Kissel

Kissel is a Russian fruit dish which I make with cranberries and serve as a dessert. When red currants or other red summer fruits are used (raspberries, strawberries, rhubarb, and so forth), it's the Danish rødgrød med fløde, served daily in some Danish households. Cranberries are oh-so-good for you, full of vitamins and antioxidants, but too sour to eat out of hand. If you're going to eat sugar, it might as well be in this healthful fashion.

The recipe I use comes from the now out-of-print Horizon Cookbook, published in 1969. I own the two-volume hardcover edition in a slipcase. If the house were burning down, it's quite possibly the first thing I would grab. The first volume is an "Illustrated History of Eating and Drinking Through the Ages"--erudite and engaging. The second volume is recipes from all over the world, plus menus from elaborate dinner parties of the past. Every recipe I've tried is absolutely authentic. All the great classics are in here. I use it regularly for pesto, guacamole, pastry cream, baklava, scones...and this.

Basic recipe: three cups of cranberries and four cups of water, boiled about ten minutes and then pureed through a food mill or sieve. A cup (or to taste) of sugar added and the whole business brought back to the boil. A quarter cup of cornstarch or potato starch mixed with a little water stirred in carefully so no lumps form, and cooked a minute or so till it thickens.

I turn the kissel out into a pretty glass bowl for serving. It's supposed to be eaten chilled, but I like it the minute it comes off the stove. Top with heavy cream or a non-dairy alternative.

Soul Trees

You can expect just about anything up at Richard Richardson's place. Tonight was his annual solstice party, with a Goddess band, another, bluesier band, fire dancing, a groaning board of interesting food (like simmered collards, homemade ravioli, wild rice with sweet potatoes, red tomato pie) and drink (umeshu plum wine, raspberry cheesecake pudding shots, mead, and of course plenty of merlot), etc., etc. Perfect opportunity to wear your feathered headdress, your kilt, your vest made of leaves, or your entire scarf collection. Richard had an arresting new shirt--you could spot him from two football fields away. Brighter gold than his newly-painted house (see above) with a mesmerizing pattern which resolved itself, once your eyes adjusted, into a tiger staring out at you from his midsection.

We didn't stay too long. I had already spent a full day in Connecticut before heading up to Goshen, Alma had poison ivy in her eye from working on the set of Labor Day, and Chris was worried about leaving his dog alone for too long. We had eaten and drunk our fill, danced, sat around the fire pit with old friends, scored a couple of deep massages, seen Richard's latest installations, and watched the moon rise. We were picking our way carefully in the pitch dark, trying to find our car, and this is what we stumbled upon. A woman watering metal trees in the moonlight with a big watering can.

The woman is Antoinette Reed of Cummington and the sculptures are part of her exhibit of "Soul Trees," with Robyn Cummings. They're mostly copper, with glass, marble, and found objects worked into them. Anyone who's been up to the Three Sisters Sanctuary will understand how well these fit into the landscape there. And anyone who hasn't visited really should. There'll be an opening June 30, catered by Bread Euphoria (yum), Blue House Café (yum), the Old Creamery (yum), and Sherry Berry Catering (don't know them, but I assume yum). The event's from 2 till 8, so you won't need a camera flash to see what's in the garden.

Beginner's Luck

One of my California cousins just spent a few days with me. She had only two things on her agenda: a lobster dinner, and a trip to the auction. Lobster she remembers from her childhood in Massachusetts. Auctions she only learned to appreciate on her last visit, but she's hooked.

So four of us cousins went to the Golden Gavel in South Windsor, Connecticut last Thursday, after the seafood dinner was out of the way. The auction was rather disappointing: lots of collectibles, like baseball cards and coins, and what appeared to be an endless parade of repossessed furniture from someplace like Raymour and Flanigan or Ethan Allen. Boring bedroom sets, hutches and so forth...almost none of that funky Victoriana I've grown to love so much. All Sandy wanted was one of the trays of junky jewelry. She had spotted some enormous fake emerald ring she liked, and a couple of pairs of earrings. I never even bother with the costume jewelry--I've got enough to start my own store already, and never wear any of it.

Somebody bid five dollars for the tray, she bid ten, and that was that. Sandra was happy. We got so bored after that, we decided to cash out. Sandy dug out the half-dozen items she liked and announced she was leaving the rest, as not even worth carrying onto the plane. I asked the attendant for a loupe and examined the remaining pieces to see if anything was signed. And what should I spot, under some mismatched clip earrings, but a  diamond solitaire set in 18-carat gold. That will probably pay for her whole trip!

Geri and I divvied up the discards. I ended up with two lockets, a large crystal, a sterling silver Claddagh ring, a compass on a fob, chains, necklaces, earrings, brooches, etc., etc. Here's just some of my share in the photo. It doesn't look half bad cleaned up. I'll probably accessorize not myself, but my house with it. Or make Taz a fancy collar. Meanwhile, I learned my lesson. From now on I won't turn my nose up at those crappy trays anymore.

Who's on My Side?

I had a completely free day today (final exams ended for me yesterday), and my car's running great, so I decided to head over to AIC's Griswald Theater for the premiere of a new play by Keshawn Dodds, Who's on My Side ? Keshawn is a local author and my FB friend; his co-director, Benjamin Smith, lives across the street from me. I wanted to show them both my support.

It seems like just a few weeks ago Keshawn was saying that he was planning to turn his latest book into a play. Then, boom bang, he wrote the script, got a grant and fellowship from the Springfield Cultural Council to fund it, held tryouts, cast the play, rehearsed it, and today it was performed. I am impressed!

I was nosy, too. I wanted to see what the level of professionalism would be for this local production which seemed to have sprung up like a mushroom overnight. The actors were either local residents who had heard about the tryouts, or AIC students. Some had never acted before, and at least one with a major part--Cliff Wright--was a last-minute replacement and had only two weeks to learn his lines (he was terrific).

Sets, costumes, and effects were appealing. Music was catchy and appropriate. Every single actor threw himself into his part. Craig Washington as the abusive dad, for example, was ominous and frightening every time he took the stage.

Best of all, the audience really had a good time. Over a hundred people showed up at the matinee with me, and I'm sure the evening performance was even more crowded. Lots of young people were in the audience. They laughed, held their breath, clapped and cheered throughout. It was evident they were really getting into it. (Plot in a nutshell: Kalen Brown, hero of the play, lives through the summer after his graduation, the bad guys die, he escapes his oppressive situation and gets the girl. The end.)

After the performance came some interaction with the cast and crew. Keshawn was asked how close to his own life this story was. In reply, he called up two of his brothers for an emotional interlude. ( No, it wasn't his "real" life, but yes, it did draw from parts of it.) That's Keshawn in the photo with his hand over his eyes during an emotional moment.

The play was streamed live over the internet, making it available to anyone anywhere. And of course for old fogeys like me, there's always the book.

Fermat's Last Tango

I wish I could go back in time and tell my young self that in the 21st century, well into my dotage, I'd still be having an impossibly good time....that my Saturday nights would eclipse even those Yale proms, those romantic evenings on the Boul'Mich, those private parties at the Teheran Hilton. Take last night, for example. What in the world could beat sitting in my own office, drinking a glass of "red" (at $4.50/bottle, you don't get any more description than that), and watching Fermat's Last Tango with the nerdiest person I know?

At least one of us thought that this musical inspired by Andrew Wiles and his proof of Fermat's Last Theorem was hilarious. In it, Daniel Keane (a.k.a. Wiles) solves the most famous problem in math (a solution to Pierre de Fermat's 1637 theorem "the equation xn + yn = zn has no solution when x, y and z are postive whole numbers and n is a whole number greater than 2"). Then Fermat himself appears to him and points out a hole in the proof. Eventually Keane corrects his proof, but not before a couple of trips to the AfterMath, where he meets Pythagoras, Euclid, Newton, and Gauss.

If you like catchy tunes with phrases like “Taniyama-Shimura conjecture” worked into the lyrics, this is the show for you. If, like the other one of us, you don't especially care for musicals of any stripe, it's at least a bit of a math history refresher. Meanwhile I can always dream that Cervantes, Shakespeare, Molière or Pound will show up from wherever dead writers go and reassure me that I have even more exciting evenings to look forward to between now and whenever I kick the bucket.

die Frühjahrsmüdigkeit!

It's been spring for five days, and I have spring fever. Not the usual case of it, where I feel so frisky I want to bounce out of bed early, go outside, run around in the grass, play loud music. This year, I've got that peculiarly German form of spring fever, die Frühjahrsmüdigkeit. That's more like spring tiredness.

I went to a German site to get some tips for overcoming this torpor I can't seem to shake. I should've known better. Suggestions: take cold showers, take a trip to the mountains, exercise, clean the house, eat chocolate. Leave it to the Germans! As a people, they are unfailingly efficient, orderly, and energetic. You have die Frühjahrsmüdigkeit? No, no, don't take a nap! Take a cold shower and get on with it!

Well, I'm not German, and I'm too darned tired for any of those things, except the eating chocolate one. I think I'll have a Snickers bar and go to bed.

GGGG

Today was the third annual Author Fair at the Springfield Central Library. I LOVE walking a block or two to a nice event that doesn't cost anything....it's one of the perks of living downtown. (I've only filled my gas tank once since September!) So over I went.

The beautiful library rotunda was filled with tables, behind which sat local authors with copies of their books, their business cards, and whatever other items they wanted to display. Randy Purinton had articles and research materials pertinent to his Civil-War-era non-fiction book, It Hasteth Away, Husein Muhammad had rocks painted to look like the ones in his children's book The Man, Blanche Jackson-Hill had lollipops and Monopoly money for Straight to the Point Financing, Gerry Garner had beautiful bonsai.

Ms. Garner--GGGG, she calls herself, for Great-Grandmother Gerry Garner--was so vivacious and interesting, I talked to her for over half an hour. Her book, Generations Build the Future: Positives Needed Now! is a collection of life lessons from people across the age spectrum. (I feel I'm not doing the book justice by my description, but I've yet to read it!)

Gerry Garner recently started a group for authors, and I intend to join it. I'm hoping some of her energy will rub off on me. She's trim, petite, old enough to be a great-grandmother, but incredibly vigorous. She really packs a lot in a small package. Come to think of it, kind of like her bonsai.

Dear IRS: Have a Nice Day!

Today I mailed off my payment to the IRS for 2010--only a little over 11 months late. The IRS is actually quite reasonable as long as you appear to be cooperating with them. I'm just happy to have this bill paid off before I have to worry about 2011. I've got three whole weeks till that one will be overdue!

I was so happy, I pasted smiley faces on the envelope. To the IRS worker, or robot, who ends up dealing with my payment....have a nice day!!!