Mirrorball

Perennial Favorite

2008-03-18T16:03:00.000-07:00

I received this plant as a thankyou gift ten years ago and every year it comes back to life, despite being frozen in the winters and dried out to dust in the summers. I can't tell you how much it cheers me to see these sweet blossoms pop open in the spring. Inspired me to bake a tasty pineapple cake ( not that I need a whole lot of prodding to do so!)

Pineapple Cinnamon Coffee Cake

Cinnamon Topping:
2/3 cup (175 mL) brown sugar
¾ cup (175 mL) chopped walnuts
1/4 cup (75 mL) all purpose flour
1 tsp (7 mL) ground cinnamon
¼ cup (50 mL) butter or margarine
Cake:
1 (1) 14-oz (398 mL) can crushed pineapple
2 ¼ cups (550 mL) all purpose flour
1 tbsp (15 mL) grated lemon or orange rind
1 ½ tsp (7 mL) baking powder
¾ tsp (3 mL) baking soda
½ tsp (2 mL) salt
½ cup (125 mL) butter or margarine
1 cup (250 mL) sugar
3 (3) eggs
3/4 cup (250 mL) sour cream
¼ cup light cream
1 tsp vanilla

To make cinnamon topping: In small bowl combine brown sugar, walnuts, flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter or margarine until crumbly. Drain pineapple in a sieve, pressing with a spoon on top of fruit to drain excess juice; set pineapple aside. Reserve pineapple juice for another use.
On waxed paper, combine flour, lemon rind, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In medium bowl, cream butter or margarine with sugar until well mixed. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in dry ingredients alternately with sour cream. Spread half the batter in a greased and floured 10-inch (25 cm) square baking pan or 13 x 9-inch (34 x 22 cm) baking pan. Sprinkle half the cinnamon topping over batter. Spread remaining batter on top. Spoon pineapple evenly over batter. Sprinkle with remaining cinnamon topping.
Bake in a 350º F (180º C) oven until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Serve warm.
Makes about 12 servings

More treats for the grey days

2008-02-08T10:04:00.000-08:00

Cream Cheese Coffeecake

Cake batter:

2 1/2 cups Flour
3/4 cup Sugar
½ cup butter
3/4 cup Sour cream
1/2 teaspoons Baking powder
1 Egg
1/2 teaspoons Baking soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Vanilla

Cream filling:

1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese
¼ cup sugar
1 tablespoon Lemon juice
1 Egg
1 teaspoon Vanilla

Fruit topping:
1 cup Sliced apples
1/4 cups Sugar
1/4 cups Raisins
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tablespoon Lemon juice
1 cup Reserved crumbs
1/2 cups Chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 F.In a large bowl, combine flour and sugar; cut
in butter using a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Remove 1 cup for topping. To the remaining crumb mixture, add baking
powder, soda, salt, sour cream, egg and vanilla; blend well. Spread batter
over the bottom and 2" up the side of a greased and floured 9" springform
pan (batter should be 1/4" thick on sides).
For cream filling, in a small
bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice and egg; blend well and pour
over the batter in the pan. To make apple filling, mix all apple
ingredients together and carefully spoon over the cream cheese filling. In
a small bowl, combine reserved crumb mixture with the nuts and sprinkle
over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes or until cream cheese
filling is set and crust is a deep golden brown. Cool 15 minutes then
remove sides of pan. Refrigerate when cool. Sigh. My jeans are shrinking.

Cures for the February Blahs

2008-02-03T20:17:00.000-08:00

On the advice of a writing friend I recently subscribed to a Canadian literary mag called The New Quarterly, and I'm glad I did!The current issue is a treasure box of poetry ( I know! me reading poetry!) stories ( damn good ones) and even articles about the mysteries of story structure. Very enjoyable. If you can't find this mag in your neck of the woods just let me know and I'll send you mine when I'm done with it :)

And that's not all! I'll even include a recipe, this time for eggless scones to have with your cup of tea while reading-

Dreamy Cream Scones

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Use an ungreased baking sheet.
Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a bowl, stirring with a fork to mix well. Still using a fork, stir in the cream and vanilla and mix until the dough holds together in a rough mass (the dough will be quite sticky).If the dough seems very dry, add a bit more cream.

Lightly flour a board and transfer the dough to it. Knead the dough 8 or 9 times. Pat into a rectangle about 7 by 9 inches and cut into about ten scones. Brush tops with a bit of cream and sprinkle with a little sugar.
Bake for about 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown. These are excellent with jam or as shortcakes with fruit and whipped cream.

Birthday Pie

2008-01-29T14:16:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday dear Lyle, happy birthday to yooooo!

Instead of cake, Lyle requested this for dessert. Man, these Scots and their sweet-tooths! If you're in the mood for sugar overload, this is the pie for you!

Crispy Apple Pie

9 inch single pastry crust, unbaked
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup butter
6 Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced
1/4 cup whipping cream

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. Combine brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon in medium bowl and cut in butter til crumbly. Place one third of this mixture in the pie shell. Arrange apple slices evenly over it then sprinkle the remaining sugar-butter mix on top. Press it down a bit with the palm of your hand then carefully pour the whipping cream over it so that it runs in little rivulets into the apples. Bake pie at 425 for 15 minutes then reduce heat to 350 and bake for about another 25 minutes. I like a small scoop of French Vanilla ice cream with my little slice of this pie.

Today's listening pleasure, Led Zeppelin, Houses of the Holy, four and a half stars.

Melange a trois

2008-01-24T09:52:00.000-08:00

I really should write this down before I forget...sometimes I think I'm the prize vegetable in my kitchen! This is what happened...I was feeling hermitlike but wanted to make soup...the carrots and leeks were just hangin' in the crisper so thought they might like to get together, then who shows up but the yam, who had never gotten over a previous relationship with the carrots (but that's another soup).
The result was...

Curried Carrot and Leek Soup

4 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 leeks, white and light green part only, well rinsed and chopped
1 yam, peeled and chopped
bit of butter (or light olive oil)
1 tablespoon curry paste or to taste
3 cups chicken (or vegetable) broth
1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
salt and pepper to taste
touch of light cream or milk, optional

Saute the veg in the butter or oil til slightly soft, stir in curry, broth and thyme. Simmer about 30 minutes then puree to desired smoothness. Salt and pepper if you wish. Swirl in a bit of milk or cream. Ridiculouly simple but to me, simply delish. Hope you enjoy it too!

Today's listening pleasure-
Una voce poco fa: A Portrait of Teresa Berganza , four stars

One for me and one for you

2008-01-22T15:34:00.000-08:00

Speaking of chocolate (of course we were!) the other day I finally found some of my favorite dark chocolate treats, Baci. When I was little we had these at Christmas time and loved them, even though they were horribly stale and dusty tasting after being tucked away on a back shelf of our local Italian grocery from one year to the next. But they were Italian and therefore special and I used to love being able to read the words of wisdom on the little waxed paper inserts in two of the languages there :)

Just a few years ago I tasted for the first time a fresh Bacio. What a revelation! Please have one or two, I insist!

So far, so good

2008-01-20T16:29:00.000-08:00

I've designated 2008 as my year of living wisely and well. I've successfully left a lot of stuff behind me and am movin' on up :)
In the food department, I've been making lots of wonderful winter soups. The latest one , Curried Carrot and Leek, was so simple and soooo good I'm almost embarassed to mention it. I didn't even take a pic! But I'm sure I'll be making it again very soon and will remedy that oversight.
My story writing is going pretty well and you can read me online at
Conte,
http://www.conteonline.net/issue0302/splash.html
and A Fly in Amber, http://aflyinamber.net/?p=57
And some of my very simple but kinda pretty jewellery designs are actually selling locally at a gift shop called LadyBugs. Incredible.I have a little online showcase at Etsy, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5530432
And the sun even came out today! Glorious! I spent most of the afternoon out in the crisp cold air, doing a bit of yard work. Does it get much better than this?

What Day is it?

2007-12-25T21:54:00.000-08:00

My family did the time warp this Christmas and had it on the 23rd. Dinner, gifts, the whole shebang on that nothing day, December 23rd.And it turned out to be sweeter than I ever expected, because today, while the rest of the world tore off wrappings and tried to pry apart the legs of a massive frozen turkey to insert stuffing, I did...nothing. Yep. Nothing. I watched hours of Christmas programming while Lyle slept between night shifts ( no annoying male moaning about my taste in music) and read many chapters of a mindless page-turner while the storm raged outside. No worries here. If the power went out we still have lots of leftovers that I would happily consume cold. I can honestly say I have never had a more pleasant 25th of December. Very Merry Two Days after the 23rd to one and all!

LIve from New York

2007-12-15T15:08:00.001-08:00

This morning I dragged my cold-wracked body out of bed early and made my way to the opera. Not my usual couple of hundred mile trek to the city opera, but a mere half hour drive to our new and lovely local theatre, where, with the finagling of some devoted opera buffs, the live telecasts from the Met are being broadcast right here in little old River City.
It was fabulous. Riveting. Soaring. Gounod's "Romeo et Juliette", featuring the gorgeous presences of Anna Netrebko and Roberto Alagna in the title roles.
If you have the slightest interest or affection for opera and you have live telecasts happening in your town or city, go. Just go.

Seriously, Santa...

2007-12-09T15:17:00.001-08:00

...disregard anything those freaky elves say,I have been nice this year. Here, look, I baked you a cake! (weezie, does anything look familiar in this pic?)
I'm very fond of any foods with spirals or swirls or marbling of any sort...I think there is some kind of metaphysical reason for that but anyway, here's a great recipe for a tasty and pretty cake.

Marbled Banana Cake

1/2 cup butter or margarine, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 ripe, medium bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
½ cup sour cream, ½ cup light cream
1/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted
Preheat oven to 350F and lightly grease a 12-cup bundt pan (12-inch diameter).
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in the eggs one by one, waiting until each has been incorporated to add the next. Beat in vanilla extract and mashed bananas.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add half of the flour mixture to the butter mix and stir to combine. Add in the sour cream and light cream, followed by the remaining flour mixture.
Remove 1 1/2 cups of batter into a small bowl and stir in cocoa powder.
Pour 2/3 of the plain batter into the prepared bundt pan, top with cocoa batter and spoon the rest of the plain batter on top. Run a knife through the batter gently to swirl.
Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean and the top springs back when lightly pressed.
Turn cake out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

Carols by Candlelight

2007-12-07T19:32:00.000-08:00

This is the weekend of the traditional carols concert in my town. My son performed in this event for 13 years, working his way through the apprentice, boys, academy singers and youth choirs. This year he is 600 miles away in the frozen north of BC so I'll be caroling on my own.

I made a delicious spinach dish today. I won't post a photo since it's not the most attractive dish ( no comment please, Mel LOL), but here's the recipe-

Spinach Leek Gratin

One ten ounce package of fresh spinach
1 small leek, white part only
1 cup fine sourdough bread crumbs
3T butter, divided
1 T Dijon mustard with horseradish
1/4 cup light cream
1 cup grated sharp white cheddar
1 tsp plain Dijon
Salt and pepper if you wish

Wilt the spinach in a large pot. Place spinach in a sieve and squeeze out remaining water.
Rinse and chop leek.
In skillet, melt 2T butter, stir in 1 T mustard, then breadcrumbs and heat til golden. Stir in cheese and set aside.
In another pan, saute leek in remaining 1 T butter til tender, then stir in spinach, plain Dijon and cream and cook till thick. Season with salt and pepper if desired.
Turn into a lightly buttered pie plate, sprinkle with crumb mixture and bake in a preheated 375 degree oven about 20 minutes.
An excellent side dish for the carnivores and delicious main dish for all others.

Today's listening pleasure- "The Best of Nina Simone" five stars.

A Possibility of Snow

2007-12-02T18:09:00.000-08:00

I really expected it to rain today. Sigh. A good day for soup.

Curried Broccoli Soup

3 tablespoons butter
1 large leek, white part only
1 clove garlic
1 small onion
1 large potato
1 tablespoon mild curry paste
3 cups broccoli florets and peeled stalks, coarsely chopped
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
¼ cup milk or cream
Salt and pepper to taste

Saute chopped leek, garlic and onion in butter til soft. Add diced potato and curry paste, then stir in broccoli and broth. Simmer about 20 minutes, cool slightly and puree with hand blender. Stir in milk or cream , reheat but do not boil. Add salt and pepper if desired.

Makes 4 generous servings.

Music and Magic

2007-11-28T09:43:00.000-08:00

Recently a couple of my culture buddies and I took a little trip to Vancouver to take in the traditional double scoop of operatic goodness, Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci, as performed by the Vancouver Opera in the big old Queen Elizabeth Theatre. We were downright giddly(think giddy plus giggly, not a pretty sight in women of a certain age) with anticipation, having fallen in love with a recording of "Cav" I had discovered online. Mascagni's music is richly melodic and overwhelmingly beautiful and we were looking forward to being swept away by the added dimension of stage and flesh and blood. Never happened. The leads were capable enough singers, but poor actors and the staging was (literally in parts) empty and boring. It's very difficult to succeed on the many levels required to produce great live opera. We grumbled through the intermission, especially about the tenor :) What was to follow made up for it, in spades.

The familiarity of Pagliacci had dulled our expectations. How wrong we were! This was a fine production, not only in the singing. Dramatically, a compelling reality was created onstage because of the acting ability and chemistry of the players. The great aria, Vesti la Giubba was sung with dignity and pathos as befitting its context. A scene of illicit, dangerous passion between Nedda and Silvio was one of the most sensuous and transcendent moments I've even seen and heard onstage. Magic.

Pre-opera we dined at a nearby restaurant, Da Gino, which I would describe as real Italian, good, simply prepared and perfectly dressed and seasoned food in moderate portions. In the early hours of the next morning, I was sung Happy Birthday by my two buddies ( who just happen to be accomplished singers themselves). What a lovely way to get older!

A quick thanks to all my dear friends who have helped me mark yet another birthday and especially to my many November born pals, past and present. I carry you with me in my heart,always.

Happy Birthday Scorpios

2007-11-04T15:43:00.000-08:00

Here's a tasty treat sure to appeal...to me, anyway

Cocodependent Banana Bread

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup margarine, softened
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
3 bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup lite sour cream
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 9x5 inch loaf pan.
In a large bowl, cream together margarine, sugar and eggs. Stir in bananas and vanilla. Sift in flour, baking soda and cocoa; mix well. Blend in sour cream and chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared pans.
Bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of a loaf comes out clean.

Today's listening pleasure- Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, "Raising Sand", my absolute fave cd of the year, 5 stars!

Thankgiving: the Aftermath

2007-10-11T12:17:00.000-07:00

Canadian Thanksgiving comes early and this year our household was reduced by one third, leaving just the two of us to deal with the Big Bird.

This year’s favorite leftover meal was my adaptation of Mulligatawny Soup, which turned out fabulously well!

Mulligaturkey

2 to 3 cups chopped turkey
6 to 8 cups turkey broth
1 onion, chopped
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 large carrot, peeled and sliced diagonally
2 T butter
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 T mild curry paste (I like Sharwoods)
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup uncooked white rice
Cream or plain yogurt (optional)

Saute the veg in a large soup pot, add curry paste, broth and tomatoes, simmer for 1 hour. Add turkey , salt and pepper and rice and simmer 30 min. Swirl with cream or yogurt if desired.

Today's listening pleasure- Amanda Stoloff Quartet. "Still Life" 4 stars

Spider Season

2007-09-12T22:22:00.000-07:00

This spider's sense is telling her that lean times are coming, despite a strangely summerlike September here on the coast. My yard is festooned with the evidence of her industry, in fact, after a half hour of sitting in the back yard, I discovered that strands of spider silk were attached to my toes.

I think it's safe to say that my respect and admiration for the eight-legged artisan is a one way street! So if you come calling and I don't answer the door, come out back and rescue me. I'll be the large silk wrapped mummy hanging from Miss Spider's web...

Freedom Road

2007-09-05T08:19:00.000-07:00

For me and for my university bound son, the road to freedom is a two lane highway north.

On the first of September there is already a nip in the air that sweeps away the stupor of summer. He is ready for this and I am more ready than I expected to be to let him go. My mantra for motherhood, that the ultimate goal in parenting is an independent child, has somehow done the trick. The anticpated rush of tears and despair never happens. I am truly thrilled for him, deeply proud of his achievements and successes and convinced that he has made wise choices for this next phase of his young life.

For both of us, a new phase of independence lies ahead like an open, sunlit field.

My Kind of Blackberry

2007-08-26T10:13:00.000-07:00

Every summer I can remember is punctuated by blackberries- first the anticipation, then collection, then...my most favorite food ever, blackberry pie.
I am not a religious or particularly spiritual person but while I'm picking blackberries I feel as if the earth is blessing me with a glorious gift, thorns, spider webs and all.

Since U Been Scone

2007-08-17T13:34:00.001-07:00

Sigh. I think I have been home alone a little too long! Now I know why little old ladies bring baskets of muffins to the local banks, etc. They are filling up the empty nest with baking!

But I do love my scones. This is a good basic dependable recipe.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, 3 T. sugar, 1 T baking powder and a half teaspoon salt. Cut in 5 T butter and stir in about a half cup raisins. Beat together a half cup light cream and one egg. Add some vanilla if you like and stir the liquid quickly into the dry ingredients. Knead lightly, turn onto board and cut into 8 scones. Bake about 17 minutes. Check at 15 if your oven runs hot. I love these with blueberry jam!

Pie Princess

2007-08-16T12:46:00.001-07:00

Man, I make a lot of pies in the summertime. Lyle dubbed me Pie Princess a quarter century ago so in this season I try to live up to my royal responsibilites.

This here is a plain ol' blueberry pie, four and a half cups fresh berries, three quarters cup sugar, half teaspoon cinnamon, quarter cup flour, juice of half a lemon.Let that mixture stand while preparing your favorite pastry. Bake at 450 for 20 minutes, then 350 for 35 minutes.

Today's listening pleasure, Nina Simone, The Blues, five stars...I LOVE this music!

Disblurbia

2007-08-11T11:19:00.001-07:00

There is nothing I enjoy more than a good thriller. There is nothing I enjoy less than a poor one.

I was looking forward to a pleasant evening watching "Disturbia", newly out on DVD. I guess I should have known better. Thrillers used to be made for grownups. Now they have replaced beach movies
as the mindless and boring teen flick genre of choice.

"Disturbia" employs the gimmick of Hitchcock's classic "Rear Window". Too bad it completely misses the mark as far as style, production and charisma of its actors. Electronics are the stars of this movie. Sigh. Yawn.

No wonder I'm glued to the Turner Classic Movie channel.

Today's listening pleasure, "The Essential Billie Holiday", four and a half stars.

The Tell-Tale Tapping Toe

2007-07-31T21:38:00.000-07:00

"Villains!" I shrieked, "dissemble no more! I will post the frittata recipe, but for the love of all that is decent, stop the hideous tapping of that foot"

Ahem. There is really no "recipe" for this dish ( the frittata, not the heart ) but here's how I made the one whose portrait(which strangely never ages...wait, that's Wilde , not Poe) appears in the blog below.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9 inch pie pan.
Heat about one tablespoon of good olive oil in a skillet. Saute one chopped leek, one large clove of garlic, minced, a couple of diced sweet peppers and some steamed spinach, until tender. In a separate bowl, beat 4 eggs, a half teaspoon salt, a bit of pepper and basil. Stir in about half a cup of crumbled feta and the veg. Spread in the pie pan and bake for about 25 minutes. Viola!

Today's listening pleasure: Etta James, "Matriarch of the Blues" four stars.

Reduced Guilt Cheesecake Tart

2007-07-30T18:43:00.000-07:00

I was craving cheesecake today but did not want to consume three or four packages of cream cheese in the next couple of days. So I adapted a recipe I found on Food Network and called it:

Reduced Guilt Cheesecake

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 large egg
3/8 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup blueberry or other fruit preserves
Hot shortbread base (see below)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a bowl whisk cream cheese until smooth and whisk in eggs, sugar and vanilla. Evenly spread preserves over hot shortbread and pour cream-cheese mixture over it. Swirl a couple of teaspoons of preserves into the mixture if you like. Bake in middle of oven until slightly puffed, about 30 minutes. Cool completely in pan . Will keep, covered and chilled, for 3 days.
Shortbread base
3/8 cup butter
1cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup packed light brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cut butter into 1/2-inch pieces. In a food processor, process all ingredients until mixture begins to form small lumps. Sprinkle mixture into a 9 inch round baking pan, pressing evenly onto bottom. Bake shortbread in middle of oven until golden, about 20 minutes.

Beezer Navel Gazing

2007-07-27T09:01:00.000-07:00

Will it never end? (N.B. beezer is my new word for boomer+geezer. I coulda said boozer but out of deference to Clapton's sobriety, I chose not.)

The Chicago Trib recently ran an interview with Clapton, guitarist, devoted supporter of Giorgio Armani and champion of the Chicago blues. I don't mind Clapton as a musician, in fact I own several of his albums. He never lived up to Cream but then neither did Bruce or Baker. Anyway I should take my own advice and enough with the looking inward and backward.
In this interview he bemoans the possible demise of "hand-made music" and complains you can't get vinyl anymore. Eric, do ya get out much, out of the superstar stratosphere?? Hand made music is thriving in countless regional festivals and tiny backwater burgs.Carefully tended vinyl is sold out of basements, all over the internet and in small and medium storefronts in any city I visit anyway.
I'm exasperated with the whole "death of music" hand-wringing and lip quivering. Music is just fine. New artists may have to be content with an artist lifestyle instead of an Armani lifestyle, but just maybe it was the Armani lifestyle that supported the rise of music as industry.
Today's listening pleasure- The Best of Cream (bought for a couple of bucks at Walmart) 4 and a half stars.

Whatsamatta with a Frittata?

2007-07-26T14:07:00.001-07:00

In my opinion, nothing!! We are now into the boating season at Casa Mirrorball, which means lotsa campfire food for the guys...dogs, burgers, smokies, you get the picture. Myself, I live on frittata, or I could if need be.

I think this is a very pretty food and a great way to clean out the veggie crisper!

Today's listening pleasure- Heartland, 5 stars.

Who Invented Sex Anyway?

2007-07-07T11:51:00.000-07:00

Since blogging is all about mouthing off about stuff one knows little-to-nothing about, I’ve decided to go along with a friend’s suggestion that I write about sex.

As a child of the sixties and seventies, my sexual history was shaped by articulate and persuasive works like this:

"A sexual revolution would require, perhaps first of all, an end of traditional sexual inhibitions and taboos, particularly those that most threaten patriarchal monogamous marriage: homosexuality, "illegitimacy," adolescent, pre- and extra- marital sexuality. The negative aura with which sexual activity has generally been surrounded would necessarily be eliminated, together with the double standard and prostitution. The goal of the revolution would be a permissive single standard of sexual freedom, and one uncorrupted by the crass and exploitative economic bases of traditional sexual alliances." (Kate Millet. Sexual Politics, p.62)

I was raised by a strict Italian mother with whom I had a deeply adversarial and difficult relationship. I wanted and needed to believe in Kate Millet. Forty years later I have to admit that through all my determined wantonness it was my mother’s and grandmother’s credo of self-protection and mistrust of men that colored my sexual experience and that the sexual revolution came too soon and too fast ( innuendo intended) to do me or many of my generation any real good.

Who invented sex anyway? According to a Prehistoric Sex Quiz at the Live Science website, Ice Age cave drawings and artifacts (the nature of which I will leave to your imagination) indicate that the female of our species enjoyed sexual activity on par with the male? Was it really the patriarchal system that wrecked it for succeeding generations?
The same quiz states that early human sexual habits resemble most those of the promiscuous chimp-like bonobo. Maybe that’s where we went wrong. Maybe free sex without guilt is the only way to free ourselves from the bondage of sexual inequality?
Who knows? I certainly don’t. All I do know is that whenever I an unfortunate enough to watch a few minutes of panting, gyrating, semi-clad music video (or mainstream commercial) what I see is a whole lot of sex and not much joy.

Ha! Seems like I now know even less about sex than when I began writing this blog. I rest my case.

Today’s listening pleasure- Jimi Hendrix, Are You Experienced? 5 stars 

Blackbird

2007-06-26T10:17:00.000-07:00

Blackbird

Most of the Spirited Scotland tour group had gone to bed, bored stiff by the peace and quiet of the tiny Highland town of Aithness. They’d spent a dismal day in the chugging coach, teetering over the ancient cobbled roads. At one point the whole group had to disembark and walk ahead to keep the coach from bottoming out on a humpback bridge. As it turned out, this had been the defining moment of the day. To the great disappointment of most and secret relief of a very few, no headless man had appeared at Holmwood Castle, and no Blue Lady at Thorne.
Around the scarred oak table in the lounge of the Highland Pearl only four remained; the guide, Des Sinclair, Ivy Montrose, of Perth, and the two Canadians, jet-lagged and dozing in the hardwood chairs.
The clock showed nearly eleven and yet the sky was awash in violet light. It was late July but the landlord had lit a small fire in the grate, taking pity on his shivering guests.
Ivy hugged herself in her cashmere shawl and took a tiny sip of the peaty liquor set before her. The Canadians held hands loosely and blinked at the topknot of blue flames above the little mound of scrap wood and sawdust in the fireplace.
Des had promised a tale to those who sat up to meet the midnight and just as he’d expected it was these three who hung back from their beds. He hunched forward in his chair and his muttonchop whiskers twitched as he tossed back the dregs of his whisky. He patted his lips dry with the back of his hand, then cupped his ear.
“D’ye hear that?” he whispered theatrically. Ivy shook her head and the others shifted in their seats.
“That’s good,” Des continued, “because there’s nothing there. Not yet. But it’s coming, mind you, sure as the stars come out in the sky.”
Ivy glanced at the purple expanse through the broad window that fronted the little hotel. The sky was like a swath of soft plain cloth, as yet unspangled. This comforted her a little and for a moment she relaxed against the thin cushion at her back.
“There are many paths in these Highland hills,” Des began, “but few that appear on any map. Some have been traveled for centuries, worn deep into the stone by countless feet; others only once, only once and never again. For paths such as these, y’must have a guide, for if you’re lost, you’ll never be seen again, in this world or the next.
One evening, I’d taken my supper late. The roast lamb and pudding sat still and heavy in my belly. When I lay down in my bed there was a nasty press around my heart and so I rose again and thought to walk it off in the night air. It was cool enough when I set out, but the further I walked the more it turned icy cold and all my woolens were not protection enough against the chill.”
The Canadians shifted closer together and the man wrapped his arm around his wife’s shoulder. Ivy thought they looked a bit blue around the lips, but perhaps it was a trick of the failing light. She touched her own face and found it waxy cold. She knew she needed rest, having reached the point when she could not rightly remember why she had chosen to come along on this tour, but the thought of lying down and covering her face with a bed sheet made her queasy. She tried to focus again on Des Sinclair’s droning voice.
“I tried to stumble back to my rooms, but instead ended up far up the hillside, knee deep in damp heather. The few lights of my village seemed far in the distance. The more I tried to walk toward the light, the farther away it appeared. My legs were pillars of ice and in my ears was the sound of beating wings. I flapped my arms around my head like the fool that I was, for I was in the dark, in the silence, as alone as a soul can be in endless night.”
Ivy was dismayed to see fat rivulets of tears run out of Des Sinclair’s eyes and into his beard. She tried to stand, but was stuck in her chair like a lump of dead flesh with no option, it seemed, but to hear out his story.
“I held my breath, which came as a relief to my aching lungs, and listened to the dark again. There came a flutter of wings and a few soft notes of birdsong. The path turned clear and whitely lit ahead of me, the sky filled with shards of obsidian light…”
It was like a black tide, Ivy thought, rushing toward the plate glass window and a blast of birdsong lifted the three travelers out of their seats. The window crumbled to sparkling dust against the deluge of glossy beating wings and a like a breath through a gauze curtain, they passed.
The landlord shook his head at Des Sinclair, who was finishing off Ivy’s drink as well as his own.
“Obsidian light,” the landlord muttered as he placed the empty glasses on his tray. He nodded toward the trio of empty chairs. “Not going along as guide?”
Des Sinclair gazed out onto the twilit loch, the purple hills and indigo sky. High up in a dark tree a lonely blackbird screeched and sang and Des took back his glass off the tray.
“Another small one, Jimmy,” he said, “I’m off the clock”.

Five Stars for White Stripes

2007-06-22T08:47:00.000-07:00

Ok I admit it, I love Jack White. I won't blather on about the sordid history of this latest musical crush but I will say that I let out a tiny whoop when Icky Thump arrived in my rusty old mailbox yesterday ( along with Mahler's 5th, ahem ). Whether its White Stripes or Raconteurs, I tell ya I have a great time with Jack White's music. Maybe I'm just hearing echoes of my old faves, Lennon, Plant et al, but whatever. Sign me up as an unapologetic fan :)

And about the ghost story..well..maybe tomorrow. I'm in a good enough mood to make Finnish Apple pancakes for my family. Want the recipe (phonically correct or otherwise) from Bon Appetit-

1 cup whole milk
4 large eggs
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2/3 cup all purpose flour
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
12 ounces Golden Delicious apples (about 2), peeled, cored, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar
Powdered sugar (optional)
preparation
Preheat oven to 425°F. Whisk milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla, salt, and cinnamon in large bowl until well blended. Add flour and whisk until batter is smooth. Place butter in 13x9-inch glass baking dish. Place dish in oven until butter melts, about 5 minutes. Remove dish from oven. Place apple slices in overlapping rows atop melted butter in baking dish. Return to oven and bake until apples begin to soften slightly and butter is bubbling and beginning to brown around edges of dish, about 10 minutes.
Pour batter over apples in dish and sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake pancake until puffed and brown, about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired. Serve warm.

Brave New Virtual World

2007-06-19T14:20:00.000-07:00

Today I've been thinking about my own internet history and how it has changed over the past couple of years. Just over two years ago I didn't even have email, didn't see any use for it. Then I began to test the virtual waters, (eek, shark!) joined and abandoned several online "communities" and ended up here, with only a handful of online contacts and pretty much talking to myself :) In other words, my online life now mirrors my reality!

However I do feel as if I've learned something, I've revived as a writer and have once again established a sense of self apart from an identity as parent and partner, and not a moment too soon!

I was working on a mini-ghost story this morning...might just post it here tomorrow..check and see if I wimped out!

Today's listening pleasure- Howlin Wolf, Moanin in the Moonlight, 4 stars.

Geek Salad, always a winner

2007-06-16T15:25:00.000-07:00

Ok, I think I'm prepared for the socializing. Want my salad recipe?

Dressing:
Whisk together

2/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice (not from a bottle ya lazy lump)
2 T red wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp each basil and oregano
1 tsp salt
pepper to taste

Drizzle over a salad of chopped tomatoes, cukes, sweet peppers. Add olives and artichoke hearts if you like them. Sprinkle crumbled feta cheese on top and drizzle with a little more dressing. Hope you like it.

I'll let you know how the literary fun and games went when I get back. Saturday, Saturday nights all right!

Today's listening pleasure;
Manteca! the roots of Afro-Cuban Jazz, four and a half stars.

Social event looming...

2007-06-15T18:22:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow evening I will have to come out of my shell for a couple of hours and make an appearance at my writers' group spring potluck...ay caramba!

Not only do I have to make something edible but also have to produce something readable. The piece must be no longer than one typed page and somehow incorporate the phrase or refer to the theme "in various translations".

This is a game we've enjoyed for years at the potlucks- all the works go into an envelope, then after dining we each take a piece out of the envelope and read it to the group. We then write down who we think is the author of the piece. More challenging and much more fun than it may sound.

Now if I can just decide on a recipe that will not turn toxic in the summer heat on the buffet table.

Today's listening pleasure- House of Refuge by Jim Byrnes, rated five stars by this listener.

My Shiny New Toy

2007-06-14T14:04:00.000-07:00

Who'd a thunk it? Blogs on demand.

Now any ordinary jane like myself can hold forth on the world wide web!

So why Mirrorball? To cast forth teeny tiny reflections that spun together might provide just a little illumination :)

I like metaphors. I like to to be surprised and delighted and often am, thanks to a) a failing short term memory and b) the multi-faceted and fascinating neighborhood I call home.

I plan to talk about the music I'm listening to, the recipes I'm making and maybe just a bit of witchy gossip and innuendo from time to time.

I don't pretend to be even-handed or fair, not here anyway.

Come on in and join me :)