Friday rapture

On a blazing hot Friday, I run through the city taking care of errands, paying bills that are long overdue, bringing the dog to the vet for a check-up, having shoes fixed, going down the list of things to bring before I leave, calling the travel agent one more time to check if it's all ok this time. Sigh. I head to one of my regular cafes for a lunch fix and am slightly disappointed with what I have to eat, but the disappointment doesn't sit long, as I'm engrossed, absolutely engrossed in what I'm reading. East of Eden, Steinbeck, he is a god! My goodness, this is amazing stuff, am truly enthralled with his realism, the quirky moments of side stories cutting through the rich batter of his main story, that of the Trasks and Hamiltons. I don't want to rush it, but I think I'll be raring to finish the several hundred pages I have to finish soon. She's just shot him in the shoulder, leaving him and his twins to suffer!

I stand from my lunch table and head in an aimless direction, attracted by the prints in the window; a salesman calls out to come into his store, but I veer into the bakery instead, Jipan, known for it's murphy bread (or is it muffin bread??), a buttery flaky brioche, good for french toast. I cursorily scan the stacks, see some samples on a lower shelf (someone needs to tell the owner how to make her display more appealing), sample something a bit dry and am about to move on when a small sign catches my attention. "Kouin aman", could it be? I see a small sample available to taste, I bite, it's sticky, crunchy, buttery. Oh my. Yes it is. David Lebovitz wrote out a recipe for Kouign Amann in 2005, and here it is in front of me, a few pieces hidden among a large tray of other bready morsels. I buy two of them, along with some large pain de chocolat and what looks like a cinnamon loaf with almonds. I'm carbo loading tonight!