3 K's... and 3 square meals

Today Edwin and I trundled along the streets of Zaltbommel in a quest to see cultural stuff. We were lured mysteriously to 1C Oenselsestraat by a series of red and yellow coloured flags.

Kunst, kiezel, klei, (Art, Pebble, Clay) a festival taking place in the environs of the sweet village of "the Bom" as one of its legendary residents is wont to call it, involved some 63 artists in a pair of open-atelier weekends.

The story to be told started with "The City and Structure" (arguably the pebble component, sort of like bricks), which led to "Nature and Landscape" (clay) and finally landed at the destination "Iceland" (home to artists such as Bjork and ... so forth).

But seriously, the storyteller was Marjolein den Hartog (echtgenoot aka better half/other half/wife of aforesaid resident), a very intense photographer whose eye for detail results in the most marvellous discoveries. If Marjolein is on the lookout, pearls of wisdom are to be found in the depths of an ice crystal, notions of "whiteness" leave the viewer breathless (... as though she climbed the glacier herself) and the desolate Icelandic landscape of a campervan with only a couple of sky-level horizontal electrical wires for company made this visitor even more impatent to acquire her very own road-trip-mobile! (More news to come on that front in the next fortnight or so).

A film of our visit to Zaltbommel will grace this entry shortly ....
This exhibition closed the chapter of a journey that took our minds only momentarily off the subject of food.

That morning I surprised Edwin by showing him how to break our previous evening's fast with eggs scrambled with creme fraiche, topped with crispy pancetta and basil infused mushrooms; this lovely stack of yumminess was modestly chaperoned by a side of tomato and cheese baked beans, three soldiers of hot buttered toast, a steaming cup of coffee and a chilled orange and mango juice.

After our cultural afternoon of driving, meandering and natural-inspiration seeking, we refuelled at a local eatery with a capuccino and delicious broodje (me -pear and brie on a wholegrain Italian roll, Edwin - a fairly standard salmon, pinenuts and iceberg lettuce) all served on a pastel coloured 50's service.

Oh yes, after I napped for 40 minutes on the drive home, I had enough energy to cook a roast dinner - a small tenderloin beef on a bed of parmesan potato mash with roasted robi-kool, fennel, carrots and red onion, drenched in a red wine jus. Served, no less, on an off-white €16 service from Ikea and accompanied by an inoffensive South African cab sav.

Sorry, no photos of any of these epicurian delights this time, too yummy to waste time looking for a camera!