthy meal. An example would be tonight's dinner. Firstly, I made some 'fat bloke friendly' home made hummus! It really was so simple. I drained a jar of chickpeas and put them in the food processor, along with a little olive oil, lemon juice, water, salt & pepper. I could have added some garlic, roasted pepper, coriander etc, but I wanted it to be simple. I spread the hummus on to a tortilla wrap and then added some grilled aubergine, rocket leaves and some fat free yoghurt which I added some mint to. Wrapped it all up and shoved it down my gob! I have to be honest and say that although I was pleased with the way it turned out, I think that rocket leaves were the wrong choice. Possibly water cress would have been a better bet, or dare I say it.... iceberg! I then noticed that Laura had not used up all her filling for the burritos she was making, so I pinched some of the chicken and cooked peppers and made another wrap! Here's what it looked like...

Sorry that the picture quality is not what it should be, but we are still to sort out the lighting in the new house...

That's it for now. The padded shorts have arrived, and I'm off for a 30 min cycle on the exercise bike!

Speak to you all soon, and thank,s as always, for reading

Jimbo xx

Day 209, 210,211 - The east coast of Spain is on wind alert!

I arrived at the Beauty Box for my weigh in on Saturday full of hope of a decent loss. It was one of those days when I really thought I'd lost weight as I felt lighter and thinner. The scales had other ideas though! I stayed the same weight. Although a little disappointed, I am heartened by the fact that my clothes are baggier on me, I feel thinner and I feel lighter. The weight will fall off soon...

Work was pretty slow in the cafe during the day, but the evening was excellent for a Saturday. It's hard to know why there are slow days and good days, there just are. Saturdays can be very hit and miss in the cafe, it's either all or nothing, there is no set pattern. Saturday nights are usually quite quiet, but not this week . We had 28 in, which is way above average. After 3 years of experimenting with different menus, I think we may have found the best option. It seems that the 'All you can eat' option, running in conjunction with the Set 3 course menu is the one that brings the most in. We have been doing it for 6 months now, and it has grown form strength to strength. I am not saying that it is the answer to all the financial difficulties we have in running the restaurant, but it's what pulls the customers in. As I have stated before, the 'All you can eat' is not what I wanted to do when I opened a restaurant in Spain, but it pays the bills. I still get to do 'my thing' on the Set menu, so it's not so bad really....

Sunday was another full house for Sunday Lunch! Everyone came in at the time they were supposed to, so it ran very smoothly as well. Sometimes all the planning in the world can go 'tits up' when people don't turn up when they are booked, so for everyone to be more or less on time is a real treat! Until you open a restaurant, you will never understand how difficult it can be! I never realised before, that when I used to book a table in a restaurant for 8pm and arrive ten minutes late, how much this could balls things up for them! People are given a slot time for a reason! I get so annoyed when people ask if they can book for 2pm, for example, and you politely ask if they can make it for 2.15 as it is really busy at that time. They agree and then turn up at 2pm! Why do they think they have been asked to arrive 15 minutes later! As I have just said though, unless you experience the problems first hand, you will never know the disruption it causes. I forgive them all!

This weeks starters were a choice of mushrooms soup, or a tomato and mozzarella salad. I always have a little bet with myself as to how many will order each one, and this week I predicted a landslide for the soup. Although only a simple dish, the salad is something that the majority of our customers would find 'too foreign muckish' for their taste. Happily, on this occasion, I was wrong! The majority of those who had a starter, ordered the salad! Yipee! Here's a piccy of it. I made a little basil oil to accompany it and I think it added to the presentation as well...

If you are thinking of making the basil oil, a little tip is to quickly blanch the basil leaves in boiling water for 10 seconds and then immediately plunge into iced water. This keeps their vibrant green colour. If you don't blanch them first, the oil will be a much darker shade of green and not look so nice...

On to today... Busy, busy, busy... especially for a cold Monday at the end of October! Again, not sure why today should be so busy, it just was! Not complaining, just banking the dosh!

I decided to be a little adventurous today and have some home made falafels for my din dins. As well as being pretty good for my diet, I really fancied doing something with the jars of chick peas that sit in my kitchen cupboards! As I couldn't deep fry them for fear of digesting too many calories, I couldn't make them to the proper recipe, so I made them with cooked chick peas. They were really easy to make. I just mashed up some chick peas, added some cumin, garam masala, spring onion, coriander and a little harissa paste, made into little patties and fried in a tiny amount of olive oil. I have to say, they were pretty tasty too! I also made a little tomato and onion salsa and a little mint and yoghurt dressing, shoved it all into a pitta and voila! Stuffed....... Here's what they looked like.....

If the Americans think they've got wind problems tonight, think of my neighbours!!

That's it for now I'll be back when I have some more news for you all! 

Thanks for reading, and if you have any friends that you think might be interested in following the blog, just send them the link! So far the blog has had approximately  9500 'visits' and I would love it to get to 10000!

Jimbo

Day 207 & 208 - Finally, more had the menu than the 'all you can eat', yipee!

Thursday is prep day and it was spent listening to Ed Sheeran and Michael MacDonald. A bit of new and a bit of old, both completely different genres, but both excellent in their own way. Thoroughly enjoyed listening to both.

On to the food...

Although I like to change the menu as often as possible, I have stuck with the confit of duck leg now for about 4 weeks as I keep getting really good feedback, and everyone keeps ordering it, so it's going nowhere for the moment! If you've never tried it before, it really is worth giving it a go. Bags of flavour, and I think the canellini bean and bacon goes really well with it. Here's a piccy...

I also reverted back to an old favourite of mine, roasted pork loin with lentils. I didn't stuff it this time, as sometimes I think it's nice to taste meat just as it is, without any outside flavourings...

On to the salad bar....

I made cous cous with sundried tomatoes, coriander, apricots, courgette and aubergine,and it was jolly lovely!

For the pasta salad, I used some lentils, tomatoes, cucumber, white wine vinegar, olive oil,  and black olives. I wouldn't normally use those packets of 3 coloured pasta, as I think it's more for kids really, but I thought the colours might go quite well. I cooked the pasta in chicken stock instead of plain water for a little extra flavour, and it worked quite well...

I also made some coleslaw, and here they are in the 'salad bar'...

For the first time ever, MORE PEOPLE HAD THE SET MENU THAN HAD THE 'ALL YOU CAN EAT'. Yipee! Although we only had 14, 8 had the menu. Finally!

Today was a very busy day in the cafe. For 3 hours at lunchtime, it was like an August day full of holiday makers. It was unbelievable. Wave after wave of customers sitting inside and out. Unfortunately, some walking past as they couldn't get in. Not bad for the last week of October!

Tonight was pretty average with 32 portions of fish and chips being served, so all in all, a very good day financially.

I have a feeling that tomorrow is going to be an equally busy day! We have the early morning shop to do BEFORE getting to work, I have to pop to the Beauty Box to be weighed, we have a full day at work tomorrow, and have 20 already booked in for tomorrow night. For those of you who regularly follow the blog, you will know that Saturday's can be pretty quiet affairs, so to have 20 booked is good news. I'll let you all know how the weigh in went in the morning.

I'm off to watch Eastenders and play a little 'Songpop', so I'll speak to you all tomorrow.

Jimbo