Find joy in the sky, in the trees, in the flowers.
There are flowers everywhere for those
who want to see them.

~ Matisse

ENJOYING SAN JUAN LIKE A LOCAL

A little red book won fame once because it carried quotations

from Mao Tse-tung, the chairman of the communist party of

China. A little red book recently surfaced in San Juan but instead of

political slogans this one presents useful information about the city and its offerings related to culture, food and art.

Titled "Local," this guide, which in the words of its creators

"contains a distilled menu of selected goodness," invites

residents to rediscover their city and visitors to discover San

Juan as a local.

There is plenty to enjoy and a large area to cover so the

book is divided into sections, each devoted to a different part 

of the city. 

They are: Miramar, Stop 22 and surroundings, Barrio 

Obrero, Loiza Street and surroundings, Condado, Old San

Juan, Cupey and surroundings, Piñero Avenue and 

surroundings.

Each section opens with a brief description of the

area, encapsulating its character and history, followed by

equally short portraits of different businesses and spots worth

stopping by in that particular area.

Lean graphic maps are interspersed throughout to identify spot

locations, with separate listings providing addresses and phones.

With its bright red cover and strong graphic look that relies on

bold sans serif typeface and moody black and white photographs, 

"Local" is not only useful but a beautiful little book that can
easily be tucked into a pocket or a bag. It serves as a much needed
addition to the travel literature on Puerto Rico and, for regular
residents, as a handy listing of all that is worth visiting in San Juan. 

Look for "Local" at Libros AC, the bookstore & café located across
from the Ciudadela complex, near stop 22. Other local stores that
carry the book include Café con Cé on Loiza Street. It sells for $15.

I don't want a future. I want a present.
To me this appears of greater value.
You have a future only when
 you have no present, and when
you have a present, you forget to even
think about the future.

~ Robert Walser

✒︎ EYE ON PRODUCTS: 

Packaged foods make convenient meal alternatives for busy

people with little time to cook during the week but should

never replace the healthier choice of fresh ingredients.

After all, many packaged food contain additives, fillers and 

unfamiliar ingredients that you can barely pronounce.

There are exceptions and two recent finds prove that some

packaged foods can be tasty as well as healthy. 

Hilary's Adzuki Bean Burger is made with minimally

processed ingredients such as cooked whole grain

millet and quinoa, onion, sweet potato, green chilis, 

spices, vinegar, and psyllium Husk Powder. The packet contains

two patties, each providing four grams of protein and also
four grams of fiber. The sodium content is 270 mg. 

The patties are tasty and easily heated in a pan to which 

you've added a spoonful of sesame oil. Cook at low to

medium heat and serve with your preferred accompaniment,
like rice or pasta.

Premium Cod Fillets with multigrain breading, sold under

the Natural Sea label, come in a package containing

four fillets, good for two delicious meals. Occasionally,
the package contains an extra fillet, think of it as your
lucky day.

The breading for the cod is organic and a perfect balance
of unbleached wheat flour, organic whole wheat flour,
canola oil, water, spices, arrow-root starch, onion powder,
yeast, and garlic powder. 

Each fillet has 6 grams of protein and a sodium content of

230 mg. You can easily bake them in the oven or cook

them over the stovetop.

In Puerto Rico, both products are available at Freshmart
Supermarkets at a cost of $4.29 for the bean burgers and $7
for the cod. In every way, a felicitous choice at a modicum
price.

Melancholy is sadness
that has taken on lightness.

~ Italo Calvino

A SIMPLE TIP

Lavender makes an excellent natural repellent for moths.
Tuck lavender-filled sachets in closets and drawers to
protect your clothes and leave a pleasant scent.

©  2018 Lorraine Blasor All rights Reserved

Norfolk, England

Ah listen, for silence is not lonely!
Imitate the magnificent trees that speak
no word of their rapture,
but only breathe largely the luminous breeze.
D.H.Lawrence

            FLOWER TOWN 

The Aibonito Flower Festival has been running for 50 years.

AIBONITO  -  The old roads that lead to this small town in the mountainous mid-section of Puerto Rico wind along steep hills. It is luscious countryside. The hills are padded with bright green foliage and the flamboyant trees along the way sparkle with flaming red blossoms. Some flamboyant trees jut over the road to create a triumphal flaming arch, as if to welcome you to this part of the island.

Once on the outskirts of town, it's not far to your chosen destination, Aibonito's famous flower festival. If you follow RT 722 to Los Polluelos Coliseum, the festival grounds are right near by with plenty of parking space to accommodate the large crowds drawn to the event.

The festival celebrates its 50th anniversary this year and it's no surprise it remains ever popular.  Nature gives such joy and the sheer amount of flowers and plants on display is positively head spinning with all participating kiosks in seeming competition with each other to attract buyers with the beauty of their horticultural products. 

To be sure, you will find other things for sale at the festival such as crafts and food but the star of the show is the island flora in all its endless manifestations: orchids, bromeliads, succulents, miniature roses, hibiscus, and herbal plants like basil, rosemary, and yerba buena.

With most people on a budget, it is gratifying to see that growers have kept their prices within a very accessible range. Most plants at the festival retail for under $10 and some can be had for as little as $1. Now that's a bargain and a half.

Given the wide range of choices available, it's a good idea to look around before you actually start buying anything. This way you can determine your preferences and get an idea of how much you want to spend. Don't forget to bring a large bag for your purchases, it will come in handy.

The festival runs every day of the week, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. It can get pretty crowded so it's a good idea to visit before the crowd and the traffic get heavy. Don't miss it, it's wonderful.

The 2018 Aibonito Flower Festival kicked off on June 29 and runs through July 8. Parking is free but there is an entry fee: $6 (Mon-Fri) and $7 (Sat,Sun & July 4th). Children under 12, $2.  

    Perugia, Italy
Photography by Marvin W. Schwartz

When we exist, death is not present
and when death is present, we do not exist.
Epicurus 

A SIMPLE TIP

If you are automatically tempted to

throw away your tea-bag after a 
single use, don't. 

That tea bag is good enough for a second cuppa that will be just as strong, or mild, as the first one, depending on how long you steep the bag in hot water. You stretch your money, so stretch your tea bags too.

                      VERSATILE STENCIL

A new coat of paint can do wonders to freshen up the look of a home without spending a lot of money. 

And to kick it up a notch, as food guru Emeril Lagasse was

fond of saying on his cooking program, how about decorating your newly painted surface with a stencil?

Royal Design Studio Stencils offers an incredibly varied collection of stencils for use on different kinds of surfaces, such as walls, floors and furnishings. Moroccan, lace, damask and floral patterns are among the designs the company offers through its website,
royaldesignstudio.com/.

To celebrate the Fourth of July, Royal Design is offering a 25 percent discount on all its stencils. Check them out!

1. 
   

Imagine me;
I shall not exist
if you do not
imagine me.
Nabokov

"Lolita"

Copyright 2018 Lorraine Blasor all rights reserved

The miracle is not to walk on water.
The miracle is to walk on the green earth,
dwelling deeply in the present moment
and feeling truly alive.

Thich Nhat Hanh

LOIZA ST. WELCOMES CUPCAKE BIZ
P.S. now there are two of them on the same street.

Fairy Cakes: good lunch options and
scrumptious cupcakes

SAN JUAN -- "Spectacular food," "great service, "a movie-like
setting," these are the sort of compliments Fairy Cakes is getting
on TripAdvisor nowthat the coffee shop, formerly based in Hato
Rey, has settled into its new cosy locale on Loiza St..

Cupcakes made with organic ingredients are the heart of this small
business but not its only offering. Unlike Double Cake, the first
bakery to set up shop on Calle Loiza, Fairy Cakes serves up a daily
lunch with a menu that changes weekly.

(At Double Cake, it's strictly cupcakes and refreshments which can be
enjoyed in the store's pleasant back lounge.)

Fairy Cake's tasty and varied lunch options include a soup plus
different sandwiches and salads. Everything is made with fresh
and organic ingredients by owner Carmen Vega and her help.

This week's options included a black bean and a pumpkin soup; a BLT meatless bacon sandwich with lettuce and tomato; a gemelli pasta salad with spinach, onions and tomatoes and a quinoa bowl with garbanzos and cherry tomatoes. For an extra couple of dollars you can add
chicken to the salad.

For dessert, there's sweets, cookies and cupcakes. There's
three different kinds of cupcakes (regular, gluten-free or vegan) and they come in three different sizes (mini,
small, large) in a tantalizing variety of tropical flavors.

Good food tastes better amid pleasant surroundings and
Fairy Cakes is a lovely setting. Faux wood floors, pastel walls
decorated with the owner's personal art collection, round
marble tables with metal bases and an old-fashioned glass
display for the cupcakes. Next to the large bay window
facing Calle Loiza, an upholstered sofa is an open invitation
to sit down, wait for a table or enjoy a cup of tea or Puerto
Rican coffee.

Even kids have their own special place, a little pink table at
which they can sit down to eat or draw.

For the little ones, a small pink table

Small and cosy, Fairy Cakes reflects the owner's good taste and her
wish to make clients feel at home. They do and since opening, Vega
said she has been attracting residents from the neighborhood and
tourists in addition to long-standing clients eager to continue
enjoying her sweet, organic delights.


FAIRY CAKES, 1603 Loiza Street
Tue - Th, 10:30 am to 6 pm; 
Fri, 11 am to 6:30 pm; Sat, 11 am to 5 pm
787. 200. 8388

It is better to look at the sky than live there.
Such an empty place; so vague. Just a country
where the thunder goes and things disappear.

Truman Capote

Breakfast At Tiffany

 ☛   A SIMPLE TIP

Leaky faucet and the plumber is not available right away?
Then don't let the water trickle go to waste but collect
it in a large plastic container placed under the dripping
faucet. You can use it to water the plants or to mop the floors!

Photography by Ulrike Blasor

To be alive at all
is to have scars.

John Steinbeck

    ©opyright 2017 Lorraine Blasor All Rights Reserved ✍

ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN IN LIFE,
ESPECIALLY NOTHING.

-- MICHEL HOUELLEBECQ

CELEBRATING EARTH DAY

A bagful of  bags & wrappings made from
 non-recyclable plastic.

Today is Earth Day and a fitting way to celebrate is to
commit to doing our small part to save the planet.

For example, we could start by reducing the use of plastic.

Plastic, in every shape & size, is part of our daily lives. The
food we eat and drink is sold in plastic, medicines are
dispensed in plastic bottles,  and even clothing these days is
made with recycled plastic.

The problem is that plastic takes centuries to degrade and it is
choking our landfills.

One way of cutting back on plastic, for example, is to buy
food or juices that are sold in glass containers, rather than plastic.
Once the product is consumed, those glass jars make fine
storage units for leftovers and all sorts of things around the house.

Washing detergents usually are marketed in plastic but some
come in cardboard containers; choose those instead of plastic.

You may not be able to do this with all foods but to the extent
that you can, lower the amount of plastic that you bring into
the home. If more people did that, companies might become alert
to the fact that, environmentally speaking, cardboard and glass
are more friendly than plastic.

Stop buying single-use plastic water bottles. Instead, carry your
own little glass bottle and if you take it to the office, refill it at
the water cooler. It would be grand if supermarkets and restaurants
were to provide a service refilling glass bottles with water for a
small price so if you are out on the street, there would be no need
to buy water sold in plastic bottles.

These of course are small gestures but if they were repeated daily
by millions of people then we would begin to make a dent in
the problem of plastic.

Here are some statistics to consider:

-- About 300 million tons of plastic are produced worldwide each
year.

-- Of the plastic that is thrown away, an estimated 7 million ends
up in the ocean each year.

-- Americans used around 50 billion plastic water bottles a year
yet the U.S. recycling rate for plastic is 23%.

Plastic, plastic everywhere. Isn't it time we cut down on it?

That's the secret,

you follow the words.

Bernard Malamud,

The Tenants 

 ☛ GOOD PRODUCTS: LUIGI VITELLI SPAGHETTI

       This is a tasty, every day brand of pasta that has the virtue
       of being quite inexpensive. If you shop at Pueblo stores in San
       Juan you can find it in the dry pasta section for 99 cents.
     
       Buon appetito!


© 2017 LORRAINE BLASOR ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ✍

AS TIME GOES BY.....

THE LURE OF THE FIND:
EMPORIUM ANTIQUES

(Frederick, MD) -- Objects with a history and a past will never
be entirely sidelined by the new as long as there are thrift stores,
second-hand shops or antiques stores around.

Surely, spending an afternoon rummaging through one such store in
search of a special find or a bargain is a good way of engaging the
imagination in the fascinating after life of dispossessed objects.

Of course it helps to find a great antiques or thrift store to explore
and should you happen to be in Frederick, Maryland, Emporium
Antiques fits the bill in a grand and spectacular way. Housed in a
1912 historic warehouse, this wonderful store is home to more
than 100 dealers, all of them eager to capture your attention.

The place is gigantic and filled with an amazing selection of goods,
from costume jewelry, vintage clothing and housewares to books,
furnishings and ephemera. You would probably need to devote a
whole afternoon to be able to cover the entire place but even a
visit of a couple of hours can be great fun. You can be certain you
will find something to reward your endeavor.

This is a place with no walls, yet each dealer has a private space
that is personalized in such a way as to entice the visitor's
curiosity. Some spaces look like a person's living room, others
like a cosy bedroom, and while each area is crammed with items,
everything is clean and neatly arranged.

Items are, for the most part, in tip top condition and prices are
quite accessible, with plenty of bargains to be found.  Whether
you know what you are looking for or even if you don't, this is
a place in which to discover and rediscover the past or the near
past, even your childhood.

Open seven days a week, the Emporium Antiques is one
of many delightful places to visit in Frederick's downtown
area whose quiet streets are lined with well maintained colonial
brick homes and old churches. There are tree filled parks and
pretty stores to visit. If you get hungry, there are many good
restaurants to choose from and you can follow your meal by
taking a leisurely stroll along the lovely Carroll Creek Promenade.
Benches along the way invite you to rest and gaze at the pretty
lily pads in the water.


EMPORIUM ANTIQUES
112 E. Patrick Street
301.662.7099

Monday through Saturday 11 am - 6 pm
Sunday 12 pm - 5 pm

www.emporiumantiques.com

"Where is it written that
lives should have a meaning?"

Elena Ferrante

"The Story of the Lost Child"

 ☛ A SIMPLE TIP

No matter how much one tries to cut down on plastic,
there will always be products one uses that are marketed
in plastic containers.  Laundry soap is one. As an alternative
use, these containers make good water canisters. All you
have to do is cut the top off
and voilá, here's a sturdy and
easy pour can to water your
plants.

Photography by Juliette Blasor

"Don't you enjoy being alive?
Don't you like feeling:
This is me, this is my hand,
this is my leg, I'm real. I'm solid.
I'm alive.

George Orwell

"1984"

© 2017 LORRAINE BLASOR ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ✍

They tried to bury us;
They did not know
 we were seeds.

Mexican proverb 

PUNTO MEDIO: SWELL PLACE ON LOIZA ST.

SAN JUAN: There are neighborhood venues so congenial that the
moment you step inside you feel at home, the kind of place that
embraces you and you want to embrace back and tell everyone
about it.

It's easy to feel that way about Punto Medio, the casual café/wine
bar that opened its doors eight and a half months ago on Loiza St.
and has become a favorite spot for breakfast, especially on Sundays
when you might very possibly have to stand in a line of people
waiting to get in.

Punto Medio is only 10 tables big, a small but comfortable
restaurant that is neither chic nor pretentious but has a clean,
feel-good vibe. You immediately sense that everything in it
was selected with care and attention to detail, from the quaint
ornaments and artwork on the walls to the handmade wood
and metal tables in different sizes and shapes. The commanding
element in the restaurant is a handsome bar counter decorated with
a stylized mosaic about Puerto Rico in which mountains, land
and sea are interwoven against a bright white sky ruled by a
golden sun.

True to its name, Punto Medio aims to bring together two
alternate concepts: the daytime café and the evening pub.
As a result, its menu offers different eating options at different
points of the day.

The morning menu includes fried or scrambled eggs, pancakes,
fruits and sandwiches on croissant or baguette bread while the
afternoon and evening menu leans towards artisanal beers, white
and red wines from Spain, Chile and Argentina you can couple
with an intriguing selection of tapas featuring mussels in garlic,
wine-infused chorizo sausage, blood-sausage pate, smoked
salmon or a sampler of these options followed with a couple
of dessert choices.

Co-owner Jayleen Babilonia said the business is a family affair
in which everyone, including her brother and sister and father,
have been involved with additional support from friends and artists
who worked on the mosaic.

Now that it has established itself as a breakfast hangout, Punto
Medio is ready to boost its pub credentials. Jayleen said plans are
underway to expand the tapas menu and to bring in more wines,
this time around barrel wine from Portland, Oregon. The first barrels,
which are coming in by ship, will arrive at the end of this month.

"From the beginning people have responded (to Punto Medio),"
said Jayleen with obvious satisfaction.

And with good reason. This cosy nook along ever changing Loiza St.,
in the heart of San Juan, is a great place to hang out by yourself or
with friends. The service is friendly, the venue inviting and the prices
won't drain your pocketbook.

Let's drink to that!

PUNTO MEDIO, #1762 Calle Loiza
787. 230.0230
Operating hours:
8 am to 8 pm Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday
8 am to 10 pm Thursday & Friday
9 am to 3 pm Saturday
10 am to 3 pm Sunday

  ☛  A GOOD PRODUCT

A cup of tea is comforting at all times of day, a hot drink that has a
soothing and calming effect on the spirit. And what better way to
heat up water than in this inexpensive yet totally delightful clear
glass kettle that lets you enjoy the process of boiling water thanks
to its transparent glass surface.

The Medelco 12-cup glass stovetop whistling kettle costs under $10
and is one of the best products around. With appropriate care, it
should last you a very long time.

Photography by Juliette Blasor


Today is the
tomorrow 
we worried about
yesterday.

UNKNOWN

© 2017  Lorraine Blasor all rights reserved

Photography by Ulrike Blasor

The unimaginable
is there to be imagined.

~~ J.M. Coetzee

THE DESIGNER WHO LOVES PALMS

Palms embody the sultriness of the tropics and can be found
throughout Puerto Rico. Look at them long enough and if
you are a young designer you might suddenly get inspired.

That's the case of Alexandre Gradin who turned to the
Puerto Rican Royal Palm as the source material for a
line of simple but useful bowls that he makes in different
sizes and can be put to many different uses.

Courtesy of A. Gradin

Gradin uses the woody leaf sheaths of the palm (yagua)
as his raw material for the bowls which he fashions using
a special mold.

Right now he is focussing on the small-size version. These
small bowls that look like vessels that might sail away were you
to place them on a passing sea wave are also reminiscent of
origami, Japan's gentle art of folding paper, but don't be fooled into
believing this is a delicate object as its organic material is
sturdy and was once used in Puerto Rico in the construction
of rural dwellings.

"The Yagua bowl is an economic, eco-friendly, biodegradable,
reusable and very versatile product," says the designer on his
website which offers information on other attractive products
produced by his company, 10 Gradin.

Courtesy of A. Gradin

The line concentrates on a few but well-crafted items nicely suited
for the home: an attractive lamp with wooden base, steel stem and
an acrylic lampshade with a pretty scalloped edge; a minimalistic
coffee table (wood choices for the top include mahogany, red oak,
maple or blue mahoe); a wood cutting board shaped as a painter's
palette and fashioned out of teak or eucalyptus wood; and a very
distinctive arm chair in a neo-art-deco style made to order out of
birch and cedar plywood.

Courtesy of A.Gradin

A graduate of the School of Plastic Arts in old San Juan, Gradin holds
a regular job at an engineering firm but devotes his week-ends to
working on his designs which he also exhibits at local design fairs.
He is part of a growing number of talented young men and women
who are finding their voice through design and starting businesses to
promote their distinctive aesthetic for the home and other areas of life.

In his work, Gradin said he seeks ways of echoing nature through
organic curves and shapes suggestive of flowers. His is a "minimal
but functional aesthetic in which almost pure geometric forms
predominate." Gradin likes working with local woods, stainless steel,
plastics, glass, textiles or renewable materials (such as the yagua)
and creating interesting combinations of these materials.

As a designer,  "I want to create awareness that local products
can be competitive by adding value to design, quality of materials
and of construction."

10gradin.com

There are nights when
the wolves are silent
and only the moon howls.

~~ George Carlin

☛ A simple tip: Sifter to the rescue

A sifter is used to lighten flour that is too packed down or clumpy.
But what if you don't have one readily at hand, what to do? Not to
worry as a fine mesh strainer will do the job just fine, which goes
to show that something that does two jobs for the price of one is
definitely a good thing to have in the kitchen.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

© 2017 LORRAINE BLASOR, all rights reserved