well hello there!
it's an absolutely gorgeous saturday....the sun is shining brightly and there is a slight chilly breeze. My all time favorite kind of weather. I might even get out in it for a little bit, to take my comforter to the laundrymat conveniently located next to the liquor store! The one where they have a giant display of all the varieties of Vampire wine. Hoorah! Last night I had my first bottle of Merlot of the season, which was the only variety my liquor store carried last year. I can't wait to try the Pinot Noir and the Cabernet! It's less than $10 a bottle, and the Merlot at least is insanely good. I'll report back on the other varieties.
I had the merlot last night at the Quiet Storm for night two of the five day birthday blowout weekend. It was an Anita Fix and bambam, Pimps Up Hoedown, and Safety Grenade show. Lots of people came out for it even though there was lots of stuff going on, so that was super nice. Safety Grenade were AMAZING! It was my first time seeing them, and they put on a fantastic show. It's very Patti Smith Group sounding, even though Nikki Allen apparently had never heard Patti Smith before getting Tait as her guitarist. Man are they good! Look out for them!
Pimps Up Hoedown are always super entertaining, and last night was no exception. I was a little disappointed that they didn't bring the smoke machine to power up the giant purple papier mache bong that Liz made for them, but it was fun nonetheless. I didn't get to watch any of their set because I was stuck at the door, but it sounded great!
Then we were up, and despite a few flubs here and there (especially Hang on Hickey--ouch!) I think it was our best show yet. Anita was super on with the guitar and the banter, Colin made some fantastic sounds on paint cans and rusty pieces of metal and the tiny gong, and I was pounding my heart out on account of the full moon and the wine. The projections were apparently awesome too, though of course I couldn't see them. There was a good responsive crowd, and a couple people dancing and cheering right up front. It all came together like a happening, which is what I want all of our shows to be. I can't wait till next time!
Moving backwards in the chronology, yesterday in the daytime I opened up and did a lot of intense cooking so I could go home as soon as the afternoon people got there. I made a yummy batch of chicken fried tofu and some stuffing and some black eyed pea and spinach soup. I also made a ton of breakfasts, which seems to happen more and more lately. Finally, people are figuring out that breakfast at the quiet storm rocks! It's about time.
Thursday night was the dance party, and wow, what a party it was! We had a great turnout, and by 8:30 the dancefloor was packed and remained that way until 10:15, when Spat signed off. It was perfectly timed with running out of beer! All good. People loved the food, and I loved sending it out on fancy silver trays for Amy and Sarah to pass around. I more or less took over the kitchen so Jilly and Leslie could party down, and they definitely did! I had a couple of occasions to shake my rump too---including a few that Spat played just for me. (awwwwww) It was a giant QS lovefest. Earlier in the day Thursday I had a flurry of kitchen activity, getting things ready for the party. My vegan spinach dip was the best ever, I think. It disappeared almost as soon as it was put out! Woohoo.
So, Wednesday night....is a blur. I think that's the night that I got home around 3pm and was in bed before 9pm. I was totally exhausted, and I knew that I wasn't going to be getting much rest the rest of the week. Wednesday morning was the big business meeting, and although only 18 people showed up for it...they were big eaters and drinkers. They polished off most of the stuff, and what they didn't polish off the guy who organized the meeting put into a bag to take home. Whatever, he paid for it, but it seemed a little odd to me that he would take it ALL. But, that's non profit management for ya....gotta get it while you can, I guess. It all went super smoothly although I was kinda stressed about it before I got everything set. Once it was all in place I was completely confident and carefree. Ah.
So, now I'm jumping back again to this morning....I FINALLY made my apple fritters! They turned out delish. I ended up combining two recipes into one by soaking the diced apples in brown sugar and lemon juice like in the amish recipe, but using a different batter recipe that didn't involve separating eggs. I will avoid separating eggs unless I am making a freakin meringue, okay? I don't see the point. So I added cinnamon to the batter too, cuz it didn't have any, and substituted butter for oil and buttermilk for milk. So basically, I took the recipe and sliced and diced it to suit my needs. That's what being a cook is all about. They turned out so nice...really not like the ones I was remembering from apple festivals of the past (which were huge and very brown and very cinnamony) but full of appley flavor and nice and dense and crispy-chewy. Yum. There's a lot more in my fridge, too.
Some interesting changes have occurred in the saturday morning PBS lineup--first, they took out the stupid business review program and replaced it with To The Contrary, which is a news program about current events from an all women's perspective. It sometimes gets a little silly with some uber-conservative commentators saying super whack things, but in general, it's waaaay better than the dumb business review program.
Then they've changed up the cooking show lineup....I'm hoping they are going to keep rotating shows through because the only things I really liked today were Lidia and The Master Class from Johnson and Wales. That one is awesome. I am totally over Marianne Esposito (especially right after Lidia...it's just silly) and Dede Wilson and Caprial and John and the everyday food people and that chick who has the "student" come in to her kitchen so she can humiliate him (I've only seen two episodes, and the student has been male both times) all make my skin crawl to varying degrees. I miss Jacques Pepin, and Yan Can Cook, and the various ethnic programs they used to have. I guess I should write to them, huh?
The best thing though....Larry O'Donnell was on McLaughlin Group this morning. I swooned.
it's an absolutely gorgeous saturday....the sun is shining brightly and there is a slight chilly breeze. My all time favorite kind of weather. I might even get out in it for a little bit, to take my comforter to the laundrymat conveniently located next to the liquor store! The one where they have a giant display of all the varieties of Vampire wine. Hoorah! Last night I had my first bottle of Merlot of the season, which was the only variety my liquor store carried last year. I can't wait to try the Pinot Noir and the Cabernet! It's less than $10 a bottle, and the Merlot at least is insanely good. I'll report back on the other varieties.
I had the merlot last night at the Quiet Storm for night two of the five day birthday blowout weekend. It was an Anita Fix and bambam, Pimps Up Hoedown, and Safety Grenade show. Lots of people came out for it even though there was lots of stuff going on, so that was super nice. Safety Grenade were AMAZING! It was my first time seeing them, and they put on a fantastic show. It's very Patti Smith Group sounding, even though Nikki Allen apparently had never heard Patti Smith before getting Tait as her guitarist. Man are they good! Look out for them!
Pimps Up Hoedown are always super entertaining, and last night was no exception. I was a little disappointed that they didn't bring the smoke machine to power up the giant purple papier mache bong that Liz made for them, but it was fun nonetheless. I didn't get to watch any of their set because I was stuck at the door, but it sounded great!
Then we were up, and despite a few flubs here and there (especially Hang on Hickey--ouch!) I think it was our best show yet. Anita was super on with the guitar and the banter, Colin made some fantastic sounds on paint cans and rusty pieces of metal and the tiny gong, and I was pounding my heart out on account of the full moon and the wine. The projections were apparently awesome too, though of course I couldn't see them. There was a good responsive crowd, and a couple people dancing and cheering right up front. It all came together like a happening, which is what I want all of our shows to be. I can't wait till next time!
Moving backwards in the chronology, yesterday in the daytime I opened up and did a lot of intense cooking so I could go home as soon as the afternoon people got there. I made a yummy batch of chicken fried tofu and some stuffing and some black eyed pea and spinach soup. I also made a ton of breakfasts, which seems to happen more and more lately. Finally, people are figuring out that breakfast at the quiet storm rocks! It's about time.
Thursday night was the dance party, and wow, what a party it was! We had a great turnout, and by 8:30 the dancefloor was packed and remained that way until 10:15, when Spat signed off. It was perfectly timed with running out of beer! All good. People loved the food, and I loved sending it out on fancy silver trays for Amy and Sarah to pass around. I more or less took over the kitchen so Jilly and Leslie could party down, and they definitely did! I had a couple of occasions to shake my rump too---including a few that Spat played just for me. (awwwwww) It was a giant QS lovefest. Earlier in the day Thursday I had a flurry of kitchen activity, getting things ready for the party. My vegan spinach dip was the best ever, I think. It disappeared almost as soon as it was put out! Woohoo.
So, Wednesday night....is a blur. I think that's the night that I got home around 3pm and was in bed before 9pm. I was totally exhausted, and I knew that I wasn't going to be getting much rest the rest of the week. Wednesday morning was the big business meeting, and although only 18 people showed up for it...they were big eaters and drinkers. They polished off most of the stuff, and what they didn't polish off the guy who organized the meeting put into a bag to take home. Whatever, he paid for it, but it seemed a little odd to me that he would take it ALL. But, that's non profit management for ya....gotta get it while you can, I guess. It all went super smoothly although I was kinda stressed about it before I got everything set. Once it was all in place I was completely confident and carefree. Ah.
So, now I'm jumping back again to this morning....I FINALLY made my apple fritters! They turned out delish. I ended up combining two recipes into one by soaking the diced apples in brown sugar and lemon juice like in the amish recipe, but using a different batter recipe that didn't involve separating eggs. I will avoid separating eggs unless I am making a freakin meringue, okay? I don't see the point. So I added cinnamon to the batter too, cuz it didn't have any, and substituted butter for oil and buttermilk for milk. So basically, I took the recipe and sliced and diced it to suit my needs. That's what being a cook is all about. They turned out so nice...really not like the ones I was remembering from apple festivals of the past (which were huge and very brown and very cinnamony) but full of appley flavor and nice and dense and crispy-chewy. Yum. There's a lot more in my fridge, too.
Some interesting changes have occurred in the saturday morning PBS lineup--first, they took out the stupid business review program and replaced it with To The Contrary, which is a news program about current events from an all women's perspective. It sometimes gets a little silly with some uber-conservative commentators saying super whack things, but in general, it's waaaay better than the dumb business review program.
Then they've changed up the cooking show lineup....I'm hoping they are going to keep rotating shows through because the only things I really liked today were Lidia and The Master Class from Johnson and Wales. That one is awesome. I am totally over Marianne Esposito (especially right after Lidia...it's just silly) and Dede Wilson and Caprial and John and the everyday food people and that chick who has the "student" come in to her kitchen so she can humiliate him (I've only seen two episodes, and the student has been male both times) all make my skin crawl to varying degrees. I miss Jacques Pepin, and Yan Can Cook, and the various ethnic programs they used to have. I guess I should write to them, huh?
The best thing though....Larry O'Donnell was on McLaughlin Group this morning. I swooned.
posted by sheryl at 1:56 PM
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