I recently discovered an amazing filmmaker who has actually been around for quite awhile -- Bela Tarr. Why had I never heard of this guy before? I love it when that happens. The first thing I saw was The Man From London. I was so into it, I went ahead and watched his 7.5-hour-long Satantango. Here is a clip. I was looking around for his DVDs on Amazon, and was pleased to discover a collection of his films were just released in April as a set - The Bela Tarr Collection.

We have been cooking some interesting food lately. From a new cookbook called Vegetarian Dishes from the Middle East, by Arto Der Haroutunian, published posthumously. It's mostly been salads, but also some warm dishes, namely:

• chick peas with spinach
• chick peas and onions w/ tahini dressing
• tabouleh
• cucumber olive feta salad
• carrot orange salad
• green bean in yogurt sauce with rice
• stuffed tomatoes

Had a nice weekend away in Garrotxa. We stayed in a very remote rural bed & breakfast called Can Jou (pictured). 6 long km of twisty unpaved uphill road to get to the b&b, but what a spectacular view! Their focus is horseback riding -- I counted at least 24 horses in the stables down the hill below our balcony. We didn't have time for horses, we just relaxed and enjoyed the tweeting birds and otherwise noiseless environment on the hilltop.