Why Minneapolis Rocks

This is one of my (Paige's) favorite times of the year. I bask in the sun, I blow out my birthday candles (22, thanks for asking!) and I get half-day Fridays at work. Jealous?
But I especially love this time of year in Minneapolis because local theaters (and we have really really good ones) are revealing their upcoming seasons. Most theaters in town run their seasons from September to August (excepting rebels like the Jungle Theater & Pillsbury House Theatre, who do it by the calendar year). And I’m really excited for some of the ambitious, thought-provoking and entertaining productions that are in the works (full disclosure - I work closely with most major theaters in town). Here’s my own, in no way all-reaching or fully informed look at what I’m most excited to see.

A Streetcar Named Desire at the Guthrie (July-August)
• I fell in love with Marlon Brando and his intensity as Stanley in the movie version of this Tennessee Williams play. And Blanche is one of the most fully-drawn female characters out there. I’m especially excited to see TV and theater actress Gretchen Egolf dig her teeth into the role after reading her self-deprecating, sweet and sometimes very raw blog about the rehearsal process on the Guthrie’s website.

The Scottsboro Boys at the Guthrie (August)
• This is the show’s final push to tighten things up before they try it on Broadway. It’s received great reviews so far and I’m curious to see how a big, splashy musical pulls off the subject material (it’s based on the real story of 9 black men who are accused of rape and thrown in jail). But hey, if Les Miserables can put music to the French Revolution, anything’s possible, right?

Wicked at the Orpheum (August – September)
• Yes, I’ve already seen it. Yes, so have most people. But it’s fun, memorable and you can’t get the songs out of your head - who doesn’t get goosebumps when Elphaba defies gravity? I personally love this version of the song sung by Idina Menzel who originated the role …

Vigil at the Pillsbury House Theatre (September-October)
• Pillsbury always does theater that makes you want to immediately go have a drink with whoever you came with and talk about what you just saw. And this one is sure to inspire conversation, given that it’s directed by Stephen DiMenna. Steve’s a good friend of Project SUCCESS (where I work) and does all our training for our classroom workshops. I’ve always been impressed with what he can pull out of our facilitators. I’m excited to see him do it with actors on stage.

A Cool Drink of Water at the Mixed Blood (September-October)
• Here’s what’s cool about the Mixed Blood. They infuse a little bit of humor in everything they do. In this show, they’re taking the characters from A Raisin in the Sun (brilliant play, but not a belly-laugher) and transporting them into a modern-day comedy. Intriguing ….

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – A Penumbra production at the Guthrie (February-March)
• If you can see a Penumbra production, any production, it’s worth it. But they’re never better than when they’re putting on an August Wilson play. Penumbra and Wilson had a very special relationship and he lived in St. Paul for more than 2 decades, honing his craft and working directly with the Penumbra, while they produced many of his plays.

Barrio Grrrl! At the Children’s Theatre (March)
• How great that the Children’s Theatre is doing a musical with a Latina girl as its protagonist? With hummable pop music, and a main character who is dealing with real life stuff like her dad being in Iraq, this show could speak to a lot of girls. Yay empowerment!
-Paige

Chocolate Jesus

The following is an account of the bizarre path I went down following an innocent google search. Keep in mind that I consider myself a religious person.

Let me set the scene. Our dear friends, the Beckers love the movie Jesus Christ Superstar. They watch it fairly often, on lazy Sundays, and it puts them in a good mood. Same with our friends the Welles. In fact, it appears Justin and I are in the minority for never having seen the movie. I worry that the stage version ruined it for us. Ted Neely (original star!) was in a recent touring production we went to see at the Orpheum. After two hours of him screaming/singing all his lyrics (we'll call it scringing) and overacting even the most simplistic phrases (YES! LET'S WALK OVER HERE!), I found it comical - right at the moment he was hung on the cross. Yes, theater snobs - that was me giggling so hard I couldn't stop my shoulders from shaking while Jesus was dying for my sins. Justin was embarrassed, and I'll probably go to hell but more likely for writing this blog entry.

Anyway .... the Beckers are having people over to watch Jesus Christ Superstar (starring Ted Neely!) and they want everyone to bring something to eat surrounding that theme. I love the idea! Any party involving movies, food and a theme is my kind of night. They'll have bread and wine (makes sense), someone's bringing fish (I get that) and we were assigned dessert. I don't remember seeing cupcakes at The Last Supper, but okay, we'll go with it.

Searching the computer for recipes, I first made the mistake of googling "Jesus" and "Chocolate". As some music lovers might guess, all that came up was Tom Waits's song "Chocolate Jesus."
Then I found the story of a six-foot, anatomically correct milk chocolate sculpture of Jesus. I'm not THAT good a baker.

Then I typed in "Jesus" and "dessert" and Google tried correcting me: "Did you mean 'Jesus' and 'desert?'" No, Google, I know Jesus fasted in the desert for 40 days and nights but just telling folks at the party, "Jesus fasted, why don't we?" won't really work.

But I finally found a page that I thought might work. It was the website for the Christian Moms of Many Blessings. I have no doubt these women are great moms who cook a lot of great meals for their kids. But if they would have been my mom, I would have had a troubling, psychologically complicated relationship with desserts. The following recipe listed on the website is why:

Easter/Resurrection Rolls
1 package Cresent rolls
Melted Butter
1 Large Marshmallows
Cinnamon
Sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Give each child a triangle of cresent rolls.
The cresent roll represents the the cloth that Jesus was wrapped in.

Give each child a marshmallow. This represents Jesus. (white)

Have the child dip the marshmallow in melted butter. This represents the oils of embalming.

Then dip the buttered marshmallow in the cinnamon and sugar. This represents the spices used to annoint the body.

Then wrap up the coated marshmallow tightly in the cresent roll (not like a typical cresent roll up…but bring the sides up and seal the marshmallow inside) This represents the wrapping of Jesus’ body after death.

Place in a 350 degree oven for 10 – 12 minutes. The oven represents the tomb–pretend like it was three days!

When the rolls have cooled slightly, the children can open their rolls (cloth) and discover that Jesus is no longer there, HE IS RISEN!

The marshmallow melts and the cresent roll is puffed up, but empty.

Those children will never look at a marshmallow the same way again. Here's the link if you want to see more.

Paige

7 Day Challenge Complete!

Before I write about how successful this 7 day challenge was, I have a confession. On the last day, I cheated. No, I didn't eat any of this glorious looking meat you see from the "Meatapalooza" event on Saturday (none of it was organic). But after a few hours watching everyone else eat ... and with just a few hours before the official end of the challenge, I ate a non-organic brownie and a piece of corn bread (fueled probably, by the organic wine I was drinking). Before passing judgment, know that I was STARVING. So ... full disclosure on that one.

Aside from the chocolate mishap, I really stuck to my rules on this one. 7 full days and everything I ate or drank was local (within the 5-state region) and, if not USDA certified organic, grown or raised with sustainable farming practices and without pesticides or chemicals. And I had more fun doing it than I would have thought! I enjoyed the conversations I had with the workers at the Birchwood Cafe or McDonald's liquor store when I asked them to point out the local, organic stuff. But I especially liked how much this challenge made me focus on what I eat and where it comes from. Never before have I read food labels so intensely (and to the chagrin of grocery store customers behind my slow-moving cart) and had so limited a choice in what I ate. Over the course of the week, I tried organic beer from Wisconsin, grass-fed pork from Minnesota, and gigantic juicy tomatoes grown right here in the metro area; all things I plan on consuming again (but the organic wine has a ways to go). So to sum up:

THE CHALLENGE
Eat only local and organic food for one week
SUCCESS RATE
Nearly 100% (who would have thought a meat-smoking party would be my undoing?)
COST
We normally spend a little under $100 a week on groceries, plus an extra $20-40 on restaurants/lunch spots. This week, we spent a little over $100 on groceries, plus an extra $50 on restaurants/lunch spots.
EFFECT ON LIFESTYLE
Somewhat. I never felt I needed to cancel plans or restrict what I did. But planning meals ahead of time was crucial. And certain situations proved challenging, like having to say no when my husband wanted to open a bottle of non-organic wine, and avoiding all things fried at the State Fair.
WHAT I LEARNED
The debate over the government-approved label "organic" is more intense and heated than I realized.
Eating food that you know where it came from gives a certain pleasure to a meal I've never experienced before.
WHAT I'M TAKING AWAY
I won't continue to eat only local or organic foods - it's simply too limiting at this point. But the super-processed foods that were often a staple of my lunches at work or my late-night snacks are a thing of the past. So no more Spaghetti-O's or trans-fat filled microwave dinners.
And we will definitely be cooking from scratch more with fresh produce - that was the most rewarding part of this week!

-Paige

Day 6 - Stay Local, Go Organic

For someone watching what they eat (and like me, writing a blog about it), Friday and Saturday are the toughest. Romantic dinners, barbecues, a night at the movies …. All can be ruined by that simple phrase: “No thanks, I’m on a diet.” So I anticipated this Friday and Saturday with growing dread, as I tried desperately to cling to my challenge of eating only organic, local foods for seven days.

While I’m at it, why not make it as difficult on myself as possible? Why not enter the Lion’s Den, the mecca of all things fried, fat-filled and served on a stick? I’m talking, of course, about the Minnesota State Fair. It was not my idea to attend today – it had been a planned work outing. The additional fact that my husband was there for work as well (yes, we have great jobs) made it a no-brainer that I’d attempt to run the State Fair food gauntlet in search of local/organic.

I knew local wouldn’t be the problem, but naturally-made food is harder to find at the fair than an open bathroom stall. At least, thanks to tips from the Simple Good and Tasty website, I knew to head to the Eco Experience. But here’s the one problem. Despite how interesting and informative the Eco Experience is about the growing local food movement, sustainable farming and organic cuisine, there was virtually no actual food to munch on! I was growing desperate and panicking about my options – go hungry, go home, or go crazy on mini-donuts, cheese curds, cookies, chocolate-covered bananas, is that a deep-fried snickers bar?

Then we found it – the one booth actually selling and advertising their local, healthy food. The Countryside Market right outside the Eco Experience had farm-fresh-tasting Capresse on a stick and mouth-watering yellow watermelon. But that was about it. I’ve since heard that French Meadow has a booth at the state fair. We didn’t make it there, but wouldn’t have had enough money to try anything anyway. There’s very likely other food at the fair that would fit the definition of local and organic but if so, they weren’t promoting the fact because we didn’t see any and we walked a fair distance looking. I hope next year, the Capresse on a Stick has some competition.

So I managed to stay on track even at the State Fair. But let’s see how tomorrow goes. My husband and friends are holding a Meat-Smoking event that’s an all-day affair. Hope I don’t just have to say “No thanks, I’m on a diet……”

Day Three of Eat Local, Go Organic

I am less than halfway through this Eat All Local and Organic for an entire week and I’m feeling two things I didn’t expect: I’m hungry and tired!

I have been eating some fantastic food and testing out great recipes. Sunday night we tried out a Lemongrass Pork Tenderloin that I found on the Minneapolis Farmer’s Market website courtesy of chef Tammy Wong. It was succulent (Justin’s word, after some serious thought). Here’s a link to the recipe (scroll down about halfway).

Monday night we ate Rosemary potatoes that were fine, but nothing special so no recipe sharing for that one. Three nights of cooking in a row? No thanks, so tonight was a frozen organic veggie pizza from the Seward Coop (not cheap, but we both thought well worth the $9 price). I’ve been having the leftovers for lunch at work but I am so starving by 2:00 every day. And I’ve been hungry when I go to bed every night. I think I made one terrible misstep in my shopping; I bought virtually no local, organic snack food. So I’ve been eating great meals but nothing in between. My former diet was one of 5-6 small meals throughout the day, so maybe this has been a tough shift for my hunger gene.

The tired thing is harder to figure out. As my last entry explains, I’ve been filling my coffee mug each morning with locally roasted, yummy Peace Coffee, but I still feel exhausted. Perhaps it’s because the food this week has had very few carbohydrates. It’s easier to find local, organic meat, veggies and seasonal fruit rather than breads and cereals. So my carb count is down. I don’t know how people on the Atkins diet can stick to it!

Four more days to go...
-Paige

Keep it Local, Go Organic - 7 Day Challenge

The smells of a Farmer’s Market are invigorating. The whiff of basil, pungent peppers, or the steamed warmth of the kettle korn. These are the smells microwave dinners often try to imitate but never fully realize. This is where my next 7-day Challenge began for me.

But let me back up. This challenge was inspired by the book I was (and still am) reading for my book club: The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan. I’ll spare you the details (and I’ve heard In Defense of Food is better), but the gist of the book is informing us where our food comes from. How food gets from the ground or animal to our dinner table. And as you might guess, Pollan is pretty critical of the way Americans grow, process, sell and eat food. The author favors organic growers and I agree. Essentially, the best food for you, for the land and for our economy is the least processed, most natural and grown closest to you (with of course, some exceptions).

So my challenge to myself is to try and eat completely local and organic foods for Seven Days. These terms mean different things to different people so my first step was to define what they meant for me.

Take “organic”. Basically, organic means growing without the use of pesticides, herbicides or insecticides and giving animals no growth hormones or synthetic food products and allowing them access to pasture (they’re preferably entirely grass-fed). The term, as the U.S. government defines it, has been criticized of late for allowing large, corporate processing companies to get the organic label with some questionable production methods, but that’s an argument for a different day. I decided if it was labeled USDA organic, I could eat it.

Then there’s “local”. Before I realized how limiting it would be, I decided “local” was anything within 200 miles of me (in South Minneapolis). But when I looked on the Seward Co-op’s website, and they defined local as anything grown or raised in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa or the Dakotas, I figured I should re-evaluate. So I took their definition. And their second rule of “local” really got my attention: “Some level of production (beyond repackaging) must take place locally. For example, a local coffee roaster is considered local.” I was resigned to no coffee for the week, but just for the java, I’ll enact this rule. All food products though, for this week, must be grown or raised in the 5-state region.

I decided there were three places I needed to shop for my food this week: The local Farmer’s Market, the Seward Co-op, and my regular grocery store (a SuperTarget). I was prepared to spend copious amounts of money and walk frustrated and angst-filled through the aisles, but it was actually easier than I thought to shop. At the Farmer’s Market, I asked a couple local growers if they grew organic. After one man gave me a stare (it’s a touchy subject for many), he said, “No pesticides, no chemicals, just picked this morning from a farm 50 miles away. Good enough?” Indeed it was! The Seward Co-op was also great but harder than I thought to find the combination of local/organic (at least under a price tag of $9, which is what a bag of oatmeal was – ouch!) But surprisingly, since I limited myself to recipes I plan on making this week, I didn’t spend much more than I would have on more processed food at SuperTarget (in fact, I was virtually done with my list by the time I got to Target).

So now the challenge begins (Sunday, August 23rd to Saturday, August 29th), and I can’t wait to eat the Pork Tenderloin from Kerkhoven, Minnesota or the peppers from the fairly angry but “good-enough” guy’s booth at the Farmer’s Market. Check back all this week for great recipes I discover!

-Paige

Make 'em Laugh

So I did it! I completed my first 7-day challenge by performing a stand-up comedy routine I’d written in one week Monday night at the Acme Comedy Club.
And it was a rousing success! Not because I was so funny (though I did get some laughs and I’m choosing to believe they weren’t courtesy laughs) or because I’ve discovered a new career path (though my favorite comedian of the night, Peter Greyy, told me later that he thought I had potential and I’m choosing to believe he didn’t say that because I had just told him he was my favorite).

It was a success because it was nerve-wracking and terrifying and I went ahead with it anyway and felt exhilarated afterwards. Truly, the reason I chose this for my first challenge is because I think there’s nothing harder or scarier than standing in front of a large group of people (200!) and trying to make them laugh. That, to me, is the ultimate challenge and I wanted to tackle it first.

I also learned a lot about stand-up comedy:
1)Don’t be fooled into thinking that just because it’s open mic night, it will be a bunch of people just doing this on a dare or goofing off to try and impress a girl. Except for me, these were all people attempting to make this their career and many were succeeding. I knew I was out of my league when I pulled out my three index cards and the comedian one table over had a full NOTEBOOK of jokes. It was only later that I discovered what kind of a stellar reputation the Minneapolis Acme Comedy Club has. When I told Peter Greyy it was my first time, he laughed and said “That’s like deciding to sing opera for the first time, and doing it at the Met.” Thank god they put me first before I had time to chicken out.

2)The stand-up comedy world is a club and I don’t know the secret handshake. From the moment I walked in to sign up for a slot, it was clear that everyone else in the room knew each other. I’ve heard that the comedy business is all about relationships and who you know – it was evident last night. But the good news was as soon as I performed, it was like I was part of the crew. More than one of my fellow performers complimented me or called me by name and asked if I’d be back. I got the feeling they did this with all first-timers regardless of how they really felt about the routine, but it still felt good.

3)There is no better feeling than making someone laugh. We should all try to do it more often. Not just on stage, but at work, in our homes, standing in line at the grocery store. Humor can go a long way towards making the world a better place.

One final thanks to my husband, Justin. He was incredibly supportive when I thought I was going to puke before I went on and risked getting in trouble by videotaping my three minutes of infamy. When possible, I’ll post the results of my challenges – this one I’m posting purely for my parents who weren’t able to see it in person, but figured into my routine.



-Paige