my performance at dance rehearsal today:

wordless wednesday

what's for breakfast?

The ever-amiable Paz over at The Cooking Adventures of Chef Paz asked me what I eat for breakfast. Seems she's looking for something quick and yummy to have for breakfast, to go along with the healthful meals she already eats for lunch and dinner. I have to say, she's one up on me with the healthful lunch & dinner meals, but I do have some favorite healthy breakfasts to share.

So, I turn to you, dear readers, for help! What sorts of healthful breakfasts do you eat and enjoy? We're not necessarily talking low cholesterol here, although those recommendations are welcome. Just nourishing, nutritious, not overly greasy breakfasts. What do you love? Paz will be checking back to hear what you have to say, so please leave a comment!

As for me, the quickest and easiest healthy breakfast is to have a big bowlful (oh, all right, sometimes two) of Shredded Spoonfuls from Barbara's Bakery, with Hood's Simply Smart 0% fat milk ... you can't call it skim milk, though, because they've waved a magic wand and made it taste like 1%. (They say on the label 2%, but IMNSHO it really tastes like 1%, which is good enough for me!) Shredded Spoonfuls are addicting. They're organic, crunchy, and sweetened with molasses. No need to add sugar. I picked them out because I saw someone else choose them from a long line of organic cereals at our local cooperative food store. I was always curious about organic cereals, but the ones I'd tried either had lousy texture or didn't taste all that good. These, I'm here to tell ya, taste GOOD!

Another favorite is plain yogurt sweetened with sugar or Splenda, topped with melon chunks and my favorite crunchy granola from our local diner, Lou's. I keep intending to try making granola myself; one of these days I'll do it!

And the third favorite is instant oatmeal topped with vanilla yogurt, toasted walnuts, and fruit topping, which I've blogged about here.

One final breakfast that is simple and quick, but does involve some actual cooking, is baked eggs. You grease a ramekin or two, drop a couple of tablespoons of cream or milk in, then an egg, and then some shredded cheese. Pop them into a 450 degree oven for ten minutes while you go get yourself ready for the day, come back, drop some toast in the toaster, and have a nice hot breakfast. The full recipe is here. Some people would say a breakfast that includes eggs, dairy, and cheese doesn't qualify as healthy, but I'm not one of them. If you're having salad for lunch and pasta for dinner, you need some protein and dairy items, in my opinion ... but there I go again with my NSHOs!

So, how about you? What's your favorite healthy breakfast?

theater: the good & the bad (no ugly so far!)

So! Having auditioned and been accepted into the ensemble for a local community theatre group's presentation of Singin In The Rain was really, really exciting. I've sat in the theater since forever, wishing I were up there and not in my seat.

The ensemble means you're in all the crowd scenes (of which there are quite a few), you sing with the chorus, and you sing and (gulp) dance in the big finale. I've been going to music rehearsals and dance rehearsals and doing my best to impress everyone with my upbeat personality and hard work. I even shelled out for some pretty fabulous tap shoes so I can do my Gene Kelly best! And everyone has been very nice. Especially the lovely and talented Ilsa, who spent an hour with me in her garage tapping, and helped me pick out my fabulous shoes.

But even better, last night the stage manager, Jen, called to tell me that they've given me a line to speak! One line, four words, but hey! It's more than I expected!

But wait, there's more! There's also a scene where the Gene Kelly character is telling about his high-class upbringing and training for the theatre, while in the background the TRUE story is shown. One of the truths is that he and the Donald O'Connor character played burlesque shows doing a very slapstick clown routine. And I'm going to play one of the clowns! Rubber chickens, exploding cigars, etc ... what fun!

Ok, that's the good. Here's the bad: my dancing. Pee-yoo! I'm a stinker! I haven't a clue about this tap stuff! The rehearsals have been very discouraging. Everyone else seems to be picking it up but me. Of course, many of them have tapped before. I'm going to have to ask for individual help .. and/or stand in the back & remove the taps from my shoes so I don't make tap noises at the wrong times. I hope I don't have to do that!

But, never fear, I will persevere. There's still weeks left to practice, and there's nothing like a little fear to make you work hard. People talk about "muscle memory" like, it seems like a lot to learn, but with enough practice your muscles just start to "remember" what to do, and then it's just a matter of tuning up around the edges. I sure hope so!

Back step, ball change, back step, ball change, flap, flap, step, ball change. Back step, ball change, back step ... gotta go practice, see ya later!

soft eyes

I love the soft expression on Simba's face in this picture. We were outside on a sunny day earlier this spring, before the bugs had gotten lively and while the garden was just greening up. You can see the daffodils in the front corner of the pic. I brought my camera out to record the state of various plants in the garden, but the little guy was so sweet-looking that I just couldn't resist taking dozens of shots till I got this one, and a few others that will show up for my Weekend Dog Blogging entries over the next weeks.

I'm afraid my posts have gotten long on pictures and short on words of late. There's so much going on, and I miss having time to sit down and think about what I'd like to share with you each day. There are two major events going on that are taking my time: preparing for the Ruby on Rails course friend Brian and I are arranging, and rehearsing for the play. The course will be over by the end of this month, and the play will be over mid-July. Till then, I'll have precious little time to blog properly. But I hope you'll keep stopping by to see the little mementoes of my days that I do manage to share, and I look forward to a fuller dialogue with you at some later date!


This is my submission for Sweetnick's Weekend Dog Blogging. If you love dogs, you will enjoy checking out her blog Sunday night to see the lineup of much-loved canines in all their doggie glory!

wildlife report

Wednesday morning I was surprised to see a small turkey in the high grass not ten feet off my back deck. Turkeys in the yard aren't uncommon, since we keep bird feeders, but they're usually under the bird feeders, vacuuming up sunflower seeds, shells & all.

So I was surprised to see it up the hill, pecking away at the tips of things. Of course I carefully backed away from the window and got my camera. When I returned, it spotted me and started making its way away, but it was moving slowly and I got quite a few good shots.

If you ignore the scrawny neck and head, turkeys are really beautiful birds. Their feathers sport a shiny iridescence that's surprising to people who may have only seen them in pictures, and there are striking patterns where their wings meet their back.

Later, after it had gotten out of sight, I let Simba out to chase a squirrel. Soon I heard an alarmed turkey sounding off up the hill a bit, but it didn't sound like Simba was chasing him (much loud flapping of very large wings would have signalled that) so I didn't immediately call him to come back. But then I heard some rustling in the grass. I had never heard that exact sound before, so I looked out the window and saw ... baby turkeys! Making their way to mama. She was sounding off to say, "Come to me! Danger!"

I immediately began calling Simba loudly to come in. He's never shown much interest in birds other than to flush them out of his way en route to more interesting four-legged prey, but these little guys couldn't fly away and I wasn't sure what he would do. Fortunately, he came running out of the woods from another direction, just happy to know that coming when called gets him a special treat. Whew!
Later, when I looked at the photos, I wondered if the little birds would show up in any of them. Sure enough! Here's the same picture from above, enlarged. They're a little hard to spot, but I found two little ones! Awwww! Click the photo to see it larger. There's a better picture of a baby turkey here.

(It'll be interesting to see what sorts of hits I get from search engines, with a title like "wildlife!")

directions to big fatty's in hartford, vermont

If you're looking for directions to Big Fatty's, please see my updated post here.

And then, not to do a bait & switch or anything, I invite you to come see what else I'm blogging about here!

wordless wednesday31-May-06

wordless wednesday

This is my submission for Sweetnick's Weekend Dog Blogging. If you love dogs, you will enjoy checking out her blog Sunday night to see the lineup of much-loved canines in all their doggie glory!

who, me?

Oh, man. What have I gotten myself into?

the best bbq recipe ever

1. Buy incredible ribs at Big Fatty's. Cole slaw and corn bread optional.
2. Spread your best newspapers in a thick layer over your table.
3. Put a roll of paper towels in the middle of the table.
4. Invite friends who make their own home-brew dark beer.
5. Roll up your sleeves and dig in.
6. When you can't eat another bite, eat one anyway.
   
7. When done, roll up the newspapers and discard.
8. Repeat at least once a month.

Love you guys!

snoozus interruptus

"I think I'll take a nice, long afternoon nap. Aaaahhh. Love the smell of that foot. So fuzzy. Warm on the nose. Soothing. Puts me right to ... sleep ... zzzzz"

"Wha .. what ... what was that? A flash? Can't a guy get a little shuteye around here without a flash goin' off in his face?"

"Ah ... better .... zzzzzzzz....."

[Shhh ... This is my submission for Sweetnick's Weekend Dog Blogging. If you love dogs, you will enjoy checking out her blog Sunday night to see the lineup of much-loved canines in all their doggie glory!]

wordless wednesday

scaredy-squirrel

Simba's done such a good job of psyching out all the squirrels in the neighborhood; they're terrified of him. When we were away a lot over the holidays, the yard started to swarm with them, but within a week of our return, we were back to just one or two at a time. He's the most effective squirrel deterrent I've seen, short of going through the routine I went through one pre-Simba year, using a hav-a-hart trap to collect over twenty of them and take them to a nearby mountainside to release them.

In the process, I learned how very not smart chipmunks are. I love my chipmunks, but they kept getting in the trap to eat the seeds, getting caught, freaking out, being released, and then going right back in there. Doh.

You've got to give the squirrels some credit, though. It doesn't worry them to see Simba sitting by the back door watching them. What gives them the heebie-jeebies is when they see me moving around inside. That's when there's a chance the door will come flying open and the dog will come flying out, and they're smart enough to have figured that out!

This big fat grey took off for the tree when I hove into view, even though Simba was nowhere in sight. Then she cautiously watched me as I left to get my camera and came back. I snapped lots of shots of her in various poses as she cocked her head, twitched her tail, and generally kept an anxious eye on me. Eventually she headed up the tree and away, but it was really fun to get to see her "closeup," courtesy of the zoom lens on the camera!

Gingered Lemon Bars

Saturday I went to a read-through of Singin In The Rain, which is being presented by North Country Community Theatre in July. The weekend before, I screwed up my courage and did an audition, and landed a role in the chorus. It's a great place to be for a first theater experience! And as it turns out, the chorus is on stage for more than half the scenes, which I'm told is unusual for a musical. Yippee!

[By the way, the audition process wasn't nearly as scary as you might think. The people were incredibly kind, delighted to have a newcomer since they often see the same faces at all the auditions. I had already set their expectations fairly low, saying I don't dance at all and don't sing much, and I had set my own expectations very low, thinking even if they didn't want me, I would have had the experience. So when they asked me to stay for a dance audition (what a joke!) and read some lines (terrific fun!), I was just really flattered. ]

Anyway, the first step evidently is to read through the play with everyone sitting in a circle, so we all could be acquainted with the scenes and who is in which. (Wow! We have some really talented people playing the leads!) The afternoon started with a potluck lunch so we could all get acquainted. I'd been wanting to try Elise's Gingered Lemon Bars, originally posted on her Simply Recipes website. I love lemon bars. Truth be told, I love lemon desserts of all kinds! Lemon mousse, lemon meringue pie, lemon cake, it's all good.

I have a recipe for lemon bars that I've used for years, but Elise's recipe has crystallized ginger and ground ginger in the crust. Doesn't that sound yummy? I thought the peppery bite might complement the sweet-sourness of the filling beautifully. And it did! I'm happy to report that by the end of the read-through there were very few bars left, and one fellow stopped by to declare them "addictive."

A successful debut!

I won't post the recipe here, since it's really Elise's recipe, but you can scoot over to her website to get it. Here are some comments, though, of some things I've learned over the years and one new thing I learned with this recipe. I hope you try it yourself someday, and if you do, please drop me a comment to tell me how they turned out!

Elise's Gingered Lemon Bars

The first step was to chop the crystallized ginger. You may know that crystallized ginger, also known as candied ginger, consists of strips of ginger root cooked in sugar syrup and coated with sugar. I can buy it relatively cheaply from the bulk department of our local cooperative food store; you might also find it in the produce section or the baking section of your supermarket. If you find it somewhere else, will you let me know so I can update this little guide?

Crystallized ginger has a very peppery taste and a sticky kind of a gummy-worm texture, which doesn't lend itself well to being chopped. After a bit of experimentation, I learned that freezing the ginger before chopping it makes it eminently choppable. Even for the half-cup needed, though, I found that I had to refreeze the second half, because it softened up incredibly fast. You might want to take half out of the freezer and chop it, and then the second half.

I used my beloved chopper from Pampered Chef (comes apart completely, wash it in the dishwasher, great for taking out any frustrations you might have on the cutting board!) but obviously you could use whatever you like to chop with.

Next, prepare the crust per Elise's directions. As you can see from this photo, the chunks of ginger make the crust look deliciously freckled. Isn't it wonderful that you can pat a crust into a pan without having to make it look perfectly flat? The filling will cover any evidence of your lack of perfectionism. Perfect. :) This photo was taken when the crust had just barely begun to brown, which is when you want to take it out of the oven.

Although the recipe doesn't comment on this, I have learned that it is very important to have your filling ready to pour into the crust while the crust is still sizzling hot. This will cause the filling to begin to cook from the bottom and prevent it from soaking into the crust and making it soggy. Just mix it up as soon as you put the crust in the oven, and then give it a quick swish when you take the crust out of the oven, and pour it right in. I love hearing the sizzle when the liquid hits that hot crust. Cooking is a delight for ALL the senses!

Another tip that probably doesn't need saying is that fresh lemon juice is much better than the refrigerated kind like ReaLemon. And it's really important to add the zest. I've skipped that at times when I didn't have any handy, and the bars just don't have the same punch without it.

Last fall, I bought a whole bag of lemons anticipating making lemonade, but for some reason never made it. So I zested all the lemons and froze the zest in those tiny little jars that you get jam samples in, the one-ounce size. Then I juiced the lemons, froze the juice in ice cube trays, popped the lemon cubes out of the trays and put them in freezer zip-lock bags. If I poured them carefully so the cubes were less than full, each cube was just about 1 tablespoon. I've been using the cubes slowly, all winter long. I don't know about you, but I can't tell the difference between this frozen juice and fresh!

I even used one in a cooking class recently, and at the end of the class when the students filled out their feedback forms, one student said the most useful thing she learned was that you can freeze lemon juice in cubes. You just never know what simple little trick is going to strike someone as most helpful. It makes it fun to throw out lots of information.

There's nothing prettier than the bright yellow color of lemon filling, is there?

So, you pour it into the crust and get a nice sizzle, give it a quick swirl to make sure it's spread evenly across the crust, and pop it into the oven. 12-15 minutes later, you have beautiful lemon bars.

This is my entry in the Sugar-High Friday: Ginger event, hosted at Once Upon A Feast this month. Entries are due noon the 28th, so if you have a yummy ginger dessert, blog it and send Ruth your link to be included in the roundup!