Karen Wright: Tasty tapas on souvenirs from Spain for satisfying light lunch

Postcards for example.

Before we could send text messages to our family and friends at home, we used to send postcards to let them know how we were getting along. We would often start off by writing “wish you were here”! To ensure the postcard arrived before you got back home it was imperative to send the postcard within a day or so of getting to the holiday resort. My youngest daughter Vanessa still sends a postcard to my Mum each time she travels abroad, and my Mum really appreciates it, there is something special about getting something personal through your letterbox.

It is the same story with holiday photographs. Now we take snaps on the phone but not many ever get printed out and put into an album. It used to be very exciting waiting for your rolls of film to be developed. Once you had you photographs back, before putting them in an album you would take them to work, or school or to your family and pass them around to let everyone see where you had been and what you had been up to.

Souvenirs are another thing. When I was a child the last couple of days of a holiday would be spent buying trinkets to take home for grandparents and friends. If you were in Spain it might be a pair of plastic castanets or a sombrero or a beautiful fan. If you were in the UK you might take home a printed tea towel or some novelty pottery.

I brought home some fabulous ceramic Tapas dished form my recent trip to Spain. One day last week, even though it was freezing outside the sun was shining on our conservatory and it was quite warm in there. I decided to make the Tapas I mentioned last week and enjoy it for lunch. Tapas are small dishes of savoury snack food usually served with alcoholic drinks in Spain. I think the most famous are Patatas Bravas, so I made some of those. Simple roasted potatoes served with a spicy red sauce on the top. I also made some Tortilla which is Spanish Omelette, usually served cold. I made a few mini meatballs which are called Albondigas, I made a dish of Russian salad and another dish of mixed olives with chorizo. It was all delicious and a welcome change to our usual lunch of a ham roll!