A perfect autumn meal:

Sandwich:
Saloio bread (Portuguese bread, hearty and moist interior, tender and chewy crust dusted with flour), or any dense, moist, whole-wheat/grain loaf
Creamy and mild white cheese - would suggest Fontina or American.  Actually, Manchego and Asiago would probably also be great :)
Avocado
Sliced turkey breast
For spreading: spicy brown mustard, honey, and pesto (you want all three).

Side dish:
Apples!  The freshest, crispest, juiciest ones you can get your hands on.  Jonathans are tart and frothy (remind me of champagne), and are a great complement to the mild sandwich above.

Drink:
A glass of your favorite beer, ice cold.  I think a nice chocolate stout adds some depth to the meal.

~If you want a bit of warmth, add a small cup of butternut squash or pumpkin soup to the menu.  And if you're like me and almost religious about eating greens/veggies with your lunch and dinner, briefly microwave-steam some stalks of asparagus, dress with lemon juice, pepper, Parmesan cheese, and a bit of sea salt, and you're good to go. 


Simple and delicious, and not too bad on the nutrition scale either.  Eating all this together brings me back to autumn in New England, apple-picking with my family, and my college - particularly The Black Sheep, the favorite deli/bakery in town, and really an institution in itself.  Smart/kind event-planners at school chose the Sheep's catering, and students and faculty would swarm upon the sandwiches and baked goods afterwards.  OK, so the students swarmed, and our professors were probably more dignified :)  Nobody else made a sandwich like the Sheep though, and they are a large part of the reason I started to develop a greater appreciation for simple and good foods and sandwiches.

I'm sure the nostalgia sneaking into my post has something to do with the fact that Homecoming is this weekend.  One day I am gathering up a bunch of willing traveling buddies to take with me to the Valley, who will get a personal tour of the campus grounds, bike trails/woods, and culinary delights that defined my four years there.  Meanwhile, have yourself a great sandwich and enjoy the bounty the good earth brings, etc...I am calling mine the Amherst :)

About five minutes after I posted the German lieder, I chanced upon this video below. Whoever thought to set this claymation to the Gypsy Chorus from La Traviata is a genius in my book :)



While we're on the opera vein, let me showcase the soprano Anna Netrebko.



She is playing Violetta, the main character of La Traviata, and performing the finale from Act I of La Traviata. This is one of my favorites, besides the above and the Drinking Song :) I like the modern/minimalist take on the stage setting. You get to focus on the singers and the libretto without the traditional staging that, while visually enthralling, can be slightly cluttering. Besides, this was probably a lot easier to set up, probably a good thing considering it's a music festival ;)

I've read mixed reviews about her, spanning from high praise to skepticism. My take: There will always be the legends such as Maria Callas, Leontyne Price, Joan Sutherland, Kathleen Battle, against which newcomers must be measured. It's de rigueur for critics and opera lovers alike. These women have earned their place and rightly should be held as standards. What's great about opera is that the material is so rich and varied, and lends itself well to new interpretations, new direction, new favorites. Ms. Netrebko may not have the coloratura (the quality and ability to sing in the very highest vocal registers) of the singers above, but she has a strong determination and spirit to make the most of each line she sings. I think she's a very believable and engaging performer, and if that can get more people to listen to opera (sort of a gateway effect), then she's served the genre very well. She's earning her niche too.

Long story made short: I hope you'll give her and the opera a listen!

Good heavens, spirit me away to an opera house or to Europe or something. And isn't youtube fab? Now if only they'd stop running grotesque trailers on the main page =T Haggard and rotting corpses/ghosts/whatever they are I can do without, thanks.

Side note: There are tons of apartments in Philly. Why aren't more people vacating? I want your charming apartments overlooking Rittenhouse Square or Washington Park, please :)

Next stop:

(photo courtesy of ning.com)

:)


And of course, ear candy (or more like ear truffles..you know what, both sound a little weird when you think about it, so don't think about it too much) to share.

This is a beautiful and haunting duet I would love to sing one day:



Here is the translation from www.recmusic.org.

"Wenn ich ein Vöglein wär"
(If I were a little bird)
Robert Schumann

If I were a little bird
and also had two little wings
I would fly to you.
But because that cannot be,
I remain just here.

I am also far from you,
I am by your side in dreams,
and talk to you.
When I awake,
I am alone.

There is no hour of the night that goes by
that my heart does not wake
and is thinking of you,
that many thousandfold
you gave your heart to me.



And I just found this recording below..a college friend and I sang this in one of our recitals. It's lighthearted and funny (watch the video for the lyric translations), and brings back fond memories.

I really like this particular trio (Barbara, Angelika, Malcolm - soprano, mezzo-soprano, accompanist!)..the two women's voices blend and play off of each other so well, and the quality of the piano's sound is a perfect counterpoint.

Die Schwestern (The Sisters)
Johannes Brahms



Mm, to be able to sing like that..:)