Apple Pie

I have been talking about making an apple pie all month!  I found an easy recipe here and finally made it a couple of days ago.

8 apples

1 tbsp. lemon juice

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

4 tbsp. flour

pastry for a 9" double crust pie

1 tbsp. butter

1 egg white

additional sugar

Peel, core, and slice apples.  Toss apples with the lemon juice in a large bowl.  Mix the sugars, the spices, and flour in a medium bowl.  Add to the apple mixture and toss well to coat.  Line a 9" pie pan with one half of the pastry.  Place the apple filling in the crust and dot with the butter.  Roll out remaining pastry to fit the top of the pie.  Cut a few slits in the top.  Beat the egg white until frothy and brush over pastry.  Sprinkle sugar on top.  Bake at 375 degrees F for 35 minutes.  Increase temperature to 400 degrees F and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.

When my Mom and Grandma made pies they always looked a lot prettier!  But I am quite proud of my pie and it tasted absolutely delicious!  Give this recipe a try!

Castaways

The September selection for my book club was White Ghost Girls by Alice Greenway.  It tells the story of Kate and Frankie, two American sisters living in Hong Kong in 1967 during the war in Vietnam and the Cultural Revolution in China.  Their father is a photographer for Time magazine and is in love with death.  He spends most of his time in Vietnam, rarely visiting his family.  Their mother is an artist who paints beautiful watercolors depicting what life was like in the idealized Hong Kong of her memory.  She is in denial about the danger that is all around her family.  The girls are left largely to their own devices and are fascinated by Ho Chi Minh and Chairman Mao and what everyone tries to hide from them.  This curiosity ultimately leads to tragedy.  This is a haunting novel about secrets, danger, and infatuation with the unknown.  Greenway uses beautifully descriptive, almost poetic, language to bring the sights, sounds, tastes, and smells of Hong Kong to the reader.  While I was absolutely captivated by the prose, I was not as enthralled by the characters.  I felt that each character was so fundamentally flawed that it was hard for me to sympathise with any of them.  However, the writing is so exquisite that I would recommend it nevertheless.

Monday Motivator

"It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting."

- Paulo Coelho

Tuacahn Road Trip

Friday was a day off from school as compensation for parent teacher conferences.  A long weekend is the perfect excuse for a road trip so I went with my parents to St. George to see Grease at the Tuacahn Amphitheatre.  I love seeing musicals at Tuacahn because it is such an incredibly beautiful venue with spectacular red rocks as a backdrop and Grease is such fun show!  It tells the well-known story of Danny and the T-Birds and Sandy and the Pink Ladies at Rydell High during the 1950s.  I really loved all of the nostalgic costumes with poodle skirts, letterman sweaters, and saddle shoes abounding.  The sets were a lot of fun especially the Burger Palace and the Twilight Drive-In.  There were also some amazing vintage cars used throughout the show!  "Greased Lightnin'" was fabulous as was the race at Thunder Road, which was a real race in the foothills of the amphitheatre!  All of the main cast had wonderful voices and I especially liked Sandy's rendition of "Hopelessly Devoted to You" and Rizzo's rendition of "There are Worse Things I Could Do."  The big dance numbers were exuberant and I really enjoyed "Summer Nights" and "Born to Hand-Jive."  One of my former students, Molly DePola, was in the ensemble.  She was one of my cheerleaders and it was fun to see her as a cheerleader at Rydell High!  It was a great trip!

Caramel Popcorn Balls

Today is the first day of fall and I am so excited!  Fall is definitely my favorite season!  I love the crisp air, wearing sweaters, the changing colors of the leaves, football games, everything about Halloween, and the wonderful foods associated with fall.  Caramel popcorn balls are one of my favorite treats to make during the fall and here is my recipe:

3 bags of unflavored microwave popcorn

1/4 cup butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Microwave the popcorn and set aside in a large bowl.  In a medium saucepan with a candy thermometer attached, combine the butter, sugar, and corn syrup.  Stir well and bring to boil over medium heat.  Add condensed milk.  Stirring constantly, simmer until thermometer reads 238 degrees F (soft-ball stage).  Remove from heat and add vanilla.  Pour caramel over popcorn.  Butter hands lightly and shape popcorn into balls about 3 1/2 inches in diameter.  Happy fall!

Monday Motivator

"Some men have thousands of reasons why they cannot do what they want to, when all they need is one reason why they can."

 - Willis Whitney

Zucchini Bread

A few weeks ago my friend Mandee gave me some zucchini from her garden.  They say that you never have to buy zucchini because there is always someone who has some to give away!  The day after Mandee gave me some, I saw a bag of them free for the taking in the faculty room at school!  I decided to make some zucchini bread and I found a good recipe here.

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

1tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

3 tsp. ground cinnamon

3 eggs

1 cup oil

1 1/4 cups sugar

3 tsp. vanilla

2 cups grated zucchini

1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 325 degrees then grease and flour two loaf pans.  Sift the flour with the other dry ingredients in a medium bowl.  Beat the eggs, oil, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl.  Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and beat well.  Add the zucchini and walnuts and stir until well combined.  Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 60 minutes.  Allow to cool in the pans for 20 minutes.  Remove from the pans and cool completely.

This recipe is really moist and delicious!  If you are offered some zucchini at work, go ahead and take a couple and give this bread a try!

Nothing Spreads Like Fear

This afternoon I saw the movie Contagion and I think it is a realistic, if unsettling, portrayal of an out of control world epidemic and the resulting chaos!  A woman returns from a business trip to Hong Kong with flu-like symptoms and ultimately dies after suffering from seizures the next day.  Soon there are clusters of outbreaks around the world and the CDC, the WHO, and the Department of Homeland Security try to find the source, contain the spread, and develop a vaccine.  There are many thought-provoking themes which emerge from this movie.  What are the responsibilities of first-responders who might contract the disease?  What are the responsibilities of professionals to society when juxtaposed with the safety of their loved ones?  What are the responsibilities of local agencies when committing resources to something which may or may not be life-threatening?  What is the responsibility of social media in publishing accurate information?  What is the responsibility of pharmaceutical companies to serving the public good versus making billions of dollars?  The all-star ensemble cast is tremendous even if some of the characters seem superfluous.  I will definitely be thinking about this movie for days to come...and I will definitely be washing my hands more often!

Note:  I loved Dr. Sanjay Gupta's cameo as himself!

There Will Be Light

While I am a huge theatre fan, I can also be a bit picky about what I see.  I do not like spending a lot of money on a show if there is a chance that I might not like it (Don't ask me how much I paid to see Seussical the Musical which I hated).  Therefore, I usually opt for five plays out of PTC's seven play season line-up and the five I choose are usually the shows I am more familiar with.  Since I didn't know anything about Next to Normal, I didn't select it as part of my season package.  Then I started hearing a lot of buzz about it.  Many people compared Next to Normal to RENT because it is also a rock opera about a controversial topic where the characters ultimately choose hope over despair.  I absolutely loved PTC's production of RENT so I started paying attention.  Then I heard that Judy McLane was taking a leave of absence from Mamma Mia on Broadway to play the lead role of Diana.  That finally convinced me that I would probably like Next to Normal and I decided to see it tonight.  I am so glad that I did because it is certainly worthy of all of the buzz it has generated!  It is nothing short of spectacular!  It tells the story of how a woman's bipolar disorder affects her family and it is very powerful.  One minute you are laughing and the next minute you are crying.  The music is incredible!  I especially loved the songs "You Don't Know," "Superboy and the Invisible Girl," "Catch Me I'm Falling," and "Light."  Judy McLane gives a tour-de-force performance but every actor in this production is outstanding!  I definitely recommend that you take a chance on something different and see this brilliant show!

Monday Motivator

"Now, we have inscribed a new memory alongside those others. It’s a memory of tragedy and shock, of loss and mourning. But not only of loss and mourning. It’s also a memory of bravery and self-sacrifice, and the love that lays down its life for a friend – even a friend whose name it never knew."
- George W. Bush

Another Camping Trip to Jordanelle

Once again my parents have had the motor home up at Jordanelle Reservoir this week and I couldn't resist an opportunity for a weekend out in the fresh air to recharge my batteries.  I went up Saturday morning and came home tonight.  I absolutely love the solitude of this campground and it was definitely just what I needed!

Here is my Dad living the good life!

Here is my Mom relaxing by the fire!

The best part of camping is building a big bonfire and sitting around it talking for hours!

Fires are also good for roasting marshmallows!

S'mores!

It was a wonderful weekend!  I didn't really want to come home but some people have to work in the morning!

Beethoven's Ninth

It is opening weekend for the Utah Symphony 2011-2012 season and I could not be happier!  Some people may find it odd but I absolutely love classical music and listening to a concert in Abravanel Hall is one of my favorite things to do, especially after a hard week at school.  Tonight the orchestra, along with the Utah Symphony Chorus and the Choristers of the Madeleine Choir School, played a piece called On the Transmigration of Souls by John Adams.  It was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic to commemorate the one year anniversary of the September 11 attacks.   It was beautiful and terrible at the same time.  After the intermission, the mood changed from to despair to hope with Symphony No. 9 by Beethoven.  I thought it was a very appropriate juxtaposition.  In addition to the Utah Symphony Chorus, the orchestra was also joined by four wonderful soloists who sang the amazing "Ode to Joy."  It was magnificent!  I am looking forward to a fabulous new season with the Utah Symphony and Music Director Thierry Fischer (who will be conducting the majority of the concerts this season).

Note:  A little old lady sitting in front of me was knitting during the whole performance!

Supercalifragilistic!

Tonight I went to see the musical Mary Poppins which is, of course, based on the wonderful movie of the same name.  Mary Poppins is actually the very first movie I remember seeing in the theater as a child with my Aunt Sharon and my cousins!  Needless to say I was definitely looking forward to seeing this musical where anything can happen if you let it!  It is the well-known story of a nanny who comes to save a family with all of the familiar songs such as "Jolly Holiday," "A Spoonful of Sugar," "Let's Go Fly a Kite," "Feed the Birds," and "Chim Chim Cher-ee."  The production numbers for "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" and "Step in Time" with the chimney sweeps dancing on the ceiling are absolutely amazing!  The actress playing Mary Poppins (Steffanie Leigh) is practically perfect in every way and the children are adorable.  I definitely recommend this show for children or for adults who remember watching this movie as children!

Monday Motivator

"Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials."

- Lin Yutang

Every Secret Comes With A Price

This afternoon I went to see The Debt and it is very good.  I am a huge fan of espionage novels and movies, especially those set in East Germany!  The story begins in 1997 when retired Mossad agents Rachel (Helen Mirren) and Stefan (Tom Wilkinson) learn that their former colleague David (Ciaran Hinds) has committed suicide.  All three agents are heroes in Israel because of an important mission they completed.  The movie then flashes back to East Berlin in 1965 where Rachel (Jessica Chastain), David (Sam Worthington), and Stefan (Marton Csokas) are tracking down a Nazi war criminal.  They accomplish their mission at great personal risk...or do they?  This movie is incredibly intense and the twists are shocking!  Both the past and present storylines are unbelievably suspenseful and there is a very powerful ending!  The acting is superb!  Of course Helen Mirren is exceptionally good but I was extremely impressed with Sam Worthington, who I have only seen in action blockbusters.  It turns out that he's not just a pretty face but also a pretty good actor!  Definitely go see this movie!