happy 254th mozart

Mike and Barb

Last October B and I attended the NCCC fundraiser where B bid on and won 4 tickets to the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in the silent auction. We could choose among any of the classical series of concerts to redeem our tickets. We chose to celebrate Mozart's birthday by attending the Happy Birthday Mozart concert last night. Mozart turned 254 on January 27th. We usually celebrate his birthday by watching Amadeus which has always been a favorite movie of ours. We invited Mike and Barb to go with us to the concert. Barb and I discussed restaurants where we would like to go to dinner before the concert. At first we were thinking Rue Franklin because I have never been there. Then Barb heard a review on Kiss 98.5 one morning about this new restaurant that had recently opened up.....The 31 Club.


one of the dining rooms at The 31 Club

According to their website The 31 Club was an exclusive supper club that got it's start in the 1940s catering to socialites and Buffalo's law community. It enjoyed four decades of success before closing it's doors in 1983. The building sat abandoned and in disrepair until recently when it was renovated and a new swanky modern supper club returned. The new restaurant retains the same class, style and sophisication of the previous restaurant but with a fresh, modern and comtemporary flair. It is very pretty. Too bad I didn't get any pictures of the spiral staircase with zebra print wallpaper or the bar or the really neat flooring....brown ceramic tile with smaller black marble tiles interspered. The color scheme was all brown and black. I did get this shot of the dining area. I had the arugula salad with lemon viniagrette. Everyone else had the field greens salad. Barb and B had the free range chicken entree, Mike had a freeform eggplant Napoleon and I tried the foie gras meatloaf. Barb, Mike and I followed up our main course with vanilla creme brulee and three spoons. B abstained. All the food was great and the staff very attentive. The waitress asked if we would attending the theater after dinner because the restaurant offered free shuttle service to Shea's. We told her we were headed to Kleinhans Music Hall and she said the shuttle would take us there too. Even to the stadium for Sabres games.


Kleinhans

So feeling like those socialites who long ago frequented The 31 Club, we accepted the offer and were dropped right at the door of the music hall thus avoiding looking for a place to park in the traffic mess around Kleinhans and also avoiding the walk in the frigid cold. The concert was great. A young seventeen year old Grammy nominee, Caroline Goulding, from Cleveland played a concerto with the orchestra. She certainly drew your attention with her beautiful red gown and alabaster skin and remarkable talent. The concert ended, we called Jake and within five minutes our van arrived to shuttle us back to our car at the restaurant. Barb remarked that she felt like she was on a little mini vacation and I had to agree. It was a very pleasant evening with very pleasant company.

chocolate bread pudding

Today was sort of a piddle around day. I had a big long to-do list and only crossed a few items off. One of those items was to clean a bathroom which I did and I also changed the bed sheets so I guess I accomplished something. Another item on my list was to do something with a loaf of French bread that I let sit around for several days until it became hard and stale. I settled on chocolate bread pudding because it has always been one of Bill's favorite desserts. I like it as a breakfast item. Then I had to search through tons of cookbooks for a recipe. I settled on Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts.


We like to eat it in bowls with milk.

Chocolate Bread Pudding

3 cups milk
4 oz unsweetened chocolate
2 T butter
1 cup sugar
2 t vanilla
1 c heavy cream (I used half & half)
4 lg eggs
4 cups coarse fresh crumbs
This is where I deviated from the recipe. I don't know how many cups of bread crumbs I had. I didn't really have crumbs. I tried breaking up my loaf of bread in to pieces and turning it into crumbs in my food processor, but the big chunks got stuck on the blades and were to hard to process. When the motor started smelling hot I stopped and used a knife to cut the bread into slices and then broke those up with my hands. So I ended up with big chunks, small chunks and crumbs.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 2 to 3 quart casserole dish.
In a saucepan , heat milk, chocolate and butter until the chocolate has melted, about 5 minutes. Stir in the sugar and vanilla and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the cream and eggs until evenly colored. Add the melted chocolate mixture and the bread and mix well.
Pour the pudding into the prepared baking dish and bake until puffed and set about 1 hour. The center may jiggle a little but a knife inserted in the center should come out almost clean.
B pronounced it good and said that his taste buds appreciated it.

rosy day

I must have rolled out of the right side of bed today or grabbed my rose-colored glasses instead of my reading glasses because I felt happy and smiley all day today.

It started with cooking wheat germ pancakes. I used my small ladle to ladle the batter onto the griddle so each pancake was uniform in size. Then I watched carefully using the knowledge I gained in junior high Home Ec class as each pancake formed bubbles all cross the top before I turned them. You must be patient and never turn them until they are ready or you will be met with disappointing results.

My happy mood continued when I went to the BAC for my Saturday morning work-out. My instructor is very pregnant due February 10th and she still managed to give us one of the hardest work-outs ever. We are all going to miss her. I've been attending her classes three times a week for about three years and have barely ever missed. She promises to return in eight weeks. Good luck, Alex, with the baby and all, but paleeze come back as soon as you can. I followed the class with a 5K run. I sometimes pretend that I can't stop or slow my pace because the world is dependent on me to divert some catastrophe but this morning I pretended to run a marathon and I am happy to report that I won.

I came back home for a quick shower and then on to the hair salon where I sat and relaxed while I became a solid brunette again instead of a silver-streaked brunette. Sharon is the best. I've been going to her for a lot of years now and I left feeling a little fresher and younger than when I walked in the door.

It was 1 pm and I had only had an apple and two small pancakes so far today. I was hungry from my work-out so I stopped at Panera and tried their new Salmon Mediterranean salad which I highly recommend. I relaxed a little more and read my emails.

I have been shopping for a new sewing machine. I have already decided which Viking I would buy if I were to buy a Viking so today I went to Aurora Sewing Center on Main Street in Clarence to check out the Berninas. I spent a fair amount of time there and came away impressed with the Berninas and the family owned shop. I am leaning heavily toward the Arista 630.



And then as a special treat and because I haven't indulged in thrift store shopping for some time now, I hit the Goodwill that is close to the sewing store.
My favorite purchase was this brand new pair of rose (yes, more rose coloring in my day)and gold Keds.




And because I can't resist any old evening bag especially one with a rosy flower on it even if it is a bit tattered and gaudy




or a cute make-up bag



or a trio of all-purpose silk tops

and Debbie.....look at these. I only bought two plates but they had a few other pieces also none of which were in the best shape.



So I returned home at 5 pm, six hours from the time I left home after my shower. I apologized to B for being gone all day but he wasn't phased. He said "You told me when you left that you would be gone all day.''



I had planned to make a somewhat complicated dish for dinner...Ropa Veija Pot Pie. I wanted to make this because you bake it in small casserole dishes. I have a little love affair with small casserole dishes. I had all the ingredients but when I really looked at the recipe I realized it took nearly three hours to make and also the Dr. Konstantin Frank Merlot that I had poured for myself was staring to kick in so I improvised a little and changed the recipe alot to come up with something less time-consuming. I cooked the meat the way they said but served it over polenta with a black bean veggie dish on the side.


Braising the steak: Cut a flank steak in half; season with pepper. Coat a pan with nonstick spray;sear steak over med-high heat about 4 minutes per side. Stir in a bottle of beer,a cup of beef broth (beeth broth;beef brof...I have never been able to say this),1 T chili powder, 1 T oregano, 1 T minced garlic, 2 t cumin and 1/8 t cinnamon. Reduce heat to low and simmer covered for about 40 minutes.


1 red chopped red pepper, 1 chopped poblano pepper, 1 chopped Anaheim pepper, 1 diced onion. I cooked this in the pan that I had fried the polenta slices in first so there was just a coating of olive oil left in the pan. cook for a few minutes until the veggies soften and then add a couple of chopped roma tomatoes and cook a minute or two longer.


the flank steak after braising


After I took this photo B remarked that I should have served it with sour cream to cut some of the spiciness of the dish. It really wasn't all that spicy but he was right. I didn't have sour cream but did have a little leftover plain yogurt in a carton to which I added some smashed up avocado . It turned out to be the perfect accompaniment with it's cool creaminess and would have added some attractive color to the photo..

tgif

TGIF...I think I'm going nuts
Sometimes I give myself the creeps
Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me
It all keeps adding up
I think I'm cracking up

simply scrambled

There is just something pleasurable in watching eggs cook. Going from a thick liquid...









to fluffly chunks

turkey with olive-raisin tapenade

for the tapenade
1/4 c kalamata olives
1/4 c pimento-stuffed green olives
2 T golden raisins (out of so I used regular)
1 t lemon juise
1/2 olive oil
Finely chop olives and mix with the rest. Spoon over pan sauteed turkey cutlets and serve atop zesty greens.

recycling

These flowers



are



these flowers.

my dream

I had a dream last night that has been stuck in my mind all day so I decided to draw a part of it. I used to be able to draw much better than this so pardon my drawing. In my dream B and I were on vacation somewhere. We decided to take a tour. I think we started out on a bus full of people but ended up just the two of us traveling on some kind of large open wagon. The trip was very long through winding country roads. B started to complain that the trip was long and boring but I knew that somewhere along the way we were supposed to come to a historic house. Just as I spotted the George Someone house in the distance, B spotted our original departure point - some kind of apartment complex or resort - down in a valley. He started running toward it and yelled at me to follow but I wanted to see the historic house. He came back and stood by while I entered the house via a set of wooden steps. The floor was hexagon tiles like a honeycomb. Little piles of dried brown leaves sat in various spots on the floor. Opposite the stairs was a door leading back outside. To the right was a china cabinet filled with lustreware which I collect. But to the left was a china refrigerator. A refrigerator made of fine china. The doors opened from the middle and the handle was serpentine and made of gold. Inside it was full of food stored in exquisite little antique dishes. In my dream I could see all these dishes in detail but when I awoke it all started to fade.



This is a terrible drawing but it is an earring that I designed in a dream a few months ago. The outside is a lacy wire wrap with an indistinct shape. The stone is a many faceted pale milky green stone. After I had this dream I went to a jewelry show and I saw a necklace that looked almost exactly like the one I dreamed. I have designed many lovely clothing items in my dreams also, but almost all fades upon awakening. I think living in a dream world may not be so bad.

shades of red and orange

fresh orange yogurt tart

Yum. The crust is ground almonds, flour, butter and sugar. The filling is honey Greek yogurt, gelatin powder and half and half.


spiced pumpkin rolls rising before baking


Italian stuffed Peppadew peppers

Wegman's made these. I baked them.