Hello and Happy Monday!  

I meant to check back in last week, but time got away from me and I am shocked that I am back here, 7 days later, writing another weekend recap post.  

This weekend was a whirlwind of fun, work, and exercise- my version of the perfect weekend.

FRIDAY

Friday started how all good fridays start: with a huge mess of flour all over everything.  I was making challah and added the flour too fast and POOF!  It flew up into a big cloud and landed everywhere, so that was fun!

But once I got that cleaned up, it was all smooth sailing.  The day actually included lots and lots of bagels.

And a couple of long walks through the neighborhood.  It was one of those days were I have a lot of orders, but nowhere to be so getting out and getting fresh air is vital for my mental health.

On Friday night, Luis and I did one of my FAVORITE Spain things.  We went out to “tapear“, which essentially means we went out to drink and get free tapas.  We went to 3 of my favorite places around our house and actually scored pretty well in terms of free tapas!

First up, this bar that is right up the street from us.  It’s the typical neighborhood joint- kind of grundgy, not decorated, and your friendly neighborhood drunk is there having a beer with you.

We ordered two dobles (double beers) and got these little cheese and chorizo stacks.  I just had the cheese.  Normally, if they give us pork, we ask for something else, but since there was cheese too, we didn’t say anything.  Loved the manchego cheese!

Next, we went to one of my favorite Spanish bars near us.  Not fancy, not modern, and they always give great tapas!  Sometimes they do paella or other rice dishes, other times chicken and french fries…and all included with the beer!

They originally gave us something with pork to accompany our cañas (little beers), so we asked if they could give us something else and we scored!  We had these little sandwiches with tuna, olive oil, and tomato.  And potato chips!

Lastly, we went to a bar that is on the backside of our building and it ended up being the best of the night.  Luis got another beer and I got some white wine, and look at this amazing tapa!

It actually looks sort of gross in the picture, but those are toasts with ensalidilla rusa (like potato salad) and also toasts with anchovies and sardines.  If you don’t like anchovies and sardines, try them in Spain- MUCH BETTER!

All of this food ended up being my dinner, and the whole night cost us a little under 15€ 🙂

SATURDAY

Saturday was an early day for, you guessed it, bagels…and challah!

I had a few pick ups, and then a delivery in the center of Madrid, so Luis and I killed two birds with one stone and took the metro to do the delivery and then ran home.  It took us about 45 minutes and it was a great way to make the most of our morning.

In the afternoon, I took a little nap and then had a tour around 5:30 which ended up running WAY over, but the tour was fun and the people were nice.

After the tour, I met Luis for dinner at La Gabinoteca, which believe it or not- we had dinner there almost four years ago!  I hadn’t remembered until we walked in, but it was pretty cool to be back there all these years later, and actually, it was almost 4 years to the day.  This was the place where I asked Luis if he wanted to come to celebrate Thanksgiving with my roommates and me and he was very unsure- ahaha.

Our dinner on Saturday was good, but we both agreed it was pricey for what it was.  We started with this marinated tomato salad:

And then shared this “potito” which was a truffled egg/ potato thing that was very good, but very similar to the one they serve in 80 Grados.

We also had a potato thing with steak tartar, but I wasn’t a fan.  Too…raw… for my taste.  We were stuffed, but agreed that if you want modern tapas, 80 Grados and La Musa are better options.

SUNDAY

I was up sort of early on Sunday since I had slept for over 10 hours on Saturday night!  I got up and worked a bit on Bruja’s Bakery stuff before heading out for a run and some Nike Training Club.  It was a beautiful, sunny day and I felt good through a 30 minute run and 20 minutes of NTC. 

I am very sore today, so I think it was a good one!

Afterwards, Luis and I quickly got dressed and then we went to the center of Madrid to meet up with our new friends, Sarah and Fran.  I actually met Sarah through facebook and selling bagels (what a time to be alive, am I right?) and we have gotten along REALLY well and she is married to a Spaniard so we thought it would be fun for us all to go out together and while I have 0 photos to share, I can say it was very, very fun!  So fun, in fact, that I passed out for the night around 8 pm!  The theme of this weekend really should be sleep, because I sure did get a lot of it!

That’s all I have for you!  Today includes challah making, bagel dough making, a quick trip to pick up more supplies for Bruja’s Bakery, some cooking, and organizing my newsletter.  Happy Monday!

Oh, and for your enjoyment, here is a picture of the first pumpkin pie I ever made- 4 years ago!!!