Tinto de Verano and Olives
Easy Living, Spanish Style…
Since my return from Spain I have made a conscious effort to take life a little more easy. No more trying to cram a week into a day and now, for the first time in three years I have begun to take time out to sit in my garden and reflect upon all that is good rather than dwell on the bad.
I have not yet given up on our English summer, I’m not far off but still believe there is a balmy summer’s evening to come. If that evening does come then I shall be ready for it. I have my last bottle of a particularly fine case of German riesling to be sampled and a nice shiraz to finish the evening off beside a glowing chimanea in a corner of the garden where pots of lillies, Moroccan mint, bay and an underachieving fig tree stand.
I am reminded of how the Spanish take time out with a glass of something cold. My friends took me to a great restaurant with a million dollar view of the ocean and a pristine beach. This is a place for the young, new age Spanish hippy/surfer types to come to. It has it all; weather, sea, sand, food and drink, and it was the drink that we had come to sample.
Tinto de Verano is a classic drink of Spain, it translates as the ‘red wine of summer’ and it is a perfect description. Red wine is mixed with a lightly sweetened soda called ‘casera’. It is served with plenty of ice and a slice of lemon and is as refreshing as drinks get on a summer’s day.
As we sat and took in the view we were given our drinks and a complimentary bowl of fruity, garlicky olives full of sun enriched flavour. Perfect….
Miles,
That sounds like my sort of drink. Tell me please that you indulged in some hippy shirt buying….. not the Hawaiian kind, more the tie dye
Now this may come as a surprise but I haven’t had a go at dying my own yet…. as you say though, the summer is young, there is still time. Not only that but rejoice with me that the lost beads have now been found. Last year I wondered (quite literally) into a large pavilion to get away from some horse trials where there were thousands of strands of exotic beads for the at-home jeweller. Clear contemporary rock crystal, ruby red corals that weren’t really coral and names I had never heard of. Yesterday I found them inbetween the forgotten leaves of Winter/Spring filing …. if things go on like this, Tony Robinson will be coming round to excavate 
Cid
July 17, 2008 @ 8:25 am
Miles,
Sounds very civillised, a style, the Nean household enjoys too.
We are also living in hope of a summer to come. Meantime, we pop in and out of the garden to catch a little sun when it breaks through. We even managed a fine glass of red wine with our savoury rolls outside the other day. Snatch what you can of the outdoor life, we
say. It lifts the spirits no end. Cheers
Elsie
July 17, 2008 @ 2:14 pm
Cid,
Right now the hippy lifestyle sounds very appealing, I am considering packing it all in and heading off in an old VW with guitar on the backseat and a dog which I shall call ‘moonbeam’ or something similar. I am thinking California but Skegness might be more realistic
Peace.
Miles
July 17, 2008 @ 3:13 pm
Elsie,
It was indeed pleasant and I could do with a glass or two and some of that sunshine right now.
Still, as long as it rains it makes the overtime that bit more bearable!
Miles
July 17, 2008 @ 3:15 pm