The Young Performers

I don't have video yet, but I do have photos of Christian and James's recent stage appearances.  First is James as Banquo's son Fleance in Verdi's Macbeth, performed by the Taconic Opera company.  This was a very classy production: the sets and costumes were fantastic, and the chorus was at its best.  The soloists all were terrific, especially Lady Macbeth.  James nailed his 8-bar solo every time and makes just about the best-looking medieval page ever. 

The Haldane School's performances of Tim Kelly's "The Face on the Barroom Floor" were this weekend.  It was hard to believe that this was a high school production.  Charlotte Palmer-Lane, who has done costume design for many BBC productions and who did this past season's costumes for the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, was an absolute wizard.  All the kids looked splendid. 

The set was great, too: the perfect backdrop to a zany Western farce.  Martha Mechalakos's direction was superb, and her husband Jim playing a genius ad-lib piano soundtrack was a deft professional touch.  I was so proud of Christian (who played the romantic lead, Jack "Toulouse" Goodheart) and all his friends; they were hilarious. 

I'll throw in a bonus for you all: Patrick performed the ring ceremony for the daughter of some friends recently.  What a stunning, tasteful reception, and the photography, done by Sheena Jibson, is gorgeous.

 There you have them: my handsome, talented menfolk.  I'm a lucky gal indeed.

Sweet Potato Casserole

It's almost Thanksgiving!  Tonight is our church's annual Thanksgiving Dinner; we usually have about 200 people in attendance for turkey, gravy, and all the fixings galore.  In addition to the turkey and stuffing I'm contributing tonight, I'm bringing a sweet potato casserole.

I'm not a marshmallow fan (unless we're talking s'mores or homemade marshmallows).  So when I make sweet potatoes, fluffy white goo is not an option.  Here's what I do instead. 

Choose Garnet variety sweet potatoes, if you have an option, because they have the most beautiful deep orange flesh.  Don't pick the skinny ones; go for the fatter, turnip-shaped tubers. 

4 sweet potatoes (about 3-4 pounds)

1 20-ounce can crushed pineapple in its own juice

1 large apple (Ida Red or Empire)

1 cup pecan halves

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Scrub the sweet potatoes and prick them several times each with a fork.  Put them on a cookie sheet and bake them for 1 hour. 

Drain the pineapple very well and give the juice to your favorite child to drink.  Peel and chop the apple into half-inch chunks.  Chop the pecans roughly.  When the sweet potatoes are baked, cut them in quarters and let them cool for about ten minutes.  Scoop the flesh out of the skins and save the skins for the compost pile.

Put the sweet potato flesh, pineapple, apple chunks, and pecans in the mixer and mix well.  Stir the salt and sugar into the cream, then add the cream to the sweet potatoes and mix well.  Taste the mixture and add more salt and/or sugar if you feel the need.  Spread the sweet potatoes in a 9x13" pan and bake for a half hour.  Serves 12.

Armistice Day

Photo courtesy PaulHP, Flickr

"The Dead"

These hearts were woven of human joys and cares,
   Washed marvellously with sorrow, swift to mirth.
The years had given them kindness. Dawn was theirs,
   And sunset, and the colours of the earth.
These had seen movement, and heard music; known
   Slumber and waking; loved; gone proudly friended;
Felt the quick stir of wonder; sat alone;
   Touched flowers and furs and cheeks. All this is ended.

There are waters blown by changing winds to laughter
And lit by the rich skies, all day. And after,
   Frost, with a gesture, stays the waves that dance
And wandering loveliness. He leaves a white
   Unbroken glory, a gathered radiance,
A width, a shining peace, under the night.

--Rupert Brooke, 1914

Queen for a Day

Today is my birthday, fair subjects. Let there be much merry-making!

Collective Nouns

Logo-geek that I am, I love collective nouns.  My mother owns a terrific book of them called An Exaltation of Larks. The internet has no shortage of lists of them; here's a terrific compilation, some of which were coined or collected by Dame Julia Barnes in 1486. 

A murder of crows (one of the more famous collective nouns) recently appeared in an episode of Flash Forward.  But all this is merely a preamble to David Malki !'s latest genius, which I graciously reproduce for you below.  In the interest of full FTC disclosure, David Malki ! (see here for the explanation for the interesting "spelling" of his name) in no way compensates me for my faithful fandom.