Celebrations for Three Kings Day
Today is Three Kings Day (or Epiphany) ! It is traditionally Spain's day to give and get Christmas presents.
Weeks before today children send their letters to the three kings filled with lists of toys that they'd like to receive. Then the night before the big day every village has its own parade with the magi on a float for the kids to see and if you are willing to wait in the line at the end you can even meet them! The town where I grew up usually provided hot chocolate and Migas to keep the onlookers warm, and probably the dads bellies contented.
The children eat their Roscón de Reyes (a pastry with a hidden surprise for the lucky) and head to bed early, but not before setting their shoes by the door along with hay for the camels and food, wine and treats for the over-exhausted and long-traveling kings.
The next morning everyone awakes with hopes of finding what was on their lists. Naughty kids are rumored to receive coal in their shoes instead of candy- however there is a candy coal that is not only tasty but also leaves your teeth, lips and tongue a blue-black colour for hours after its consumption.
Now you know, maybe next year you too can celebrate the day that is remembered to be when the three kings came to worship the King of Kings. The boys got little betta fish from the kings this year and named them Prince Caspian and King Miraz- two dueling men in their beloved Chronicles of Narnia books. I also painted this little picture of the kings in watercolour for the boys, they eat that kind of thing up and I enjoy having a reason to create. We also watched The Nativity Story, it is very powerful. I've watched it three times and have cried each of them.
The three kings traveled for a very long journey and brought Christ: gold for the King of Kings, frankincense for the Priest of Preists, and myrrh for the sacrifice (of His own life) that He was to make.
This year I have decided to contemplate what gifts I can bring to the feet of my King. What do I need to give Him? If you are willing, consider it too, something to bring to Him as an act of worship, today is the best day to do it.
Happy Three Kings Day!!
Properly Outfitted in Spainish Glory
What!? Suprised to hear about the World Cup since it is a full couple months in the past, well I can only promise you that this will not be the last time it is mentioned. It is kind of a big deal.
We have four years to celebrate- so we had better get that done right!! Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Jackson we (well all the boys) have an official Spanish World Champions fútbol (soccer) uniforms. They are different because of that gold star above the Spanish crest. Since we earned our right, we (all us Spaniards) will wear it proudly for the next for years until the next victor earns their spot as World Cup Champions.
For now we celebrate!
Do you remember being really excited about something like this as a kid, something that you didn't fully understand but you loved the passion that it brought?
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Spain’s Quesada Recipe
This is what I would call Spanish "cheesecake", but it is so very different that I hesitate to even mention that to you. It is more dense, browned top, not as sugary-sweet, with an amazing texture and I think about two thousand times better than what you probably know as cheesecake. For me it is one of those comfort foods that if you know is in the fridge you will want to go back to it and take little slivers off here and there hoping no one will notice so that you won't have to share! I usually double the recipe and jut put it in a larger skillet to back and add about 10 minutes. If I don't double it I end up being way too protective of it. Not good.
I baked mine in a cast iron skillet, but you don't have to, I've made it in a baking dish and it turned out just as good. If you do have cast iron though, I think you'll enjoy the convenience of using it for this recipe.
Quesada Recipe
(from The Taste of Spain by Camillia Jessel)
500 ml or 18 fl. oz Cups Milk (2+1/4 cups)
1 Cinnamon Stick
Peel of 1 Lemon
Butter
300 g (11 oz) Sugar (1+1/3 cups approx.)
150 g (5 oz) Flour, sieved with a pinch of salt (1+1/4 cups approx)
150 g (5 oz) Natural Plain Yogurt (1+1/4 cups)
2 Eggs
Powdered Cinnamon
Heat the milk with the cinnamon stick and lemon peel. When it boils remove from heat and keep.
Heat the oven to 350 F (180 C). Grease an appropriately sized tin, ceramic or cast iron mould generously with butter and put it in the oven. The sides should be about 2 inches (5 cm.) height as the quesada rises slightly.
Beat the sugar and flour with the yogurt and eggs in a bowl. Beat in the strained milk little by little. Pour the mixture into the hot mould, sprinkle with powdered cinnamon and bake for 45 minutes.
GO SPAIN!
I grew up in Spain, so my childhood includes late nights of soccer playing and mornings of sleeping in later than any semi-productive American (even teen) would dare. I can't apologize for my fútbol frenzy, or my love of the Spanish Selection Team (AKA. La Furia Roja= The Red Furry) because that just wouldn't be quite right since I am in no way ready to renounce this insanity. Especially not now that it has affected all the members of our family. For the games we are all wearing red, right down to the chickens, who dyed their combs red just for the occasion. We had no idea (note: NO IDEA) that España would make it beyond their first loss...but lets not go there since we only have on thing in mind right now:Spain winning the World Cup.
The final game is Sunday, we'll see how they do. I know I will be sweating, shaking and just out of control the whole game. Oh, and after it is over we'll call our cable company and get rid of this cable for the next four years at least :)
So can you guess what we have been up to in the back yard !?
Watch this video to get the full energy behind this game:
With a win Spain would not only have won the European Cup, but also the World Cup!!
Guernica
(I liked both covers for this book so I just HAD to include them!!)
Guernica
by Dave Boling
372 Pages
Literary Historical Fiction
Spanish Civil War
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
September 2009
This is the narrative of the Basque life through several generations. By starting out the novel showing the beauty and strength of the Basques it allows the reader to fall in love so that we care about the people when we dive into the historically accurate battle of Guernica. More than a battle it is a massacre, a test that Germany uses to figure out if these planes and weapons could cause total devastation. When the screams quiet and people crawl out into the light again they see the complete flattening of all they knew. And soon the one thing that they hate, the shooting in Guernica is what unites them. This common bond of humanity brings culture from the shattered buildings and the people out of their lonely homes.
I found this book to be incredibly historically accurate and loved that it filled in the human aspect of the whole conflict. I love history but more than history I love the social aspect of history (history's impact on humans) and I loved this book because it did just that, gave a face to the Basque nation and also a voice to their past. I have recently read several others on this time period and about this location which are amazing reads as well (links posted below). There is so much to learn from history, and so much that we just can't bear to repeat. Spain during the civil war was destroyed, and then the dictator Franco brought even more horrors to the people.
Guernica Painting by Picasso
Dave Boling is accurate, intricate and completely detailed in his re-telling of this devastating time. Having lived in Spain I could feel the hardship as I read his words. The characters he created were to die for, they were versatile, lifelike and entirely relatable.
This is a great book, it made me cry and laugh and realize that after the valley of pain we are able to feel joy better than we could before. I highly recommend that you pick this one up for any history lovers, or anyone who wants to read an amazingly hopeful and insightful book about this dark time in Spain. Yes, it gets my highest praise Stellar Five Chicken Book Award -enjoy!
Two other books I have reviewed about the Spanish Civil War and the Basque Nation:
The Return
Plants Don't Drink Coffee
Want to get your hands on Guernica by Dave Boling??
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Plants Don’t Drink Coffee
Plants Don't Drink Coffee
by Unai Elorriaga (in original Basque)
Translated by Amaia Gabantxo
208 Pages
Fiction
Archipelago Books
July 2009
In Plants Don't Drink Coffee the reader follows the story of four very diverse yet intersecting people while enjoying a ride of lightheartedness and depth. Tomas a young boy with the desire above all else to be intelligent, is the star of this novel or maybe one of the stars. He is precocious and witty and incredibly funny to read. When reading his thoughts you can hear him saying these things in a pre-adolescent, high-pitched and non-stopping excited sort of way. There is a main story which unites all four people that is clever and has a mystery feel to it, or adventure.
This book for me was a complete success. Unai did everything right in his writing and the translation was incredible as well (by Amaia Gabantxo). It was one of those books where you feel the need to keep reading it through the chapter breaks, and every time you sit down you want to lap it up. Reading about the Basque culture was very interesting to me, as it is a people group that intrigues me in their strength and resourcefulness.
I took this with me on the plane on my trip to Spain and it was the perfect read to keep my attention all through the long hours of sleeplessness on the plane, and then to help me pass some of my jet lag mid-night reading sessions after we arrived. Plants Don't Drink Coffee never failed to impress me, I loved most the honesty of the voice, the transparency of failures, the clever voice of a child and the witty actions of everyone. It is one of the best books I have read this year. Loved it.
It is my honour to bestow upon Plants Don't Drink Coffee my 'can't cluck enough' chicken award!
Our Conquest of Spain: Castles, Knights and Aqueducts
On our first stroll through Segovia, Spain:
Photo Spain Posts to Date:
Spain Through My Camera Lens
Our Conquest of Spain: Arrows and Sticks
I will try to post pictures here again, but I will be uploading them all to my flickr album España.
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