Yeoman of the Guard Shuffles Along

There are many plausible reasons I could give as to why I did not review this operetta earlier this week.

-My wife has been sick all week
-Daylight Savings Time and I always need time to get used to each other.
-I've been working overtime.
-That darn Mercury thing I don't believe in, at all,  was happening.

All of the above are true statements but they are not the reason I did not yet review the operetta. 
The truth is --  I didn't enjoy it.   and I didn't want to say it.

The Good--

Went with great friends and had a lovely brunch beforehand.
The cast, crew and musicians were wonderful as usual.
The singing was top notch.
There was a moment at the end of the first act when everyone was singing and it was so beautiful and overwhelming. An ocean of voices swirling every where and carrying one along with them.

The Bad--

The Operetta itself. I don't know if this is the worst operetta Gilbert and Sullivan ever wrote but I shudder to think that anything coming from them could be worse than this and I hope I never find out. They tried to write a tragedy, they failed. 

I sincerely hope there were no first time Gilbert and Sullivan attendees because it would probably be their last time.

Ah well, let us never speak of it again.

Sprouts of Spring

Vernal Equinox is still days away but over the past few years I have learned some new things about myself and Spring.  A season I didn't pay too much attention to as a child. Perhaps because it was my spring then? For instance I notice that I don't enjoy cold or raw food in the winter. Until suddenly at the end of February I find myself wanting to have sprouts, any kind of sprouts, on and with everything.

I use them as a bed for my fried eggs. I put them on top of stews or plates of cauliflower rice. I don't add them to my yogurt yet...but now that I think about it raita with sprouts added sound great.

I love to think of those sprouts as the physical manifestation of all the "coming out of winter dormancy into spring" sprouts inside and with me. Thinking about the garden, IMAD behind me and Gilbert and Sullivan ahead. Having the drive to write fiction again [almost 10k words this week] The whistle of birds to answer outside. Energy rising in all ways. It's delightful to speak with people and find out what the first whiff of spring is to them. 

Here we all are, in this location anyway, knocking on Spring's door.

33st Annual Playford Ball

March is less than a week old and yet so much has happened. It opened with a festive dinner [Indian food] to celebrate my wife's recent career successes.

Then the next day was the first Saturday of March which meant it was time for the annual Ball.  Although I made it to all of the practices during February the ball seemed to sneak up on me. Saturday found me making a small tiara to go with my outfit as I was waiting my turn to get my hair 'done'.

Why so last minute? I had the crazy idea that perhaps a tiara would be too much with the elaborate necklace I was planning on wearing. I did come to my senses. Passing up an opportunity to wear a tiara is not to be missed. I also wore my hand painted silk chiffon shawl, an item I love but don't wear near enough.

The ball was a lovely affair.  Several of the dances were charming. Highlander's Humour, Black Heath and Night Watch were highlights for me. It was disappointing though that Wakefield Hunt got cut due to running out of time at the venue. The video can give an idea of it's charm but our group does it as a double progression triple minor instead of a static three couple set at a slightly slower pace and it is so amusing.  A fabulous dance.

I hope everyone started March out with pleasure.

Waving back at February

March is here and so am I. I want us to meet and have adventures but first I better bid farewell to February.

February contained yet another brutal cold, my third this winter. So I scaled back, way back. I didn't blog for the entire month.  I learned to nap.  I conserved energy for training at work. I let myself feel sick until I didn't any more. I entered dry dock and bid farewell to a dearly loved space. I eased into the unknown and lay fallow.

I had a delighttful Imbolc and we celebrated IMAD on 2/15. I had a day long artist date on 2/18. I started drawing again for fun. I pondered over choices for the spring. I saw a dear friend perform the lead in Shadowlands. [He is fabulous] February was a great month.

And now, welcome March!

Mid January Freeze

We are in the middle of a cold snap and I find myself wanting to huddle by a hot oven bake everything.

With that as my motivation I finally got around to playing with my recipe for chestnut flour cookies. I call it 'my' recipe because I could not find a grain free version of chestnut cookies anywhere. So I made one up based on an old biscotti recipe I got somewhere, perhaps that Italian cookbook translation...

Chestnut flour is great for grain free baking if you like the taste. This is one of the few flours I do store in the freezer, I find that the flour can go off quickly.

As always there are many ways to tweak this recipe, I know I am not done with it. You may need to adjust the dry ingredients if your eggs are smaller. It's possible to swap the butter out with coconut oil, switch the maple syrup to honey, add nuts or chocolate or stevia to make them sweeter... but please enjoy them however you make them.

Chestnut Biscotti

Mix together

1/4 c soft butter
1/4 c maple syrup
2T almond extract
2 eggs [I used 'jumbo' ones]

Stir in 

1 1/2 c chestnut flour
1/2 c almond flour
1t baking soda
1t salt

Chill the dough if it is too soft for you to handle.
Divide dough in half and make two flattened logs of dough, ten to twelve inches long, on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. 
Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.

Remove dough logs to rack to cool and turn over down to 300.

Fifteen minutes later slice logs up into short slices and lay them down on parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Bake about ten minutes then flip slices over and bake about another ten minutes. 
They should be dry and crunchy. Typical biscotti. 

If needed immediately hide half of them so that the people you live with do not eat them all the first day. Cozy wishes out to all.

2013! It's here.

It's 12th night tonight [starting from Solstice] and Yule is almost over. The holidays have been wonderful and my month long bout of the flu is wrapping up and I couldn't be more delighted.  I am looking forward to all the joys and gentle lessons of the new year and thanking 2012 for it's many sweetnesses.

I have been an 'anti-clutter' person since April of 2002 but it's a cycle like so much in life. Right now I am in high gear sorting and giving/throwing out stuff. It may have been prompted by holiday shopping or perhaps by incoming presents. I am having a blast and feeling so much lighter.

Related;  I decided to do Project 333 officially for January - March of this year. This has made my closet so wide open and spacious, I sometimes open the door to gaze in it. I am at 27 pieces but I did not count my snow boots or some of my necessary winter weather accessories. I do not have them by choice after all. There may be something in the laundry that I want to add, so we'll see where I end up for this three month period.

I also did not count my jewelry. I cull my accessories often and only have what fits in my hanging organizer but I don't have an interest in limiting myself to 6 pieces for 3 months. Right now it is a joy to decide which piece I want to wear on a given day with a plain top. Although I have had years where I have worn the same stud earrings for months or limited my choice in some other way so that may happen again in the future.

Also this concentrated decluttering is moving many things onto new homes. I may use the spare room as a meditation space this winter. We'll see how it shakes out.

Party like it's 12-21-12

Happy Yule all!!

December thus far as been very full of bronchitis, traveling and planning for the solstice bash that we threw on Friday. You know before the world ended. Except it didn't.  

Good thing really, it gives me more time to enjoy these grain and dairy free Almendrados and hopefully you will as well as soon as you make them.

These are very easy to whip up. Some might say too easy...


Almendrados 

preheat your oven to 350 degrees

Mix together ~

2.5 cups almond flour
1 t cinnamon
4 t lemon zest
1/2 cup honey [add two more tablespoons if you want them sweeter]
1 egg
sprinkle of salt

This forms a soft sticky dough. If needed chill it so that you can handle it with ease.

Form dough into walnut shaped blobs, dust with more cinnamon, and press an almond down in the center of the cookie. This movement will flatten the cookie into a disc.

Bake these on a parchment paper lined baking sheet for 15 minutes or until the edges are golden.
These freeze well and are heavenly with coffee.

makes 2 dozen


Wishing everyone a very happy, peaceful and sweet end to December. xox