I have moved!

Not very far  and this time, thankfully, no cardboard boxes were involved. The Crazy is Catching can now be found at www.thecrazyiscatching.COM. Things will be back to normal as quickly as I can figure how why I never listened to the lecturer in IT classes and now find myself drowning in HTML.

See you there!

we apologise for the delay

Slight interruption to normal posting as I work on making The Crazy is Catching into something more streamlined and delicious. Bear with me!

I love to watch things on TV

Lou Reed, ‘Satellite of Love’ from Revolver

when words aren’t enough

It might be time to get that large scale light installation going….

via FFFFound!

Monday’s dinner: following the rules

Cinnamon in pasta? Really?

It seems odd, so odd. I have relatives who feign death if you mention cinnamon. They don’t understand it, can’t get their wee heads around it so they choose to hate it. How they could possibly resist a freshly baked cinnamon and apple pastry is beyond me; I practically live for their smell alone.

But back to my point: cinnamon in pasta. Seems odd, no? Well it is, but not as odd as you might imagine. Tonight I decided to try out a recipe for Roast Squash Spaghetti from Donal Skehan’s Good Mood Food cookbook. I only recently discovered his blog and after seeing the really wonderful yet somewhat simple-to-do recipes I bought the new book and have been salivating over everything ever since. I won’t post the recipe exactly but will direct you to his recipe archive where you will NOT find the recipe I followed but you will find loads of other delicious food to make. Basically to make the pasta I made you put strips of butternut squash, cherry tomatoes, cubed pancetta, honey, chilli flakes, a pinch of cinnamon and olive oil in a roasting dish and roast for 20 minutes in a hot oven. You then cook wholewheat spaghetti (I used penne rigate) and when the food is roasted stir the pasta into the squash, throw in a few basil leaves and you’re done. I put a little parmesan on top for kicks. But really do go out and buy the book, it’s really lovely and the food is somewhat healthy too, which helps. (Says the girl who adds the parmesan..)

And as for the cinnamon? It worked. Though I almost didn’t add it I decided to follow the recipe and the rules and use it. I always throw chilli flakes on squash when I’m roasting it so the almost sweetness of the cinnamon clashed nicely with the spice this time. I can’t say I’ll be adding cinnamon to more savoury dishes in future (for it will always be a dessert spice in mine eye) but I will definitely be making this dish again and again and again.

Roast Squash Pasta

if nothing else..

I got a really cool – in my mind anyway – canvas bag at the O2 last night for €10. I notice that all artists seem to be including canvas bags as part of their merch these days and I like it. At Marina and the Diamonds on Wednesday she was offering bags with the lyrics “I am not a robot” printed on them which I sadly did not buy. I still carry a bag I bought at Band of Horses ages ago all the time. They’re a cheaper and much more useful purchase than a t-shirt you’ll never wear. I know I never do anyway, mainly because I always buy ‘em too big or too small. The bag in question (rather apt, no?):

Reason #49 why I love James Franco

Watch here.

Pleasing Yusuf

“You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself” Ricky Nelson, ‘The Garden Party’.

Last night I took my Dad – or rather he took me – to the O2 to see Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam. Billed as Cat’s (let’s call him that to ease confusion) first gig in Ireland the concert promised a trip down memory lane for the oldies in the crowd. Indeed, as we observed, the crowd was composed mainly of people in their 40s and older. Though it might be wrong to assume, there was definitely an air of expectation in the concert that this was a Greatest Hits tour, a chance for the paying Irish public to finally hear the songs that coloured their past, live.

Stevens, on stage © Ciara Norton

And from the outset it looked like this was what it would be. Cat began his set strolling onto the stage, guitar in hand. He was shortly joined by two more guitarists and together they entertained with the kind of folksy music Cat became famous for. There would be no dancing to this music but the crowd were happy, perhaps full of expectation that soon a Cat Stevens hit would make its voice known. After a few slow songs the stage opened to reveal keyboards, bass and drums and it was then that the show really got going. For about ten minutes, that is.

At this point Cat started talking about the “surprise” in store for the audience. I knew, as I had paid attention, that this meant a preview of Cat’s new musical Moonshadow. I presumed that as it had not been the opening act (a much better slot, no?) it would be little more than a few minutes of the second act, not close to the entirety.

Cat Stevens and Band, o2 Dublin, © Ciara Norton

The interval ended and the real fun began. Cat ambled on stage, sat on a box and with his guitar sang an unfamiliar song while two children played on stage. Their voices – the irritating sing-song kind – interrupted the song to talk about a land of no sun or too much sun or something like that and it was at this point that I began to grow nervous and the crowd started to shift their weight in the plastic seats.

This was as close to a full-blown musical as you could imagine in the middle of a concert. Plotlines developed, characters formed, children grew old and old people grew tired of the rebellious youth. It was hard to stomach, hard to watch a musical the majority of the crowd didn’t seem to know was coming when Cat Stevens was obviously wandering about backstage. Oh yes, he had left the stage after the first song and his cast took over the singing duties. This meant, in case my point is not clear, that the audience DID get to hear his hits, but these were the hits sang by cast members of a West End musical, their every syllable enunciated through grinning, gurning mouths.

Nobody in the audience paid to listen to an actor sing ‘Father and Son’, nobody wanted a female cast member to twist ‘Wild World’ into a lament for her lost son and nobody wanted to see ‘Matthew & Son’ turn into a dance routine. It was hard. I hate to see people on stage boo-ed, I understand that the cast members of Moonshadow were merely doing their job and I suppose they were doing it well, or as well as can be expected in the face of a hostile audience.

Then it was over. People were still walking out when Cat reappeared to tell us he’d be back in five minutes, that he hadn’t left us, that he hoped we hadn’t left him. So we stayed and hoped that a hit was somewhere in our future, a familiar song to heal the hurt of the unexpected musical. But it wasn’t coming. Cat introduced songs from recent albums, he thanked us for coming and spending “so much money”* and smiled his way through his second, shorter set. Even ‘Moonshadow’ was ruined by the addition of the lead from the musical returning on stage to falsetto his way through the classic. At this stage everyone was uneasy, Cat affirmed that he would not be playing some songs like ‘Hard Headed Woman’, presumably not in keeping with his current outlook on life. For his encore Cat began with a new song ‘All Kinds of Roses’ from Roadslinger. The crowd screamed blue murder and he replied “Now I know what Dylan felt like”. Not that this was comparable to Dylan’s electric moment, in any way.

I left during the second song of the encore, a reimagined version of ‘Lilywhite’. By then it was too late for me and I had to leave. Anyone know if he ended on a high note? EDIT: Apparently I missed Ronan Keating and Cat sing Father and Son together. That I can definitely live without.

To conclude, for I know I’ve rambled on  long enough,  I am usually in giving any performer the benefit of my doubt. I don’t like to boo (I didn’t last night) and I don’t like to hear others do so. I respect a performer’s right to play his recent songs, not concentrate on hits from 30 years ago. I do have issue with the promotion (POD and AEG in association with the Irish Times and 2fm were the promoters) of a concert that used Cat Steven’s hits to entice people into the O2. The preview of the musical was not billed as the major part of the show it was. I knew about it but I believe myself to be in the minority of people there who were aware it was part of the show. I respect Cat Stevens but I do not respect last night’s show or the promoters who allowed what happened to happen. As he might have learned last night “it’s hard to get by just upon a smile”.

*DISCLOSURE: my tickets were free, not that this prevents me from being angry on behalf on the thousands of others who paid €80 and upwards for the privilege.

EDIT: The Daily Telegraph’s reviewer had this to say about last night. I can’t say that I agree with calling the people in the crowd who registered their disapproval loudly “churlish and mean spirited”. Brian Boyd’s four star rating and my own differ widely, especially when it comes to Moonshadow.

Recipe #19: Christmas Pudding alá Granny

I posted about the tattered booklet this Pudding recipe comes from, and my Granny’s insistence that it be used each year to make puddings for all the family. Last night I prepared the fruit mix and today will see the baking of the puddings begin. Assembling the ingredients is a doddle, cooking/baking/boiling is where the element of expertise comes in handy. This is where I will be handing over the reins to my mother. She is more new school than the recipe; she doesn’t feel the need to boil the pudding on Christmas Day as tradition dictates. She also doesn’t boil the puddings on the hob, rather she bakes them in the oven in a bain marie.

Oh, what complicated pudding making webs we weave…

Christmas Pudding: makes two 1.1litre Puddings

Ingredients:

• 175g self raising flour
• 1 level teaspoon mixed spice
• 1 level teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 level teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 225g white breadcrumbs
• 350g dark soft brown sugar
• 150g dried cranberries
• 300g currants
• 225g raisins
• 225g sultanas
• 125g mixed peel
• 125g cherries, washed, dried and halved
• 50g chopped almonds
• grated rind of one lemon and one orange
• 225 butter, melted and cooled a little
• 3 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons brandy, plus a little extra if you’re preparing the fruit the night before
• 275ml Guinness

Method:

1. Get two greased 1.1l pudding bowls ready
2. cut large circles of double greaseproof paper for the tops and grease well. Make pleats crosswise in the paper. You will also be covering the pudding bowls with foil so cut identical circles.
3. Put the fruit, nuts and mixed peel and grated fruit zest into a large mixing bowl and macerate/soak in a little brandy overnight. This is not an essential part of the recipe so feel free to leave this out if you want to reduce the alcohol content of the pudding. The fruit can be added to the flour without having been soaked overnight.
4. Sieve the flour and spices into another large mixing bowl.
5. Add the breadcrumbs, sugar and fruit mix into the flour and mix thoroughly.
6. Beat the eggs, brandy and guinness together.
7. Make a well in the centre of the flour/cake mix and mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon.
8. Cover the mixture and leave it to stand for a few hours or overnight if you have the time.
9. After leaving it for a while mix again then divide into the bowls.
10. We bake the puddings so my next instructions are for that method. If you want to steam the puddings in a saucepan this recipe on The God’s Cake has good instructions.
11. To prepare your pudding bowls cover them tightly with greaseproof paper and tie it down securely under the rim of the bowl. Cover again with foil and tie down. It is best to tie around the rim with a loop of string too. (see picture below for a rough idea)
12. Stand the prepared bowl in a deep casserole dish or in a large deep cake tin and fill 3/4 full with boiling water. (Bain marie stage)
13. Cover the dish with the lid or cover with foil to keep in the steam
14. Bake in the middle of a preheated oven – gas mark 2, 300ºF, 150º C for approximately 4 hours(this is fan oven times, the original recipe says 6 hours). Check the water after 1-2 hours and top with boiling water if necessary.
15. When cooked (I asked my Mother how she knows it’s done, she replied “ah, intuition” which is VERY helpful. If intuition fails she suggests opening up the pudding and checking if it’s firm) allow the pudding to cool and store in a cool, dry place (well wrapped in greaseproof) until Christmas Day. Purists re-cover their pudding and steam for a further two hours on Christmas Day. I am not a purist.
16. Serve with Brandy butter or custard or ice cream or cream or toffee sauce or whatever tickles your fancy and Enjoy!

Back in Black

Despite my best efforts I can’t seem to wear ALL black. I’ve been trained to add a flash of colour: a gold belt, a multi-coloured scarf or a cardigan. These last few days I’ve been living in a black shift dress from Penneys that becomes something new with the addition of coloured tights or a different belt each day. But still, BORING. I long to be the person dressed in all black, without the comfort of colour, not looking like a misplaced goth. Like this lady:

 

via Copenhagen Steet Style

from Copenhagen Street Style