Savannah

Savannah is a beautiful place with an old soul. Ghosts? I guess there are ghost tours given in hearses with the top cut off! If only I had more time... I've only been here for about 5 hours but, I've packed a lot in - mostly meetings with the local production resources working with us on this week's shoot and hotel staff. Our hotel, The Mansion on Forsyth Park, is located right next to downtown and Bull Street, the oldest street in Savannah. At 4:30 I finally got away from my computer for a quick walk to see the gnarled old trees and Spanish Moss. I snapped a couple of photos along the way. Neat! I'm off to find some dinner before heading to bed. We're up early tomorrow for pre-production. Onwards.

Remembering...

What a full week it's been! The biggest news I have to share is that I'm moving out of my apartment and into a two bedroom apartment on South Union Street - here in Burlington. I have loved my time in this special place on Maple Street but, it's time for a change come January 1st. I was able to discuss my plans with my landlord this morning so we could establish the details of the search for a new tenant. He and I will be sharing this task since January 1st is coming right up. I took a few pictures of my apartment for the craigslist post. I wanted to share them here so I wouldn't forget. I'll miss this place a lot but, I'm leaving with so many memories. I think great things are to come!

The reward of a thing well done is to have done it.

Goodnight, lovelies.

Being thankful...

This Thanksgiving, I'm reminded of how lucky I am to have such a full life. The key is to be thankful today and everyday for family, friends, health, good food, laughter, warmth and a roof over your head! Life is busy and sometimes we get caught up in it's challenges. Is easy to forget what we DO have and how fortunate we really are.

Today, I was at Steven's house for Thanksgiving! A group of 8 of us, including Steven's mom and sister, gathered around his table to gobble up turkey w/gravy, mashed potatoes, carrots, creamed spinach, squash, rolls, cranberry sauce, green beens and more. It was a feast! We ate what we could and shared the leftovers with each other at the end of the night.

My contribution to dinner was creamed spinach c/o my sister's recipe. It was my first time making a roux, which I learned is the simplest thing in the world to make! It requires a little butter, flour and milk and then you're on your way.

To make the creamed spinach, I softened up one sweet onion. Then, I added the cooked spinach and a bit of salt & pepper to the pot. I mixed the whole thing together with the roux and parmesan cheese...and finally a tablespoon of sour cream. It was pretty good!

Here is the beautiful bird, right out of the oven!

Mary and I were ready to roll up our sleeves and get right down to the serious business of eating turkey...the dark meat!

I think we had one dessert for each person present! There was raspberry pie, apple pie, cupcakes, muffins, pumpkin cake, s'mores brownies...oh, and we forgot about the ice cream. We were too preoccupied with the goodness that was directly in front of us.

Mmmhmmm....

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope you all had a delightful day.

Loveyou.

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings

On Friday night, Steven and I went to a show at Higher Ground. I hadn't heard of either band prior to that night but, a few people had recommended the show, so...off we went! When we arrived, the Ballroom, (the larger of the two rooms there) was pretty empty. The Bad Rabbits, from Boston, MA were the first band to play. At first, Steven and I couldn't figure them out. They were sort of funky, with some occasional dark rock undertones. The lead singer bounced into and out of his falsetto voice. He could really carry a tune! After the first few very dance-able songs were performed, we decided we liked them! I'd have a hard time categorizing their sound if someone asked but, they really got the crowd going and the band was tight. By the time they had finished their set, the room was full and the show had SOLD OUT!

Steven, Ted, Tay and I managed to find a spot closer to the stage for the headliners, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings. The Dap-Kings came on stage first. They're a group of 8 guys (3 horns, 3 guitar players, 2 percussionists). They opened with two instrumental songs. So good. As Steven said, "this is real music!" Finally, Sharon Jones came out and filled the room with her crazy dance moves, huge smile and even bigger voice! She and her band played practically non-stop for well over an hour. Even when she wasn't singing she was still performing. Her banter with the crowd was also done in her singing voice so, the band never lost momentum. She really got the audience involved too. Here are some highlights:

• plucking four women from the crowd to join her on stage for one song to just LET LOOSE and dance

• inviting a contest winning couple in their early 50's to have a dance on stage together with her

• teaching a young, handsome man from the crowd how to to be, "easy"

• finding two young men who were willing to come on stage just to be, hip-checked off when Sharon decided they were, "NO GOOD!!"

• doing the shorter person's version of the "Tina Turner shimmy" 

This woman has NO inhibition. It was amazing to see her perform...to just sing, dance and share herself and her spirit with the crowd. Every once and awhile she would check in with us, "Do you like that?" Then she would wink. Saucy!

The final song Sharon performed, was a gospel song. Before she sang, she explained (in her singing voice) why this song was appropriate to sing, on this occasion at Higher Ground. "Ya see, the first time I was here, I played in the smaaaaall room. The second time I played, I played in the smaaaall room. I told the people here that the next time I came, I wanted to play in the biiiiiig room. This time I'm playing in the BIIIIG room and we're SOLD OUT!!!" The crowd went nuts cheering and dancing, not just the front rows either. The whole place was moving! Wowsa. What a great time!

"Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings are widely thought to be at the forefront of a revivalist movement that aims to capture the essence of funk/soul music as it was at its height in the mid-1960s to mid-1970s. Part of the way this is achieved is to shun modern digital recording methods in favour of using traditional analogue recording equipment. The type of instruments used by the band may also be considered limited to those that would have been available up until the mid seventies."

Conte de fées.

Hansel and Gretel Remade For Vogue 

photography Annie Leibowitz. 

http://www.pixiome.fr/2009/11/lady-gaga-hansel-and-gretel-remade-for-vogue-dec-09/  

Polenta & Sausage Stuffed Peppers and Stout Floats!

On Saturday night, Jay, Maegen, Nelia, Marin and I got together to enjoy the 4 lbs of pork shoulder that had been cooking in their slow cooker for five hours. It was the perfect rainy day dinner entree. We decided on pork soft taco's. A-MA-ZING! I was responsible for a side dish. I looked up a number of stuffed pepper recipes. None of them seemed just right. So, I made one up. It was spicy but, pretty tasty! Here are a few pics along with the recipe. 

Polenta and Sausage Stuffed Peppers:

3 peppers (each cut in 1/2)

1 roll of polenta

3 hot sausages

1 bunch of cilantro

1 small onion

1 clove garlic

3 plum tomatoes

1 jalapeno pepper

salt and pepper to taste

Remove sausages from their casings. In a medium sized saucepan, cook the three sausages completely. In another saucepan, add olive oil, chopped onion and polenta and saute until golden brown. When the mixture is almost finished, add the garlic. Combine cooked sausage, polenta mixture and all remaining ingredients (1/4 bunch chopped cilantro, 3 chopped plum tomatoes, 1 chopped jalapeno pepper and salt and pepper to taste) in a large mixing bowl. Mix.

Place all six pepper halves into the oven for 15 minutes at 350 to soften them up. After you take them out, add the polenta and sausage stuffing and put them back in for the final 15 minutes. When there is 5 minutes left on the timer, take the stuffed peppers out and sprinkle a bit of cheese on them. Then, back into the oven to let the cheese melt. Serve them immediately.  Yum!

...and then this special dessert treat that Jay concocted. The stout float made with Cherry Garcia ice cream and your favorite stout (ideally, a chocolate flavored one). Delish!