a new season?

Okay, well it is still Summer, hot and everything, but we are brewing up new plans for the next season (both literally and figuratively).  This city changes so much with each season and with the exception of a couple months back in the states during the winter, we are coming up on a year of watching these seasons change. 

I love the Fall and will definitely miss things from California like Apple Hill and pumpkin scented candles and having a fireplace. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to what the next few months and year have in store for us.

I'm ready to make some soups and cuddle on the couch under a blanket.  Soon enough.  But for now, we are planning some fun and exciting new gatherings and are about to head off to Portugal to connect with other co-workers and get refreshed.  After we return, we'll be hosting our first in home cinema night.  What should we call it?  'Barcelona Film Society'? 'Barcelona Cinema Club'? 'BCN Movie Nights'?  Other ideas?  We are hoping to host monthly gatherings surrounding films and art.  Can't wait!

Bread

I've been reading a new book called Food and Faith; a Theology of Eating.  It is encouraging more thoughtful eating which in turn creates more thankful eating.

'Thoughtful eating reminds us that there is no human fellowship without a table, no table without a kitchen, no kitchen without a garden, no garden without viable ecosystems, no ecosystems without the forces productive of life, and no life without its source in God.'


The section on bread really got me thinking:

'the visible, aromatic, and tactile presence of a warm loaf invites sharing and companionship (a "companion" - from the Latin com: "with" + panis: "bread" - is "one who shares bread").  In addition to providing nourishment, bread communicates home, hospitality, and fellowship, the sharing of our life together.'

This book has also given more meaning to eating with friends, and especially hosting dinner parties:


'Eating together should be an occasion in which people learn to become more attentive and present to the world and each other.'

Hot and Sweaty Italian Night

 Friday night we had a dinner party.  

It was an Italian theme,

and it was hot and sweaty.  

It is ludicrous to turn on your oven in August in Barcelona, and we knew it, so that's what the invite said.  But the sweating was all worth it.  Jeff made a DELICIOUS lasagna.  From scratch.  The sauce cooked all day long and the smell was torturous, but in the good way.  And I contributed meatballs (mostly because I wanted to eat them). 

Ben made the salad, and it was so scrumptious!

For like the 3rd time ever since living in Barcelona, I was full.

There were 10 of us in all and it was such fun to have a big table full of friends.  We laughed and joked and talked until the wee hours of the morning.  We began with a toast to express our gratitude for food, friends, and community (and to congratulate Ben on his new job).

the crew

I already can't wait until the next one!

Thanks to Ben, Brad, and Jeff for the photos.  Sorry we stuck you guys at the 'kids table'.