I got blisters on me fingers!

It has been awhile since I have posted some of my theatre work, so I thought I would share some from the week that shall live in infamy - 4 shows in three days. My hands ached and my eyes were bleary, but I made it. I shot the YES Festival (a series of new plays done in repertoire at NKU) and a fantastic show at New Edgecliff Theater called Angry Housewives.

First up - Angry Housewives, since it is still running through May 2nd. Please go see it! It is a fun romp about a group of housewives that, for varying reasons, start a punk band to compete in a battle of the bands. Did I mention it is set in the 80's? My perfect musical!

(The last song in the first act is called "Eat your F@&#ing Corn Flakes." How fab is that?!)

Next is the YES Festival. These are all new, previously unperformed works. Some great stuff, some stuff that need a bit of retooling. Overall every show was well acted and technically gorgeous.

Shock and Awe is about what our troops are going through at home and abroad. It was touching and disturbing to see the headlines acted out in front of you.




Next is Nightjars. It is a study in group dynamics and FBI interrogation techniques. Who watches the watchmen, people?




Last is a touching (yet a touch long) study of a family living with Autism called Love and Communication. It is about a young couple trying to navigate the system to find the best possible education for their son.

(Dad used some not so great techniques to get the headmaster of a school's attention.)

Two more show this week, one of which is a dance concert. I can wait!

Yummy!

Normally when offered an oatmeal cookie, I politely decline and secretly think that it is just not worth the calories. This cookie has made a believer out of me. It is made from one of those batters that I almost hate to ruin by baking it, but thank goodness I did. They have a light autumnal flavor to them- due to the cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg- that also scents the air in the house for quite a while after baking. I altered the recipe a bit (a recipe that I found over at A Dash of Sass, that she found in The Joy Of Cooking) by adding an extra teaspoon of vanilla and I used white chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet. I also left out the nuts. The kiddos won't touch a cookie with nuts in it. As A Dash of Sass says, the base batter is so adaptable - what you throw in is really up to you.

Oatmeal White Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 tablespoon milk

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

dash of nutmeg

1 cup uncooked quick rolled oats

4 oz white chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Oven at 350

2. Cream sugars and the softened butter

3. Add in the egg, milk and vanilla, beat until smooth

4. At this point you are supposed to sift together all of the dry ingredients except the oats and the white chocolate chips. Truth be told, I am pretty lazy so I just added them to the mixing bowl as I measured them out. The cookies are still really good!

5. Now add the oats and the chips.

6. Using a small cookie scoop (if you don't have one, go get one. I love this tool and use it all the time! I have a small one and it is great for controlling portion sizes.) drop dough onto a lined cookie sheet.

7. Bake for around 12 minutes. Mine were perfect at 12 minutes - not too hard, not too soft. My oven runs a bit hot though, so keep adjust accordingly.

Using the cookie scoop, I got 46 cookies out of this recipe. Accoring to my calorie calculator, these cookies are roughly 70 calories a piece. Not a bad little snack to have with a cup of tea!

I won something and it is really cool!

I read The Steampunk Home religiously. I love steampunk as a style and it is something my husband and I can both agree upon. This blog helps you Steampunkify (is that a word?) your home. TSH's blogging style is fun, accessible and has encouraged my husband to help me- even get excited about- home decor.

Now the give away was products from London Particulars. I got an amazing print that I could gush about all day and a great ring. The print has the loveliest colors in it. It gently glows. You really have to see it in person to appreciate it; the color is so delicate it is really hard to truly see its intricacy through a computer monitor. I love it. My boy looked at it and asked if people can really fly like that in London. It is already matted, framed and on my wall (having a mat cutter helps.) The ring speaks for itself. See the pictures! As for he store , the ring and photo were nicely presented, well wrapped and shipped promptly - everything you are looking for in an online shop. I highly recommend both the blog and the store.

Sometimes you have to take a picture for dad.

Yes, she is that tough.

I have done my job.

As a stay at home mom you don't really get job reviews. You are kinda flying blind as to whether you are doing a good job or not. Tonight, after my boy was officially put to bed, he came upstairs (the living room attached to our bedroom) while I was watching a show that was not appropriate for small ears.

me: What are you doing? You are supposed to be in bed.
him: I needed a hug and a kiss.
(I pause the show then grab him and pull him into a bear hug on the couch)
him: I am more important than any show!

Mission accomplished. My kid knows he is important to me.

Quote of the week

Once you make it past the scales and blindfold,Justice is a woman with a sword. - Y the Last Man

I have been reading a lot of graphic novels lately and Y: the Last Man is one of the series I am devouring. I have a love/hate relationship with it. The story is very cool - everything with a Y chromosome dies at once save Yorick and his monkey. Society falls apart.

I have a problem with the society falling apart part. The feminist in me gets a little fired up when I read about the grid being down and a lack of food. Women know how to care for ourselves, and we also know how to do every single job out there. We are not living in the dark ages when all women did was care for the home. We are trained in all technologies currently available. Sure, there would be a time of confusion and sadness, but I really think we would pull it together.

Anyway, I am so thrilled that my library carries such an amazing collection of graphic novels and manga. Funny side note: I was photographing a show this week and the director asked me what I was reading. I told him it was "From Hell" and held the book up. At this point he gets the biggest smile, points to the library bar code and asks where did you get it? Turns out he is the librarian responsible for stocking all of the graphic novels and other specialty books at my library!

These boots were made for walkin...

I am having trouble coming up with a title for this post. Sorry.

I have always loved the look of these tree branch things. You know, Martha and every craft show under the sun makes one for every holiday. They stick a branch in a flowerpot of some sort and proceed to decorate it according to the season. I finally gathered all of the components for one and decided to get a lot of use out of it - I used it for both St. Pat's day and Easter.


For St. Pat's day I found a bunch of vintage St. Patrick's Day greeting cards and made little ornaments out of them. I loved it so much it pained me to take it down. The shamrocks are from a project my boy made at school.



Now for Easter I blew some eggs (and made a fantastic pound cake) and used a Martha marbleizing technique to decorate them. I glued ribbon around them and I was done!

(Egg Noir)

Ok, so I did this technique form memory and I probably should have taken the time to go re-read the instructions, but I was worn out after dyeing eggs with the chicklins. I think the eggs are pretty though. and I will be saving them for next year. Since blowing eggs is a bit nerve wracking, I figured I can do a few every year until I have the pretty display I want.

(Here is a detail so you can see both the hole made from blowing the eggs and how I attached the egg to the base.)






(Here is what my fingers looked like at the end of the night. I had my husband take a pic because I was afraid to touch my camera!)

Had to share.

What you are looking at is potentially the most fattening thing on the planet. Well, it isn't so bad if you cut it small enough. This cake is the result of quite a silly journey. I wanted to "blow" some eggs to make decorated eggs that I could hang on my mantle. Now I hate to waste food, so I started looking for recipes that called for lots of eggs. I found this amazing recipe for cream cheese pound cake over at Smitten Kitchen. It tastes glorious and the house smells sooooo good for hours after baking it.


The cake has a velvety texture and a wonderful delicate flavor. SK makes her cake in a bundt pan, but I opted for the traditional loaf pan (it makes 2 loafs) for ease of splitting the cake into small serving sizes ( I always cut bundt cake pieces too big!) I also changed the coulis (the sauce you see on the cake above) recipe a bit. The recipe calls for fresh strawberries, but all I had on hand were frozen blueberries. I thawed the berries out a bit by running them under hot water then I processed them according to the recipe. I also added an extra tablespoon of sugar, but I don't think it was necessary. I am glad that I tried the coulis - we have already found other places to use it. My husband poured it over ice cream (it has to be better than chocolate sauce, it is berries after all) and I want to try it on waffles. Oh - I bet it would be good mixed into yogurt as well...

Happy Birthday, baby.

Happy birthday, handsome man. I have known you since you were 25. That was a while ago...