Text 15552, 157 rader
Skriven 2014-08-07 03:09:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av NANCY BACKUS
Ärende: wanderings 754
======================
 ML> Come on, now, some waitresses are intelligent and actually
 ML> willing to help.
 NB> Oh, ok... I'll give you that... but I've also known far too many of
 NB> the others as well....

It used to be said that the best service is given by the
professionals, but in recent years I find that the
transients (students, people who haven't yet figured out
what they want to do when they grow up, and so on) tend
to be way more engaged and willing, though not necessarily
more informed.

 ML> give one of our scholarships to the pianist rather than to
 ML> the soloist who is applying. That's of course not Kosher,
 ML> and ofttimes anyway that person is a faculty member or at
 ML> least hired for the purpose.
 NB> I read that first at "family member" rather than "faculty"... perhaps
 NB> because I've been that family member... ;)  I hear you... if the
 NB> pianist was also applying for audition, it would be one thing (I know,
 NB> you still couldn't give the scholarship that way...), but it is more
 NB> likely someone one would expect to be more accomplished...   :)

As both you understand. There was this old guy who didn't
really look the part - Phil Oliver was his name - who was
such a great accompanist that he taught the subject both
at Boston University and I believe the New England
Conservatory: on occasion he was known to rescue a horrid
performance by an untalented nobody and turn it into a
work of art.
 
 ML>> Spoken like a soloist person and a keyboardist at that.
 NB>> Guilty as charged...  (G)  but also true for at least some
 NB>> accompaniment as well...  :)

The St. Nicolaas church here advertises free organ concerts
on Wednesday nights ... turns out that last night they had
a guest artist named Thorsten Goebel and were charging E11.
The program:

Bach Prelude and fugue in C
     Choral prelude Schmucke Dich, o liebe Seele
Mendelssohn Overture to Athalie
            Overture to the oratorio Paul
Rheinberger Organ sonata 14
M. Gulbins Organ sonata 3 in Bb.

Might have interested you more, but I wasn't going to
shell out E22 for something that we were going to sit
through at most half of. For a free concert I might
have been willing to put E5 a head into the kitty,
but more than twice that, neh.

=

 ML> United has shown greater than typical
 ML> incompetence, putting me on a flight to Chicago (in
 ML> coach) without telling me, while putting Lilli on
 ML> Houston to Amsterdam nonstop without me.
 NB> That makes it incredibly difficult to be travel companions.. ;0

Don't you think. They've done this before: Lilli keeps        
track and claimed that UA has pulled similar tricks
half a dozen times in the last few months. I can recall
only once a month, but she exaggerates a little.

 ML> They eventually fixed us, putting us together on a
 ML> flat-bed flight to Houston and then a row apart on
 ML> a flat-bed flight to Amsterdam. The agent said that
 ML> 2A was across from 1D (which it is on some aircraft,
 ML> but not this one). Problem is that on the plane they
 ML> ended up putting us on, 2B is broken. I noted that
 ML> if they fixed 2B, they could sell one more Business
 ML> First seat, each flight would generate many more
 ML> hundreds of dollars.
 NB> At least they got you back together... seems we've had a discussion
 NB> before about their lack of sense...  ;)
 
Turns out they fixed 2B but did not give it to me,
instead to someone similarly inconvenienced, who
was thus separated from her son in row 8 or so.

We asked this person if she would switch my rightful 2B
with my actual 1D, and she said no, because she didn't
want to look at the bathroom; 1D is right next to the
door, whereas 2B, equally close to the facility, is
separated from it by a wall. I could sort of understand.

I then asked the guy in 1E if he would switch with Lilli's
2A, but he said that as he needed to go to the bathroom
frequently, he needed the aisle. The lady overheard and
said she really wanted the window anyhow, so we started
figuring things out. I asked how old her son was - 22,
as it turned out. I suggested, and everyone ended up
agreeing, that perhaps he would be perfectly happy not
sitting next to his mom all that time; I guess I'm lucky
she listened to reason, because if not, she might have
made the flight pretty unpleasant. In the end, Lilli and
I sat in 1D and 1E, the lady got her window 2A, and Mr.
Bowels had easy access to the toilet from 2B. Yay, no
thanks to United. And the flight attendant looked
bemused at all of this, and I remarked to her, screws up
your manifest, doesn't it, and she said yes. But she
cheered up and the crew gave us decent service (not hard
to do, as we slept most of the flight).

 ML> Flying is sometimes more of an adventure than one
 ML> would like it to be, and sometimes the adventure
 ML> is a dull one.
 NB> EYup...  :)   Sounds like it's easily at that end of the spectrum with
 NB> this message...  ;)

Luckily these Dutch cities that I haven't explored
before have made a very good adventure of it.

---------- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v7.04

      Title: Pralines & Cream Ice Cream
 Categories: Desserts, Ice cream
   Servings:  6

----------------------------------PRALINES----------------------------------
      1 c  Sugar                             1/8 ts Salt
      1 c  Brown sugar; firmly packed          2 tb Butter or margarine
    3/4 c  Buttermilk                        1/2 ts Baking soda
      2 c  Pecans; coarsely chopped        1 1/2 tb Vanilla extract

---------------------------------ICE CREAM---------------------------------
  2 1/4 c  Sugar                               5 c  Whole milk
    1/3 c  All purpose flour                   1 qt Whipping cream
    1/4 ts Salt                            1 1/2 tb Vanilla
      3    Eggs; beaten                             Plus Pralines, above

  PRALINES: Combine first five ingredients in a large, heavy saucepan. Cook
  over low heat, stirring gently, until sugar is dissolved. Cover and cook
  over medium heat for 2-3 min to clear sugar crystals from sides of the
  pan. Uncover and cook to soft ball (234~), stirring constantly. Remove
  from heat and stir in soda and vanilla. Add butter and beat with a wooden
  spoon until mixture begins to thicken. Working quickly, drop by
  tablespoons onto buttered wax paper. Makes 1 1/2 - 2 dozen pralines. BUT
  DON'T EAT THEM! Crumble coarsely and measure out 3 1/2 cup of the
  crumblies for this ice cream.
    ICE CREAM: Combine sugar, flour, and salt in a Dutch oven. Add eggs, and
  stir until smooth. Stir in milk and cook over medium heat until
  thermometer reaches 165~, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and let
  cool slightly; Chill for 3 hours. Combine whipping cream and vanilla in a
  large bowl and whisk in chilled custard. Pour into freezer container of a
  1 gallon ice cream freezer. Freeze according to manufacturer's
  instructions. Remove dasher and fold in 3 1/2 cups crumbled pralines. Let
  ripen for 1 hour before serving.

  source unknown

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