Cocktails, concerts and edible women

February 18, 2011

Cocktails, concerts and edible women

Every personal blog — well, most of them — has a post like this. OMG! I’ve been gone! I started this, but then, my life got in the way and I’m so busy and fabulous that I dropped this lame-o blog like a hot potato.

Yeah, I did that. And I don’t even feel guilty! 101 things in 1001 days is supposed to be fun. JoAnna says so, and I believe her. So! An update.

Things I have accomplished

#16: Have a cocktail party

This is my friend Gwen. She is drinking a cocktail.

Gwen made this butter duck. His name is George.

Last December, I threw a Christmas cocktail party. I even invented a cocktail for it: pomegranate juice, fresh lime juice, simple syrup and cava, with a few pomegranate seeds floating on top. We tried it with Grand Mariner and a version with vodka, but the basic version was the best. I also served a mulled wine with brandy from my slow cooker, which was a big hit.

Along the way I learned a few things. 1) Warm drinks from the slow cooker are easy and delicious for a crowd; 2) Pomegranates may squirt when you open them, but they really don’t give much juice and 3) Major snow storms are no match for people who want to toast the holidays.

#18 Make a berry-flavored vodka.

This was kind of a fail. I got some blackberries, and Patrick and I put them into a bottle of vodka, and after awhile it got kind of murky and gross and I forgot about it. May try this again next summer.

#20 Make a recipe out of every single cookbook I own, including the weird ones.

This is a Work In Progress, but I think I’ve been doing really well. Instead of always going straight for The Splendid Table’s How To Eat Supper or Bitty or one of my old Ina stand-bys, I made some dishes out of Screen Doors and Sweet Tea and a delicious egg bake out of Chocolate and Zucchini. I have been turning more and more to my cookbooks instead of the internet, and I’ve branched out cuisine-wise — I have been investigating Cajun/Creole food in preparation for an upcoming vacation in New Orleans and I just picked up Asian Dumplings by Andrea Nguyen. What a delicious challenge.

#32  Go to a concert I’m really excited about.

I have done this now multiple times, most recently: Ben Folds in Overture Hall, in row 10 or something. It was awesome. He even played “You Don’t Know Me,” a song which Patrick and I love to bits, without a female singer and we got to sing along to “Army.” That’s even though the douche who requested it yelled out the name during an intro to another song, which made Ben launch into an entire improvised number about how NOT to behave at concerts.

Read my whole review here at madison.com.

#40 Read the entire body of an author’s work.

I haven’t completed this yet, but I think it’s going to be Margaret Atwood, and it’s going to be her novels (because I can change the rules if I want). So far I have read the titles in bold:

• The Edible Woman (1969)
• Surfacing (1972)
• Lady Oracle (1976)
• Life Before Man (1979)
• Bodily Harm (1981)
• The Handmaid’s Tale (1985)
• Cat’s Eye (1988)
• The Robber Bride (1993)
• Alias Grace (1996)
• The Blind Assassin (2000)
• Oryx and Crake (2003)
• The Penelopiad (2005)
• The Year of the Flood (September 2009)

#52 Go to a movie by myself.

Even better, I went to a movie of an OPERA, which FYI is worse-attended and way longer than your run-of-the-mill blockbuster. I went to see “Das Rheingold,” presented by the Met Live in HD. I thought it had some cool technical effects and I love the bass/baritone (Eric Owens) who played the troll (Niebelung?) but otherwise, God, Wagner is static. It’s majestic, but slow.

I’m going back to the cinema for Nixon in China on March 2. And I am bringing my own snacks (don’t tell).

#72 Volunteer at church for at least two events.

Done! I joined the communications committee at Lake Edge more than a year ago, on which my main accomplishment was to create a “time and talents” form to match congregrants with volunteering activities.

I mentored a wonderful high schooler, Katie, who is smart and self-motivated and a track runner, for her confirmation studies. And I made two meals for elderly folks — Stan, who just turned 98, and Wes and Ethel Stempke, who are delightful people.

#75 Take a dance class.

I have taken the first step in the right direction on this one. A few weeks ago, I went to a community class at which Chris Walker and FuturPointe Dance taught Caribbean movement to me, a few older folks, a bunch of little girls and a couple of swivel-hipped black 20-something girls who popped in on a whim (they picked up the moves *way* faster than me). I sweated and tried to keep moving and laughed and thanked God there were no mirrors. And it was great.

And finally … #95 Vacation somewhere warm during winter.

We’ve booked plane tickets and a bed and breakfast for a week-long spring break trip this year in New Orleans. I have reservations at Bayona (Susan Spicer). I have reservations at Restaurant August (John Besh). The b&b has a hot tub and I am bringing a bathing suit.

How long until summer?!

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