I don't know why, but I find it very soothing to come home and cook dinner, even after a week of tech. I considered stopping for a burger on the way home, or ordering Chinese food -- but after six days of beige colored fast food eaten even faster than it is prepared, I was ready for 1) some color in my food. 2) some flavor. So, I set to work in the kitchen. Luckily, I cleaned all the dishes yesterday morning, so I didn't have to contend with a sink full of dirty dishes.
I rarely work from a recipe. I know how to make a good deal of things -- it usually involves sauteed vegetables, a sauce of some kind, and a protein. I've finally mastered white sauces, so I don't have to google it EVERY TIME. Tonight, I made a dish I invented when I was thirteen. Saueteed ground turkey with peas, over pasta, drowned in a white sauce. I would make it every time my parents left me home alone for the night. I decided to give it a little kick this time: I added Sriracha to the white sauce.
Exactly what I wanted.
I find that cooking with all four burners at once is a little like being backstage on a quick change show. In fact, that's the show I am now working on: "Or," at The Lyric Stage Company. I'm running wardrobe, and am in charge of getting all the quick changes to work. Granted, there aren't as many as in some other plays - say, The Mystery of Irma Vepp. But there are a couple that make my heart beat like I just finished a sprint.
One thing goes wrong and BAM, you've gotta pray that both you and the actor do the next one like nothing ever happened. I have to make sure I prep every change. Forgetting to do so would mean that we lose precious seconds. I can't check out or walk away. Kinda like using the entirety of the stove: lapse in judgement, and suddenly, my dinner is burned.
Ok. It's a weak metaphor. But I wanted to try. Good news is, I didn't burn my dinner. I'm settled into my second theater job. I even got to eat dinner at the dining room table. Because, of course, the silk is now in the kitchen.
I rarely work from a recipe. I know how to make a good deal of things -- it usually involves sauteed vegetables, a sauce of some kind, and a protein. I've finally mastered white sauces, so I don't have to google it EVERY TIME. Tonight, I made a dish I invented when I was thirteen. Saueteed ground turkey with peas, over pasta, drowned in a white sauce. I would make it every time my parents left me home alone for the night. I decided to give it a little kick this time: I added Sriracha to the white sauce. Exactly what I wanted.
I find that cooking with all four burners at once is a little like being backstage on a quick change show. In fact, that's the show I am now working on: "Or," at The Lyric Stage Company. I'm running wardrobe, and am in charge of getting all the quick changes to work. Granted, there aren't as many as in some other plays - say, The Mystery of Irma Vepp. But there are a couple that make my heart beat like I just finished a sprint.
One thing goes wrong and BAM, you've gotta pray that both you and the actor do the next one like nothing ever happened. I have to make sure I prep every change. Forgetting to do so would mean that we lose precious seconds. I can't check out or walk away. Kinda like using the entirety of the stove: lapse in judgement, and suddenly, my dinner is burned.Ok. It's a weak metaphor. But I wanted to try. Good news is, I didn't burn my dinner. I'm settled into my second theater job. I even got to eat dinner at the dining room table. Because, of course, the silk is now in the kitchen.
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