The Swell Season at Keller Auditorium UPDATE! Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Last night i got to see the Swell Season at the Keller Auditorium. The Swell Season consists of Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova from the movie Once. I bought my ticket (one ticket) at the presale because i knew i couldnt miss this opportunity. They were the real deal and for crying out loud they won an Oscar! I never lost that energy and after a sleepless night the big day arrived! I ate a quick bite and drove down an hour early…yes. I also didnt even hesitate and parked in the rockstar garage for $6., such luxury!

The crowd was great and so totally diverse. there were full length gowns and elderly people in wheelchairs and parents with their kids. it was fun people watching.

I got a t shirt which said very simply on the back

“hope at the end of the day connects us all, no matter how different we are”

The opening band consisted of 2 gentlemen Rónán Ó Snodaigh and Liam Ó Maonlaí from hothouse flowers. These two were Hansard’s “mentors” when he was a street musician and having them open, and join the rest of his band off and on throughout the night, was like having his teachers perform with him. And they were fantastic, adding a very traditional Irish bend to the whole thing, in both what songs they performed and what instruments they played. They were also 2 of the most humble men who really loved their music more then anything else. It was so casual. Liam ended up sitting in the audience right in front of me with a couple of friends and every once in awhile he would pop up and run onto the stage and start playing with the band.

Along with the other magnificent musicians in his band, Glen and Marketa invited a guy named Joseph they had met on a walk earlier that day to come on stage and sing. He looked to be about 16 and belted out Brandi You’re a Fine Girl with full jam back up of the band and a standing ovation. It was just that kind of night.

i could yammer on and on about all the details. Each song began with a story. Some of the stories were longer then the songs and each had the bite of bittersweet humor. There is one story i will relay here. He said This is a song about when you hit the ball and you hope it makes it across the yard but this one goes across the yard over the fence into the next town and past the river and you are thinking WOW did i really hit that ball and at the same time you think, i want my ball back. Then they played their most famous oscar winning song Falling Slowly. I thought what a lovely way to describe what did really become their wonder ball. They had us clapping, whistling, whispering…i should add none of us really had it spot on but no one seemed to care. Glen just thought that made it all the better. He told us, remember, You are always right! we sounded like a cage full of demented canaries at one point. Marketa remained the quiet sharp focused and gentle woman she has presented to us and all the musicians finished with Into the Mystic. It made me a little teary and i dont think i was alone.
I found a copy of this online. So FUN!

Oh and he really does play his well-loved guitar with the huge worn hole in it .

I didnt want the night to end.

Turn Your Oven On! Monday, April 28, 2008

As soon as you get home from work, turn your oven on at 450 degrees! This will get you in the right mindset to cook yourself and/ or your family a lovely meal. And, as she thoughtfully added, you can always turn it off again if you decide to make pasta. The simple act of entering your kitchen and turning on your oven is the first step even when you dont have a clue what to make. This was just one bit of wisdom i heard while attending a book event for Lynne Rossetto Kasper and her producer Sally Swift. I have always been a huge fan of The Splendid Table and on countless occasions her show got me back to Portland on Sunday evenings after a visit north. I always arrived starving and wanting to make some magnificent meal of which i had none of the right ingredients. I have the fondest memories of her Truffle show. The way she told us to grate a fresh truffle over a bowl of buttered pasta still makes me salivate. As she said, This is like food porn! As my friend Jenna commented after Lynne told us to make a pastry shell with just a little white wine and add dollops of fresh chevre and your big NW berries, drizzle the top with honey you have dredged in rosemary, she needed a cigarette.

We are lovers of food! We are foodies not only because we love food and we love the processes of selecting the recipes and picking our ingredients and breaking out the bowls and pans and wooden spoons and spices and and and, we are passionate about our food most importantly because we can be. We have the luxury of good ingredients at our fingertips. Not everyone in this country of ours, or even our own city, has the opportunity to be so lucky.

i came away from her event with a bit of humility and gratitude, a gorgeous book full of irreplaceable bits of wisdom and recipes and a HUGE grin. The last thing i heard her say as i was walking out the door was, Don’t worry about a table cloth on this table, i am the type of person who will stand up and take it with me. AMEN SISTER!

She is coming back in August!!

A Shot in the Sun Monday, April 28, 2008

I was pulling out of my driveway when the sunshine hit this shot perfectly and it caught my eyeball. So i pulled back in and whipped out my camera for a quick pic. I love Spring!

Olivia Louise Friday, April 25, 2008

Life can be pretty overwhelming. just the day to day functioning we do sometimes is plenty to keep us busy…and then something makes us stop and take pause. I like to think that i stop and take pause at the smallest of details but realistically I know i miss millions of details each day.

Then something really huge happens that forces us to stop and pause. today for me that was my friend erica’s new baby. Now Erica and i have known each other since we were 3 years old. together we have experienced death, sorrow, disappointment, marriage, love, happiness, and now birth. That is a lot! I mean some people never experience half of this stuff by the time they are 50. But we are blessed with the ups and the downs and now Erica and her husband Ryan are blessed with a new daughter; Welcome to the world Olivia. I hope all of your dreams come true and you discover a detail that no one has ever witnessed before. You will always be my niece because your mama will always be my sister.

isnt she gorgeous!!

and this was the cutie blanket i made for Olivia

Chick Update 18 days old today! Friday, April 25, 2008

These little puff balls are getting so big! i swear if i had a camera in there 24/7 you would witness growth and new feathers each hour. They are just amazing and busy. The girls definitely react to my voice now and strain their little necks to hear me better and feed from my hand but they do NOT like to be held. You would think i was pulling out their tail feathers with a pair of tweezers or something. Of course because i am me, i have to hold them and love them and they have to just deal with that.

I need to do a weigh in…i need someone to come help me so they dont fly off!

look at those sturdy legs and they look smart too don’t they?!!

Oh and here is a quick shot of my sweet robin. I am going to name her Janet after my mother. She seems to possess the same grace and determination. She is just lovely and she sits on her nest and rests her chin on the edge of her nest like she is here. i didnt want to get too close and disrupt her, those little blue eggs need her after all!

The Coop Part III Friday, April 25, 2008

The Coop is making progress! Not between rain storms but during, mind you, we got the run framed out and the roof on! it looks so great i can barely handle it. Now i can work on the coop in any weather and stay dry. We also got the sides of the coop shingled and some of the tin roof cut. I think the girls will be pleased as punch with their new digs! it has to beat the tin box they are currently residing in!

I just have some fun pictures to share of our processes.

framed the run!

putting on the roof

errrr, not quite level but after all it is just a coop! yeah right! i decided to shingle crooked to compensate for that

Thank god he was a gymnast

putting on some shingles.

You Sew Girl Monday, April 21, 2008

my friend Kaatje gave me a book a couple years back called You Grow Girl. It is my adorable garden girl bible. The book is chalked full of really useful gardening information as well as some super cute craft projects for the gardener in all of us. This weekend I finally used that gasp $14 a yard fabric i just had to buy and made my You Grow Girl Garden Apron.

I cant wait until it stops sleeting and i can get out in my handy apron and garden!

too short to be a skirt…for most of us anyway, too long to be a belt…must be a You Grow Girl Gardening Apron!

Chalkboard Paper Has Arrived! Monday, April 21, 2008

A few days ago my friend Stacey sent me a link to chalkboard paper and i blogged about it…of course.

I ordered the sheets and they arrived today! I put it on the kitchen cupboard where i usually leave myself notes, lists and recipes and it looks GREAT! AND it really works! The little kit comes with 2 sheets and 2 pieces of white chalk. i love it already. I need to go buy some colored chalk to i can get fancy. Oh and the company Wallies who makes this fabulous product also makes McCall Patterns and my box was stuffed with old pattern tissues…i have a pattern to make pants now too.

Indian Food Monday, April 21, 2008

After my Panir class i got an itch to make Indian food. I have never cooked real Indian food before and have only eaten it a handful of times. My best memory was from a little dive in Verdun Quebec that my cousins took me to. The thought of that food still makes me salivate.

I tried that great recipe with Paneer, peas, mint and tomatos that Patrick gave me and then i tried a cauliflower korma dish.  As i was toasting spices and dicing chilis and making powders and pastes and sauces, i thought, this is so far outside my realm i honestly have no idea what i am doing…but i continued on and hoped to god i was making enough food.

Long story short, the food was incredible! The korma was my absolute favorite and i cant wait to make that again and again. The combinations of spices and pastes were so complex and fresh, i can still taste them. I also think they are permanently seared into my nose from getting to close to the roasting pans. That smoke has to have some magical healing powers to it.

I think this Korma with the tang of the mint tomato sauce on the Paneer was a perfect combination.

Here is my Korma recipe. I hope you enjoy it as much as i do. I also recommend that you make all your own Masalas. The aromas from the spices is too good to pass up

Cauliflower Korma

PREPARATION AND COOKING TIME: 50-60 minutes YIELD: enough for 4-6 persons

1 cup blanched almonds
1 tablespoon anise seeds
one 10cm cinnamon stick
6 cloves
4 cardamom pods
5 small green chilies, seeded
one 1.5cm cube peeled fresh ginger
1 cup yogurt
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons sugar
4 tablespoons ghee or oil
1 large firm cauliflower, about 1kg, cut into 16 large pieces

Dry-roast the almonds on a tray in a moderate oven for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and allow them to cool. Grind the almonds to a fine powder in a spice mill or coffee grinder. Set the powder aside.

Set a heavy frying pan over low to moderate heat. When the pan is hot, sprinkle in the aniseed, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom, and dry roast the spices for 3-5 minutes or until they darken a few shades and give off a strong aroma. Grind the spices to a fine powder in a spice mill or coffee grinder. Set aside.

Place the green chilies and ginger in a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Process until finely chopped. Add the yogurt, the salt, sugar, the powdered almonds and 1 cup cold water. Process to a smooth, saucy paste. Add the ground, roasted spices. Process a little more and then remove the paste and set it aside.

Heat the ghee in a heavy 5-litre/quart, preferably non-stick, saucepan over moderate heat. Drop in the cauliflower pieces and stir-fry them for 5 minutes or until they soak up the ghee and become golden on their extremities.

Pour in the paste and stir to mix. Increase the heat, bring the sauce to the boil, then reduce the heat to very low. You may need to add more water as the sauce thickens. Cook for 25-30 minutes, partly covered, stirring often or until the sauce thickens to the desired consistency and the cauliflower is tender but not falling apart. Serve hot.

Who Sent the Memo That I Was Snow White? Saturday, April 19, 2008

So I have never been a huge bird lover. They kind of scare me with all that flapping and pecking and shrieking. But for some reason i have become one with the birds. Beside the four chickies i have in my laundry room, i have a robin who has decided to build her nest right outside my bedroom window in the rose bushes which just delights me to no end really.

And then today, as i am cleaning the house, i opened all the doors and windows to let in some fresh air…i heard chirping but i didnt really pay attention. i have so many birds in my yard i feel like i live in a bird reserve half this time anyway. Plus most of the time now i constantly hallucinate about the chirpings of my chicks and i am trying to stop waking up in the middle of the night to race to their rescue. So i ignored it until I found not one but TWO bright red finches hanging out in my living room. I am not kidding. they werent trying to get out, no no,  they were napping!

So i popped a screen and with my trusty nerves of steel, i picked them up and attempted to send them outside…that is when they started to flap and shriek and freak out, making me flap and shriek and freak out. which also made the chicks flap and shriek and …well you get the idea. And where were my lusty cats through all of this…napping of course. Only Mr Big witnessed my heroic bird rescues, I think he wants to be a red breasted finch now.

I am a girl who loves this kind of thing but it is like eating fish, i need to start slowly and work my way up to the wild ones.