tv & kitchen piece

TV watching


kitchen piece

i haven't photographed much lately
lack of time and/or
the automatic focus of my dslr broke
{not that i use it all the time, yet is a bit
challenging/strange/frustrating
to work with a known broken apparatus
specially one loves so much...}
so...
uninspiring scenes
and another hundred lame excuses
i hide under my procrastinating sleeve
not to post photographs as often
as before

but the truth is...
42? well, not really
the truth is that i set for myself
higher standards, the latest photos i have on 23
are of stunning sunsets, or skies
and they are stunning not because of my photos
but because they were, regardless of who photographed
so now i feel sort of bad to post silly photos
also the standards of the site have become so high!
almost every photograph is a piece of art
& i feel silly to post less than very good photos...
so, the material i have these days, is from indoor photos
from my dirty kitchen, or my swollen feet
or of cats asleep, and home messes

i haven't been to walk on the beach or the park
or anywhere too interesting for that matter
so i just don't post, until tonight when i thought
enough!!! after all i started posting randomly
unimportant and not very stunning pictures
and i had so much fun with it!
nobody commented on them, so maybe i had more
freedom to post anything no matter
how stupid, blurry, or with low quality it was

so tonight here, not on 23, sadly
and 'cause i don't have 4 photos in a row
as i've been posting always on 23
always at least 4 photos at the time
since the beginning of my posting there
in late 2005
(a bit, or a lot of an obsessive rule
i have NO plans to change...)
therefore gladly here in this ranting
stupidity chronographed
one bad moody picture
or two, from my home scenes
uncompromisingly bad
unresistingly blurry
bad-lighted orange
here we go...
as posted above
{with a very Nike attitude
of just do it...}

ah!! the pleasure, of not having to please no-one!
specially/mainly one-self...

monday autumn

as we walked today
my friend said:
"today is a full-on autumn day"

winds strong
dry branches and traces of nature
along the streets
no more greens but turning into
deep yellows, shallow oranges and
when staring at one's feet
grass drawing patterns powered by the wind

a dusty dry autumn sepiaish monday
santa winds blow
taste not quite nightmares
not quite good dreams
on one's top layer of skin

electricity in the air
nothing, one hopes

while here a candid photo of my kitchen
where the heart of my little house lives
the heat, the smells, the laboratory
of my daily life



and a smile, most nervous
than candid is that one

another October
monday night

morning blog

this warm October morning
took me by surprise



and as almost every day
i walk out the sunny dusty door
carrying in my little lunch bag
a rice cake, a small pear,
my smallest photo-camera and
some new hopes, and the same old fears



i just wish that by the end of the day
on the bottom of my bag
i find there your eyes or your smile

already the 8th morning of this October
and busy with headaches and pictures
i haven't realized, how fast
this year has been passing by



the hopes the fears
seems so ancient but
so new too alike



a warm dry morning
and i walk outside
following stubborn steps
to the office
to the life outside

some kitchen scenes

Montag Mittagessen
Monday's Lunch
el almuerzo del lunes



a traditional
turkey breast, jack pepper w/peppers cheese
red lettuce and spinach mix
over multi grain sliced bread
mustard added

and the whole Lunch set
some greek style fat free yogurt (mmm, creamy!)
and 10 organic strawberries



pretty spoiled...

and some of the room where it all



takes place...
Guten Appetit!
Bonn Appetite!
¡Buen provecho!

der Februar / February / Febrero

meine kleine Küche und mein wenig Leben
my little kitchen, and my little life
mi cocinita, y mi vidita



because i think is good to learn how to survive
with just a piece of fruit
and a soul that can still smile

kitchen

life and mood
so changing on the same day
a filter of light during the early day
then the sepia
and the gray falling into
this mental landscape

my kitchen this morning
your voice
and then a soft
fairwell
all was ok

then the cold
and the lateness
of the day came

like a bitter
but soft sepia
tastes the bread

the distance
and the yearning
the unfilfilled desires
of a distant caress
is not sweet not here
is just
like warm old cup of café

the sun reflects
but warms not
not today
just another
strange-lighted
novemeber sunday

arthur machen, droste cacao, and kahlúa

good remedy for a new-daylight savings time

yesterday we switched to winter schedule on the clock

today i walked out of the office at 5.30pm (17.30 Uhr)
and it was already night

i came home and sulked
i am not really depressed but really sleepy this Monday
an for a good November not even a little sunlight, ah! sighs
so i switched from sandals to black tights and black shoes


my stinky feet, my old-lady shoes, my "new" book

but here at home i got into reading
wonderful Welsh author Arthur Machen
surreal and dark
the literary Gothic...
perfect to set for wintry nights

and to keep the body warm
hot milk with 100% cacao Droste
from Holland! mmmm!
the nederlands yum!


all in the blender with a shot
of Mexican Café Liquor
Kahlúa

die Küche, still & again

because feels like the core of it all
the nest of most quirkinesses
of mine
for sure
i guess

the place where you can control
the miniature things that unveil your
real character
what you drink or what you don't
how many bites? and of what?
the closest to basic human behaviors
food and the time for it
and drinks
and just as basic as walks
and each other's eyes to stare...
you can measure
and add up
sugar spoons, liquors
café and/or té
no matter if you cook
or just ingest
little samples of own reflection
on a table
or a stove

agua caliente para té

die Küche

heiß Wasser Tee

The strange case of the fish dish that came out so tasty without having a proper recipe for it, a culinary mystery…

I didn’t plan this meal
I was just hungry and looked what I had in the refrigerator

I had some
- frozen fish
- a bag of sweet mini bell peppers (red, orange, and yellow)
- some small on-the-vine tomatoes

so, I thought, baked fish with vegetables, right?

I taw the fish, added about 3 cloves of garlic (yes! When it comes to garlic, the motto is the more, the better)
And 1 teaspoon of olive oil
And… right before putting in the oven
I remembered my fresh basil plant that I have outside…


I carefully cut about 10 little leaves and placed them on top of the uncooked dish
Ah& of course some fresh grounded pepper

About 12 minutes in the oven at 350 degrees, or was it 15?


The drink on the side
Geinmacha Japan green tea


Not a recipe, not a plan
But indeed the basil, was the hint that gave the dish that little spice…
what made it special
and wll the in-trance-shopped garlic, hmm, ja!

I realized how I enjoy sometimes to prepare my own meals
While chopping 3 cloves of garlic I abandoned myself
Like in a mild meditation, no music, no thoughts,
Just chopping garlic, for a meal
What a timeless & basic activity
The one of cooking

I do like melting into my little kitchen routines…
Times softens, thus the smells, so my eyes
In colors, and wonderful organic shapes…
And at the end
They all taste…

3 minutes of every night tea

i am sure there are much more interesting ways
to spend 3 minutes online
but if you want to share with me
a very simple kitchen moment
please look at my 3 minutes of nothingness

just some tea
a candle
another late night
the coffee beans
& 3 minutes less of your life
3 minutes that you immerse in mine

this is my kitchen any day of the week at 8.25 am,
making breakfast, i don't eat this every day,
but this raspberry sauce I made this morning!
i wanted to remember it so i record it, it is good!
just raspberries with orange juice and a bit of lime juice,
a teaspoon of sugar and heat it up,
boiling for about 5 minutes, delicious!
then i put on top of a frozen waffle
(well i heat it first)
those blueberry waffles whole grain by Kashi are really good,
and all with a good glass of cold milk, ah!



I feel kitchens are the heart of some houses
Certainly of mine
It is
I like warm places
In that I am like a cat
But I am much more friendly
That most cats so
Am more like a dog
Who likes whole grains?
& raspberry sauces

the result

just another 60 :)

a kitchen poem

she opened her mouth
wide
(a mild gesture of her fatigue)
& the fresh scent of peppermint
by her face
prevails

how will it be his embrace?
as a ray of sunlight
that caresses a fresh piece of wood
in a carpentry bench?

fragrances of honey &
of wet soil after rain

***

in my kitchen
there are these higher shelves
the ones i can’t reah
unless i put a stool
underneath my feet
where i store cans, rice, & other food

if there is...
peppermint &...
your arms smell like wood...
the higher shelves
i can’t reach them,
anyway,
while you are away


árbol de lima - Autlán, Jalisco
April 2007

el pajarito de Autlán

While I was in Autlán
This little bird felt from his nest



My mother has this beautiful garden
Visited every day by many birds
Therefore, she is used to this sort of accidents

She already has a shoe-box prepared to keep
Fallen birds warm
She made a hole all across the box
And she put a tree branch across it
And a piece of cloth to keep the little birds warm

For 2 days while I was there
She fed the bird with a paste made out of masa
(the corn dough for making tortillas) & water

around 3pm of the second day
and with the bright Autlán sun shinning high
we took the box with the bird
to the main garden
we left the box half open
specially since he was singing loud
after a couple of minutes
the mother appeared and after falling a couple of times
the little bird was able to follow her to the nest again

unfortunately I didn’t take a movie of that!
But here is the feeding process
And my mother, her kitchen
(watch the movie till the end for a full view)
And that beautiful memory of some bright
Days with a little bird in Autlán

give ice-cream a chance!

today was a nice quiet day
it was very cloudy
just saw a shy attempt of sunlight
for about 1 hr

yet it was peaceful and nice
i was able to go for a longer walk
went to mitsuwa (japanese grocerie store)
and ate at the little restaurant at front
a mini-beef bowl w/pickled veggies and rice

i got 2 packages of tea bags at the store
and some seaweed salad to go
(i love that stuff)

then in reward for my long walk
and for surviving a hell of a busy week at work
i got myself an ice-cream cone
the waffle kind (miss d advice)
with strawberry ice-cream
from the store a block away from my home
it is natural ice-cream and the store is famous in San Diego
Mariposa Ice-Cream is the name of the place
is decorated with The Beatles paraphenalia
posters of Jhon, Paul, Ringo, George
and records, etc.
a charm of a place!
and was voted best home-made ice-cream in San Diego in 2005
please watch this video here & then click on "watch the video" under the photo to the right
it is great! the owners are 60's childs :)
another ice-cream cone
here what somebody wrote on this great place that is just one block from my house

Who could have guessed that hippies and ice cream made a perfect match?

Well, I suppose lots of people could have, but who could have guessed that hippies would have it together enough to actually open and maintain a store? These hippies do, and god bless'em for it. Lots of different flavors, homemade cones, and friendly people.

Sunday and a foto of a day ago
the kitchens are also a magical place of any home
or at least i think so...

2 bags

the bright light blue one to the right
carried the lunch containers, empty now

the brown paper classic bag to the left
contained my dinner of that night:
vegetarian soup and dinner salad w/1 slice of bread
from this vegetarian restaurant Jyoti Bihanga
very close to my house


camera nikkormat, iso 400 film
i do carry a lot of food around...

greek mountain tea

tea
for me is one or two cups of coffee in the morning
but the rest of the day, tea!
all kinds: black, herbal, green, rooibos
a co-worker introduced me a couple of days ago
to an unknown tea for me, the Greek Mountain tea

below from different web-sites
interesting facts on it
it tastes fresh and herb-like
and it seems to be very good for you
here here



Mountain Tea is enormously popular in Greece, and used most often in winter when levels of physical activity decrease and colds, aches, and pains increase. It is said to have a positive effect on almost anything that ails but, most notably, it is used for colds, respiratory problems, digestion, the immune system, mild anxiety, and as an anti-oxidant. It is also used as an anti-inflammatory and to reduce fever.

more here

desayuno

'Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.'
- Douglas Adams

mushroom soup

There is people with beady eyes
There is people with big heads

There is people with open-hearts
There is people stubborn like hell
(my case)

The question is
what have you become as today?

Have you?…
Beady eyes?
An Open mind?
Do you own a small or big head?
Or are you, like me, sometimes scared like hell?

Are you the black sheep of the family or the nice guy?

Are you similar to the idea you had of yourself as an adult when you were just a kid?

when I was a child I used to imagine how I would be when I grow up
I am rather different… but so it is life, the perception I had of it

the unexpected results of adult life
time transforms us in ourselves
As I am sure we’ll be different in the future of what we have planned ahead

In the meantime, I find out who I will become
And all of my dearest friends,
When the years come over, rolling up on us...
I make some mushroom soup

Preparing the aliments
A heartening timeless human activity
Enduring, as few things are in life
While contemplating the textures of vegetables
Their colors their smells
Life floats again
Steams fills out the kitchen
The aroma of life boiling there…



not to miss the 70's soundtrack, ha!

rain & fabulous flowers, with a side of banana whole whole wheat bread

today rained the whole day in san diego
around 2.30pm the rain stopped
a little gap with a hidden sun behind heavy clouds
so I went out and took some photos with the nikon
film cheap Kodak Gold ISO 200

while waiting for the film to be develop and put on a CD
I made whole wheat banana bread
here the recipe

INGREDIENTS

* 1/3 cup vegetable oil
* 1/2 cup honey
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2 eggs
* 1 cup mashed bananas
* 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 cup hot water
* 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, beat oil and honey together. Add eggs, and mix well. Stir in bananas and vanilla. Stir in flour and salt. Add baking soda to hot water, stir to mix, and then add to batter. Blend in chopped nuts. Spread batter into a greased 9x5 inch loaf pan.
3. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes. Cool on wire rack for 1/2 hour before slicing.

link from allrecipes.com
the bread came out OK, it was a lazy day off, courtesy of President's Day