Phantom of the Opera

A friend asked me if I wanted to write a review on Phantom of the Opera for her theater blog, check it out here, so I thought I would modify it for cleverknack!

When I was in fourth grade, my parents offered me a ticket to see Phantom of the Opera, and I foolishly turned it down. It soon stopped touring and I feared I would never be able to see it and would have to settle for the mediocre movie version. However, I miraculously (I frequently stalk musical productions) found out a 25th anniversary tour was happening and that it was going to be in Minneapolis! Easily worth the five and half hour drive in the dead of winter. By the way, you have not experienced cold until you’ve been to Minnesota in December. FROZEN.

Pictured below: A phreezing Phantom photo!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the story line, the musical follows a chorus girl, Christine Daae, and the phantom's obsessive love of her, which is manifested through terror on the opera house. In contrast with the more “pop" style that is seen in musicals these days, e.g. Wicked, Once, Rent, etc., Phantom is obviously operatic, and has a rock tone to it. It's more famous songs are "Music of the Night," "Think of Me," "All I ask of You," and it's title song, "Phantom of the Opera." I love me all good musicals, but there really is something about the quality of opera (when it is done well), that is absolutely uplifting.

Phantom has always had a stunning and majestic reputation due to it’s spectacle and intense musical scores. Even though the 25th anniversary was a non-replica rendition, it did not disappoint! The show was complete with a falling chandelier, moving and disappearing staircases, colorful costumes, and a hefty amount of pyrotechnics. Nothing was spared, it was truly a majestic performance.

Ultimately, I experienced everything one should during a musical- I was wowed by the spectacle, caught up in the music, fascinated by the idea of a play within a play (thank you, Shakespeare!). Minneapolis was only the second city on the tour, so I give them some room for error. The show had to be stopped mid-performance due to technical difficulties (which is actually really ironic because there is a scene in Phantom when that actually happens as part of the storyline). Also, intermission was prolonged due to more technical problems. I’m not sure if it was the venue or the production, but it did noticeably throw the performance off. In general, the entire flow seemed a little disjointed, but hopefully it gets smoother with time.

The tour has long moved on from Minneapolis and is currently in Chicago, IL if you fancy a trip! It will also be showing in New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and a few other locations. Click here for more information or look up the 25th anniversary performances on Youtube to get a taste of the songs, you won't be disappointed!

WWRW: Children's Book Review -- Breaking Stalin's Nose by Eugene Yelchin

Published: September 27, 2011

Audience: Ages 9-12; Grades 4-7

Awards & Honors: Newbery Honor (2012); ALA Notable Children's Books (2012). 

Genre: Children's Literature, Historical Fiction, Middle Grade

Setting: Soviet Union, 1950s; Kremlin in Moscow, Russia 

Synopsis: Sasha Zaichik has known the laws of the Soviet Young Pioneers since the age of six: The Young Pioneer is devoted to Comrade Stalin, the Communist Party, and Communism. A Young Pioneer is a reliable comrade and always acts according to conscience. A Young Pioneer has a right to criticize shortcomings.  But now that it is time to finally join the Young Pioneers, the day Sasha has waited for so long, everything seems to go awry. He breaks a classmate's glasses with a snowball.  He accidentally damages a bust of Stalin in the school hallway. And worst of all, his father, the best Communist he knows, was arrested last night. 

This moving story of a ten-year-old's boy world shattering is masterful in it's simplicity, powerful in its message, and heartbreaking in its plausibility. 

(synopsis as seen on goodreads.com) 

My Rating: 5/5 Stars 

My thoughts: This book was fantastically written and the illustrations are a wonderful touch to this short children's novel on Stalin's reign in Communist Russia. Loosely based on the author's life, this story paints a very realistic picture of what the Russian people's lives were like ruled under Stalin's iron fist. 

I think what's so memorable about this book is seeing the effects of tyranny through the eyes of a child. Sasha is so innocent, believing in his world that Stalin is a "father for all" and it's saddening to watch everything this child believes come crashing down before his very eyes.  The fears expressed are very genuine and convincing for the character's age, and it seems to me that many young children could relate, perhaps not specifically to the Sasha's situation, but in dealing with fears such as his. 

Delicious Butternut Squash Soup

Disclaimer: I wrote this post about two months ago, so the commentary is out of date, but the recipe is still good!

So I have about three or four recipes that I've put on a list to share on the blog, and they've sat there for about two months! However, one of them I just have to get on here now before fall is over. It's a little time consuming, but you can make lots, freeze some, or just eat it all week!

Butternut Squash Granny Smith Bisque

Ingredients:
2 Medium butternut squash
1 Vidalia onion or sweet onion
1 carrot or handful of baby carrots
1 large granny smith apple
3 cups of chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup apple cider
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
2 tblspn maple syrup
2 tblspn butter
1/4- 1/2 cup of heavy cream
1 tblspn apple cider vinegar

How To:

1. Peel squash and chop up into cubes. Discard "guts". Put in large pot, cover with water by 1 in. and boil for 20 minutes or until soft. Drain water and mash.

2. Dice apple, onion, and carrot. Saute in soup pot with butter for about 3-5 minutes. Dump into large pot with squash. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add cinnamon, nutmeg, syrup, vinegar, and cider. Saute in large pot for a couple minutes.

3. Bring pot to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

4. Use blender to puree until smooth.

5. If you are going to freeze some of the soup, take out what you want to freeze now.

6. Return your puree to low heat and add heavy cream.

Enjoy!

Note: if you want to use this for a meatless Friday or just vegetarian, make sure you use the vegetable broth instead of chicken.

Delightful Drinks

Happy New Year!
Is it just me or does it seem that everyone is hating on 2013, but completely assured that 2014 is going to be the best year yet? That is just the sense I've gotten from Facebook. I have my own theories on superstitions of how good/bad a year is going to be. 1) Even numbered years are always better than odd and 2) A bad New Year's Eve results in a good year.
Now, my NYE wasn't necessarily bad or good. The highlights are as follows: 1) I had a major allergic reaction due to a cat and dog being at the house I was at 2) I signed up for a half marathon at midnight (yay!) and 3) We made some delicious drinks- recipes to follow after this funny picture of a swaddled cat.

I'm not sure how popular Moscow Mules are in other cities, but in Omaha they are pretty much the hottest (hottest as in trendy terms, not temperature terms) drink around. I assume this is due to the rise in the hipster culture because it seems to have been dubbed as a hipster drink.  In case you are unaware, it is basically ginger beer, vodka, lime juice and a lime garnish. It's signature trademark is that it is served in a copper mug. It is light, refreshing, and flavorful without being too sweet (or bitter or sour or dry, etc.). 

My cousin made the drinks for us (and she happens to own copper mugs, which is essential for any hipster host), but I looked up the recipe and it is as follows: 

Moscow Mule: 

2 oz. vodka 

1 oz. lime juice

8 oz. ginger beer 

garnish with lime 

As is standard, even for the hipsters, champagne was served at midnight. A trick I use to jazz up our champagne is to put some berries in it. Last year I tried raspberries, but this year I went with the blackberries (mostly because the raspberries were $4.00 and the blackberries were only .99 cents). It is simple and easy to add the berries in. First, crush the berries in a bowl, then spoon them into the glasses, pour the champagne in, and make a toast! 

Voila! Your champagne is pretty, unique, and even more tasty! 

And there you have it. Two drinks to add to your hostess with the mostest repertoire.  Cheers to 2014!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to you all! I love the feeling of a fresh start and taking time to reflect on all the past year's joys, blessings, and even trials. However, this also brings up the inevitable "R" word. Resolutions.

I'm terrible at them. I half heartedly think up about ten of them, but never put much effort into keeping them because they usually all just fall apart within the first week... or day. This year I'd like to take a slightly different approach, and I gained inspiration and encouragement from my dear friend's blog post today, "Hopes, goals and resolutions".

This year I'm going to make realistic goals. And, to everyone else they may seem a bit small, but with the baby coming along, I'm figuring a lot will be changing. I could start the year out resolving to wash all the dishes every single darn day (we don't have a dishwasher), sew dozens of cool projects, and keep the house immaculate. Those sound like nice resolutions, but they probably won't happen and will it all make me happy? When I don't keep the resolutions, I'll probably just feel depressed, or if by some miracle I did keep them, I'd probably still be miserable because I'd be exhausted.

I want to set goals that put God and my family first. For example, waking up and saying a few prayers right away to get the day started. Or saying a decade or two of the rosary while nursing. I know I'll have the time for these things and it will only help me love and serve my family better.

Don't worry, I'm still going to try really hard finishing all the housework, but I encourage you to set goals for yourself or resolutions that will help you truly live your life better during the time God has blessed us here on Earth. I promise you won't be disappointed with your results ;)

Breaking Away From Young Adult Fiction

For a few days I've been mulling over what to blog about first. For me, this has been the year of bloggable experiences like musicals, my first crock-pot attempt, classroom crafts, decorating my apartment, and reading books, of course. In the future, l plan on writing a musical review of Wicked, Les Mis, Phantom of the Opera, and Lion King. You can also be on the lookout for a rueben dip crock pot recipe post, and a "wine-themed" decorated apartment post. However, for now I am going to do a book review!

Being a junior high English teacher (it's true, by the way, teaching Jr. high kids is as ridiculous as you would imagine), I've been reading a lot of Young adult fiction. In case you are interested, or want to keep these titles on tap for when your babies turn 13, my recent favorites have included the following: The Divergent series, the Matched series, The Fault in our Starts, and anything by Rick Riordan (like the Percy Jackson series). However, seeing as I'm also a grown woman, I've been trying to read some more age appropriate books, which is what I would like to recommend to you all!

The beauty of an age-appropriate book is that it is so much more relatable to our current experiences. My top recommendation fits that relate-ability perfectly. It is a book called Firefly Lane, by Kristin Hannah. This book follows the story of two best friends- Kate and Tully- from childhood, to high school and college, and finally into adult life. Ultimately, this book is about the bond and struggles of friendships between women. As a brief generalization, Tully is outgoing, loud, charming, career oriented and successful, but incredibly insecure. Kate is quiet, plain, stable, a mother, and (slightly less than Tully) insecure in her own way. In the beginning of the book, Kate relies on Tully to learn how to be social (which is easily the most important thing to a high schooler, right??), but as the story goes on we see that the real dependency is the one that Tully has on Kate. Kate is behind the scenes, but is the rock. As you can guess, and as you've experienced, when you have a pair of best friends who are opposites, there are problems and hurt, but also forgiveness and love.

As I was reading this book, I thought so much about my own friendships. To some I am the "Tully" and to some I am the "Kate." I can be outgoing, but inconsiderate, like Tully,  and I can also be a behind the scenes rock. Maybe you can easily identify with one of the roles, or maybe you identify with both. Regardless, I'm sure you can see that no matter the frustrations in a friendship, and no matter the inevitable hurt and, hopefully, forgiveness, the joy and support women receive from each other is so needed and quite a beautiful thing. We all love the men in our lives, but our best friends offer us something so special that I think we often take for granted.

This book is engaging, a great read, and a perfect reminder of the love we have for our best friends. It does such a nice job of illuminating the changes friendships go through and the challenges that accompany those changes. I promise you you'll probably laugh, cry, and then write your bestie a note.
My other recommendations are by Lisa Genova and they are called Left Neglected and Still Alice- both about women struggling to maintain their lives with a limitation (Alzheimer's and Left Neglect). Again, just great reads for adult women.

                      

So, buy one of these on your Kindle or visit your local library and treat yourself! All three of these books pair nicely with a beer, cup of tea, or glass of wine! Merry Christmas, friends!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Don't worry, I didn't forget that Christmas day already happened last week. We are just starting our Christmas celebration since Advent just ended and Christmas actually continues on into February (perks of being Catholic). What this means for me: it was totally ok that I didn't even get the Christmas tree set up until Christmas day, I can still add all the ornaments other than the three and giant angel currently on the tree without feeling guilty, I can still make my chocolate, walnut, cranberry bark, and I can still send out the Christmas cards to friends and family that didn't quite make it to the mailbox yet.

As pathetic as all that sounds, I actually was on top of a few things this Christmas. For example, Jeremy and I had most of our Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving. However, this was more due to necessity rather than any grand planning on my part. We saw Jeremy's side of the family in October and my family for Thanksgiving, so I figured I should have all the Christmas presents ready instead of shipping them for Christmas, because we all know that would never end up happening and cost a small fortune. After having done the shopping this way though, I think I'll stick to it for the future. It was so much less stressful to casually shop for people throughout the year, I didn't have to brave the crazy stores right before Christmas, and I think I actually saved money with better deals and really taking the time to find gifts that fit each person.

Christmas at home was pretty quiet, but really nice. Jeremy and I got dressed up and went to mass in the morning. I made him take a picture to document baby's "first" Christmas. We really need a tripod though so we can take family pictures. I'm just over 33 weeks here!

Jeremy and I had already accidently figured out or found out almost all the gifts we were exchanging, so we tackily agreed to forego wrapping any gifts. It was slightly hilarious.

We got together with some friends for dinner in their new home. I volunteered to make the ham, potatoes, and homemade macaroni and cheese. I used this recipe for the ham in the crockpot. It was delicious! The smallest ham I found was over 9 lbs, so I had to cover everything with tin foil instead of the lid and we are still eating leftovers. I'll include the recipe for the macaroni and cheese at the end. Our friends made some delicious apple pies, green beans, and cranberry sauce from fresh cranberries! After dinner we played Jeremy's new game, Ticket to Ride.

We both missed our families, but without all the craziness of traveling and emphasis on gift giving, I felt a bit more connected to the real reason for the season. I found time to reflect on the tiny child born in Bethlehem and his young, holy mother. It reminded me to pray more for our own growing family and to savor all the blessings we have received. I said a little prayer to our little one in heaven whom we lost last Advent season due to miscarriage and requested they pray for their new sibling arriving in a few short weeks. Overall, Christmas was beautiful and I wouldn't change a single nuance :) I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas day and continue to enjoy this gorgeous season of celebration!

Macaroni and Cheese (adapted from Martin's recipe)

Ingredients:
16 oz box macaroni
3/4 cup milk
1 1/5 cups heavy cream
1 cup sour cream
4 1/2 -5 TBLspn flour
3/4 stick butter (6 TBLspns)
4 cups shredded cheese blend (mine is a blend of cheddar, Monterey, and American)
3/4 tspn onion powder
3/4 tspn garlic powder
1/4 tspn salt (optional)
1/2 cup bread crumbs

Directions:
1. cook macaroni, set aside
2. melt butter in a medium saucepan. When melted and bubbling gently, add flour and whisk until smooth. Gradually add milk and cream while whisking. Allow sauce to thicken (you can add more flour if you need to at this point).
3. Add sour cream and whisk until smooth.
4. Add 3 cups of cheese and mix until melted and smooth
5. Whisk in garlic, onion powder, and salt. Turn heat down to lowest setting and stir occasionally.
6. Place macaroni in a casserole dish (you may need more than one!), and pour sauce over it until thickly covered. Mix and add sauce as needed.
7. Sprinkle with leftover cheese and breadcrumbs.
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees or until cheese on top melts and is slightly brown.

This freezes really nicely in disposable aluminum pans. You could almost make it heartier by adding shredded chicken, real onions, and other veggies!