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