My favorite chocolate chip cookies

My favorite recipe was shared with my family by our former neighbor, Sherry Burkhalter. She's an awesome lady who also is an amazing seamstress (like my mom!). It's similar to the standard recipe, with a bit of different proportions, of course.

First you start with some sugar and crisco...(mix).

Cute little round ball of tightly packed dark brown sugar.

The beginning.

Add pretty eggs, mix again. Nothing unusual.

eggs!

In a separate bowl, be sure to mix the flour and salt and baking soda. Flour: you must NOT let the flour get packed or it won't turn out right. Scoop the flour with NOT the measuring cup, and don't tap the cup or the flour will settle and it'll be too much. I guess normally this may not be too big an issue, but with this recipe, there must be a higher flour to everything else ratio than normal recipes. So, be sure the flour mixes with the salt and baking soda, or else one cookie will be REALLY fluffy and salty, where the rest will be flat and ... not. Ask me how I know.

All ingredients about to be friends.

Ok, now here's the fun part: mixing in the flour into the dough. Be careful here and don't get impatient, because if you add too much flour at once, you will look like this:

Don't be like me.

No, I didn't do this today while cooking -- I actually just played with flour to demonstrate what you could theoretically look like if you were impatient and dumped an entire cup of flour into the dough at once. More commonly, when you get impatient, there will just be a lot of flour dust all over the counter surrounding the mixing bowl.

Also, careful with your mixer here, if you are using a handheld one. The dough gets pretty thick. Today, when I was at the end of this step, my handheld mixer actually broke. Horrible metallic sound, then the smell of burning.... something. I would say oil, but I don't think mixers have oil in them.... so, be careful. I usually use a stand mixer, because they are heavier duty, but I accidentally left it in Alabama, so have to go back to get it this December. I only have one thing to say about the poor little mixer: I'm glad I only was making a half batch, or else these cookies would have taken MUCH longer!



Don't forget the vanilla! I forgot to take a picture of the vanilla, but don't forget the vanilla. I can't tell you how many times I have forgotten to put in the vanilla - it's easy to get excited after all that mixing. ( "Yay, cookies! EAT THEM SOON! Chocolate chips now!" *20 minutes later* "oh yeah .... I forgot vanilla." )


After vanilla...

Ready for chocolate chips?  Also pictured: sad mixer.

Stir in chocolate chips...

So tempting...

THEN, important tool: The awesome cookie spoon! Warning: do NOT use this spoon for ice cream. Trust me, I tried once. Broke it. This spoon is one of those super awesome self-emptying ones, but is only to be used for soft things like cookies, not hard things like ice cream.

Best spoon ever!

Space the cookies carefully ...

Perfectly spaced.

Cook for 8-10 minutes .... then enjoy.

Aren't they beautiful?

Yummy cookies.

Those who Served

Today, and every day, I am thankful for those who have served, and those who are currently serving in the military.  I personally only know a handful of veterans, so only have a small glimpse of the personal sacrifice given to serve our country, but I am thankful.   Although I wish that we lived in a world where we did not "need" a military, where war doesn't exist, I am still so grateful for those who chose to serve... so that humble musicians like me can have our "normal" lives and don't "have to" serve.  (Granted, I know I wouldn't make a very good military person, so I'm also glad that no one has to rely on me for protection -- they'd be doomed!)

I am kidding, a little, but there's actually real truth to that also.  Sure, perhaps I could do what was needed, but I'm a musician...

...and as a musician, I have no idea what our veterans (and those currently serving in our military) have to live with on a daily basis.  I try to imagine, but realize that I truly just don't know.  I live in my isolated little world, and don't have the firsthand knowledge of what our veterans have gone through.  I maybe never will, but I would like to at least express my gratitude.

This humble musician thanks you.

New musical adventure: Taliesin West

I will explain more about this soon, but for now....

Today (and yesterday, for rehearsal) I had a new musical adventure:  I played piano as part of a memorial service celebration of life at Taliesin West.  Family and friends of Cornelia Brierly got up to speak about her life, how she inspired them and what she taught them.  She had the distinction of being involved in the designing of Taliesin West, I think, and lived and taught there her entire life.

It was largely a joyous occasion of remembrance, though there were understandably some tears among the people attending.  The most remarkable part of this whole experience, though, was the way her personality and person really came through in the stories and thoughts people shared.  I did not meet this remarkable lady, but the inspiration she had been for so many people...it was powerful.  I was an outsider in this group of people, but I still felt like I knew her, through their stories.  It was a wonderful return to perspective, seeing this group of people, so sincere in their love and strong in their memories of this remarkable lady.

I met a few people after the service, who shared stories of her and of Frank Lloyd Wright, Taliesin West, and the love for music held by so many there.  It was so obvious how many lives this lady impacted throughout her life.  It was a happy reminder that if you pour your life into people, wonderful things can happen.

Amidst the day-to-day, week-to-week graduate school grind, I needed the reminder that people are always the most important.

I Drive a Future Lemons Car

"  Hey, can we borrow your engine?  "

Today, I was reminded about Lemons...not the fruit, the "race."   Lemons races fall into that "different" category for sure.  As crazy as they were, the Lemons races at CMP remain some of my fondest and craziest car memories. (Other ones: saved for later.)  If you haven't heard of these races, they are spoofs on the famous LeMons, and the basic rules are: Take a car valued at $500 or less, add safety equipment and pick a team "theme," and try to get the most laps over 2 days.

The first year, our awesome and spectacular team drove a 1986 (?) Ford Thunderbird, AKA the Deathmobile.  Too many mechanical happenings to list, but by the end of the race, we were limping along at 38 mph top speed, earning the "most likely to leave in an ambulance" award.  (Note: We obviously didn't, as were were quite good at staying out of the way.)

So, we decided heavy and slow was the bad plan.  Now, go for light and breakable.  And, hopefully fast. (Note: Faster than my daily driver.  Not actually fast.)   Enter the 198x Honda Civic hatchback.  Civics are everywhere, and they are not expensive, so ... it was an obvious choice.  The only problem?  Something about an oil pump and only right hand turns and ... bad things.   Other than that, they are bulletproof, just don't expect to crash and keep the car in one piece.

So anyway, since they are all $500 cars, you can imagine that most people bring as many spares as possible, and DEFINITELY as many tools as we can.  I was fortunate that pretty much every single person other than me on the team were very, very mechanically savvy, so I didn't have to poke around and go, "Hmm......"

Evening of day one race, and our neighbors' civic engine was toasted.  They were calling junkyards and everyone they knew to see if there was an engine they could have for day two...and they were striking out everywhere.  If they could just find an engine, they could swap it out in what, two hours?  One?  I'm not sure what their record was, but they are good.

My very-obviously-stock civic was parked kinda between our paddock areas.  One of the guys (don't remember who) pointed to my car and goes, "Whose is this?"  Chuckling to myself, I smiled and said, "Mine."   He goes, "So, you know ... any chance we could borrow your engine?  We'll give it back after the race tomorrow."
...
At that moment, I knew that I just HAD to let our neighbors borrow my engine. After all, what's the worst that could happen?  My engine could explode and then I couldn't get to work or school?   Nah, that'd never happen.  I have really good "luck" with my car. They had my engine out in an hour, even though it was kinda scary to watch. ... and the race went on the next day.   They were eternally grateful, and did a great job of reconnecting everything the next night so I could get to work.  It was so stressful to watch my only car be taken apart, that I swore I'd never do it again!

...  Ok, so the above paragraph didn't happen.  The question was NOT asked seriously, and I laughed and replied, "Sorry, not my daily driver..."   But they DID end up finding another engine, or fixing the toasted one, and finished the race with no problems.  And everyone noted that we shouldn't tempt people by bringing the most popular engine in all of Lemons.  (I think my engine fits in all models of civics or something, but don't quote me on that.)


Randomly, I am reminded of those experiences, and I laugh.    Yes, I am sure I look like a crazy person.  I'm that crazy person, laughing to herself while standing at the bus stop, or walking somewhere throughout town.

Crazy, perhaps.  So glad to have been able to have such good, crazy times with some of my favorite people?   Absolutely.

Below, Lemons 2011.  Happy times!  Miss you all.  From what I heard, y'all placed pretty high in the standings this year... Good job!  Wish I could have been there, but I will return.  Just thinking about it makes me grin!

Roundhouse Kick Racing: we are ALL Chuck Norris

Before the "parade."   VW wheels, cheap paint, denim fabric, and lots of sharpie-penned Chuck Norris quotes

Music (of course) and... Football?

[... but not at the same time.]

Music

First, "mandatory" music anecdote:  I have learned that if you are playing in a large ensemble, and are worried about proximity to percussion ... then wearing an earplug in one ear, for the last 1/3 of a piece, for the first time during the performance...... just *might* not be the best idea.  I feel like it saved my hearing, but I felt majorly handicapped for the last 50 measures of the piece.  Next time, if I need an earplug, I'll practice with it too.  It turned out fine, I am told, but it was not an aural experience I would like to repeat.

That being said, Schwantner's "From a Dark Millennium" was REALLY fun.  I would be really happy if the opportunity ever came up again to play it again.  Something about playing in large ensembles is just so rewarding.  I think it's because when a group that large really "clicks," it REALLY clicks.  And it's really exciting when that happens.  I love being part of a team like that.

Speaking of teams...

College Football

This past weekend (Oct 6), I actually watched part of a football game -- I saw the Gamecocks pretty much destroy Georgia.  I think it was the first SC game I have seen any part of...  but you know what?  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I actually enjoy sports in general, but watching sports instead of participating is sometimes the difficult part,  because I miss the limited team sports I used to be involved in.  Anyway...

I've realized --again-- that I am a really dreadful football fan.   In fact, for the past 12 or so years, I have almost actively AVOIDED football.   I don't own a television, and I don't keep track of when the games are.   I generally practice or shop during the games, because I know it will be peaceful and uncrowded.  The one exception has always been the Iron Bowl.  As I was growing up, it was the ONE game that we watched as a family.

Maybe I should start there.  Growing up.  My family has never been huge football fans -- casual ones, yes; caring about the Iron Bowl, sure (because that's basically mandatory) ...  We didn't have cable growing up either, so I don't even remember if any of the games came on the four channels we did get.

I was raised an Auburn fan.  My grandfather went to Auburn, both my aunt and uncle went to Auburn, and both of my parents did too.  Recently, my youngest brother also attended there, and is now in the midst of his Masters' degree.  I grew up an Auburn Tiger.

I grew up crying War Eagle.

So, when I wanted to pursue Piano, but Auburn didn't have piano performance anymore ... to Alabama I went.  Of course it was much more complicated than that, with plenty of happenings in-between, but that was the result.  My family occasionally teased me after I had made my decision that the only reason they "let" me go to Alabama was because they didn't offer my degree at Auburn.  (Of course they weren't serious, but it was years before I realized just how fortunate I was to have a family that is pretty chill about football in general.)

My time at Alabama is full of fond memories and wonderful friends, many of whom went to most of the games -- but during my six years of living in Alabama, I went to exactly one football game.  In fact, it remains to this day the only (college) football game I have attended, as I didn't ever make it to a Gamecock game during the time I lived there, either.  (I did, however, go to a baseball game.)

I actively avoided football.  Barely acknowledged its existence ... essentially decided there was too much I wanted to do in  my life to sit down for an afternoon and watch sports.  My excuses included something to the effect of:  "Work/school is more important." or,  "Learning about football would take too much effort and time that I don't have."         So, like politics, I avoided the issue.  Perhaps because I knew that I would never love it as much as so many of my fellow classmates ...  I didn't understand the hype...why a sports game was so important, so I just didn't even try.  Being completely out of the loop seemed like a better alternative than being a bad fan.  I still remember falling asleep during the 2005 Iron Bowl, even.  (I suppose that would technically be called a "low point.")

Lately, though... I realized it's actually something a little bit different.   Even though I haven't been an active football fan, I do still have very healthy "school pride."  I'm happy when "my teams" do well, even when I don't watch the games.  It's not that I don't care ... so why then, did I avoid watching any football for so long?

I think it has more to do with a couple things.  First, feeling like caring about football was "mandatory" -- because most people had such strong feelings about football, and I ... didn't.   I didn't like being told what to do, or how -- or what, to think, no matter who was doing the telling, society or individuals. (I've always been like that. Those of you who know me well have seen that many times.)  Second, my family ties to Auburn.  I suppose I wasn't sure how things would go if I became a huge Alabama fan, so I chose not to enter the potential conflict zone. (ha! excuses!)  Lastly, I didn't want to be a "bad" fan, so I chose "no" fan.

Then this year, I started hearing more about how good Alabama is this year, and realized I was secretly Very excited.  (I guess the secret is out now!)  Last week, watching South Carolina play made me realize that I may not be the most vocal fan, but I am still a fan.  I'm proud of both of my alumni schools, and will be rooting for both of them this year.  And no, I don't think that makes me any less of a fan, that I can root for two schools at once.  I will admittedly never be as big a fan as some, but I have learned to accept that.  Watching USC and cheering them on with my friends reminded me how fun it is to have an excuse to get together.  Of course, it really helps that a few of my friends don't mind explaining "what just happened?" since I still don't always get it.

Anyway, all that to say:

ROLL TIDE!!

GO COCKS!!

WAR EAGLE.




...Just, not at the same time.

Oh, essays...

Currently writing a few essays for a random scholarship I found.  It's interesting what you come up with when you're asked to talk about your "goals in life" for something like a scholarship program.  My plan has always to be as flexible and marketable as possible, and just see where life takes me, but you can't just say that in an essay if you want them to consider you.  So, I've been actually taking some of the "wishful thinking" ideas and putting them into "concrete plans" instead.   Anyone who says that scholarship essays aren't helpful hasn't tried this!

Even if I don't get the scholarship (statistically I'm sure I don't have a very good chance), this was a good exercise in putting some thoughts down.  Later, I may share the interesting parts with you all.

Happy Monday!

Upcoming Music

I think I said this in a previous post, but:

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Dr. Robert Spring teaching here at ASU.

To celebrate, one of the cool things going on here is this weekend of clarinet amazingness (my word), where many of his students have returned for guest recitals and guest masterclasses, held throughout the weekend.  The end of the weekend's festivities is marked by Dr. Spring giving a recital today at 2:30 pm (with many, many guests!).  I must admit, I'm excited to hear some awesome music this afternoon, to start of the week of concerts!  (I personally am involved with three concerts this week - and yes, I'm also excited about those!)

Press release from ASU:
ASU School of Music alumni return for Robert Spring's 25th anniversary concert celebration


This week's festivities:
Robert Spring's recital today at 2:30
Barrett Choir concert tonight at 7:30
ACME concert Tuesday at 7:30
Wind ensemble concert Thursday at 7:30

And last this upcoming week, but the one I'm most excited about:
Thomas Nixon's final DMA recital, Friday at 7:30

Why is it awesome?  Because Thomas is awesome!

Here's the program:
Theme:  all original piano reductions or orchestral works by the composers themselves.

Leoncavallo: Stridono lassu from I Pagliacci
Beethoven:  String Trio in D major, Op 36 (Symphony no. 2)
Barber: Knoxville: Summer of 1915
Ravel: La Valse


I'm so fortunate to have such wonderful colleagues and friends!