Day 122 - In the new house......and a few pictures...

We're in! Properly in! Yipee! I never want to move again! It has seemed to take ages, but finally EVERYTHING from the old house is in the new! There are still lots of boxes and crates to unpack fully. At least now the essentials are in place, (basically all my kitchen stuff!), and we can eat and drink etc....

I have taken a couple of pictures for any of you that are interested in having a peak .......

I will start with my outdoor kitchen......


Folowed by my indoor kitchen............


A little cosy spot to eat......


The rest of the house is in too much of a state to show all the pictures, but when all the boxes have gone I'll post a few!

Managed to wangle a day off today so we could finish off moving. After yesterday's opening of the floodgates, today was back to the incomprehendable quiet of a winters day. We took 4 times more money yesterday than today. I just don't understand........ Still, enough of the doom and gloom, back to food!

I decided to make a bit of a salad fest for din dins, with a few prawns thrown in for good measure.....


A couple of glasses of wine and a nice relax before heading to the pool......


It still isnt quite ready, but with temperatures in the high 30's today, I was getting in anyway!

So thats it! I'm in. Hope to have some interesting tales from work tomorrow!

I'm off for a swim, take care and I will speak to you all tomorrow

Jimbo

Day 121 - We've moved!.......nearly!

What a day!

Ridicuously hot, ridicuously stressful, but nearly there! We have managed to move 95% of our stuff into our new home and are sleeping here too. Our PC has no wifi, so I am having to use an old netbook to type this. Unfortunately the space bar and the 'l' key don't work properly, so I am having to constantly go back over my work and correct. It's a real pain in the arse! It's taken me ages to type this already!

I don't have much to say apart from I'm knackered, I haven't stopped sweating all day and I've eaten a pizza! Need to get some rest and sleep and get ready for tomorrow.

I'll post some pictures tomorrow

Sleep well
Jimbo

Day 120 - A very quiet Sunday Lunch

Well, we only had 6 booked and only managed 14 in total. I cannot remember one this quiet for at least a couple of years. Is it the heat, the recession, or my crap food!

I know only 14 ate, but I cant believe that NOT ONE of them ordered the Caesar salad for their starter. I find it mind boggling sometimes....... The perfect starter for a hot sunny day before a roast dinner................ What do they all have.....? Effing hot mushroom soup! Its not as if Caesar salad is a little out of the ordinary. Its a bog standard bloody starter! I know of a couple of restaurants in Calpe that serve the same things for the same courses for every Sunday lunch, but I'm sorry, thats not me. How can you go to the same place EVERY week and eat THE SAME thing with NO VARIATION AT ALL? Why would anyone want to do that? Why would you order prawn cocktail, (well actually what they serve is more of a 'formed fish' concoction baring no resemblance to a prawn cocktail), EVERY Sunday. I have to be honest, although its a bit of an 70's/80's dish, a good prawn cocktail is a pleasure to eat, but I wouldn't want a fake one every Sunday! I have such a  bee in my bonnet about this, but I know these people will never change their ways, so why do I get so emotional about it? Why do I constantly try and make my menus a little different and interesting? Why do I only use fresh ingredients when everyone else is using frozen? Because I give a damn! I cant just serve up the same old muck every week. I cant just put the same starters and mains and puds ont he same menu board every week. Can't do it, wont do it. I have already compromised so much and refuse to go any further down the 'turn into just one of the other restaurants' route. I'vehad my rant, thanks for listening!

I managed to remember to take pictures of todays puddings this week! I normally forget, but as today was so quiet, it was easy to remember! We served a sticky toffee pudding with a hint of ginger and a creme Catalan. Here are the pictures for your perousal!




Lucky for me that I do not have a sweet tooth, or this 'journey' would be Hell!

I'm off to bed as it's 1.30am and although we have a day off tomorrow, we are moving into the new house, so its going to be the day from hell! Wish me luck.

Speak to you all tomorrow
Jimbo

Day 119 - My first gain......

So, off I trotted to the 'Beauty Box' this morning for my weigh in. Bad news I'm afraid....... I gained 1 lb. After 16 weeks, it is my first gain. To be honest, I knew it was coming, and really I think its done me a favour as I was becomming a little complacent with it all and forgetting the basics, i.e counting calories and watching what I eat. It is probably at this point on previous attempts to lose weight that I start gaining and forget why I am doing it. Not this time. I really believe its the kick up the bum hat I needed. Watch out for next weeks weigh in!

Had 1/2 a day off today, (well if you can call being in the process of moving house having 1/2 a day off), and spent the majority of it humping (not that sort!), cleaning, sweeping, mopping and sweating!
Arrived at work at about 5pm and started prepping for tonight. We had 21 booked, so there was lots to do, as well as starting some of the prep for Sunday lunch.

We ended up with 28. It would have been 32, but a table of 4 that had booked for 9.30 got to the top of the stairs, turned around and left! Apparently it was too hot! July, Spain, hot....really?!! We wouldnt have minded, but if they had just walked over to their reserved table by the window, they would have felt the nice breeze coming off the sea and the nice breeze coming from the fan that was pointing directly at it!.................. They were Spanish..... wouldn't they be more used to it than the tourists who braved it? Oh well, their loss

So a decent nights takings, (today was just average in the cafe), so the landlord should be pleased as he might get some rent this month!

Only 6 booked for Sunday lunch tomorrow, which is probably the fewest bookings that we've ever had. Hopefully we will get a few bookings in the morning and some turn up on the day. We shall see. I havent done anything exciting this week on the starter front as 4 of the 6 are regulars and never have a starter! Its just a mushroom soup and a Caesar salad I'm afraid................ I'll let you know how we get on tomorrow..........

I'm off to bed. Nite peeps, speak to you soon
Jimbo (I have changed it from Slimbo, as I have gained weight this week)..........

Day 118 - What the hell is going on?

Ok, ok. What's going on? Yesterday the whole of the UK descended upon the cafe. Today was one of the quietest days we have EVER had............ I just don't get it. Confused, dumbfounded, words fail me........

On a slightly more positive note, we had 28 in tonight for fish & chips, which considering the heat, wasn't too bad. Some very nice comments too!

Continuing on the positive note, we have 17 already booked for tomorrow night, so pleased on that score.

I missed my weigh in last week as the battery in the scales concked out, so I will be at 'The Beauty Box' in the morning to find out how much weight I've put on! I know I always say this, but I have definitely gained..... I think! I have been feeling thinner for the last couple of days, but as I type this, I feel like a fat porker! I'll be content if I have stayed the same....... I keep saying that I need to enter 'phase 2' of the journey, but I dont seem to get round to doing it. Maybe I need a gain to shock me into action. I'm still aiming to have lost 10 pounds before the end of August, so tomorrows result will be interesting. As always, I will update you all on here tomorrow, or if you cannot wait until the evening, I will be posting the result on my food page on Facebook as soon as I know ............... https://www.facebook.com/groups/185455448234743/

Off to bed now as its 1am and I'm tired.

Take care, sleep well and I will see you all tomorrow ;0)

Slimbo

Day 117 - No, I'm not a miserable git!

Well , Thursday arrived and off we went to work again, wondering if it would be the same as the rest of the week. It was an all too familiar start. I got all the chairs and tables set up outside, cleaned them, unravelled the awning, put the boards out, made a coffee, sat down outside, drank my coffee and still no one........ There are days even in the winter when no sooner have I put the first table out, people are sitting on it. Again, I wondered what was happening.

11 am arrived and off I popped upstairs to prep for tonight. At about 1pm I got a shout from downstairs asking for a little help. I suddenly found out where all the Brits were........, in our cafe! It was madness for 2 hours! Sheer madness! I think they have finally arrived. Strange that it should be in the middle of the week, but a timely bonus for the till!

So, I need not wonder where they all are anymore! We found them, or should I say, they found us!

Moving on to evening service....... If you read yesterdays blog, you will see that I had a bit of a whinge at those who never try anything different and how frustrating and demoralising it is when you make an effort to give choice and quality to your customers, but its not appreciated. Well today my efforts were rewarded. (I've just had a little titter to myself. I am starting to type without looking at the keys after all these years, but I still make the odd mistake. My last sentence, ' well, today my efforts were rewarded', initially read......'well today my efforts were retarded!' It was only a couple of keys away, but such a difference in meaning!) Getting back to the topic of being rewarded........(lucky I didnt do it again there!), I was tremendously heartened by the fact that 3 people out of the 5 that chose the Menu of the Day decided to have the Asian spiced pork. Better still, they all loved it! I know that cos I asked! On a serious note, I never really leave the kitchen to speak to customers, unless I know them, as I'm a little shy in that department. It was recently suggested to me by a regular customer and friend that I should head out into the restaurant occasionally and 'mingle', as the customers love it when the chef comes out to talk to them. Really? I can understand it if Gordon Ramsay was popping out for a chat, but me?!!! Anyway, tonight I plucked up the courage and set off into the dining room. I headed straight for a table where I knew the people! After chatting for a few minutes with Jillian & Duncan, (hello Jillian, I know you're reading this!), I moved on to the next table, (where I thought the people looked nice!) and asked them if they were enjoying  their meals. It did occur to me just as I was walking over that I'd look a bit of a turnip if they didnt think it was very good! What would I say? Would I just stand there apologising? What would I do? I needn't have worried as they all said that they really enjoyed their food, and the chap that had the Asian pork said it was perfect. Phew! I served it with some Pak Choi and sesame noodles. Here is a picture of it. Its not the best photo I've ever taken, and I'm not happy with the presentation, but you'll get the idea.


That gave me the confidence to mingle a little more and I was really surprised that everyone was so complimentary. Nothing to do with the fact I had a huge knife in my hand! Only kidding! Maybe its the fact that they are not brazen enough to slag off my food infront of me! Maybe I'm just a genius in the kitchen! I'll let you all make your own minds up!
A decent day, and a busy night, so the signs are more promising. Already got about 18 booked tomorrow night for fish & chips............

Enough of my enthusing, its time for bed (1.30am), as I'm sure Harrison will be up at the crack of dawn tomorrow as its his 6th birthday! Thank goodness for Spongebob on line!

Sleep well and take care all and I will speak to you all again tomorrow

Nite nite
Slimbo x

Day 116 - Maybe I'm just a miserable old git!

Another day of wondering where all the British tourists were, until it was pointed out to me that they were all on the beach in Brighton! Thanks Gemma!

A day that followed the pattern of Monday and Tuesday. I'm hoping its the lull before the storm..... It's very strange though, as even though there is a recession on, the pound is better against the euro than it has been in ages, so I tought that maybe some would have taken advantage of that.... What do I know? !

It's so frustrating when you are trying different things to get people to eat your food and they are just not around. Its demoralising when you get excited about an idea, go and buy the ingredients, stick it on a specials board, and no one even orders it! The worst part is, I know its really good and tasty food.

Tomorrow is another day though and its 'all you can eat night', so after doing a couple of hours in the cafe tomorrow morning, I will be upstairs prepping for the evening sevice. I am going to make a tortellini broth as the soup course, but I bet they wont even know what a broth is, never mind tortellini! Saying that, I did make an assumption on Saturday night about no one being prepared to try anything a little different and I was pleasantly surprised and shocked, so maybe I'm just being a miserable old git. Maybe this industry turns us into miserable old gits.......!

Managed to do some removals this afternoon, so I would guess that about half the stuff is in the new house, and the rest can go little by little. We have a day off on Monday, so we will be able to get the bulk of it done then. We'll have to, as its the day before we get kicked out of here! Our current landlord is panicking sonmewhat, as he doesnt think we're going to be out in time! The Germans are coming with their juggernaut of furniture on the Tuesday! Might have to 'accidentally' forget to leave the electronic gate key behind ;0)  !

I will leave you all now, as I dont want to bring you down to my miserable level, and hope you all have a good nights sleep.

Take care readers and I will speak to you all anon...

Slimbo

Day 115 - Tuesday.....still no Brits...

Well, Tuesday has come and gone and we're still waiting for the tourists to arrive...... It was even more quiet today than yesterday....? No idea whats going on...????? Where is everybody?

On a positive note, it gave me time to play around with food! I decided that todays tapas dish would be a little twist on one I had last week on 'indulgence night!' It was melted goats cheese, caramelised onions, Serrano ham and balsamic syrup on lightly toasted country bread. Very scrummy! Here's a piccy...


Really tasty and loads of different textures and flavours. It works really well together. I'm using the word 'really' far too much! I think this might go in the book..... In fact, I may have to dedicate a whole chapter to 'nibbles & tapas' ..........

The content for the book is growing by the day, but I need to find time in my ridiculously busy life to start typing the bloody thing!

Not sure how the weight loss is going, I've been neither 'good', nor 'bad', so Saturday should be quite interesting............. On that note, I am going to finish my internet poker, (doing well again), and head off for a swim. I managed about 20 minutes earlier before being 'attacked' by my son, so I need to put in a few more lengths.

Thanks for reading, take care, sleep well and I will speak to you all tomorrow
Buenas noches!

Slimbo xx

Day 114 - Monday July 23rd. Have the kids broken up from school in England yet?

The answer is NO! A ridiculously quiet day in the cafe. I was only saying to Laura this morning that I wondered if all hell would break loose today. Obviously the mad rush to get away from England hasn't happened yet........................

At least it meant that we could get away at a reasonable time and get home for a cool down in the pool. On arriving home, it was decided that while everyone was there, we would move Harrisons trampoline from the old house to the new. Its 14ft in diameter, so as it was too big for any transport we had, we decided to walk it the 200yds or so. A strange sight for passing motorists...., thankfully, there weren't too many about....


For those of you who don't know, I'm the one on the right!

I finally got my swim about 30 minutes later. We then took Harrison out for a birthday dinner. Its his birthday on Friday, but we're at work all day and night, so we took him out tonight. He got to choose where we went and he decided on a Pizza/Pasta place we went to a while ago and ordered himself Rigatoni bolognese. Bless him, he's not 6 till Friday!

Thats about it for today, just playing some on line poker, (and doing well...) and off for a swim soon, so I shall bid you all good night and speak to yuo tomorrow.

Did any one notice that 'you' was spelt 'yuo'?   ;0)

Slimbo

Day 113 - Another Sunday service

Well, another Sunday service has been and gone....................

I take it all back! We DO have customers willing to stray a little from the 'traditional path'! For those of you who didnt read yesterdays blog, (how dare you), I decided not to offer soup as one of the starters for todays lunch, (sacrilege!). Instead, there was a choice of char grilled vegetable bruschetta or a tomato and mozzarella salad. Guess what?....................... WE SOLD OUT OF BOTH! Have I managed to turn them round, or was it just a complete fluke? We will find out next week when I serve up seagull shit! Only joking!

Apart from that, not much to report. A decent service for a Sunday lunch at this time of year, (baring in mind the ridiculous heat), and home to the pool for a well earned dip.

Nearly forgot........, before getting in the pool, there was just time to notice that Harrison and best friend Susana had been painting while we were at work. ALL OVER THE DINING CHAIRS! Not good when you are about to ask your landlord for your deposit back as you are leaving in a week! The chairs are outside drying.................

I'm off to bed now. Sleep tight and talk to you all tomorrrow. (Did any of you notice the 3 'r's in tomorrow? Just wondered!)

Nite nite
Slimbo

Day 112 - The 15th weigh in........, or was it?

Well thank God thats over! What a day.........

It started badly and didnt get much better! I arrived at 'The Beauty Box' for my weekly weigh in and eagerly took off my shoes before mounting the scales. The lovely Heather placed the scales on the floor and turned them on. Or at least attempted to turn them on. The battery had lost its juice and there was no spare. I didnt have time to pop to the shop and get another, so I will just have to wait until next week! Sorry to all those of you who were waiting for an update.....

 A hot and sweaty one downstairs in the cafe, then prep upstairs for a couple of hours, home for an hour with Harrison and then back to do it all again this evening!

It was looking as if we were going to get an early night, as all our customers had started early and were nearly finished at about 8.45pm, and then the phone rang! A table of 6 for 9.30! Can't complain as its money, but it would have been nice to get away relatively early for a change. As it happened, we made it home for about 11.45........

Headed for the pool again, (my second swim of the day), for a much needed cool down and some more lengths. I'm on a mission to lose 10 more lbs before the end of August............ We shall see.

I have decided to be a complete rebel and NOT do soup as a starter tomorrow! I know, I know, how will the die hard traditionalists cope without their soup? Who cares......they're not getting any!Lmao!
For the last couple of weeks, there has been a considerable drop in the amount of people ordering soup. Its not surprising as temperatures are around the mid thirties. I have tried doing gazpacho, but I think its a bit 'out there' for some of them, so I have decided instead to just do 2 non soup starters. I am making a char grilled vegetable bruschetta as one of the starters, and a tomato, mozzarella and basil salad as the other. I'll let you know how they fair tomorrow

I have just dried off while typing this and as its 1.30am and I have an early start tomorrow, so I will head for bed and speak to you all tomorrow.

Take care, sleep well and remember........ never eat yellow snow!

Nite nite
Slimbo

Day 111 - Friday's here again.....

Friday's here again........

A very busy day at work, both this morning in the cafe, and tonight in the restaurant. Back to normal after a couple of weeks wondering where everyone had gone! Oh, and it was bloody hot too!

On to more pressing matters................... tomorrow will be the 15th weigh in. I can categorically state now that I will NOT have lost weight this week. I have missed 3 days swimming and I indulged on Wednesday evening. Although I have been 'good' for the rest of the week, I cannot possibly have lost again. Having said that, I do feel thinner this week and I now fit into 'large' swimming shorts instead of the xxl ones that I was squeezing into at the start of the journey. I also got a lot of nice comments this week from people saying that I look thinner. Still a long way to go.............

So as always, I will update you all tomorrow with the results. If you dont want to wait until then, you can tune in to my facebook page at around 10am https://www.facebook.com/groups/185455448234743/

I'm off to bed as its 1.30am and I really do need to try and get up early to have a swim before work!

Sleep well, thanks for reading and I will be back tomorrow

Take care all
Slimbo

Day 108, 109 &110! - I'm back!!

I'm back folks!

I have to make apologies for my absence over the last couple of days, but I've had a couple of late nights and there hasn't really been too much to talk about, so I thought I'd give you all a break from my ramblings!!

If I'm being honest, one of the nights was a little business chat, but last night was pure indulgence.....Pool, wine and tapas. Does it get better? The pool was good, although I'm a little rusty, the wine was in abundance and the tapas was its usual excellence from my favourite tapas bar.

I am desperate to share some information with you all, but I cant until I have had one more meeting about a possible business venture. If I can convince the other party that my idea is a s good for them as it is for me, I'll be a happy man :0)  I promise to share my news with you all if and when it happens. I've no real news from work, things are ticking along, if a little quiet for this time of year, but nothing of any interest or amusement to report.

Need to leave you all now as I have some serious swimming to do to burn off my double indulgence! Sorry I haven't had much to say, but nothing much has happened..........

I'll be back tomorrow, hopefully with some interesting news ;0)

Take care, sleep well, nite nite

Slimbo

Day 107 - A day off.......

A day off spent away from the yucky heat of the kitchen, but stuck in the waiting room of a solicitor, trying to sort out more ridiculous Spanish paper work....

We had a visit from the 'Officina de Employ', (no need for translation there!), who needed some documentation that we have never had. They told us to get a 'gestor', (basically a solicitor), and travel to Alicante in order to update our paperwork. These are the times I could just get on a plane and move back to England. I hate all the ridiculous red tape crap. Its all so the town hall can just charge you for the most stupid of things..... Gets right on my moobs! Do they not realise that to go to Alicante we either have to close or pay someone to run the cafe? The answer is....they dont give a shit!

So we spent over an hour waiting to speak to 'Jesus', (yes, I promise, his name was Jesus!), who told us to give him all the paperwork we have and he will go and sort it. God knows how much he will charge......... (Hope you got the pun there........... God....Jesus....). I will say to those of you unfamilliar with the Spanish language that Jesus is pronounced 'hayzous', but it still makes me laugh. The Spanish also say 'Jesus' when someone sneezes!

We than had to got to our bank and ask them for proof that we had been paying our 'Autonomo', (basically we pay 540€ a month towards social security etc) since August 2009. That took a while! Finally, 2 hours after first stepping into the solicitors office, we were free. It was now 2pm and we hadnt had breakfast, so popped to a local bar/rerstaurant for a bit of tapas..

The restaurant is called 'La Picaeta' and is run by 2 lovely people who cant do enough to make you feel welcome. The food is really nice, so different from the usual run of the mill frozen tapas crap that you get everywhere else. In fact, I trust the food so much that I ate snails today for the first time ever!
I know as a chef that I should have tried these little slimey creatures before, but they've never really appealed to me! Some of the buttery, garlic sauces sound nice, but not the snail! As the tapas are very reasonably priced I decided to risk 1.95€ and try them. I'm not going to sit here and tell you that they are the most amazing thing I've ever eaten, but they weren't offensive at all in the slightest. To be honest, the main flavour I got was the nice tomato sauce that accompanied them. Here's a piccy for you...........


Finished lunch and headed off to the supermarket for the weekly shop. I really miss Sainsburys, Tescos and M&S. The supermarkets over here are shite!! Very little inspiration apart from the odd seasonal fruit etc.... Shop done, unpacked and we then headed over to the new house to have a good old clean before we move in. That was my day off!

Off for a swim now as I didnt get a chance of one earlier, so I wish you all good night and I will speak to you all tomorrow

Ciao for now
Slimbo

Day 106 - Sunday lunch.....

Well, we managed 5 hours kip before waking up and heading off to work. (We did wash, clean teeth etc first).

We had a booking for 20 downstairs this morning for breakfast, so Laura very kindly made my Yorkshire pudding batter, before heading downstairs until about 12. Managed to get everything done just as the clock struck 1pm....phew!

Although I am always pleased with the quality of the meat, (supplied to us by 'Europ Foods), today the Topside of Beef was exceptionally good and I must admit to having 1 or 2 little nibbles while slicing it!

I had made a lovely mushroom soup today and served it with a little cream and truffle oil and got some really nice comments. Here it is..........


I was also really heartened by the fact that so many tried the peach, Serrano ham and mozzarella salad. It surprised me a little as I thought most would think 'peaches with ham and cheese, not for me', but again got some great feedback. Its nice that a salad I 'invented' for my 'diet' was received so well. Sometimes it's actually worth going in to work... Here's the salad....


Got home around 5pm and flew straight to the pool. God , it was hot again today. Its hot every day at the moment, but today seemed especially hot. Managed a few lengths before Harrison and girlfriend Susana (they're both 5) turned up, so I became pool lifeguard, clown, child thrower and comfort blanket for a while. Very proud of Susana today,(who had a fear of water), for swimming without me holding on to her for the first time. It was really nice to hear her say 'I'm not scared any more'. Here she is in action...


Made Harrison some pasta with cheese and brocolli for his dinner, put him to bed and fell asleep with him for at least an hour! Very tired as not had much sleep over the last few days. Still, a day off tomorrow, so maybe a chance to relax a bit........?

Sleep well peeps, I know I will and I'll talk to you all again tomorrow. Thanks for reading

Nite nite
Slimbo....

Day 105 - What a day.....Knackered!

My God, what a day! Just got home at 01.30 and just got out the pool after a well needed wallow!

The day started with the usual Saturday morning rush to the supermarket before work. As it doesn't open until 9.15, its always a bit of a mad dash round to try and get all the shopping done and get back for my weigh in and then to work by 09.30. It never happens! It's usually 09.45-10am. This morning was no different... I managed to get my fat carcass in to the 'Beauty Box' at about 09.50 and was weighed by the lovely Heather. I was chuffed to hear that I had lost a further 2 lbs :0) A total loss of 2 stone 10 lbs in 14 weeks. It was suggested to me by Heather that I should set myself a weight loss target of getting under 17 stone by the end of August. Red rag to a bull! Bring it on. That's my short term goal. There is also the small target of hitting the 3 stone mark when I lose 4 more pounds. Lots of things to look forward to on the weight loss front.......

A stupidly busy morning in the cafe was followed by 4 hours solid food prep and then followed by 'Race night'. Always a good craic and enjoyable evening, but always a sod to wash up and tidy up afterwards. It doesn't help that the glass washer has broken down either, so we've had to use a different one........, me! It makes the clean up operation take forever. What with that and then the rest of the prep for Sunday lunch, its easy to see why we got in so late.....

Talking of Sunday lunch....., here we are again. Is it really a week ago. I have cooked a mushroom soup, (always tastes better the next day), and the second starter will be a peach, Serrano ham and mozzarella salad. Half of them wont know what a peach is, let alone mozzarella!!! It will be an interesting excercise (as always) to see how many order it. Its a pretty quiet one on the booking front again, with only 18 in the book so far. Lets hope a few more turn up on the day.

I will let you all know how tomorrow goes. Off to bed now

Take care and speak to you tomorrow
Nite
Slimbo

DAy 104 - Weigh in tomorrow.......hmmmm

Another pretty eneventful day. Only managed 28 Fish & Chips (lunch & dinner).... Think it must be the heat......... At least I hope its that!!

Got a busy day ahead tomorrow. Need to do a food shop and get weighed before work and then prep for 'Race Night'. Looking forward to it as its always a good craic. Also looking forward to hearing the amazing voice of Matt Mason, who as well as being an excellent compare for the racing festivities, is probably the best live singer I have heard. He only sings 1 or 2 for us during the interval, but different class.

Got to get on the scales tomorrow for my weekly weigh in. Not gonna say if I'm feeling confident or not as you must all be getting very bored of it now!

As always, I will let you all know the results tomorrow, and as always if you cant wait until tomorrow night, you can check my food page on facebook where I will post the results as they happen! https://www.facebook.com/groups/185455448234743/

Off to bed, so I wish you all a good nights sleep and look forward to 'talking' to you all again tomorrow.

Nite nite
Slimbo

Day 103 - and a nice surprise in the post!

Thursday, 12th July 2012 and this came through the post this morning.....


I usually shrink my photos a little to fit better on the blog, but I thought I'd leave this in its original format ! ;0)

Ok, enough patting myself on the back. Its just a certificate at the end of the day! Still quite proud of it though........ In fact, its not just a certificate, its recognition of all the hard work we and everyone else who works for us does. Thanks to all those over the last 3 years that have helped us get where we are today.............., skint, knackered, fed up and stupidly hot! Genuinely chuffed with it ;0)

It was a day of prep for me today. Made some coleslaw, mushroom soup, potato salad, pasta salad with chargrilled veg and spent far too long butchering a 7 kilo lump of rump steak! I really need to improve my butchery skills....... Here are some piccies......

 





Had a busy (I just typed busty by mistake and started giggling to myself) service tonight. We had 12 booked and ended up with 28. It seemed like 58! Really difficult service. Not sure why, it just never seemd to end........ I was interested to see how many people would try my slow roasted Asian spiced belly pork tonight, (it was one of the main course options on the set menu of the day). A little disappointed that only 1 tried it! It couldn't be classed as that 'different', but it still seems that the residents (and tourists of Calpe) prefer the safer option. The one person who had it was very complimentary. I must confess to having a little pick or two at it and even if I sound like I'm massaging my ego a little, it was bloody nice! Took a picture for you...


After the clean up operation, we eventually made it home at just after midnight. Straight in the pool for a quick wallow, and here I am...

Well, here I go actually, as its now 2am and I'm going to bed!

Nite nite and speak to you all again tomorrow
Slimbo

Day 102 - My Crocs arrived!

Well, another pretty uneventful day at work today, but the 26 pairs of Crocs, 50 bikinis, a portable telly, 2 DVD players and a box of junk I bought from a local selling page for 75€ arrived today! A huge thank you to Julie for collecting them for me. The bikinis are awful, (nice colours, but crap quality) and most of the stuff in the boxes is heading straight for the charity shop, but the Crocs are genuine, the TV works, as do the DVD players. We have begun listing the crocs on another selling site and we already have 3 orders! He who dares wins Rodders! Not sure how we're gonna shift the 23 other pairs, but we'll find a way!

As I stated above, a pretty quiet day at work, (apart from the usual mad hour at lunchtime, when everyone seems to pile in and order at the same time). A big thank you to Gemma, who happened to be there as the bedlam ensued, for helping out.

I have a day of prep ahead in the restaurant tomorrow as I have to prepare for both Thursday night the 'Race Night' we have booked on Saturday. Will take pictures of all the cold dishes as they are done and post them on here tomorrow. Got some nice fresh herbs in today, so will make sure I incorporate them all. Couldnt live without my herbs!

Tonights dinner was a simple, yet incredibly tasy affair. I simply boiled some tagliatelle until al dente and then mixed through some breadcrumbs, made with sundried tomato, stale wholemeal bread, basil, oregano and a little olive oil and fried until crispy. It cost nothing to make and was really nice. Here it is......


Well, its stupid o'clock again, so time for my bed!

I bid you all goodnight and will speak to you all again tomorrow

Ciao for now!
Slimbo

Day 101 - A really uneventful day

Well, if I wrote 'got up, went to work, went home', that would pretty much sum the day up. I don't remember anything interesting happening at all really...... Oh, actually, I tell I lie. Just remembered putting some English mustard on a rare roast beef sandwich today.........

It was a pretty basic day at work, with nothing to report. No ridiculous requestes from customers, or entertaining moments. In fact, at times it was so quiet that I was able to do quite alot of internet browsing. During my browse, I noticed that we had received another excellent review on 'Tripadvisor' to bring our total to 76. We currently lie in 2nd place, but we cant seem to move 'LaCasa' off the top spot. If you're bored and have nothing better to do, here's the link to the review...
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187526-d1896877-Reviews-Lauras_at_Westbeach-Calpe_Costa_Blanca_Alicante_Province_Valencian_Country.html

I also spent some time looking at a local selling page on Facebook and managed to talk myself into buying 26 pairs of new 'Crocs' for 75€. I dont really have the money to do it at the moment, but the mark up is excellent. I just need to find a way of selling them now!!!!! I might have to look into the possibilities of an Ebayo (is that the Spanish version of Ebay?) account......

I've had a little swim earlier, searched for a friends dog (Jess) that went missing yesterday,  I've watched Eastenders and BB and I'm off for another swim now, so I will speak to you all again tomorrow. Gonna get up early to have another look for Jess.

Nite all
Slimbo ;0)

Day 100 !!!!

I have reached day 100 of my journey and I have to say it has been a complete pleasure. Well, the eating side of it anyway! It has been pretty 'easy' so far, but I know the hard work is still to come, so I have used this landmark as a reminder to myself of the goals I have set. I think I need to move on to 'phase 2' now. I have no idea what phase 2 is yet, but it sounds positive!

A strange day at work today. Nothing for the first couple of hours and then madness for 90 mins! It was nice to get home and launch myself into the pool.....

I made aVERY nice dinner tonight..... We had some cod left over from Friday night and I was determined to eat some. Its not often we get the chance as its normally all gone, so I was quite excited! I decided to give it a herb and breadcrumb crust with some sundried tomatoes and it was bloody lovely! Unfortunately, silly boy here forgot to take a picture! Will definitely be cooking it again, so will make sure I remember next time.

After dinner we popped over to the new house to have another look around and get measurements etc. It was even nicer than I had rememebered it. Not looking forward to the upheaval, but really looking forward to living there. Apart from having a really spacious garden with loads of little terraces and nooks and crannies, there are fig trees, orange trees, plum trees and loads of space to plant my own veggies and herbs, so very desperate to get in and start planting! There is also an outdoor multigym, (which needs a little TLC), so I am going to have to try and use that a bit too. Can't wait to get in there......... We're going to try and move our stuff bit by bit over the next few days....

Just a reminder to you all that I would really welcome any comments you may have regarding my blog. Every day I scroll down to see if anyone has said anything and each day my heart sinks when I see '0 comments'. Take pity on me !!

Off for a swim now, (my second of the day), and then Eastenders and Big Brother, (yes, I know...) before bed.

Nite all, speak to you all again tomorrow
Slimmerbo!

Day 99 - Sunday lunch.............

An INCREDIBLY quiet Sunday lunch! Not sure if it was the British Grand Prix and the Wimbledon Men's final on this afternoon, or it was just a freakish day, but we only had 16 in today, which for a Sunday is unheard of............

There was a small positive though as my warm salad of fig and goats cheese went down rather well. I was firstly very happy that 8 out of the 16 tried it, and secondly that they all gave good comments. I took a piccy of it for you to see.......


Had a nice afternoon watching the recording of the mens final, (well done Mr Federer, you are the greatest player I have ever seen, and well done Andy Murray. For a set and a half you played some amazing tennis and then Federer just stepped up a gear. Your time will come....). After the tennis I had a nice swim and I've not done much since really! Watched a bit of telly, put Harrison to bed and basically just slobbed!

Gonna hit the sack now, so will speak to you all again tomorrow
Sweet dreams

Slimbo!

Day 98 - Result from the weigh in......

Got on the scales this morning at the 'Beauty Box', ((Calpe's premier Beauty salon, (hope you are reading this Heather) )), and to my delighted surprise I had lost another pound.....yipee! I really thought I'd gained. So, a total weight loss in 13 weeks of 2 stone 8 pounds, or 36 pounds, or 16.3 kilos. Oh, and 22 cm off my waist. Still on track and still not put any weight on so far. Really chuffed.

Work was madness this morning, I cannot remember a busier Saturday in the Cafe for a long time. As I type this we have just popped home for a couple of hours for a swim and a relax with Harrison, before going back to work for tonights service in the restaurant. We have 11 booked, so possibly a profitable night ahead as well. I'm going to leave this for now, and I will type some more when I get home tonight..........

I'm back! My work is done for now. We had 16 in the end. Could have been better, could have been worse...... It was a mixture of  'All you can eat' and Menu of the day. I was soooo pleased that 2 people had my authentic carbonara and loved it. It drives me mad that so many people think it should be made with cream and mushrooms because thats how they've been eating it for years. Dont get me wrong, I love pasta with cream and mushrooms, but it aint 'carbonara'. Just egg yolks, parmesan and a little parsley if you like.......... Here's one I made tonight.....


Just off for a swim now and then hopefully an early night as its Sunday lunch tomorrow. I am going to try a warm fig and goats cheese salad as one of the starters, even though I cant seee the old gits trying it! I'll let you know........................

Take care and sleep well
Speak to you all tomorrow

Slimbo!

Day 97 - The night before the weigh in ....Again!

Nearly reached day 100! Tomorrow morning will be my 13th weigh in. I think it will be unlucky number 13.........

I know I say it EVERY week, (well, except for last week), but if I havent gained this week, I will be amazed....... Can't put my finger on it, just have a feeling........

Forgetting that for a minute, today was a little on the dull side. A pretty quiet day downstairs in the cafe and only 18 covers upstairs tonight for fish & chips. It happens some weeks......... There's no exact pattern, but every 5 weeks or so, we seem to get a slow Friday and Sunday. Only 12 booked for Sunday so far, so looking like a wash out for both. Time will tell.......

Its late (as always), so I'm off to bed now. Wish me luck for the morning weigh in, God knows I need it!

Speak to you all with details of the result tomorrow. As always if you cant wait for the result on here, yuo can check my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/185455448234743/ where I will reveal all at about 10am

Nite nite
Slimbo

Day 96 - A day of prep in the kitchen..........

Thursday is prep day!  A chance to get away from the trials and tribulations of the cafe and spend time where I really want to be........ my kitchen! I have to be honest and say that until just looking the word up on 'Google' , I had no idea what the word 'tribulation' meant! Its one of those words that I have used as part of a phrase, but never really knew its meaning....... That is, until now! Now I know its meaning, (a cause of great sufering), I cant really say that there are tribulations in the cafe, although if I had any hair, I'm sure it would be grey by now!

So, back to the tranquility of my kitchen. I decided last week that as the Russian salad didn't seem to be that popular, I would do something a little less 'different', so I made a simple potato salad with sweated spring onion and bacon lardons. Very tasty............. I made a simpe coleslaw with the usual carrot, cabbage and onion, mixed it with some mayo and English mustard and then added some sesame and mustard seeds. Very tasty! Finally, a pasta salad made with tomato sauce, yellow, orange and red peppers, black olives and basil. Very, very tasty!! Here's some piccies of them being made and then a picture of the finished article......







I know the pasta looks a little like worms, but I like to try and use different types of pasta. Maybe I wont use this one again!

I did realise something a little strange tonight........ In the days when we were using the 'A la Carte menu', one of the starters was a tomato and basil bruschetta. It was never really a good seller and I could never understand why. Since we scrapped the A la carte, we tried it on the menu of the day and I would say that about 8 or 9 people out of 10 having the menu choose it as their starter. Just another reason why I will never understand this restaurant business........ Here's a picture of the bruschetta, (apologies as it's a little out of focus)......


So, another okay night in the restaurant with 15 covers, added to the downstairs cafe total today made it a pretty decent day all round.

It's 2 am now, so I really must get to bed as it's 'Fish & Chip' day tomorrow....., yipee.....not!

Will speak to you all again tomorrow. Thanks for reading

Take care
Slimbo

Day 95 - Another day off!

Managed to blag a day off today and did very little to be honest. Had a bit of a lie in, had some breakfast, had a swim and then drove to Primark for some bed linen! Life in the fast lane eh! I managed to be good and have a tuna salad for lunch while Laura scoffed on a chicken baguette and Harrison had pizza! 4 hours after that I had a bottle of water in MacDonalds while Laurs had a big Mac and Harrison had a burger! I spent the entire time checking out the calories on the packaging and wondering if a little burger would hurt. Then I remembered that it hadn't been a great week for me so far so I better not!

Didnt get home until quite late, (its about an hours drive and had to stop on the way back to do some food shopping for work), so I just had a quick din dins. I used up some figs and goats cheese left over from Lauras dinner last night and came up with this.....


I stuck the figs and goats cheese in the microwave for 30 seconds then stuck it on some rocket and spinach leaves and topped it with balsamic syrup and mixed nuts. Yum yum!

That was my day, good night and I will be with you all again tomorrow
Take care
Slimbo

Day 94 - A quiet Tuesday, but news from the tape measure!

A quiet day at work with not much to report. No strange requests from customers, no more road works, but still hot! Managed to blag a day off tomorrow. No sure what to do, maybe just a lazy day at home and a bit of cooking.....

A little saddened by the  result of Saturday's weigh in, I decided to measure my waist! Well, I certainly cheered up! I have lost 22cm around my waist! Thats 8.6 inches in Euro speak! Get in! I knew I was thinner................;0)

I had bought some peaches on Sunday from my fruit and veg man and had a few left over, so I decided to make a peach, mozzarella, Serrano ham, Parmesan and Basil salad. It was pretty good and I had a naughty little dip of the peach juice mixed with the olive oil with some crusty bread. Yom yom yom! Here's a piccie.......


I've got some super ripe figs to use up, so I will have a think and try and come up with something tomorrow.

Harrison spent a couple of hours next door with 'one of his girlfriends' this afternoon, so I was able to ahve a proper swim for about 45 mins. Needed to  burn off some of the calories eaten over the last few days so it was nice to be able to swim freely for a change! I did miss our little games today though...............

I'm off now, might have a little swim after I've watched Eastenders and Big Brother! (I sound like a right saddo!)

Take care, speak to you all again tomorrow
Slimbo

Day 93 - A day off.....yipeeeeeee!

First day off in about 4 weeks! Had a really nice day today. Woke up after 9 am for the first time this year! I'd gone to bed at 2.30 am, so not exactly a lie in, but nice not to have to get up at a certain time.

A couple of Lauras friends are in Spain on holiday at the moment, so we invited them over for a relax at ours. Thought I'd better do a bit of lunch for them, so decided just to do a simple BBQ. Being me, I thought I'd  to do something cheap and easy! I sliced up some courgette, aubergine, asparagus and a red pepper and rubbed some olive oil and salt and pepper into them. I cooked them in batches until chargrilled, popped them in a foil tray and covered. Just before serving, I popped the tray on the coals for a couple of minutes just to reheat. I had previously marinated some chicken breasts in lemon juice and coriander and left for about 2 hours. The chicken went on the barbie along with some sausages we had left over from Harrison's party! (Frozen of course!) , and that was that! Had a very nice relaxing day around the pool and then at about 5pm we hit the beach. Just farted about for a couple of hours and then returned home. Probably ate far too much today, so going to have to try and make up for it for the rest of the week. That as my day really..... Nothing more to tell you about for now except to let you kinow something that was said on Sunday by a customer. I had forgotten to tell you yesterday. Are you ready for this?...................... One of the desserts on Sunday's menu was fresh fruit salad. When collecting a plate from one of the tables, our waitress Kathy noticed that a customer had not eaten their fruit salad and asked if there was anything wrong. The reply was..................... 'I oredered it because I thought it would be tinned fruit salad. I dont like fresh fruit salad'. THIS IS WHAT WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH ON A DAILY BASIS!!!!!!!!!!

Good night peeps, take care and I'll be back tomorrow
Slimbo

Day 91 & 92 Weigh in results and Sunday lunch.....

So, I stepped off the scales yesterday morning a little bemused, as I had neither lost nor gained any weight. I felt sure I had lost a bit this week as I really do feel much lighter than last week, but the scales didn't agree! Not disheartened though as I 'know' I am thinner....... Looking for a big loss next week. I've just had a bowl of ice cream though, so not a good start!

Last night's 'All you can eat' was pretty successful again, with one customer saying that they were the best ribs he'd EVER eaten, and he'd spent a long time in Louisiana and eaten all over the world. Chuffed with that. Even though we have had to go down the 'All you can eat route' to pay the bills, we still try and do it to the best of our ability and still take pride in every plate of food that leaves the kitchen. Just because its a gimmicky night, it doesn't mean we compromise our standards.

On to today's Sunday lunch......... Pretty much like every other Sunday really. Worked my nuts off again in stupid temperatures to please those diners crazy enough to want to eat a 3 course roast in temperatures over 30C. I was very happy with the food and got a comment back that the mushroom soup was the best they'd tasted. What a nice thing to say......, then I thought to myself, how many bowls of home made mushroom soup could this man have had....?

Had 35 in total, but as 20 of them virtually arrived at the same time, it got a little hectic for about half an hour. I suppose the law of sod dictates that the 1.30pm's will be 15 minutes late, the 1.45's will be on time, and the 2pm's will be 15 minutes early. Do these people not realise why we take bookings for certain times........................!

A big thank you again to my 11 year old protege Jaimie who organised and served EVERY single bowl of roast potatoes and jug of gravy that left the kitchen today. You made my job a little easier today.

Had a couple of hours in the pool when I got home, just farting about with Harrison and his 'girlfriend' |Susana and then spent the rest of the evening relaxing and watched the footy. Well done Spain. If you ever want to know what real football is all about, just watch the way they play. As I type this its nearing 2.30am......, where does the time go? I will just finish watching the last 20 mins of one of my favourite films, 'Hitch' and then I'm off to sleep. Looking forward to my first day off in 3 weeks tomorrow..........................

Take care all, sleep well and I'll speak to you all again tomorrow
Jimbo