Life Recently :: Surviving March

Hello everyone,

I survived March!!!!  I know, I know, March isn't quite over yet, but the part I wasn't sure I would survive (namely, right after David and I got engaged till now) is done, and the only casualty seems to have been my immune system. 3 weeks of intensive sleep depravation seems to have been too much even for my trusty OnGuard oil to fight off the illnesses, but I can only count my blessings that the sore throat and the fever only hit on the last day of my marathon rehearsal/performance schedule!

Some people have asked if I have been busy planning our wedding, and the answer is the biggest, fattest, 'no'.  haha  David and I got engaged, David left to go back to Houston, and since then I've spent every waking hour running around the greater Boston area for rehearsals and performances.  so... yeah... weddings just kinda plan themselves, right?  if we keep telling ourselves that, maybe it will actually happen that way (fingers crossed!)

I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to play in so many performances with my friends in different chamber group configurations, for many prominent composers and teachers, and in awesome orchestras like the Phoenix and the Boston Ballet Orchestra!  so. so thankful.  

This was my first time playing with the Boston Ballet, and this was the first time I've loved playing in the pit!  Usually, many musicians dread playing in the pit (myself included), but the music was awesome, the Boston Ballet community (both musicians and dancers) was so warm and inviting, and the energy from both the performers and the audiences during the performances was really great!  I can't wait to play with them again soon, especially since the Boston Opera House is absolutely gorgeous!

During the 'off' days from the ballet, I got to be a part of the launch even for Phoenix!  Shortly after I moved to Boston, one of my friends from high school, Matt Szymanski, contacted me with an idea for a new orchestra he was starting, called Phoenix!  Since then, I have had the privilege to work with seriously incredible friends for the launch of Phoenix.  Last Tuesday, our dreams became a reality, and we had our first Phoenix concert ever in Oberon!  

I still get chills thinking about it because that night was... It's hard to describe in words just how amazing the night was. We had put in so many months of work beforehand, and to see it come together so spectacularly...  I'm getting emotional over here just thinking about it haha  but my friend and stand partner, Zenas (the goofball below with light antennae coming out of his head), wrote about the event beautifully on his blog, so check it out here!

Other than these two big orchestra performances, I also had the BU orchestra performances, chamber performances, and my solo recital!  For the recital, April came up to perform the Debussy Sonata, Nels Drue Daily (work written for us!), and the Beethoven Kreutzer Sonata with me, and we had such a rich week together full of incredible music making, companionship, and of course, amazing food!

i love this girl.

like this one.  the most incredible sandwich from Cutty's.  Go on Saturday, and ask for Pork Rabe.  ahmazing!

Abers' visit coincided with PI day, so of course, we had to celebrate.  It was, after all, 3/14/15. We also toasted at 9:26:53pm  ;)   (and yes, I realize just how behind I am on blogging haha)

Anyway, for this event, we got together with my string trio buddies, and made pizzas!

Look at this beauty!

and this one  ;) 

the perfect pie for pi day!

so thankful for these awesome friends in my life =)

More recently, right before a new music concert, we visited the Sunset Cantina to try their infamous dessert nachos!  Look at this...

It's an overwhelming sight, isn't it? so much fried, sweet, and fruity goodness  haha   Personally, it was too sweet for me, but it was definitely an experience, and worth a try if you've never had it before! Oh, but make sure to take a few friends with you...

We still couldn't finish it between the four of us!

So, March.  You have been one heck of a month.  In my sleep-deprived state, no adequate words come to mind to fully describe you, but all I know is that I am thankful for everything.

Now, I'm off to bed.  for the next week or so.

If you need me... I'll be back in one concert hall or another within a few days! haha

Have a wonderful week, and thanks for stopping by for this dinosaur of a blog post!

--Janny

Meadowlarks Iron Skillet Dessert Pizza!

Hello everyone,

Whenever The Meadowlarks are together, we always like to make homemade pizza together.  It's a tradition that goes waaaay back to the beginning of our friendship, and we have never, EVER, failed a pizza.  haha We always try interesting combination of toppings and sauces, so we thought we would try a fruity pizza this time around since we had lots of fresh fruits on hand, and we had never tried to make a dessert pizza before! and here is our finished product!!

Not bad for the first time, eh?  and oh my gosh, it was SOOO good!!

and because we loved it so much, I wanted to share this recipe with you so that you can also try this amazingness that is the Meadowlarks Iron Skillet Dessert Pizza!

Ingredients

Pizza dough of your choice

Iron Skillet

1 peach

1 banana

2 handfuls of strawberries

1/4 cup sugar 

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp vanilla

1 swig(?) of bourbon

Let's get cooking!

1.  first, preheat your oven to 400, and cut up all of your fruits into bite sized pieces.  You know by now how much I love things bite sized haha

2.  Put your fruits in a pan with the sugar, spices, and vanilla and cook on low heat until they resemble pie filling.  Before you throw everything in, check to see if all of your fruits are about the same 'squishness'.  In our case, our peaches were firmer than the others so that's why I put them in first.  You can do the same to prevent the softer fruits from becoming complete mush. 

3.  Make sure the heat is on low.  Yes, it may take awhile, like 15-20 minutes, but patience, young grasshopper.  I promise the end result will be well worth your time!

4.  Once your fruit concoction looks like the above picture, get your inner fancy chef to work on flambeau-ing your fruit concoction.  In our case, Timmay was more than happy to oblige.  To do so, you just need to pour a little bit of bourbon, and light it on fire!  This step--lighting it on fire--,however, is completely unnecessary, and you can just let the alcohol evaporate on its own if you don't have a chef-friend on hand  =) 

5.  Then, spread out your pizza dough in your skillet and put the fruit topping on!

6.  Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, and tada!!  Look at this beauty!!

7.  Wait for a couple of minutes for the pizza to cool a little before digging in!

yuuuummmmm!!!!!  this was so good.  SOO good!  we can't even tell you how delicious this dessert pizza was!  so go ahead and get your baking on, you won't be disappointed  ;)

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend, and thanks for stopping by!

--Janny

BBQ zucchini pizza!

Hello everyone!

Sorry it's been awhile since my last post..  Life has been pretty chill around here since I'm the only one here with my parents.  It's just been a lot of eating yummy food, practicing, driving mommy around since she was still in a cast until yesterday, etc etc.  

Anyway, since my last post was full of incredibly yummy, but definitely not vegetarian, 삼겹살, I thought I'd post a vegetarian recipe to follow  =)   See?  still keeping it in the spirit of this post about watching 'Forks over Knives'  ;)

so here is the super simple recipe I came up with with a little bit of Pinterest inspiration!

BBQ Zucchini Pizza!!

Ingredients
1 zucchini
Your favorite BBQ sauce
toppings of your choice :: I chose thinly sliced green peppers, onions, and mushrooms.
and your choice of cheese!


Let's Bake these babies!

1.  Preheat your oven to 375 and spray your baking sheet with a non-stick spray.

2.  Cut your zucchini length wise (perhaps an eighth of an inch thick), lay it on your baking sheet, and spread some BBQ sauce over them.  You don't need a lot since BBQ sauces tend to be pretty potent!

3.  Put all of your toppings on the zucchini slices, and top it off with your choice of cheese.  We chose some pepper jack cheese cubes and a shredded cheese blend.

4.  Then, all you have to do is pop these babies in for 18-20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and golden brown before you can dig in!

5.  and voila!

It was so easy, so good, and even the non vegetarians in our family loved it!  Perhaps because it was bathed in golden, melted cheese?   haha

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and if you feel lazy this weekend, but still want to eat some homemade goodness, this is definitely a good choice!  ;)
Thanks for stopping by!
--Janny