A note to any non-theatre folks who may be reading this: Tech is the week or so right before a show opens, when rehearsal moves from a room with tape on the floor to the actual set on in the theatre; rehearsal props are exchanged for real props; street clothes are tossed for costumes and makeup; fluorescent lights are traded for blackouts and bright, hot lights; sound effects are queued up; and the dancing in the dark that takes place off and on stage between and during scenes is choreographed. It sounds magical and poetic (and it is, once it all comes together) but the journey there is not an easy one. Technicians come in early and stay late; actors play bits of scenes over and over again to get the timing just right; directors and designers tweak every little detail to fit their collective image of the perfect show. It's a week or so of long (12+ hour) days, little sleep, few breaks, and lots of hard work. In short, it's exhausting. Which is why it is always followed with a party (booze: required) and if you're lucky enough to not also have a day job, you may even get the whole next day off to recover.
Sometimes, my actual life outside the theatre gets all crazy busy and feels like a tech week and I just cannot wait until all the things are done and I can sit on my ass for five minutes without feeling like I'm falling behind. This was one of those weeks for both of us. If you are not interested in the minutiae or my rambling, you should just skip right to the recipe. For everyone else, here's how the week went down:
For starters, Julia's show,
The Chicago Landmark Project, opened last night. So she was super busy all week long working on costumes for that. I think I might have seen her on Tuesday night for about seven minutes. Secondly, I'd volunteered to host this month's
A Practical Wedding book club on Saturday, and for some reason I decided it was imperative that I finish reupholstering some chairs before the event. And also that our condo needed to be spotless. (Which means, in addition to the usual upkeep, things like mopping floors and beating rugs which haven't been done in a long, long time need to be dealt with.) And that I should plan at least one fabulous appetizer (see below) and maybe make a cake. Oh yeah, and I had to finish reading the book... (You guys know I'm an over-achiever, especially when it comes to hostessing, right?)
So after work every night I was frantically pulling out old staples, sewing piping, and inhaling many years of dust and cat hair. Which is fine, because I'm usually home by 7pm and I planned quick meals, and on Tuesdays I get off work early, so of course I'd have plenty of time to make pretty chairs and deep clean the place before Saturday. At some point during the week, we were invited to a party on Sunday afternoon by a friend we hadn't seen in a long, long time and decided we could squeeze that into our upcoming weekend. And at some other point later in the week,
Keely texted me that her babysitter was sick and she had reservations at
Tru for her birthday dinner and could I possibly babysit on Sunday night? And though I was pretty sure all I'd want to do come Sunday night was sit on the couch in my jammies and watch TV, I was also pretty sure that it would be cruel and bad-friend behavior to say no unless I actually had a prior commitment, and I could watch TV my jammies at their place while the baby slept anyway, right? Because - Tru! And her BIRTHDAY! And have I told you how much time she spent helping me write and edit our wedding ceremony? Come on! Only a terrible friend would not help out. So. The week got a little busier but was still totally manageable.
On Tuesday, I was planning to do the grocery shopping and then come home and slow cook some spare ribs after work, since the baby's grandma comes to take over at noon. But at 9am she called in sick, so I ended up having to work the whole day. Luckily, Julia had a little time, so she got the shopping done, but I still had about five pounds of ribs that had been soaking up dry rub overnight and needed to be cooked. So... I started those at about 5:30pm when I got home and finally consumed my
super failure of a dinner around 10:30pm. Wednesday passed without incident. On Thursday, I got stuck late at work again, and didn't even get home until 9pm, after which I had to make dinner and was so tired from all the getting things done that I didn't do any work on the chairs or the cleaning and I really felt bad about that, and then, holy crap, it was Friday already.
So I stayed up until 3am finishing the reupholstery project, decided I would clean in the morning, and set my alarm for 9am but woke up at 8am anyway. And then I cleaned and re-arranged furniture so there'd be enough seating and baked some currant scones which were still in the oven when the first person showed up but it was all ok and really fun in spite of my crazyness. And everyone brought food, which you can see pictures of over on photographer
Christy Tyler's blog. (See? This post is totally on topic.) And then I got all pretty and went to Julia's opening, which was great awesome, though I admit I was entering a sleepy haze towards the end, after which I drank a cup of black coffee and a coke so I could stay awake for the party after which the thought of 45 min on public transit to get home slayed me so we got in a cab and promptly crumpled into a giant heap of tired on the bed.
And we slept until 11am.
Did you read that? Friends, I cannot remember the last time I slept that late. My internal clock has been set to "I work at 7:30am so I wake up at the butt crack of dawn, even on the weekends" for several years now. I am nearly always awake by 8:30am on days off, and I'm often up even earlier. ELEVEN A.M. And we blew off the party (sorry Kasey, we will totally make it up to you) and then we watched TV at Keely & PJ's while the baby slept and got bonus hangout time with them afterwards and it all turned out ok. The end.
Anyway, on to the food... besides scones, I made one of my go-to appetizers for when I'm short on time or just feeling lazy. It's easy, fast, delicious, and elegant. And tastes really good, obviously. So here you go!
What You Need:
1 wedge of Brie
3-4 big spoonfuls of fruit preserves (I like peach or apricot)
A handful of chopped or slivered almonds
A box of crackers (I like Carr's Table Water Crackers, or the store brand of same)
1. Put the wedge of Brie on a microwave-safe fancy serving dish. Top with the fruit preserves.
2. Microwave for about 90 seconds.
3. Sprinkle with almonds.
4. Serve with crackers.
Seriously, could it get any easier? It's exactly what you need during tech, theatrical or otherwise. You're welcome.
And then? Then there was the night she took a couple sea basses, wrapped them in Serrano ham, and stuffed them with more of the ham and garlic. Crisp, salty ham around tender bites of flaky fish? Holy crap, that was yummy. And I haven't even told you about the vegetables. They were stir-fried with a sesame sauce and amazing on their own. Five star meal.
Oh, and I almost forgot - it was followed by dessert. To be fair, I actually made it, because, you know, I am the dessert-maker. I know what's what when it comes to custard. (Ask Keely about those Napoleons I made her that one time. Or anyone who ate the top layer of our wedding cake.) Anyway, I digress as usual, I made Crema Fritta. Literally it translates to fried cream. But essentially, it's custard (think flan or crème bruleé, minus the bruleé), and then it's battered and fried. And drowned in blackberry sauce, and topped with whole berries. It was SO. GOOD. Not the prettiest thing I've ever made, but really really tasty.
