Barcelona: Miscellany

I left you on the last post with a lovely street scene.  We were on our way back to our apartment and lunch.

We did not always eat out at a restaurant when we were hungry.  One of the nice things about the location of our apartment was that within a five minute walk there was a square that was surrounded by restaurants and bars, and a similar distance away there was a street with a farmer’s market and numerous other shops.  Along the way to either of these sites you walked past small supermarkets, bakeries, pharmacies, boutiques, a place where you could buy flooring, and numerous bars and restaurants.

Barcelona, like many other large European cities, does not believe in zoning ordinances or in separating residential areas from commercial ones.  What could be more convenient than walking two doors down from your place of residence to acquire what you need for dinner?   Is it REALLY more convenient to have to drive several miles to the shopping center or mall?   Okay, I could get on a soap box here, but I feel strongly that the idea of being able to shop where you live makes a LOT of sense.

So, the first day we were in Barcelona, right after we checked in to our apartment, we walked over to the farmer’s market and laid in a few supplies.  It was truly an amazing place, filled with stalls that sold everything from books to baked goods.

It seemed to be organized in sections.  The one you are looking at above was the produce section, but just around the corner was the fish market.  This is just one of the stalls.  There were several dozen different shops selling every kind of fish and seafood you could possibly think of.  Some I did not recognize…

There were several stalls that specialized in eggs.  This was my favorite.   She had quail eggs, hen eggs, duck eggs, emu eggs, ostrich eggs, every kind of egg you could think of.  And it was so beautifully arranged.

This was Jim’s favorite stall, selling all sorts of olives and pickles.

Well, maybe not his favorite.  He liked the cheese and sausage spot too.   We bought some fruit and a few veggies, cheese and sausage. Down the street in the dairy store we found amazing yogurt, and further along there was a bakery where we acquired a baguette.  We were set for in house meals.

The produce stalls at this market did not suffer from the problem we find at our supermarkets, where the apples and tomatoes get bruised from being picked up and put down.  No one touches the produce except the proprietor.   You tell them what they want, they pick it up and package it for you.   You get lots of extra points and approval if you have your own shopping bag, like a proper European.

One of the places we came across on line while we were planning our trip was the Bodega E. Marin.

It doesn’t look like much, but the place is lined from floor to ceiling with wine and spirits.   That little table to the right in the doorway?  We witnessed a couple of workmen who were on their way to work who stopped off and bought a bit of grappa and an espresso, then drank their beverages at that little shelf before picking up their tool bags and heading off to their job.

This establishment is run by a gentleman who goes out to the wineries in the region and buys barrels of wine.  He brings them back to his shop and sells wine straight out of the barrel.   You can bring your own bottle, or he will sell you one.  This is what some of the collection of barrels looks like.

This whole idea intrigued us, as you can well imagine, and so we visited Bodega E. Marin and sampled some wine and bought a bottle to take aboard the ship when we started our cruise.   This transaction was complicated by the fact that the gentleman who owns the bodega is fluent in Catalan, has a little Spanish and no English, while I am fluent in English, have a decent Spanish, and no Catalan.   However, with good will, pointing, and baby Spanish we were able to complete our transaction.

This is a shot of Jim waiting while the proprietor pulls the wine we chose from the barrel.  Note the espresso machine on the right.

This is his tap arrangement.  All those barrels of wine are connected to this by tubing.

It was a LOT of fun to buy wine this way.  We got 1.5 liters of quite good wine, a bottle, and a glass of wine (we had to buy the glass we tasted) for slightly less than 5 Euros, which worked out to about $6 American with the exchange rate.  Pretty good deal, and we participated in a unique Barcelona experience.

Barcelona has rather unique experiences everywhere.  Down at the beach there are people who do sand sculptures.   They earn a little money by accepting donations from passersby, just like buskers.   Here is a real fire breathing dragon.  Yes, I put money in his box!

Public art is every where.   This is a large sculpture in a square paying homage to Miró, another very famous artist who lived in Barcelona.

And along the beachfront, a huge sculpture of a fish.   No purpose except to be really cool.

After enjoying some bread and cheese and fruit at our apartment, we ventured out again to explore the Old City.  This is a section of narrow streets that are completely dedicated to pedestrians.   You could easily lose your way in this maze of narrow twisting streets.

This was the scene outside one of the little bars that were all over this section of the city.   The man who owned the place was dancing an impromptu flamenco.  I loved the sign.

Part of the reason we wanted to explore this part of Barcelona was because this was where there is a section of the original Roman wall that enclosed the city way back before there was a Spain or Barcelona…

We found it.  There was also a section near a square, and we were fascinated by the way the city grew up around the wall and incorporated it.   You can see the old arches of the city gates within the structure of the wall.

For a second, look at a couple of pictures in this post and note the wonderful granite and basalt stones that the streets of the Old Quarter are made of.  I had reason to discover on this trip that stone is harder than kneecaps.   I missed a curb that afternoon, after successfully negotiating Park Güell and all the walking to and fro.

When I fell, I heard my lovely new camera smack against the pavement.  When I looked up from the shocking fall, I found myself surrounded by concerned residents and tourists.  I was asked in at least four languages if I needed an ambulance.

I reassured everyone that I was not in need of transport to a hospital, and with great concern tried to see if the camera was broken or not.

“We can buy cameras everywhere.   I’m pretty sure they are for sale in Barcelona,” my loving spouse told me with a certain amount of asperity.  “How are YOU?”

“Oh, I’m okay, I think,” was my response.   “My knee hurts, though.”  It quickly became evident that my knee was progressing expeditiously from “hurt” to “agonizing.”   We started walking towards the metro so we could go home, immediately shelving all ideas of stopping for a drink.   Within moments my massage therapist training kicked in, though, and I told Jim I thought I ought to try to get some ice on my knee PDQ.  Where to get ice?

We came across a bar, and my thought was that a bar serving drinks was going to have ice available.   As soon as I crossed the threshold, though, I knew that establishment was not going to be able to help me.  They were slammed, full of people wanting their afternoon refreshment.  The waiters were rushing about madly.  We left the place without bothering them.  Right next door was one of the small restaurants that were everywhere in Barcelona.   They had no customers at all.

We went in.   I was doing very well with my high school spanish until I tried to excavate the operative word for what it was I needed from the depths of my memory.   The proprietress really wanted to know what it was I was in need of, but the shock and pain of my injury caused the word for ice (hielo) to disappear from my mind.   I was floundering, near to tears by this time.   All I could think of to do was pull up my pants leg and show her my knee.

Well!   That was the perfect thing to do.   “Sientese!” she commanded,  adding “Usted necesita hielo!”   Yep, I did!   She bustled around the bar and brought me ice immediately, along with some napkins to mop up the melt water.   Once she got me settled, and I was apologizing for the mess, I was ordered to “No te preocupa.” (Don’t worry)   A rapid fire series of orders were issued to her husband, who disappeared for a short while and returned with a chunk of very cold ice from their deep freeze, which was probably located in a different building entirely.

Eventually, I decided that I really needed a mojito, so we ordered a couple.   They were excellent!  Meanwhile, the restaurant filled with customers, which made me very happy to see how their kindness and generosity was being rewarded by the universe.

After enjoying our drinks, we expressed our gratitude profusely to our generous hostess, who brushed it off as of course it was the right thing to do.  So we made our way home on the metro, and I was extremely grateful for the Barcelonan custom of youngsters giving their seats up to their elders.   I really needed to sit.  The 61 stairs up to the apartment were  a real purgatory, and while I rested Jim went off to buy more ice from the little supermarket across the street.

After the cruise, when we got home, after I had limped me way through Malaga, Gibraltar, Funchal and our cruise, I went off to the doctor and found out that my fall had actually fractured my knee cap, and bruised the meniscus and joint capsule as well.   No wonder it hurt so much for so long.

I’m fine now.   But I don’t recommend the personal experience of finding out just how hard stone paving is in relation to tissue and bone.

 

 

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On cookies

Our kitchen was very busy yesterday.   In addition to Jim’s beer bottling and racking, I was deeply involved in my usual holiday activity of baking cookies.  Lots and lots of cookies.  We split the kitchen down the middle and went about our merry ways.   A great deal was accomplished!

A long time ago, an in-law gave me a wonderful Christmas gift.

Now, this is quite the cook book.   It is ALL about cookies of all sorts European, with a smattering of breads thrown in.   I have not actually made any of the breads, although they sound delightful.   I have made many of the cookies.  That this is a well loved and very much used book is quite evident the second you open it.

Upon my first perusal, I was intrigued by the many recipes that included notations like “These store well for 3-4 weeks”  and “Improves with age”.   At the time, Jim was on active duty in the Navy, and this included many sojourns that were long and far away.   From bitter experience I had learned how poorly some favorite baked goods fared on their extended travels to foreign ports, where they sometimes languished for weeks before the ship arrived to collect the mail that had accumulated during its sea passage.   The idea that there were cookies that could travel and arrive even better than they were when they left home intrigued me.

Of course, I didn’t quite trust the long keeping storage claims until I had tried them out for myself.   As difficult as it was, I managed to put aside a tin of the Honey lebkuchen squares for a month or so and discovered that the author was not putting me on.   Jim was delighted to receive the baked goods that I started making.   I received reviews from shipmates that were positive as well.

One of the things I discovered right away was that there were ingredients that were challenging to acquire.   One of those ingredients was candied orange and lemon peels.  At the time I lived in San Francisco, and the only place I was able to discover these items was an obscure shop in Oakland.  In addition to the inconvenience of going all the way over there to acquire this item, they were VERY dear indeed.   I searched my library of cookbooks (this was before the internet and Recipesource.com, if you can believe I am so old!) and was able to find a recipe for candying citrus peels. I tried it out and it worked like a charm.

I have never tried to buy candied peels again.   It was too easy to do.  I was delighted to receive organic lemons from the home place in California so that I could make truly chemical free candied lemon peels.   Well, I could do this when I was able to beg some from the limoncello maker…  quite a lot of competition for lemon peels exists in this house!  They are also necessary for freshly grated lemon peel, which is also an ingredient often called for in the Festive Baking cookbook.

Over the years, I have ruminated about the thrifty character of the Germanic housewife.   I put myself back into the 18th and 19th centuries when many of these recipes were developed.   Imagine…..   It is the holiday season and you want to make delectable delights for the seasonal celebrations.  Normally you would be looking for large quantities of eggs and butter for this sort of thing, but it is icy cold and dark outside.   Your hens are sulking and the cow’s production of milk has dropped, plus the butterfat content of said milk is barely detectable.   What to do?

Many of these recipes call for honey and sugar and flour as major ingredients, all things that store well.  The only fats used are those found in the ground nuts.  Perhaps one egg is used in the recipe, perhaps another one for the glaze.   Or there is a shortbread type of cookie, requiring lots of butter, but not a single egg.  Then there are the whisked egg/sugar method cookies, which ask for no butter.   Additionally, if you are the sort of gal who thinks ahead, you can make your wonderful confections and cookies months in advance, store them on the top shelf of your pantry and bring them out when the parties begin.

No waste is produced.   If there is a recipe that calls for an egg yolk, down the way there is a recipe that calls only for egg white.   Or you save all those whites and make meringue cookies, which have an amazingly long shelf life.   Do you need freshly grated lemon peel?   No doubt the same recipe that calls for that ingredient requires the juice of one lemon for the icing recipe.   I have an image of the household management requiring all oranges and lemons used on the place to be carefully peeled, and the peels set aside until enough have accumulated for a batch of candied peel to be produced.  This is stored away for future reference; it is called for in large quantities all over this book.   Some cookie recipes require over a cup of candied mixed orange and lemon peel.

I have also wondered if there are a lot of almond trees in central Europe.   Almonds and hazelnuts are used in impressively large quantities, as compared to the very conservative amounts of eggs and butter asked for.

Whatever, all musings aside, I have now made seven different kinds of cookies, all of which keep for weeks.   The varieties that do not have such a sterling shelf life are due to be made in a couple of weeks.

From the top, clockwise:  Vanilla crescents, Basle leckerli, honey lebkuchen squares, molasses spice cookies, ginger cookies, almond sticks, and in the center, pfefferneuse.

Jim got all excited when I made up that plate for the photo op.   He thought maybe I was putting some cookies out that didn’t fit in the tins and needed to be eaten.   I believe I need to make that good man up his own plate based on how his face fell when he learned that the plate had been emptied back into the tins!

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Pantry tour

This morning my dear husband regaled me with a reading of a short article in The Week, a magazine we subscribe to.   It involved the travails of the Clintons, who apparently find it necessary to rent a place for the summer in the Hamptons each year.   They got into a dispute with their landlord of last year over their security deposit, which was $20,000, and apparently they weren’t getting it back because it was eaten up by landscaping and utility bills.   So, according to the article, the dispute was settled amicably, but this year the Clintons did not rent that place again.  Instead they rented a six bedroom place in the area for a measly $200,00 per month.

TWENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS?   For a security deposit?   TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS?   A MONTH????    Let’s see.   Around here, a family of four can live on $20,000 a year.   Not high on the hog, but it is doable.   I’m not even going to talk about how out of touch with an ordinary American life people who can afford to blow $200,000 per month on a summer rental must be.   Are we ready for Hillary?   Maybe.   But does she have a clue as to what challenges most Americans face?   I really don’t know.   Does ANY politician?

Okey dokey.  I’ll get off my political angst-wagon for now.

I have been visiting slide shows on the SF Chronicle’s website this morning:   a Victorian for less than a million dollars, worst kitchen ever, celebrities who dated.  That last one was a real eye-opener for me.   Probably 80% of the people pictured and named in that little exposé were pretty much unknown to me.  I did not recognize names or faces.   I’m so out of touch.  Kinda like the politicians, I suppose, but in a different way.

Probably the reason I’m so out of touch is that I actually have a life that involves producing a large portion of what we eat.

This was my kitchen counter a few days ago.   I was proudly displaying the apples after they had been peeled, cored and sliced; ready for the freezer.

See the tomatoes in the basket next to the apples?   They have been roasted and are now in the freezer alongside the apples.   That reminds me.  I really need to defrost that freezer and rearrange it.   There are seven gallons of strawberries, six gallons of blueberries, one lug of peaches, plum pieces and plum puree, and God knows how many freezer bags of greens, green beans, asparagus, roasted winter squash, potatoes, carrots, onions, leeks, roasted tomatoes, and other stuff I have probably forgotten in there.   Inventory needs to be done.   The other freezer, which is even bigger, has the remains of a whole beef, sundry pork, lamb, poultry and fish, as well as the lard supply and again, God Knows What.

A job for another day.

I’m pretty sure the Clintons don’t have a pantry like this.

That’s the view from the door.   Actually, this room is around the corner from the kitchen.   Originally, this house was built with the idea that sometime in the future a second story could be added.  This area was designed to become the stairwell up to the second floor.   The hatch that gives access to the attic is directly above your head when you stand just inside the accordion door that hides this collection from the view from the living room.

Well, that picture simply does not do the room justice, so I stepped inside and did a few close ups.  Below you find the left side of the room.

The olives are purchased in bulk, and Jim processes them.   There are several flavors there, my favorite is the lemon/tarragon brined sevillanos.   Below the olives is the tomato puree collection, and below that is the apple sauce.   There is some pear sauce in there too.   The red box of milkbones is Ruby’s favorite thing in the whole house.

All those silver bags you see on the right contain the bulk spices.   We purchase them from Frontier Natural Foods cooperative.   Everything on that shelf is organic, and’ if appropriate, Fair Trade certified too.   There is allspice, cinnamon, cloves, caraway, mustard seed, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, coriander, cumin on that shelf.   No, we aren’t going to run out of spices any time soon.    It may seem like a lot, but whole seeds don’t get stale like ground spices; and I can buy a pound of organic cinnamon sticks for less than you will spend for a 2/3 oz bottle of ground cinnamon at your local grocery.  The rest of the prices have a similar ratio.

What you are not seeing because I didn’t photograph it is the giant container of 100 pounds of wheat, which I grind about 5 pounds at a time into whole wheat flour.  Also, down on the floor is an anonymous box that contains the un-roasted organic fair trade coffee in 5 pound bags that we acquire from Sweet Maria’s.

Now let’s turn our attention to the right side of the room.

The second picture shows the jelly and pickle collection.   I honestly don’t think I need to make any jam or jelly for three or four years.   That is why I have been freezing most of the figs coming off the tree out by the barn.   I still have plenty of fig preserves up there on that shelf.   That reminds me, I need to pick figs today.

It is actually a little scary how many different kinds of vinegar we seem to require in this house.   Sort of in the middle of the lower picture is a half gallon jar full of some sort of red amorphous substance.   That is the raspberry vinegar I am making from the raspberries I managed to get to ahead of the birds.   It is about time to filter the raspberries out of the vinegar they are steeping in.

Below that is a bunch of containers that are used to ship olives from Greece to the United States.   We found them at a recycler up in Santa Rosa over two decades ago.  They are equipped with giant o-rings under the lids, and when screwed down those lids keep the bugs out of the contents.   We have unbleached white flour, corn meal, polenta, black beans, garbanzo beans, polenta, pinto beans, rolled oats, sugar, rice, barley, vital wheat gluten in 20-30 pound quantities.   Our favorite container:  the bright yellow one in the foreground.  That has the chocolate chips in it.   Right now there are barely ten pounds of them in there.   Need to get more.   Wouldn’t want to run out of those!

You will notice that not all of our supplies are organic, or totally environmentally conscious.  For some reason, we find it necessary to have pineapple on hand.   I imagine I could find it from some other source than Dole, but sometimes I just get tired of being so darned perfect.

A long time ago I found a link to a website that would calculate how long you could survive in your home without buying food based on the number of people who live there and the quantity of food you had stored.   It told me Jim and I could get along for 3 and a half years on what we have accumulated here.   That was before we bought the beef….

I guess we are good for a short apocalypse.   This assumes, of course, that we are not immediately struck down by a bolt of lightning for our liberal, tolerant of gay lifestyle, heretical pagan ways.

I’d really better get my pagan ass out there, I need to pick basil for pesto, harvest the chard and get it blanched, and pick the aforementioned figs.

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Time flies

That old saying “Time flies when you’re having fun”  also applies to working hard.

I did indeed go to Alaska.  We cruised for three days up the Inside Passage to Juneau and Skagway.   It was beautiful.

We went whale watching and did see whales, both humpbacks and orcas.  All those amazing photos you see of whales?   Taken by professionals who got 5000 shots just like mine:

Out of focus and not very interesting.   But the experience was fantastic.

We also saw the Mendenhall Glacier.

There was a glacially carved pond along the walk way to the view point.   I loved this.

I was entranced by the moss/lichen forests.

The area right below the view point for the glacier was roped off from visitors.   The arctic terns were nesting there.   I watched a pair in their mating dance; the male flew down to the glacial lake and brought his intended a little tiny salmon.   She accepted it.   Farther down the beach there was a female who was deep in the process of incubation.

We went on a bus tour of the inland part of the state, starting in Canada and crossing into Alaska near Tok.   On to Fairbanks, where I did the tourist things I never did while I lived there:   sailing on the Riverboat Discovery on the Chena to the Tanana River, visiting a gold dredge and learning to pan for gold.   It was fun.

Then we took the Alaska Railroad to Denali National Park.   There were more mountains than it seems possible.   And wildlife.   Mostly moose.  This was taken on our wildlife tour in the park.   This mama had twin babies.   They were less than 24 hours old.

When I got back home, there was a 60th birthday to celebrate, which was done appropriately.   Apparently I am not quite done with my birthday.   Yesterday in the mail I received a beautiful ammonite fossil that someone anonymously ordered off Etsy and had shipped to me.   I feel special and loved.

While we were aboard the ship, we sat for professional portraits.   I believe this is a good way to demonstrate how 60 looks.

Back at home, I had plenty of work waiting for me.   I got my day lily bed north of the stroll garden cleaned out, much to the day lilies’ relief.  They were being swamped by goldenrod, violets, wild iris and sundry other volunteers.   That took a few days.

I also had to catch everyone up on their massages, and I have been very busy with that ever since we got home.

Last night Jim mentioned that he thought we ought to rake the algae out of the pond that has been forming.  I went out there to do some of that this afternoon.  I decided to be circumspect about it, rather than just wholesale rake in clumps of algae.   I am very glad I did.   It is being used by literally dozens of tiny salamander newts.   They were not too happy to be fondled and photographed by the local paparazzi.

You can see his gills and tiny legs.   I believe we may  be leaving the algae alone.

Of course the robins have been very busy too.  This fellow was outside my massage room window the other day, chirping loudly to his parents to induce them to feed him.   They were just as loudly exhorting him to move his butt off the juniper and learn to hunt for himself.   He won the day that afternoon, but I saw him out on the lawn a couple of days later, following his papa around and learning to find bugs for himself.   This is so gosh darned cute.

When I left in mid May, the vegetable garden only had the cool weather crops in, and so since the beginning of June I got the squash, beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and I don’t know what all else planted.   It is doing just fine.

We’ve been feasting on beautiful salads.

This is how the garden looks today.   Notice the wooden boxes rather in the middle.   Those are the potato towers.   I’ll let you know how the crop is.

Just in case I thought that all this belonged to me, the wren was there to set me straight.

Well, that catches you all up a bit, I hope.   It is a long summer still.   Now I believe I shall hang out ANOTHER load of laundry and then take Ruby for a walk.

It won’t be a moment too soon for Mallory, who is trying to take a nap on the chair behind me and wishing I would move my derriere off Her Chair so she can get comfortable.  Cats.   Always willing to put your importance into perspective.

We

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Feeding romance

There are so many things one can do to keep romance alive for 30 years plus.   Of course, it is important to count your blessings on a daily basis.   I recently read an article in the AARP magazine that suggests that public displays of affection are good for your romance, as are frequent kisses and saying “I love you.”

These all seem pretty obvious to me.  I think it is important to make special efforts once in a while too, and as we hang out with a bunch of like minded individuals, we have established a tradition that every year around Valentine’s day the gentlemen get together, plan a sumptuous repast for the group, and then prepare it for us.

This year, it was suggested that we ought to dress up in our best, most sophisticated togs.   Jim immediately decided that he was going to wear his tuxedo, since it was going to have to be cleaned before our next cruise (in August) anyway.   Then he said, “I’m going to need an apron.”

I looked around, and did not find an apron I approved of, so I made him one.   Here are a couple of pictures taken on the day of the event (last Sunday) of Jim in the kitchen in his tuxedo and apron.   I think he looks rather fine.

Jim was not the only one cooking, of course.   Dick and Cliff were busy too.

This was a rather amusing moment, as Cliff had never seen a stick blender in action before, and was quite taken with the tool.    What they are doing right that moment is blending the sherried roasted squash bisque prior to serving it.   It was accompanied by a cheesy grits with shrimp, which was our second course.

The first course was a Salade Niçoise, pictured below.

What we are drinking are French 75s, a cocktail that involves both gin and champagne.   I admit it sounds rather awful but I can tell you that  while I really detest gin I find this drink delightful.  (Recipe note:  when Jim makes this he uses our home made limoncello rather than the cointreau listed in the recipe.   It makes the drink look much paler and is quite delicious.)

Back to the kitchen the gentlemen went to prepare the third course, Twice baked goat cheese souffles.

When they were done, Jim put them on the table, which was adorned with a quilted table topper I made a few weeks ago as a hostess gift.

This is a recipe we acquired from Seabourn on our first cruise.   Positively wonderful and well worth the effort to make.  (For the record, the recipe as printed in that blog I linked to is NOT correct.   If you make it the way they tell you you will discover that the quantity of milk is incorrect.   You need about 75ml of milk for the souffle portion.   Also, the version we were given uses a garlic cream for the topping.)

We were having a quite wonderful time, enjoying the companionship of friends and some rather tasty wine. Following the goat cheese course, there was a lemon sorbet course to cleanse our palates for the last course:  Pad thai with scallops, tofu, and shrimp.   Excellent!

Do we look like we feel special?   Because we certainly did!   Especially when the dessert course appeared.  (Yes I realize I have just written a series of sentence fragments.   Deal with it.)

Frozen nougat terrine with chocolate and raspberry sauces, in a special presentation.

As if that wasn’t enough, Liz made a wonderful almond torte to top off the experience.   The chocolates on top were made by Dick.

Now, after a wonderful afternoon enjoying food like that, how can your romance not be enlivened?

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