I ❤ Food: Salmon Kick

I never was a 'fish lover' as a child.  On a family holiday, we went to the Eastern Transvaal (Mpumalanga) region of South Africa.  We visited a trout farm and as a 4 yr old, my curiousity got the better of me and I insisted on watching how they 'cleaned' fish.  I was horrified and refused to eat any sort of seafood from that moment.  Of course my mother lamented the fact that she had a crazy daughter and would sneak it into meals without me knowing ('It's chicken, Fatima, have some' *bite* 'Mummy, this tastes funny' *mum giggling to herself*).  However, it took me many years to finally develop a taste for seafood, and finally, when I was a teenager I had my first bite of a perfectly grilled prawn.  I was hooked!


My current favourite is the delightful Smoked North Atlantic Salmon.  It tastes quite different to its counterpart that we buy in South Africa.  Needless to say, I've become addicted!


Some of the salmon treats I just love to make:


Breakfast Salmon:  Smoked salmon, peppers, scrambled egg, salt, pepper, coriander powder, a dash of cumin powder, chilli powder, lemon pepper, mixed herbs, and melted cheddar all scooped onto buttered toast.


Salmon Snack:  Low fat sour cream on crackers, smoked salmon, slice of carrot, olives and onions (i forgot about the tomato) seasoned with salt and pepper with a dash of lemon pepper and chilli powder.


Salmon is good for you, so I don't mind taking an indulgent plunge for my taste-buds.

Update:  Unfortunately, Blogger has deleted the images here! I'm really quite upset as I don't have them anymore!

I ❤ Books: Boston Public Library

I've become addicted to visiting the Boston Public Library (or BPL).  It's an amazing library, and has  five floors and an entire wing dedicated to the Arts.  The BPL is the oldest library in the United States and is filled with amazing architecture.  The library has a gorgeous courtyard where you can relax and read a book, serenaded by the water feature.  The library even features a restaurant where you can enjoy a meal.   
My favourite equation:   Food + Books = Bliss!

Boston Public Library courtyard
Source: Friends of Copley Square

At first I went through the non-fiction and fiction sections.  However, I figured I could find them quite easily back in South Africa, so I decided to find books that I won't be able to get a hold of so easily (and affordably) back in SA.  That's when I decided to take a dip in my favourite topic: arts and crafts. There are shelves upon shelves of absolutely anything you can think of!  I really felt like I was in book heaven!  It's a pity that I didn't have my camera with me.  I would've taken so many amazing pictures for you to see.

I love that the BPL allows you to take out 75 items at a time.  How crazy is that?  So if you haven't heard from me in a while, don't worry, I'm lost in the place that I really want to be lost: the library.

I ❤ Workshops: Letterpress and bookbinding...

This weekend I indulged in a bit of letterpress printing and bookbinding at Albertine Press in collaboration with Carta Inc in Somerville, MA, USA.  I was immediately smitten by the large machinery which creates such intricate works with old fashioned letterpress, and of course the beautiful works that bookbinding results in.

We created our own pages filled with haiku and different forms of poetr, typeset them and printed them on paper which we then collaborated to create a 'lotus book'. That was a lot of work, but tons of fun!

I was surprised to find out Bookbinding and Letterpress is a massive industry in the US, with Book Arts centers dotted all across the country, with the first one establishing itself in New York.  One of my co-workshop attendees was actually studying towards her Masters Degree in Book Arts and Education!  As the books came into fruition, I really wished that we had short, weekend courses like this in South Africa.

Update:  I'm sorry, but it seems like Blogger has misplaced my photos!  I'm trying to find them on my hard drive so that I can upload them once again!  I apologise and hope you will bear with me.