Like a Deer in the Headlights

Tell us about a bullet you’re glad you dodged — when something awful almost happened, but didn’t.

Living in Western Pennsylvania during fall and winter can be breathtakingly beautiful.  Driving Western Pennsylvania road during fall and winter can be an altogether different experience.  Because of the heavy tree coverage and abundance of county roads and state routes (as opposed to major highways) in our neck of the woods, one must always be on the lookout for deer along the roadside.  These critters stand there, waiting to jump in front of your car.  In a 20 mile drive of State Route 28, it is not at all uncommon to see at least 5 deer carcasses littering the side of the road.  I am telling you, we live in deer alley.  Just ask Hubby, in 10 years, he has hit 5 deer.  As a result, we tend to be extra cautious when driving during the height of deer season, particularly when driving at night.  The deer can basically appear from nowhere.

Toward the end of October, I was driving home from an adventure.  I had already been driving for hours that day, and all I wanted was to get home and go to sleep.  It was about midnight, I was on State Route 28 just north of Pittsburgh, not even to the portions that were super wooded.  I was just past an exit that lead to a pretty densely populated neighborhood when a deer appeared out of nowhere.  Even though I was not going that fast, it seemed inevitable that I was going to hit this huge deer.  I used my brakes, closed my eyes, and braced for the impact, praying it would be minor.

Imagine my shock when the impact never came.  I do not know how in the world I did not hit this deer.  It was literally so close to my car, I could have rolled down the window and touched it.  The only thing I can think is that it successfully jumped over my hood.  I never so much as tapped a hoof or rustled its fur.  I was so certain that I was going to hit that deer, it made no sense that I came out unscathed.

I quickly realized how lucky I was.  I continued to maintain an extra slow speed and use extreme caution for the remainder of my drive.  When I pulled up to my house, I said a prayer of thanks that I had been spared from the ordeal of hitting that deer.  I imagine the deer did as well.

Tiffany's Tuesday Tunes: H is for Halloween

Ever since I was a kid, Halloween has been one of my favorite days.  In fact, it has gotten to the point that the entire month of October is over taken with spooky activities for me, and this year it reached epic proportions.  We explored an old asylum, an allegedly haunted cemetery, a deserted circus, and an abandoned amusement park.  We went to a zombie paintball outing, as well as a ghost walk in a local town.  We have watched countless horror movies (most of them terrible), and we carved six miniature pumpkins.  Finally, last weekend, Trick or Treat was held in our town.  I dressed up (something I have never done for Trick or Treat), put costumes on the dogs, and used a little speaker to play spooky music on the porch while we handed out treats.  It was so much fun, we had more trick or treaters than ever (Hubby had to make an emergency store run for more treats!), and some of the costumes were amazing!

There are several reasons why I like Halloween.  First off, I like the fake scariness of it.  As someone who is highly anxious, I am used to being scared for extended lengths of time.  With Halloween, we know any scares we encounter, either from a haunted house actor or a scary movie or anything like that, are very temporary and completely false.  Something about that is comforting to me.  It actually makes me feel energized.  Also, by willingly subjecting myself to spooky things, I am in total control of the fear, and that is empowering.  Another reason I like Halloween is that it allows people, myself included, to be someone else for a little while.  It allows people to express creativity.

We have just a few days left in the witching season, and I intend to enjoy every minute of it, starting with the minute I hit start on my Halloween playlist.

Consider it my trick or treat to you!

Tiffany's Tuesday Tunes: New York Never Sleeps

Yesterday, I wrote at length about the fact that we saw The Long Winters perform in New York City over the weekend.  But I have to explain a little more about this trip to the Big Apple.  The SOLE purpose of this trip was to attend that concert.  The goals were, in this order: 1. See concert, 2.  Not spend a ton of money, 3. Make it home alive.  So, the easiest way for us to achieve all three goals was to plan a whirlwind, NO SLEEP trip.  We left home Thursday night at 10 pm, drove to Harrisburg, and caught the train at 5 am Friday morning to Manhattan.  We got into the city at 7:30, and proceeded to spend the next 12 hours wandering the city.

Since we had both been there before, and done a lot of the traditional touristy things (Central Park, NYSE, Empire State Building, etc) we were more interested in sticking to the lower part of Manhattan  near the concert venue and finding interesting things slightly off the beaten path.  We so totally achieve that goal.  Among the things we did: Walked the High Line, roamed the Village, found a geocache, saw the Stonewall Inn, watched an after school youth program play basketball, saw a rainbow in the Washington Square fountain, ate amazing and affordable gluten free food, spotted a Free Little Library, watched strangers get married, saw amazing examples of art in the wild, found several cool little shops to visit, saw tons of cute dogs, and sat in a branch of the New York Public Library.  All that (and in reality so much more) was just 12 hours of our 23 hour trip.

Another 7 hours or so were devoted to the concert itself, then the rest of the time was spent at Penn Station, exhausted and waiting for the train.  We wanted to do more exploring after the concert, but we were just too tired, I was ready to pass out.  I had been awake since 8 am Thursday, and stayed awake until about 7 am Saturday, when we boarded the train back to Harrisburg.

Was it crazy to undertake this trip?  Yep.  Did we accomplish all 3 goals?  Yep.  Was it worth it?  Absolutely.

New York is called the city that never sleeps.  While we were there this past weekend, we also never slept.  When I finally did drift off on the return train ride, I slept with a smile on my face, remembering the adventures we had in that gorgeous city.  I am still smiling as I remember, so of course this experience is inspiring my playlist for today.

I love you New York, and promise to see you again real soon.

 

To see the rest of the photos from our amazing NYC trip, click here.

Tiffany's Tuesday Tunes: G is for Gold

Autumn has always been my favorite season.  I love everything about it.  The air gets cooler in the mornings, so sunrises are crisp, often with mist rising up.  My wedding anniversary is in the fall, so we always do something fun to celebrate.  As Halloween creeps closer, we enjoy spooky attractions and scary movies.  And I have a legitimate excuse to put pumpkin into practically everything I cook. So, yeah, fall is pretty awesome.

But my absolute favorite thing about fall is the changing color of the landscape.  I live in an area that remains pretty green for the whole spring and summer.  We are surrounded by wooded hills, and lots of farm land, so come autumn, that lush greenness of the world turns varying, brilliant shades of gold.  The freshly baled hay and the newly harvested fields take on halcyon hues.  The leaves are gilded with shades of red and yellow.  Even the sunshine embodies a deeper, richer, amber tone.  And between the Penguins, Pirates, Steelers, and a giant rubber duck, gold is all over the city of Pittsburgh.  We always take some time, each autumn, to go on long leaf peeper car drives, and take tons of pictures.  The autumn landscape of western Pennsylvania is, in my humble opinion, one of the best reasons to live here.  It makes me feel warm and cozy, and heaven knows I need to store up that feeling to get ready for the winter ahead.  So this week's playlist celebrates the blonde beauty of the fall.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.  Personally, I think it is pure gold.

 

Tiffany's Tuesday Tunes: D is for Desks, Dorms, Division, and Detention

It should come as no surprise that I was an odd child.  My nerd roots are deep, going back to toddlerhood really.  While I cried hard on my first day of kindergarten, asking my mom not to leave me there, after that, there was no looking back.  I was in love with school, and learning.  From the age of 5 to 24, each fall I prepared for another year of educational adventures, and I LOVED it.  I went directly from high school to college, took an extra year of college classes, and then directly from college to graduate school.  Nerd much?

I was so in love with learning that at the end of each school year, the teachers would send me home with extra copies of worksheets we had done all year.  I would do these all summer long, along with workbooks my parents purchased.  Before the first week of summer vacation was over, I had already checked out half a dozen books from the library.  And I counted down the days to the open house, when I would learn who my new teacher would be.

The first fall that I did not prepare to return to classes, I felt an aching sensation.  I felt lost; nearly 20 years of my existence revolved around the newness of fall classes starting.  I still feel a little sad when school starts.  I wish I was in school again.  Oh, I do not miss the drama or the mean girls, the homecoming queens or the quarterbacks.  Nor do I miss the blue books or the high cost of textbooks.  But I do miss the order and structure that comes with being in school.  I often think of returning to college or graduate school, in a variety of subjects, just because I love structured education so much.  For now, I will settle for reading 200 books a year, but who knows what the future may hold.

Whether you loved school, or hated it, whether it was elementary, high school, or college, whether a student or a teacher, school was, and still is, an inevitable force in all our lives.  So here is a playlist to help you ease the transition back to school.

Bump in the Night

Photo Courtesy of Mickey

I love Halloween.  I like scary movies, I like haunted houses, I like being scared.  Each year, Hubby and I go to a different local haunted attraction, and each year we have a blast.  We went to a haunted house in the South Hills of Pittsburgh a few weeks ago, and I loved every second of it.

Another thing that is tradition for Hubby and me involved the Paranormal Activity movies.  We watched the first one through Netflix, and from that point on, we have seen them in the theater.  It is kind of our "thing".  Which is why, last Friday, we met up after Hubby finished work to get dinner, and then head off to see Paranormal Activity 4.  We saw an early evening show, so we were home by ten (we are wild and crazy I tell ya!).  We spent time with the dogs, and watched some tv, then shortly after midnight, headed upstairs.  I immediately fell asleep, while Hubby stayed up for a bit longer.

The next thing I know, I hear the dogs downstairs going CRAZY.  Not just a "I need to go out" bit of barking, or even a "there is someone here" barkfest.  Oh no, this was a full on "INTRUDER INTRUDER DANGER WILL ROBINSON" bark mania.  So, obviously, it woke me up.  Hubby was getting up to see what was going on, when we hear a knock at the door.  At this point, I glance at the clock, and see that it is 1:20 am.  I was not pleased.  We both flew downstairs, and Hubby turned on the porch light, to find a short, middle aged woman on our porch.

We then opened the door (in hindsight, I realize this may have been dangerous, but hey, I was still half asleep).  The woman asks "Is this the Floogendoogen House (name has been changed to protect the privacy of our neighbors)?" to which I snappishly replied NO.  She then asks us if we know where the Floogendoogens live, to which we again respond NO.  She tearfully explains that her son is at their house, and she needs to pick him up, but she does not know where they live.  She looks at us like we are crazy, and we are probably looking at her like she is crazy, and then she just sort of drifts off of our porch, and leaves.

Needless to say, we were spooked.

I don't know why she decided to knock on a stranger's door, and why she chose our house.  I do not know why she could not have tried contacting her son by phone or why she did not know where her son was at 1:20 am.  All I know is she scared the crap out of us.  Perhaps it was the influence of the scary movie we watched, but I was convinced that she was some insane person, who had a son who died many years ago, and she wanders around aimlessly looking for him.  It was beyond bizarre.

As we calmed the dogs down and tried to get back to sleep, curiosity got the best of me.  I did a quick internet search of the name Floogendoogen and our town's name, and sure enough, that is the last name of the people two doors down from us.  Not sure what that says about us, that we are so oblivious to the names of our neighbors, but I was relieved to learn that she was at least looking for an actual house in our neighborhood.

The whole incident was really unsettling, and it made me ponder something.  Each year, we pay money to people and places that are designed to scare us.  But when an actual scary situation occurred, we were both upset by the fright.  I suppose we could have saved ourselves a few bucks.

I would like to note that the Friday night scare did not deter me from taking photographs the next day at a creepy cemetery.

Pumpkin Pasta and Pumpkin Chili

It is officially Autumn, and you know what that means?  Pumpkin in EVERYTHING!  Coffee, ice cream, donuts.  Normally a lot of the pumpkin goodies that we see this time of year are not very healthy, so, I have decided to try to incorporate pumpkin into more main dishes.  So far I have tried two different dishes, wheat pasta with pumpkin sauce, and pumpkin chili.  Both turned out so delicious that I just had to share.

Wheat Pasta with Pumpkin Sauce

Ingredients:
1/2 pound your favorite type of wheat pasta (I used penne)
1- 1 1/2 pound ground turkey or chicken
1 small onion
1 granny smith apple
1 cup chicken broth, divided
1 small can of pumpkin (about 3/4 a cup)
1 cup Fiber One Cottage cheese
ground cinnamon
ground cloves
rubbed sage
minced garlic
crumbled goat cheese and pecans to garnish (optional)

Directions:
1.  In large skillet saute chopped onion and apple.  When the onion begins to look translucent, add ground meat, and begin to brown the meat.  As the meat browns, add minced garlic and rubbed sage to taste (I do not like a lot of sage, you may like more, use your judgement.)
2.  Put a large pot of water on to boil.  When water boils, cook the 1/2 pound of pasta according to the package directions.  When fully cooked, drain and return to pot.
3. While pasta cooks, fully brown meat.  When meat is completely cooked, remove the meat, onion, and apple mixture from skillet and set aside.  Deglaze the skillet with 1/3 cup chicken broth.
4. Add to skillet the canned pumpkin, cottage cheese, remaining chicken broth, cinnamon to taste and cloves to taste (I like a lot of cinnamon).  Stir together, and heat on medium until bubbly.  When bubbly, stir in meat mixture.  Simmer for 3-5 minutes to fully combine flavors.
5.  Add the meat sauce to the pan of pasta, and fully mix.   Serve with optional garnish of goat cheese and pecans.

Pumpkin Chili

Ingredients
2 pounds ground chicken or turkey
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 large (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 small (16-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (16-ounce) can kidney beans, drained
1 (16-ounce) can black beans, drained
1 (12-ounce) bottle chili sauce
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
crumbled goat cheese to garnish (optional)

 Directions
1. In a large dutch oven or soup kettle, brown the ground chicken or turkey with the onion. (I browned mine in a small amount of chicken stock, about 1/2 cup.  I added a small amount of chili powder and minced garlic as well, but you do not have to.)
2. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well to mix.
3. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 1 hour.

Ladle into bowls and top with grumbled goat cheese if desired.

Enjoy, and feel free to share!

Dear Dr. Noble

Each year, when the summer fades to autumn, and the air takes on a crisp chill, I find myself missing my school days.  So today, I write a letter to a teacher who had a profound and lasting impact, my college English teacher.

Dear Dr. Noble,

I read a poem today, and it reminded me of your classroom.  It was "Daddy" by Sylvia Plath.  You introduced me to her 15 years ago, with this same poem.  I still remember the tone of your voice when you said "panzer-man, panzer-man".  I still remember the way you pushed us to reflect upon the pain within the poem.  I still remember the lifesavers you threw at us for offering up our opinions in class.

At the time, I had no idea what you were doing, when you introduced me to these names, Plath, Tennessee Williams, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Shelley, Tennyson.  I had no idea that these names would become my old friends, their ghosts haunting my bookshelf.  I had no idea, when you introduced me to the concept of the Byronic hero, that I would spend many years chasing him, until I was old enough to know better.  I had no idea that, over the course of 5 years, you were shaping my future.

I remember it was my sophomore year, and I was petitioning to take a senior level literature course on Shakespeare.  Everyone thought I was getting in over my head, everyone, that is, except you.  You granted permission for me to take the class, and instilled me with the confidence to succeed.  I got 100% on my final for that class, not because it was easy.  Your classes were never easy, not in any way.  Our grades consisted of a midterm and a final, both blue book essay exams.  I walked into each test with nervous anticipation, yet completely prepared.  The subject matter of your classes was never merely committed to memory; instead, it was inscribed on my heart.

You taught me critical thinking and analytical skills that I employ on a daily basis.  Each time I read a book, each time I sit to write a literary review, I use the skills I learned from the back row of your second floor classroom.  Your classes taught me a deep love, not just of literary works, but of words themselves.  Your classes impacted the way I wrote for every other class during my educational career, and everything I have written since.  Your classes have shaped my mind, and the core of my being.

I remember the very chairs in the room.  I can hear your voice, and picture you sitting atop your desk, leaning forward, off on some digression that in all reality was teaching us to relate the literature to our everyday lives.  You were always the coolest cat around, making class fun, but behind all that was brilliance that could never be questioned.  You love literature in a way that made me love literature; a book will never be merely a book to me, but instead a means of transforming my current reality.

Someday, I hope to write literary works of my own.  Someday I hope to share my love of literature with others.  Someday, I hope to be as brilliant as you are.  If I, one day, am able to impact someone as you have impacted me, well, then I will be a great success indeed.

With highest regard,
A grateful student

Fall Foliage

Each year, the local Tourist Bureau sponsors fall foliage tours.  This year, the weather did not cooperate for a couple of the tours, but there was one really fun day of touring through the county, with the final destination being the Renshaw Family Farm Pumpkin Fest.

The morning was a little gray and drizzly, but we still got to see some gorgeous fall colors, and lovely sites on some scenic county roads.

I personally loved seeing a lot of the rural areas and animals along the way.

The final stop was Pumpkin Fest.  I just love the Renshaw Farm.

They always decorate it so nicely, and the scenery is beautiful.  For Pumpkin Fest, they have crafts and decorations for sale, and tons of activities kids.  New this year was an animal park.  It was probably my favorite part of the entire day.

By the end of the day, my boots were covered in mud, my hair was windblown, and I was exhausted.  I would say, that indicates it was a good day indeed.

Out of Town: Fredonia

A few weeks ago, when the leaves were just starting to turn, I began my annual lament that our area does not get the vibrant color changes like some areas do.  It is my dream to drive to the Adirondaks or Catskills to see the leaves change color, and some year we will.  But since both locations are about a 7 hour drive for us, we will have to plan and schedule in advance to get the vacation days.  In the mean time, this year we opted for a one day trip to a part of New York a little closer to home: Fredonia.

There is no specific reason we chose to visit Fredonia.  We just woke up one morning, and I said, "let's go to New York".  Hubby agreed, and we found a pet friendly inn that was within a 4 hour drive for us.  We called, and got their last room, packed some clothes and the dogs, and off we headed.

 The drive on highways would have been less than 3 hours, but we like to avoid major highways on leisure trips, particularly with the dogs, so we got to see gorgeous sights along the way.

Finally, we got to the inn and it was adorable!

 Our room was so charming!

Hubby and I settled in, fed the dogs, and went exploring.  We only had a couple of hours of daylight left, so we drove along Lake Erie,

went to Lake Erie State Park,

then watched the sunset in Dunkirk.  Finally, we headed to dinner.

After we ate dinner, we headed back to the inn.  We had dessert in the inn's restaurant, and I said to Hubby, "this feels like we are on a date", to which he replied "who says we aren't?".  It was the perfect ending to a wonderful day.

The next day we got up and headed out.  Our trip to New York was a short one, but enough to satisfy me for another year of leaf peeping.

More pics from our trip and the drive home can be seen here.

Explorations: Northern Nightmares

Each year, Hubby and I try to do something spooky during October.  In the past we have gone to Phantom Fright Nights at Kennywood. , and last year we went to the Scarehouse.  So we were looking for something new and different to do this year.  Boy howdy, did we find it.

While doing some online searching I located an attraction in Butler County called the Northern Nightmares Tour.  This trolley tour went all over Zelionople and Harmony, pointing out allegedly haunted sites, and telling local ghost tales.  This sounded right up our alley, so, on Saturday afternoon, we headed out.

Since we headed out early, and planned on being gone for a while, we started with dinner at The Harmony Inn.  For any local folks reading, if you have not tried this place I really urge you to go.  We went last winter for lunch, and we were impressed then.  We were doubly impressed with their dinner menu.  Really unique menu items, and the food was delicious.  Plus, the ambiance is really cool.

 The Harmony Inn is a haunted location, and after we ate, the staff let us explore, even allowing us in the attic.  It was really spooky.

After we were done with dinner, we headed off to catch the trolley tour.  It was a nice, small trolley, and was really comfortable.  The spooky tour guide was the executive director of the Strand Theater, and he told us lots of amazing and creepy tales along our 45 minute tour.  I do not want to spoil it for you, since I really hope  my local readers will go next year, but there were some interesting twists along the way.

Our last tour stop was the Strand Theater.  At this point, for most, the tour was over.  But for Hubby and I, we still had a bit of excitement.  You see, that night, the Strand was showing Night of the Living Dead, which many know was filmed locally in Evans City.

 The proceeds went to a group trying to save the Evan's City Cemetary Chapel, which you see in the film.  I love horror films, particularly ones filmed locally, and I have visited the Evan's City Cemetery to revel in the movie nostalgia.  So, we decided to go to the viewing.  Imagine my surprise when we learned the 3 original cast and crew members were there to speak to us.  How exciting.  Russell Streiner (Johnny), his brother Gary Streiner (a sound engineer on the film) and Ella Mae Smith (an Evans City resident who played a zombie).

It was so amazing to be there to hear them speak, and this moment right here made it totally worth it:

The theater has been restored beautifully, and we loved seeing the movie on the big screen. We got to sit in the balcony, which in and of itself was a really cool experience. Finally, we were ready to head out, but we had one last thing to do.  Out admission also gave us a free raffle ticket for a raffle of some movie posters.  Guess who won a poster?  Hubby!

All in all, the had a magically spooky night, one I am not likely to forget for a long time.

Notice two of the pictures are full of fuzzy orbs.  As much as I would love to say this was spectral evidence, it was merely fog and mist.  For more pics, go here.

That awkward moment when no one gets your Halloween costume...

Hubby and I are total nerds, no doubt about it.  We watch nerdy shows, we have nerdy hobbies, and we like nerdy activities.  Including a few video games.  One of our favorite games is called Plants vs. Zombies.  It is one of the few games that appeals to both of us.

Last year, I jokingly suggested that we use this game to inspire our Halloween Costumes.  But we didn't, we went as Sookie and Bill from True Blood instead.  Brilliant costumes, I might add.  A bit over the top, but brilliant none the less.

When it came time to plan our costumes from this year, we had some backup costumes, but I really wanted to do the Plants vs. Zombies idea.  So, we hunted and hunted for the appropriate clothing for him, and green sweats for me.  I made my little flower headband, and even a sun for my sun power (those who play the game know what I mean).  Finally, the day of our friends' party came, and we prepared.  I did the greatest makeup job I have ever done on Hubby, and what a trooper he was too.

I did my own makeup, and then, we put on the rest of the costumes.  I thought we looked amazing.

Here we are with our counterparts from the game.  Hubby is spot on I think.

So, we get to the party, and..... crickets crickets crickets.  No one understood our costumes.  Not. A. Single. Person.

People thought I was a flower, he was a weirdo with a bucket on his head.  No one got the cultural reference at all.

The closest guess we got was "pushing up daisies".  Wah wah waaaaaaah.

Maybe we should have done something a little more current events themed.  Like this guy, who came as Occupy Wall Street.

Stuffed Green Pepper Soup

I have been really lax lately with my blogging, and there are a few reasons.  First of all, I set the crazy goal to read and review 200 books this year over on my book blog.  Nuts right?  I just finished reading book 150, and have been busting my butt to make sure I meet this goal.  So, that is keeping me pretty busy.  Also, well, I have just sort of lost heart with my blog.  I feel like I have nothing new to say, and have strayed from my original intentions a bit.  So, I am not sure what the future will hold for this blog, and I may not be posting here as often.

But to make up for my absence, I come bearing a gift.  It is the recipe for what is now my favorite soup ever!  I made it Sunday, and we just finished it last night!

Stuffed Green Pepper Soup.

Ingredients
1 lb ground turkey
2 large green peppers
1 small onion
1 large can (28 or 30 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 large can (28 or 30 oz) can tomato sauce
1 cup rice
2 1/4 cups water
4 tbsp brown sugar
salt, pepper, parsley flakes

1.  Brown the ground turkey in skillet.  I browned mine with 2 cloves of garlic and some pepper, just to give it some flavor.

2.  While meat is cooking, chop up green peppers and onion, and put in large soup pot.  I used a dutch oven.

3.  When meat is completely browned, drain and add to soup pot with peppers and onions.

4.  Add the canned tomatoes and tomato sauce.

5.  Add 1 cup rice.  I used brown rice, and it ended up still being slightly hard when soup was cooked, so you may either want to use a minute rice, or just pre-cook the rice for just a few minutes.

6.  Add 2 1/4 cups water.

7.  Add 4 tbsp. brown sugar.

8.  Add salt, pepper, and parsley to your taste.  I use very little salt, and it was fine.

9.  Stir pot and bring to a boil.  Once it boils, reduce heat and allow to simmer for 1 hour on stovetop.

There you go!  Easy, delicious, and healthy!  We made a packed of instant potatoes (the ones that are 80 calories a serving) and ate the soup with a scoop of mashed potatoes in it.  It was so delicious, and made a TON.  Seriously, last night was the 4th meal we got from it!

You can easily adjust this recipe to your taste (more meat, more peppers, etc).  You could garnish with cheese, or a little sour cream, whatever you prefer.  It was so delicious, I am sad to see it gone!

In the Big City: Changed for Good

For as long as I can remember, I have been a fan of musical theater.  And as long as I have been a fan, I have always rooted for the musical underdog.  I longed to be Eponine in Les Mis ,or  to be Lucy in Jekyll and Hyde, and to always choose the Phantom over Raoul.  So it makes perfect sense to me that I root for Elphaba in Wicked. The surprising part was how utterly and completely I fell in love with her...

Yesterday, I had the supreme pleasure of seeing Wicked on tour at the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh.  We ordered these tickets about 10 months ago, and when we did, it felt like September would never arrive.  I spent the months between ticket purchase and show date reading Gregory Maguire's book, reading several of L. Frank Baum's original Oz books, and pretty much memorizing the original Broadway cast recording, as it has been playing in my car's cd player since about April.  I had never been so excited to see a show in all my life.

My mom and sister were taking a bus tour from Ohio, and I was meeting them at the theater.  I arrived nearly two hours early.  Excited much?  Once we they got there I could not wait to take my seat.  These were, by far, the best seats I have ever had to a show, and well worth the money.

When the curtain went up, and the Time Dragon flapped his wings, I was instantly mesmerized.

The show we saw had the understudies for both Glinda and Elphaba performing, but you would never in a million years know it.  The actress who portrayed Glinda was genius, her comic timing was fantastic.  That is probably the thing that surprised me most about the show, since I was familiar with the story and the music already.  I never anticipated how funny it was.  And the writing for the show is so smart.  Biting wit, subtle foreshadowing, and poignant truths are all revealed in both the lyrics and the dialog of the show.

Elphaba is the one who really steals the show, and this performance was no exception.  I tingled as she took the stage, and wept as she sang of defying gravity.  She is a symbol for all who have ever felt alienated.  She is so different, with her green skin, her magic abilities, and her strong opinions.  She is different, and in her difference she is beautiful, tho her differences are what also make her feared.

The story is a brilliant blend of a love story, the story of the power of friendship, and an eye opening lesson on  how we view good and evil, often myopically.  The story works allegorically in several ways, when viewing public opinion of leaders, as well as the disenfranchisement of various minority groups.  This show contains more than music and laughter, it contains life lessons.

When I was little, I was in love with The Wizard of Oz, and wanted to be Dorothy.  Every year for Halloween, I begged to be Dorothy.  I even had a little dog that looked like Toto, but since she was a girl we named her Muffin.  I was certain I was Judy Garland reincarnated.  As a girl I wanted to be Dorothy, but now, I deeply, desperately, want to be Elphaba.

I promise you two things:

This will not be the last time I see Wicked.

and

If you go see Wicked, you will be changed for good.