Barcelona and Back: A girls gotta eat!

Well i know its been a while and I have just been so busy the past week. We got back from Girona and went straight to Madrid and well since then I have been running in circles and trying to find a little time to get some sleep in there. Anyhow I this week has been a week of great food. Some days I feel like I am in the Italy portion of Eat Pray Love... only in Spain.

When it comes to food I don't even know where to start! I think I will start with cooking - both with Montse and then the cooking class I took.

Let me just say Montse is an incredible cook. That is not just an opinion, but a factual statement - and we are always having something delicious for dinner. My favorite being bread and cheese night - but thats a different topic. I can pull together a plate of bread and cheese with out a problem, but what I had no idea how to make was paella and spanish tortilla. Both of which are traditional food here (and really yummy if I do say so myself). So a while ago Montse and I took the afternoon to make paella with different sea creatures in it... I don't think I have ever had so much sea food in one sitting before. I think I may have to make a fish-less (or version w/ less fish when I get home) Guest chef night here I come!

Montse and my sea food paella

Now in addition to learning how to make paella - i learned how to make spanish tortilla, which is kind of like an omelet w/ potatoes, that you slice into wedges - like slicing a cake. Like paella you can choose what you want in it - but really potatoes are the most common. Me being the genius I am forgot to take a picture of the tortilla that night - looks like I will just have to take a picture of the next one I make.

Next up Cooking class.... So me and 4 of the other el casual students went to a traditional spanish cooking class. And I can not even express how good this food was! We started with tapas - small dishes (generally shared) we made pan con tomate (bread and tomato - similar to a bruccetta) and then we had Spanish tortilla (not as good as Montse and mine, but thats okay) and then we had a tomato gazpacho, which was absolutely to die for. After a lovely meal of tapas (I was already getting full) we had Paella. Now Chessie, Anna, and I where in charge of the paella and let me just say it was bomb-digity! (yes I just said bomb-digity) but really it was some of the best paella ever! It was chicken and veggie- which I think is way better the sea food one. Now for dessert we had a very traditional Catalan desert - catalan cream. Which is similar to a creme brulé but different... needless to say I ate everything! Warning to all back home - this will be my guest chef meal, prepare to be full for about 2 months after.

gasspacho, bread and tomato, tortilla

Chicken/Veggie Paella - aka - amazingness

Now one of my absolute favorite thing to do in Barcelona is the Boqueria. Its a huge market right off Las Ramblas with everything one could ever imagine. I love walking around taking pictures of the food, seeing all the different people, and most importantly trying all the different types of food. Today I bought myself a piece of bread, a slice of goat, a slice of gruyere, and a peach. I was a happy girl. There are also tons of small restaurant/cafés right in the market. Here are just a few of the pictures from today... I am not going to put them all up because that would just take forever....

Fruit and Veggies