Green Cherries and Redpop

Every Christmas I bake a batch of holiday sugar cookies decorated with red and green maraschino cherries. Not only are they delicious, but they make nice gifts for people to whom you really should give SOMETHING, but you just don't know what it is. It has a personal touch and is a better show of effort than a shrink-wrapped basket of sausages, I think. This year, my Christmas cookies would go to Orrick's parents, with whom I'll be spending the bulk of the holiday.

I started the effort early this year. With my handy-dandy Fannie Farmer cookbook locked a few thousand miles away in Tennessee, I first had to do some culinary investigation. I compared recipes from Alton Brown and Betty Crocker. I scoured the Food Network and Cooks.com websites. From the Joy of Cooking to the I Hate to Cook cookbook, nothing had the ring of perfect buttery-vanilla goodness that Fannie Farmer had always guaranteed. In fact, most of these recipes were meant to be sullied by some concoction of over-sweet icing. Good God, no! After a few weeks' search, I spotted good ol' Fannie at a used book bookshop and hurriedly copied the favored recipe into my trusty notebook.

With recipe and required ingredients at the ready, all I would need were the decorative cherries. Red maraschino cherries were not difficult to find, but this year the green ones were particularly wily. Orrick and I searched nearly every grocery, liquor, and drug store within a 20 mile radius and continually found only the red. Come on, kids, it's Christmas! Show us a little green, eh?

Finally, after shopping specialty and restaurant supply stores without luck, we decided on one final stop before giving up. Entering Bristol Farms, we spotted Orrick's father and soon, his mother too. In no time, we were all involved in the quest. We even enlisted the employees. We were led to an aisle that showcased the cocktail cherries in nearly every color. Yellow lemon. Blue wildberry. Orange something. Red, of course. But no green. I was on the verge of a yellow-and-blue-make-green concoction when Joanan suggested we look for candied or dried cherries. Another clerk led us there and, viola! Green cherries! Had it not been for the proximity of Orrick's folks, I'm sure I would have let out a loud yelp and performed a unique End Zone dance at the discovery. As it was, I left it at a less-than-subtle "You're the MAN!" that earned me a $5 discount coupon from the clerk's chest pocket.

The boon $5 coupon afforded another luxury when I stumbled across the soda aisle. My eyes stopped on the Jolt! and Diet Stewart's colas, but my heart stopped at the sight of Detroit, Michigan's own FAYGO.

Faygo! Faygo! Oh my God, Faygo! Redpop!

Despite the fact that there is (to my knowledge) no Diet Redpop, I couldn't help myself. I had to buy it. It was, after all, essentially free, thanks to my helpful cherry-finding clerk. FAYGO!!!!

I love Bristol Farms.

With the cherries and Faygo in hand, we said our thank yous and goodbyes to Orrick's folks and went home to share the red-poppy goodness over lunch. Ummmm....

This morning, I made the cookies that will be delivered this evening, so glad to have finally found the green cherries. Red-topped cookies alone would hardly have been festive enough.

Of course, there's no doubt that when Joanan sees these cookies, she'll recognize the cherries that she was instrumental in helping to find. With any luck, she'll get a kick out of it. Personal Touch: Advanced Level.

Merry Christmas everyone.
More to come... next year!

Me? Really?

When I first saw this headshot on the theatre's website, I didn't recognize myself. This is quite easily the best picture ever taken of me. To see the rest of the cast, click here.

Shameless Plug for NBC

Haven't been watching Heroes? You should have been. Discovered the show too late? Catch up with the cool kids with a New Year's Day marathon starting at 8/7 central. Or, watch full episodes streaming online here.

Watch amongst yourselves. We'll talk.

Metros My Father HAS Known

No fudging on this one: I had my Dad make his metro badge tonight.

Here it is:

Dern!

In fact, he was disappointed that Brisbane (Queensland Rail) and New Jersey Transit (among others) weren't represented....

Guess his line...

Quick(ie) Thought

Have you seen those commercials for hormonal birth control that promise women fewer periods? You know the ones: "if you could have fewer periods, life could be a whole lot nicer." Is it just me, or is there a flaw in this idea?

Granted, periods are a montly annoyance and, on first blush, the idea of not having them so often seems enticing. But let's look at the bigger picture for a moment.

For the most part, women who are on the pill are (a) sexually active and (b) trying not to get pregnant. So why, then, would a woman want to rid herself of the best diagnostic tool that nature provides to prove that she is not? Let's face it, most of these women are going to miss a pill here and there, and there is no hard guarantee than an unwanted pregnancy would make itself known with nausea or tenderness (you've heard of couples who didn't know they were pregnant, haven't you?). One's period is a more reliable gauge than a negative pregnancy test, too, but sales of said tests to those using this method will skyrocket when the fear of failure exists and natural means to allay three months of fear do not. On these new pills, when you're late... you're too late.

Quite a little pro-lifer boon, wouldn't you say?

Happy Birthday, Edvard Munch

And how much do we LOVE today's Google art?

Metros I Might Have Known...

Okay, so I've never been to London. Sue me. The Undergound logo is just too cool. I haven't spent much time on the other systems, either, but I can claim to have ridden around New York, San Diego, and Atlanta at least once via the Metro.

Want your own badge? (Jake? Dad?) Go here.

Fire Follow-up

This picture message from my brother shows that the last remains of the Arts Center have now been razed.

Fantasy Radio reports that arson has been ruled out, pointing instead to an electrical or heating problem. Work on clearing the debris should begin soon. Arts Commission members say the playhouse and art gallery will be rebuilt.

Fire Consumes Arts Center

There is something not quite right about shopping for Christmas wrapping paper in 80-degree weather, but today in San Diego that's what I did. Meanwhile, a text message from my brother informs me that it's snowing in Middle Tennessee right now.

A few days ago, my brother sent another message, bearing harder news. On Sunday night, a fire broke out at the Manchester Arts Center, completely destroying the building which had been used as a playhouse and art gallery for nearly 11 years.

Sandwiched rurally equidistant between Nashville and Chattanooga, the area's arts community suffered a great loss Sunday. Friends who stood for nearly six hours in 20-degree temperatures watching firefighters lose the offensive battle to save the building and begin a defensive one to keep the fire from spreading to other businesses were quoted in the week's news as having watched something akin to their home burn down. For many, the Arts Center was indeed a home away from home. Myself, for a time, included. I once served on the its playhouse board and helped to chaperone a sleep-over for the Teen Actor's Guild there, I performed two shows on its stage and mastered properties for a third, and I met wonderful people who were working diligently to bring cultural opportunities to the area.

A friend with family in the area sent this picture of the aftermath. What still stands is no more than an empty dance studio. The rubble once housed a large and newly renovated lobby, the Martin Art Gallery, the theatre, expensive lighting and sound equipment, dressing rooms, props and set storage, costume collections, and one of the area's largest personal collections of scripts and music. Plus many, many memories.

There is great optimism among those involved, however. The Arts Center website does not even mention the fire directly, it only states that the show must go on and donations to make the "Pheonix rise from the ashes" will be accepted. They lost a building, it says, but not heart. A local elementary school has given the Wee Actor's Guild a place to continue their performances of Charlotte's Web and surrounding theatre groups pulled together to find suitable props and costumes on short notice. No cause for the fire has been determined, and though investigators say that a determination will be difficult to make from what remains, arson is not suspected.

Donations can be made to the Manchester Arts Center in Manchester at Peoples Bank, First National Bank, and Coffee County Bank. And though the website does not say so, I'm sure that folks outside the Coffee County area who would like to make a donation to help rebuild the much-needed facility can mail it to The MMAC Rebuilding Fund, 909 Hillsboro Blvd., Manchester, TN 37355. Any amount will certainly be appreciated.