Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow...

I'm in the midst of chasing down a dream. 

And to be honest, i think i have a real shot at it. 

But we'll see. 

Scary stuff though, chasing your dreams. 

Heres the scoop:

The Tony Awards are The Oscars of the theatre world. All the major broadway stars attend. 

I've watched them every year since i was a freshman in high school. 

Macys is hosting a competition called "Ticket to the Tonys". There are 5 winners, including 2 grand prize winners. The 5 finalists get a 3 day trip to New York to compete for the grand prize AND they get to attend the dress rehearsal of The Tony awards (i would be thrilled just to win this). The grand prize winners get a $1000 Macys gift card, an extra night in New York, and they get to WALK THE RED CARPET, attend the show and the after show gala with all the stars. SWOOOON.  

 

Heres my entry:

I just have to get into the top five...and that is completely out of my hands. 

If i make it in the top 5 a panel of judges (60% of vote) and voting (40% of vote) decides the top 2 based on: creativity and originality (25%), strength of voice and pitch (25%), and body language/performance/stage presence (50%)

Thats where i feel i have a shot, because The Tony Awards tweeted my video out to their 9,000 followers - but who really knows what that means?! None of those followers have any reason to want to make my dream come true, and getting in to the top 5 is entirely dependent on public voting, which starts tomorrow (the 27th) at noon and goes till midnight June 1st....thats only 4 days!! Gaaah. 

So we'll have to wait and see and pray and hope and and and....

Ohh i wish i wish. 

Graduation.

12 of my supremely wonderful students graduated on Saturday.
I was their speaker, along with the core high school teacher Pat.

This is what i said:

When you asked me to speak with Mr. K I was so humbled...and I thought about what it is that I could say to you, what great final life lesson I would leave you with - other than no matter where you go or what you do TRY OUT for your local theatre!

I didn’t want to read anybody else’s “great commencement speeches” in case I wound up saying what THEY had to say rather than what I wanted to share with you....then I thought of that famous saying “Write what you know” and I remembered my own high school graduation.

To be honest, I don’t know what my own speaker said. I don’t remember. What I do know is how that day felt. I remember sitting up on stage as you are now thinking “FINALLY! Its finally here, I cant believe I’m finally done!” It seemed like it had taken forever to get to that bittersweet day – and it was in that memory I found the first thing I want to say to you:

I know how you’re feeling. Enjoy this day. Live it up! You have earned it, and you only get it once in your life. But know this – from this day on, time only speeds up. It’s why you’re sitting there thinking ‘finally!’ and your parents are sitting there thinking ‘it seems like only yesterday...’  though granted some of them may ALSO be thinking ‘finally!’

The thing about time speeding up is that if you’re not careful, you’ll lose yourself in it. Things that make you who you are can get forgotten and lost in the shuffle of time. And in looking back and seeing time fly by me I realized the second thing I knew I wanted to say to you. See, I know you. And you’re all SO. WONDERFULLY. DIFFERENT. it would be impossible to think of just one thing that I didn’t want you to lose or forget. So instead of thinking of one thing I didn’t want ALL of you to lose, I thought of one thing I didn’t want EACH of you to lose. They may not be the most grand, and they may not be the very center of who you are, they are simply the things I as your teacher have come to value in each of you. So, here they are and bear with me if I start to cry.

Rylee: Don’t lose your genuineness. You are genuine and kind. Those traits are rare, but everyone benefits by coming in contact with someone like you.

Will: Don’t lose your ability to stand-alone. That independence, that chutzpah that says I will dance even if no one else does. Go forward and defy anyone who tries to put you in a box.

Christina and Justion – I never had the privilege of having you in my class. So I asked your former teachers to tell me about you. Christina yours said: you are spunky, tenacious and fun. Justin: You are diligent, talented. What a wonderful reputation to have!

Andrew: Don’t forget you’re an artist. As an artist you have a need to express – whether through drawing, music, acting, photography – if you don’t express, you will suffer. So let it out!

Reid: Don’t loose your wanderlust. Travel breeds wisdom. So go, travel, explore, experience....just don’t be reckless.

Nathan: Don’t forget you’re a leader. You are confident, and unafraid to look honestly at yourself. Those two things can take you anywhere you choose. Lead for good.

Nateal: Don’t lose your love of life, your zest. You are so energetic and passionate and present in every. single. moment. People like you, make the world a colorful place.  

David: Don’t lose your drive. That spark inside of you that pushes you to pursue your dreams...to be authentic and good and honest. Those are noble aspirations.

Jenna – Don’t lose your moxie. Your mind and your boldness are a gift. Temper your boldness with wisdom and you will be a force to be reckoned with.

Ashlyn – Don’t lose your ability to be content. There is great beauty in appreciating simple things like time with those you love.

Amanda – Don’t lose your loyalty. You’re a good friend and you actively invest in others. Most people consider themselves very lucky if there is even one person in their life like you. 

It has been my privilege to be your teacher, and sometimes your student, for these past two years. I am proud of you, I’m excited for you, and I will miss you all so very much. Congratulations. 

Glorious

What a wonderful weekend!

Friday was the Pentathlon, Saturday was graduation, and Sunday was the series finale of Lost.

The Pentathlon was a huge success! It was easily one of the most enjoyable days i have spent at my school. It began with lunch followed by the Opening Ceremonies - during which ancient Greek music was played and all the classes came marching in as their respective city-states (Spartans, Athenians, Megarans, etc). The torch was lit, then they spread out across the campus for the competitions. The 5 events were: foot-race, javelin, long jump, obstacle course, and chariot race. Each class rotated through the events and at the end of the day we had a medal ceremony.

This is my favorite photo from the day.

I think it captures the spirit of my students perfectly.

As for the meal, over 70 people were fed! Having taught at the school for 2 years and running the lunch program, i've come to expect last minute additions and changes. Sure enough, i walked in that morning to a slew of new orders. Thank goodness i made extra!

Working the drink stand in my toga

The finished products:

Hand squeezed lemonade 

Greek Salad

Roman Celebration bread (actually ciabatta) 

brushed with herb infused oil 

Spanakopita

Lemon/rosemary grilled chicken 

Baklava

Chevre, honey, and orange stuffed figs

The plating of the figs is the only thing i was truly disappointed about.

If time had permitted, i wanted them arranged with an orange slice tucked to the side and honey drizzled across the whole thing. Oh well, they still tasted delicious. 

A quick note about the bread: ciabatta is apparently one of those "very hard" to make breads, so to make it easy i used Jim Laheys recipe for no-knead ciabatta. All you do is mix the 4 ingredients, then let it rise for 12-19 hours in a warm place (I left mine overnight in the oven with the light on). The next day you form it into the loaves, let it rise for another hour or two (or in my case, 4...its very forgiving). Then place a pan of water on the bottom rack of the oven and a cookie sheet on the top rack, flip the dough onto the pre-heated cookie sheet, cover it with a brownie pan, bake and voila! Beautiful ciabatta. Jim Lahey has an entire book dedicated to no-knead bread, but you can find many of the recipes for free through google or my personal favorite: FoodGawker.com 

Silas had a good day too!

He came home sleepy and pink-cheeked. 

I get to work with these fabulous people. 

All in all, a glorious day. I will do it again. 

Next year in fact! We'll be moving onto Renaissance! Visions of Shakespeare, flowing dresses, turkey legs, jousting, madrigals, and stage-combat are already filling my head.... 

Pentathlon.

It's midnight.

Last Friday, i decided to go out of my mind and make a special Greek/Roman inspired meal for the students on the day of their Pentathlon.
Created a menu, sent a flyer home to all the parents.

Entree, 2 sides, and a dessert for $7 a plate.
Menu:

Entree: Grilled rosemary/lemon chicken

Side Choices: Bread with dipping oil, Greek Salad, Spanakopita

Dessert Choices: Bakalava or chevre stuffed honey drizzled figs


Today

4:00pm - counted up all the meals and felt a little dizzy

4:30pm - a mom asked me "have you ever cooked for 50 people before?"
"No, but i've got a lot of confidence!" was my reply.

5:00pm - a phone call was placed to The Chef, recipes given, and the farewell "Ok, ill call you when im panicking" "Yup, talk to you then" exchanged.

7:00 - deposited an obscene amount of checks into my account for one of four things: yearbook, pizza money, ad space, pentathlon lunch. Decided my Indian name should be "wearer of many hats".

7:01 - Wished i got to keep all that money.

9:00pm - after being in the store for an hour and a half, spent $200 on food, 99% of which i will not eat.

10:00pm - slowly and painfully took the skin off 11 lemons with a vegetable peeler. cursed lemon oil getting in my eye, blessed Will and Grace on dvd for keeping me laughing.

11:50pm - placed 80 chicken thighs in the fridge, all settling into olive oil, rosemary, lemon peel, salt and pepper.

Tomorrow - locate figs. dice up veggies for Greek Salad, crush walnuts for baklava, infuse herbs into olive oil for bread dipping, crumble feta for spanakopita, prep no-knead ciabatta, buy serving trays, bowls, plates, and cutlery. Pull together ancient Greek outfit, complete with jewelry and headpiece. It's a requirement for all the teachers to wear them Friday. We're "that school" and i love it.

Thursday - bake ciabatta, bake and cut baklava, make lemonade (what else am i going to do with 11 skinned lemons?!), bake spanakopita. Write graduation speech. Record all high school final grades.

Friday - Pentathlon! Wear "toga" to school (never thought i'd say THAT as a teacher), pull together salad, cut up spanakopita, grill chicken, wrangle some seniors to help me serve, have fun, collapse.

I am so looking forward to this! I'll post pictures when its all said and done.


Now - bed.

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

I'm LOVING this video made by my cousin The Chef for several reasons:

It's so informative without a single word being spoken.
It sends a 'know where your food comes from' message without being snobby or hippy-esque.
It does not shy away from the fact that the food we eat was once a living, breathing animal - a fact that i feel gets lost in the pre-packaged, pre-seasoned, frozen, boneless, skinless, meat aisles of todays supermarkets.

Watch and tell me what you think!
Password: addington

I apologize in advance for the thousand links in this post.

There's a saying I'm sure you've all heard: "A baby changes everything". Its true, and one area i've really seen this change is my thought process about food. While i fear turning into some tree hugging hippie and the thought of a 'life-overhaul' feels a bit overwhelming, i've been doing a lot of research lately and have been making small changes.

1. Baby only eats organic, free range, grass fed, no hormones or antibiotics etc. He has from the start. I really haven't found it to be that difficult to homemake his baby food, as organic produce is readily available in all supermarkets and its a simple matter of blending it up in the food processor in large quantities and freezing the excess. As he gets older and moves to different foods, i have bought some organic baby foods and meat, which brings me to this:

2. Nobody is lying. Eating local, organic, and sometimes raw IS expensive. Ryan and I aren't in the financial position to be able to eat strictly raw/organic so instead we are trying to make better choices. The more research im doing the more i realize how badly i've messed up my body through eating processed foods full of hormones and chemicals. This article by Michael Pollan is a long fascinating read, but if you want to skip through all the history and science, start at page 11 for his 9 pieces of eating advice. i loved them.

and this:
"Today, a mere four crops account for two-thirds of the calories humans eat. When you consider that humankind has historically consumed some 80,000 edible species, and that 3,000 of these have been in widespread use, this represents a radical simplification of the food web. Why should this matter? Because humans are omnivores, requiring somewhere between 50 and 100 different chemical compounds and elements to be healthy. It’s hard to believe that we can get everything we need from a diet consisting largely of processed corn, soybeans, wheat and rice."

 Back to the small changes/better choices:

I could be completely off here, but it's my opinion i can lessen the impact of pesticides in fruits and veggies by giving them a good scrubbing, peeling before consumption, cutting off the stems, etc. What i cannot do is remove the junk from meat and dairy, so that is where we've made the biggest changes.

We now buy....

Milk: Organic, grass fed, non-homogenized, no added hormones, whole milk. Yes, whole milk. Heres why. The milk i buy is vat pasteurized (the most gentle of methods) as it is currently illegal to sell raw milk for human consumption. However, there's a loophole im looking into! Simply put - you buy a share of a cow and pay monthly boarding fees, that way you're not "buying" the milk, its coming from "your" cow.

*If you take nothing else from the milk articles take this: READ THE LABEL! Look for vat pasteurized, lightly pasteurized, or just plain pasteurized before you by ULTRA pasteurized! At that point, the milk has been heated to a minimum of 280 degrees F - its so processed it has a shelf life of two months and doesn't even need to be refrigerated anymore!

Eggs: Local, organic, cage free, vegetarian fed, no animal by-products, no antibiotics, no hormones! Check out this short little video (The Chef strikes again!) that explains why. I really want chickens, and right now the issue of urban-chickens is up for discussion in my town. Fingers crossed it passes so i can have a few roaming around my backyard!

Chicken: organic, air-chilled, free-range, no animal by-products, no added water, no antibiotics, no growth hormones. I know, a lot of Chef videos, but i have yet to find a more succinct explanation.

Beef: same rules as chicken - only dry-aged instead of air-chilled.

Veggies: Organic when possible. Look and see if your area offers any Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs so you're getting super fresh foods and supporting local farmers.


Finally, two nights ago i got around to watching Food Inc. and if you haven't seen it you should, if only to hear the farmer with the big glasses talk about life. I want to visit his farm.



What are your thoughts on food?