The best exhibition I've seen in ages

If you like modern architecture to the point of being slightly geeky about it then get yourself down to Domusae - in the old Museo del Ejercito on Calle de Méndez Núñez 1 (nearish to the Prado) before 16th June 2011 when the exhibition is gone forever! It's a stunningly exhibited selection of cultural buildings (libraries, museums, public archives) from around the country. All of the projects are gorgeous and are either new or older buildings that have been rehabilitated with a modern edge. Models of the buildings and in-depth interviews with the architects are presented beautifully in the old Salon de Reinos - picture below. It made me realise that often when visiting famous Spanish cities I made a beeline straight for the old classics missing out on many modern gems. Definitely worth a couple of hours of your time.

Hidden Madrid - Calling all Goya fans

Last weekend I was introduced to the little-known (at least little-known by me) chapel where Goya is buried in Madrid; Ermita de San Antonio de la Florida, near Metro Moncloa. Not only is the great maestro buried there, but he is responsible for the wonderfully vibrant and dynamic frescoes adorning the ceiling. Entry is free and it's pretty much free of crowds.

photo source

Fellini in Madrid

If you’re in the city and fancy a bit of film culture then check out the free Fellini exhibition at Madrid’s CaixaForum I popped in by chance yesterday and it’s definitely worth stopping by; includes some great photography, stills, sketches and film extracts – with a special focus on the saucy fountain scene with Anita Eckberg in La Dolce Vita and some of the curious fetishes of this Italian director. On till December 26th.

Art on post-it notes

Mark Johns is the illustrator of the 'things to focus on; happy' drawing I used in a previous post. I love the apparent simplicity of is penwork and his cute scrawl, and wish I had the audacity to try and sell something I had drawn on a post-it note.

I can totally relate to this sentiment:

With this one I can tell myself that all those do-gooder greenies are really no better than me (really they are though :-)

Even earwax can be cute:

Lovely art

Here are a couple of pieces by my new favourite artists: Deborah Cushman from California (just look at those colours!!), and Christopher Stott (so serene, and I love pears):

Original art for 20 dollars

Just had to post this. The concept behind http://www.20x200.com/ is that you can buy original artwork online- the smallest pieces (batches of only 200) sell for 20$.

This weekend

What miserable weather! Hail and rain all over, so think it's going to be a quiet weekend... Plus the doctors said to stay out of the cold, so a great excuse to curl up on the sofa with a nice cup of tea and some DVDs. Since Sayda told me about project TV and alluc (free streamed series and films online) there's no getting me away from the sofa. Have become addicted to Dirty Sexy Money and the Sopranos... There's a temporary Picasso exhibition on at the Reina Sofia, so might wander down there if the weather gets better. Sunday will probably be dedicated to brunch, and work in the afternoon. Speaking of brunch, I'm dying to try out this recipe for eggs with cream, spinach and country ham:

Ingredients
1/4 cup thinly sliced country ham, finely choppedScant 3/4 cup heavy cream1 tablespoon finely chopped onion2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided3/4 teaspoon finely chopped garlic10 ounces spinach, coarse stems discarded 8 large eggs
Equipment: 8 (6-ounce) ramekins or ovenproof teacups

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.
Bring ham and cream to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, then remove from heat. Let steep, uncovered, about 10 minutes.
Cook onion in 1 tablespoon butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-low heat, stirring, until softened, about 2 minutes. Add garlic and season lightly with salt and pepper, then cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add spinach, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper and cook, turning with tongs, until spinach is wilted.
Drain spinach in a colander, pressing to remove excess liquid, then coarsely chop. Divide spinach, then ham, among ramekins, spooning 1 tablespoon cream into each serving. Crack eggs into ramekins and season lightly with salt and pepper. Spoon 1 teaspoon cream over each egg. Cut remaining tablespoon butter into 8 small pieces and dot each egg with butter.
Put ramekins in a shallow baking pan and bake, rotating pan halfway through baking, until whites are just set but yolks are still runny, 15 to 20 minutes, removing from oven as cooked.
Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 45 min
Servings: Makes 6 (side dish) servings

Yum.