The GAIA Health Blog

Some Healthy Food Fun:    The Wanderlust Food Diaries (of a chronic daydreamer)

"Spend the Night"
(...at the Valencia Lounge Hostel,    Valencia, Spain)

On the Menu "Iberian Eats" (Spanish and Portugese Inspired Recipes)
Video The song, "Spend the Night" by Earth, Wind, and Fire

"I wanna spend the night with you, baby.   Make love, like we used to do, baby.   I wanna feel the fire within.....
I wanna fall in love again, when the night is through........I wanna spend the night with you"
--Maurice White
(from the song, "Spend the Night")

I think I just met the girl I'm gonna marry....     {laughing to myself, and laughing at myself ..... while typing}.

...and I wonder sometimes do people think I'm making these stories up, but I swear to the heavens, it happened just like the video I posted below, AND, that song was in my head when the incident happened! Is life imitating art, or is art imitating life? (I'm sooooo not understanding why the "Love Gods" have taken me for their "play-toy").

Met her on the street, her name is Tia, just one glance, one "Hi", and energy simply burst forth from both of us.....genuine, passionate, I'm drunk with infatuation (I could never hold my "Romantic Liquor"). Felt like the whole universe was working to bring us to that street corner. Felt like my whole world has "resolved"..........

About 30 seconds into that encounter, I asked her out knowing she wouldn't say no. But she said no, but threw a little curve ball at me. She said "not yet", "but maybe you can come by my job and say Hi, and maybe bring me a cup of coffee"?

I got coffee from Whole Foods next day, wrapped a string around the cup with a little string bow (note to self, "that was cool..."). And a few of those Whole Foods delicious cookies for good measure. (as Humphrey Bogart said in a movie when fixing an engine "An engine is like a woman, you don't feed them , they don't do nothing!!)

Fast forward 4 hours that evening of our first meeting , I'm still drunk with romance, I get a text from one of my, what I call, "Seattle Hoochies", some babe I met a while back, her text being her safe, passionless, emotionless way to dangle over the phone that I could possibly "get some", if I work hard enough for it. {as the kids say, "SMH"}

But, wth Tia, the future is now foreseeable, I'm browsing the Valencia Lounge Hostel photos on their website, and I'd rather spend the night "Wanderlusting", about me and Tia at the Valencia Lounge Hostel in Spain, some post-lovemaking "spooning" with Tia, waking up to Tia, looking at her "Sleepy Head" self wrapped in the soft sheets.

...would rather "Spend the Night" imagining Tia and me sightseeing in Valencia, getting our calorie count up before another night's romance, enjoyng "a little bread, a little cheese, a little wine" {and the editing room in my "blogger's mind" throws in "uh, don't forget, 'and a little onion' "}, if you feel me.....

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"Iberian Eats"

(Spanish and Portuguese Influenced Recipes)

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Portuguese Braised Steak and Onions:   In Portugal this braise would be served with                        Grilled Calcots and Asparagus with Romesco Sauce    festivals in Northeast Spain that celebrate the Calcot onion.
fried potatoes or rice, but you can do a pillow of buttery mash (click photo for recipe)                                  Similar to Fish'n Chips in England, it is traditionally served on newspaper. (Click photo for recipe)    

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Piperrada (Capsicums with scrambled eggs)   Traditionally found in Spanish omelette form.                                            Spanish Tortilla with Manchego and Green Olives   Dense with onions, potatoes, olives,
Would be a cool brunch before Tia and I start a day of Valencia sightseeing :)  (click photo for recipe)                                         and cheese. Hits the spot at breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Serve it hot. (Click photo for recipe)   

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2 photos above and 3 photos below

Portuguese Chicken and Potatoes

Traditional Portuguese Chicken, also called Piri Piri Chicken, is made with Piri Piri peppers which actually originated in South Africa, and were imported to Portugal from two Portuguese colonies, Angola and Mozambique, on spice ships. Today, the peppers used extensively in throughout Portugal for marinades, basting liquids, condiments and hot sauces.

(click any of 2 photos above or 3 photos below for recipe)

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Spanish Paella Made Healthy:   This recipe author said making Paella is not as hard as you think...we'll see :)                      Tortillitas de Camarones (Spanish Shrimp Fritters)     I'm a big fan of ethnic fritters
I can see me and Tia sharing a pan with a bottle of Spanish Wine . (click photo for recipe)                                                                    when I travel, enjoying the spices of the local culture, fried up into a stimulating starter dish. (click)

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There's personal trainer at my health club, we have a casual, friendly attraction. She's one of those pure, Seattle, "Warm Souls" I frequently run across here, a vibe that never happened back in Chicago. She just broke off her engagement, now she's free to enjoy and investigate all the causal flirting and energy we shared over the last year.

I asked her why she broke it off, she said, "I couldn't see a future with him, there was no...no...no {she's searching for a word}". I interrupted and said "PASSION" ??? Her eyes lit up, she damn near jumped in my face and kissed me, like some burden was taken off her. I then said, "I'm going down with the ship, because anything, anything is to be endured, other than to have a live a lifetime with someone with no passion".

I may hang out with the trainer, we'll see, she's nice, a pure and beautiful soul, but she's not "The One".. Tia is "The One", if the "Love Gods" aren't toying with me again...

~stay healthy~.

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"Sail Forth. Steer for the deep waters only. Reckless O soul, exploring. I with thee and thou with me. For we are bound where mariner has not yet dared go. And we will risk the ship, ourselves, and all." --Walt Whitman

Valencia Lounge Hostel
Address: Carrer dels Cadirers, 11, 46001
València, Spain
Phone: +34 963 92 34 25
www.valencialoungehostel.com


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