A little bit of Spain at home

I love Spain and I miss being there. Terribly. For those that don't know we lived there for a little while some years back and feel like it's our second home. Last weekend Nick and I had a real yearning to be there, so what was the next best thing? Stick on the Gipsy Kings and have a Spanish style feast of course.

If you can't get on holiday this year for whatever reason why not bring the holiday vibe to you? It's such good fun whether it be Spanish, Italian, Greek, whatever your favourite destination is, go all out. It's even better to invite friends round, to eat, drink and laugh together.

The great thing is you don't even have to make the food yourself as international cuisine/tapas can be found in most supermarkets these days so it's easy peasy!

I was going to make my own tortilla but as it was a spur of the moment decision, (they're often the best ones), I didn't have time so we bought one. Nick however made the patatas bravas and you can find the recipe here. 

We also picked up some olives, delicious tomatoes, serrano ham and crusty bread to mop everything up!

We bought fresh prawns to make prawn pil pil, a hot sizzling dish with garlic, chilli and olive oil. It's such an easy dish to do and very quick. Ours look a little anaemic in these pics, we usually marinate the prawns in the oil with the garlic and fresh chillies but didn't have time.

Bamboleo was blasting out and the rioja was flowing. Perfecto.

Seriously, to help with any holiday blues, either after returning from one, or if you can't get away, grab all your friends, get them to bring an item each, spread the table, make up a huge jug of sangria and create a little bit of of Spain at home, or whatever country it may be for you.

Even better if the sun's out and you can feast al fresco!

Do you have any tips for getting over holiday blues?