Musings

2012 Resolutions

2012-01-01T10:58:00.001-06:00

I have to say, I LOVE New Year's resolutions! I know a lot of people who don't like them and never make them, but I really like the idea of starting fresh. It gives me hope and energy to think that this year will be different. Even if I don't keep them, I think it's worth making them.

My New Year's Resolutions of 2012:

1. I will walk for 30 minutes every morning.

2. I will switch to a mainly plant-based diet, following this food pyramid. (I saw 2 documentaries that have led to this one: "Forks over Knives" and "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead". Check them out.)

3. I will have fresh juice or a green smoothie at least once a day.

4. I will write to my Bosnian sister on the first of each month. (I sponsor a Bosnian woman through Women for women. I always send the money, but I'm ashamed to say I rarely write like I'm supposed to.)

5. I will be the best mother I can possibly be.

6. I will spend more time and energy on people, and less time and energy on things.

I also LOVE to read other people's resolutions (so I can steal the good ones). What are yours?

Chicken meals in a hurry

2011-12-02T08:33:00.001-06:00

Okay, so I found this great tip for preparing meals for days from a couple of roasted chickens. This has made cooking decent meals during the week so much easier and I had to share!

Step 1: Get 2 (or more) roasted chickens. Either roast them yourself or do what I do and get what I call "lazy chicken" already roasted from the supermarket. (Note: If you do roast them yourself, use Julia Child's recipe. You will not believe how good it is! I call it "succulent chicken of awesomeness".)

Step 2: Cut off the wings, legs, and thighs and freeze them in ziploc bags for future meals. All you have to do is zap them in the microwave and add some frozen mixed vegetables (I like the California mix), and you'll have a meal.

Step 3: Cut off the breasts and have some for dinner tonight. What you don't eat, you can cut up for salads.

Step 4: Cut up the remaining chicken breasts and get whatever random chicken meat you can get from the carcasses. Store for future use in salads or soup or whatever. You can add some chopped celery, grapes, pecans, and a dollop of mayonnaise for a delicious chicken salad! Eat it with crackers, on salad greens, or in a sandwich.

Step 5: Make stock with the chicken bones and carcasses. (I used to think this was hard but it's super easy!) Put the carcasses in a big pot. Add the juice of one lemon, carrots, celery, parsley, onion, garlic, pepper corns, and a bay leaf. Fill with water and boil for an hour. (The acid in the lemon juice draws the good stuff out of the bones and into the water.) You can either freeze this stock for future use or make soup the next day. (Strain and skim first!) I added some of the cut up chicken meat, zucchini, basil, and leeks for a delicious soup. I love making soup because you can use whatever vegetables you have around that are about to go bad.

If you do this as soon as you get home from grocery shopping, you'll have several meals ready to go with little prep. Yay!

Taco Soup!

2011-03-03T15:00:00.000-06:00

A coworker of mine drew my attention to Taco Soup because she brought it for lunch once day, and it looked delicious! Luckily, I found this recipe in my slow-cooker cook book. (Note: Don't have a slow-cooker? You can make this in a regular pot. I'd brown the meat first, then add the other ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes or so.)

Taco Soup

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
4-oz. can chopped green chilies, undrained
1/2 tsp. salt
1 envelope dry low-sodium taco seasoning mix
1 envelope dry low-sodium Ranch-style dressing mix (Note: I didn't use this b/c I really don't like all the chemicals I saw listed in the ingredients. Instead, I made my own Ranch mix by chopping 2 cloves of garlic, 3 green onions, a handful of parsley, and some fresh dill.)
3 (14 1/2 oz.) cans low-sodium stewed tomatoes, undrained
16-oz. can kidney beans, undrained (Note: The recipe says "undrained", but I drain and rinse the beans.)
15-oz. can pinto beans, undrained
1 1/2 cups water
(I add a can of corn. The recipe doesn't call for it, but I think it tastes nice.)

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together in large slow cooker.
Cover. Cook on low 8-10 hours.
Optional: To serve, you can top it with crushed corn chips, avocado, cheese, and/or greek yogurt (instead of sour cream)

Serves 8. 290 calories and 3.5 grams of fat per serving. (without the toppings)

What Can Michael Teach us About Performance?

2011-02-17T14:27:00.000-06:00

So, I have the flu this week and to pass the time I'm watching "This is it". (Michael Jackson's last documentary.) I hadn't expected to want to show it to my music students, but now I think I will. There are some things about him and his work ethic I want them to see.

Now, I know I'm not the only one who is super annoyed by the hypocrisy of people over the whole Michael Jackson death thing. For years, the public perception was that he was a crazy pedophile. Then, as soon as he died, boom! Instant genuis/success/idol/etc overnight. Okay so in his personal life, he was a mess, had too much plastic surgery, and you'd let NEVER let your kids around him. But---in his professional life, he really was fantastic at what he did. A true performer.

What I want my students to learn from Michael Jackson:

Work Hard - Most shows these days make it look like good performances just happen spontaneously, without rehearsal. Most kids think that they can just "free-style" it on stage and something good will happen. I have a hard time convincing them that a good performance take hours of rehearsal. Well, this documentary shows just how hard and how many hours of work Michael put in behind the scenes. Say whatever you want about him, but the man was NOT lazy! He was committed to his work.
Be Unique - Michael had his own style. In clothes, in dance moves, in music. He did not look or sound like anyone else! I don't want my students to imitate other, successful musicians. I want them to develop their own style.
Know Your Music - Michael knew his music inside and out. Every key, tempo, pause, sound effect, etc. He knew exactly what he wanted to hear and was not afraid to ask for it.
No Diva Fits - You hear a lot about famous singers having diva fits, but did you ever hear about Michael having one? This documentary showed him letting people know when things weren't right, but he did it respectfully. No shouting or anger. Just "hey, this isn't here and I need it to be. Fix it."
Be Able to Bring It! - In an age where so much reliance is given to digital editing and things like autotune, it's valuable for a performer to really be able to sing (or play) without electronic help. Michael sang his shows live and was in tune. You hear people like Tayler Swift and Justin Beiber sing live, and they're a quarter tone flat! Also, I bet if Michael were to sing the National Anthem, he would've gotten the words right!
Be the BEST at What You Do - 'Nuff said.

Again, I would never tell my students to emulate Michael Jackson's personal life, however as far as performance is concerned, they would do well to take note!

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries!

2011-02-12T20:12:00.001-06:00

I love chocolate dipped strawberries! They are super easy to do and they make an elegant Valentine's Day gift, that is impressive while being inexpensive at the same time. What's not to like? Make these for your sweetie on Valentine's Day (or just for yourself), and you will be loved! :-)

Ingredients:
There are only 2 ingredients neccessary: chocolate chips and strawberries.
Directions:
Melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler. Dip the strawberries, then dry on wax paper. Put them in the fridge for 30 minutes so to harden.
Important: make sure the strawberries are completely dry. I usually wash them the night before so they can dry overnight. I learned the hard way that if there is any water on the berries at all, it will turn your melted chocolate in to a gloppy mess and you will have ugly, bumpy strawberries.

Get fancy!
Now, you can get eleborate by using a variety of chocolate chips (I used white and semi-sweet), then dip them into extra goodies (like chopped nuts or cookies) as well. Here what I did:

White Chocolate Chip Variations:

Plain white chocolate
Dried coconut flakes
Chopped oreos for cookies and cream! (I used gluten-free oreo-type cookies. Paul Newman makes a good one.)

Dark Chocolate Chip Variations:

Plan Dark Chocolate
Chopped nuts
Chopped candied ginger

Mixed:

Two-toned
Marbelized

I bet you can come up with some even better combinations! What would you dip your strawberry into?

Hot Chocolate for the Lactose Intolerant

2011-02-02T18:17:00.000-06:00

The weather is SO cold lately that all I can think about is hot chocolate! Luckily, I have discovered a totally delicious way to make it without any dairy.

First of all, I like to use vanilla almond milk. (I think it tastes better than plain almond, soy, or rice milk.) Now, you can either buy it OR, you can make your own! I don't ever buy it any more now that I've discovered how to make it in my Vitamix blender.  Here's how:

Vanilla Almond "Mylk" (Recipe from Ani's Raw Kitchen)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup raw almonds
1/3 cup pitted dates
1 vanilla bean (Scrape the insides to loosen the seeds, then throw the bark in too.)
5 cups water
pinch of salt

Directions:
Put all ingredients in a high-speed blender (I love my Vitamix!) and blend for 1-2 minutes until smooth.

This almond "mylk" will last for a week. I keep it in a ceramic pitcher in my fridge to use for cereal, tea, or hot chocolate. Also, you can use this instead of milk or cream in any recipe.

Now for the hot chocolate part:
Heat up a mug-full of the almond milk (which ever kind you use) and add 4 spoonfulls of Godiva Dark Hot Chocolate mix. (Make sure it's DARK. The milk chocolate kind defeats the whole purpose.)  You will be amazed at how delicious it is!

Interesting fact: One serving of Godiva Dark Hot Chocolate mix contains 15% RDA of Iron. (Says so right on the container.) Don't you need more iron? I think you owe it to yourself to make sure you get all the nutrients you need. You NEED to have some hot chocolate now!  I know I do. ;-)

What happens in dance class, stays in dance class.

2010-10-03T16:17:00.000-05:00

This past Thursday was my second Indian dance class. (We do 1/2 hour of Classical Indian dance and a whole hour of Bollywood-style dance.) There were 3 new additions to the class: three boys that I teach! Ummmm.....awkward! You should have seen the looks of panic on their faces as I walked up. They said, "*gasp* It's Ms. Lyn!", then they huddled together to discuss the situation.

Luckily, these are very good boys who do as they are told. I couldn't have handled it otherwise. I told them, "Hey guys. I won't say anything at school if you don't. It'll be our secret!" Relief flooded over all their faces. I can see why. Do you know how brutal middle school is? If the other boys found out that they were taking a dance class with FEMALES in the class, including their teacher, they would totally get beaten up. We're going to treat it like fight club. The first rule of Bollywood Dance Club is: you do not talk about Bollywood Dance Club. The second rule of Bollywood Dance Club is: you DO NOT talk about Bollywood dance club!

On the plus side, the parents of the 3 boys are now going to join the class as well. Hooray! This will make it much less awkward (for me anyway) and more fun. :-)

The Crazy White-Chick at the Indian Dance Class 101

2010-09-24T18:10:00.000-05:00

Yep. That would be me. In case you haven't heard, I LOVE Bollywood movies and I watch a lot of them. So when I found out that Arya International (the dance company that provides the dancers for many Bollywood movies) was teaching a dance class in my area, I totally went for it! I have to say, I was pretty nervous before the first class because I thought everyone would look at me funny and wonder, "what's that white girl doing here?" Last night, however, I went anyway just to see if I would like it.

Well, I did feel a bit uncomfortable at first. Not because of my race, mind you, but because I was the only adult in the class! (They combined the teenage and adult classes.) Not only that, the other girls were students at the school where I teach! Their parents (including dads and brothers) stayed to watch us in our first ever Indian dance class. How embarrassing! I almost called it a day, but as soon as I started dancing, I forgot all about them. As it turns out, I LOVE Indian dancing and I'm actually not too bad at it. I was happy that I wasn't that person who stumbles and holds up the whole class. I kept up with those 16-year-olds pretty well, if I do say do myself!

We did a half-hour of Classical Indian dance and a whole hour of Bollywood-style dancing. Barefoot. I was afraid my feet were going to kill me, but they didn't. Hooray! Our teacher is a real Bollywood dancer and had flown over from India. He has been in several Bollywood movies as a back-up dancer! I'm SO going to look carefully in the background of some of those movies to see if I see him. :-)

Anyway, I hope to chronicle my experiences in this blog as I continue to take this dance class. It's just too much fun not to! Also, it might be entertaining for some to read about the old-white chick in the teenage Indian dance class. I'm starting to think I was Indian in a previous life. Not that I really believe in reincarnation, mind you. I just have always REALLY loved Indian culture, even when I was a child. There's no real reason for me to like it this much. ... or to be SO happy while dancing Indian-style.

I want to challenge all of you out there to take a class in something you're interesting in even if you feel ridiculous. It might be worth it!
What do you really love that defies explanation?

Journaling for Mental Health

2010-09-04T12:53:00.001-05:00

I have found a tool that has been helping me and I'd like to share it. Journaling! It's not a new idea at all but the process and the function were new to me. I was reading a book about how to access your creativity and the author recommended the following how to:
1. Write as soon as you get up in the morning, until you fill up 3 pages.
2. Don't think about what you're writing. Just write whatever pops up into your head. The important thing is to not stop until you've filled 3 pages.
3. Never go back and read what you've written. The point is to get the negative thoughts OUT. (Reading it will just put them back in.)
4. When the notebook is full, throw it out!

What this has done for me:
When I journal in this way, I find that most of the negative "chatter" swirling around in my head goes away. I also find that I don't need to unload on people. You know when you just want to complain to someone? I find I have less of a need to do this when I journal in the mornings. It's like emptying out what's bothering me onto the pages.
Lately, I have been dealing with fertility issues. I hadn't realized I was going on and on about it so much until a coworker said to me, "Yes, Lyn, we KNOW!" after I had made a comment about how much it sucks to not be able to have a child. I don't want to burden people and I don't want them to get sick of hearing me. I'm sure it makes me tiresome to be around. Anyway, the journal is helping me. I usually feel like I have an elephant on my heart, and this journaling activity lightens the load.

I'd encourage you to try this. What do you need to unburden yourself of?

Beating the Sunday Blahs

2010-08-29T19:10:00.000-05:00

Most people feel like Monday morning begins on Sunday afternoon. (I know I did!) Lately, I have been making an effort to turn Sunday afternoons in to a positive time that I look forward to. Here's my new Sunday routine:
Morning:

Get up around 8 or so
have my 1 cup of coffee that I allow myself per week
have a nice breakfast of eggs and veggie browns
read a good book for an hour or so (I'm currently reading "The Girl that Kicked the Hornets' nest".)
around 10, I start cleaning. I always do the kitchen and bathroom (they are the dirtiest rooms in the house), then I do the floors, laundry, and whatever else I have time for before noon.

Afternoon:

12 - go out to eat with my family (hubby, mom, dad, brother)
go grocery shopping (the best time to go is when you're full!) - also: don't forget the flowers!
other housework (Today, I swept off the roof.)
treat myself to TV, blogging, or facebooking
make soup for the week's lunches (Last week was chicken soup. Today, I'm making lentil soup.)

Evening:

make "special treat" supper. It's hard to come up with good treats when you can't eat wheat, dairy, or sugar but I've come up with Italian antipasta as something I look forward to. It makes Sunday evening feel special. ..AND - there's nothing like a clean house and a closet full of clean clothes to make you feel good and ready for the week!
hot bath
read silly book &/or magazines (Silly chick lit. Nothing heavy.)
bed at a decent hour

So far, this routine helps me look forward to Sunday afternoons, and helps me to feel good about the upcoming week. Also, I used to spend Saturdays feeling guilty about not doing the shopping and cleaning. Now that I know it'll get done Sunday, I can enjoy my Saturdays guilt free!

My antipasta plate: (from bottom, clockwise) - palm hearts, turkey slices, roasted tomato and garlic, artichoke hearts, pepperoni slices, mixed olives, pickled pearl onions, prosciutto and figs. In the middle - marinated mushrooms and roasted red peppers. Topped with blanched asparagus (drop in boiling water for a minute. Works best with skinny asparagus.) I drizzle a vinaigrette on top, made from olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and fresh basil. Yum!

I almost forgot this week's flowers that I chose as my treat this week:

Irises and Tully Pods.

An Affordable Luxury

2010-08-25T18:29:00.000-05:00

I love Calla Lillies! They are such elegant flowers. No frills, clean lines, and just beautiful. I have taken to buying flowers for myself each time I go to the grocery store. It's a no calorie treat! I used to buy myself a candy bar or something bad to eat on the way home. Now, I pick out flowers after I'm done getting everything else on my list.

This treat won't contribute to my weight and I get to enjoy it all week! Every time I walk in the kitchen and see them, I feel a burst of happiness. Worth it!

What's your favorite no-calorie treat?

The DIY Pedicure

2010-08-22T18:39:00.000-05:00

After my last post, I feel the need to post about a light and fluffy topic. Pedicures! I love a good pedicure, but since my husband and I are both teachers who don't get paid over the summer (and we won't get paid until the end of this month), I felt like I shouldn't spend the money on something as frivilous as a pedicure. BUT - my feet were in need of one so I decided to do it myself.

At first, I really didn't want to but I thought, "if a pedicure costs $35. I'll save that much if I do it myself. It's like getting paid. If someone were to give me $35 to give myself a pedicure, would I do it? Of course!"

Most of us have what we need for a pedicure around the house. I had several bottles of nail polish sitting around that I rarely use, and some nail polish remover. Other than that, you don't need anything special. I was reading in a magazine that facial exfolients and moisturizers work just as well on feet too! Here's what I did:

My DIY Pedi:
Step 1: Take a hot bath and make sure to keep feet under water to soak.
Step 2: Exfoliate with whatever you have on hand. I used St. Ives Apricot Scrub.
Step 3: Get rid of dead skin on heels with a pumice stone if you have it. If not, skip this step and just make sure to exfoliate well in step 1. (I happen to have a pedicure razor that I bought at Sally's for just a few bucks. Love it!)
Step 4: Get out of tub and dry feet.
Step 5: Moisturize with whatever you have on hand. I used CVS brand moisturizer.
Step 6: Remove nail polish (if needed). Instead of regular nail polish remover, I use Boots Conditioning Nail Polish Remover Pads. I get them in England when I go. I have not found anything similar in this country. One little pad will remove all of your polish on both feet, it doesn't dry your nails out, and it doesn't smell terrible! Most nail polish removers give off fumes that give me terrible headaches. This doesn't.
Step 7: Apply two coats of polish and one coat of clear topcoat. I don't know why I was drawn to this unconventional blue, but I was. I guess I'm in a blue mood!
Step 8: Let dry thoroughly and enjoy!

It' not perfect, but my feet feel a lot better and this will hold me over until the paycheck comes in.

His Name is Khan, and he is NOT a Terrorist

2010-08-15T18:34:00.002-05:00

My Name is Khan
All Americans should watch this movie. Really. I saw it this weekend and loved it. Shahrukh Khan plays a character that has Asberger's Sydrome who falls in love with a single mom, Mandira. Their love is unconventional, but very sweet. The focus is the love story, but there is the back-drop of 9/11 which happens in the middle of the film and changes their lives forever. Many of us have never considered that innocent Muslims who live in America were also victims of 9/11.

Watching this movie has made me more sensitive to some unpleasant things that are going on currently. Two stand out to me: (I already had these thoughts before seeing the movie--it just made me think more about them.)

1. People are freaking out and trying to prevent a mosque from being built down the street from the ground zero. Not AT ground zero, mind you; but down the street. (Also, there is another mosque that already exists that is even closer to the site which nobody mentions.)

2. Right-wing media idiots are trying to organize "parties" where people burn copies of the Qur'an.

Reasons why we should not prevent a mosque from being built at that site in NY:

1. It's not AT Ground zero. It's down the street.

2. It will not be for "the enemy". This mosque will be built for AMERICANS who have the misfortune of having the same religion as some very bad men.

3. This idea that Islam is synonymous with terrorism is dangerous thinking and just isn't true. I have heard people say that Islam is a violent religion and it's something in the religion that promotes bombings, etc. Well, what about the Northern Irish terrorists who bombed London all those years? We never said "ooh. Let's prevent a church from being built anywhere near any of the bomb sites", did we? Also, Timothy McVeigh was Christian. Did we knock down churches in the area? What about all the Catholic priests who molest boys? Is there something in Catholicism that promotes that? Of course not! There are bad people in the world, and they can be of any religion. Also, no matter what the religion, there are people who will use the ideology to justify bad behavior. Let's not condemn whole religions here. Especially in the land that was founded on freedom of religion!

4. Let us not forget that there were innocent Muslims who died in the Twin Towers along with everyone else.

5. Yes, the Muslims have "jihad". Well, Christians have "crusades". Isn't that pretty much the same thing? Killing people who don't conform to your beliefs? The crusades were really bloody, horrible battles. All done by Christians in a far away land. The people of that land still associate the word "crusade" with some awful, awful events.

6. I know Christians today who think it's okay to break the "thou shalt not kill" commandment to go abroad and kill Muslims. We can go over an kill them, yet they cannot have a peaceful place of worship? Doesn't this strike you as insane?

7. Whatever happened to "turn the other cheek" and "love thine enemy"?

Reasons why we should not have mass public burnings of the Qur'an:

1. First of all, what would it accomplish? Really!

2. We didn't burn bibles everytime an IRA bombing occured in London; nor did we burn bibles when over the Oklahoma City bombing. Why start burning books now? I think this whole thing is racism in disguise.

3. It's only going to make the bad guys hate us even more. (and by "bad guys" I mean Islamic terrorists. Not ALL muslims!)

The Rules of Classy-ness

2010-08-04T13:59:00.000-05:00

Through reading other people's blog posts, I came across some rules on how to achieve a timeless, classy look. "Chic", if you will. Here they are:

1. The 2 color rule - I'm still not 100% sure what this is, but French women follow this rule when dressing. Sure, no more than 2 colors, but does this include neutrals and toenail polish? If anyone knows about his rule, please enlighten me!

2. Either wear a necklace OR earrings. Not both.

3. Either make-up your eyes OR your lips. Not both.

Audrey Hepburn followed these rules and, as we all know, she was the epitome of class. People still try to emulate her simple grace.

Recently, I went to a reunion of sorts and I used these rules. Here I am, trying to look classy:

I think I followed the 2 color rule by wearing only blue and black, but I did have pink nail polish. Also, there is more than one shade of blue in the necklace. Maybe I didn't follow this rule after all! Can someone PLEASE explain this rule?

I chose to wear a necklace and no earrings.

I chose to make up my lips by wearing red lipstick (something I never do), and no eye make-up.

What do you think? Any other ideas on how to be classy out there?

Office Therapy

2010-07-25T18:41:00.001-05:00

I recently read the book "Apartment Therapy" by Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan, and am now working through the suggestions in it. (I found out about this book b/c one of the blogs I follow had a really great post about it.) The premise is that you will feel much better about yourself if you get your living space in order. Also, it's not about being "hoity toity" and having a beautiful house or apartment, but having one that is right for YOU and supports you in your activities. I have found it very helpful.

I was skipping around and decided to focus on my office for the past few days because it needs the most help. Everytime I walk in here, I feel like "ugh"! Office clutter seems to pile up the fastest, doesn't it? I had piles of bills from over 10 years ago! Also, my filing cabinet was crammed full of old stuff and was disorganized so files were piling up on my desk, the floor, etc.

Mr. Gillingham-Ryan suggests color-coding your files so you can see major categories at a glance. My files are now pink and purple for personal stuff, green for professional stuff, and brown for house stuff. I am so happy now that there is a place for all the paper clutter that has been covering my desk for years. Also, I never knew what to keep and what to throw away, so I kept everything! (You know....just in case.) The following list in the book helped me greatly:

Keep:                                       For how long:
1. Personal Letters -                permanently
2. Tax returns -                        permanently
3. Credit Card Statements - 7 years
4. Mortgage Statements -          7 years
5. Bank Statements -                 7 years
6. Investment Statements -    7 years
7. Tax deductible receipts -       7 years
8. Insurance Policies -              3 years of renewals
9. Warranties, User's Guides -   Life of Product (or as long as you own it.)

Do NOT keep:
1. Personal or holiday cards
2. Utility bills (unless deductible)
3. Rent receipts
4. Nondeductible receipts or bills

Go ahead and declutter that office. It doesn't take as long as you think it's going to, and you'll be glad you did!

America: Don't be this guy!

2010-07-08T09:00:00.000-05:00

I understand iphones are cool and all, but I really hope I never get like all these people I see who are permanently attached to them. This was taken on a boat trip through the beautiful Killarney Lakes in Ireland. Surrounded by SO much beauty and this guy never looked up from his iphone!

Greece: The Good, the Bad, and the Amusing

2010-07-06T06:27:00.000-05:00

The Good:

I have a whole separate post on the good things about Greece. Here’s a recap: The islands, the food, the color of the ocean, siestas, tavernas, open-air cinemas, sunsets, beautiful flowers, frappes, kids running around at night, etc.

The Bad:
As with every country, you have to take the bad along with the good. I always feel that an outsider has no right to criticise a country. After all, if you don't like it, go home! However, since my mother-in-law lives here, my husband is half-Greek, and I have spent every summer and every other Christmas here for the past 10 years; I feel I have earned the right to mention a few things I don't like. (If you are Greek, please don't take offense, I think the good outweighs the bad, and I am the first person to criticise things I don't like about my own country.) Here are some things I really find hard to take when I come here:

-Athens - NOT my favorite place! It has all the problems of a big city without any of the convenience. I only liked Greece once I got out of Athens. By all means - go to Athens to see all the old stuff (Parthenon, etc.). I was really glad to see all that. The first time. After you’ve seen it all though, Athens is just a big, dirty city.

-Rude people - Admittedly, not all Greeks are rude. I find them to very rude in Athens, but really very friendly once you get outside of Athens. Once, in Athens, an old Greek lady literally pushed me out of the way saying "op op op op op!" I think that's the Greek for,"Get out of my way you dumb tourist! I'm trying to get that taxi!"

- NO ONE waits in line. Ever. When you go anywhere, instead of lining up, the Greeks will push into a chaotic mob and elbow you out of their way. (Little old Greek ladies are the WORST!) I have been conditioned to wait my turn. If you try to do this, you’ll never get anywhere because everyone pushes ahead of you. Once the crowd begins to thin out, then a whole fresh mob of people will push in front of you. I have culture shock over this every time.

-Rules are for someone else - Most Greeks seem to have this mentality. Rules (even traffic rules) are for someone else. We once got totally yelled at by a man who had a red light, but he wanted to run it. We were walking across the street at the time (obeying the signal), and prevented him from doing this. (This is just one, small example. People create traffic lanes where there are no lanes, etc.) I always have underlying anxiety because I feel like anyone could do anything at anytime.

-Speaking of traffic - When driving in Athens, if you don’t go immediately, the person behind you will honk and curse at you. If you do go, then the car on street you just went in front of will honk and curse at you. Either way, you’re screwed.

The Amusing:
(I was going to call this “the ugly”, but I decided to think of it as amusing.)

- There is still smoking inside of buildings. When we went to the bank, (another thing I don’t like: things take FOREVER. Even simple things like going to the bank can take hours.) Anyway, we were at the bank, and the woman at the desk lit up and started smoking! I couldn’t believe it. Okay, though. It was a bank. Fair enough, I guess. What really shocked me was when we visited my mother-in-law in the hospital a few years back when she had a minor operation. People were smoking IN the hospital! Even the doctors and nurses smoked, right in front of the patients! (WTF?)

- Sidewalks are not for walking. Anywhere there is a sidewalk, people have planted trees in the middle of them. They cut holes in the concrete and plant trees in them every few feet. Of course, this makes walking on the sidewalk impossible. So then, everyone walks in the street while the angry drivers honk at everyone to get out of the way. To me, this is crazy.

-Gum - On the trunks of the above mentioned trees, there is tons of gum. Apparently, this is where youngsters put their used gum instead of throwing it away. Yuck.

- Ancient Plumbing - Most places have old plumbing with very narrow pipes. This means that you cannot flush toilet paper. Next to every toilet, they have a small trash can where you’re supposed to put used toilet paper and things you normally would flush. Ick. (This is another thing I find it hard to get used to.)

-Cats - They seem to be everywhere! Apparently, the Greeks won’t put down animals. This is nice in theory, but what do you do when the stray cats take over and there are packs of dogs which terrorize children? Sometimes, putting down strays is for the best.

More Things I Like About Greece

2010-07-05T10:00:00.001-05:00

Other things (in addition to the islands) I like about Greece:

1. Food - I know we Americans think we have the best food, but Greece has us beat. I’m not even kidding! Now, I’m not talking about fancy, complicated dishes. Greece has just good, simple food but of the highest quality. I think this is because they haven’t succumbed to factory farming practices the way we have. The fruit and vegetable are the best I’ve ever tasted. They are grown locally and are picked when they are ripe. Things like peaches and melons are just to die for. Even broccoli tastes amazing over here!

The best lamb I have ever had has been in Greece. Alex says this is because the animals spend their whole lives eating fresh herbs that grow naturally on the hillsides. (Things like rosemary, oregano, and thyme.) The herbs are thoroughly incorporated into every part of the animal. Who knows if this is the reason, but I can tell you: there is nothing like Greek lamb chops!

Yogurt and honey - both are the thickest ever, and are totally delicious. The honey has the consistency of caramel. I’ve never found any like it outside of Greece. Also, they have different kinds. Today, we bought pine and chestnut honey. I can’t wait to try it!

Greek sweets - Did you know that there are LOTS of different kinds of baklava? Also, other baklava-esce desserts? Sweets are a big part of Greek culture. If you are invited to someone’s house for a meal, don’t bring flowers. Bring sweets! The sweet shops are even open on Sundays (nothing else is) so that people can get a beautifully wrapped box of sweets to bring to Sunday lunch. My favorites include the following:

baklava (the REAL thing. Not what they call “baklava” in Greek restaurants in America.)
kaitifi (made with “string” pastry instead of filo. It looks kind of like shredded wheat.)
ekmek (a Turkish dessert which is kind of like kaitifi with thick, whipped cream on top)
Chocolate “pasta”, which is a kind of cake which is layered with cream, then coated with a layer of chocolate. Alex’s favorite!
ice-creams - We all know that the Italians have a the best gelato, but I think some of that know-how must’ve gotten into Greek culture because they have amazing ice-creams over here.
I tried a new dessert this time. I don’t know what the Greek name is but the translation is “honey balls”. They are like donuts, soaked in honey, and topped with chopped nuts and cinnamon. Fantastic!

Frappes - Since it’s usually hot outside, the Greeks have a tradition of drinking cold coffee. They take really finely-ground instant coffee (like a really fine powder) and whip it up with water, sugar, and condensed milk. It makes a wonderfully frothy coffee drink. I think they were doing this long before frappucinos were invented.

2. Tavernas - I also love that you are more connected with the outside when in Greece. When you eat at a Taverna, you sit outside, usually under trees or a trellis. On our last night in Spetses, our table was on the beach, inches away from the water. Awesome! Also, it’s nice that everything you order automatically comes with a glass of ice-cold water. (Even if you order a glass of water, it will come with a glass of water!)

3. Siesta - Everyone takes a siesta from around 2 or so until around 5 or 6 in the evening. The shops close around then and reopen. The cool thing is that everything stays open until after midnight then. I love going to a Taverna at 11 at night and all the children are running around, playing while the adults chat and have a meal and/or a drink. It’s a really nice atmosphere.

4. Open-air cinemas - There are cinemas, which are usually on a roof-top, where you sit outside and watch a movie (on the side of a building or a screen) while the sun goes down. I love it!

5. The amazing turquoise water - When I first saw the ocean in Greece, I thought they must’ve poured turquoise dye into the water. It’s an amazing color! I’ve never been able to capture the color on camera. You just HAVE to come to Greece and see for yourself.

My Favorite Greek Islands

2010-07-04T09:58:00.000-05:00

My husband and I just got back yesterday from the islands of Hydra and Spetses. If you're going to visit some isalnds in Greece, these two are close to Piraeus and are easy to get to. I've been to other islands like Santorini, Mikonos, Paros, etc., but I find that these two are just as good as (if not better than) any of the more famous ones. Here goes:

1. The Island of Hydra (pronounced “eethra”) - I have been to several islands, but Hydra is my favorite. It is the only one that does not allow cars on the island. Everything has to be carried by donkey or mule. This makes me feel like I have gone back in time. Also, it has the best swimming. You can jump directly off the rocks into deep, cool, clear water.

There is a café right on the water that I like going to. Here is a picture of some things I love to eat there:

At sunset, you can’t beat a fresh peach juice at Hydronetta bar. They juice the peaches right when you order it. Delicious! Also, I don’t think you can beat this view of the sunset. I know that the island of Mikonos is famous for that strip where you can have a drink and see the sunset, but Hydra is better. When we were on Mikonos, it was just so jam-packed with tourists that you couldn’t even get a seat. Even those who did manage to get a seat were squished and didn’t really look relaxed. (I have heard Mikonos described as “a piece of Panama City that they stuck in Greece”. I agree.) On Hydra, there is always a seat, a relaxing atmosphere, and you don’t have to wait to get service. Plus, the sunset is better because there isn’t as much haze. I never get tired of looking at this view:

2. The Island of Spetses - Very different from Hyrda, but still very nice. Cars and motorbikes are allowed on this island. There is an old harbor which is nice to walk along at sunset. This trip (for the first time), we rented a motorbike and rode around the entire island. I loved this! We found a small, secluded, almost private beach where we stopped for a swim. Awesome! If I were going to live on a Greek island, I’d live on Spetses and visit Hyrda.

Why I Love Ireland

2010-06-17T13:13:00.001-05:00

A friend once asked me, "Why do you even want to go to Ireland? I mean, there's nothing much there." My answer was "because it's beautiful! ...and the culture is so interesting". Yes, it's probably not as cosmopolitan as other places but it makes up for it in other ways. My favorite is the southwest of Ireland. They say that if you've only been to Dublin, then you haven't been to Ireland. To me, the Southwest is real Ireland. Here is a list of why I love it so much.

1. The People - The Irish are some of the nicest people you will ever meet. They are open, welcoming, and will buy you drinks all night if you're not careful. As a tourist in other countries, sometimes you feel like the locals don't really want you there. In Greece, I have been LOOKED AT as if to say, "go home, tourist. This is my place!" In Ireland, I've never felt that way. As you walk down the street, the old men will wink at you and say, "Hello, how are ya my dear?" Lovely.

2. Pubs - We just don't have the equivalent in the U.S. Our bars seem to usually have a somewhat seedy "meat-market" element to them. Or the music is so loud you have to shout to hear anyone. You wouldn't usually go to a bar alone unless you were trying to hook up. Irish pubs, however, are kinda like coffee shops but with beer. It's a relaxed atmosphere where you can sit, have a pint, and chat to the local characters. It's perfectly alright to go there as a single woman and no one will think anything of it. The musicians that play are usually not up on a stage and will chat with you between numbers. Also in some pubs, if you bring along an instrument and want to play along with them, it's totally okay. How cool is that?

3. The Countryside - Beautiful! Check it out.

4. The smell - There is a very faint smell of grass and peat and sea. This smells like Ireland to me!

5. The Sayings - When refering to a man, they say "yer man". When refering to a woman they say "yer one". "Feck" is used instead of...well...you know, but it's not considered a curse word at all. Even little old ladies say it. "Slainte" = cheers! "Gobshite" and "eejit" = my favorite insults. In Kerry, they put the word "so" at the ends of sentences. I don't why but it's cute. (As in "shall we go to the pub so?")

That's good start. I'll add more tomorrow. For now---off to the pub so!

Cuisine and Fashion at the London - Stanstead Airport Holiday Inn Express

2010-06-11T15:24:00.002-05:00

Well, here I go again. I'm off traveling on my own. I do admit that it is very selfish of me to leave my poor husband on his own working while I traipse off to Ireland. For some reason though, I feel compelled to go out and do my own thing lately. I guess it's my last hurrah before I start fertility treatments again.   (Which will hopefully work this time.)

Traveling by yourself is lonely but at the same time, it can be very liberating! We all live in a bubble; (Some more than others) surrounded by people we know, our books, habits, jobs, etc. When you get out of that, it can really help you get to know yourself. Once stripped of all of my creature comforts and cohorts, who is left? Just me. It's nice to know who that is.

Okay, I'll stop the whole introspective, pycho-babble thing now. I flew into London Heathrow Airport today and took three buses to get to Stanstead airport. Now, I'm staying overnight in the Holiday Inn and I'll catch a flight to Ireland tomorrow. Why did I stay in a hotel when I have lovely lovely inlaws who live really close to Heathrow? I mean, I would love to see them but I didn't want to crash on them for such a short time. Also - have you ever seen me after a transatlantic flight? It's not pretty! This way, I can be ugly and anti-social and just sleep, shower, and blog until my heart's content. I hope to see them later when I would be much better company!

Tonight's dinner was unexpectedly delicious and entertaining! There was a "curry of the day" on offer in the restaurant. Since the only people who work here all seem to be Indian, I figured this was probably the most authentic thing on the menu.  Afterall, I've heard it said that there's nothing more English than an Indian curry! Well, I was right.  It was lamb curry, served with rice, poppadoms, naan, and steamed broccoli and cauliflower. It was better than a lot of curries I've had at Indian restaurants in the city! As I ate, there were three bunnies chasing each other on the grassy hill right outside the window. It was very fun to watch.

Also, fun to watch was the local color. Lots of people seem to do the park and ride thing where they stay a night at the Holiday Inn, then get a reduced parking rate for the rest of the week while they catch a shuttle to the airport for their trip. A good idea, really. Anyway, there were some interesting characters around and I love to people watch. One woman stood out to me. She was probably in her late 50's and was wearing a canary yellow silk blouse, a mustard yellow knit wrap, with jeans, and mustard yellow spiked peeptoe high heels with orange toenail polish.  (I never knew yellow could clash with itself until today.) Also, bleach-blond hair. She was flaunting around the place like she felt really stylish. It was Great Britain's equivalent of "ghetto fabulous".  I loved her! One day, I hope to have her confidence and really own my style!

If you had told me "hey, let's go to the Stanstead Airport where we will get a delicious Indian meal, watch some bunnies run around, and check out the fashion scene!" I would have thought you were NUTS! But there you are. If you're in the area, check it out. It's a hoot.

Florida Trip

2010-06-09T13:25:00.000-05:00

I am testing this out on my husband's new laptop just to see if I can do everything and put up pics before I take it with me to Ireland. This is the summer of me! I decided that I would take the time to visit friends this summer. (It was my new year's resolution.)

Anyway, we just got back from Florida where we had a great time! My dear friend and her husband live there and I hadn't seen them in about 4 years. We went to the pool, the beach, ate junk food, played games on their Wii, watched movies, and got up to general mayhem. It's so worth the effort to go visit your friends! You won't remember your tiredness, effort, or expense but you'll have awesome memories that will last a lifetime. Do it!

My Mug Says.....

2010-06-01T09:00:00.001-05:00

I thought I'd share the saying that is written on my favorite coffee cup. Reading this in the morning makes me feel peaceful and happy and sets me up nicely for the day. The mug is various shades of blue and it says:

"May the sun bring you new energy by day,
May be moon softly restore you by night,
May the rain wash away your worries,
May the breeze blow new strength into your being,
May you walk gently through the world and know its beauty all the days of your life."

--Apache blessing

Isn't that nice?

Care and Feeding of a New Oboe

2010-05-31T09:00:00.001-05:00

As you know from my last post, I recently bought a new oboe from Carlos Coelho Woodwinds. (Sorry, this is a bit of a commercial for him. I think he's just great!) I bought my English horn from him about 5 years ago and have been very happy.

Along with my new oboe, came a goody bag. (Love the goody bag!) In it was a screw driver, cork grease, an instrument stand, 2 Loree stickers, and a silver polishing cloth. There was also a beautiful purple, silk swab. It seems like such a shame that it's only going to be used for a spit rag!

Each new oboe from Carlos also comes with a 2-year warranty for cracks. This is great because if an oboe is going to crack, it'll do it in the first year or so. If it makes it past 2 years, you're usually home free! Oboes are notorious for cracking. I think this is because of the really small diameter of the bore in the top joint. The air pressure is too great and, along with the sound waves vibrating through the wood, it's just too much for the instrument to take.

In order to prevent cracking, it is very important to break in a new oboe properly. Here are the instructions from the Loree factory.

How to Break in Your New Instrument (from Loree factory):

In the beginning, play the instrument for no more than 10-15 minutes at a time. Swab it, return it to its case, and keep the lid closed. A few hours later or the next day, you may repeat this procedure. each week, you may add 5 or 10 minutes playing time. After about 3 months, you should be able to play it as you wish.

On chilly days (or in a cold room) always warm the instrument before playing it. This may be done by holding it against your body for a few minutes, or cradling at least the top joint in you hands. If the oboe was left in an unheated area on a cold day, you must not play it until it has had a chance to warm gradually. (I can vouch for this. The one time my old oboe cracked, it was in a freezing cold practice room.)

During the break in period, we recommend you to oil regularly the bore of you new instrument (about one a week). Be sure first, that the bore is well dried and cleared of moisture. Then, put some drops of "F. Loree" natural bore oil, preferably on a feather, and apply a light coat of oil gently inside the instrument. After a few months, you can progressively reduce to oil your instrument. (Note: There are oboists who are dead-set against oiling the bore. My opinion is that you should oil it in the beginning to keep moisture from getting into the wood. Once broken in, I personally don't keep oiling it.)

Additionally, Carlos has his own set of instructions for breaking in a new oboe. Here's what he says:

Suggestions for Breaking in and Care (from Carlos):

Warm up instrument to body temperature.
NEVER warm up the instrument by blowing hot air into the bore.
**Start by playing low notes only.
SWAB!!! We recommend a silk swab. Try swabbing from the top joint to the bell. It will prevent to pull back all the water through the top joint and your swab will never get stuck! Swab constantly, especially if the weather is dry.
Start by playing only 10-15 minutes at a time a couple of times a day during the first week. Increase playing time 5 to 10 minutes a week.
Clean and oil the mechanism about every 8 weeks. Try to keep the wood clean.
We do recommend oiling the bore. It may be necessary ti oil the bore on specific occasions. Let's talk first!
Keep swabbing........swabbing.....!

My New Baby

2010-05-30T11:16:00.000-05:00

So it's not a child from India yet (sorry to disappoint), but it's an oboe from France. Yes, I unexpectedly bought a new oboe last week! It was time for a new one since I had had my old oboe for 12 years now and, as all good oboists know, they blow out in about 10-15 years. The sound (of my old instrument) was starting to spread and the pitch was less reliable than before.

How does one accidentally buy a new oboe? Go to an oboe party, of course! (Like a tupperware party, but with oboes.) A colleague of mine had 8 Loree oboes shipped from Carlos Coelho Woodwinds to his house. Several local oboists came and tried them out. Some brought their old instruments to sell. Anyway, one of the AK models stood out to me. I went back and forth between the AKs and the Royales before eventually deciding on this particular AK model. I know, most oboists prefer the Royales because of their BIG sound and sturdy feel, but I decided not to get one. Here's why......

Why I chose the AK over the Royale:

When I play with an orchestra, I usually play second oboe so I shouldn't out-boom the principle oboist. Also, when I play first oboe or solo gigs, it's usually in chamber groups, opera, or church solos which require a sweet sound. A big, boomy sound is not really what I need.
I felt that the Royales kind of boxed me in. I like the flexibility of the AKs and I like that it allows me to bend the pitch easily if I want to.
My old oboe is an AK and I have loved it for 12 years!
The sound of this one was similar to my old one, but better! (Darker, and more focused)
The low notes played like warm butter.
I feel more comfortable on the AK and it shows in my playing.
The Royales cost $1000 more. I had to ask myself, "Does this really sound $1000 better than the AK?" My honest answer was no.

If money was no object, I would've bought one of each. But---until I win the lottery, the AK is my instrument.

I kept my old oboe. It makes me feel safe to have a spare. If I have to send one off to be repaired I can still play on the other one. Also, if I have an outdoor gig or something I can play the old oboe with no worries!

BTW - I'm a Loree girl. I've played other oboes but I really prefer the sound of the Lorees.

Copland's 3 Planes of Listening

2010-05-10T11:23:00.001-05:00

This week I am doing listening exercises with my students and I came across something I think is worth sharing. The American composer Aaron Copland wrote a book in 1957 entitled, "What to Listen for in Music". In this book, he describes what he calls the "Three Planes of Listening". While there is no new information here, I have found it useful because it's so clear. It helps my students focus and really hear more deeply than before.

The Three Planes of Listening:
1. The Sensual Plane - It's not what it sounds like. The sensual plane is the level where you're aware of the music, but you don't listen enough to really make a judgement about it. It can even be background music. When you notice instrumentation or the quality of the sound, that's the sensual plane. Most people never listen to music outside of this plane.

2. The Expressive Plane - In the expressive plane, you notice how the music makes you feel. For example, you might notice that a minor key may make you feel down and a major key might make you feel up. Also, fast music might make you feel nervous. In this plane, you can visualize what the music might represent. (Like a storm or a beautiful sunny day.) Sometimes, I have my students draw or paint a visual representation of a piece of music that I play for them. I wasn't aware of it at the time, but I was helping them to hear music in the expressive plane.

3. The Sheerly Musical Plane - This is the plane at which most musicians, conductors, critics, music teachers, and judges listen to music. In the purely musical plane, you can separate the music into elements such as tempo, pitch, dynamics, key signature, time signature, form, chord analysis, etc. It contains all the jargon as well.

It helps me to be aware of these 3 planes. When I listen to a student play, I usually am listening on the Sheerly Musical Plane while most parents listen on the Sensual Plane. This explains some of the discrepancies in judgement that sometimes occur. Also, sometimes it's helpful for me to just sit back and listen on the sensual plane just for the enjoyment of it.

Next time you listen to any kind of music, try listening on the three levels and see if it changes the experience for you. I'd love to hear what you think.

Sometimes, you can go back. (Temporarily)

2010-05-06T09:48:00.002-05:00

This past weekend was really cool for me because I got to hang out with some old college buddies of mine. You know the saying, "you can never go back"? Well, sometimes you can! Several people came in from all over to attend a special alumni weekend at my university. It really was just like old times. Hanging out with the same people in the same places made the time just melt away. Now, I'm back in the real world and am wondering if I dreamt it all.

This got me wondering: Why do we like to have reunions so much? I mean, we all have current friends we hang out with, right? ...and one would presume that we've developed past our old colleagues and have become different people than we were then. Those old people won't know the "new" us. Why have college and/or high school reunions? I have to say, I also recently hung out with some old high school buddies too and had a fabulous time. Why is it so fun?

I think it's because when we see these people, we feel grounded. We met them at a time when we were still developing and were dreaming of what we would become in the future. The possibilities were endless. As we age, our possibilities seem to shrink and reality sets in. Seeing your school colleagues makes you feel like you have possibility in your life again.

It's also fun to see what people you knew way back when are doing now. When I find out how successful some of my colleagues are, it makes me feel like that too is possible for me. Minds open, possibilities present themselves, new thoughts form.
Plus, I adored those people back then and I adore them now and it was just plain FUN to see them again! :-)

The Plan

2010-04-23T18:37:00.000-05:00

This week I got some not-so-great news about my ongoing adoption process. (For those of you who don't know, I am adopting from India.) We applied over a year ago. (Last March) We were told that it would take 10 months for a referral, then another 10 months for the government to process the paperwork before we were allowed to bring our child home. So, 20 months total. A long time, but doable.

Well, after forking over tens of thousands of dollars and hearing nothing in over a year, I contacted the adoption agency. It turns out that now the wait time has increased to 18-24 months THEN the 10 month processing time. So it could take 34 months total. Plus, I thought the time started from when we applied. Nope. It starts from when we're approved. We were approved in July 2009. (It takes a few months to do the homestudy and to take all the online parenting classes you have to take.) So that means we've been waiting 9 months from then. (Not eleven like I had thought.) So it will take another 2 years before we get our child. Two years!!

What's even worse it that they do not allow concurrent adoptions so I cannot adopt a local child in the meantime without them putting this one on hold. Also, if a miracle happened and I were to magically become pregnant, they would also stop the adoption until the child was 1 year old. (Which means they stop the wait time too! This is madness because I could hypothetically have a two-year-old by the time this adoption goes through without them stopping it. Argh!)

After sitting with this and thinking, I've come up with a plan of sorts. I am 35 and I am hearing the loud ticking of that clock and I do not want to waste 2 years of what's left of my fertility (so to speak) waiting on this adoption that might not actually happen. (Because who knows what they'll decide in 2 years' time?)

So here's the plan:

1. Continue to get as healthy as possible.
2. HAVE FUN this summer and visit friends in Florida and Ireland. (Because once kids are in the picture, trips like this are not likely to happen.)
3. Once I get back from said vacation, go back to the fertility clinic and try all that crap again. I have lost 30 pounds since the last time I tried fertility treatments so I'm hoping my body will respond better.
4. Add acupuncture to the fertility treatments. I've read that combining acupuncture with fertility treatments can increase the success rate by as much as 65%. Plus, I've had some success with acupuncture helping my migraines so I'm hopeful that it will help with this too.

This way, I'm at least trying in the meantime while I wait FOREVER on my Indian baby. At least if fertility treatments don't work again, I'll have the adoption going on the back burner.

You don't have to go far to enter a totally different world.

2010-04-22T21:59:00.000-05:00

I was struck today about how close you can be to a place, yet so far. At one of the schools where I teach, I can literally see the acupuncture place that I go to from the window of my classroom. How can utter peace and relaxation be just a stone's throw away from a place that is so....not? By just going a block down the road, you can be in a totally new world. Crazy, if you think about it.

Also, I was thinking today that I really love teaching kids. Sure, I could probably make more money doing something else, but I really get to see the good in what I do. My students can make me laugh, can make me furious, or sometimes can make me very proud and happy. With kids, you never know what the day might bring. You might get thrown up on, get yelled at, cried on for no apparent reason, or sometimes they might floor you by doing something fantastic that you never saw them do before. Things can turn in an instant. This makes me feel alive.

Market Finds of the Week

2010-04-17T11:18:00.001-05:00

Okay so I seem to have lost my blogging mojo lately. I don't know what my deal is but I can't get the motivation to write about anything lately. When I first started this blog, I couldn't wait to write about all sorts of things. Now, I can't get the motivation to sit down and write. It's not like nothing has been going on. In fact, I've been crazy busy. I guess when you're busy, you're just too exhausted to write about the day's goings on when you get done with them. Hopefully, this is just a passing phase.

The only thing I really want to write about these days is what I get at the farmer's market, which is a shame because apparently no one else is interested at all in reading about it. Oh well. It makes me happy so I'm going to do another farmer's market post today.

First of all, Ted got his hot cross buns! Don't they look awesome? I had to smell them all the way home so I couldn't resist just having one bite just to taste. They really are super scrumptious. Ted immediately snarfed three of them!

Check out these flowers. I think they're called Delphinium (?). Anyway, I call them by their other name, "pretty blue flowers" and I couldn't resist them.

I found some even better eggs than last week. These are from free-range chickens who are also eat grass and bugs in addition to their feed. This makes the eggs more nutritious and healthy. You can't really tell in the picture but the yolks are seriously orange. This is how egg yolks are supposed to look, but we have gotten used to the pale yellow color which indicates lower nutrient levels. Also, if you look at the egg in the middle, it is slightly green. The lady told me that this egg came from a particular type of chicken that lays green, blue, and sometimes rose-colored eggs. Cool. I made scrambled eggs with them when I got home and eating them was a whole new eggsperience! (Sorry---couldn't resist.) They are much eggier and sturdier than other eggs.

I won't bore you with all the veggies and other things I got today. I did get some goat meat to try. I'm curious to see what that's like. Anyway, I just seem to be excited about food lately. Who knows why? Now I really know what Julia Child meant when she said that shopping for food is more thrilling than shopping for a dress!

More Farmer's Market Veggies!

2010-04-10T21:45:00.000-05:00

I went to my local farmer's market again today. Sure, I have to get up early on a Saturday morning, but it's so worth it! I have become a bit of a veggie snob. The drab, supermarket veggies that have been picked green and ripened on the back of a truck and shipped across the country, coated in a film of petroleum (even the organic ones) do nothing for me now. I have come to realize that fresh veggies that have been picked ripe and eaten within a few days are far superior! Not just in taste but in texture. They snap, they crisp, they have bite, etc.

Anyway, since I'm spoiled I went out again today. Here's what I got:
Kale, fava beans, broccoli, an English cucumber, purple green onions, asparagus, strawberries, hydroponic escarole, spinach, herb plants, lamb chops, local, free-range eggs, and shrimp.

Look how beautiful these shrimp are! (...and only $7 for all of these shrimp.)

I have never seen purple green onions like these before but they looked interesting. I tried them when I got home and they have a delicate, sweet taste.

No hot cross bun today for Ted (hmm... that could be a good band name couldn't it? "No Hot Cross Buns for Ted".) However, the bread lady had homemade Granny Smith apple and pecan muffins so I got him one. The bread lady said she would make us some hot cross buns if we wanted to buy at least a dozen. When I got home and told this to Ted, his eyes lit up and he nodded vehemently. I guess we're getting a dozen hot cross buns next week!

The farmer's market has transformed the whole shopping/cooking experience for me. It used to be a chore to plan out the week's menus, make a list, then go to the store and try to find everything. Now, I have no list! I just go and see what they have and what looks good. Then, I decide what to make with it when I get home. It makes the process much more enjoyable and creative. Here's a salad, that I threw together from the things I bought today, to have with lunch:

It has strawberries, spinach, mixed lettuce, parsley, pecans, lemon juice, and olive oil. A little weird I know, but it was delicious!

So here is my garden-to-be. I bought some basil, English thyme, and oregano plants. Hopefully, I won't kill them and they will be the start of my herb/veggie garden. We'll see.

Bag o' Greens

2010-04-08T18:21:00.000-05:00

What's better than getting fresh, organic veggies from your local farmer's market? Having your aunt grow them in her garden and give you them for free! Look at this bag of greens she gave me from her garden.

Don't they look awesome? There is a mix of two different types of lettuce, arugula, spinach, and broccoli. My aunt has had a garden ever since I can remember and now she's doing everything organic. I'm really happy because I have someone to ask for gardening advice! I really want to start a garden but I have severely brown thumbs. Really. I can't even keep a house plant alive. I did try to start an herb garden once, but the darn squirrels ate everything I planted. Who knew squirrels ate things like garlic and swiss chard?

For you gardeners out there, here is some advice she gave me:
Before you plant, mix compost and cow manure in the soil. (You can even buy these things at Walmart these days. Not that I support Walmart---I'm just sayin'.)
After you see leaves shooting up, put fish emulsion on it. I've never heard of this, but you mix a teaspoon of it in a gallon of water and put it on once a week. My aunt says that her garden absolutely took off when she did this. It makes sense. When you use conventional fertilizer, you're only putting 3 nutrients on. Fish emulsion provides a whole spectrum of nutrients. (Also, didn't the Indians bury a fish in the ground when they planted corn? They knew what they were doing.)

I think I'm going to start small and try an herb garden again, but I'm going to see if I can make a cage or something to keep those pesky squirrels out!

My Farmer's Market Loot

2010-04-03T13:03:00.000-05:00

I have been meaning to go to my local farmer's market for some time now, but have been too lazy until today. The market is on Saturday mornings from 8 - 12, which is usually when I love to sleep! Well, today I sucked it up and went because I am getting more and more angry with the food industry and I want to support local economy. (Don't even get me started! If you want to know more, I highly recommend reading "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollen. Two friends of mine recommended it to me and I'm so glad they did.)

Here's some of the loot I picked up today (Ignore what's in the back. That's just what was on my messy counter):

On the left, we have some local honey which I was very happy about since eating local honey is supposed to help with allergies. (It helps you build antibodies to local allergens.) I'm not eating honey myself these days (b/c of my no-sugar diet) but it's good for my hubby. Behind the honey you can see a bag of pecans. Then, some mustard greens, kale, cauliflower, carrots, sweet onions, strawberries, and butter. Look how crazy those carrots are! You can tell someone pulled them out of the ground. To my delight, the butter is from a local, family-owned farm and was made from cream from cows who were grass-fed, NOT corn-fed. (Meat and dairy from grass-fed cows are SO much better for you!) My one food splurge was the strawberries. I'm not supposed to have even fruit sugar and I haven't had fruit of any sort in months. However, I decided that it's Easter and I'm not going to have Easter candy so some strawberries wouldn't be too bad, right? Anyway, I had a few right after I took this picture and they are delicious! When you don't eat sugar, fruit tastes like candy!

Above are some dry goods I bought. The rice cakes, tea, and almond butter are the same brands I have been buying at Whole Foods but it makes me happy that an actual person got the profits today instead of a big food conglomerate. The bread is a treat for my husband who is less than thrilled with my gluten-free ways lately. I satisfied both halves of his ethnicity by getting Kalamata olive bread and a hot-cross bun. The buns were baked fresh this morning and Ted said it was the best ever.

And lastly, I splurged again and bought myself something girly. I have been wanted an anklet for a long time now and they're hard to find. Anyway, I bought this one directly from the woman who made it:

All in all, a successful trip! It's really nice to buy things from the people who grow or make them. These people can answer any questions you may have and are knowledgeable about their area. The veggie and fruit growers can even help you pick out produce that's at the perfect ripeness based on when you're going to eat them. (Today, the strawberry lady had special pints of them set aside if you were going to eat them today; then other batches for tomorrow and later in the week.) All I can say is, eating things at the exact, perfect ripeness is an experience you don't want to miss out on.

Check out your local farmer's market and I think you'll enjoy it and you'll wonder (as I did) why you haven't been going all along.

The Great Staycation

2010-04-01T10:31:00.000-05:00

This week is Spring Break for us teachers. Yeah, we may not get paid in money, but we do get paid in time off. Anyway, instead of going anywhere, my husband (Ted) and I decided to stay home for a change since we travel so much in the summers, plus we went Greece this past Christmas. All I can say is, it's so nice to be home! Just hanging around our house when we don't have to work feels so novel since we never get to do this. I have been loving it! The point of this post however, is not for me to brag as much as it is to give you some ideas about what to do on your own "staycation".

Biking:
One thing we have been able to do this week is go on long bike rides (as in bicycle). I never thought I would like doing this, but Ted has converted me. For 3 summers in a row, we went on bike cruises in Holland. What's a bike cruise? It's where you live on a canal boat for a week which goes around to various towns, drops you off with rental bike, then goes ahead to the next town where you have to meet it. Sometimes, we would bike 35 miles in a day! This was the first time I ever felt respect for my body. Yeah, it's not much to look at but it sure can haul-ass all over Holland on a bike! These trips got me into the whole cycling thing.

Anyway, we have gone on a few bike rides this week. Not as much as 35 miles or anything, but we did 15 yesterday. Plus, the weather is perfect right now. Not too hot with a pleasant breeze. We brought lunch with us and had a picnic by the river. Heavenly!

Taking Care of ME!
Another thing thing I've been able to do this week is to really focus on my health. (I am trying to figure out what causes my migraines and I want to get rid of them once and for all!) Normally, I don't have time to do acupuncture appointments or massages, but this week I do! Staying home but spending a little money on these things actually costs less than a trip would and it's much more relaxing.

Cooking healthy meals and trying out new recipes is another thing I have been doing this week. Also, going to the farmer's market. Buying fresh, local produce makes me happy! We also bought some trees and planted them in our yard: a sycamore for the front, and a lemon tree and a satsuma tree for the back. I can't wait until we get some fruit from them!

Seeing Friends:
There are friends that I never get to hang out with because we're all too busy. Since I have time this week, I'm able to go visit them! I have the time to go drive out close to where they work and meet them for lunch. Nice!

Brain Food:
One thing I love to do (and don't have a lot of time for usually) is read. I have a whole pile of books I have been yearning to read and this week I can. Is there anything better than getting cozy with a good book and a lovely cup of tea? I don't think so! Also, I have been catching up on some movies I've been wanting to see. (Especially Sharukh Khan ones!)

There you have it. A really awesome staycation. I thought it was going to be boring, but it's not at all! Maybe if I did this all the time it would get old, but right now I'm enjoying it.

What would you do on your staycation?

Why I Love Bollywood Movies So Much!

2010-03-28T09:34:00.001-05:00

As some of you know, my husband and I are in the process of adopting a child from India. (It has been over a year now and the waiting is getting really tiresome!) Anyway, I thought that if I was going to raise an Indian child, I should become familiar with his/her culture. This is why I started watching Bollywood (short for "Bombay Hollywood") movies in the first place. As it turns out, I fell in love with the genre!

Why do I love these movies so much? Well, in American films, we seem to have lost the idea that movies should include a big song and dance number. Bollywood movies are chock full of them! It reminds me of when movies were made in a more wholesome time like when Fred Astair and Ginger Rogers graced the screen. Indian movies are not allowed to show kissing, so they show couple dancing together to show the love between them. Did you know that a dance can actually be more sensual than a kiss? Also, showing longing gazes is actually more powerful than showing a couple slobbering all over each other. Don't take my word for it, see for yourself! I love the outrageous costumes, dance moves, ethnic music, all of it! Sure they can be cheesy, but sometimes you just gotta have a bit of cheese in your life, right?

My favorite Bollywood movie of all time (and probably my favorite movie period!) is Kal Ho Naa Ho.

This is where I saw my true love, Shahrukh Khan for the first time. I'm totally gaga over him! I have never gone coo-coo for a movie star the way I have over this guy. I never liked Brad Pitt (too pretty), or Tom Cruise (too crazy), or Jude Law (too pervy), or Leo Dicaprio (too....I don't know). I like Shahrukh because he is just so much fun to watch! He totally throws his whole body into the dance moves and he looks like he just LOVES every minute.

Shahrukh is smart too. He knows what he is doing. He made the following statement in response to the cheesiness of some of his dance numbers: "I make movies that must appeal to both the 5-year-old child and the 90-year-old grandma". (...and the 30-something American, apparently!) He is the biggest movie star in the world if you go by the number of fans he has. He is not only the biggest star in India, but also in all of Asia. (I have so much competition.....sigh...) A self-made man from humble beginnings, Shahrukh now owns his own studio. He doesn't like the term "Bollywood" because, as he says, "If you are David to someone's Goliath, it is better to be called 'David'. Not 'Boliath'."

If you want to see what I'm talking about, here are my favorite Bollywood movies. (These days, you can Netflix them!)

Lyn's Bollyood Picks:
1. Kal Ho Naa Ho (Tomorrow May Never Come) - My fav!
2. Rab ne Bana Di Jodi (A Match Made By God) - Super sweet. You'll love the Surinder Sani character.
3. Om Shanti Om - Pure marshmallow fluff for the eyes!
4. Veer-Zaara - a beautiful love story which shows a bit of the problems between India and Pakistan.
4. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (Something Happens) - a much-loved Indian classic.

Check them out!
BTW - Bollywood movies are longer than the ones we're used to. They can be 3 or more hours. This is because their songs are longer (usually 6 minutes) and they usually have 5 or 6 songs per movie. All I can say is, it's time well spent!

Here are some pictures of when I dragged my poor husband to Madame Tussaud's in London (this past July) just so I could see a wax copy of my hero. My hubby thinks I'm nuts! I am lucky to have a guy who is cool with all of this. Of course, he has a Michelle Pfeiffer thing so he can't say too much. (BTW - I have lost 30 pounds since these pictures were taken.)

Why Take Music?

2010-03-24T18:57:00.000-05:00

As a musician and a music teacher, I get really annoyed when other people devalue my subject. It upsets me when school administrators see music as a "stress reliever" class to provide students with a break between the "real" classes. I was very happy to find this article which sums up my feelings on why music has intrinsic value. Next time I have to justify my subject to an administrator, I'll use this. Thanks, Dr. Tim!

"Why Take Music? (By: Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser)

Music is a science
It is exact, specific, and it demands exact acoustics. A conductor's full score is a chart, a graph which indicates frequencies, intensities, volume changes, melody, and harmony all at once and with the most exact control of time.

Music is Mathematical
It is rhythmically based on the subdivisions of time into fractions which must be done instantaneously, not worked out on paper.

Music is a foreign language
Most of the terms are in Italian, German, or French; and the notation is certainly not English - but a highly developed kind of shorthand that uses symbols to represent ideas. The semantics of music is the most complete and universal language.

Music is history
Music usually reflects the environment and times of its creation, often even the country and/or racial feeling.

Music is physical education
It requires fantastic coordination of fingers, hands, arms, lips, cheeks, and facial muscles; in addition to extraordinary control of the diaphragmatic, back, stomach, and chest muscles, which responds instantly to the sound the ear hears and the mind interprets.

Music is all these things, but most of all, Music is art
It allows a human being to take all these dry, technically boring (but difficult) techniques and use them to create emotion. That is one thing science cannot duplicate: humanism, feeling, emotion, call it what you will.

MUSIC IS TAUGHT IN SCHOOLS:
Not because you are expected to major in music
Not because you are expected to play or sing all your life
Not so you can relax
Not so you can have fun

BUT - so you will be human
           so you will recognize beauty
           so you will be sensitive
           so you will be closer to an infinite beyond this world
           so you will have something to cling to
           so you will have more love, more compassion, more gentleness, more good - in short, more life.

Of what value will it be to make a prosperous living unless you know how to live?

THAT IS WHY MUSIC IS TAUGHT"

If you have ever studied music or played an instrument, you have done all of the above things. It kills me when school systems want to cut the arts. Kids need this! Did you know studies show that students who are involved in their school music program have higher test scores than the students who aren't?  I don't think this is a coincidence.

Jamie Oliver is a super cool dude!

2010-03-22T18:55:00.000-05:00

Last night, I watched the sneak preview to Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. This famous, British, "Naked Chef" is trying to educate America about what we're feeding our kids. I would encourage everyone to watch it (the 2-hour premier is this Friday).

School lunch just is not the same as it was when I and my fellow genXers were in school. Rarely does anything actually get cooked in the cafeteria. I remember having some kind of meat with some kind of vegetables every day when I was a kid at school. Also, they used to make the bread and we had a salad bar option. Not so now! As a teacher, I see all the junk that passes for school lunch around here. Kids are being given pizza, nachos, hamburgers, or hotdogs almost EVERY day! They count ketchup as a vegetable! Also, too much starch is put on there. I can't tell you how many times I've seen chicken nuggets with mashed potatoes AND french fries on the plates. (They count potato as a vegetable, apparently.) This is wrong! If I were a parent, I would raise hell about this with the school board and I certainly would not sign my child up for the school lunch plan! As a school, we should be educating the kids about what they should be eating. We should not be programming them to think that junk food is okay to be eaten every day.

Unfortunately, we have allowed the food lobbyists and big agri-business to hi-jack our health. Jamie is trying to point how exactly how bad processed food is for us. He makes a good point about how most people laugh and say, "yeah, I know this food is bad" and act like it's no big deal. But when confronted with the fact that they are killing their children (taking as much as 14 years off their lives), suddenly it becomes much more serious for them. There are so many scary chemicals added to processed food these days....and we're giving it to kids!

Jamie has already done a show like this in England. In it, he proved that school lunches COULD be made from fresh, healthy ingredients and cost the same as the junk! (In some cases, the healthy food actually cost less.) The sad thing is that a lot of the schools in England couldn't start serving the healthy food because of contracts they had with the food companies. I fear that in America, the deals with the devil...I mean food companies....will be even more restrictive. Still, I love what Jamie is trying to do here.

A Leap of Faith

2010-03-19T15:00:00.000-05:00

It's a busy week so I'm going to cop out and post another picture.

Do you see this bridge? We actually had to walk across it in order to get to a monastery in the Meteora when we were there this past Christmas. Can you believe my husband, who is terrified of heights, went across it too? It took a leap of faith that the bridge wouldn't collapse while we were on it!

Map of Christianity in the U.S.

2010-03-18T15:00:00.002-05:00

I love this blog called floatingsheep.org. It shows maps of various things. Most recently, they posted a map the various types of Christianity in the U.S. I find this really interesting!

Floating Sheep's Map of Christianity

Another thing that ticks me off in the trash

2010-03-16T15:42:00.000-05:00

Uh oh....it's time for another installment of my ongoing photo series entitled, "Things that tick me off in the trash"!

What's Your Birth Order?

2010-03-14T18:35:00.000-05:00

I just started reading this book about birth order. Apparently, a large part of your personality is shaped by whether you are a first born, a middle child, or a "baby". Parents unknowingly condition their children to have certain personality characteristics according to where they are in the birth order (and where the parents were in the birth order). I'm only on the third chapter and I already find it helpful in understanding my own family dynamics as well as in understanding the students I teach. (Especially when I teach siblings.)

Here are some of the characteristics I've learned:

First borns - are usually more responsible at an earlier age (because the parents had them help out with their younger siblings). They are list-makers, perfectionists, are reliable, and are natural leaders. In fact, most of our presidents are first borns (or are functional first borns). Note: If there is an age gap of more than five years between siblings, the younger one may have more first born characteristics.

Middle Children - are the most likely to live far away from home. (This is absolutely true with my brother and my cousin who are both middle children.) They are usually good mediators, avoid conflict, are loyal to peers, and have lots of friends.

Youngest Children (babies) - are used to getting a lot of attention. They are also used to other people doing stuff for them. They are usually charming, attention-seeking, natural sales people, blaming of others, and affectionate. Most actors and comedians are youngest children.

Now, you don't have to subscribe to these things, but I find it helpful to be aware that this phenomenon exists so that you can make a choice as to what characteristics you will embrace instead of just going along with your programming. I recognize myself as a classic first born. In fact, I'm starting to think that most of the friction between myself and my mom when I was a teenager stemmed from the fact that she was a youngest child and I was an oldest child. She thought I was bossy and I thought she was irresponsible. It also explains why she gets along better with my youngest brother. Usually, the parent identifies more strongly with the child of the corresponding birth order. I find this fascinating! Do any of you out there find that any of this relates to you and your family?

By the way - interestingly enough, most of my friends are also first borns as is my husband. I guess I am drawn to people with like characteristics!

Do you need a reason to eat cheese?

2010-03-12T15:00:00.000-06:00

Sometimes, my students crack me up! Today, I wanted to bring a treat for them since they just did so well on their Music Festival performance. Movie day is a good way to do this. (I only do this once a year. Any more than that, and it's no longer a treat!)  The symphony in which I play will be performing the music from "West Side Story" on the next concert. In order to encourage my students to go to the concert, I brought a copy of the movie to watch. Even if they don't go to the concert, I thought it would be worthwhile. Besides, as part of their music education, they really need to know about Leonard Bernstein and his work.

In the past, I have brought donuts as an additional treat to have while watching the movie. However, since I have been reading so many books about nutrition lately, I just couldn't bring myself to buy donuts for my students today. When you know exactly what trans fats, sugar, and white flour does to the body, you just can't give that stuff to kids. I just couldn't do it.   SO, I bought some fresh, local strawberries and some cheese. (Gouda, Cheddar, and Mango-Ginger Stilton.)

I didn't know how the kids were going to react to the new "healthy" treat. (I mean, I didn't really want them to think of me as the lady that gives apples or raisins when trick-or-treaters come around!) It turns out though, that kids love fruit and cheese! They were so excited. Some of them didn't really like the Mango-Ginger Stilton, but the ones that did REALLY did.  By far, the favorite was the Gouda. They all said I should just bring a big wheel of that next time. The strawberries were also a hit. (There's nothing better than fresh strawberries that have been ripened on the vine!)

The thing that really cracked me up was that one student said, "Ms. Lyn, I feel rich! I mean, eating cheese all by itself for no reason?!" I guess he thinks that rich people sit around all day and eat cheese. How funny!

So, wanna make your kids feel special and rich? Treat them to fruit and cheese! (It actually isn't that expensive. The snacks today were only a few dollars more than the donuts would've been.)

The "S" Rule

2010-03-11T15:00:00.033-06:00

Lately I've been taken with the idea of eating awesomely delicious food while maintaining health and a healthy weight. To this end, I came across a good tip today.

The "S" Rule:
No Snacks, no Seconds, and no Sweets; except for days that begin with "S".

This way, you can still enjoy them, but not every day. I'm going to add this rule to my life. Except for the snack part because I have found that I HAVE to have a mid-morning snack or else I totally pig out at lunch. (A handful of nuts usually does the trick!)

Another good tip I found is to limit "treat foods" (and we all know what they are: chips, fries, cookies, cakes, ice-cream, etc). America has the highest amount of processed food in the world. We also have the highest obesity rate in the world. Do you think this is a coincidence? I don't! The food companies have turned special "treat foods" into everyday foods. It used to be that in order to have fried chicken, cake, or ice-cream, you had to spend a lot of time to make it so people only had these foods for special occasions. Now, you can snarf them on your way to work or any time of the day or night!

If you want to have a "treat food", make sure that only have those that you make yourself (and I don't mean from a mix). This will help to limit your consumption of them (and also limit your waist line). It's a pain to make these things from scratch so you won't want to do it everyday. Also, the treat will be healthier because it won't contain all the horrible chemicals that food companies add in order to prolong shelf-life (they don't do anything good for your body). If it's your birthday, and you don't want to cook, make sure your treat is made by a person (like a good chef) and not from a corporation's assembly line. Not only will it contain less harmful chemicals, it will taste SO much better!

Do any of you out there have any good tips that you are willing to share?

Yummy Asparagus "Fries"

2010-03-10T14:51:00.000-06:00

I used to think I didn't like vegetables. The more I learn how to cook them well, however, the more delicious I find them. Asparagus is one of those vegetables that I learned to enjoy.

Before I learned how to make asparagus "fries", I had only had the soggy, slimy, canned asparagus. Yuck! No wonder I thought I didn't like it! It turns out that I only didn't like the canned kind. (As with most canned vegetables.)

The way I like to cook asparagus is to roast them in the oven. Here's how:

1. Wash the asparagus
2. Bend the asparagus from tip to tip and let it break where it breaks. It will "show" you where the tender part ends and the tough part begins. (I learned this tip from watching Rachel Ray one day.)
3. Spread the asparagus tips on a cookie sheet and spray with olive oil cooking spray. (or you can drizzle with olive oil, but I find the spray works better b/c it's more uniform.)
4. Sprinkle with Celtic Sea Salt and oregano and put it in the oven at 350 degrees or so.
5. Roast for about 20-25 minutes until the asparagus gets slightly brown and crunchy at the ends.
Serve immediately as a side dish.

They taste delicious this way. It's almost like eating fries! (...well, almost.)

Living (and eating) Well, a la Audrey

2010-03-08T16:29:00.000-06:00

"I'm not a huge snacker, but I eat awfully well at meals and all the things I like. ...I much prefer an extremely simple meal that's exquisitely done." - Audrey Hepburn

I'm currently reading the book "What Would Audrey Do?". The more I read about Audrey Hepburn, the more I like her. She was a beautiful, classy, yet down-to-earth lady.

Food and diet:
Audrey had a perfect figure, but never dieted. Her philosophy was to eat simple, perfectly prepared food and apparently she had a big appetite. Audrey adored things like chocolate souffle, roast duck, steak, and perfectly ripe raspberries which she ate with gusto! Her secret to staying slim was to eat only the highest quality, organic food and to stop eating immediately as soon as she was full. ("...a little hatch closes and I stop.") Also, she never snacked.

Julia Child had a similar approach. She said that you can eat all the delicious, buttery French dishes and not get fat by following these rules: eat small portions, no seconds, and no snacking. Neither Julia nor Audrey ever ate diet food. Julia was known to say, "the only time to eat diet food is while you're waiting for the steak to cook". (Don't you just love her?) I also LOVE that she said, "I think shopping for food is more fun than shopping for a dress". Me too, Julia! I find that nothing gives my self-esteem as serious a smack-down as when I'm shopping for clothes. Food, however, always fits and makes me feel happy!

Hanging around the house:
According to this book, Audrey loved being home. She did not slob around in her sweatpants and t-shirts, however. Audrey loved to wear black leggings, a long-sleeved black shirt, and ballet slippers when she was relaxing at her house.

Along the same lines, I came across this post about what to wear when lounging at home. It's nice to have some classy yet comfortable things to wear when you get home from work. I am a usually a total sweatpants-wearing, snack snarfing, slob-on-the-couch kind of girl then I get home. However, this post made me feel like I needed something more chic. I went and bought some "lounge-wear" at Steinmart over the weekend. (Some flowy, soft, shirts and some pretty yoga pants and things.) It's really just as easy as throwing on the sweats. Now I feel much more stylish and I'm not embarrassed when unexpected company (or the UPS man) comes around!

My Oscar "Party"

2010-03-07T11:21:00.000-06:00

I love the Oscars (and movies!) and this year, I decided to have an Oscar party. (Okay, so there will only be 4 people there, but it's still a party, darnit!) I think the fact that it's on a Sunday night put people off. Most of my friends have to get up crazy early on Monday mornings. I suppose people who work in the movie industry don't actually live in the real world and don't have to get up early on Monday mornings. (I say this jealously.) C'mon Oscar people! Can't we have the Oscars on Saturday night for people who work in the real world? Oh well, I'll just be tired on Monday. I'll live.

The party supply shop near my house had a very limited selection of Oscar party stuff, but I was still able to get some cute things. Check out the spirally hangy things look like movie film:

Also, I got some star coasters: .....and an adorable clapboard. (I don't know

what we're supposed to do with this but I had to have it anyway!)

We have some print-outs of the 2010 Oscar Pool sheet which we'll fill out before the show. We decided to all put in a fiver and whoever gets the most right answers will get the loot, plus this little "Star Award":

There will be plenty of food there. (Click here to see more about it.) You're supposed to have a movie-themed dish at an Oscar party. I couldn't really think of anything (I did not want to have blue food coloring in everything for Avatar!) so I got these Bacon Caramel Toffees. ...because everything in the movies relates to Bacon! (Kevin Bacon, that is.) Okay, so they're not dairy and sugar free. They are however, gluten-free and I'm only going to have one, just to see what it tastes like. It should be interesting. (I love that it says "Crunchy, smoky, sweet love" on the package.)

Is anyone else as excited about movies and the Oscars as I am?

An Amatuer Blogger's Blogpost about Blogging

2010-03-06T11:23:00.001-06:00

Why do I like blogging so much? I don't really know. Less than 2 months ago, I started my first blog. Before that, I had no idea this whole blogosphere existed. I mean, I'd heard of blogs but I didn't really have anything to do with them other than reading a few friends' posts on their blogs.

Now, I'm a total addict! Not only do I love maintaining my own blog, I love reading everybody else's! It must be filling a need people have to share their experience with others. We used to have more time to sit around and chat, I guess. (I feel like I used to anyway.) But now, we've gotten so busy we don't really have a chance to swap ideas and get each other's opinions on stuff. Maybe also, we don't listen to each other in the real world. In the blogosphere you feel like someone is going to read your take on things. Oh well, I could speculate all day. I have no idea why blogging makes me so happy but it does.

"Musings" is kind of my practice blog. I try to add new things and make changes as I make my way through books like "Problogger" and "Blogging for Dummies". (I also follow the Problogger blog for helpful tips.) I've learned things like "content is king!" and "design is queen!". I recently bought a domain for this blog (lynmusings.com), but haven't pointed my blogger address to it yet. I'm kind of afraid people may not be able to find it easily any more. Oh well, I suppose I should try it and see what happens. Also, I learned that when you register a domain name, you must include the "www" if you want it. I thought I was buying "www.lynmusings.com", but if you type that, it says it doesn't exist. I thought it would add it automatically. Silly me! Rookie mistake, I suppose. (That's why I have a practice blog!) Luckily, it only costs about $10 per year to buy a domain. I see it as a $10 lesson in how not to do it.

As far as design, I haven't really done anything about it. Apparently, a bad design (or no design) can put off potential readers. I found a helpful post on the subject. (Click here to see it.) When I'm ready to deal with design, I'll take her advice. (BTW - I think her design is super cute!)

I recently added Sitemeter to my blog and I LOVE it! There is a free version that I am using and I find it works great. It's really fun to see where people who view your blogs are. I've had hits from people in Germany, France, England, South Africa, India, and New Zealand. I can't tell you how happy this makes me!

I'm still trying new things. I just found out about the following:

103bees.com - apparently, this site allows you to see what questions your readers are asking search engines in order to get to your site. It also lets you see how people arrive at your site. The only thing is it's not free. (Booo.) But there is a free trial so you can see how it works. I might try it out. I'll let you know what I think of it.
Digg.com & Delicious.com - Both of these site are "social bookmarking sites". They say that sites like these can send lots of visitors to your blog based on the titles of your posts. (Again, I've not tried it yet myself, but I'll keep you posted.)

Has anybody out there tried these already and do you have any other advice for a rookie blogger?

Teacher Act

2010-03-04T16:05:00.002-06:00

Sure, I could probably earn more money doing something other than teaching, but I feel like what I do has intrinsic value. The best part of my job is when I get to put on music performances with my students. Last night, a small vocal group of mine sang the music from "Sister Act" for a public performance. If you've ever seen the movie, you know that this music is very upbeat, happy, and just fun. It was a hit!

I know "Sister Act" isn't considered to be a great movie or anything (even though I like it). However, the scenes which involve the transformation of the choir are inspiring! Whoopi Goldberg plays a woman who is a lounge singer, witnesses a crime, and has to go into the witness protection program. She has to pretend to be a nun and live in a convent. When she first hears the convent's choir, they sound terrible. Among others, there is an old nun with a low voice; a shrill, operatic-sounding nun; and a shy nun who barely makes a sound. When they sing together in unsion, they sound just awful. Whoopi works with them to try and improve the sound.

Later in the movie, they show the choir singing in the next church service. They start all prim and proper singing "Hail Holy Queen". Then, they break out into the same tune accompanied by boistrous clapping and gospel-style harmonizing. (There's a bit of a musical joke as well when they use Beatles-esce ascending dominant 7th sequences as transitions during the "alleluias". If you're a musician, you'll be chuckling when you hear it.) The same nuns who were terrible in one context were transformed into being fantastic in another context. The low-singing nun sang a chant-style solo, the shrill nun sang an awesome high solo, and the shy nun was given a solo in which she belted it out! Whoopi had taken each nun's apparent weakness and turned it into a strength!

This scene in the movie is a perfect way to describe what I feel my job is. My goal is to find each student's strength and to put them in a context where they can really shine. While I certainly don't always succeed, I do try. I feel like I'm Whoopi, taking each student's gifts and combining them into something beautiful. (Well, I'm not nearly as cool as Whoopi but a girl can dream, right?)

Old (but fun) Stories: Thanksgiving with Cranky 'ol Grandma

2010-03-03T15:00:00.006-06:00

Here is a story from Thanksgiving this past year:
Okay, so I have this 90-year-old Grandma who is so cranky and rude that it's actually entertaining. Her behavior at Thanksgiving yesterday inspired me to add some crazy Grandma stories to my repertoire. Cathartic for me, and entertaining for you. Enjoy!

1. My grandma was using her shiny, red walker to inch across the living room to her chair. In the middle of the floor, my cousin's 4-year-old daughter was playing. (oblivious to said Grandma.) Inch, inch, inch. When she finally got up to where the child was playing, she stopped and yelled, "Well, get out of the way!!" Classic.

2. After the big meal, we were trying to get desserts to the kids first. (You gotta give sweets to the kids first, and then the adults, right?) Well, Grandma was having none of that. She said loudly to my cousin's grandma, "I GUESS they'll get ours in a little while!" Okay. I can take a hint.

3. When I gave Grandma her pie, I asked if she wanted coffee. "Not THAT stuff!", she replied.

4. My poor British husband (well, half-British & half-Greek) always has to endure her questions about why the Brits don't have Thanksgiving. This year, she added "I guess you British aren't very thankful people".

5. My brother reported to me that she was watching TV when a Levitra ad came on. "Well that's one problem I've never had", says Grandma. "..or maybe that is what I had right before my heart attack a few years ago. Maybe I should take that!" Who knows what she thinks Levitra is for! ;-)

Let's just say I'd rather spend time with Daisy than with my Grams. (Sad to say, but true.)

Learning to Be Grateful

2010-02-28T10:36:00.000-06:00

I ran into a colleague of mine yesterday at the movies. I hadn't seen her in a long time because she has been having health problems lately, and has not been able to get out of the house much. In addition to her health issues, she has terrible back pain and has to wear a back brace and take pain-killers all the time. I was being empathetic and saying "oh you poor thing", when she put a stop to it. "Actually, I'm grateful to have these problems. They could be so much worse! I could be bed ridden, in the hospital, or dead!" What a great way to look at it! She is so right. It got me thinking that I should be more grateful about my child procurement issues.

It's easy to become self-pitying and plunge into a tunnel of "poor me". I find myself doing this from time to time over the fact that I have been trying for 5 years to have a child (the UNfun way!) with no luck. But if I think about it, there are WAY worse things to have happen. People have to deal with being blind, deaf, in a wheel chair, having cancer, etc. all the time!

Another colleague of mine had a stroke about a year ago. She was only 37, was a vegetarian, and was one of the healthiest people I knew at the time. She's doing well now, (better than expected) but she'll never be back to the way she was before the stroke. She has two young children who she cannot take care of by herself. Being able to have children, but then having a stroke and not being able to take care of them is worse than not being able to have your own, isn't it? I mean, I can still adopt, right?

Recently, one of my brother's friends died unexpectedly. He was in his late 20's and was found dead in his apartment one day. (They think he had some sort of seizure.) How pointless! And what about that poor Georgian Luger? I should thank my lucky stars and be grateful that I'm still here. I should consider myself SO lucky to only be dealing with infertility.

Now, let's all go knock on wood!

Old (but fun) Stories: Another Crazy Daisy Installment

2010-02-26T15:00:00.002-06:00

This happened this past Chrismas when we were visiting my Mother-in-law in Greece:

Christmas Eve’s Eve: Daisy likes to leave lists of things for us to get for her. Two days before Chrismas, we returned from buying groceries for her from a VERY busy store. We were saying how glad we were to get it done with and that we were glad that we wouldn’t have to go on Christmas Eve because it would be even more crowded. Daisy agreed with us and said, “Yes. I’ve always wondered why people wait until Christmas Eve to buy things. Why don’t they go earlier when it’s less crowded?” You can imagine our surprise (and annoyance) when we came down the next day (Christmas Eve), to find another grocery list! Why had she not put these things on the list the day before? “Because I didn’t need them then, but I need them now!” Could it wait until after Christmas? No, it could not. So, Daisy, why do people go out to buy things on Christmas Eve? BECAUSE THEIR MOTHERS SEND THEM OUT WITH LISTS!

What was up with those Germans?

2010-02-24T15:00:00.007-06:00

As a teacher, sometimes I chaperone field trips for my fellow teachers. Yesterday, I went on the school art field trip. The plan was to go to a place which had nature trails so that the kids could sketch things they saw.  My music students and the drama students were also allowed to go. There ended up being 100 kids, 4 teachers, and about 12 parents.

Luckily, the kids we took were very well behaved. Seriously, I do not know how they could've been any better! We allowed them to play outside for a bit after lunch. There was a big open space, with several trails. Also, there were loads of flowers and bamboo borders all around.  Some kids were playing football, others were skipping, still others were sitting and talking, while others were walking on the trails. Some of them were fake sword-fighting with some fallen bamboo stalks, but we were watching them and it didn't get out of hand.

In this particular nature center, other guests were there as well and they were allowed to drive through some of the trails in their cars. A German couple drove past us, then pulled up to one of my fellow teachers and said, "These children are animals! They belong in s zoo! They are running around and breaking things! You must do something." We had been with the kids the whole time, and there was nothing terrible that they had done or were doing. They were just acting like kids! Has this couple ever been around kids before?

As far as breaking things, I suppose he was talking about the bamboo. First of all, they had only picked up the fallen bamboo. Second, we had all been told by our guide that the bamboo grows 16 inches every 24 hours. (Impressive!) It only takes 60 days to grow to full size. They have so much bamboo that they have to cut it down regularly so that it doesn't take over. So, even if they had broken a live bamboo, it wouldn't have been the end of the world.  This couple drove by a few more times, giving us judgmental looks as they passed.

I suppose German children would never do such things as fake sword-fight with bamboo, play football, or skip while singing. Oh wait......I've been to Germany and they DO! Why? Because they're kids!!

Old (but fun) Stories: Crazy Daisy Got Busted!

2010-02-21T09:00:00.002-06:00

The following is a story about my feisty Greek mother-in-law from when we visited her last summer:

Daisy is full of contradictions. An example of this is her attitude about walking to the shops (3 blocks form her house). She is afraid of leaving her house. “What if I get really tired and have to sit down?”, “What if I get swine flu?”, “What if the cats get hungry and I’m not there to feed them?”, etc. So yesterday evening, we convinced her to walk to the store with us, and stop for gelato. After much ado, we walked the 3 blocks....at about the same pace as you do when standing in line at the bank. Seriously. It took about 20 minutes to do a 2 minute walk. Anyway, when she was crossing the road, we were urging her to hurry because cars were coming. “No! I’ll not be rushed! They can very well slow down!” Also, she would walk in the middle of the road saying, “Let the cars go around me!” So ---- all this fear about ridiculous things, and the one thing that really could kill her was of no concern to her. Hmmmmm.
By the way----in case you were wondering, there is no medical reason as to why Daisy should walk so slowly. My 90 year old grandmother walks a mile everyday, and could run rings around her! Daisy did have an operation on her leg though. A year ago. (It was a simple, outpatient procedure.) She has been capitalizing on that ever since.

A few days later, my husband and I were returning from a short excursion. We thought we might stop at the shops near Daisy’s house to get some lunch. While we were looking for a parking place, who do you think we saw turbo-charging down the street? That’s right---none other than Miss Daisy! She was briskly walking, head held high, skirt swaying back and forth, chin jutted out in determination, and eyes focused forward! (It took us a while to even recognize her!) She didn’t even see us as we pulled up. She jumped as soon as she saw us and switched to her “slow, wobble-walk” as I like to call it. She is SO busted! Apparently, she walks to the shops down the street all the time. This makes the above story extra funny. She had led us to believe that the time above was her first time walking down the street since her operation a year ago. We’re on to her now. The good thing about this is that my husband doesn’t worry about her as much now. There’s always a silver lining.

Weekend Breakfast for Weirdos Who Don't Eat Anything (like me!)

2010-02-20T11:57:00.006-06:00

Okay, so the title is a bit of an exaggeration. I do eat things, but since I'm avoiding gluten, dairy, sugar (including fruit), and bad carbs it sure does feel like I don't get to eat anything sometimes! It's really hard to be a foodie and have all these restrictions. I fell off the wagon a bit over Christmas and ate all kinds of things I shouldn't have. It has been really hard to get back on. Yesterday, I renewed my resolve to eat like I should. (For health reasons, my doctor has put me on this crazy eating plan.)

I have to say, once you get the sugar out of your system, it gets much easier to stay on my diet. Sugar, for me, is an addiction and I have to treat it as such. When it's in my system, I find that I cannot get through the day without it. The other day (while I was off the wagon), I found myself lacking energy and feeling terrible so I ate a cake ball. Immediately, I felt fantastic! I had gotten my fix. Then later, I felt terrible and wanted more. I must break this cycle! It's very similar to being an alcoholic. When in recovery, you just can't have your substance at all. Not even one drink (or bite). SO - this little tangent is all to illustrate my need to get back on track.

Today, I had my weekend breakfast. I like to treat myself on weekends and have something delicious. What's delicious when you have all these restrictions? Eggs and veggie browns!

Lyn's Eggs and Veggie Browns:

Pour some olive oil into a frying pan. (Enough to liberally coat the bottom.) Then, take a carrot and a zucchini (one each per person), and peel them into long, thin curls with a veggie peeler. (Note: When to get to the point where you can no longer peel them, I take what's left, chop it up, and put it into a tupperware and into the freezer. Then, I add these veggie bits to the pot when I make soup.) Fry the carrot and zucchini strips in the oil until they get slightly brown and crispy (about 15-20 minutes). Drain in paper towels when done. Sprinkle them with Celtic Sea Salt. (Note: Celtic Sea Salt is gray in color because it has not had the magnesium and potassium stripped out of it, making it much better for you. Also, it tastes saltier so you use less. I love it!)

While the veggies are frying, scramble some eggs and cook them in a frying pan with a little olive oil. While cooking, I sprinkle them with salt and oregano. (Note: Oregano makes everything taste delicious! I learned this from my Greek mother-in-law who puts it on everything.)

Serve and eat while hot.

I can't drink a lot of coffee (due to migraines), but my body can handle one cup per week. I treat myself on Saturdays and have coffee with my breakfast. I LOVE to put a spoonful of coconut milk ice-cream in it. (Purely Decadent Coconut Milk Ice-Cream and Luna and Larry's Coconut Bliss are my favs. They are dairy free and don't have sugar either since they are sweetened with agave syrup. Win-win on all counts!)

With this breakfast, I don't feel deprived at all!

Oscar Party

2010-02-19T15:00:00.004-06:00

The other day, a colleague of mine was talking about an Oscar party that his friends throw every year. They put out a red carpet leading up to the house so that the guests can walk down it when they arrive. Someone takes pictures of all the guests in order to provide a "paparazzi experience". Then pens and score cards are passed out. Each person votes on who they think will win. The person with the most correct answers gets a little fake Oscar statuette at the end of the night. (If you want to start early, you could rent some of the nominated movies to watch before the Oscar ceremony starts.) Also, each guest is asked to bring a dish that relates to a movie or nominee. (I suppose you could take it a step further and ask everyone to dress up as their favorite star or character.) I got SO excited about this idea that I might have an Oscar party myself! (Sunday, March 7th is Oscar night.)

After searching the web, it looks like this is not an original idea. There are sites all over that have tips on hosting Oscar parties. Where have I been?!? Have any of you out there had Oscar parties before and do you have any tips and/or cool ideas? (BTW - Oriental Trading Company is a site where you can order party favors for this and other events. I've ordered from them before and have had good experiences.)

Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Sugar-Free, Food Free Cake. Diaper Cake!

2010-02-18T16:03:00.000-06:00

A "cake" made out of diapers is a stylish and cool gift to give someone who is expecting. I made one the other night for a friend of mine. The process was enjoyable because I like to make things, and it's fun to go and pick colors and ribbon and things. (I don't think of myself as a "girly girl", but apparently I am when it comes to this.) Also, I get to go buy baby things and make something for a baby, even if it isn't my own. (Sometimes, you just have to put your feelings on a shelf and do something nice for someone else, right?) It was fun to do and it feels more personal than just going and buying random baby merchandise.

It's not hard to make this diaper cake. There is a video on the internet that takes you through the whole process. I love that it's set to the music of "Meet Joe Black". (Because really, what goes with sweet babies better than music from a film about death personified?) The only modification I made is that I used slightly bigger diapers on the bottom two tiers and the teeniest ones on the top. I think it looks better that way. Also, the mother can use the top layer when the baby is first born, and keep the bottom two tiers as decoration for a few months or so until the baby grows into them. Also, I think it's a cool idea to use a pizza pan as the base because the new mom is totally going to be using it to heat up a lot of frozen pizzas for dinner after the birth!

Make this for the next baby shower you're invited to. It will be a hit with the mom-to-be, and everyone will think you're super cool!

It's like Nirvana, but with tea!

2010-02-17T15:30:00.000-06:00

This weekend, I finally went to the new tea store "Teavana". (Well, it was new to me anyway.) Who knew you could spend so much money on tea and tea accessories? They say, many upscale products aren't really that much better than others, but the packaging is much fancier. I think this may the case here. Don't get me wrong, I loved looking around in the store! The tea pots were fun to look at, but I am never going to spend over $200 on a tea pot.

I am a big tea drinker and have at least 3 cups a day. Since I can't have too many treats (no wheat, dairy, sugar, or yeast), tea feels like a sinful delight. I was reminded of the saying, "a fool and his money are soon parted" because the store seems to be designed to part fools from their money. Well, I must be a fool because I spent $42 on tea! You have to buy the tea containers, then you can buy whatever tea you want to fill it. There are several dozen large canisters behind the register which the sales people will open and waft in your general direction so you can smell the various teas.

The sales person I spoke with was full of helpful information. Did you know that green tea can help regulate your blood sugar if you drink it before a meal? Also, did you know that Oolong tea helps increase your metabolism and burns fat if you drink it after a meal? I didn't! The sales lady (who was Asian) says that all Asian households have both green and oolong teas on hand since the dishes they eat are often fatty. With that in mind, I HAD to get one of each! I ended up getting Dragonwell (green) and Toasted Nut Brulee (Oolong). The Dragonwell tea was good. I love a nice green tea, but I have to say it wasn't any better than my favorite Numi Gunpowder Green tea. I used to feel guilty buying the Numi tea since it's $6.99 per box (although Whole Foods has it on sale often), but now I'll buy it guilt free since it's less expensive than the Dragonwell. The Toasted Nut Brulee tea however, is awesome! I will definitely be back for more. It's like dessert in a cup AND it helps you burn fat? Why aren't we all drinking this all the time? I will go back to Teavana and try some more teas, however it will not be an everyday thing for me. As a special treat however, it's heavenly!

Very Berry Chocolate Mousse

2010-02-16T12:27:00.000-06:00

(I was going to call this "Cherry Berry Chocolate Mousse", but I only had blackberries in my freezer and no cherries! I bet cherries would be good though, and I plan to use them next time. Maybe I'll try some Amaretto in there too!)

For a Valentine's Day treat, I made chocolate mousse for my husband (and me!). I used Julia Child's recipe (of course), but made some changes. I am avoiding wheat and dairy so this is a less harmful dessert for me than most. There is a lot of butter in it, but butter has very little lactose in it and is mostly fat so lactose intolerant people can usually have a bit of butter every now and then. I find I can tolerate it in moderate amounts. (This is not an everyday thing, but as an occasional treat, it's not too bad.) There is no whipped cream in this mousse. The creamy lightness comes from beaten egg whites. This allows more of a deep, dark chocolate taste to come through since cream kind of dilutes (or "milks down") the chocolate. Dark chocolate lovers out there, this mousse is for you!

I made the following modifications to the recipe:
1. I substituted Chambord for the Grand Marnier
2. I sweetened it with agave syrup instead of sugar (1/2 cup instead of 3/4 cup since it is sweeter).
3. Since the agave syrup made it more liquidy, I added some arrowroot powder to compensate. (Otherwise, it wouldn't thicken properly without the dry sugar.) I didn't measure. I just sprinkled some in, then when it didn't thicken enough, I sprinkled some more. I probably used about 2 teaspoons or so.
4. I simmered some blackberries with some more Chambord and agave syrup, reducing it to a thick compote, and used it to top the mousse. The tartness of the berries balances the rich, sweetness of the mousse nicely.

You can use my modifications or make Julia's original recipe. Either way, get ready for sinfully delicious goodness! Actually, I've made the Grand Marnier and orange version with agave syrup instead of sugar and it was delicious as well. Here is the recipe, straight from "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" (p. 604-5):

"Mousseline au Chocolat
(for about 5 cups, serving 6 to 8 people)

Beat 4 egg yolks and 3/4 cup sugar (or 1/2 cup agave syrup) together until mixture is thick, pale yellow, and falls back upon itself forming a slowly dissolving ribbon. Beat in 1/4 cup of orange liquor (or Chambord). Then set mixing bowl over a pan of not-quite-simmering water and continue beating for 3 to 4 minutes until the mixture is foamy and too hot for your finger. Then beat over a basin of cold water for 3 to 4 minutes until the mixture is cool and again forms the ribbon. (I put the arrowroot in at this point, if agave syrup is used.) It will have the consistency of mayonaisse.

Melt 6 ounces of unsweetened, dark chocolate with 4 Tb. strong coffee in a double boiler. Remove from heat and beat in 6 ounces (or 1 and a half sticks) of softened unsalted butter a bit at a time, to make a smooth cream. Beat the chocolate into the egg yolks and sugar (or agave), then beat in the optional 1/4 cup of glazed orange peel* (see below for recipe).

Beat 4 egg whites and a pinch of salt (in a separate bowl) until soft peaks are formed; sprinkle on 1 Tb granulated sugar (I leave the sugar out, and it still comes out fine). Stir one fourth of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Fold in the rest.

Turn into serving dish, dessert cups, or petits pots. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. (You can top this with whipped cream, but I like to make berry compote or glazed orange peel and top it with that instead.)"

* "Glazed Orange Peel (p. 587)
(for about 1/2 cup)

Remove the colored part of 3 orange skins with a vegetable peeler. Cut into julienne strips 1 1/2 inches long and 1/16 inch wide. Simmer in water for 10 to 12 minutes or until just tender when bitten. Drain. Refresh in cold water. Dry on paper towels.

Boil 1 cup sugar (or 3/4 cup agave syrup) and 1/3 cup water in a small saucepan to the thread stage (230 degrees). Remove from heat. Stir in the drained peel and 1 t. of vanilla extract. (I add a splash or two of Grand Marnier at this point.) Let the peel stand in the syrup for at least 30 minutes. Drain when ready to use. Under refrigeration, the peel will keep in the syrup for several weeks."

I know it seems like a pain to do all of this, but it's totally worth it! My girl Julia knows what she's talking about. Make this for your significant other, and they will love you!

Yoga Pete

2010-02-15T17:56:00.000-06:00

     The other night, we had a house guest. One of my husband's friends was in town visiting his father, who coincidentally lives in our town, and he needed a place to stay since his father's house was full of other guests. (Seriously, what are the odds of this?  They met while in school in Greece!) Anyway, I'll call his friend "Yoga Pete".
     Yoga Pete is a fascinating person. He is half Swiss, half Greek, teaches yoga, has lived in Japan, has traveled to China, and attends an ashram in India to work on his yoga skills some summers.  Also, he was a Philosophy major at University so he asks you questions like "what do you think happiness is and how do you create it?" I find it really refreshing to speak with someone who is an extremely good conversationalist. It makes me want to cultivate this skill in myself.
     I'm reading a book at the moment about how technology is killing conversation skills in people. It's a bit of a paradox because, while the internet connects people, it also removes us one step from being face to face. People are constantly "plugged in". You almost cannot have a conversation with anyone these days without them checking their iphone or blackberry every 5 seconds.  (Yes, it's a bit ironic that I'm saying this via the internet but like I said, it's a paradox.) The book I'm reading says there are two things which a good conversation requires:  attention and interest. Most people today have some form of ADD, and /or just aren't interested in other people. (I hate to admit this but I, sadly, must include myself in this.) Anyway, the conversation my husband and I had with Yoga Pete was the first real, meaningful, uninterrupted conversation I'd had in quite some time. It was enjoyable! I am going to train myself to have more attention and interest in others. "Attention x Interest = Conversation = Joy!"
     The next morning, Yoga Pete showed us some yoga moves.  Do you know how impressive it is to watch someone do something that they are really good at? It doesn't matter what it is, but to see someone execute something so fluidly and effortlessly is quite something. (I think this is one reason why we like watching the Olympics so much.) Then, I got a private yoga lesson during which he showed me the "Sun Salutation" that he does.  (This link I posted shows a slightly different one than he one he showed me, but you get the idea.) The corrections he made to my form ("bring your shoulders down, bend your knees then straighten them, breathe through your nose, etc.") made it feel completely different than what I had been doing. Yoga Pete says that doing 5 Sun Salutations every morning is one of the most beneficial things you can do for your health. He made it seem so much more accessible to me!  There is no way I'm going to do a whole yoga routine in the morning, but 5 Sun Salutations are totally possible. (5 minutes, tops!) I did them this morning, and it woke me up more than caffeine. I'm going to continue to do them.  He says he started with just 5 minutes in the mornings, and now (after 16 years) he does an hour and a half, which would have been inconceivable to him when he first started.  He also says that he feels much better and has more energy now (at 40 or so) than he did when he was 20. There are men at his yoga school that are in their 60's that are even healthier and more flexible than he is! How inspiring is that?
So---go do 5 Sun Salutations to get the blood pumping to your brain and then go have a scintillating conversation with someone today! You'll thank me (and Yoga Pete) later!

A Sweet Valentine's Story

2010-02-14T11:00:00.000-06:00

     I'm a bit of a Valentine scrooge, I have to admit. When I was single, I thought it was mean to make single people feel worse about being single. Now that I'm married, I think it's unnecessary because my husband makes me feel loved every day. I don't need flowers and chocolates to feel special because he already makes me feel special. However, I wanted to share with you a great, real-life love story that makes me very, very happy.

     A work colleague of mine and his wife will be celebrating their second, second anniversary this year. Let me explain: (I'll call them Frank and Alma.)

Frank and Alma were married when they were in their early 20's. They divorced 4 years later. They both married other people. Alma's second marriage ended very quickly (with no children) because it was pretty much a rebound relationship. Frank's marriage lasted for 15 years or so, and he had 2 children. Eventually, his marriage ended as well. Thirty-five years after their divorce, they met again. They started dating and found that they still loved each other. A year later, they were married on the exact same day as their original wedding. They are deliriously happy and are certain it will work this time because they both say that things that are issues when you're in your 20's are no longer issues when you're in your late 50's. They had their second, first anniversary last year.
     Alma says she couldn't be happier and feels that her life is complete. She always wanted to be with Frank, and she wanted Frank's children. Now she has both! (She has a great relationship with Frank's children so she "has" them in that sense.) Also, she gets to have grandchildren with Frank. What a wonderful story! I think it's so uplifting and inspiring. I want this to give hope to all of you out there!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Childless Child

2010-02-13T12:24:00.000-06:00

This turned into a bit of a rant. I have mixed feelings about posting this, but it has been on my mind a lot and it had to be written. This post is for all the infertile women out there who are craving just a smidgen of understanding:

   The other night, I re-watched the movie "Julie and Julia". I loved it although as far as I'm concerned, the Julie parts should be cut out and the whole movie should be about Julia Child. In fact, why don't they make a movie about Julia Child? They could include bits about her life in India and China, and include how she met and got together with Paul. Anyway, I identified with Julia in several ways. One way was about her apparent infertility. It absolutely broke my heart during the scene where Julia was reading a letter from her sister in which she learned that her sister was pregnant. She was visibly upset and was crying but said, "I'm so happy". Someone told me that when she saw it in the theater, people laughed at this moment. As a woman who is struggling with infertility herself, this makes me furious because it shows a real lack of understanding of the general public on this issue.
    In our culture, people ignore this topic altogether. Our society seems to glorify motherhood and has several conventions which are cruel to those who cannot participate. I don't think individual people are cruel, but society at large certainly is. The previously mentioned letter-reading scene in "Julie and Julia" shows how socially unacceptable it is to be anything other than ecstatic over the news of another's pregnancy. Julia couldn't even admit her sadness to her husband who adored her and knew better. If a woman shows any signs of being upset over someone else getting pregnant, then she is accused of being selfish and she should "just get over it". This is similar to going up to a blind man and telling him that you just had lasik surgery and can see crystal clearly without glasses. If this man were not jumping for joy over your good fortune, would you accuse him of being selfish? Of course not! Yet this is what we do to infertile women all the time.
   Another cruel convention is the baby shower. A pregnant woman has the one thing I want most in the entire world. And society says I have to throw her a party and give her presents? Really? Would you ask a homeless man to throw a house-warming party for someone he barely knows who just bought a house? Don't get me wrong. I have no problem buying baby shower presents for friends of mine. I'm talking about people I barely know like my mother's church friends or mere acquaintances. I know the reasoning behind the baby shower is that you have to financially help out the new mother who has to buy all this stuff for her baby. However, women who do fertility treatments pay WAY more than new mothers do. IVF treatments and adoption can range from $30,000 to $70,000 and up. (And that's before the baby even gets here!) I'm sure even all-designer baby merchandise wouldn't cost that much.
   Another injustice is in our medical system. Most health plans do not cover fertility treatments. This is unfair because some of us have paid health insurance all of our working lives, and have made very few claims. The ONE thing I need my insurance to cover is something that they won't cover. If disease is defined as "something in the body isn't functioning properly", then infertility is a disease. It is not an elective procedure. I did not "elect" to go through fertility treatments. It's just what I have to do to have my body function the way it should in the first place. Health insurance REALLY should cover this!
    The truth is that I want a child so badly I can hardly breathe. People think that everything's "okay" with me now that I have decided to adopt, but the fact of the matter is that I will NEVER be okay with this! It's just not okay at all! I wish I could flip a switch in my brain and not care about this anymore. Or be like the women who just don't want children. My life would be so much easier if I were like them. I especially wish that people had an ounce of sensitivity when talking about their children, grandchildren, pregnant daughters and friends, etc. Every time I hear about someone else becoming pregnant, it's like having salt rubbed in the ever-present wound in my heart. I get it. You're excited. I'm not saying you shouldn't be and I'm not saying you shouldn't ever mention it. Just please be aware that someone in the room may be dying a little inside every time you bring it up.

Mozart and Roses and Snow! Oh My!

2010-02-12T10:50:00.000-06:00

    Life is good. I heard someone say once, "sometimes, life serves you up a slice of awesome!" A great concert last night and a snow day today make me feel like Christmas has come again!
   Recently, I have been feeling a little blah. I didn't really know what was wrong, but now I think it had to do with the fact that I took a break from my instrument over Christmas. I've discovered that I'm happiest when I'm preparing for a performance of some kind. (Either me or my students.) Anyway, I've decided I must pursue more playing opportunities. (There's no reason why I haven't been other than my own laziness.)
     Last night, I played in an all Mozart concert. What fun! It was tiring and required complete focus for the entire time, but it was thoroughly enjoyable. At the dress rehearsal, our personnel manager gave single red roses to all the ladies. This tiny little thing made me happy. I was surprised at myself because I normally do not like to receive flowers. (I once had a boyfriend who gave me flowers every time he did something wrong. Now, I usually get suspicious when someone gives me flowers.) I guess it makes a difference when you know the motivation is pure.
   Our guest soloist was Spencer Myer and he was amazing! He was the Gold Medalist of the 2008 New Orleans International Piano Competition. You know, sometimes people don't deserve the awards they win and sometimes they absolutely do and you can't say enough good things about them. Myer falls into the second category. His Mozart Piano Concert No. 25 in C was effortless and fluid. Much attention was paid to detail and every nuance was there. It was fun to watch him because he was completely in the moment. I had a teacher once say, "It's not enough to play the music, you must BE the music!" This guy WAS the music.
   After the concert, I didn't have to try and force myself to go to sleep at a decent hour because our employer had given us Friday off due to possible snow! Now, this doesn't sound like a big deal but it is very unusual to get snow where I live. I didn't think it was actually going to snow, but I was thrilled to have a day off. When I got up this morning, it was snowing!! It really did feel like begin given a gift!

Daisy's Lentil Soup

2010-02-10T17:00:00.000-06:00

Here’s a recipe from my mother-in-law, Daisy. She makes the best lentil soup in the world. The last time I visited her, I got her to tell me how she does it.

1. Rinse a 16 oz. packet of lentils (red or green). Boil in pot with water to cover.
2. Add whatever vegetables you have in the house. (carrots,
peppers, and onions work well.)
3. Add a stock cube. (Or prepared stock, if you have it.)
4. Add 1/2 grated potato. (To “mellow” it out.)
5. Simmer for 1 hour.

Try it. Crazy simple, but surprisingly delicious!

UPDATE: A friend of mine posted a recipe for Maple Braised Bacon that I think would be perfect in this. I haven't tried it (yet), but I imagine it would be super scrumptious!

Old (but fun) Stories: The Good Wife of the Megalo Monastery

2010-02-08T17:00:00.000-06:00

This past Christmas, when we we visiting my mother-in-law, my husband and I took a little trip to the Meteora. (without her!) At the Megalo Monastery, I was blessed by a Greek monk! Well, not really. Here's how it went down:

My husband (I'll call him Ted) was buying a book in the shop of the Megalo Monastery in the Meteora. The monk that sold it looked at me, pointed, and said something in Greek to Ted. Apparently, he said "She isn't Greek, is she?" (Well duh! I can't think of many people who look less Greek than I do.) He then said some more stuff in Greek, followed by "gut frau" (good wife). Maybe he thought I was German? Anyway, he thought I was a good wife because I was "so quiet and docile". Yeah. He doesn't know me well does he? I plan to get lots of mileadge out of that "good wife" comment! ;-)

Mo' Show!

2010-02-07T16:53:00.000-06:00

The orchestra in which I perform is preparing for the upcoming all-Mozart (Mo) concert. We are playing Symphony no. 31, Symphony no. 41 (The Jupiter), and Piano Concerto in C (KV 503). It's going to be a great concert!

     We musicians are going to really earn our paychecks on this one! It takes a lot of focus to play Mozart. He is one of those composers who writes deceptively difficult music. At first glance, it looks pretty simple and straight forward. It's only when you start to play it that you realize it doesn't always lie well on the instrument, or the tempo is at that awkward stage where it's too fast to single tongue but too slow to double tongue. (Darn you, Mo! I know you did that on purpose.) Also, Mozart's music is very transparently orchestrated. You feel very exposed (naked even) when playing his music. Your technique has to be very clean. Almost every musician I know is uncomfortable playing a Mozart piece.  ...and we have 3 of them to do on this concert! I am super lucky to be playing with musicians who can handle it. (No pun intended. ;-)) Even though (or maybe because) it's uncomfortable music to play, it's also very fun music to play. The last movement of the Jupiter is exhilarating! (...and will leave the audience asking for Mo'!)

    Don't get me wrong. Mozart is an amazing composer, no doubt about it! I just happen to have a bit of an irreverent view of good 'ol Mo. Back in the day, he was touted as the child prodigy genius. Certainly, he had a huge amount of talent. However, I always wonder how much his daddy helped him out.  Leopold Mozart was a musician himself, and he knew a thing or two about show biz. He promoted his son and made a pretty penny for himself in the process. When they say little Wolfi wrote his first symphony at age 5, I wonder how much he came up with himself. Surely, Daddy Leo had some suggestions for his son, don't you think? Also, Leopold was an okay composer. He knew that his pieces wouldn't be impressive if he said he wrote them. Now, what if he said his 5-year-old son wrote them? Suddenly, a decent piece would become crazy impressive! (I'm not saying that's what he did, but come on. It sure is possible, isn't it?)

     Mozart also knew how to please an audience himself. Today, our conductor read an excerpt of a letter which Mo wrote to his father about Symphony 31. He says that he put in a section in the exposition which he KNEW would please the audience. In fact, he knew they'd like it so much that he brought it back a second time later in the piece. We don't think about Mozart (the worshipped diety of Classical music) as being an audience-pleaser, but there you are. Mo knew how to put on a show too!

Reed Fury

2010-02-06T18:01:00.000-06:00

Maybe my knives aren't the problem. Maybe I just spontaneously forgot how to make reeds! Can that happen? Seriously, the reeds I make lately are all terrible and I end up playing on an old reed that's so worn out, I feel like it's going to dissolve in my mouth.

Recently, a very good friend of mine sent me a fibercane reed to try. I've never tried one so I was curious. She told me it was terrible, but I didn't really believe it could be all that bad. Plus, I really wanted it to work because fibercane reeds never wear out and you can play them forever. (An oboist's dream!) But alas, it sounded more like a bagpipe than an oboe when I tried it. I would never play this reed for anything, even to practice. Although, I may play it if I ever need to strip wallpaper. Actually, we need to repaint the outside of our house this summer and I might be able to to save us some money if I just stand outside and play this reed instead of renting a sand-blaster!

I'm so mad because I spent all afternoon trying to get a good reed for rehearsal tomorrow. I ended up destroying 2 of them. One was just really flat no matter how much I clipped it, and the other one sounded just like the fibercane reed! I started two more, but they are not playable yet. Maybe they'll turn into something tomorrow, but I'm SO done with scraping reeds today.

I was thinking that maybe the color of the reed thread is the problem. I've mainly been using greens and blues lately. So, I tied on two blanks using hot pink thread. Valentine's Day is coming up so maybe these little sweeties will make me fall in love with reeds again. Fingers crossed! (...or reeds crossed!)

Get Help from the Fly Lady

2010-02-05T17:00:00.000-06:00

     Are you like me and never seem to have time to get your house organized? Have large areas of your home been usurped by the clutter monster? Then, get thee to flylady.com, pronto! This site has a lot of good house-cleaning tips for busy people. It's a little touchy-feely, but I'm finding it super helpful and filled with fun acronyms. Apparently, I suffer from CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome). I would love to be spontaneous and invite people over on the spur of the moment, but clutter-shame prevents me from doing this. Here comes Fly Lady to save the day!

     Her main premise is to do a little bit every day. For instance, set the timer for 5 minutes and clean as much as you can of your "hot spot" during that time. This makes it all seem more possible. I've heard this technique referred to as "chunking", meaning you break down huge tasks into little chunks. I heard a story once about a guy in India who said he could swallow an entire airplane. No one believed him, but he tore it down and swallowed the whole thing bolt by bolt (over the course of several months, of course.) I doubt that this story is true, but it illustrates the point. I have been doing the 5 minute thing for a week now and I already notice a difference. Also, this technique can be applied to exercise. I moved my mini-trampoline into my living room and I jump on it whenever I walk by. This way, little bits of exercise add up over time when I otherwise wouldn't be doing it at all.

Here are some other things from the site that I found helpful:

1. Polish your sink every day. Yeah, I know you're probably thinking "who cares if my sink is shiny? Out of all the things in my house, that's the one I care least about!" I know I did. Even though I was skeptical, I did try it and it did make a difference. If clutter spreads, then the reverse is true too. A clean, shiny sink gives you a burst of energy and makes you feel more positive about the whole cleaning thing. I found that I'm more likely to keep up with the dishes if the sink is clean. You can modify her advice to suit your needs. She recommends doing this first thing in the morning, however I do it in the afternoon as soon as I get home. This works way better for me because of my schedule.

2. Declutter Technique   - I usually accumulate a whole pile of things to take to the Goodwill store that sits around forever and clutters up a corner of my kitchen. Her idea of just putting one box in your car as soon as it's full is genius! I did this, and then drove past the Goodwill store on my way home from work. Now, my kitchen corner is clutter free! When I get another box-full, I'll store it in my car and drop it off the next time I drive near there.

3. Swish and swipe routine - My bathroom has never been cleaner with so little effort!

4. Set out your clothes at night (for the next day). I took this one step further and now spend a few minutes on a Sunday evening picking out the 5 outfits I'll wear for the week. Then, I hang in them in order in my closet. No more rushing around in a panic in the mornings!

I love it when things are clean and I LOVE empty surfaces. I'm so much more likely to feel creative and do something productive if there's a pristine, table or counter to do it on. It's like a blank canvas! I know that I feel stressy and stifled creatively when I'm in a house where every table top is packed with various knick-knacks. If you want something new in your life, you must make room for it!

I hope you find Fly Lady as helpful as I did.

Crazy Greek Mother-in-Law

2010-02-04T18:49:00.000-06:00

My Greek mother-in-law, Daisy, has some odd ideas. She can be very entertaining so I thought I'd post some of my favorite stories about her. Here are some of her crazy ideas about nutrition.

Health Advice:
According to her, you shouldn't eat watermelon because it is "pure sugar". Also, the most fattening thing you can have on the planet is a potato. However, cake isn't fattening because it is light and full of air. She refuses to throw away bread since she lived through the German occupation. Bread is like gold! Even if it is moldy. She says that eating moldy bread is actually good for you because all mold is like Penicillin and will kill whatever germs are in your body. ! We have to sneak and throw the moldy bread away and buy more when she isn't looking. They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Daisy lives dangerously.

The Butter Cookie Diet:
My husband and I were going to visit a friend of the family, and we were going to bring her a tsoureki. Daisy said, "But she is too fat! Don't bring her a tsoureki! She shouldn't eat such things." (Blatant honesty can be so entertaining.) So, we thought, "okay--let's bring her some fruit". But Daisy shot that down as well. "Fruit is full of sugar! Fat people should not eat too much of it." So we asked her what we should bring then. What do you think? Danish butter-cookies! Daisy says they're small so they can't have be too fattening. So--eat up the Danish butter cookies and avoid bread and fruit! (I'm SO liking this diet!)

Protein:
Daisy's nutritional tip of the day: chicken has no protein in it, beef does! - One day (while we were visiting), Daisy said she was cooking beef patties for us because "we had had no protein since we had gotten there". When I replied that we had been eating chicken, she said, "but chicken doesn't have protein! All of the protein goes into their eggs!" So there you have it. All the protein from chickens go into their eggs. I guess you have to eat eggs to get chicken protein. By this logic, I guess beef does have protein because cows don't lay eggs! You gotta love the reasoning here.

Chicken vs. Duck (spoiler alert: chicken wins!)

2010-02-02T20:21:00.000-06:00

     Since I've started learning to cook for real, I have been learning how to roast things. Well, birds mainly. Okay, just chicken and duck but for me this is a big deal. Until recently, I have only ever had pre-roasted "lazy chickens" which I bought at the grocery store. About a month ago, I roasted my first chicken ever, following Julia Child's recipe to the letter. Chicken that you roast yourself is so much better than the ones you buy! It's like the difference between canned biscuits and real homemade ones.   Also, there is something very satisfying about making real, slow food from scratch. You enjoy it way more because of the effort and suspense involved.

     Last week, I tried roasting a duck. I've never eaten duck except for the crispy Peking duck in Chinese restaurants. Anyway, Julia's "Duck a l'Orange" looked good so I thought I'd go for it. Disappointing! (Not the recipe's fault.) I thought duck would be tastier and more exotic and exciting than just plain 'ol chicken. Nope. It was tough and grissely, with a lot of cartilage. My husband and I had to work to get it off the bone and we really did feel like we were gnawing on a bit of animal. (Apologies to my vegetarian friends!) The sauce, however, was good. My advice: Eat chicken and don't bother eating duck unless it's the crispy duck in a Chinese restaurant. They've figured it out. ---or maybe I just had a tough duck?

   Since the roast chicken had come out so good before, I decided to roast one again tonight for supper. I know roasting chicken seems like such a frumpy, house-wifey thing to do, but I find it an extremely relaxing and satisfying process. First of all, you get to chop up some veggies. I love chopping veggies since I got my 8" Henkel chef's knife. (I must have a thing about knives or something. First, reed knives, now this.) There's something really fun about chopping veggies with an ergonomically designed, extremely sharp knife while listening to music. It's very therapeutic! Second of all, you have to hover around the chicken as it roasts because you have to baste it every 10 minutes. During these intervals, I get various little tasks done that I normally tell myself I'm too busy to do. (empty the dishwasher, organize the junk drawer, scrub the sink, balance checkbook, etc.) How useful! You can get your house organized without even thinking about it, and in the end, you're rewarded with pure deliciousness.

Story told by Chris Botti

2010-01-31T12:30:00.000-06:00

Okay, so while I have my own views on Chris Botti's choice of style and material, he does seem like a really nice guy. Between pieces at a recent concert, he told stories to the audience. Here is one that I really liked:

Chris and his band were hired to play at a wedding in Italy. He rearranged his tour in order to be able to do this. (Nice, right?) The father-of-the-bride was very grateful and told him, "You are my daughter's second favorite musician!" Second favorite? "Yeah, Sting is her favorite, but guess which one we could afford?" Anyway, Chris had a good sense of humor about this and traveled to a small town in Italy where, ironically enough, Sting owns a villa! Since Chris is friends with Sting, he and his band were invited to have spaghetti with Sting at his villa before the wedding. Sting asked, "So, Chris, why are you all the way out here for only 18 hours?" Chris related the story to Sting. Upon hearing this, Sting asked, "well, can I come with you and sing at the wedding?" Wow! So, they devised this whole set-up where Chris plays a few tunes, then introduces his "special guest artist". Sting walks out and sings to the couple. How awesome is that?! Anyway, when they do this, the couple thinks that Chris brought a Sting impersonator. It took some convincing for them to realize that is was, indeed, the real Sting! (After which, they totally freak out.)

Now, I don't know if this story is true, but it's a lovely story and it makes me happy so I choose to believe it. At the end of the concert, Chris said that we were his favorite orchestra and that he had invited us all to go on tour with him. This wasn't true, he just said it to be nice. But Chris, if you're reading this, I'd like to take you up on your offer........but only if we get to go to Italy and eat pasta with Sting!

Why I Think Jay Leno is a Thoroughly Decent Human Being

2010-01-29T23:09:00.000-06:00

Yeah, you read that right. Poor Jay is being made a scapegoat for some pretty shabbily-behaving network execs. In the whole Tonight Show fiasco, Conan came out looking like the angelic victim and Jay came out looking like the evil bully. I don't think either one of these portrayals is accurate.

In our society, it seems that we are conditioned to pull for the underdog. We love the newcomer, trying to move up and prove himself. We don't like the old established guy even if he is good at his job. It's like everyone lately is vicariously living out this drama where we completely identify with the guy being pushed out, without really seeing who is doing the pushing.

Here are some reasons why I think Jay does not deserve our wrath:

1. He feels responsible for keeping the 80 (correction: 175) people working for him employed. I think this is honorable. If he quits, they lose their jobs.

2. He doesn't even live off of the money he makes from his TV shows. He puts it all into a foundation and makes donations to charity. He makes his own money by doing stand-up comedy all over the country.

3. He went and did 2 free shows for the car workers in Michigan when things were going south for them. He never publicized this, and when a guest on his show mentioned it he quickly shut them down and moved on.

4. He is a hard worker. In addition to his show (every week night!) he travels all around the country doing stand-up comedy. This is how he tests the material for his show. (The jokes he tells on TV must appeal to people all across the nation.)

5. His only "crime" is that he took a job that another guy wanted. How many of us have ever turned down a job we were offered simply because someone else wanted it?

6. He never wanted to leave the Tonight Show in the first place. After being forced out, he negotiated his own show. Who can blame him? Then, he was canceled. Then, he was offered his old job back (the one he didn't want to leave in the first place!), and he accepted it. Again, who can blame him? Do you think they would've kept Conan on if he had refused? No. Conan was out anyway. They would've just gotten someone else.

7. Conan is going to be okay. He got a $45 million walk-away deal, and you know he's going to get another show somewhere. He's not exactly going to be living in a cardboard box anytime soon.

8. Jay has been totally open and has even agreed to be interviewed on the subject. Conan has not.

     I know it's cool to be on "Team Conan" these days, but the truth of the matter is that Conan just wasn't good enough. If the ratings had been good, then he'd still be hosting the Tonight Show. It's as simple as that. Also, he could have kept his show, but he refused to go back to the later time. Who's the diva in this scenario?
     Please don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to say that what went down was okay. Conan DID get screwed. Absolutely. But the real villain here is NBC. Let's leave Jay alone.

Knife Fight

2010-01-28T19:13:00.000-06:00

     It's not what you're thinking. By "knife fight", I'm referring to the ongoing battle I've been having with my reed-making knife lately. As an oboist, I must make my own reeds. In order to do this, I must have a good, sharp knife. This is the secret to good reeds. (...and also to good cooking, apparently.)
     We oboists are known for being obsessive about our reeds. Our reputation is probably deserved, however no one but another oboist can understand the angst one goes through over this. It's like having your entire reputation depend on the whims of mother nature. We can't control what the cane is going to do on any given day. (It's a natural substance, after all.) You might be flat, sound like a duck, have some notes crack, not be able to get low notes out, or the reed might shrivel up, giving you a really wimpy sound. If you have a bad reed day, and you have a really important performance, there's little you can do to prevent certain embarrassment. For this reason, we are constantly adjusting our reeds and making new ones with the sharpest of sharp knives. If your knife is not sharp, you will shred the tip of the reed, rendering it useless.
     Now that you know a bit about the importance of good reeds (and sharp knives), you can imagine my state of mind when I haven't been able to get a good edge on my knife, and therefore have not been able to improve my reed situation. Every now and then, it is necessary to re-grind the knife. This is because the metal gets slightly worn away to the thicker part of the knife. Anyway, I decided to regrind the knife in order to get a new, sharper, edge on it. This takes hours because you have to wear away a layer of metal.  A diamond stone must be used for this. By the way, did I mention that I HATE doing this? It's tedious, hurts your hands, and get metal shavings all over the place. If you cut yourself, which I did, the metal shavings get in the cut. I always worry that this might cause health problems in the long run. Is it bad to have steel in your blood stream?
     I have been fighting with my knife all week.  After re-grinding it, the knife is less sharp than before! I feel the burr of the knife with my finger, but when I try to scrape a reed, it's like a butter knife. I tried to re-grind it 3 times. I do have a new Landwell knife (expensive but good), but it takes even longer to put an edge on a brand new knife. Plus, the way things have been going, I feel like I might destroy it and it costs too much to do that. Recently, a colleague of mine (who makes reeds professionally) said, "Why are you doing this to yourself? Just get a cheap knife that's been pre-sharpened". (A Weber Vitry-style, for instance)  This is what she does. Genius! If a professional reed-maker can take this shortcut, then so can I! I ordered one last night and cannot wait for it to come in. Hopefully, it will allow me to make reeds in the meantime, while I continue to fight with my knife.

Fellow oboists: Can I hear some love?
Non-oboist friends: Sorry for geeking out on you here, but it had to be done.

UPDATE:
     I received the Weber knife in the mail three days after I ordered it. (...and I hadn't even paid for fast shipping!) It did indeed come with an edge, so all I had to do was "refresh" the burr and it was good to go. I won't say that I'll forgo my Landwells, but it's nice to have something to fall back on while you grind your knife down. It cuts out some of the pressure. (No pun intended!) I have to say, once you get a good edge on a Landwell, it's hard to beat it. However, this Weber knife got me back on the right track and allowed me to get some reeds going. Another oboe buddy of mine says she uses Chudnow knives. I may try one of those next!

Music

2010-01-27T16:24:00.000-06:00

Mo' Show!
Mozart and Roses and Snow! Oh My!
Reed Fury
Knife Fight

Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Sugar-Free, 30 Minute Meal

2010-01-26T20:42:00.000-06:00

       Since my doctor put me on a gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free diet, people have been asking me, "What's left to eat?" (Also, I'm not supposed to have potatoes or corn.) I will share with you a meal of comfort food which I like to make on a weeknight because it only takes 30 minutes to make. If any of you out there have these crazy diet restrictions like me, I hope this helps you out.

"Fauxtatoes" (Faux mashed potatoes) and Turkey Patties:

    First, cut up a head of cauliflower and boil it in water for about 20 minutes. While it is boiling, take 1 lb. of ground turkey meat and mix it with a finely diced shallot, a chopped clove of garlic, and one rib of celery. (The shallot and celery provide moisture and prevent the turkey patty from getting too dry.) Also, mix in some gluten-free Tamari, about 1 tsp. (note: Tamari is a specially-brewed soy sauce. You can use regular gluten-free soy sauce, but it won't have the same awesome flavor. The Tamari does two things: First, it adds salt (and a delicious flavor). Second, it turns the patties a lovely brown color which makes them look much more appetizing.) Shape turkey mixture into 4 patties and fry in some olive oil. Cover the pan and cook for about 20 minutes or so, until cooked through. I always put a little more Tamari on top as they're cooking.
       By this time, the cauliflower should be cooked. Strain the cauliflower pieces, and put them in a food processor (using the puree blade). Add a dash of olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Puree until smooth. Add some chopped green onion if you like. (I do.) If you want to get fancy, you could add some soy cheese and/or turkey bacon. I won't lie and say that it tastes exactly like mashed potatoes, but you can fool yourself into feeling like you're eating them. My husband, who hates cauliflower, loves this recipe!
Serve a scoop of fauxtatoes alongside a turkey patty. Serves 4.

Football

2010-01-25T16:19:00.000-06:00

     The title of this post is probably confusing to those who know me. There is little in this world I care less about than football. However, it's on my mind lately because I have heard people talking about it all day.
   Why do we love football so much? When I was younger, I was struck by how Neanderthalistic it was for men to bash their heads together over a ball. Gathering in a stadium to watch the event is disturbingly similar to the Roman Gladiator fights. The area of sports in general seems to be the only place where it is socially acceptable for grown men (and women) to behave like children. For example, fighting, crying, etc. over a GAME! Really, in what other context can you yell at an inanimate object (TV) repeatedly and not have people think you're crazy?
     I suppose we humans have a need for this sort of thing. I once met a sociology major who had a hypothesis that when football teams from the south play football teams from the north, it's an emotional rehashing of the Civil War. Fascinating if you think about it. And why do people feel as if they personally have won when the team that they support has won? As Bill Maher says, "You didn't win anything! Some guys, who would HATE you if they knew you, won."
      One of my favorite lines from the TV show "Frasier" is when Niles sarcastically says (about sports), "Oh, you know my day is not complete until I know which spherical object went through which apparatus!" (My thoughts exactly!) If you say you don't like football in my town, you might as well say you're from Mars for the way people treat you. I suspect that a lot of people don't really like it as much as they say they do. I once took a self-improvement course which pointed out that what we want most in life is to look good. It's not nice to think that this is our main motivation, but it deserves to be considered. Anyway, I suspect that when a lot of people proudly proclaim their love of the event, that's their way of trying to look good. By that same token however, I guess my way of looking good is to say I don't like it. Hmmmm.
     I have to say though, that I did see the value of football recently when I was on an airplane. There were 6 guys sitting near me who happily talked about football for the entire flight. These guys had never met each other, but they had an instant connection. Football provided hours of conversation (and a way of connecting) to people who might otherwise have nothing to say to each other. Now that's one reason to get into football! Should I give in, buy a football jersey, host a superbowl party, and shout myself silly at the TV? On second thought, maybe I'll just go and watch a movie instead.

The Terrible Turnover

2010-01-24T18:17:00.000-06:00

     So many cooking blogs and shows tell you things to do in order to create amazing dishes. Well, I'm going to tell you a something NOT to do, which I discovered today when I attempted to make a spinach turnover. This is a pastry filled with spinach, mushrooms, and ham; which has a beautiful, lattice crust and looks amazing.......when Julia Child does it.
     I am on a gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free diet so I thought that I would substitute rice flour for wheat flour, soy milk for cream, and agave syrup for sugar. Good plan, right? I figured Julia would approve because she said once on her cooking program, "Instead of cream, you can use milk if you're on one of those hideous diets!" Yes, Julia, I am on a hideous diet so I thought it would be okay to use whatever substitutions I needed.
     Actually, the rice flour-soy milk combo worked great for the bechamel sauce. It was just as creamy and delicious as the real thing. (I thought.) As it turns out however, rice flour is TERRIBLE for pastry! Apparently, the gluten in wheat flour is what gives it it's elasticity and lets you roll it out and shape it. My rice-flour dough crumbled when I tried to roll it out. Not to be outdone, I gathered the crumbled dough, added hot water, and squished it together. This made a sticky mess which wouldn't roll out. So, I stuck it in the freezer for 10 minutes. It kinda worked. I rolled it out onto the cookie sheet, added the filling, and folded it over. (With the help of wax paper.) Then, I took the leftover crumbly bits and fashioned them into a sort of lattice crust. The result, as you can see, was rather ugly. Unfortunately, the crust did not taste good either. It was too crumbly, and stuck the roof of your mouth. The filling was good though. Since I had so much filling left over, I made a weird casserole by slicing a potato, then layering the spinach, ham, sauteed mushrooms, and bechamel sauce into a casserole dish. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Or, as in this case, when life gives you ugly, terrible turnovers, make weird casserole!

Kindred Spirit

2010-01-24T11:19:00.000-06:00

     I met a kindred spirit at Whole Foods. Have you ever met someone and instantly liked them over something as mundane as a baked good? Well, it happened to me yesterday.
   I was buying groceries (as you do) and decided to get a cannoli. Bad me! I am starting my crazy diet again for health reasons, and thought I should commemorate the end of yummy, bad things for a while. It was necessary. Anyway, there was an older man in line behind me. "What? They have cannolis here? I haven't had one of those since I left Sicily!" (I assume he lived there when he was younger.) "Yeah", I said, "I had to get it. Although, I'm sure it won't be as good as the ones you remember." The man shook his head and replied, "Actually, they're probably better. Anytime Sicilians immigrate to America, they improve whatever traditional food they have! They add more cream and chocolate and things. I'm going to get one. Where are they?" He asked if I would watch his groceries while he ran off to get a new-and-improved Whole Foods cannoli. While he was gone, I noticed that his shopping cart was full of different kinds of olives from the olive bar, and some bottles of wine. I like this guy!   (In a strictly platonic way, of course.)
     Later, I was thinking about his comment about Sicilians making things better after they immigrate. I suppose this is true of any nationality. I know it's true with Greek salads. My half-Greek husband raved about the first gyro salad he had in this country. "There would never be nearly as much meat and cheese on a salad in Greece!" Also, my Aunt was disappointed in the pizza when she traveled to Italy, saying that we have better pizza here. I guess there's some truth to this. That's what we do. We take what's there and make it bigger and better, with more cheese and bacon! (More on this later, because there are SO many tasty delights that are better in the country of origin, and I do not want you to think I am a xenophobe.)

The list, No. 1 = Learning to Cook

2010-01-23T18:07:00.000-06:00

So what did I mean by that whole "over the moon" thing? Well, I'm not about to do anything rash like quit my job and move somewhere exotic. I guess I'm looking to do more of a "hop in the moon's general direction". I used to have a list of things I would do before I was 30. (ahem) 30 has come and gone so instead of turning it into a list of things to do by the time I'm 40, here's what I'm thinking: Do as many things as I can this year, the year of the Tiger.
According to the Chinese Zodiac (as I understand it), the year takes on the characteristics of whatever animal is associated with it. The Tiger is said to be brave, courageous, and a fiery fighter. Tigers are also protectors and natural leaders. It goes up against authority and speaks out about wrongs in society, and willingly puts up objections. It's time for us to embrace our tigerness this year.

So, back to my list....
There are so many things I've been wanting to do that I've put on the back burner. It's time to finally get to it! One thing I've been doing lately, is finally learning how to cook. For real! So far, what I've been calling "cooking" is really just assembling ready-made ingredients. I always wanted to take a cooking class, but who has time? I was absolutely taken with the movie Julie and Julia when I recently saw it on a plane trip. Who knew that Julia Child's cookbook was really more like a textbook on cooking than just another cookbook? So, I bought Mastering the Art of French Cooking. My plan is to do one recipe from each category. For instance, I did the famous Beef Bourguignon which is a stew. Okay, stew = done. Next, I roasted my first chicken ever. (No, I never had roasted a chicken before. I don't even know how to cook simple things like that!) My goal is to learn the basics. I will not be like Julie and do every recipe. (Especially not the aspics!) And I absolutely draw the line at organ meats! Ick!

Over the Moon

2010-01-23T16:46:00.000-06:00

This is it. I've decided. I've got to find a way to jump over the moon. In his song from Rent (probably the best musical ever), Jonathan Larsen writes "...only thing to do is jump over the moon..." I think he means that in order to live fully, you must do something outrageous. Out of your comfort zone. Bravely.
Recently, I was made aware of a perfect example of this. I was watching the live NY Metropolitan Opera feed of Carmen at my local cinema. The guy who played Escamillo (Teddy Tahu Rhodes) had an unexpected Met debut that day. He was an understudy from New Zealand who had fully expected to go in and view the opera from the green room that day, as he had been doing. At 10:00 am however, he received a phone call informing him that the guy who had been playing Escamillo was sick and that he was on in 3 hours! What I found most interesting is that until the age of 32, Teddy had been an accountant in New Zealand. Apparently, he decided one day to up and quit his job, move to New York, and become and opera singer! Teddy jumped over the moon.
This is what I feel the need to do lately. Not become an opera singer, but to do something out of my comfort zone. To shake it up a bit and get out of my rut. Surely, I'm not the only one who feels the this way, right?