the christmas season is the musician's 'rush hour'. my students had 3 gigs in the last week. this one was at the annual Festival of Trees, where local businesses and philanthropists donate decorated christmas trees, gift baskets, etc for silent auction to raise funds for the hospital's palliative care facility. a couple of days before that it was a concert of music by canadian composers, and last night it was a local pot luck banquet, which was packed... and gave them a standing ovation. we all left with a warm glow and full bellies. now it's sunday afternoon and i'm kicking back with my feet up, recharging till next week's blur of activities.
11 comments:
Hi Grannyfiddler!
I have a friend who is an artist so know well how people just don’t want to pay for art or music! … some of her stuff goes for dirt cheap and it has taken her hours … and it costs a lot for art supplies. I see you are already busy and it is only November!
You asked for the crisp recipe ...
I halve this crisp for the two of us (for two meals) and make it in a corning ware casserole. I vary the fruit. I don’t always pre saute the fruit either … if I know that the apples are good cooking apples and will cook down nicely. The heat is lower so that the almond topping doesn’t get too toasty and I think it is because of the lower heat that they pre-cook the fruit a little. The pear/strawberry/blueberry combo (with cardamom for the spice) was very satisfying.
This recipe is from the book “Grain Free Courmet” by Jodi Bager and Jenny Lass … grain free, refined sugar free and low lactose. I’m able to make a couple of dessert recipes out of this book when on the cleanse. It was a worth-while addition to our cook book library!
Apple-Cranberry Crisp
Makes one 9 x 13 casserole
Saute until barely tender:
10 large sweet apples
butter or ghee for sauteing
Juice of ½ lemon or lime
2 tsps ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
pinch of salt
Remove from heat, stir in:
½ cup unsweetened frozen cranberries
and layer in baking pan.
Topping
1 cup ground almonds
1 ½ cups slivered almonds
2 tbsps melted butter
1 tbsp honey (I used a wee bit of stevia + 1 tbsp of unsweetened apple butter … you may want to add some applesauce or applebutter anyway, as the topping does call for some liquid off of the cooked apples up to ¼ cup.
½ tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
Mixture should be crumbly.
Bake in a 310 degree F oven for 40 minutes.
Enjoy ... Cis!
What a nice photograph of you, your students and the lovely Flora. I hope the blur of activities aren't wearing you out.
Good news about the potential new coalition government. My husband made me sit down before giving me the article from the Star to read. Well, it was a nice surprise and I like those.
cicero - thanks for the recipe. as soon as i'm home long enough to do more than sleep or change my clothes, or teach the weekly violin lessons, i'll try it.
su - i'm not so sure i'm thrilled about the whole coalition thing. yes, Harper is arrogant and short sighted, and i hold him and a few others in sincere contempt, but isn't the whole point of democracy that you give the guys who won the election half a chance to show how they're going to keep their promises? perhaps i'm naive, but i do expect them to at least make some pretense of an effort, and that does take a little time.
Coalitions formed to vote on various measures have always been a part of parliamentary governments and, although this is a rare event, I thought a coalition of the representatives of a major part of the public formed to resist an unfair economic policy was an excellent ploy. We'll be watching to see what developes.
su - i don't pretend to have your grasp of political process, so i won't argue.... but i think they're ALL behaving like children, and i'm not impressed.
Please pass on my congratulations to all of your talented students for the very good work that are doing to entertain and bring good cheer/joy within your community.
Additionally of course my congratulations to yourself as their primary instigator/ encourager/Teacher.
Tonight my wife and self join up with others for a Christmas concert for one of our local aged care homes. This year we will be again linking with some bell ringers, they will perform independently as well as joining with us with accompaniment: additional to the pianist.
Best wishes
lindsay - i'll pass on your encouragement to my students. thanks for that. they really are a terrific bunch, ranging from age 7 to elderly. music has its heart in community. it saddens me to see it so under-appreciated. so many folk would rather plug in a CD or turn on the television for their music. especially in smaller centres, where the attitude seems to be "if they're local, they can't be any good at this" ...but we're working to change that. the local owner of a funky bistro has asked us to do some regular live gigs in his restaurant.
... oh, and blessings on the gig with the bell ringers. they're always a treat @ christmas, and your mellow voice can only warm hearts and stir smiles.
i'd prefer to listen to live music anytime! glad you are getting out and about to an appreciative audience.
How rich! You are a good person to bring so much music into a world that needs all the light it can find.
Thanks.
Claire - those who choose to remain sane in the far north find ways to be busy. depression is a big problem here - a combination of light deprivation and lifestyle... yes; live music is hard to beat... especially if can get in on the making of it!
Gary - music as light.... what a beautiful concept!
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