What Day is it?

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

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...

...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

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

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

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

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!