Well, wasn't that nice! Our friend Jonathan stopped off at the British store to pick up some special (American) Thanksgiving items, and Maggie snagged some old cheddar and a couple of pints of Cork-made Murphy's stout, my preferred drink while I was there - It's smooth, like - along with a box of Shreddies for her and the kids. Speaking of Cork, I found out a funny co-incidence; our telephone number in Brussels is a new one this year, and a couple of days ago I idly put it through the site www.phonespell.org, to see if the numbers spelled anything. Guess what? (0)2 675 74 44 spells "cork's gig". What are the odds, I wonder?
I had a good audition in Ghent on the weekend, starting with the Rossini Figaro aria for the first time, and I followed it up with the Messiah recit+aria
thus saith the Lord / but who may abide the day of His coming? and I'm pleased with how it came across. I've asked the agent to give me some feedback, so I'll call her today. I'm also planning on coaching my audition arias soon, in advance of my next audition here in Brussels in a couple of weeks. Next is to try to find some more auditions, hopefully during the same period or early in January.
Yesterday Duncan and I went to a specialist to see about both his recurrent colds+ear infections and my recurrent sinusitis. Normally a cold doesn't affect my voice but sinusitis interferes with head resonance and sensation (a technical necessity), causes fatigue and eventually can irritate the throat. Unlike some people for whom a cold or sinusitis is an annoyance, for opera singers it can be a major roadblock to practicing, to auditioning well, and hence, to getting paid! Obviously it's something one has to try everything to prevent.
It looks like Duncan will be having his tonsils and
adenoids out in early march. No tubes in his ears, though; the doctor indicated that he's too young for something like that, and explained that putting tubes in at too early an age has a risk of leaving holes in the eardrum. In my case, the doctor prescribed a number of things, some to prevent sinusitis and some to help deal with it if it recurrs. I'm also going to have a sinus scan at the hospital to see if there is something predisposing me to recurrent sinusitis. Having a sniffly little kid around all the time, and living in a damp climate like Belgium probably doesn't help matters!
The boys are excited each morning to open the next box on their advent calendars. Duncan is re-doing the
pirate one from last year, and Malcolm is doing the
police one. It gets them out of bed in the morning, that's for sure, and I prefer these to the chocolate advent calendars, which usually have rather waxy, poor quality chocolate. The boys don't really need any extra sweets in the morning given that their usual breakfast cereal is a mix of two versions of rice/wheat flakes with either curls of dark belgian chocolate or dried raspberries (and this is the "diet" cereal). They will also get some nice goodies in their shoe on the 6th of December, the feast of
St. Nicholas, which falls on a Saturday this year. The boys are lucky as there will likely be a visit from St. Nicholas
and Santa Claus. Don't ask about the theological implications... I think it's all Martin Luther's fault.
It's a miserable day here as you can see above, in a distinctly un-promising week of weather. I will be heading out later this afternoon to pick up a piece of 3mm mirror from the Brico, which I ordered yesterday...
... to use in this antique beveled glass mirror that I found being thrown out around the corner. It has some de-silvering (see photo) and it's simplest to scrape off the old silver and apply a thin flat mirror to the back. New beveled mirrors cost a lot, and re-silvering is bound to be expensive and troublesome, so I hope this method will work. Other than that I think it's a cocooning day. Probably I'll make a run for the grocery in a few minutes and start some sort of slow-simmering stew, maybe this provencale
carbonade:
PROVENCAL BEEF STEW (serves six)
-
1 ½ pounds boneless beef chuck
- 8 tiny new potatoes (red ones are best)
- 1 pound small carrots with tops, peeled and trimmed, or one 16-ounce package peeled baby carrots
- 1 large onion, cut into wedges
- ½ cup pitted green or ripe olives
- 1 cup beef broth (Knorr is best)
- 1 tablespoon quick-cooking tapioca
- 1 teaspoon dried herbes de Provence, crushed
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper
- 4 to 6 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ cup dry red wine
- Snipped fresh parsley (optional)
- Capers (optional)
Trim fat from meat; cut meat into 2-inch pieces and set aside. Remove a narrow strip of peel from circumference of each new potato. In a 3 ½ or 4-quart slow cooker* place potatoes, carrots, onion, and olives; add meat. In a small bowl combine beef broth, tapioca, herbes de Provence, salt, pepper, and garlic. Pour over mixture in cooker.
Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 10 to 12 hours or on high-heat setting for 4 to 5 hours. Stir in wine. Cover and cook for 30 minutes more. If desired, sprinkle each serving with parsley and capers.
Nutrition per serving: 198 cal., 5 g total fat (2 g sat. fat), 54 mg cholesterol, 308 mgs sodium, 16 g carbohydrates., 3 g fibre, 20 g protein.
*I don't have a slow cooker; instead I use an enameled cast iron dutch oven with a lid, and a wire diffuser over a very low flame. Probably 4 hours is more than enough, just try to keep it as low as you can, and test the meat after 3 hours or so.
Bon appetit!
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