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Posts Tagged ‘Friends And Family’

New Years Eve in Barcelona

Oct 20, 2010 Bakery Pastry

After the lights and energy of Christmas, it’s time to see in the new year. This is an exciting and vibrant time of the year in many faiths and countries around the world. It’s a time to forgive and forget and to make those all important resolutions; most importantly, it’s a time to start afresh. Experience New Years Eve in a cosmopolitan city and spend your holiday in Barcelona.

Keeping with tradition, the new year celebrations begin by eating twelve grapes, one for every time the clock chimes for midnight. In many Spanish places this is performed outside and the streets are covered with people eating grapes. In Barcelona, it is not seen as necessary to eat the grapes outside and many eat their grapes at home before venturing outside for the big party.

Every club and venue is called into action at this time and usually organizes a special new year party for which tickets are issued in most cases. There are also super-sized parties held in venues across the country and some people choose to hire out their own private venue for a special party of their own. Others may be slightly more intimate and hold a party at their Barcelona accommodation for friends and family only. Although a diminishing tradition, some people wait to see the sun rise over a beach. Traditional food associated with new year is “churros”, a finger or banana shaped pastry and hot chocolate. During the New Years Eve time you can still find a lot of available Barcelona hotels and Barcelona apartments.

The first week of the new year is dedicated to children. On the night before the 5th January, the three kings – Melchior, Gaspar and Balthazar, disembark their ship at the harbour and there is a grand parade through the town with the kings and their pages – another opportunity for the children to get involved. The kings are then left alone in the city to hide presents. It is customary to write a letter to the kings and request specific presents although they may like to throw in a few little surprises.

Another traditional food is the tortell de Reis which means King’s cake. This is a cake with a difference as it has a figurine hidden inside it. The person who is given the slice containing the figurine is celebrated with a paper crown. The cake itself is a round and simple sponge cake which is made by every bakery in the city. The cake has another trick up its sleeve too as the person who is served the slice containing a “faba”, a type of bean, has to pay for the cake.

These traditions are not all necessarily followed to the letter although the majority will participate, especially in the precession of the kings. In Barcelona Christmas is accepted as a time for having fun with friends and most importantly family.

Tags: Barcelona, Barcelona Accommodation, Barcelona Apartments, Barcelona Hotels, Cosmopolitan City, Countries Around The World, Faiths, Friends And Family, Grand Parade, Grapes, Holiday In Barcelona, Hot Chocolate, Hotels Barcelona, New Year Celebrations, New Year Party, New Years Eve, Pastry, Private Venue, Sun Rise, Three Kings, Traditional Food, years

Stress-free Cookie Shopping

Aug 27, 2010 Bakery Stores

Some people just cant get enough of cookies, biscotti, muffins and other delicious, freshly baked goodies. If they cant have their fix at home of Moms chocolate cookies or lemon cranberry muffins, they would rush to the nearest bakery to get some, and hopefully share with friends and family back home. If they are lucky there would be a bakery right on the street where they live but if less lucky, they would have to go out further to find one that bakes their favorite chocolate chip brownies or scones, whichever they fancy at the moment.

In the old days, you would just have to sulk if Mom didnt bake your favorite baked goodies or if the local bakery didnt have them. Now you only have to start your computer, open your favorite browser and google cookies, muffins or any baked goodies you want and presto, you can order online and have a cookie or a basketful of muffins in no time. Of course you would have to wait a little, depending on the location of the bakery but the wait should just make those baked goodies more delectable when they arrive.

Ordering freshly baked goodies online gives you many advantages. You dont spend gas going to crowded malls and avoid dealing with uncooperative sales clerks. It is easier and thus less stressful. You will have many choices and the pictures in them are so nicely presented that you could almost smell their aroma and taste them. You could drool just seeing the pictures that you would want to quickly press the order button. Shopping for baked goodies to give as gifts to friends and family is so convenient if you do it online too. It is a novel and creative way to show how much you appreciate them during the holidays or any special occasion they may be celebrating.

Bakeries with online stores are very much aware of this trend and so to attract more customers, they send out emails and do extensive online marketing to promote their freshly baked products. They usually feature a baked goodie of the month, such as brownie-filled cookies, raspberry-filled cookies or maple walnut cookies. These are only some of the baked goodies you can find online ready for your orders. Ordering online may appear impersonal to some but you can actually personalize your order to make your baked goodies gifts appeal more to the recipient. You can ask the merchant to include playful messages, special phrases or blessings of your choice. This will truly make your gift a blessing to those who will receive it. Some people have even sent baked goodies to their friend and family stationed overseas. You can order cookies to be sent to your husband who is a soldier or sailor abroad serving the country. Cookies are durable and are able to survive the tumbles and shaking of being shipped. You know that such gifts will be appreciated and can certainly boost their morale, helping them endure the rigors of their stay wherever they are assigned, whether inland or out at sea.

Peach Tarts & Personalysis

Aug 25, 2010 General

My office uses Personalysis to improve our communication and work effectiveness and it has really helped to have a common language to understand your coworkers, their motivations and communication expectations. Now the good folks at Personalysis have opened their services to friends and family and asked those of us with blogs to help get the word out.

Now you can get a profile done for yourself, your partner, your teenage children, your parents… I am looking forward to profiling at least one person I know (I’m looking at you dude). I’ve been through the Personalysis facilitator training and enjoy drinking their koolaid so to speak, but I really think it is a valuable tool for understanding what people often can’t put into words. Who doesn’t need help communicating effectively with their family?! If all this sounds interesting, check out their website.
Another helpful thing to keep things running smoothly at home? Tasty treats like crunchy and custardy peach tarts. This week’s TWD selection was a great nearing the end of summer (say it ain’t so!) treat. I used nectarines and made two tiny little tarts. One had the gorgeous crunchy almond topping the recipe called for and the other I left plain. I tried to make it look like a flower….Both versions were enjoyed by moi, although the crunchy topping was perhaps my favorite part. That may be why I reduced the recipe but used the full amount of topping. Rachel of sweet tarte is our lovely host this week and you can find the recipe on her blog.