Tag: recipe

Concert Recipe

May 16th, 2021
Ingredients
- 1 Violin (or orchestral instrument of choice)
  - too much rosin on the bow if you’re nervous
  - Is the bow hair tight enough now? No, it’s too tight. Now? Maybe. Is it bouncy? Does it bounces?
- 1 shot caffeine
- 2 shots adrenaline (administer both caffeine and adrenaline with caution, like peppermint oil or lemon zest)
- Concert black attire
- Weird blue backstage lighting
- Squeaky stage floorboards (exist in all halls, even new ones)
- Concertmaster (and/or other principals) jigging backstage
- Conductor
- Make Way for the Bass Player/Timpani/Cellos/Why is the piano being moved and am I about to be squashed
- Stand buddy
- Warm yellow stage lights
- Audience
- The tuning A (must be accompanied by hushed, reverent silence)
- Sheet music (did you tape the pages? Is it going to fly in four different directions at the slightest gust of wind in the drafty hall? Oh. You have a stapled original copy. Good for you)
Instructions:
- Wake up
- Realize it’s today
- Add caffeine
- Pretend to do other things until it’s go-time
- Find black socks
- Run around like a chicken with its head cut off in the 4 minutes before leaving for the concert hall as caffeine and adrenaline take effect.
- Arrive 15 minutes before 15 minute call time and stand around awkwardly until needed
- Observe the 6 different possible shades of black in concert attire only visible under weird blue backstage lighting.
- Admire everyone’s formal concert attire (because hey! We clean up nice when we feel like it)
For a concert with multiple sections requiring different performer combinations:
- Lights dim, applause from front of stage.
  - Everyone backstage freezes like rabbits caught stealing strawberries from Mr. McGregor
  - Performers engage in Spooky Skeleton Tiptoe-Walk to avoid squeaky stage floorboards (most impressive when done in spike heels. Do not applaud; audience will hear)
- Stifle laughter at all backstage antics
  - Do not burst into fit of the giggles when Concertmaster (and/or other principals) begin jigging backstage (this is a result of nerves or a desire to amuse/relax other orchestra members or…frankly, we have no idea. Occurs often. May in extreme forms appear as a line dance to inexperienced observers, usually just a “boing-de-boing-de” sort of bouncing up and down)
  - Have mental breakdown when Conductor whispers backstage during performance (I must answer. Hush the sibilants. Make no sound. Why is he talking?)
- Stage reset (known colloquially as “musical chairs”)
  - Optional Make Way for the Bass Player/Timpani/Cellos/Why is the piano being moved and am I about to be squashed
  - Find Stand Partner (buddy)
  - Form line roughly in seating order
  - wait
  - wait
  - wait
- Enter stage (may have the appearance of distressed ambling goats to marching band personnel who always enter in a specific order)
  - Adrenaline likely to resurface here.
  - Stage lights shining in performer’s eyes makes all but the front 12 rows of seats invisible (but we’re not supposed to wave anyway, so this might be for the best)
- Sit in assigned chair
- Oboe plays tuning A
- Approx. 20 seconds of “Well, now what?” before orchestra starts warming up
- Get sheet music in order
- Breathe
- House lights dim. Adrenaline spikes. Conductor sashays onstage. The show is on.
Perform for 15-120 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 1 orchestra of giddy, exhausted musicians.

Best served with ice cream. Especially if orchestra can be persuaded to go out for it together in full concert attire. Reactions of ice cream parlor visitors and staff never disappointing.
Matcha Tea

March 15th, 2021
So as promised, here is my recipe for a matcha tea/latte, as requested by the lovely bloggers The Arbitrary Fairy and F.A. Eid. I know it’s been a while since I mentioned it in my Liebster Award post. I wanted to include pictures and I’m not all that fabulous with a camera. So here goes!

You will need:
- Matcha powder
- A bamboo whisk
- A wide mug or small bowl
- 8 oz. milk (heated)
- Boiling water
A few notes:
- Matcha powder is not the same as green tea. This is the sole ingredient that can’t be tweaked.
- The type of mug/bowl is important. Whisking in a regular coffee mug won’t work because it’s too narrow to really mix in. You can use a cereal bowl or an oversized cappuccino mug with excellent results. Most mornings I use a handmade tea bowl:
The green stuff would be the matcha powder.
- …which isn’t actually mine. It belongs to a loved one, but to be fair, one who doesn’t mind me using it and also doesn’t drink tea. I have been informed such bowls are named in traditional Asian tea houses, but apparently my skills lie in naming book characters, and not ceramics. I’m still just calling it a tea bowl.
- If you don’t have a cute little bamboo whisk, you can try a regular one in a pinch or just a spoon and all the strength of your fury, but it won’t froth up as much. The bamboo whisk is what gives you the thick foam on the top.
- Any type of milk is fine. I use almondmilk because I have a lactose-intolerant family member and the habit stuck. Oatmilk works too, but it tends to scald when heated. Probably a milk with higher fat content will make for a thicker latte, but I’ve never tried whole milk myself.
How to make it!
- Boil water in a tea or coffeepot.
- Scoop anywhere from 1/4 to 1 teaspoon of matcha powder into your tea bowl (depending on how thick and how caffeinated you want your brew. The powder I use has 8-12 mg. of caffeine per 1/4 teaspoon. In less mathematical terms, a 1 tsp. matcha brew = about half a cup of coffee).
- Heat 8 oz. of milk until steaming (no need to boil)
- Cover the bottom of your tea bowl and the matcha powder with the boiling water. Whisk together–it should be frothy on top. This is the part that keeps the matcha from clumping and staying at the bottom of the bowl.
- Add milk.
- Whisk again. Now it should be thick and foamy on top, like a latte (if using a bamboo whisk and enough milk).
- That’s it!
Please ignore the fact that I didn’t whisk mine enough on this particular morning.

You can either pour your drink into a proper teacup/mug now, or drink it straight out of the tea bowl like a savage…which is what I typically do. I mean, the tea bowl is already so pretty…

I kind of love how the white streaks make it look like it has bones…and I can’t show textures in photos, but the glaze is almost rough on the outside so it grips your hand and doesn’t feel like you could drop it…

Anyway.

Matcha tea pairs well with Anpan (red bean buns), muffins, chocolate, strawberries, curry (the dish, not the spice), and pretty much anything else. It also has health benefits because it’s good for metabolism and sore muscles (to which I can attest as a violinist who practices to the point of shoulder aches) and a bunch of other things. And unlike other health teas, it doesn’t taste like boiled grass.

So happy tea drinking! And reading! Because what else are you going to do when you’re curled up with a mug of tea? Don’t burn your tongue.

Tag: recipe

Concert Recipe

Matcha Tea

You will need:

A few notes:

How to make it!