An Accidental Try-Me-Night: Grilled Artichokeby Angie
12 Mar 2008
2:03 pm0
I decided to cook an artichoke for us to share last night to go with dinner, and I did everything I usually do: clipped the prickly ends with kitchen shears, cut off most of the stem, and placed it stem-down in a pot with about an inch of water over medium heat, then lidded the pot to let it steam. Then, I curled up on the couch with my Relief Society manual to work on my lesson.
30 minutes later, I noticed an interesting smell – almost like a charcoal grill. A few minutes later, I realized that it was stronger… Odd. Suddenly, I realized what it must be. I dashed to the kitchen and uncovered the artichoke. There it was, sizzling in a bone-dry pot, with its bottom layer of leaves burnt and curling at the edges. The pot was burned black. I cut off the charred stump at the base of the artichoke and pulled off all the burnt leaves. Nothing else looked damaged, so we still ate it – I really liked it, actually! I thought the flavor was more intense than usual with a little bit of that something else that grilling tends to give things. Jim, on the other hand, didn’t care for it and I guess that’s for the best: if we had both loved it, I’d feel compelled to try it again.
So, what happened? Well, this wasn’t the pot (or lid) that I usually use, because I usually make two or more artichokes at once. I’m guessing that the lid must not be air-tight enough for steaming. As for the pot, well, we’re not sure yet if it’s ruined for good. It’s been scrubbed, soaked, scrubbed again, and now the dishwasher is giving it a go.
Trinity Arts Dance Academyby Angie
11 Mar 2008
2:03 pm3
Sunday before last, I was talking to Jollene Berghoff at church about where to find an adult tap class (since she teaches dance). She told me that she only teaches clogging, but I should ask Kjelene Deakin, who owns the dance studio where Jollene works. In fact, she found Kjelene right then and introduced us. There isn’t an adult tap class right now, but she’s been thinking of starting one and said she’d get back to me. At Enrichment meeting two days later, Kjelene found me and asked for my phone number, saying she had “had a brainstorm” about me… I didn’t think much of it, figuring it was just about starting up the class.
Wednesday morning, Kjelene called me and asked if I would be interested in being an instructor at her dance academy! I was completely floored. I tried to figure out what I might have said on Sunday that would give her the idea that I was qualified to teach dance – that “I’d taken tap and jazz and a little ballet years ago” didn’t seem to fit the bill to me. She explained that she wanted a new teacher to share her “Tiny Tots” classes – kids from 2-5 years old – which required much more in the way of personality, patience, and “storytelling” than perfect technique.
So, today was my first day at Trinity Arts Dance Academy, where I first attended Kjelene’s Pilates class to get warmed up, and then shadowed her for Tiny Tots and KinderBallet. She had half a dozen extra kids and moms there than usual, taking today’s class to try it out for free. It made for a pretty crazy morning. It was really fun, though, and I loved being back on the dance floor. I only had my tap shoes on for about ten minutes, but it felt so great! I’m still a little amazed at what I’ve gotten myself into, but it’s been fabulous so far!
Daylight Savingsby Angie
9 Mar 2008
7:03 pm1
I have to preface this charming story by explaining that, since our choir director, Josh Senecal, will be out of town over Easter, I offered to fill in and direct the Easter number. He hasn’t left town yet, so rehearsals are still at his home, and we meet at 9:30 am.
I’m sure you can see where this is leading, but I’ll tell my little story anyway: Last night we were up until well past midnight because of the monumental artistic achievement being culminated in our kitchen (I’ll let Jim elaborate on that later). At 8:30 this morning, my alarm started blaring and I sleepily turned it off and sat down on the bed to pet Jaquie. Ten minutes after that, I shuffled into the bathroom and was about to put toothpaste on my toothbrush when the phone rang. It was Josh, calling to say, “Hey, are you coming to choir today?” I said, “Sure, of course!” To which, he responded, “Well, we’re waiting to get started…” As the full import of what he was saying dawned on me, I felt mortified! I’m sure you can imagine the frenetic activity that followed this phone call.
So, yes, we were twenty minutes late to choir because I had no idea that today was daylight savings. Thank goodness for choir, though, because otherwise we probably would have been an hour late to church!
My New Callingby Angie
6 Mar 2008
2:03 pm5
Well, when I wrote a while back about being asked to teach Relief Society at the last minute, I didn’t realize that it was an audition!
Yep, I have received a new calling and was sustained and set apart on Sunday as a Relief Society Instructor. I’m very excited! I’m a little nervous, too, but I hope that after a few lessons I’ll get over that. I get to teach once a month (every third Sunday), from the new Joseph Smith Manual. This will be so fun!
A Weekend in LAby Angie
2 Mar 2008
12:03 pm2
Oh, there is so much to write! We spent this weekend down in Los Angeles, where we saw my cousin, Melinda, perform with the BYU Young Ambassadors: It was a fantastic show, and Melinda was “practically perfect in every way” as Mary Poppins. “The New American Songbook” included a musical review of the 60s, 70s, and 80s and also show tunes from recent Broadway hits, including “Wicked” and Disney’s 2006 theatrical production of “Tarzan.” It was wonderful!
We drove down to Culver City (in West LA) on Thursday morning, which took us a little over six hours. We ate dinner with Jim’s Grandma & Grandpa Packard, and then drove down to Long Beach, to see the Young Ambassadors’ show. After that, we returned to Culver City to stay with Jim’s Aunt Debbie for the night. Friday morning we had breakfast at Dinah’s – a cafe restaurant that is famous in the Hoffman family for selling the most delicious apple pancake you’ve ever tasted.
That afternoon, we went to the Hyatt Hotel in Garden Grove, to see the ACDA Western Division Honors Choir Concert. We attended because Jim’s niece, Amber, was selected to represent her school in the Children’s Honor Choir this year! It was a beautiful, varied program, and the kids did an amazing job. Jim’s mom was also in town as Amber’s escort! After a mini-family reunion at Outback for dinner, Jim and I made the long return trip in the car back to Livermore. This time, we were driving late into the night, but at least that meant we weren’t fighting traffic! So, we arrived home a little before midnight, exhausted but happy to have had such a wonderful weekend in LA.
Where there’s smoke, there’s… Frisco burgers?by Angie
24 Feb 2008
11:02 am2
So, I made Frisco Burgers* for dinner last night. We don’t have an outdoor BBQ grill or a stove-top grill plate, so I used our flat griddle. I make the hamburger patties with 1 part ground sirloin to 1 part ground round or chuck (with no seasoning except salt), which makes for very tender, juicy burgers… however, those cuts are pretty fatty, and on a flat griddle there’s no way for the grease to drain away. Instead, it just sits there getting so hot that it reaches the smoking point and, obviously, starts smoking. A lot.
So, yeah, the smoke alarm went off. It was kind of embarrassing, but we (Jim, Jon, Justin, and I) opened all the windows and turned on the vent over the stove and laughed about it. And then it went off again. So, we turned on the ceiling fan and laughed about it some more. And then it went off again, and I was rolling my eyes instead of laughing. And then it went off again, and I was exasperated to the extreme.
I fully believe in having smoke detectors and I know they save lives – I just wish they had a button labeled, “I know there’s smoke, but it’s only because I’m trying to cook and making a wretched mess of things, so I really wish you would quit screeching and making me feel even more incompetent than I’ve already proven myself to be!”
At least the burgers tasted good.
*For those of you who don’t know what Frisco Burgers are, let me explain this marvelous Hoffman Family tradition: Instead of using hamburger buns, you place your patty and fixin’s between two slices of toasted sourdough bread. Hence the name “Frisco” Burgers, as in “San Francisco” – I have to admit, I didn’t “get” the meaning of the name until we had moved out here to the Bay Area 😛
Off the Cuffby Angie
17 Feb 2008
6:02 pm1
So, Jim and I had a lovely quiet morning – slept in a little, got up and got ready, walked to choir practice, had a nice rehearsal, peaceful walk home… Then, just a few minutes after we walked in the door, the phone rang. It was Carolynn Hoopes (one of the counselors in our Relief Society), calling to ask me if I could teach today.
Wow. I have never taught a Relief Society lesson before in my entire life, and now I had less than three hours to prepare one. Luckily, it was about Joseph Smith as a special witness of the Savior – so, having been a missionary was strongly in my favor. The chapter in the manual was beautifully written, so that made it fun, too. I regret to say that I have not been in the habit of reading the lesson before going to class, so I was even less prepared for the call than I could have been, but I am now determined to do my reading every week like I should.
I was very nervous but the lesson went well and, amazingly, took just the right amount of time! It was a scary experience but, overall, a good one. To thank me for my impromptu lesson, Carolynn and her kids walked over to our condo after church and brought us an angel food cake and a huge package of fresh strawberries! That definitely made it all worth the effort.