"Abril, aguas mil."

Don't be fooled by the title of this post - it isn't rainy here in Murcia. The last few days have all been sunny and (dare I say it) hot! Well, I think it's hot. I've been wearing skirts and tees all week and I still feel a little toasty. However, I still see local people wearing long pants, sweaters, jackets, scarves, tights, and boots... so if this isn't considered "hot" that can only mean that the heat coming in May and June will be ridiculous.

This has been a week of culinary adventures. I love cooking and I must admit that I haven't been doing as much of it as I would like here. Back in Nebraska I really enjoyed looking up recipes and trying to make new things, but here I've found that it's far too easy to just make a turkey/avocado sandwich or pasta. However, as you can imagine, those two dishes got pretty boring after awhile. Meanwhile, here I am in Spain where the local food is incredible and I have markets upon markets of fresh (and cheap!) ingredients at my disposal. So I think it's high time that I start learning to cook some sweet Spanish cuisine, don't you agree?

First on my to cook was ensaladilla rusa or "Russian salad." It's kind of a mix between tuna salad and potato salad. The ingredients are potatoes, carrots, eggs, tuna, mayonnaise, olive oil, green olives, salt and pepper. I added in red bell pepper (because I had half of one in my fridge that needed to be eaten) and a little bit of onion. This dish is really common in Murcia and throughout Spain, so as you can imagine, it's a little different everywhere you order it. Haven't met a version I didn't like, though. :)

It turned out pretty well! But there's a mountain of it... I'll be eating it the rest of the week.

Hope everyone is doing well and that spring is on its way soon!  Love to all, xoxo.

P.S. - The first batch of postcards has been sent!