Fresh Fish and a Tea Cozy

I love hot Earl Grey with fresh homemade Irish soda bread Southwestern style. Walnuts and japlaenos added. The recipe is from "Jump Up and Kiss Me" spicy Vegetarian Cooking by Jennifer Trainer Thompson. From her I learned to add cayenne and cinnamon to my chocolate Texas sheetcake.

Hand washing my tea cozy I remembered a faraway friend. My pale blue and white striped cozy was handmade for my navy teapot with a hole for the handle and one for the spout. A white and a pale blue puff ball are attached to the top. Crocheted or knitted? I can't tell. I started knitting a blanket before Krysia was born and finished it three years later when I brought Corrie home from the hospital. I knit too tight. Corrie's nimble piano fingers make her knitting look like marshamllows, gorgeous.

While in London I purused Harrod's, if we haven't got it, you probably don't need it department store. Yes, they have a dress code. A shopper in torn geans and flip flops might be turned away, even though Harrod's might sell the items at the store. People dress up to shop.

I had worked my way through the thousand thread count bed linens to the foods. At the seafood department I was stunned to see a fresh fish display of arranged rows of hand-sized fish in a sunburst pattern on an upright 5'x5' panel with cold water tumbling over all. Overhead lights made tiny rainbows. Admirers of all ages paused, nodded to each other and shook their heads in amazement. The display is changed weekly.

The best part of travel is meeting people. Mae was from Dublin, Ireland, the place of brightly painted doors. She had come to London to shop. We metat the fish display. A world traveler, she had been to the States four times, to the European continent eleven, Russia four, Australia six, to five African nations, and two South American countries to name a few. Her favorite place? Home. We exchanged addresses.

Months later a package arrived from Ireland. Mae made and sent a tea cozy. Every time I use it, I think of her. Here's to you Mae, my far away yet close in heart friend. May we meet again, on this side or the next.

2009 Red Convertible Travel Series

Feb. 29th, Freaky Friday

I didn't know what to do with today. It was a bonus. I solved the problem by donating it to Africa. Colorful clothes came to mind. Wearing my red stretchy hair band, I felt slightly Native. It was the best I could do with blue jeans and a red gingham shirt.

In the "Jump Up and Kiss Me" cookbook I found a recipe for North African Lentil Stew. I love cooking with vitamin-rich kale. I peeled and chopped a butternut squash. The base was chopped onion, jalapenos and garlic sauteed in olive oil. Chili powder and ground cumin added the fire. Red lentils, chopped tomatoes and vegetable stock tied it together. Moroccan-Style whole Grain Couscous complimented and quieted the fire.

On the Couscous box, it says, "The Sultans of Marrakech knew how to party. In the countryside around the city walls, they built parks and pleasure palaces designed to set the scene for elaborate feasts and and other festivities. Menara Gardens is a legacy of that era, a place where modern-day Marrakechis come to stroll amid palm trees, olive groves, and roses, and to picnic on couscous and other Moroccan delights."

I raised my bowl in a toast to Africa, "Thank you for your gifts to our world. Grace and Peace to you." Digging in, I shut my eyes and am there. Delicate, olive-skinned young women, wearing tiny bells and carrying large trays of food, wait on handsome, turbaned Sultans seated on cushions in the tent. I smell curry and dates. White silk drapes flutter tickled by a silent breeze. The dry desert heat whisks the moisture from my body. The essence of roses mingles with citrus. Camels grumble in the distance. A custom-made emerald green Mercedes waits just beyond. Merriment and money, side by side.

2008 Red Convertible Travel Series