Tag: theatre

Ah summer! Cheers to Brunch.

I’ve relaxed into my first full week of summer. I’ve done an equal share of cleaning, reading, and organizing so far. Oh and a little napping tossed in. I’ve had lunch with a few friends, celebrated two birthdays, had a pedicure, and started each day with yoga.

One major accomplishment was hosting a brunch last weekend.  We have a group of theatre friends and colleagues that we like to get together with to talk about all things theatre and beyond. I like the idea of people sitting around our large kitchen table having interesting conversations about the world. All I needed to do was pick easy yet delicious recipes that I could put together the night before and in the morning. I didn’t want to be in the kitchen while guests were arriving or at the table. Sometimes I seek out recipes online but this time I went straight to a a cookbook that I love from The Cottage in La Jolla, CA. I’ve shared this cookbook before in a post about the amazing Buttermilk Coffee Cake (recipe included) and another post about Blueberry Muffins (recipe also included).  If you love brunch this is the perfect cookbook for you.

I made the coffee cake, Carmel Brunch, an egg dish, and their roasted potatoes and I pre-prepped the egg dish the night before so I had one less thing to mix up in the morning. I put my husband in charge of one dish for the gathering (he is the theatre person in our house after all + he loves jicama!) and I found that recipe, Jicama, Avocado, and Mango Salad in Friendsgiving by Alexandra Shytsman.

Everything turned out well and people ate heartily around the table. One friend brought warm french bread with Wild Blueberry Jam and warm blueberry muffins as well. One friend tried his first Bloody Mary ever and that was a hit. I do love brunch and this was a perfect way to bring friends together.  If you need me to share any of the recipes I used please let me know. Enjoy! Salud!
Peaceful Reading…

Cooking keeps me sane

Recently I’ve made some amazing recipes that I should share. It’s been a wild last couple of days. My brother visited last week. Inauguration. My husband’s performance of Rocky Horror opened on Friday night. And our son came back from school for the weekend to see last night’s show.

I’m much like my grandmother in that I cook for people when they come to my home although I was caught a little unprepared when my brother and his family hung out with us last Sunday morning. I didn’t let the same thing happen for this morning’s brunch. The show was very late last night so Tristan and Heather slept in which was perfect. It gave me the time to do some morning yoga and then prepare food without a rush. Heather’s vegan and my son follows suit when they are together. I found several new recipes that I was happy to try.

My initial inspiration came from this post, 30 Vegan Breakfast Recipes, by Sam at It doesn’t taste like chicken.  Breakfast is one of our favorite meals and it was great to have so many wonderful choices all in one spot. There are several more on this list that I plan to try like the breakfast sandwich but for today’s breakfast I picked the biscuits and gravy and potato hash. I served those two with grits, grapes, sliced oranges, and fresh orange juice. I’m terrible about snapping pictures of my plated food; trust me that the food looked delicious.

{Source}

Simple Vegan Breakfast Hash-This recipe was very filled with flavor. Peeling the potatoes and cutting them into bite-sized chunks took some time but they roasted to such hot perfection that I was pulling the crusty parts right off the pan. Mine had a more prominent mixture of sweet potato!

{Minimalist Baker}

Best Damn Vegan Biscuits- I thought I’d get ahead of the game by preparing these last night before I went to bed.  I must have been overtired as I mixed up the measurements for baking soda and baking powder.  They baked up beautifully and it was lucky that I tried one hot out of the oven. They were H-O-R-R-I-B-L-E!  Really heavy flavor of soda. So I redid the recipe this morning and they turned out just right. This is a very easy recipe to follow with minimal ingredients.

{Minimalist Baker}

If you’re going to have biscuits then you should probably whip up some vegan gravy. I’ve made vegetarian gravy many times but had no clue how to make a vegan recipe that would taste good. Again I turned to Dana’s recipe at the Minimalist Baker.  Her gravy is packed full of mushrooms giving it a hearty quality. I even wonder if I could pass this recipe off on my husband instead of that jarred gravy he sometimes uses in a pinch. Give it a try: Vegan Breakfast Gravy

I didn’t get to march yesterday but was there in spirit. I did manage to slip in some reading; My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante and Pax by Sara Pennypacker, both interesting stories of friendship.

I host book club on Monday night and I’ve made another great recipe for that: Sweet Potato Coconut Curry Soup, a very easy and flavorful recipe. I love soups and this one has a nice kick to it. 
Happy Week! February is truly just around the corner. We are at the halfway mark for winter. One step closer to spring is what I think.

Peaceful Reading…

You're A Good Man Charlie Brown

We have a busy weekend.  My husband’s play is up and this scene is one of my favorites.  So free and happy, celebrating the joy of Christmas.  Groovy Girl has been Woodstock in two of the four shows and we have family in town enjoying the play.

I did finish two books today; The History of Love by Nicole Krauss-what a beautiful story-I could have started all over again and Lucky Cap by Patrick Jennings, which has been Groovy Girl’s story time book but her late nights with rehearsals have delayed our reading so this morning we cuddled in the big bed and finished the last 8 pages.  Love those mornings.  Then I got up and grocery shopped and cleaned house.  My book club meets here Monday night and we are skyping author Anne Ylvisaker, the author of Little Klein, Dear Papa and The Luck of the Buttons.  I’m very excited about this event…I just need to make it through this weekend’s performances.

 Have a very love-filled weekend.

Peaceful Reading…

Weekend Cooking; Happy the weekend is over (did I say that?!) with recipe

Little Women; The Musical was the play this
 weekend but keep reading for what I cooked…

It’s been a busy week with a full rehearsal schedule and opening night was Friday.  I went to all three shows as I don’t know when I’ll have the pleasure to watch Teenage Boy on stage; he is an excellent actor but dislikes being in plays.

I cooked this week.  I think the zucchini pizza from last Sunday night kick started me off creatively and the rest of the week followed through.

I made this potato soup from Lynn’s Cooking Adventures-I found it using the scientific method of googling “creamy potato soup” and then picking the 1 of 5 recipes that matched what I was dreaming of eating.  How many of you use this simple technique to find a recipe?

Someone at school left two Real Simple magazines in the lounge and I paged through one of them while waiting for my lunch to heat in the microwave.  I found this Broccoli-Quinoa Pilaf recipe-I did not make the cod but used it two days in a row for my lunch.  Heidi at 101 Cookbooks has lots of recipes listed for this power grain.  It is one of the grains I purchase from the bulk section of my local organic store, making it always available in my pantry.

I have more chickens and a turkey coming from Tim, my local farmer/meat man so I decided to make one of the last chickens from my freezer.  While I made this recipe I pondered just how I came to cook meat in my kitchen, which for years, had been vegetarian-but that’s a whole ‘nother post.  I wanted to make a BBQ chicken from homemade sauce someone gave me when I found this recipe instead as I paged through Not Your Mother’s Casseroles by Faith Durand and found Pot Chicken and Potatoes Baked in Cinnamon-Saffron Milk.   Her recipe is adapted from a Jamie Oliver recipe.

To finish the weekend off we had a potluck at church today and I wanted to bring a side dish-this one is from Durand’s casserole book.  The pan was cleaned out before I made it through the food line-I was toward the end after cleaning up the nursery-other people told me it was good though.  One grandmother even said it was her grandson’s favorite dish.  A success at the church potluck does not always happen for me!!

I had to hunt down the chef’s of two dishes that I loved (one of the great things about a potluck-trying new dishes)-one was a heavenly caramel brownie dessert served in a trifle bowl and the other was a 3-squash bake, this one was made by a friend and she shared some of the leftovers with me (hello, Monday lunch!) but the guy who made that amazing caramel dish did not share the leftover layer at the bottom.  I’m just sure he took that dish home and licked it clean!  I’ve asked for both recipes and will pass them on as I get them.

Luscious Oven Creamed Corn
(110)
casserole dish: 9 x 13-in baking dish
bake time: 45 minutes

2 T. unsalted butter
1 small onion, diced
4 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels (about 26 ozs), thawed
1 tsp salt
1 T. sugar
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 T. all-purpose (unbleached) flour
1/4 cup minced fresh chives
1/2 cup coarse yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 350.  (I never do this step at the beginning to save energy unless I’m baking) Lightly grease the baking dish with nonstick cooking spray or butter.
2. In a large skillet, heat the butter over medium heat.  When it foams, add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.  Stir in the corn and cook just until the corn is hot.  Stir in the sugar, salt, and pepper.
3. Stir in the  milk and cream and bring to a simmer.  Whisk in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens slightly, about 5 minutes.  Remove from the heat and stir in the chives and cornmeal. Spread in the prepared baking dish and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.  Casserole at this point could be covered and refrigerated for up to 24 hours.
4. Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes, or until the top is golden.  Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Click on all the recipe titles to find their links.  Happy cooking!
This post is linked to Weekend Cooking hosted by Candace at Beth Fish Reads.  Click her link to find many delicious food-related posts.

Peaceful Reading…

Don't you luv me? video clip

     My handome husband runs a youth theatre group.  This year they are presenting this play at the Minnesota Fringe Festival this week and next.  Please click and watch the movie so these young actors can see their You Tube numbers go up, up, up!!  The play has a strong message for all teens and adults as well.  It was was written by Linda Daugherty, playwright in residence at the Dallas Children’s Theatre.
If you live in the Minneapolis/St Paul area go support good theatre by attending the Fringe and this group of talented young actors!

Peaceful Reading…