A feast for the senses
Books and fruit
Soul and my senses enchanted
Hungry to devour.
Here is a shot of one of my favourite places. It's a fruit and vegetable shop near me that also sells second hand books! What a wonderful combination! A riot of colour, a collision of wonderful contradiction. It's nice to be standing in the sun with the perfume of fruit around you as you trace your eyes and fingers over once orphaned books seeking a literary treasure to take home with you.
I hope you are all having a good weekend. If you have any interesting/unusual shops where you are, be they book or otherwise, then please do let me know about them :-)
Wishes & Dreamings
- Martin.
33 comments:
Wow!! What an original place!! Looks like fun indeed.
Hello Martin from Washington DC. Great blog you have. Got here via Boris’ Blue Room blog. So terribly sad about the terrorist attacks in London. I was in London only once on a business trip but loved it, felt very much at home there. Having lived through the 11 Sept. attack in DC and worried about family in Madrid on 11-M, I recognize the looks on Londoners’ faces that they show in the news all too well.
That looks like a wonderful shop with all the books and fruit! I love both – what a great combination. Actually I don’t buy many books because I read so much that buying books would be a major expense for me. Thank goodness I have access to three well-stocked public library systems.
My favorite unique place close to where I live is a New Zealand café in Arlington, Virginia, called Cassatt’s that is also the home of the Arlington Arts Alliance. I don’t get there as often as I’d like but I make an excuse to go whenever my kids need new shoes because it is next door to the shoe store. The menu and the atmosphere are terrific, and there is always wonderful art work from local artists on the walls. I keep saying that one of these days I’m going to splurge on some of that art work. They also offer art classes. Unfortunately I don’t have pictures of the restaurant but its website is http://www.cassatts.com . Some of the artists’ work is at http://www.arlingtonartistsalliance.org/ArtistShowcase.html .
Have a great time in Spain! I’m originally from Barcelona, moved to the US with my family as a teenager.
No I don't have a blog...maybe someday. If I did unfortunately people would have to slog through long posts like this comment...
CRISTINA: thanks for the comment :-) Surely you must have a fav place to buy books? I would like to hear about it!
MARIJOSE: Here there! Thanks for stopping by here and your wishes for London. Much appreciated.
Been to Barcelona! Very nice city. Has a lot of energy and charm!
Sounds a great place to visit. I would make every excuse to go there! Thanks for the story of the place.
Best Wishes
- Martin
INteresting place :) HArdly see any combination like this in my country.TOkking bout unusual shop, there;s once i went to this medical bookstore that sells grocery as well~ From the facade of the store, it looks very much like a grocery store but one needs to walk further in to discover the tonnes of books :) WIll post that in my blog when time allows~
AXRIX: Thanks! Yes, please post that up in your blog when you have the time. I would like to see that :-)
Well after writing my comment I suddenly found myself hungry and not wanting to cook. Also had a rare few hours to myself with kids and husband out of the house so...I bolted to Cassatt's. Had a wonderful dinner, including gazpacho, and got to chat with the musicians setting up for the 7:00 show right in front of my table. But I couldn't stay for the music because we are down to crumbs at home and I needed to go buy food. Mothers of young children savor moments like this when we can steal away for a little alone time. Thanks for the inspiration!
MariJose: Sounds truly wonderful! :-)
I love gazpacho. I made myself some just the other weekend!
Shame you couldn't stay for the music, that would have made it perfect. I guess duty and kids called you!
Nice to see you again. Thanks for the interesting comments. I hope you will come back and visit me and the blog again and lease some more! Don't be a stranger now :-)
Best Wishes
- Martin
Thanks! Looking forward to your posts from Spain. I have never been to Andalucia. And if you feel inspired enough to run away from home for a few more weeks they are looking for workers in bars and restaurants along the coast in Catalonia: http://www.barcelonareporter.com/index.php/bcnreporter/comments/1805/ . I am intrigued by the job of "cocktail specialist." :-)
"a collision of wonderful contradiction"
I loved this line; it made me think of relationships for which there is no name. These are sometimes the most wonderful surprises, as was this post!
MARIJOSE: Hi! :-) Thanks for the page about Barcelona! Interesting! I wish I could run away to Spain for more than just a few weeks... Ah well... You never know! Not sure about extending my holiday by working in some bars. I'm trying to get away from work! :-D lol
M: Glad you liked it. It's actually only 10 mins away from where I live. I often pop there to see if they have anything new.
The bookshop you describe sounds great! I love those kinds of bookshops! There used to be a great one like that in Greenwich run by an American and he also has a cat... Sadly, it's closed now. Maybe he moved back and opened the store near you? :-D
YEMANJA: You're welcome. Thanks for visiting mine too! The paintings are great and they add to the stories. It's a nice format :-)
MERMAID: Glad I could send a wonderful surprise your way... as you did with your song. I have listened to that a lot of the weekend! I wish I could sing like you. :-)
JENNIE: Hi :-) That sounds a really amazing place. That's defiantly the type of place I would like to go. Hot milk and Kula sounds awesome and a great touch to be littered with art and international magazines.
Best Wishes
- Martin
Gazpacho is the best food ever for the summer :D
Yes! :-D
I could have done with some today as it was very hot :-)
Best Wishes
- Martin
Yes, gazpacho rocks! Whenever I have it I remember my wedding. It was in August and because of the heat (thank goodness for central A/C) we served gazpacho at the reception before dinner. My sister's boyfriend at the time had a taste and whispered to her, "do they know that this soup is cold?" :-D
Hi - nice to see you again! I hope you have had a good weekend!
LOL - The soup story is funny. I can just imagine the face and then saying "do you know it's cold???" Can you imagine having that hot? It would be really nasty!!!
Best Wishes
- Martin
Hi, Finnegan! Thanks for the comment, and please do stay awhile :-) Don't forget the wise raspberries! We got those too :-D
Best Wishes
- Martin
i love this photo. sorry, can't think of any personal comparison sat the moment.
but i do like marijose's thought about running away for awhile...right up my alley these days...maybe i could try it! :-) oh, right...i don't speak any spanish!
what an awful lot of comments. :) all i cansay is that i agree on gazpacho.....
I think we all agree on the Gazpacho :-D
I enjoy the comments. It's nice when you get a kind of discussion going on like with this post. I enjoy hearing other peoples ideas and view points. I enjoyed "just me's" post on the Zen thing. It was interesting to read the comments and peoples views on it.
Best Wishes
- Martin :-)
Martin, I was thinking today that hot gazpacho = sofrito (minus the cucumbers), which is the base for some Spanish and Latin American dishes: http://www.northcoastjournal.com/SEP95/FOOD_9_9.HTM . I remember "helping" my mother cook as a child by tasting the sofrito...she and I would blow and blow on the spoon to cool it because it was so hot. OK, I'm getting hungry. :-)
MARIJOSE: Thanks for that link and the info about the soup! Yes, without the cucumber in the soup it would work fine. Hot cucumber sounds really YUK! :-D The link sounds interesting. I'm gonna take a look at that later today!!!
Best Wishes
- Martin
okay, so i'm going to have to make gazpacho real soon: the fresh summer tomatoes should be ready soon.
YUM :-)
I'm gonna make some too. I will probably have some either next week or on the weekend. Nothing like ice cold gazpacho to combat the heat of summer!
Is it hot where you are?
Best Wishes
- Martin :-)
Yes, it's hot here too! Weather-wise, we are under what's called "Code Orange alert" today because of the combination of heat, humidity, pollution, and low air circulation. Washington DC is built in the equivalent of the bottom of a geographical bowl and the air can get pretty stagnant in the summer. See real-time picture at http://www2.nature.nps.gov/air/webcams/parks/nacccam/washcam.cfm . You can kind of tell how hazy the sky looks. Ugh. I always feel sorry for the tourists who visit here in July and August.
oh yes, hot, hot, HOT! my car thermometer read 37C (98F) but with the "humidex" it must be closer to 40C. no rain in weeks: the grass is all burnt, worse than it usually is in august.
Marijose Sounds hot!!! I wouldn't even come here if you were a tourist. At least you have lots of AC in the states. You get on a train or a bus here and you just roast...
Just Me 40???? And I'm complaining today because it's 28! That would be the hell!!!! Hope it cools for you soon! Anyway, good excuse to jump into that lake :-D
Best Wishes
La Luna
unfortunately that lake is a week away!
okay, martin, i just HAD to make gazpacho tonight.
Oh yum! Just the right amount of chunkiness for my taste. Any unusual ingredients in your recipe? I have one that calls for adding a carrot. I thought this was weird but it's actually pretty good. I love that gazpacho is like paella, you can experiment all you want and never make the same dish twice.
Just MeCouldn't resist?! I might have to cave in and make one too... maybe tonight :-)
Your gazpacho looks sooo good! I normally make mine a lot smoother. I'll have to try it chunky.
Marijose As for me: I normally make mine pretty standard. Tomatoes, cucumber, pepper, olive oil, vinegar
I don't think any recipe should be set in stone. Adding and changing is part of the fun and the art :-)
Best Wishes
- Martin
marijose & martin: i couldn't find my recipe last night so i did this from memory. i didn't add any olive oil or vinegar, but i did add lemon juice. i use V8 juice as a base & then add tomatoes (that really could've been riper), red & yellow peppers, onion, cucumber, celery, crushed garlic, fresh basil. i then puree about half the soup & leave the rest chunky. i season it with salt, pepper, tabasco sauce and worchestershire sauce. i find it's better if it sits for a day and the flavours mix. i can't wait to have it tonight.
Just Me I like the idea of the Tabasco sauce and the chunky style. When I make my next Gazpacho I will give that a go!!! I like the lemon juice also. It would serve the same use as the vinegar.
You are right, anything gets better if it's left to sit! However, knowing that tasty soup is in the fridge it would be very difficult to let it sit for awhile!!!! Let me know how it tastes. Sounds really wonderful :-)
I'm interested to try it with lemon juice and tabasco... will let you know!
Best Wishes
- Martin
PS: Marijose, what's your fave style of gazpacho?
I like gazpacho traditional style, I guess. I have a couple of recipes and the one I (more or less) follow more frequently than not is in the book Jane Brody's Good Food Gourmet. That's the one that calls for a carrot. It doesn't call for olive oil but of course you *have to* add olive oil or it's not proper gazpacho!
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