NaNoBlogMo2 - Locally Made Improv

On this day after Thanksgiving, whether you are nursing a hangover, cleaning up from yesterday's feast, or elbowing your fellow shoppers in the face to get that last Tickle-Me-Furby-Transformer, feel free to take a break and enjoy this video about Sea Tea Improv....always locally made.

NaNoBlogMo2 - Egg Nog

Egg nog is one of my absolute favorite things in the world. While my tolerance and desire for sweet things has dropped way down in recent years after I started trying to cut out sugars from my diet, there is still a soft spot in my heart for egg nog. It was always and still is one of my favorite things about the holiday season. While you may consider it the holiday season once Christmas carols are being played at the mall or once people start throwing away their rotted Jack-O-Lanterns, to me the holiday season starts as soon as the egg nog hits the shelves in my local food-o-mart.

Traditional style egg nog.
Pretty sure in Norway they still drink it this way.

Despite my very “do it  yourself” nature, preferring to make my own pie crusts from scratch and even attempting to make homespun yarn on occasion, for some reason homemade egg nog rarely does it for me. We had a recipe we would make from time to time when I was younger, and while it hit the right notes in terms of eggyness and nutmeggyness (there’s a mouthful), it didn’t have that same ultra rich creamy nogfulness you could get from the cartoon. For me, egg nog was always Hood.

Then last year my mother found a recipe for Ponche Crema aka Caribbean Egg Nog. It is soooooooo good. While the ingredients list does make the part of me that has been tracking calories wince, it is a holiday treat and there is no arguing with the results. Last year’s batch got utterly destroyed within minutes, leaving us wishing we had bought enough ingredients for more. This year my mother was smart and bought enough for two batches.

 

Ponche Crema

12 Eggs
3 cans (12oz each) of Evaporated Milk

2 cans (14oz each) of Condensed Milk

1 cup Rum (but let’s be honest….you’ll put a bit more in)

1 tsp Vanilla

Nutmeg

Angostura bitters

Just lovely.
What I drank while I wrote this post.

You just blend everything altogether and serve it over ice with a dash of nutmeg and a dash of bitters. Delicious. I have not tried making this recipe without the rum, so I’m not sure how it would taste. My favorite part was cracking a dozen eggs for one recipe. Yesssh.
Anyway, I hope everyone has a lovely turkey day no matter how you are spending it. And if you need a little nog to get you through your day, I would heartily reccomend this recipe.


Mileage: 3

NaNoBlogMo2 - Hobby Bucket List #2

So last NaNoBlogMo I made up a Hobby Bucket List. And I have made pretty much no progress on it. In fact, due to my extremely slow progress on the knitting chainmail and the fact that I taught the friend I was working on it with how to knit himself, that's something I'm not working on anymore. I did paint one whole picture between the time that list was created and now, but it was not of the sunset. I haven't cooked any duck or written any books. I did make some decent progress on a sweater blanket, then abandoned it after my sewing machine needle broke. I do plan to get back to it though.

There are some hobbyish things that I didn't mention on my list that I did do this year...this month actually. I went sky diving for the first time and completed my first 5K.

Despite all this, there are some other hobbies I want to add to my bucket list.

MAKE HOMEMADE CORDIALS

Gonna start with a relatively easy one. This summer I went to an amazing Hobbit themed party hsoted by two of my favorite people in the world, Rose & Jesse (for whom I made my first ever quilt, and Rose also encouraged me to paint more). As part of the smörgåsbord (never used that word before) of amazingness at the party, they also had jars and jars of homemade cordials of varying flavors. They. Were. Awesome. I think I had more than my fair share between pre-party taste tests (we had to make sure they were good for the other guests, of course) and then throughout the night. I can't even pretend I feel shame at how much of these tasty cordials I imbibed. According to Rose & Jesse, they are relatively easy to make, they just take some time and some patience, and some ingenuity and testing to figure out what alcohols/fruits work together best in which quantities. I've considered before making homemade boozey drinks, but I don't have interest in making my own wine or homebrewing beer...so cordials seem a good way to go.

WHITTLING AND/OR WOODCARVING

Whittling is something I have had an interest in for a while. I remember being relatively young, en route to go camping with my parents and I must have mentioned wanting to try woodcarving. At the next gas station/rest stop, my father bought me a pocket knife. I spent the nights of that camping trip happily making various pointy sticks (about all I could manage). Now that I am older and have more patience, I'd like to give whittling a real try. It mixes two of my favorite things in the world, wood (what is more lovely than a beautiful natural woodgrain?) and blades.



BASKETWEAVING

Photographed by Robin Sebold

Spare me any jokes about underwater basketweaving, please. I think a lot of crafts, especially the ones I enjoy and do the most, involve a lot of weaving. Knitting is just weaving with needles. Chainmail is just weaving with metal. I love watching the originally seperate and unconnected materials coming together to form a whole. While I don't expect I'd ever do it more than once or twice, basket-weaving is something I would like to try. I remember a former boss of mine telling me how fascinated he was that a "young person" like me is so interested in these "extinct" hobbies. Yes, I know that there are machines that can knit and spin yarn and weave baskets better and faster than I can, but does that mean I am not allowed to do it too if I enjoy it? We have cameras now...does that mean people should stop painting?

BLACKSMITING

Last, but certainly not least, is blacksmiting. Actually, if I had to choose to try just one hobby from this list, it would be blacksmithing. Its so different from anything else I have ever tried. I remember watching blacksmith demonstrations at Old Sturbridge Village, Mystic Seaport and the Big E and thinking "I want to try that". I'm not sure why it fascinates me so much, and in practice I imagine its ridiculously hot (and I don't like the heat) and tiring (though I have been lifting weights recently). I don't imagine its something one can just "dabble" in. Someone can easily buy some cheap yarn and plastic needles and teach themselves to knit a few rows. I can't exactly pick up a "My First Forge" kit from my local craft store for a few bucks. At this point, I doubt I have the free time and/or money to try out blacksmithing, but it has been and probably while continue to stay at the back of my mind as something on my hobby bucket list.

NaNoBlogMo2 - Improv Warmups

I haven't talked at length about improv or Sea Tea for a few posts now. Must mean its time to talk 'prov for a bit. Things are slowing down a little bit for the holiday season, so there isn't some super unique or exciting show I can detail for you all just yet. I thought I would talk about warm-ups.

Sunday night, we played a bunch of my favorite warm-up games in a row. Sea Tea can get pretty intense (aka NINJA) about our warmups. We play together so much, we know each other so well and the group mind is good that the games tend to border on frightening for an outside observer (or so we have been told by outside observers). I figured I would do a breakdown of some of my favorite improv warm-ups. Imagine this like a star-studded night of glamour and red-carpets, where improv warm-ups go home clutching poorly constructed awards in different categories. Imagine that, and also keep in mind that any superlative I may add to my distinctions (aka BEST) are purely my opinion and I am sure there are tons of warm-ups out there I have never even heard of.

Best Quick-and-Dirty Energizer: CRAZY EIGHTS
If I need a quick pick me up before a show or class or any improv scene, Crazy Eights is one of my favorites. Its super simple and super fast. You stand in a circle and as a group you shake out each arm and leg, one at a time, while counting down from 8, then you repeat the each limb shakedown counting down from 7, then 6, etc, until for the last round you give out some sort of weird quick limb jerk shouting "ONE ONE ONE ONE!". Do it fast, do it loud. And keep in mind that its always good to make eye contact with everyone else in the circle.
Best Singing Warm-Up: HOTSPOT
Whether or not you are doing any song games or musical improv, Hotspot is a fun one. Its been helpful for me in getting over my "I get nervous singing in front of people". Its a simple one. Stand in a circle, one person stands in the middle and starts singing a song...any song. At any point someone else in the circle can tag the middle person out and starting singing their own song. Anything can be used to inspire the next song, the same artist, the same theme (like kids songs or Christmas carols), similar words or styles, even just a personal gut reaction of "OH! That reminds me of THIS song." I have seen it played different ways, but I personally like it best when everyone else in the circle who knows the lyrics starts singing along as soon as they recognize the song. It makes the whole experience less scary and more groupy. A good way to end/bring the game full circle is to try and bring the whole hot-spot-chain-of-songs back to the original song that started everything.

Best Warm-Up That Sounds Like You Are Summoning Satan: BUNNY BUNNY
Bunny Bunny is a favorite of mine. And it can get really intense. Everyone stands in a circle, slapping their thighs in rhythm while chanting "MmmmBA Mmmm BA". This continues for the entire game, picking up speed if you want to make things more challenging/more demonic. At some point someone will "pass the bunny" by saying "BUNNY BUNNY" while making a hand sign like air quotes to themselves, and then saying "BUNNY BUNNY" again while making the same air quotes sign to the person they are passing the bunny to. It is the responsibility of the two people on either side of whoever has the bunny to turn towards them, and while swaying/hoping from foot to foot and waving their hands in the air say "TIKKI TIKKI TIKKI TIKKI" at the same time/tempo as they are saying their bunnies. You just continue doing this, MmmmmBAing, BUNNY BUNNYing and TIKKI TIKKIing until someone messes up, you decide to move on to something else, or you sumon an underworld god.
Best Warm-Up Overall: EVERYBODY CARRIES EVERYBODY
The last game I want to talk about is an absolute favorite of mine. You need a decent number of people for this. Probably 7 at least to really have fun with it. Also, as a warning, this is a very physical game and you tend to get super touchy and close with the people you are playing with, because the title really says it all. You split up the group into two sides of the room. You take turns carrying people across the room. Everyone has to be carried at least once, no two people can be carried the same way, and you are not allowed to talk. I love watching people get creative in their carry methods, and it helps break down physical barriers to have more active scenes. At Sunday's rehearsal the best "Everybody Carries Everybody" was probably when about half the troupe was lying on the floor side by side and Casey rolled across us like one big carpet. It was amazing.

....I was actually planning on talking about a lot more games, but I didn't realize how many words it would take to describe each one. I'm going to have to end here for now. Happy warming up!

NaNoBlogMo2 - Hiking

Saturday afternoon, Jessica and I went for a hike at Eagle Rock Reservation in West Orange, NJ. Although by "hike" I mostly mean "a nice walk in the woods". The paths were largely clear and easy. The air was cold and crisp...perfect sweatshirt weather. 

We wandered and talked and shared stories of high school misadventures and relationships and life and work and everything. We paid no attention to the fact that neither of us really knew where we were going, we just enjoyed the scenery with no destination in mind. Whenever we got to a fork in the path one of us would just decide which way looked more interesting and say "Lets go this way" and we would. Normally I think I would have been a little more anxious about what paths we were taking and keeping track of where we were. I decided to not over think things like I usually do, but instead just walk.

Because of hurricane Sandy, there were a lot of downed trees in the woods. At least, I assume that's why there were so many downed trees. Being that its a public park and a lot of the trees blocked the path completely at points, something I assume would be maintain. The blocked paths lead to a few step overs, a few walk arounds and one hesitant crouch under (after testing the stability of the tree with the old fashioned "lets push against it real hard and see if it shifts").

As it started getting later and darker, we started making choices that we hoped were pointing us back to where we started. We tried to make smart decisions based on the location of the sun compared to where we remembered the entrance being. We aimed for high ground to try and see far ahead and get a sense of our location, but it wasn't really working.

 

 After a while of doubling back and more wandering, we happened to run into an older couple with their dog. Turns out the husband had walked these trails many times, and had gotten lost in them before himself. They were kind enough to walk with us for a while and swap stories. Before we knew it, they had led us to the right path and soon we were quite literally out of the woods. We made it back to the car just as the sun was setting.

Although I thought nothing of it at the time and even now it seems like a bit of an overly artistic tint to put on our fun day, but our hike through the woods was a little like life.You start off not really caring what path you are on, just enjoying the view. Sometimes your path will be blocked and you'll need to find a way around it. And at some point, most people have a destination or goal in mind, and it helps to have someone who has already walked the path there to show you the way. No matter what, you just hope to get there before your sun sets.

NaNoBlogMo2 - Chicken Pot Pie Cupcakes

About a month or so ago, I was considering what I wanted to bring to a party and trying to find an interesting recipe to use. While I was looking, I found THIS page and the recipe it contained. The pictures looked so cute, the descriptions sounded so interesting, and the recipe itself sounded DELICIOUS. It wasn't a good recipe for the party I was going to (I was looking for something that didn't need to be warmed and had smaller servings) but I bookmarked the recipe knowing that without a doubt I was going to make it someday.

Someday came pretty soon. I was visiting my friend Jess this weekend (she's the one I went to karaoke with Friday night). I told her before I came to visit that I had 2 things I really wanted to do this weekend: 1) I wanted to go running so I could keep up my 40 mile challenge and 2) I wanted to cook something since I hadn't in a while. We completed our run this morning despite some initial reluctance from Jess, and last night we cooked.

I tend to be terrible at making decisions, so when it came time to pick what to cook, I was checking out allrecipes.com and eatingwell.com trying to get inspired. Then out of no where I remembered the chicken pot pie cupcake recipe. It looked easy and tasty enough to fit the mood of our hanging out (SPOILER: They were.)

We headed to the store to get the ingredients. Because I am my father's daughter, I bought way too many ingredients (we used half of what I bought and we still had leftovers). There was also an amusing moment when I said we could just get some canned chicken to give ourselves a shortcut and Jess had a hard time believing that canned chicken was a thing. I was determined to find some to show her it was real. Her reaction when I finally found it was rather mellow. ......CANNED CHICKEN!

I tried to put the ingredients in the bowl similar to the picture on the website I got the recipe from, but my picture does not look as delicious, I feel. Instead of frozen veggies we used some canned greens beans (which I chopped up into smaller pieces) and corn since that's what Jess had. While I made the filling, Jess sprayed the cupcake tin and made the dough cups out of the biscuit dough. With one can of chicken, one can of soup, and the veggies/cheese/spices, we had enough to fill all 8 biscuit dough cups (one biscuit per) and had some filling left over. Not sure what Jess is going to do with it. (Jess, if you are reading this, maybe heat it up and put it over some rice? I bet that would work).

We cooked the cupcakes for about 17 minutes, longer than the website suggests, but I did turn down the heat a bit since the edges seemed like they were getting dark fast. The cupcakes smelled super tasty.

I loved these things. I may be biased, though, because this recipe is basically all my favorite things. I love chicken and cheese and creamy soups as well as anything warm and bready. They were comforting and warm and tasty and they were ridiculously fast and easy to make. The only downside might have been that the biscuit dough part does not reheat too well, and gets a bit chewy. These might need to get reheated in the oven if you have leftovers, or only bake as many as you think you'll eat in one sitting. I bet this will be a great recipe to make some variations on, such as using cream of mushroom soup or trying to make a beef variety. One thing for sure is that I will definitely make these again.

Mileage: 3.25

NaNoBlogMo2 - Karaoke

Shortish entry today, probably, since I am visiting a friend and don't want to ignore her for too long. Karaoke is something I feel that people are of different minds about. Some love it, some hate. I like it, but I'm pretty picky about my karaoke.

My first time singing karaoke in Shanghai. 

Though I had "grown up" with the idea of karaoke being something that you do in a bar in front of a bunch of strangers, that is my least favorite way to do it. In my mind that's what karaoke was and I wasn't too keen on doing it. Despite being a huge hamball for most of my life (including now) who is a showboat and doesn't get nervous acting, talking or goofing around in front of strangers, I get very nervous singing in front of people. When I played my guitar and sang in front of people for the first time (at a holiday talent show at the high school I was teaching at in China) I was so nervous I could barely keep my hands from shaking too badly to get the chords right. I have a vague memory of once singing karaoke on a mini day boat cruise with my high school band that's it for pre-China karaoke.

When I moved to China, Lucy was excited about the idea of us going to sing karaoke together, especially when I sang for her the Sara Barellis song "Love Song". That's when I learned the fabulousness of private room karaoke. You get together a group of usually 5 to 15 people, rent a private room, and ROCK OUT. You pick all the songs, you sing all the songs, you can order drinks and food from the helpful people working there and they bring it to your room. You don't have to listen to drunk strangers singing offkey to songs you don't like....although you will probably be stuck listening to your drunk friends singing offkey....but I feel that's more enjoyable and amusing. I went A LOT while I was in China. It was the immediate fallback plan activity. It was the equivalent of going to a movie.

A shot of the screen from last night.
Bonus points if you can guess the song I was signing.

 Everyone has their own tactics and plans for karaoke. Everyone has songs that are their go-tos, songs they show off with, or songs they avoid like the plague. My personal favorite thing to do is enter in a few "fan favorites" that I know everyone will get excited about and sing loudly too. That's another must for karaoke in my mind. I don't mind a few solos or duets, especially if there are good singers, but usually I love when everyone is just screaming the words to these great high energy songs at the top of their lungs. Sometimes rooms will even have tambourines or maracas to help make the atonal rocking even more epic.

When I got back from China I was sad that I would have to go back to "room full of drunk strangers and one person singing" karaoke, but I forgot that New York is awesome and has everything. I've already been to good ole' private room karaoke in Korea-town in NYC at least three times already...last night being one of those times. It was a pretty amazing evening....even if no one else knew all the words to "If I Were a Richman"...