I was vastly unprepared for this recipe. I thought I had all of the ingredients and was ready to go, but I didn't actually check that until I had already started mixing things together in a bowl. The only reason I even made this recipe was because I knew I'd have leftover cream cheese after I had finished the bagels in my freezer. I did have leftover cream cheese, but only about two ounces; I thought I'd have about half a brick left, and this recipe actually calls for six ounces. So... this was destined to be an adventure.
Ingredients
For the bread:
·2 large very
ripe bananas peeled and mashed
·⅓ cup salted
butter melted
·¾ cup light
brown sugar packed
·1 large egg
·2 teaspoons vanilla
·1 teaspoon baking
soda
·1½ cups all-purpose
flour
For the cheesecake filling:
·6 ounces cream
cheese room temperature
·¼ cup granulated
sugar
·1 large egg
·½ teaspoon vanilla
extract
·3 tablespoons all-purpose
flour
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9x5 loaf pan with nonstick spray.
For the bread:
In a large bowl combine mashed bananas, butter, sugar, egg,
vanilla and baking soda. Stir until combined. Gently stir in the flour. Mix
just until incorporated. Set this aside.
For the cheesecake filling:
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment
(or with an electric mixer) beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth.
Add in the egg and vanilla and mix until smooth, scraping the
sides of the bowl as necessary. Finally, mix in the flour and stir just until
combined.
To assemble:
Spread half of the banana bread batter into the bottom of your
prepared pan.
Evenly spread the cream cheese mixture in top of the batter.
Spread the remaining banana bread batter on top of the cream cheese mixture.
Bake for about 50-60 minutes until the center of the bread is
set. If the bread is browning too quickly, tent the pan with aluminum foil.
Allow the bread to cool in the pan for 20-30 minutes before
removing. Cool completely before slicing and serving.
Like I said, I knew this was going to be a disaster, but realized it a little too late and didn't want to waste anything, so figured I might as well bake something. Again, I didn't have enough cream cheese, and the filling was looking so wet. I stole some of my roommate's Laughing Cow cheese wedges to replace some of the missing cream cheese; not ideal, but I was getting creative! I also didn't know that I had run out of vanilla extract, and I was thiiiiis close to accidentally using mint extract instead! Thank goodness they are different colors so I knew something was wrong as soon as I poured it into the measuring spoon! I also never buy salted butter, so I meant to add some salt to the batter before I put it in the oven, but I totally forgot about doing that. Maybe the salt in the cheese wedges helped...? And while I did have enough brown sugar, it had become hard as a rock (typical). I was able to break up the block with my hands, but I didn't bother measuring it. I figure the rock was as "packed" as it was going to get anyway, and I just eyeballed what I thought looked like 3/4 of a cup. So, this clearly was kind of a DIY recipe.
All the white-yellowy liquid is the wet cheese mixture, and you can see how I didn't divide the batter properly because I didn't have enough to cover the top. Not a great start!
Anyway, my cream cheese filling was so wet, and I didn't divide the dough mixture evenly between the top and bottom layers, so I thought the whole thing was going to end up a big mess. I baked the loaf for 60 minutes; I knew that was a little long, but I was really afraid of all the liquid! In the end, everything solidified and was indeed a bread (instead of a mushy bread pudding that I thought I'd get). It was a little dry, probably from overbaking (I also overmixed the dough mixture picking out those funky chunks of brown sugar that form sometimes). If I ever try to make this recipe again, I will clearly make sure I have ALL the proper ingredients first! I don't mind winging some things, but this was a real nail-biter...
I was looking in my freezer, and I realized I had TWO big bags of frozen French fries in there. So I started looking up recipes for how I could use the fries other than just by themselves (which of course is delicious, but).
1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed
cream of celery soup, undiluted
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese,
divided
1/2 cup 2% milk
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
1. Preheat
oven to 400°. Line bottom and sides of a greased 13x9-in. baking dish with cottage
fries. Bake, uncovered, at 400° for 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook beef over
medium heat until no longer pink; crumble beef; drain. Layer the beef,
broccoli, half of the onions and the tomato over fries. In a small bowl,
combine the soup, 1/2 cup cheese, milk, garlic powder and pepper; pour over
top.
3. Cover and bake at 20 minutes. Uncover;
sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese and onions. Bake 2 minutes longer or
until cheese is melted.
As per usual, I did a few things my own way. I actually didn't look up what cottage fries are until after I had already made the recipe, but all fries are kinda the same, right? I don't eat mammals, so instead of using ground beef or ham, I used ground turkey (although I did get the 85% lean kind just in case a little extra fat would make it taste better). The first recipe called for a whole bag of frozen broccoli, but when I was adding that layer to the casserole, that seemed like a lot. I stopped at what I thought looked like a good amount in proportion to the rest of the dish; the other two recipes call for three cups of broccoli, and I think I did about that (though I did not measure; I also did not drain it, but it didn't seem too wet from being thawed...). I didn't bother with the onion, and I just sprinkled the spices in there rather than measuring them out. I also topped the dish with Chao, a plant-based cheese that Safeway was giving away for free. I figured it was worth trying, seeing as I didn't risk paying for it! As you can see from the photo, it didn't melt very well, and I had it in the oven for five minutes! So maybe not the best cheese for this recipe (although, seeing as most shredded cheese recipes involve melting it, what is this cheese good for...?).
All in all, I thought this recipe was pretty good, and very easy to make! Would definitely recommend!
For my birthday, my boyfriend took me to Nashville, Tennessee! Neither of us had been before, and he knows I love country music, so it was the perfect place to celebrate my special day.
Here are some highlights from my trip:
Seeing a concert at the Grand Ole Opry
This was the one thing that I knew I wanted to do while we were in Music City. I kept monitoring the guests who were going to perform during the long weekend, and I eventually purchased tickets to see Logan Mize. I had never heard of him before, but after checking out some of his stuff on YouTube, I liked his sound. But I had no idea how many acts we would see that night. We saw EIGHT different acts! Each performance was just a couple of songs, so we had a nice variety. Along with Mize, we also saw Parmalee and Chris Janson (he was the headliner), and included in the mix were also comedian Brian Bates (featured on Dry Bar Comedy) the R&B duo Louis York, and a few old-timey sounding country singers. I didn't expect quite a show like that! It was so much fun, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone visiting Nashville. And if I ever get back there, I'm totally going again!
Here are a few of my favorite songs from the night:
I'm not a beer drinker, so I don't really go to breweries, and wineries are normally outside of city limits, and we didn't have a car for this trip. But more and more cities have distilleries that are easily walkable from downtown, and Nashville has plenty of them! On the afternoon when we arrived, after we had lunch at Jack Cawthon's for some barbeque, we headed to Clinton Street where there are three distilleries in a row! The first one we visited (and our favorite) was Nelson's Green Brier Distillery. We loved hearing the history of this distillery: it was the first one to make Tennessee whiskey, and just a few years ago two brothers discovered that this distillery was started by their great-grandfather, so they picked up the tradition! We also did tastings at the Tennessee Legend Distillery (which really just felt like a gift shop), Grinder's Switch Winery (not a distillery, but), and Corsair Distillery (where I bought a rocks glass; my first souvenir!). On another day we visited the tasting room for the Ole Smoky Tennessee Distillery. They have so many flavors, but each day they pre-select the seven you get to try. When you paid for a tasting, you got a coupon for $10 off at the gift shop, so I bought a second souvenir glass!
Along with the tasting theme, we went to the Seltzerland Festival at the Riverside Golf Center. We had not planned for this at all. I just googled things to do in Nashville for that Saturday, and this popped up. I had heard of these hard seltzer tastings before and always wanted to go, and now I had my chance! We paid for the Uber to take us up there, nearly 30 minutes away from Nashville. We started with White Claw and worked our way through some familiar brands like Mike's Hard Lemonade, but most of them were totally new brands to us. My thoughts on each (that I can remember):
The pineapple flavor of the Mike's Hard Lemonade Seltzer was the best. Very refreshing for the summertime!
Buzz Ballz has cute packaging in little spheres, and the chocolate one was so yummy!
Happy Dad's claim to fame is that it's less carbonated, which I personally don't like. I enjoy the bubbles!
Mighty Swell had so many flavors to choose from, I couldn't even taste them all! I was a bit overwhelmed, so all the tastes kind of meld together in my brain...
I had seen Wild Basin in Total Wine stores, but I had never tried it. At this event, they were just showcasing their hard teas, which I didn't like as much. I would have liked to try the berry flavors instead.
Freshie is a brand-new tequila seltzer that only has one flavor: lime. It's kind of like a margarita, but if I had my choice, I'd rather have the traditional cocktail.
Country Luau is pretty new, made by a guy who was into cocktails. A percentage of sales go to musicians, which is fun. The flavors gave me tropical, summer-time vibes.
I had seen Lone River's Ranch Water previously (it was even offered at the Kendra Scott grand opening downtown the day before). I'm not the biggest fan because it's not as fruity or flavorful as most seltzers. But we did try their new margarita seltzer with a splash of their spicy flavor, and that was pretty good!
Flying Panda was started by a woman (woot!) and each flavor supports a different endangered animal species. Amazing work! I'd buy it just because of those two things!
Post Meridiem's canned cocktails are really what did us in. While hard seltzers usually have about the same amount of alcohol as beer or wine, these miniature cans were ~25% alcohol, making them strong. This did not mix well with the light, less alcoholic seltzers! So while they were fun to try, I'm not sure they are the best fit for this event...
About half-way through the loop of tastings, we reached the food trucks, where we enjoyed some truffle pasta (why there was no pizza truck, I have no idea). But that's as far as we got: the alcohol, the sun, and the heat were getting to us, so we just headed back. If I go to one of these again, I'll definitely hydrate more and pace myself better!
Having a milkshake at Legendairy
My friend recommended the Legendairy Milkshake Bar to me, and as the owner of an enormous sweet-tooth, I had to check it out. My boyfriend and I split (no pun intended) the banana split one, replacing the strawberry and banana ice creams with just chocolate. SO delicious! Not that I had any doubts. I could have eaten any of these and been in heaven. My only complaint was the cost: it was nearly $18 for us to split one, and that doesn't even include the branded mason jar! Very yummy, but perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime kinda thing.
Watching the dancing at Nashville Palace
The same friend who recommended Legendairy also suggested that we check out Nashville Palace after the Grand Ole Opry. It was about a 20-minute walk, but not bad on a pretty night. It feels like a dive bar for sure, and the drinks were sub-par. But watching the regulars (I assume) two-step and line-dance was so much fun! They were amazing! As a blues dancer myself, I can definitely appreciate some good social dancing, and they were tearing up the floor. I have no idea how they knew which sequence to dance to which song, but they were killing it. It made me want to dance! But the only song I took part in was the Cha-Cha Slide, since it tells you what to do... Like this:
And we did even more things than that! We visited the Johnny Cash Museum, had drinks at Nudie's, shopped for boots and hats along Broadway (although didn't buy anything), walked around Vanderbilt's campus and saw the Parthenon in Centennial Park... We packed a lot in!
I would definitely visit Nashville again. But after a couple of years of not being able to travel, I want to go to some new places first. Next up: Austin, TX for my sister's bachelorette party! Stay tuned for that post!
Tuesday night I went to the opening night performance of the American Ballet Theatre's stop at the Kennedy Center. I always look forward to seeing ABT as part of my ballet subscription. Did you know that ABT has performed at the Kennedy Center for 50 years, every season that the Kennedy Center has existed? That's quite the partnership!
Not only does this year mark the 50th anniversary of this partnership, but it also marks the final season with Kevin McKenzie as the artistic director of ABT. He was a dancer himself, and he has been in his current role for 30 years. He helped choreograph the company's own versions of the Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and "Don Kee-shoat" (as the KenCen's President Deborah Rutter pronounced it. Eek!). So this is the end of an era!
While the group is performing Don Quixote the rest of the week, I saw their "ABT Forward" performance, which included three parts:
First of all, I loved the costumes for this piece. I want to wear those dresses! Where can I buy one?! The colors, the flowy short skirts, the large keyhole back... divine. And the men's outfits showed off those enormous leg muscles; here I thought I had thunder thighs!
But in general I didn't love this piece. The music by Leonard Bernstein was just a little too carnival-brassy-parade for me. The whole thing actually felt quite childish, as if lyrics could have been set to the music for a children's show like Barney. The choreography felt the same way: the dancers hopped, marched, crawled, and even played peek-a-boo. When I go to the ballet, I want to see grace and beauty, and much of this piece was not that. And while many might disagree with me on this, my opinion is: just because you are performing some sort of movement on stage does not make it good art.
Kids build pyramids all the time, right? Image found here
There was one jazzy piece called "Blues" (how original), featuring Chloe Misseldine and Andrii Ishchuk, which was a nice pas de deux. But it's unfortunate that out of eight mini-parts within this piece, there was only one that I mostly liked, and only one distinct lift in the whole thing.
I was very surprised that there was an intermission after this piece, since it wasn't very long. The following piece was much longer; it should have been first!
I honestly can barely remember anything about this piece, even as I was leaving the theater that night, so that's not a good sign. The music, composed by Jason Moran, was mostly jazz piano, which is not my cup-o-tea. There was one percussion-heavy part that I did enjoy, though, and at one point they played nature sounds, like birds chirping, so that was interesting.
Some of the moves were pretty cool. Many of the dancers crouched on point and then huddled across the stage; dancing on point is already hard enough, let alone doing it while you're practically sitting down in a narrow squat! There was also a pas de deux in which the male dancer lifted the ballerina as her feet were dragging or sliding along the ground, which you don't commonly see.
In both this piece and the first Bernstein one, a lot of the movements made me think of toxic relationships. There was a lot of pushing, pulling, shoving, crouching... it was like watching a bad relationship happen on stage. That's just not very pleasant to watch.
Another thing I noticed during this piece: dancer Michael de la Nuez has a hair lip. I do not think I have ever seen a ballet dancer with a cleft lip! I am pleased to see the inclusivity of the ballet world opening up in this way. (Although perhaps Rudolf Nureyev of the Mariinsky Ballet had one, too?) And speaking of inclusivity, there was so much homoeroticism throughout the evening. I don't think I've ever seen so many men do lifts with other men. At any moment I thought different pairs were going to start kissing on stage! ("Not that there's anything wrong with that!") Again, just the changing of the times, and I appreciate ABT's openness.
This was BY FAR my favorite piece of the night! All of the music was from the crooners, with Tony Bennett singing most of the songs (not that he was there, although that would have been amazing!). They were songs like "What the World Needs Now," "Blue Moon," and "It Don't Mean a Thing if it Ain't Got That Swing." As a blues dancer (who dabbles in swing dancing), I loved all of these songs! I also very much appreciated the Americana vibes of this performance. Even the zig-zag backdrop made me think of Charlie Brown's shirt, and later there was an image of the New York City skyline highlighted in the background. It made me want to visit the Big Apple!
Once again, the costumes were beautiful. I would have worn any and all of those dresses! And the men who were wearing all white made me wish their outfits would magically change color (Ã la Project Runway). And all of the dancing was so lively and fun! I didn't love some of the moves, like zombie-arms or "the worm," but most of it was gorgeous. I especially liked when some of the dancers created the NYC skyline with their own bodies, arms overhead to create the tops of buildings and the like.
This piece was so joyful! The program definitely ended on a high note. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if Misty Copeland had been performing!
Here's a video of a previous curtain call for this piece, just to give you an idea of the vibe:
Speaking of the curtain call, this final one went on for MUCH too long. Not only did the dancers expect you to clap over and over again for them, one by one it seemed, BUT Kevin McKenzie came on stage for multiple curtain calls of his own. They even dropped pink rose petals from the ceiling! It was all a little much. Can you imagine if each of us, in our day-to-day jobs, demanded that everyone clap for us for nearly TEN MINUTES just for doing our jobs? Please.
Last week I had the chance to see Riverdance at the Kennedy Center! I was able to get a discount code for last-minute tickets, so I bought a ticket for myself in the fourth row for Friday night. It was quite a different crowd from the one when I saw Yo-Yo Ma at the Kennedy Center earlier this month (read that blog post here). Lots of DC tourists!
It's the group's 25th anniversary, and I was excited to celebrate that milestone with them. It all started as the interval performance during the Eurovision Song Contest that Ireland hosted in 1994:
I can't remember if I saw Riverdance as a child, but certainly all I expected to see was Irish dancing. But it's so much more than that! And while the dancing was certainly impressive (and it wasn't just Irish dancing), I was equally enamored by the singing and the music. Such talent!
The introduction of the show, "Reel Around the Sun," really gives you the full experience. The singing is incredible, the music is stunning, and the dancing is intense:
And everything went from there! I really liked their use of the virtual backgrounds to help tell the story. With today's technology, why don't all dance companies do that? It was cool to watch the sun set or the waves of the ocean move, and it's so much more modern than the traditional sets that ballet companies use.
William Bryant (above, starting at 1:04) was the male soloist of the show, and he is phenomenal! He was clearly born to be a performer. He dances with such confidence, and boy does he look good in those costumes! I couldn't keep my eyes off of him!
The troupe also includes Morgan Bullock (video above), an African-American woman from Richmond, Virginia. Her dance instructor actually works at the Pure Barre studio I go to! Such a small world. I don't think anyone expects a Black woman to be performing Irish dance, and I appreciate her poise in breaking down those barriers. She's the Irish dance version of Misty Copeland!
There was even some flamenco dancing at this show! The music gave it away with the Spanish guitar and castanets, and when Rocio Dusmet took the stage, she completely captivated your attention. Her sultry gaze was almost like that of a sorceress, luring you in. She had two separate parts in the show; it was almost like she had her own showcase!
Along with the dancers, the musicians were amazing, too. There were three women, which I thought was really cool, and then the percussionist was a man. Tara Howley plays the the Uilleann pipes (similar to Scottish bagpipes), the low whistle, the tin whistle, and the concertina (whew!). Emma Frampton plays the saxophone, and Haley Richardson plays the fiddle. And they are all led by Mark Alfred, the drummer and musical director. I was blown away by all of them! They are all incredible at what they do, and I loved their chemistry on stage, too.
Here's a video of Tara Howley several years ago playing the Uilleann pipes:
And this is Haley Richardson playing the fiddle along with two troupe members dancing:
I really enjoyed the segments that just featured the musicians without the dancers. It was a nice way to break up the show (and certainly to give the dancers a rst), and they themselves are quite riveting as performers. They are so good I could have watched them as a concert all on their own!
The second act was a lot more fun, since the dancers didn't seem to be as serious. It's more enjoyable to watch when they are smiling and look like they are having a good time. I've included a lot of videos below to give you a sense of that!
The second act opens with "American Wake," which feels like a folk festival of sorts:
While I was watching, I wondered how Irish dancing evolved compared to tap dancing. Irish dance came first, but tap dance certainly has strong roots here in the United States. And then the show actually included a tap dancing segment! Tyler Knowlin and Dharmesh Patel were the two tap dancers, and they were both great. It was fun watching them and the Irish dancers play a little Westside Story-esque dance battle.
Here's a video of that part (although with different dancers and musicians):
There were also four Russian dancers who did interesting tricks and the like. That part included Christine Lesnikova, Aleksandr Safonov, and Eugeniu and Ana Turcan (siblings? husband and wife?). Here's a full video of the "Russian dervish" segment:
Needless to say, this is one of the best shows I've seen, and I go to a lot of performances! I can't recommend it enough!
While the video below is not exactly the same performance I saw, it's a full hour-and-a-half if you just want to watch online:
And during the intermission they played a promotional video to visit Ireland, which I thought was funny. So maybe with COVID-19 as less of a problem, you could visit...?
I'm not a classical music expert by any means, but I can certainly appreciate it. And I know who Yo-Yo Ma is! So months ago when I recived an email from the Washington Performing Arts selling tickets for his performance at the Kennedy Center, I immediately emailed my friend Jen (my go-to classical music friend, since she plays the piano) to invite her to come with me.
I hadn't been in the Kennedy Center's concert hall probably since before the pandemic. It's such a beautiful space! While the show was sold out, there were many empty seats (including three next to me), so I wish I had looked on Craigslist to see if anyone was selling their tickets so I could have invited other friends. But perhaps people simply forgot! I never received a reminder email about the performance; good thing I wrote it down in my planner!
Ma was performing in a trio alongside Emanuel Ax on the piano and Leonidas Kavakos on violin. The performance was in memory of Isaac Stern, a famous violinist (which I did not know until Jen told me). They started the show by playing the national anthem of Ukraine in honor of the violence happening there now, which I thought was very respectful and meaningful; people on the other side of the world are at war right now, and we had the privilege to be safe and sound watching a concert.
Here's an actual video of their performance of the anthem:
The first full piece they played was Beethoven's "Pastorale" symphony, which is one of my favorites. It's the music in the unicorn scene in Disney's Fantasia! While the piece certainly sounds different when you only have three instruments instead of a full orchestra, it still was familiar and made me smile. How can you not when you're listening to music that makes you think of cherubs, baby unicorns, and sexy centaurs?
I couldn't find a full clip of the Disney piece, so here is the full symphony separated out into its five movements:
It wasn't that those other two pieces weren't good, it's just more fun to listen to music you know. Kind of like when you go to a rock concert and can sing along with the songs: it's just more fun when you know the music! They did play an encore piece that I wasn't familiar with. A little girl sitting behind us said, "Wait, they're going to play again?" and let out a very tired sigh. I was tired, too, I will admit, but I did not fall asleep! And the metro gods were on my side, and I made good time traveling home. I am so thankful that we can enjoy things like this again after two years of staying at home!
I had not heard of either of his openers before. Lily Rose certainly doesn't fit your idea of what a "female country star" looks like, but I love that country music is becoming more welcome and inclusive of all people (She recently got engaged to her girlfriend, Daira Eamon.). I couldn't understand a lot of what she sang, but I did like her vibe. Some of her songs were okay!
Villain(This song reminded me of Carly Pearce's "What He Didn't Do," just about how each person has their own side of the story and how someone always seems to come out to be the "bad guy.")
The second opener, ERNEST, wasn't much better in terms of enunciation. I thought his show was kinda boring. The only good songs he performed were ones that he helped write with Morgan Wallen (I was surprised that both he and Lily Rose gave shout-outs to Morgan after he's gotten bad press from using racial slurs and breaking COVID-19 restrictions; probably NOT a name you want to drop when trying to make a name for yourself.).
Cheers(He's patriotic, which I think is a good thing...?)
And while Chris Lane's energy was better, and I knew a couple of his songs, I wasn't even impressed with him as a headliner. He worked the crowd, which is fun, but I'm paying HIM to sing, not listen to my fellow concert-goers belt it out. He also sang some songs from the 90's to engage the crowd (like Alan Jackson's "Chattahoochee" and Montell Jordan's "This is How We Do It," but again, I wanted to hear his music. He did sing one song with his brother, who is also his drummer, and his brother sounds JUST like him! Here are some of the songs Chris sang that I recognized:
Here's a bonus video of Chris singing with his brother, Cory:
Chris Lane sang to a little girl who was a big fan! Photo by Mike Davis
Unfortunately this is one of the worst concerts I've been to. I really didn't have that much fun, and I wasn't interested in buying merch or learning more about any of these singers. Needless to say, if any of them come back to town, I won't be rushing to buy tickets.
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