Alert!!!!
People will no doubt remember I launch off occasionally
(well almost every time) after going to a Brian Ganz piano talk or concert
about what an immense talent he is, and such a joy to listen to. Well, maybe you have heard some reports as I have
that the interim administration at the College in an (assumed) effort to cut
expenses is considering changing Brian’s status (and contract) from an Artist
in Residence to a “part time instructor”.
I have absolutely no insight as to the economics of same, but the fear
of course would be that he would leave his post after 28 years of providing
world class music. I imagine that there
are many institutions out there that would love to have his name associated
with them. I wonder if any of the budget
cutter folks have ever been in Auerbach Auditorium on a lovely sunny afternoon
listening to Brian play Chopin. The
thought of losing that is repugnant. So,
if you know any faculty at the college, members of the board of trustees, or
somebody in the administration, let them know how important Brian is to the
cultural fabric of our community. The interim
president’s email is inewbould @ smcm.edu .
And a reminder that there is a concert tonight at eight in the same
auditorium at the college. I can only
imagine it will be to an overflowing audience.
Well, did you survive the holiday? Are the dishes finally washed, silver
polished, pans sparkling and put away. Are
there still the odd leftover pieces of dressing, or turkey, or…..?. I think I may have mentioned in my
pre-thanksgiving musings, that I am convinced turkey is a difficult item to get
right. Much work, average results (yes
there are those that get rave reviews, but I still wonder). As I said, for our “family” thanksgiving we
had a pork loin roast that I got at our farmer’s market from WAG meats of
Leonardtown. It was a lovely piece of
meat, and with minimal preparation it was ready to be cooked.
So the kitchen was prepared
And the oven brought up to heat
Cooking proceeded with occasional basting of pan juices and
some hard cider, and addition of apple chips to the heat for a light smoke
After an hour or so, internal temperature reached around one
hundred forty here in and there, and it was deemed ready to come inside and
rest
Meanwhile, as the chef toiled over the hot oven, guests inside were
treated to a light warm up of cheeses (Keyes Dairy, Beechers), various
crackers, MFO’s cheese straws, and Whitley’s Virginia Peanuts, all helped along
by a very nice bottle of (NV) Scharffenberger Brut Excellence, Methode
Traditionnelle (the legal American term for Champagne) a gift of FOJTE.
Sometime we can discuss what non French makers of sparkling
wines have to go through..
Anyway, you might notice that one of the books below the
table involves an Irish beer. As we were
enjoying the appetizers, a guest on the left hand side of the table stared into
his glass (a common happenstance) and saw:
We didn’t ponder too long on the physics of inverting the
image in the glass of his hard cider (same as used on the meat).
Soon enough the meat had rested enough to be sliced and the (groaning)
board was assembled. We had some lovely
mashed potatoes with goat cheese, as well as some that were escalloped (gratin). MFO (after our Chartreuse experience) made a
lovely salad (with lowly jello)
And the table was set
With a sparkling wine from a local winery as well as a
Rose of Malbec. There is a law that you have to
have black olives as part of your relishes.
And finally the pork made its entrance
Everything was very good.
And for once, even though the Bottom Feeder cooked the meat, he had to
admit that it was good..
We finished the meal with MFO’s pumpkin pie and coffee.. So
our second thanksgiving with family (MFOS) and friends was a great meal and
good companionship. I hope yours was as
well.
And, here it is December already, black Friday and gray
Thursday are behind us (prediction, that is the LAST “black Friday” you will
ever see). And although there is plenty
to say, I won’t go into the astonishing football games of Saturday…
Maybe see you tonight at the concert where you will still be
DFD
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