Confluence of Kitchen and Kink

I'm going to try to do better this year than I did the last at reading books. 14, or whatever it was, is a rather pathetic number for an entire year.

1. Fudoki (started in 2011), by Kij Johnson. This, like all of her work, was a jewel of a thing. Every detail beautifully and simply crafted; emotional moments touched with the lightest of brushes. Lovely.

2. Jitterbug Perfume, by Tom Robbins. I really enjoyed this book, but it kind of feels like Robbins was careless in places, here. Like the speech of Pan and his nymphs wasn't correct usage of archaic second person familiars in English, which kind of drove me nuts. Overall it was as delightful as he always is even when he's not at his best.

3. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John LeCarre. I think I've finally decided that however much imlad loves this story, I do not. At first I thought it was just that I find spy stories confusing, which is true. But no; I think it's just boring. The miniseries from the 70s, in spite of starring Alec Guinness, also isn't doing a hell of a lot for me.

4. Sandman, Volume 1: Preludes and Nocturnes, by Neil Gaiman. How wonderful. It's so exciting to read this for so many reasons, not least of which is watching Gaiman be young and epically emo and getting his feet wet with this character, and knowing how much better it's going to get.

5. Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell. Fantastic. I've been recommending this to everyone, as its insights are fabulous.

6. Motherless Brooklyn, by Jonathan Lethem (reread, aloud to imlad). I loved this book the first time around, and I still really enjoyed it; reading it aloud was especially fun. But after a second go through I see its deep flaws; it really is a bit too clever for its own good.

7. A Game of Thrones, Book One of A Song of Ice and Fire, by George R. R. Martin. Yes, I could no longer resist, since my entire freaking household is reading these, and the TV series is so, so, so good. However, so far I'm finding that the writing isn't quite where I need it to be to keep my interest. I think Martin is a television writer for a reason: he's great at world creation and character arc, but he needs great actors to flesh it out.

Hey all,

I started writing at the Examiner again, mainly because if I didn't, they'd take my column away and give it to someone else. :) I figure I can probably do one a week and keep it relatively current.

Check it out, if you like!

So yesterday, I decided to make ice cream from this recipe by David Lebowitz. (He doesn't tend to fail me.) I chose, however, to sweeten my ice cream with honey rather than sugar.

Well, did you know that honey is acidic? To borrow a page from sparkymonster, WHO KNEW

Turns out if you heat up good milk and good raw honey in a pan together, you will get MELTED HONEY AND CURDLED MILK.

I let the gross-looking mess sit there with the vanilla in it and steep anyway, because dude, 3/4 cup of local raw honey is expensive and I wanted to see if I could salvage it.

Turns out I was in luck. I did the custard Very Carefully and it actually sort of reconstituted, and when I strained it into the cream, most of the tiny solid bits stayed behind. I churned it this morning, and whoa, it's amazingly tasty. So, not a total fail. Still, I think next time I'll try this recipe, which was developed with honey in mind. (Pro tip: apparently you add the honey at the end. WHO KNEW)

Folks, I'm excited to report that the BBC is singing Brahms' Requiem with the Boston Youth Symphony this Sunday at 3pm at Symphony (freakin') Hall. This is very exciting to me; the symphony of insanely talented kids is, well, insanely talented; singing in Symphony Hall is thrilling, and the Brahms is just an outstanding, gorgeous piece of music.

We won't be led by Scott this time, but by Federico Cortese, the maestro of the BYSO and assistant conductor of the BSO for 7 years.


Tickets are available through the BSO's website.

Please do come - it should be very exciting!

Hey all. I've started a blog about my experiences and thoughts with RSM. Oddly enough, the post I made today is about choral singing.

Please check it out, comment, and tell people if you like it!

Anyone need an apartment in Roxbury? My good friend queenofhalves and her partner barodar are renting a nice 2-bed. They'll be awesome landlords, I promise. :)

Me (seeing the tall and lovely double-bass player who usually plays with us entering): I just love that gorgeous double-bass player.

Really Cool Retired Minister Lady: Oo, yes he is, isn't he!? It's also great that he has that enormous instrument.

Me: *practically sits on her own tongue to avoid speaking*

So I finally finished going through the confessional post this year; there went my week. ;) I'm still not entirely sure why I let myself get caught up in it every year. It has this incredibly compelling quality I can't define, even if I skip the parts that contain ugly drama.

The thing that struck me, though, was this. I'm usually mentioned in the confessional, if only once or twice, and so far, always favorably. But I notice that what people usually have to say is that I'm sexy (about which I cannot complain), and further, that I have some kind of untouchable/mysterious/sensual/powerful quality that makes them afraid to talk to me.

And all I can think is, really? Still? I know I don't spend as much time as I could in the company of the core group that tends to most participate in the confessional. But I feel like I am out there to a certain degree, I'm very public about who I am, and I try to be friendly when I'm not feeling too introverted or crazed. I guess it keeps surprising me that there are people who think I'm scary. The encouraging thing, I guess, is that I figure the people whom I find intimidating probably feel the same way about themselves: i.e., I shouldn't really be afraid to approach them. :)

But I guess I wish that if I were going to get mentioned, someone would say, "I love her writing," or "Her show was really good," or "She really helped me this one time." I mean, I know it's ultimately a crush meme, but somebody started this "fan letters" trend of suggesting people to say nice things about, and it was neat to see the kinds of nice things that people noticed about each other. It took such a long time in my life for me to feel as though I were seen at all; it's a very special gift to be seen accurately, and it's one of my favorite things when it happens.

Hey all,

The Back Bay Chorale spring concert season is nearly upon us! In March, we have not one but two major concerts coming up! Preparation for this has been interesting, let me tell you. The St. John Passion is yet another long and intensely difficult piece by Bach, with all of the rewards that that tends to entail. And the Brahms Requiem is simply one of the most luscious pieces of music ever. Come enjoy one or both, bring your friends!

First up!
Bach's St. John Passion
Directed by Scott Allen Jarrett
March 10, 2012 at 8pm
Sanders Theatre, Harvard University
with:
Dann Coakwell, Evangelist
Paul Max Tipton, Jesus
Margot Rood, soprano
Emily Marvosh, mezzo-soprano
Aaron Sheehan, tenor
Sumner Thompson, baritone

Tickets here!


Next, in a new turn for the BBC, we'll be singing as the guest choir with the Boston Youth Symphony on Brahms' German Requiem. This means singing at Symphony Hall!

Brahms' German Requiem
with the Boston Youth Symphony
Directed by Federico Cortese
Sunday, March 25, 2012, 3pm
Symphony Hall
Purchase your tickets for this concert here.

One of the things that was remarkable about moving into our new place was making a new sourdough starter. We began with flour that had come from our three disparate houses, and that thing bubbled into an absolute sourdough monster in no time at all. Between that, the awesome oven we have, and still more trial and error, I've gotten pretty damn good at making beautiful, tasty white sourdough bread.

A whole grain bread, though, has eluded me for some time. I tried an all-rye recipe a few times, but the loaves were always, if not brick-like, at least somewhat too dense. 100% whole wheat loaves proved equally difficult, even with super-long overnight retards and proofing times, even with added fat. The bread would be dense, grainy, with very little spring if any, and would fall apart when you sliced it or handled it too much.

Finally this weekend I tried this recipe, being careful to watch especially the second video and learn how to properly handle rye flour. I changed a few things - I used white whole wheat flour in place of bread flour, omitted the seeds and the zest, and substituted maple syrup for molasses. I just wanted a tasty whole grain loaf without all the fancy stuff.

Not having a stone cloche baker, I decided to experiment with a technique I picked up from glancing over meristem's gorgeous Tartine book: baking in a closed cast iron Dutch oven.

The results:












This bread is thick-crusted, with a delicious spongy crumb and a balanced flavor. I am so psyched to make it part of my regular repertoire.