Timely Turnips

Frank visited again this past weekend, and it was amazing. Crazy amazing. Crazeballs, even? But the real point of this post is the turnips we harvested from my garden on Saturday. Here's me pulling one of the little babies from the cold soil, courtesy of Frank:I don't know about you, but I've never really eaten a turnip before. But these puppies are so beautiful, I just HAD to cook them up.
And tonight I came up with this recipe:

Turnip Green and Lentil Soup

-Turnips (roots and greens, I used four little ones. But the more the merrier).

-1 potato, chopped

-1 onion, chopped

-1 apple, chopped (I used a gala, but whatever)

-apple cider vinegar

-stock (either chicken or vegetable, whatever is on hand)

-lentils, cooked

-brown sugar

1) Separate the turnip roots from the greens. Coarsely chop the greens, and cut the roots into large chunks.

2) Saute the onions until golden, then add the chopped greens. Cook until greens are soft and wilted--season well.

3) Add turnips and potatoes and a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. Cook approx. five minutes.

4) Add apples, and season with the usual suspects, along with a tablespoon or two of brown sugar.

5) Add as much broth as you desire. This doesn't make a lot of soup. Not to insult your intelligence, but add more broth if you want the soup to be brothier... Cook until the potatoes are fully cooked. Add the cooked lentils in at the end.

This soup is crazeballs! Like Frank!

I'm in the paper! Sweet!

(Herald Times, Oct 20, Peter Jacobi):

For its debut concert of the new music season, the IU Baroque Orchestra on Sunday afternoon rushed St. Cecilia’s Day by a month. The patron saint of musicians isn’t supposed to be honored until Nov. 22. But who cares when the result of the decision is an opportunity to hear portions of Handel’s “Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day?”
...
The concert’s opening was strong, that being the Overture to the St. Cecilia Ode, with its mellifluous lyricism and invigorating counterpoint. Ritchie also chose two arias from the Ode, settings from John Dryden’s “A Song for St. Cecilia’s Day,” for which the orchestra was joined by a pair of soloists: a sweetly toned tenor, Ben Geier, to sing “When nature underneath a heap of jarring atoms lay,” and Lindsey Lang, a resolute young lady with a secure and rangy soprano voice, to contribute a lengthier, more demanding “What Passions cannot Music raise and quell!” The two arias, indeed, seemed to raise the passions.
...
Instrumentalists distinguishing themselves were oboist Christopher Morgan; Everett Burns and Sarah Williams on horn; and an unidentified harpsichordist. Was the woman on keyboard Hsuan Chang or Dawn Kalis or Maho Sone? Whoever: She played with notable refinement, as did cellist Inha Kim earlier, in lovely collaboration with soprano Lang during that solo from “Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day.”

Brad

These past two weeks... I don't even know where to begin... Or if I even want to talk about it...
So today I'm giving Brad Mehldau complete reign over my mood. So far he's totally what I'm needing right now. I'm also needing to find where I left my wallet and ID because this is getting ridiculous.

Shane Returns!

Good news, everybody! Shane is back on YouTube!!

He was my favorite internet sensation back in 2005, only to disappear for several years and reemerge, just as clueless as ever! You might remember him from such classics as "How to sing a C an Octave above a high C" and "Away in a Manger" where he creatively (unknowingly) replaces "Jesus" with "Jahushua."

I love him so much. So, SO much.