A hip spanish dish...

Today, we chat with Clare, wife and mother of 2 gorgeous girls, who moved to Spain from England when her youngest was 6 months old. Clare and her family live in Madrid, the girls are both fluent in Spanish and go to Spanish school. Naturally Clare now has a love of Spanish food, and the fabulous social way in which mealtimes flow on for ever as if there's not a care in the world. Life is so relaxed, and in restaurants, children are encouraged to just be children, and are not expected to sit still all the time, and be on their best behaviour. How very refreshing. 

Clare has agreed to share her recipe for Paella which her little 'hips' adore. Why not have a fun Spanish night at home, and try cooking a Paella? Nothing like immersing your little hips to a different culture from time to time.

So here we go...have a go at Clare's fool proof recipe.

"To be honest, the first time I cooked paella I got into a bit of a state about it. I panicked about cooking squid as didn't want to serve it up with the consistency of a rubber band, so I committed the ultimate sin and stirred my paella. Then I panicked that the rice wasn't going to cook properly!


Several hours later than planned, I finally emerged from the kitchen red faced but triumphant.  As it turns out, it's really not that hard to do, and now I just get everything ready in advance, pop all the ingredients in in the right order and hey presto - perfect. Kids seem to love it. Ok, it's not packed with veg, but it contains plenty of fish which might be more unusual for them to try. We're very lucky that the ingredients are plentiful here, but you can adapt the recipe to whatever you have locally. 

Ingredients - serves 4. This recipe is adapted from 'The food of Spain' by Murdoch books.

125ml white wine

1 onion chopped

12 black mussels bearded and scrubbed

Olive oil

1/2 onion finely chopped

12 chicken wings

Slice of jamon finely chopped

4 garlic cloves crushed

1 red pepper deseeded and chopped

1 ripe tomato peeled, seeded and chopped

90g chorizo sliced

A pinch of cayenne pepper

220g paella or any round rice

1/4 teaspoon saffron threads

500ml fish stock

85g peas

Prawns peeled and deveined

Squid tubes, clean and cut into rings

115g firm white fish cut in pieces

2 tablespoons parsley chopped.

Serve it with lemon wedges and crusty bread.


And how to make it...

You don't need a paellaria (flat cooking pan) - I use a large saute pan.

Chicken wings - cook the chicken wings in the oven on 180 deg for about 20 mins until just cooked through.

Preparing the mussels - heat the wine and onion in a pan over high heat.  Add mussels, cover shake gently, cook for 5-8 mins remove from heat and discard any closed mussels, drain and reserve liquid.

First lot of ingredients - heat the oil on medium heat, add 1/2 onion, jamon, garlic and red pepper cook for 5 mins.  Add chopped tomato, chorizo, cayenne pepper and cooked chicken wings.  Season.  Stir in the reserved mussel liquid (or wine if cheating) then add the rice and stir again.

Stock - blend the saffron with the hot stock and stir into rice (or shake in paella mix) - this is your final stir, make it a good one as you can't stir it again, ever.  Bring to boil, then reduce to low simmer, uncovered for 15 mins NO STIRRING.  If the stock runs too low to cook the rice you can add a little more.

Nearly there - put peas, prawns, squid and fish on top of the rice, then push them in.  Cover and cook on low heat for 10 minutes turning over halfway through until the rice is tender and the the seafood is cooked through.  Trust me, because you're cooking the squid slowly it won't be chewy.  Add the mussels for the last 5 minutes (which ever type you're using) and heat through.  If rice isn't tender add extra stock and cook for a few more minutes.  Rest for 5 mins (the paella not you) and then add parsley.  Proudly carry your paella to your waiting friends and family, let them help themselves and enjoy the applause! Hooray.

And here's a wee bit more about Clare....

During our time here, to get my brain back in gear, I mused on the idea of providing information for parents holidaying abroad from the UK and Baby Abroad was born.  At the time, there were companies offering to send baby milk and food to your holiday destinations for a substantial cost, which really is great if you're travelling somewhere where you feel you really can't buy the baby milk or food you need. However, at the popular tourist destinations such as Spain, France and Italy, there are plenty of options for UK babies too, it's just a case of being armed with the right information.  Hopefully parents are finding the information helpful and we encourage people to send us any new snippets of info they find as well as reviews of their holiday destinations to share with other parents.   Meantime, we continue to enjoy our time as a family here in Spain and hopefully we too can share our experiences to help make the holidays of other families all the more enjoyable"

What a magnificent effort. Thanks so much for sharing Clare. To find out more about Clare and life in Spain, head on over to Baby Abroad.

3 little 'hips' in sunny Fuengirola

Holidays in the sun are meant to be natures way of telling us to relax, take it easy, read a few good books, laze by the pool or the beach, and order cocktail after cocktail. All very well and good, but add 3 little 'hips' into the mix and its a different story. Or is it?

In the Northern hemisphere, the summer holidays are well and truly over. The 'hips' are back at school, and mums and dads all over the place are breathing a sigh of relief, and returning back to the normal day to day routines. Jo, a very good friend of mine from the UK, and a mum of 3 gorgeous hips, has kindly agreed to tell us about her holiday experiences with her hubby and 3 hips, and also provide us with some great tips and tricks that she has learnt along the way. Over to you Jo...

So, tell us a bit about you and your family?

Our family consists of myself, Derran, Charlotte (7), Sam (4) and Jack (2)

And where have you been of late with your little ‘hips’?

We went to spain for 2 weeks and stayed in our newly bought timeshare at Club La Costa, Fuengirola.

How did you get there, and where did you stay?

We flew to Malaga with Air Lingus which was fairly uneventful, and then drove in a hire car to our apartment.

Your biggest challenge?

Our biggest challenge was entertaining the hips on the plane.... But we've done it before, so from experience, packed DS games, new toys, books, stickers, plus, I made sandwiches to take as we were flying over lunch. Also it was so hot in Spain, so applying suncream was a real job!! They were good though...

Any big recommendations?

There is an amazing Zoo called Bioparc in Fuengirola that stays open till midnight. We got there at 6pm and stayed till 10pm which was excellent as it was dark and the animals all woke up... so amazing to go at night time. There is a fab beach near Marbella, which is very shallow and has lovely sand. We also went to the castle in Fuengirola, where you can climb to the top, and it doesn't cost much at all. In Fuengirola, there is a briliant pirate ship / climbing frame in the centre, which is very kid friendly and best of all has a cafe next to it. We decided to save the water parks for when the kids get a bit bigger!

What are your main tips for travelling with kids?

Make sure you buy some new toys for big journeys, a dvd player for car, and lots of food, drink and snacks!!

What would you not have left home without?

hmmmm, for me lots of books and playing cards and for kids, the dvd player, DS games, books and their fave teddies.

And finally, anything else you want to add?

We forgot Jack's bottle for milk at bedtime, so he went cold turkey and had no milk, and hasn't looked back!!!! We also bought buckets, spades, balls and a lilo out there, as that seemed to be the best way to cut down on luggage!

Kia Ora Aotearoa...travelling solo with an 18 mth old hip...

Now, from time to time we mention New Zealand, and not surprisingly (well actually, a bit surprising considering NZ is such a beautiful country) there are many Kiwi’s living in Australia who fly back home to show off the ‘hips’ to the family. The wonderful Fay kindly volunteered to give us an insight into her travels back home, and how she managed travelling solo with 18 month old Ally. Here’s what she had to say;

So, tell us a bit about you and your family?

I am a 30 year-old married stay-at-home Mum of one Hip (Ally) who is 18 months-old. We also have a wonderful 3 year-old Great Dane Cross who makes up the forth member of our family. My husband and I are both Kiwis and came over to live in Australia 3 and a half years ago and love it.

And where have you been of late with your little ‘hips’?

We have just got back from a two week 'holiday' in NZ (Cambridge - North Island), just Hip and I went to visit both sides of the family.

How did you get there, and where did you stay?

We flew with Pacific Blue (Virgin) and they were FANTASTIC! They saw I was flying alone with a toddler, and went out of their way to help. We had a whole row to ourselves both ways and even had help to carry our luggage off the plane to the baggage claim and the lovely lady got me a trolley too :) The air hostesses were lovely and played with Ally and didn't mind a bit when she went down to the staff section and played with the food trolleys. Outstanding service!

We stayed at my in-laws house, and luckily my wonderful In-Laws have purchased all baby equipment needed so we don't have to carry any extra's with us on the flight, (their way of getting us to go back more often)

What are your main tips for travelling with kids?

Be prepared for the flight!! It was the second trip Ally and I had done alone (Poor hubby never gets a holiday) the first when she was 10 months-old, so I knew what to expect, except this time she was walking! I packed snacks (favourite non-messy kinds), water (ended up buying a bottle on the plane too as she drank alot!), mini magna-doodle for non-messy drawing, a new toy that I wrapped up in wrapping paper for an extra surprise, a couple of other favourite non-noisy toys that I had packed away a couple of weeks before the flight to make them new and exciting again, nappies, wipes, spare clothes, and a portable DVD player that was worth its weight in gold! If possible only take one bag on with you if you are traveling alone, the less to carry the better!!!

What would you not have left home without?

Ally's sleep cuddly :) perfect for sucking on to make her ears pop!

And finally, anything else you want to add?

On the way back after going through the customs a security guy asked me why I didn't have a stroller, I explained the baby gear stays in NZ so we don't have to carry it on the flight. He then informed me that the airport have ones you can borrow from check-in and leave at the gate just before boarding - so will be doing that next time!!!!