There is a land of the living and a land of
                                                  the dead and the bridge is love, the only            
                                                           survival, the only meaning.
                                                                  -- Thornton Wilder

PAN EL CHECO     

Bread. Real bread. Bread that you can chew wholeheartedly,
that tastes wholesome, not the ersatz version wrapped in trans-
parent plastic on supermarket shelves that dares to call itself
bread but is a pathetic tasteless
version laden with unknown artificial
ingredients designed to guarantee the
product's longevity and enhance its
spurious nutrition.

Is that too much to ask for in this day
and age that promises consumers the
realization of all their wishes?



Luckily, for residents of San Juan a
new bakery has opened ready to deliver the real goods:  bread
that is crusty, tasty, nutritious, and, best of all, comes in different
tantalizing varieties. The kind you can enjoy with jam and
butter while sipping tea or coffee at any time your heart desires.

The bakery bears a simple name -- El Checo -- but behind that
name is as sweet, romantic story of love between a young man
from Czechoslovakia and a Puerto Rican woman that led him
to leave Europe to begin a new life on the island at the side
of his innamorata.

As Radim Capek told a local daily, one of the things he missed
most from his country was eating good, wholesome bread so he
began baking his own. In time, he started selling it to friends
and acquaintances, then farmers markets and eventually, local
restaurants. Recently, he opened a tiny outlet on San Francisco
St., next door to Concalma, to sell directly to consumers.

 Inside the cozy store is a small
world of bread wonders: sour-
dough and multi-grain breads,
brioches, focaccia, scones,
wholewheat and rye rolls,
carrot muffins. They are display-
ed neatly in a glass case at the
main counter or stocked up
inside baskets hanging attrac-
tively on a side wall lighted
by jazzy light bulbs on black wires.

El Checo is open four days a week.
In addition to baking, Capek also works as a chemist for a paint
company. He is working hard to support his family that soon 
will welcome a baby.

EL CHECO, #207 San Francisco St.
787.631.9424

DAYBREAK ON EARTH

Life is a peephole, a single tiny entry onto a vastness.
                           
                                 Yann Martel, "Life of Pi"



  ☞ A SIMPLE TIP
WORN fabric can be recycled into scrap material for use around
the house in lieu of paper towels. Cut up material into pieces of
different sizes and store in one location for easy access when needed.

Puerta de San Juan, Old San Juan

photo by Denise Blasor

                   What matters is how well you 
                          walk through the fire.

                         -- Charles Bukowski

View of Old San Juan

Think of the world
that you carry inside you

RAINER MARIA WILKE

PAPER BAG

All images courtesy of Ale Roman

OUT of the humblest materials, like newspaper, Ale Roman
fashions handbags that charm with their good design, smart looks,
and attractive graphics.

Not to mention craftmanship.
  
These fashionable bags are so skillfully made they renew your
appreciation of quality. A well-made object, no matter how
humble or simple its component materials, has a way of standing
out and Roman's bags reflect the pleasure she obviously takes in
fashioning an appealing product that users will enjoy wearing and
people will enjoy looking at.

Roman, who loves the environment and recycling, says she is
an avid reader.

 "I always thought, for example, that newspapers publish
spectacular pictures and articles and unfortunately this media,
newspapers, is so ephemeral that by the next day the news is
old. I wanted to preserve some images by doing something related
to fashion and what better than a handbag.

"Besides, by using recycled materials I am making my small
contribution to conserving our Planet."

Her raw material comes from magazines, catalogs, old calendars
 "but I confess that my favorite is newspaper. I like it because of
its size and because I can handle it much better."

Roman uses up to six sheets of paper to confection one bag which
then gets covered with a laminate sheet for a waterproof finish.

Roman said she is in conversation with Echo Verde, the
environmental store in Hato Rey, to carry her bags. In the
meantime, you can get acquainted with her work, which
also includes jewelry, through her Facebook page and her
blog, Moda Eco by Ale Roman.

http://modaecobyaleroman.blogspot.com 

Little Italy, New York City
Photography by Juanita Colombani

The city is a cathedral of possessions;
its scent is dreams.

James Salter,  "Light Years"

➨EYE ON PRODUCTS:
Alvarado St. Bakery's sprouted wheat tortillas

You can't go wrong with a product that has ingredients you can
actually recognize like sprouted organic whole wheat berries,
organic wheat flour, filtered water, unrefined safflower oil, and
sea salt.

On top of having healthy ingredients, Alvarado's wheat tortillas
are very tasty. Once tortilla is pan toasted, add your favorite
filling. One easy filling is a mixture of finely chopped onions,
cabbage, tomatoes, carrots marinaded in olive oil and apple
cider vinegar  (throw in a few morself of cooked chicken for
added protein) and voilá, a simple and appetizing lunch or
dinner.

For more ideas on fillings, check out "10 Ways to Eat a Tortilla"
at Maria's Farm Country Kitchen's website.

Alvarado's tortillas are available in San Juan at Freshmart stores like
the recently opened outlet in Condado. The product retails for $3.89,
and you get six tortillas per package.

(www.mariasfarmcountrykitchen.com/10-ways-to-eat-a-whole-
grain-tortilla/)

Freshmart Condado Store
#1310 Ave. Ashford Condado
787.999.7800

Photography by Juliette Blasor

How gloriously special
getting through the day
ought to be.

Thornton Wilder

A SIMPLE TIP

Say you have cats and a garden and you wanted to save water...

Washing cat food cans consumes quite a bit of water but here
is a full proof method to clean cans without turning on the faucet.

Just leave the cans out in the garden and those busy ant colonies
that are all over the place will take care of cleaning up your cans,
leaving them spotlessly clean and tidy.

You help out mother nature and mother nature helps you out, an
unbeatable partnership! And it saves a lot of water…


ⓒ 2014 Lorraine Blasor  ✤ all rights reserved ✿

"Let a joy keep you.
Reach out your hands
and take it when it runs by."
Carl Sandburg
Photography by Denise Blasor

HANDS touch, hold, caress. They communicate through signs,
twirl and dance. Hands prepare meals, they create objects.

Things made by hands can be simple or sophisticated but
either way it takes time and effort, which is what confers
handmade objects a value that even in this day and age, when
people are beholden to more machines than one can count, is
still appreciated. No machine-made thing can ever have the
same allure as something crafted by hand.

There is dignity in working with one's hands, in making things
by hand that have a practical use yet also possess aesthetic appeal.
Things that we can use in our daily life or that delight our senses.
At a recent design fair at the Puerto Rico Museum of Contemporary
Art in San Juan, handmade objects ruled. Here are a few that
caught our attention.

That intriguing blue bag packed with purchases is made out of
mesh plastic, a modern take on the fisherman's net tote bags so
popular at one time. It is one of several bag designs sold under
the label Creando H.A.I.; the acronym stands for handmade
by Aida Iturregui.

How much can it carry? "They can fit a lot," assured Iturregui
who makes the bags in several colors and sizes priced between
$5 and $25, for the larger model. Check Creando HAI on
Facebook.

Annabelle, a mother of two girls & a dog, takes the

everyday onesie and
turns it into a one-of-a-kind
baby garment with whimsical
appliques of recycled fabrics,
felt and thread. She combines
imaginative designs with
superior sewing skills
to create truly delightful
pieces for babies. Check
Apipita on Facebook &
http://etsy.com/shop/apipita/


The elegant abstractions of Gloria Florit invite the eye to
lose itself within colorful labyrinths. Her canvases are
intricate landscapes, lively and restful in equal measure.
One clever touch: embedded in each painting is a small
piece of wood in the shape of a geometric element,
a play on the concept of reality or maybe a way to
assert the link between reality and illusion.

Florit, whose art education included studies at New
York University, has exhibited widely and is
represented by Pamil Fine Art ( 787.756.6831).

Artist Arialys Cruzado Ríos started Alterfolio in 2011
as "creative explorations in book binding." She
produces gorgeous notebooks whose covers are
original silkscreen art or photographs. Beautifully
made, these notebooks are the kind of object you
will fall in love with at first sight.

Available at Libreria Libros AC Barra & Bistro
on Ponce de León Ave. at Stop 21, Concalma
in old San Juan, La Chiwinha in Río Piedras,
Mozaik in Condado and the Museum of Art
in Ponce. Cruzado also holds regular bookbinding
workshops. For dates, check her website
at www.alterfolio.com/


   ☛ A SIMPLE TIP:

  A warm glass of water with half a lemon boosts your
immune system to fight colds, aids digestion and even
helps you lose weight by keeping hunger cravings at bay.

Photography by Denise Blasor

It goes so fast. We don't have time to look at one another…
Oh, earth, you're too wonderful for anyone to realize you!
Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?
Every, every minute?

"Our Town,"
 by
Thornton Wilder 

Copyright  ©2013 Lorraine Blasor All Rights Reserved