It was an interesting weekend, to say the least. More fun than profit, much as expected, but even this is an improvement - quite often it is neither. It was cool little room; an actual theater with 120 seats, most of them empty. Nice stage, though, and good acoustics - perhaps a bit too good for our volume, but we managed:
Much of the aforementioned fun occurred before anyone showed up, while I took the opportunity to bang on the house piano for awhile, which ended up as in impromptu jam with the opening act, who also later sat in with us at the end of our set. It is a bit of a shock when you find yourself enjoying playing, and realize that it is an unaccustomed feeling.
So, a new week. Focus on recording, and cleaning up the Bunker a bit - all of the work down there lately has left it a bit disorganized (read trashed). And, of course, some serious kitchen work. Venison currently thawing for some sausage-making experiments; hopefully I can find a keeper in time for the cornbread-sausage dressing on Thursday. Doing a turkey breast this year, just because I have several recipes to try. Also discovered a new technique for mashed potatoes, courtesy of Cooks Country, where they are steamed and rinsed halfway through, rather than boiled; this significantly reduces the amount of starch, which is what makes them turn to wallpaper paste if overworked. Also, running them through a ricer rather than the usual mashing technique yields a much fluffier result. I tried it with the food mill last night, and there was a noticeable improvement, but they still got worked over pretty good, so it looks like I need to break down and get another ricer, having broken the old one a few years back.
Performance is impersonal yet intimate.
Neat picture of the band! Isn't it funny how we don't realize how much we don't enjoy stuff anymore until we actually DO? :)
ReplyDeleteMy brother uses a ricer for his mashed potatoes but doesn't add the milk or butter (for whatever reason). Don't tell him I said so, but his mashed taters are just DRY.
Have an awesome Thanksgiving if I forget to come back here again.
I typically either do buttermilk or milk with goat cheese, both with salt, pepper, and freshly-grated nutmeg. Dry is every bit as bad as gluey - lol.
ReplyDeleteHope your holiday is a fun one as well :)