Girls night out!

dinner

We decided if we were mannequins we would look like these three ladies - it was funny after a few Saki-tinis or sunrises or coconut milks or whatever those things were called! My lovely friends!

I am all for trying new things - I just usually don't try them myself. Last night I was fortunate enough to be included on an outing with two of the coolest (and most talented) women around. If you don't believe me check out http://www.jennifermassey.com/ or http://www.whisperrecording.com/

I have been fortunate enough to have done a couple shows with these ladies and they still talk to me.

They wanted sushi so who was I to deny them that pleasure? I hate sushi but I love other things you can get at sushi places such as edamami, miso soup, tofu, tempura - I was not worried about leaving there hungry. Sushi looks so pretty and I was feeling rather brave after a couple exotic drinkies and I decided I would try some yellow tail sushi and some eel. I LOVE SUSHI!! OK - I wasn't crazy at all about the eel but the yellow tail on rice (not rolled - don't like seaweed) was like butter. "Like butter" was a phrase we used a lot last night. There were other phrases too but you know what they say...what happens at the sushi bar stays at the sushi bar!!

And I got some great fish recipes I will definitely try soon so be on the look out for those.

Thanks ladies - can't wait to do it again!

More talent than you can shake a stick at

Robin with the fabulous

Mr. Melton Robin with Author Bill Davis

Robin with her co-star Jeremy

Last Thursday was the opening and World Premier of Austin's Bridge. HNS and I both had a great time! Don't pick on Robin for being in every picture because these are from her personal collection and I begged her for them! Boy, she is talented. Go see it and read more about it at http://www.firehousetheatre.org/

I am so glad Richmond is a place these new pieces can be produced and discussed and supported.

For those of you that have already seen the show - HNS keeps calling me a "citizen" - should I be worried?

I know this looks gross

I tried my sissy's recipe for easy chocolate bread pudding. I followed the directions diligently. It came out looking like this. Also, it was more crunchy then, well, pudding-ey. I basically had dark chocolate flavored bread. And as good as that sounds you would think it was at least tasty, it wasn't. I will try again since I love chocolate. Clearly I had bread that was too thick for the amount of sauce. I watched it sit in the fridge for 2 days before I baked it. The anticipation was killing me - only to end up with what you see above. It may take me a while to recover. I am sure there is a lesson to be learned here but I am too hungry to think of what it could be.


Today is definitely one of those days best spent in bed. Too bad I am not there now. At least Paris is out of jail. I guess my invite to her freedom party got lost in the mail. She must still have my old address. I am sure that is what happened. That or she saw this blog and thought I would bring the pudding.

חזיר - or Khazer

A meal full of pig. I made bone-in pork chops a couple nights ago. But I didn't stop there...I also made scalloped potatoes rich enough to choke a pig. Then a salad of mixed greens with toasted almonds. The chops turned out well. I have a tendency to over cook pork. It is not something I grew up eating. We did not keep kosher but still did not have pork in the house. When I go to restaurants and have pork that is a little pink I eat it and enjoy it. If I cook it and there is pink inside I fear instant yet painful death. This makes no sense, I am aware. I pan fried the chops in olive oil and kosher salt. Funny how the pork doesn't reject the kosher salt, perhaps I broke all rules of man and g-d. I like to live on the edge that way!

My sissy's blog happens to feature pork today too - I know I plagiarized a bit on Father's Day but this entry is really a coincidence. We have a lot of the same taste. Does anyone else have any good pork recipes? Do share - and Shabbat Shalom y'all!!

PS - HNS and I went to the opening (and World Premiere) of Austin's Bridge last night. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and I will share that experience soon.

A Vegetarian Feast

The night I made the artichoke pie I also made a few other things. The artichoke pie just upstaged them. I thought I would share pics of them anyway in case anyone was interested.

I had a tomato that had to be used before it went too mushy on me. It was actually perfect. I could have stopped there and just had the sliced tomato with oil and salt but I also had an English cucumber so I sliced that up and added it to my salad. It was a light accompaniment to the rest of my dinner.... the over fried tofu and the artichoke pie.

Last night I made the artichoke pie with asparagus, mushrooms and sweet onions instead of the artichokes and it was very good and very pretty but a bit soggy. I will post a pic of it later.

Since the main course was vegetarian I made a salad with mixed greens and thinly sliced and marinated beef in a light Cesar dressing with toasted almond slivers. That was as good as the pie!

Oh Lord! I have some talented friends!!

I am sandwiched between the witch and the baker.

Friday night was the opening of Into The Woods at Barksdale Theatre. You can get more info at http://www.barksdalerichmond.org/

I am cheating a little here because this picture is from opening night of Intimate Apparel which was the last show at Barksdale. Intimate Apparel was great but that is not what I am going to talk about on this blog entry.

Into The Woods takes you on an incredible journey, first familiar and comical and then dark and ultimately extremely touching and poignant. The music is beautiful and haunting. This is no easy show to pull off and I can't imagine a production anywhere being any better than the show I saw Friday night. I was so glad I brought my Dad and Kittymom to opening, especially since the theme was so perfect for Father's Day.

On a personal note I was so proud of my friends who amazed me while making me laugh, cry and listen - every moment on the edge of my seat. Thank you guys!!! Have a great run- I will be back.

My Perfect Papa- Happy Father's Day!

I had the happiest childhood of anyone I know.
My father is a photographer, magician, former radio personality, professor, Gilbert and Sullivan scholar, classical music buff, Grandfather of five, and Rabbi. (if you catch him at a party he will tell you he sells used pool tables so he won't miss out on any jokes)
He has raised all his children to accept people as they are and be tolerant and loving and I am so thankful to have been the recipient of those lessons and to share those values with my whole family-
Thanks Pop!

A visit from Pop and Kittymom

Well, I am having quite a Friday already. I was rejected (or dismissed as they like to call it - but lets get real) I was rejected from a civil jury this morning. I guess they were all intimidated by my local celebrity stature. That happens a lot or it could have been what HNS said "they knew you were Jewish". Either way - I have done my civil duty for this week.
Pop and Kittymom are coming to visit tonight and they are joining HNS and I at the long awaited opening of Barksdale's Into The Woods. Starring the BFF of yours truly. I can barely stand the anticipation and would certainly take a Valium if I had any. I am sure he would too right about now. I couldn't be more proud of him as it is so tonight will just be gravy. I could go on but I am sure I have embarrassed him enough so I will stop there for now. I encourage everyone reading this to get your tickets now to see what I am sure will be an amazing show. I am a huge musical nerd so I will see it as many times as they let me.
Also, since Pop and Kittymom were in China they missed the whole "I am moving in with HNS" stuff. They are going to check out the new digs. HNS and I bought a zuzzie at the Holocaust Museum down the road from us and hopefully Pop can lead us in a little ceremony and we can put the zuzzie up.
I will keep everyone posted on the events of this weekend. It should be interesting!!

Better late than never

Work finally got around to celebrating my Birthday...which was 18 days ago. At least it was a surprise. You can't tell it from this pic but the pink icing was very very bright. At one point I put it on my lips and someone snapped a pic. I will be searching for that so it doesn't end up in the wrong hands. We all had too much sugar and then had to go back to work. Everything was funny from that point on. It didn't matter what you were talking about.
Speaking of funny - has anyone been watching Kathy Griffin My Life on the D-List? Very funny stuff - we have similar senses of humor and she is also using my (not-so-secret) secret "shma" language. I guess imitation is the highest form of flattery.

Introducing Thing 5

Grammy with Thing 5
As close at HNS got to any baby (does he look scared?)
Thing 4 teaching me how to read
The beautiful and gifted things 1 and 3

More to come - Just wanted to share these lovely pics

The Pie Stands Alone

We came back from the beach on Sunday so there will be pics to share soon. A fun time was had by all and even though I don't have the pics posted to prove it yet- my new nephew (thing 5) is very beautiful.

My sister posted a picture on her blog yesterday that made my mouth water. It was an artichoke pie she made. My sister is CRAZY about artichokes. Even though she is already happily married, I think she would marry one if she could. I found the recipe she used on food.com and tried it out last night. It was labeled as "medium" so it was a bit intimidating but it really wasn't hard at all. It was fun actually. I won't write the recipe here since it is rather long and involved. I must say it turned out so pretty HNS and I didn't want to cut into it... but we did.

HNS wanted twice baked potatoes and I had some spuds to get rid of so I made those too. I took a pic of them but just aren't as pretty as the pie.

My sisters recipe was good but I added some cut bacon and a little grated parm.

Does anyone have any different variations on this? I would love more comments!!

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

Me and HNS are heading South to visit some munchkins at the beach for the weekend. I have a brand new nephew (let's call him thing 5) and if he is anything like my other nephew (Thing 1) I am about to make a friend for life! I am also seeing 2 of my 3 beautiful nieces (Things 3 and 4). Thing 2 is home in Atlanta- Are you catching on here? Because my family isn't confusing enough.....

I am so excited I wish I was going right now! I will have pics when I return so be sure to check back. I might actually see the ocean while at the beach - who knows...

Also - The Rebbe and Wife just returned from a long trip to China. I am sure they have some great stories.

I also just found out it is Harborfest. This was always a time to stay away from home unless you like big loud crowds of drunk strangers. Hmmm, tough call. Maybe we will check out the festivities.

BTW - The mac and cheese turned out well. I ended up making a chicken too. I wanted to take pics of the food but the digital was not around. Picture yummy looking food that you can't eat because you made it for your friends....that's about right.

Welcome and Farewell

This is my first blog entry ever! (cue fanfare)
I was inspired by my sister's blog and keep wanting to write my own stories.
Her blog is great so make sure to visit it at www.andtheeggs.blogspot.com . She posts recipes and last night I made one of them. It was sweet and hot corn and potato chowder. Getting all the ingredients was a bit expensive and it took me a couple hours to make it but it turned out great. The sad part is it was accidentally left out all night and so it got tossed out this morning. So sad.

But on a more serious note I lost a friend yesterday to cancer. Martha (pictured above) was an amazing person and always made you feel good. The last time we spoke she came to see Brooklyn Boy at the Barksdale theatre. After the show she took me aside and squeezed my hand and said "You do know how good you are, right?" She was always saying things like that. I don't remember ever having much "small talk" with her - many things were right to the point. She will be terribly missed. My friends Dawn and Jacquie took great care of her and tonight I will do what I can to help. I will cook for them so they can take care of more important things. When I cook food for people who are grieving it makes me feel like I am somehow helping comfort them. But it really comforts me too. I am making a mac and cheese dish that I basically made up one day but has proven to be great comfort food. Here is the recipe:

a bag of any kind of noodles you like - I use egg noodles mixed with elbows

a cup (or more) of ricotta cheese

2 eggs

a pinch of sugar (or more)

salt and pepper

a stick of butter

corn flake crumbs

parsley flakes

a cup of milk or heavy cream

about 2 cups of shredded cheddar

I mix together everything except 1/2 the butter , the crumbs and some of the cheddar

I top the casserole with cheese - then the bread crumbs and then I poor melted butter on top so the crumbs will crisp up in the oven

It cooks at 350 for a little over an hour

I hope it will bring some comfort to my friends

If anyone tries this recipe please leave me a note and let me know how it worked out!