Two Cultural Experiences in Columbus

This month my husband and I have expanded our cultural horizons a bit and attended a couple events we’ve never yet been to here in Columbus – the ballet and a performance by the Columbus Jazz Orchestra.

Best as I can recall, the only other two times I’ve ever attended a ballet (other than my niece’s recital when she was little) was “The Nutcracker” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” – both way back when.

I happened to be flipping through the February issue of City Scene magazine which has on its cover a photo from the current (ballet) production of “Alice in Wonderland,” and mentioned to my husband that that might be interesting. He agreed, and said if I wanted to see it he’d be happy to go too. As we had no plans for Valentine’s Day we bought a pair of tickets for the evening performance.

  

Having not attended a ballet in a long time I had no idea of what to expect. I was surprised by how many tall people were in the audience, very likely dancers themselves, but wasn’t surprised by how many children (mostly girls) were also in attendance (especially as many of the performers attended the Columbus City Ballet School).

Before the performance we strolled around and checked out the many exhibits in the lobby including old doors to dressing rooms that had been signed over the years by many a celebratory including artists, athletes and even a famous coach or two (Woody Hayes ring a bell anyone?). I guess that’s how you know you’ve arrived when you’re asked to sign a door, a wall, a menu, or whatever.

There was also a backdrop and props where you could pose as if you were a character in “Alice in Wonderland.” We saw both kids and adults doing this.

I loved the clever design of the scenery such as tiny doors when Alice grew big and a large door projected onto a drop down screen for when Alice shrunk again. I had rather wondered how they were going to do that since you can’t literally make a human grown or shrink (they also used a silhouette projection on a screen).

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum were quite amusing and rode a bicycle built for two around the stage in some of the scenes. They were definitely the comic relief and performed in perfect symmetrical motions.

Most recently we attended a performance of the Columbus Jazz Orchestra. As we’re both fans of jazz and listen to Jazz Sunday on WCBE (radio) every weekend, we thought we would probably enjoy seeing the music performed live, and we definitely weren’t disappointed.

The theme of the evening was Modern Romance featuring Canadian musician, Bria Skonberg who was truly fabulous and it was a no brainer to purchase her CD down in the lobby during the interval.

I enjoyed how Bria explained the story behind each song and even recited some of the lyrics (since most were just played without the words). Probably the most interesting was a song originally titled, “The Barnyard Stomp,” which was slowed down and lyrics added to the melody. It evolved so much I doubt it bears much resemblance to its original version.

There were a variety of songs from musicians I had heard of: Leonard Cohen, Henry Mancini and Cole Porter, and several from artists I was less familiar with: Johnny Mercer, Hoagie Carmichael and Randy Weston, to name a few.

The director of the jazz orchestra said the great thing about jazz music is it gives you hope and helps clear away the dust of everyday trials and tribulations. I definitely agree and left in a much better mood having attended. I can’t wait to attend another performance in the future.

A Night out at The Chocolate Café to Shake off the Winter Blues

Monday night I headed to one of my favorite local food/drink establishments, the Chocolate Café in Grandview. As a regular attendee of these events, I made sure to get there early to secure one of the precious few parking spots (though there is free on street parking after 6pm).

As the time grew nearer our group began filtering in which consisted of three couples and three of us ‘single ladies’ (though I’m technically not, but as Andrew wasn’t present, I was single for the evening).

Lisa, the owner of the Chocolate Café came over and introduced herself and Catherine, her pastry chef.

The first order of business was to make a creamy, fizzy spring cocktail (not sure it has a name) consisting of a generous scoop of strawberry ice cream, a couple pieces of strawberry, and a generous amount of either Seltzer water or Prosecco, depending on whether or not you’re going for the virgin version.

I opted for the Prosecco and gradually poured in the entire (small) bottle. Someone suggested sherbert/sorbet would work equally as well.

What would a pre-Valentine’s celebration be without strawberries dipped in chocolate? We took turns going up in pairs to dip our strawberry in the chocolate melting machine they have behind the counter. I had previously used that when dipping my Buckeye flavored apple last fall.

Next on the agenda was learning how to make a bowl out of chocolate. We were given a small plastic cup, a generous piece of clear wrap, and some melted chocolate. We placed the bowl upside down on a plate, then stretched the clear wrap around the bowl and tucked it under the plate. Then we each took turns spooning chocolate over our clear wrap.

Based on my results, I would advise drizzling it more heavily around the center so you build up a solid base. Although mine looked pretty while it set, it literally broke apart when I separated it from the clear wrap (after it sat in the freezer for awhile). I wasn’t the only one with mixed results, and not sure many had an intact bowl afterwards. No matter, you still have some lovely chocolate to eat afterwards, or melt it down and try again.

Catherine brought out her icing bags and gave us a lesson in piping cupcakes using different kinds of nozzles and technique depending on what kind of a flower you want to create. To do a rose, you work from the outside in; to do a zinnia, you pipe individual peaks. Otherwise, you can start from the center and work your way around in a circle.

The lady sitting to my left (whose daughter is a chocolatier in Guam apparently) made a pretty design using different colored frosting for her zinnia, which I tried to copy, but mine didn’t look anywhere near as nice as hers.

I really enjoyed piping the cupcakes and would have been quite happy to do an entire cake. I think piping can be very zen-like if you’re not under time pressure (like the bakers on “The Great British Bake-Off” often are).

Lisa also shared some small rice krispie squares which most of us dipped in the leftover chocolate (and I added some to my spring cocktail). I’m glad she passed those around since I decided to take home my strawberry and cupcake (and broken chocolate bowl) to share with Andrew.

What Made me Happy in January (2020)…..

Apple Pie flavored Mochi Ice Cream

As a fan of all things Japanese, Mochi are something I have become familiar with over the years. They’re a pastry typically made of flavored bean paste topped off with a generous sprinkle of powdered sugar. They come in both the room temperature variety and ice cream ones which can be bought either in a box or individually (at least at Whole Foods Market). I’ve had the red bean, green tea, and taro varieties. Of the ice cream type I’ve only tried the Pumpkin and Apple Pie flavors. Of all these, I cannot recommend highly enough the Apple Pie flavor. It’s a little taste explosion in your mouth and definitely tastes like what it is. This isn’t a treat just for autumn, but can certainly be appreciated year round. I just think it’s nice when you discover something unexpected like this (the surprise being that it was as tasty as it was). I look forward to trying some of the other flavors like the Yuki and Love Strawberry and the Yuki and Love Lychee (both available at a Costco World Market store near you).

James May in Kyoto for the first episode of “James May Our Man in Japan.”

I know I already talked about this, but I really enjoyed watching this episode and imagining what it would be like if I was there riding a sled being pulled by dogs or participating in the team snowball fight. I know the language barrier would not be an issue doing that. I think “Ouch” is the same in every language! I also hadn’t realized either of these things were something they did in Japan, so I learned something. The rest of the episodes have been equally interesting, educational and definitely entertaining!

Watching a colorful Nature Program on Amazon Prime

I was skimming the vast amount of programs on offer on Amazon Prime (a channel that I often forget about when I am on Netflix) and came across “Through the Garden Gate – A Diary of the English Countryside.” As I was also trying to sort through some papers, I figured this might be a good program to have on in the background. It definitely was, but it also drew my attention every time a colorful bird flew onto the scene or a fox trotted across the screen. I found myself watching more and more and doing a little less sorting. Stephen de Vere, the director, is a very lucky man to have this much wildlife only a short walk from home. I would definitely be out there too photographing it all while he prefers the video mode. Thanks Mr. de Vere for sharing the fruits of your labor out in the field.

Having a Chat with a Friend at a Party

I was recently at my husband’s annual company post-Christmas party, which, even though it’s a company party, is usually pretty enjoyable since his coworkers are a pretty nice bunch, as are the company founders. Unlike in previous years, there was no theme to this year’s party. In the past we’ve attended a comedy show at The Funny Bone, had a magician perform for us, played Family Feud using a similar stage set-up like you see on the TV show (did that two years in a row), played BINGO, and had a French chef prepare a multi-course meal for us (definitely one of my favorites!).

This year’s party was a gathering at a small space on the OSU campus where we were fed appetizers and had an open bar, access to Mario Kart on a big screen and a two person band who entertained us all evening. Did I mention it was a small space and there was a band? Those who know me know I am also hard-of- hearing, so it quickly became difficult to carry on a conversation, so I was pretty much ready to leave after the first hour.

However, a friend (Robin) who is the wife of one of Andrew’s coworkers came over for a chat. I had spent quite awhile talking to her at last year’s party, so we’ve kind of struck up a friendship of sorts. Though it was difficult to converse, we both made an effort and had a nice chat a couple different times over the course of the evening. She definitely made the party a lot more bearable, though I wish there was a quieter corner we could have escaped to to make it easier on both of us. Still, thanks for the conversation Robin. It’s always a pleasure talking to you at these company events and it’s nice to know there’s a friendly face out there who is in the same boat as me as a Plus One.

Walking with a Couple of my Friends/Neighbors

This is a shout-out to Valerie and her husband who graciously allowed me to tag-along on one of their evening strolls while I was out walking. I hadn’t necessarily planned on going as far as we did, but I definitely benefited from the exercise and I still got back in plenty of time to help with dinner.

Walking with friends is definitely the way to go when you have lots to talk about and want to get in lots of steps. It also helps hold you accountable if someone else is relying on you as a walking buddy (though we haven’t set up that arrangement). I think this would be fun to do once a week to catch up on a little neighborhood gossip and what’s going on in each other’s lives.

I also occasionally run into another neighbor (Leisha) I have become friends with after discovering we have a mutual friend in common but didn’t realize it. I love when the universe reveals these little surprises and truly makes it feel like a small world sometimes.

Valerie and Leisha, et al are a couple of the reasons I love our neighborhood so much. The more you get out and walk around and get to know your neighbors, the smaller your world becomes. I’m still a long way from knowing even a fraction of my neighbors, but over time I hope to get to know more of them.