Showing posts with label spain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spain. Show all posts

My Kitchen Table: Sketches from My Life Review

My Kitchen Table: Sketches from My Life
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Pilar Pobil is a popular and prolific artist - painter, sculpture, and more - with roots in the upper classes of old Mallorca Spain. Her life is marked by dramatic stories from the revolution that changed her life forever... Eventually landing her in 1960's mormon Utah, where she has blossomed - particularly in her "third life" as an artist.
Pilar's art is self taught, diverse, yet all connected - Landscapes of Spain, Southern Utah, Mexico and more... Still Lifes, Fascinating people of the past and of parties in the night and places far away. The depth of meaning and symbolism in her paintings carry into the painted frames. Her sculptured figures have secret lives that she can share with you.
This is her first book of written work. Pilar shares in her own words and unique style, glimpses of her fascinating life. The color plates of some of her work are well reproduced and complement the diverse stories from long ago through the recent past, adding insight. Some stories meander, into side trips, but always come back to the point. Her writing is descriptive, at times comical and even suspenseful... enough that I feel I was there at times!
Pilar is an intelligent, charming and talented woman, with earned opinions. She is quite in tune with the natural world, the political, and the art world. She relates to people of all ages. A visit to Pilar's home and garden is a journey into a rich, magical and beautiful world... an adventure of endless discovery. Time spent with her at her kitchen table is a wonderful gift - one that you can get a taste of through this book.


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Pilar Pobil was born on the island of Mallorca, off the Mediterranean coast of Spain, and it was there that she first learned to love the colors that suffuse her art. The tales contained here are those she later related to her own children around the kitchen table; many of them describe her childhood and young adulthood in Mallorca, filled with mystery and excitement, privilege and deprivation, and always a fierce will to face life on her own terms. Other stories describe her meeting in Mallorca with the Utah man who would become her husband, her journey to a faraway country, the birth of her children, and her discovery of her artistic impulses and abilities. All are woven with the threads of color and culture of her two homes. Filled with wit and insight, My Kitchen Table reveals foremost the voice of a woman determined to be true to herself and to her art. Accompanying the narrative are some fifty color reproductions of the paintings and sculptures for which Pilar Pobil has become known. This is a volume that art lovers everywhere will treasure. 'Like her paintings, Pilar's stories overflow their pages. They fold us into their embrace, so we feel and see her dancing in and out of our minds, a curious and mischievous child, a young woman in love coming to a foreign land with a foreign culture and tongue, the heartbreak of her losses, and the continual renewals that have ripened her art. Pilar's book, like her house, is a magic kingdom and she is the fairy princess who presides. She paints her shoes for social engagements. The seats of her chairs beam faces. Her electrical wiring metamorphoses into fantastic snakes. The garden that leads to her studio is Salt Lake City's Giverny. Paintings are everywhere and talk to each other with glittering non sequiturs. At the center of it all is her kitchen table, the place from which she serves the voices and visions of her life. The subtleties of her telling, like the bold clarity of her judgments, are those of an artist whose inspirations are a feast she graciously invites us to share.' — from the Foreword by Robert D. Newman, Dean of the College of Humanities, University of Utah

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Made in Spain: Spanish Dishes for the American Kitchen Review

Made in Spain: Spanish Dishes for the American Kitchen
Average Reviews:

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Have not seen the PBS show that this cookbook is matched with. Purchased this as interested in tapas and Spanish cuisine, and because Andres is such well known Spanish chef and is interested in his cuisine being utilized in American context, as the subtitle of this work exhibits.
These are not that difficult in either technique, and the specialized ingredients are given sources that one can pursue, e.g. Spanish cheeses, olive oils, rices, etc. Igourmet is also a good source I have found, as are the increasing number of specialty gourmet food markets such as Trader Joe's.
Clarkson Potter seems to always turn out a great cookbook, and this fits right in their mold. Great full-page, full-color photos highlight the entrees, and the ingredients and instructions are clean, clear and usable. Jose also lists tips with each, such as substitutions, technique helps, etc.
They are organized as the show, on certain regions of the country and their cuisine. The two tried so far were exceptional, Tomato toast with Garrotxa cheese, and the Lobster and mushroom paella.
I truly find this food compelling, as it is light, healthy and inviting all at the same time. Will be trying many of these in the future, e.g. Traditional basque stew of tuna, poatatoes, pepper and onions, and Pork Meatballs with squid. Many who are really into Mediterranean cooking are becoming more and more enamored with this country's rising popularity, as Mario Batali's example provides.

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