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cava

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Summer is almost here… it’s time for outdoor fun, for a refreshing Hibiscus Sangria with mango, mandarin, lime and Cava (sparkling wine) to make it fizzy! I saw a recipe not long ago of “Agua de Jamaica,” a simple juice made by infusing hibiscus leaves and sugar, then cooling it and voila! The picture looked so yummy, and I thought, those flowers are so pretty… they must taste good too. Well, I found some hibiscus leaves in the market and tried them as a simple tea… without any sugar… wasn’t tasting as they looked…  I was shocked by how unpleasant that infusion was… then I had little Stevia (0 calorie sugar) and cooled it overnight. Wow! The difference it makes with a bit of sugar sometimes… It went from 0 to 1000! Same goes for this Hibiscus Sangria! Health Benefits of Hibiscus Hibiscus leaves have many health benefits; they help control your blood…

Seafood Marinera Pasta al Cava is a delicious way to welcome summer with mussels cooked in a splash of sparkling white wine, garlic, tomato, thyme and parsley. Marinera Mussels (Mejillones Marinera) is a popular dish in Spain combined with Pasta which equals Seafood Marinera Pasta al Cava! Not to mistake with the Italian Marinara sauce, a tomato sauce. This dish is the Spanish cousin of Spaghetti allo Scoglio from Italy. However, the main difference is the Cava, a Spanish sparkling wine and paprika. This touch makes the dish even more dreamy and festive! The natural sea broth from the mussels flowing down the cava-tomato sauce is disturbingly addictive. Marinera with or without Paprika? In Spain, there is a fight about: “Should Marinera sauce contains tomato or not?” Half does it with paprika and wine, the other half with tomato and wine. Both ways are acceptable, and I personally don’t want to interfere, so…

Hibiscus-pineapple Sangria is a ruby red, bubbly and exotic tasting Sangria, perfect for those hot summer days. The flavor of hibiscus tea, for the ones that don’t know it yet, resembles cranberries juice, there is a certain bitterness to it. So usually you add some kind of sweetener to it and it turns it into a delicious juice. Hibiscus is the new “recommended infusion to lose weight, it also reduce high blood pressure, digestion problems, cholesterol, inflammatory problems and help out with the liver function. Sangria is not a “one way only” dark red punch, it’s more of a method. There are as many sangria types as wine types or fruits… Sure we are used to see a dark red sangria with lemon wedges in it but there is no such thing as a one and only sangria. The sangria blanco, for example, is made with white wine and whatever fruit…

This is the “new” cool drink of the summer, already up, in Germany, and I’m spreading the good news here… Well the original version is from the north of Italy and it contains prosecco, elderflower, lime and mint. In my Spanish version, I’ve used a nice Cava instead of prosecco, and it taste fantastic! Last week we add some company over from Germany, and they told me about this drink. Which, they say, is everywhere in South Germany this spring. I already had some elderflower syrup in the fridge, since I am a big fan of those “Holunder Schorle” Austrian drinks, which is made of sparkling water and elderflower syrup. I couldn’t get enough of that simple drink! This Hugo drink is light, elegant and bubbly, perfect for those hot summer days! For the ones who doesn’t know the elderflower syrup it’s a deliciously perfumed, flowery and sweet flavour, it’s incomparable…

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