Someone is hacking up loogies (sp?) outside my window. That's the thing about London. It's all about sights, sounds, smells and tastes. To the extreme. Take the chicken moutarde I had today at the Marylebone Farmers Market. Unbelievable. Just a lusciously rich chicken and mustard gravy with mushrooms and onions. I brought it home and served it over brown rice with some sauteed asparagus tips and red pepper. I had some of Titi's left over black rice and coconut milk. It was divine. I can't even comment on how glorious all the produce looked at the market. I was near tears. Such colors, such amazing examples of nature, as God intended it, nothing overshipped or wilted or limp or old or shriveled or just plain devoid of nutrition or life. I don't normally wax poetic about produce, but damn, when you compare. It amazes you what you put up with simply because you don't know what else is out there (for all those in bad relationships, let's just go ahead and apply that analogy here too).
The market manager looked like Hyde from "That 70s Show." He was so chill and just hip, kind of like the vegetables. There were also pies (as in quiche type pies) made from spelt flour. I will get those next week. Yeah, spelt! There were cheeses all colors of the rainbow, crisp and verdant greens, a whole tent where they were cooking paella and ham and vegetables and my delightful chicken moutarde. There was roasted garlic and marzipan fruit cake and a glorious layered cake with berries and ricotta. There was even a man with about 10 kinds of potatoes, if that's your thing.
When you walk down any given street, you're overcome by the smells. One minute it's a woman's super strong perfume, another it's one that smells of cherries or soap, then a man's aftershave, then someone puffing hookah smoke in the air. There are flowers everywhere, men wearing blazers, jeans and funky tennis shoes, people with big hair, people in elegant scarves (men and women), babies in adorable multi-hued tights and little pink dresses and tiny hats, one guy was even playing air guitar with a blow up plastic guitar. I'm still having a hard time getting people to smile, but that surely doesn't keep me from smiling. That's all I've done today and I can't stop. Today I'm happy and I love every moment of this experience.
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