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Sunday, June 14, 2009

Saturday Morning June 13, 2009

I had not seen or communicated with my friend, Ted, for a very long time so it was great to catch up with him Saturday morning. Ted became my friend when I had a Gallery in downtown Staunton. He is a very interesting person with considerable musical and writing skills. I knew Ted had published two books so I thought I would Google him this morning...here is what I found in Amazon.
The Ultimate wine reference book, a thorough compendium of wine knowledge in an easy readable format, exactly like a regular word dictionary. For the novice of professional Winequesty, The Wine Dictionary answers questions quickly, informatively and accurately. All the great wines Chateaux, wineries grapes, wine districts, regions, classifications and much more are clearly defined in a concise and consistent form, easy to read and thoroughly cross referenced. The ultimate wine book for todays wine enthusiasts. In 470 fact-filled pages wine lovers will find over 7,500 entries covering 38 wine producing countries, all in alphabetical order.
A comprehensive thesaurus of old and new musical terms, for both student and scholar documented in seven languages, with special attention to liturgical and historical musical terms including rarely presented Spanish equivalents. No other dictionary or thesaurus will feature an equally impressive range of information in the field of music, either as an art, a science, or as a cultural history of man's insatiable craving for additional, expressive ways of coming to terms with musical terminology.
And here is what Amazon says about Ted:
About the AuthorAuthor of the best seller Winequest-The Wine Dictionary, Ted Grudzinski was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York and is a graduate of Brooklyn Technical High School, where he majored in art. He holds degrees in music from both Queens College in New York and the University of California at Berkeley. He taught high school music classes in Nassau County, New York, retiring in 1993 to his gentleman's farm in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. He is the brother of celebrity author Richard Grudens, author of Bing Crosby-Crooner of the Century and When Jolson was King.

Cool. Ted invited me to join him at Newtown Baking, a place I had heard good things about and had been meaning to try it out. I love finding interesting places to eat and this place is definitely a return-to. I had a delicious Strata with Filone Bread, spinach with garlic, mushrooms and Gorgonzola cheese.
The cases are filled with wonderful pastries, breads and muffins. Can you believe it, they get there at 3:00 AM each day to make everything fresh. Their brochure says "Our baking is a labor-intensive love, as alldoughs are made with starters, and loaves are given a long fermentation in the cooler to enhance flavor." Some of their breads take 3 days to make. You can definitely taste the result of all that extra effort. There was a constant flow of customers who seem to have made this a regular stop already.

Ted and I left the relaxing atmosphere of the bakery and headed down to the Farmer's Market. If you want to people watch and socialize on Saturday morning, this is the place to be.
I saw a couple of people I had not seen in a while. Like Al who was getting something good to eat...
and Carmen who was working her booth.
The produce is always beautiful.

There is usually music, which sounds so great in the morning air. This morning Trent Wagler and The Steel Wheels were playing. They perform Original Americana Roots Music. Their acoustic music ranges from old time, country folk, infused with elements of gospel, blues, and rock and roll.
Brian Dickel's voice called to me as it fell sweetly on my ear.
Seems like everyone brings their dog to the Farmer's Market. This gorgeous Grey Hound was my pick of the day.
To end the day, I went dancing in Charlottesville. That was fantastic. West Coast Swing, East Coast Swing, Cha Cha, Salsa, Country 2 Step and Night Club 2 Step. Oh yeah.

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