City Called Las Cruces

Exhausted, yes.  But also energized by the taste of red chile enchiladas, sight of fuschia Crepe Myrtle, cacophonous sound of the practice hall, arid feel of desert sunshine, and the unmistakeable smell of the choir room.  And strangely nostalgic for all that heartache associated with my struggle to finish a music degree.

After years of cutting my jazz teeth on Chicago stages, I was invited back to New Mexico State University for the Jack Ward Invitational Choral Festival last weekend.  I remember my junior year of high school, my Concert Chorale was invited way back in 19--- er, in the 90's, and the excitement of sharing the stage with real college music students.  At that time of my life, I didn't plan on going on to study music.  I guess I eventually came around. 

Every year during music school, we did this festival.  Invitees were NMSU Choir alumni with successful careers in opera or education.  Although I tried my hand at both, I rested assured that I would never be invited back for either discipline.  The genesis of this invitation was actually a newspaper article about my knitting.  My university choir director, Dr. Alt read between the lines, and recognized that in addition to knitting up a storm and becoming a marketing maven in Chicago, I was also still performing.  We chatted on email and she invited me to do the concert.  We focused on gospel selections, including my favorite song to sing, Josephine Poelinlitz's arrangement of City Called Heaven.  Both the Deming High School Choir and NMSU Choirs were outstanding in their performances, and all came together for the gospel tunes.  There are no words to describe what it is like to sing that song with a strong choir of 100 behind you.  Religious or not, you're gonna feel the spirit.  As an encore, my university voice instructor Chris Sanders, and my dear friend Della Bustamante joined me onstage for our rendition of Bridge Over Troubled Water/This Little Light of Mine.  To be found on the stage with those two ladies, the greatest talents I know--I'm starstruck and the luckiest girl in the world to collaborate with them. 

I was truly honored to be invited back to my alma mater, give some lessons, and hopefully impart some knowledge to high school and college music students.  Thank you Dr. Alt and NMSU Choirs for having me.  True to my rebellious fashion, I will not include recordings, or even pictures of  the show, but a recipe from my reception.  Enjoy!

Carrot Ginger Soup

Soup:
4 lbs carrots, diced

1 large sweet onion, diced

4-6 cups vegan bouillion ("Better Than Bouillion" is best)
1/3 c. grated ginger
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
Salt and pepper to taste


Yogurt:
1 c. plain Greek yogurt
1 Tbsp. honey
5 sprigs of thyme, chopped
Optional sunflower or pumpkin seeds to garnish

(The yogurt is best when made 24 hours before serving) Add thyme and honey to yogurt, mix thoroughly, and refrigerate overnight.

Sweat onion in a large stockpot with olive oil, until translucent. Add carrots, ginger, and bouillion. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 40 minutes, or until carrots are soft. Puree soup with an immersion blender. Return to stockpot and warm over low heat.

Serve soup with a schmear of yogurt and a sprinkle of seeds, and impress the heck out of your guests!

Funky Fresh Beets

Addendum: on 6/12/10, I made changes to improve this recipe.  See bottom of blog for details.

I love beets.  They are easily my favorite vegetable.  And to think, I almost wrote them off as yucky after a crash diet with my mom in the late 80's.  I don't remember much from that diet, except egg whites and canned beets.  Anyone would hate beets after that three-week massacre.  

Then my whole life changed.  The first roasted beet I ever had was the night before my wedding in 2006.  Marky and I shared a plate of salad with goat cheese, beets, pine nuts, and anise seeds.  There was a whole dinner and dessert afterwards, but all I wanted was more beet salad.  After the wedding, we ate from a buffet three times a day on our all-inclusive honeymoon resort.  And there were beets!!  When we got home, I learned how to roast my own beets, and proceeded to eat a beet every day for approximately two years.  

Suffice it to say, I cannot get bored of beets.  I will eat them no matter how extravagant or plain.  When I saw this recipe in a used copy of In Style in the gym, I tore it out of the mag, and went straight to Edgewater Produce (advertised previously on Piece Fleet's blog).  This recipe is de-li-cious.  We didn't have any watercress, and next time, I think I might skip the crème fraîche mixture, and do a straight up Greek yogurt thing. And don't forget to prepare a lovely salad and toasted bread on the side. Anyway, here's the recipe, straight from the January edition of In Style:

Beet Soup with Horseradish Creme Fraîche, Apples, and Watercress

2 Tbsp plus 1 tsp sherry vinegar, divided
1 Tbsp plus 1/2 tsp salt, divided
1 Tbsp sugar
1 lb small red beets, trimmed
1/4 c olive oil
1/2 c chopped shallots
1/8 tsp ground ginger
2 c vegetable broth
1/4 c crème fraîche
1 Tbsp prepared horseradish, drained
1 tsp lemon juice
2 apples
1 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Watercress sprigs and extra olive oil, for garnish

1. In a medium saucepan, combine 6 cups water, 1 Tbsp vinegar, 1 Tbsp salt, and sugar. Reserve 2 Tbsp of liquid. 2. Add beets to saucepan; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer from 45 minutes or until beets are tender. Let cool to room temperature, then peel and dice. 3. In saucepan, heat olive oil over medium-low heat. Add shallots, remainnig 1/2 tsp salt, and ginger. Sweat until softened, about 8-10 minutes. Do not brown. 4. Add beets, broth, 2 cups water, and 1 Tbsp vinegar to saucepan. Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. 5. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine crème fraîche, horseradish, remaining vinegar, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to use. 6. With a melon baller, scoop out about 12 balls from the apples, leaving peel intact. Toss apple balls with reserved liquid. Set aside. 7. Working in batches, puree soup and oil in a blender until smooth.  Season with salt and pepper and ladle into individual bowls. 8. Garnish with apple balls, creme fraiche mixture, and watercress. Drizzle with olive oil.

The second time I made this recipe, I simplified it.  Skip the horseradish.  Boil the beets in water and 1 Tbsp vinegar until fork tender.  Saute shallots and about 2 Tbsp of fresh ginger in olive oil.  Peel and dice beets.  Add beets and broth to shallots, saute a little longer.  Add 1/2 tsp lemon zest and 1 Tbsp of fresh lemon juice to 1/2 c Greek yogurt.  Scoop out apple balls and cover with water and a little lemon juice. When beets are tender, blend until smooth.  Serve with a small scoop of yogurt and a few pieces of apple.   

Stop Thief! Or, Just Go For It. Whatever.

Salads.  I've been really good about them.  I've also been trying to avoid buying lunch during work, because it's a real drain on the wallet.  So I schlep a piece of fruit and Tupperware of salad in my backpack, haul ass to work on my bike, and rush to get it in the fridge before it all wilts.  I keep a bottle of dressing in the work fridge all the time, and enjoy it when lunch time comes.  

Lately, though, my dressing has been dwindling.  It seems I'd get a few good squirts from a large bottle, and then poof!  It's gone.  For this reason, I quit buying nice dressing, and just going for the plain Jane Italian stuff.  Still, it moved like hotcakes.  Who was doing this?  I moved the dressing to a different shelf, and the entire bottle disappeared.  I needed a cheap, creative solution that didn't involve labeling, spitting, or a rent-a-cop.   I assessed my newest bottle of Italian dressing and decided to use that which was most obnoxious about modern groceries.  

The safety seal.  

That previously aggravating little blister of shrinkwrap/rubber/PVC, whatever it is, would be my rent-a-cop.  "But Crafty, how can you enjoy your Italian dressing if you leave the safety seal intact?"  I'll tell you.  I'll cut through that first blue seal on the cap, unscrew it, open the safety seal about halfway, and pour some out.  Then (learned this on MacGruber), I'll replace the seal, and screw the cap back on.  The first person who pops the top on the cap won't be able to get any dressing out, because the safety seal will prevent it!  Ha HA!  Surely after squeezing, struggling, and eventually failing, the perp will move on to an easier mark.  

A couple of days went by, and my plan was working beautifully.  I got to enjoy my dressing for more than a week, and I was feeling confident that my bottle would survive until I used the last serving.  Then the perp revealed him/herself.  I won't name names.  We'll call him/her "Blank."

  

While I sat on the couch knitting through my lunch hour, Blank walked in with a salad.  I was really only watching with my peripheral vision until the shaking started.  Shaking, lunging, struggling.  Then muttering.  "What the?  What is wrong with this thing," Blank murmured.  Blank then tried to unscrew the cap, but it was too tight.  Perps like Blank typically have no upper body strength, due to their lack of morals.  Rather than intervene, I watched in horror.   

"Give it up, Blankie.  Move on to another bottle," I thought.  As if there were no witnesses, Blank raised the knife and stabbed.  

"Urgh!" The dressing seemed to sigh.  Blank stabbed again, mercilessly.  "You win," my poor defenseless bottle whimpered.  Blank threw the weapon in the sink and squeezed the exhausted Italian dressing on his/her salad, which was probably stolen, too.  

There is no stopping lunch time larcenists.  It takes something stronger than a plastic seal to curb that behavior. It takes a defensive move like purchasing 175 1-ounce portion cups with lids.  I fill those babies up with delicious expensive dressing at home, and pop one in my daily salad.  No mess, no theft.  When a coworker recently complained to me that someone ate his chicken salad sandwich right out of the fridge, I asked him if he'd written his name on it, or had a special lunch bag to deter such offenses.  His answers were all no.  When I offered to knit him a sandwich cozy, he laughed it off as ridiculous.  

Amateur.  

Overexposed Whore

Okay, that title is a little dramatic.  And, no, I'm not about to write about Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton.  

For the second time, I'm doing the Biggest Loser Comp at work.  It's a 5-month fight to the death... of fat.  And laziness.  And minimal sex appeal.  Seriously.  Last year, the whole office seemed to transform.  People looked better, but they also felt better, so they were more confident.  It was a really good thing for the whole crew.  Don't get me wrong, there was a downside.  The working out was exhausting.  All I wanted to do was sleep.  That fatigue made it difficult to navigate the questions about food and exercise.  Then when I got to the point where I should have been really confident and happy, I went to the mall to get some new clothes, and nearly had a nervous breakdown.  And then it happened again.  And again.  Poor baby, I know.  But the end result was difficult in a way I never could have imagined.  And then I got over it, and haven't been perfect since.  But pobody's nerfect.  I'm ready to jump back in.  

In a show of good will and support for my fellow losers, I'm committing to a weekly blog detailing my diet and exercise regimen.  There is no secret.  It's just a lot of work.  And if anyone has any questions about what a squat thrust or a prison-style lunge is, I will help you find a diagram, or demonstrate it, or refer you to an awesome personal trainer.  I have an easier time with typing than talking.  If people ask me what I'm doing, I'll show them my blog.  I'll be as honest as possible, exposing every little detail.  

My book, is, of course, advertised here.  No harm in whoring myself for a potential sale!