Jeff Pelline's Sierra Foothills Report

The votes are in and the fans have spoken: Buster Posey, Pablo Sandoval and Melky Cabrera have been invited to start the All-Star Game at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City on July 10. Matt Cain was selected by the Player Ballot — a vote of the players, managers and coaches.

NL STARTERS:
NL 1B – Joey Votto
2B – Dan Uggla
SS – Rafael Furcal
3B – Pablo Sandoval
C – Buster Posey
OF – Melky Cabrera
OF – Carlos Beltran
OF – Matt Kemp

Filed under: Uncategorized | 9 Comments »

“The wife and girlfriend of the Painter of Light, Thomas Kinkade, are preparing for battle to decide who gets what of his $60 million estate,” as the Daily Mail reports.

“The two sides will come face to face in an Los Angeles probate court on Monday, both claiming to have been left the artist’s fortune.

“Kinkade was America’s most collected artist before his death four months ago, with his work said to hang in one in 20 homes in the States, including the White House.

“He died after ingesting a cocktail of alcohol and Valium, having battled with alcoholism for two years and the women are now engaged in a bitter fight to secure what they each claim is rightfully theirs.”

The rest of the article is here.

Filed under: Uncategorized | 9 Comments »

Our young “red” lab Whiskey (the color of Woodford Reserve) handles the fireworks better than our beloved lab Gretchen. When I was a a young teen, fireworks were legal in Denver, and our Norwegian Elkhound, Eloise (whom my mother named after the girl at the Plaza Hotel in New York), was very frightened. We had to hold her, because she shook at the sound of fireworks.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Whatever your views, an interesting political website is here.

Example:

10 Reasons Why I Love Chief Justice John Roberts:
1. He frequently gets mistaken for Elder Bednar.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

In his blog, Russ Steele writes: “Ellen and I attended the Republican Women Federated’s 60th Birthday party last night with 150 of our like-minded friends. The Republican ladies really know how to throw a great party. This theme was the 1950s, with many of those attending dressed for the times, poodle skirts, T-shirts with cigarettes pack rolled up in the sleeve, leather jackets and Elvis wigs.”

He adds, “It was a great party, with food of the 50s, and thoughts for our political future.”

I got to thinking about “Food of the ’50s” and whipped out Mom’s Helen Corbett cookbook from our collection. (She was a lifelong Republican too):

Here’s the background from TexasCooking.com. We also have this cookbook in our collection: “The Best from Helen Corbett’s Kitchen.”

“It took a determined Yankee to teach Texans that they could eat – and enjoy – something besides their beloved barbecue or chicken-fried steak.

“Born in 1906 in upstate New York, Helen Corbitt graduated from Skidmore College with a degree in home economics. She thought about entering medical school, but the Depression sent her down a much different path. Following what Helen called “my hospital days” as a dietician in New Jersey and New York, the University of Texas came calling. In 1940, she accepted a position in Austin teaching catering and restaurant management.

“Two years later, Helen left for a job at the Houston Country Club. At first unsure about remaining in Texas, she finally decided to stay. In her first cookbook, Helen Corbitt’s Cookbook, she singled out this time as “the most happy days of my food career.”

“After a short stint at Joske’s of Houston, she returned to Austin in the early 1950s to manage the Driskill Hotel’s dining room and catering. Politicians who ate at the venerable hotel appreciated food that looked as good as it tasted. Helen’s recipes even appeared on White House menus during Lyndon Baines Johnson’s presidency.

“Stanley Marcus brought her to Dallas in 1955 to direct Neiman Marcus’ food-services department. Businessmen and shoppers alike flocked to the flagship store’s Zodiac Room (now called The Zodiac) to enjoy lunch that started with Helen’s signature touch of chicken consommé in tiny cups. Some of her recipes remain on the menu to this day.

“Among her most famous food innovations were Texas Caviar (using black-eyed peas), Snowballs (frosted cake cubes rolled in coconut), Flowerpots (Baked Alaska in small clay pots), and Poppy-seed Dressing. Helen was credited with creating this tasty dressing, but denied the accolades, stating that she only popularized it.

“Helen Corbitt died on January 16, 1978. Stanley Marcus compared her to a famous fashion designer of the time, calling her “the Balenciaga of Food.” The Duke of Windsor, who had enjoyed Helen’s food and conversation at a luncheon in Houston, pronounced her dishes “fit for a king!”

“Responsible for spearheading a food revolution in her adopted state, Helen once said, “Life, and especially Texas, has been good to this Yankee girl.” Her influence changed Texans’ tastes forever.

One recipe is here.

Filed under: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

From the Sierra FoodWineArt blog: Music in the Mountains wraps up its SummerFest series this week, and it has been one of the best seasons in years.

“The diversity of the program this year has been fantastic,” as Lowell Robertson, a longtime MIM fan and arts patron told us last night during intermission at the Cirque de la Symphonie at the Nevada County Fairgrounds. (We promoted the SummerFest in our spring issue, observing MIM’s imaginative events, including the “scoop” on a Pink Floyd tribute show).

The SummerFest has included 10 concerts in two weeks. There’s been a Verdi Requiem but also MIM and The Center for the Arts presented the Pink Floyd show.

On Sunday Maestro Gregory Vajda and the Festival Orchestra present a Tchaikovsky piano concerto, featuring virtuoso Xiayin Wang. The series ends with an annual “Picnic and Pops” concert at the Fairgrounds.

IMAGINATIVE PROGRAM

We’ve enjoyed the SummerFest too. Last night our family attended Cirque de la Symphonie, where the MIM orchestra teamed up with acrobats, aerialists and clowns. The troupe performed feats to the music of Dvorak, Bizet, Tchaikovsky and others.

We had a picnic at the Fairgrounds and visited with Lowell and others. (We enjoyed the Old 5 Mile House’s Berliner grilled brats and a glass of white wine from Nevada City Winery, a European-like picnic experience ). Our 10-year-old son, who is starting to embrace the performances of InConcert Sierra and MIM, also enjoyed the program.

The acts were spellbinding: a “quick” change, where a woman magically changed her dresses to the music of Brazilian composer Zequinha de Abreu’s “Tico-Tico no Fubá.” There also was ring juggling, an aerial duo, an electric juggler, a ribbon dance and aerial rope performance.

The performance ended with “strongmen” Jarek & Darek (Jaroslaw Marciniak and Dariusz Wronski) balancing on top of each other to the music of Antonín Leopold Dvořák. The two are former Polish national hand-balancing champions.

The crowd stood up and clapped loudly. On the way out, we ran into a grandmother, who saw last year’s show and was thrilled to bring her granddaughter this year. Like our son, she loved the show.

“The Cirque de Symphonie show was wonderful,” observed local poet Molly Fisk. “There is nothing so much fun as being fooled by people who are good at fooling you (the woman whose dresses kept changing in too short a time for them to have changed…).”

The SummerFest is a tangible sign that MIM has reinvigorated itself (“content is king,” as they say). We’d like to congratulate the new executive director of MIM, Cristine Kelly, Vajda and the MIM board are to be congratulated for expanding the group’s offerings, celebrating a tradition in classical music. We look forward to the WinterFest program.

(photo credit: Cirque de la Symphonie and MIM)

Filed under: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »