Things Chinese

 

Benaroya Hall was all festive for Chinese New Year yesterday. Along with the decorations, a pre concert performance in the lobby.

The first half of the concert featured a work called "Iris Unveiled." It was composed in 2001, but heard in Seattle for the first time this week. 

Our Seattle Symphony music director, Xian Zhang, collaborates with the Chinese composer, who is a favorite of hers. (Our former conductor was French, and we heard plenty of French music during his tenure.)

In "Iris," the full orchestra performs the 40 minute work alongside Chinese instruments-- in simple terms, a fusion of East and West. There were visual effects also, namely a Peking opera star in full costume up in the organ loft. 

Peking opera is a highly stylized art form with bizarre singing, at least to western ears. 

Like Moon Cakes, an acquired taste. I won't repeat the unkind comparison made by the lady sitting behind us, but you can probably guess.

Anyway, off to Mother Russia for the second half of the program, featuring the rough and tumble Shostakovich Fifth Symphony. 

So, an afternoon of big contrasts, if nothing else.

We had a nice weekend. John gave me beautiful flowers and we gobbled down a steak dinner on Saturday, for the first time in ages. We eat more hamburger these days. 

Also, the afore mentioned coconut cake, which was a big hit. 

That recipe is a sure keeper, even better than the fantastically expensive little cakes from Metropolitan Market. I can usually resist cake no problem, but I've had a big, fat slice every night. 

Some days are just coconut

 

Way back in 2012, I took a coconut cake baking class at the community college. It was an evening class with a very chatty instructor, so it ran late into the night and I was tired by the end. Long story short, I forgot to take the recipe hand-out sheet when I left. 

Dang. It was an interesting recipe, made with sweetened cream of coconut. I have tried many other coconut cake recipes over the years. There are hundreds on the Internet-- all different and some better than others.

Anyway, I tried a new recipe this morning for John's Valentine present. The ingredients are pretty basic, although I substituted thick coconut cream for the coconut milk. The most expensive thing in this cake was the tiny bottle of coconut extract, which is sold as liquid gold. 

Oh yes. The plant in the background is from Trader Joes. Like Costco, I feel like I deserve a little reward for navigating that parking lot and store. 

It is a Stephanotis floribunda, or Madagascar Jasmine, and something you don't often see in pots. 

In another lifetime, when I worked in the florist trade, we made labor intensive bridal bouquets by wiring the fragrant individual blossoms. One sniff took me back to the 1980's Frederick and Nelson Department Store, and the little flower shop inside the front door. 

No one could walk by without exclaiming "how good it smells." Of course to us, the flower shop just smelled like hard work. 

Wishing you a sweet and hopefully fragrant holiday weekend. 

 

 

Year of the Horse

 

I bought this lucky bamboo plant last year at Costco...

It has grown considerably since then. These crazy things can thrive for years in just water and this one hasn't even had a bit of fertilizer. That tells you something about the strength and persistence of the rhizomes. Of which we have first hand experience. 

After our bamboo forest was ripped out, I spent the next 5 years cutting back the shoots until the mass of underground roots finally gave up. 

Chinese New Year is on February 17th, and in Chinese astrology, the Year of the Horse represents energy, boldness, and rapid change.  

Wow, quite the party in Seattle yesterday. Naturally, we have perfect weather on those few days when Seattle gets national media attention.

 

Guilty as charged

 

I needed new plastic pots for the window box to replace the groudy old blue ones. How hard can it be to find  7 inch pots?  Ha. 

Three stores later (Home Depot, Ace Hardware and West Seattle Nursery) and I found nothing close, at any price. Not to mention, wasted time and gas.

Came home, searched Amazon, and in a few seconds found exact replacements in a choice of 10 colors. A few days later they arrived on the porch in a box from Walmart, of all things. 

Many people for all the right reasons boycott Amazon. I admire that! The problem is they just make it too easy to find what you need.

Well, the Seahawks are the only local news this morning, as the city gears up for the largest parade in Seattle history. 

 

 

That's the last championship parade in 2014. This one is supposed to be bigger. 

Sweet crocus

 

Crocus represent rebirth, joy and the end of winter. They are long-lasting bulbs, and a patch I planted years ago still come up by the garbage can. Picking the first ones is a little spring ritual, watching the flowers pop open instantly in the warm house. 

It has turned colder here, but after morning fog, the weather should be sunny for the big Seahawk victory parade tomorrow. 

And I mean big. They estimate nearly a million people will converge on downtown Seattle. 

Let me put that number into perspective for you. The population of Seattle is approximately 800,000 and the greater metropolitan area is about 4 million. Expect region-wide traffic gridlock. 

Live coverage on TV sounds like the way to go. 

What a game

 

 

And what a night! Every neighborhood in Seattle went absolutely bonkers with fireworks like the 4th of July, people screaming in the streets, and for good measure, all the dogs in West Seattle barking at once. 

We watched Bad Bunny with plates of enchiladas on our laps in front of the TV. Perfect. A terrific show and wonderful set, right down to those walking trees! 

Anyway, the Seattle freeways are empty this morning, everyone calling in sick (or well.) Next event, a huge victory parade on Wednesday. 

It's been a long time coming. Be happy for us.