O.S.M.

The abbreviation of the day is O.S.M.
What does is stand for you ask?!
OHHH SNAP, MOM!
NO.
Opera Sounds Magical?
NO.
Operation Silent Media?
I wish, but NO.

Oats Sunflower Millet?
YESSSSSS

There is this place in Jackson Hole, Wyoming called the Bunnery. It is a magical place, a place that when I am older (and retired from my lovely job as a ballerina) I will aspire to build a bakery/restaurant that will in hopes become as adorable and delicious as this place.
(WOWZA NOW THAT'S A RUN ON SENTENCE! Too bad I am keepin' it.)
Everything on the menu is sure to be delicious. On my first run in with the Bunnery, I had the Pesto Paintbrush Sandwich. A variety of fresh veggies that were so vibrant and bright it took me about 20 minutes to build up the courage to eat the thing. It was on their famous O.S.M. bread and slathered with homemade pesto and cream cheese. The bread is kind of out of this world. So after this delicious lunch I made a plan to make sure we hit this joint on the way back through Jackson to catch my flight home. This time the culprit was breakfast... DUN DUN DUN.

OH SNAP, MOM!
O.S.M. PANCAKES
How can you resist?
(If you know how, give me a tip...... ha ha)
They were out of this world. Served piping hot with warm Vermont maple syrup... BOMB SAUCE. Nothing better, folks, nothing better.


Before the second rise

Baked and happy



Anywhoodle, I am here to give you the recipe to the O.S.M. bread I found on another blog. She also went to the Bunnery and get this... had the O.S.M. pancakes. I think she was about as excited as I was... Here is her recipe.

From Dana's Blog:
proofofthepudding.worldpress.com

Oat Sunflower Millet Bread (OSM Bread)

This bread is great served warm for breakfast, slathered in butter or covered with some fresh apple butter. It is also perfect for making sandwiches, and it makes some stellar toast.

2 1/4 cups lukewarm water
1 package (2 1/2 teaspoons) dry active yeast
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup canola or safflower oil
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup millet
2 cups bread flour (or all-purpose flour)
3-4 cups whole wheat flour

Mix together the lukewarm water and honey in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle the yeast over the top and stir until dissolved. Allow the yeast to proof for 5-10 minutes, until the yeast rises to the surface and starts to foam.

Stir the oil into the yeast mixture. Then add 1 cup of bread (or all-purpose) flour and 2 cups whole wheat flour and beat with a wooden spoon or the paddle attachment until the batter is smooth and glossy. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 20 minutes.

Add the salt, oatmeal, sunflower seeds and millet to the bowl; stir down the dough and blend in. Add the remaining cup of bread flour and stir well. Gradually add in the remainder of the whole wheat flour. When the dough becomes too stiff to stir, turn out onto a lightly floured counter and knead for about 10 minutes (or, switch to the dough hook on your mixer — this will take less time), until the dough is soft, but not sticky. Place the dough in a large bowl that has been oiled, cover and allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours.

Grease two 9″x5″ loaf pans and line with parchment paper, allowing the parchment to hang over the longer sides of the pan (this will make it easier for you to lift the loaves out of the pans). Punch down the dough and knead lightly and briefly to deflate. Divide the dough in half and form each half into a loaf, and place a loaf in each pan. Allow the loaves to rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.

About 20 minutes before you bake, preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake the loaves for about 40 minutes, until the loaves are nicely browned and sound hollow when tapped (the internal temperature should be around 200°F). Allow the loaves to cool in the pans for a few minutes, then lift out of the pans using the parchment paper and let them cool completely.

Yield: Two 9″x5″ loaves

GEMMA! Back away from the dough...

Great Grandma Billie's Carrot Cookies

This is a secret family recipe.
Should I hold it hostage and torture you with pictures?
Nawwwww, I will give you the delight of trying these phenomenal cookies.
And you can even tell yourself you can have as many as you want, because you can get your serving of veggies by eating your cookies ;)
SCOREEEEEEE!

I have been home in Idaho for a week on my October layoff. I performed a Raymonda variation with my old school for an evening of dance and had a blast. My mom and I wanted to make my great grandma's carrot cookies to bring to the show. Even cooler we made them "garden to table". The experience of pulling little knobs from the earth and baking with them straight after picking inspired me to have my own sustainable farm when I am older. The idea just keeps growing in my head. I already have some recruits... Everyone can have their own task for the farm. I am in charge of all things crafting and baking. LE DUR! Mom claims she wants to be the "oversee-er" ontop of her hill in her own house surrounded by barbed wire and electric fences so no one can bother her until she wants to be bothered. Go figure. HA HA HA HA! Dad doesn't know yet, but I am putting him in charge of furniture building and all things woodmaking. This includes each of our own cabins... ANYWHO BACK FROM THE RANCH AND TO THE COOKIES! Mom grows the most sweet and delicious carrots and I couldn't imagine how phenomenal these cookies would be with them instead of store bought pieces of pooooooooooooooo.


So we went on a hunt in the garden, and took Sandee-Sue the schnauzer with us. It is her favorite place. She is constantly stealing delicious produce. I mean I don't blame her, it's the best in the world.


Grandma Billie's Carrot Cookies:

* 1 cup mashed cooked carrots
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 1 cup shortening (or butter if you are totally grossed out like mom and I ;) )
* 2 cups flour
* 3/4 tsp salt
* 1 tsp baking powder
* 1 egg
* 1 tsp vanilla


Mix together cooled carrots, butter or shortening and sugar together. Add an egg and vanilla and stir until combined. Sift dry ingredients together then mix into wet mixture.
Dollop spoonfuls onto a baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 18 mins.

Orange Frosting:
2 tbls Fresh orange juice
1/4 cup butter melted
2 cups powdered sugar
grated orange rind

Mix butter, OJ and orange rind together with a fork. Sift in powdered sugar and stir until smooth.

Dollop frosting on warm cookies and let it melt and spread over them.

ENJOY!!!!

Sandee waiting for her carrots

TUTU, FORGOTTEN LAND, AND THE CORE

The question is, should I just stop apologizing about never blogging? Probably, it's not like I am Martha Stewart, or Joy the Baker, or THE PIONEER WOMAN. If they didn't blog daily people would probably revolt. There would be an Internet war, cyber guns guns guns.

Anywho, The first two reps of the season are already done. They flew by far too fast and threw us into Nutcracker rehearsals 2 months too early... Just think of snowflakes in Texas in September. LOVELY.
Our first rep was a triple bill of Stanton Welch's "Tutu" and "The Core" as well as Jiri Kylian's "Forgotten Land". Tutu was a ballet that I got to learn my apprentice year and fell in love with it. The costumes are midriff tutus, the leads in blue, red, and gold and the corps in periwinkle. The choreography has birdlike corks throughout and fittingly, we wear a sparkly birds nest on our head. Each of the leads has their own distinct quality. Gold starts off the ballet with a clap to the conductor and attacks the music with fast, sharp with dagger precision. Definitely a part for the small speedy dancers of the company. I remember watching my apprentice year and seeing Leticia Oliveira and Sara Web move at lightning speed with the cleanest technique I had ever seen. The red couple has this beautiful set of pas de duex that are sensual and seamless. The first time I saw Mimi Hassenboehler and Nick Leshche run the pas I was in tears because the music just ran through them in the most beautiful effortless manor. So inspiring. The blue woman begins the third movement with a variation that is every ballerina's dream. It is to the most gorgeous music and all about the insecurities of being a ballet dancer. She is continuously looking into the mirror observing her body and lines, struggling with the thing that is constantly bogging her mind. It must be the most nerve racking solo too, all alone onstage in almost complete darkness only light by a few dim side lights. I was apart of the corps. All about perfection. Lines, Lines, Lines. Ridged sharp movements with absolute precision. It's such a fun part to do onstage. Every single show there was something different I felt and had a feeling like I needed to strive to make the few seconds I was onstage perfect.

Sam as the Blue girl

The next ballet in the Triple bill was Jiri Kylian's "Forgotten Land". This was my first Kylian ballet and it was one of the most wonderful experiences I have had dancing. Even though I had a small dancing part, the entire experience from rehearsing with the lovely Roslyn Anderson to performing onstage was one to remember. The ballet starts off by walking upstage to just the sound of wind. All the timing of the movement is taken off the most upstage man so it can be different every show. The movement is very earthy and grounded which is more of a struggle for me. I have not had many opportunities to do this style of movement, but I hope I did it justice. For me all that matters is that I had an amazing time and it was an experience I will never forget.
Here is a description of the story.
"Forgotten Land 1981 explores memories, events and people that over time are lost or forgotten and how people sometimes vainly try to recover them, or a sense of them in order to regain their former power and value. The work its self is inspired and based on a painting of women on a beach by the Norwegian Expressionist painter Edvard Munch. The work mainly involves duets who move their arms in various stretched positions, as if they were reaching out for something. The dancers arch their backs and dance expressively, reflecting both the music and the haunting painting that influenced the work. Kylián makes a statement of lost homelands, lost lovers and lost times and there are also duets that reflect violent moods. These duets end up as a large ensemble 'and then the women are left on the shore, stretching their arms again like bids that cannot fly."
from wikipedia:


Me in Beige

From Louise, the picture is one of the paintings the ballet was inspired by.

The final ballet was a Broadway style ballet named "The Core". Danced to the classic sounds of George Gershwin. This was the second time this ballet has been performed while I have been in the company. The first time I was a neurotic "executive employee" who literally ran around the stage being overly dramatic the whole time ;). I was a little too good at that. Often getting called out for overacting. Whoops. This time around I got to be a equally over dramatic character. Gwen, a dancing girl who gets clobbered in the face by the "Diva" played by the very diva herself Kate Precourt (JUST KIDDING KATE! :) ) I often times had far too much fun in this part with my fellow dancing pals, Leslie, Cyd and Moira. Our role was to (obviously) be dancing girls. Performing the classic moves as a kick line and jazz hands. In the beginning when I get smacked in the face there is an understudy named "Jane" who tells the choreographer that she can go in and finish the dance while my character Gwen is passed out on the chair. I also got to perform the role as Jane (in another show obviously).


Gwen's Costume

The paparazzi


The Diva and the Choreographer

Nao as Moira

Lauren as Leslie

The USO girlies


Me as Jane


It was a great run of shows. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Huckleberry Crumb Cake

The pro huckleberry picker (my mommy)

I have to apologize to my eleven followers for my hiatus.
I have been living in the depths on the dungeon (AKA the theater) without light for the past couple weeks and will continue for two weeks more :) My skin is so pale you can practically see through to my innards. I mean you would think the florescent lights would be more flattering..... NOT!
I will post some performance shots soon but for now lets get to something more appetizing...

HUCKLEBERRY CRUMB CAKE

For those of you who have not tried Huckleberries, you are missing out on the greatest berry in the history of time. You read recipes and they will go on to say "easily replaceable with a wild blueberry". NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT. No comparison. They don't taste remotely the same. Maybe you could compare the color... MAYBE. Huckleberries are more petite and like a little purple pearl of greatness that grows under the tiny leaves of the plant. Now I owe everything to my mom and my dog Sandee (and dad you too if you went huckleberry-ing .. but you were most likely golfing). They get to go in the woods and go huckleberry-ing at the end of every summer. It's like the best thing ever. All I can say in my next life I am totally being a bear so I can just sit in the bushes and chow down on wild berries all day. Greg (my brother) thinks that bears got their name because they eat berries. Wonder if it's true? Those little berry-vours. So jealous.

Anywhoodle, back to the delicious crumb cake. I have an issue with crumb cakes. Once I start eating I can't stop. It's part of my childhood. My mom would make it on occasion and she would find me sitting in the kitchen with a fork and the entire 9x13 baking dish infront of me just chowing away like it was my plate. This crumb cake is on another level. Perhaps because it's not made out of bisquick...

Huckleberry Crumb Cake:

Adapted from Gourmet

For cake

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup raspberry jam or preserves

Crumb Topping

• 3/4 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Make cake:

Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle. Generously butter a 9-inch square or round cake pan.

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Whisk together butter, milk, and egg in a large bowl, then whisk in flour mixture until just combined. Pour batter into cake pan. Dollop jam all over surface, then swirl into batter with spoon.

Make crumb topping:
Whisk together butter, sugars, cinnamon, and salt until smooth. Stir in flour, then blend with your fingertips until incorporated. Sprinkle crumbs in large clumps over top of cake.

Bake cake until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean and sides begin to pull away from pan, about 25 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes.

HOMEMADE CROISSANTS

So it's a three day weekend. And you know what that means? Baking challenge.

On the menu:

HOMEMADE CROISSANTS

Now this is quite an adventure, but the results will make you forget about all the labor. They are the most delectable, flaky, rolls of heaven. This is the little blog I followed and the pictures were extremely helpful.

http://traceysculinaryadventures.blogspot.com/2010/01/homemade-croissants-step-by-step.html

Beware!!!
Excess drooling may occur while viewing these photos...

Almond Croissant:
interior slathered with almond paste and topped with sliced almonds

Classic Croissant, Chocolate Croissant, and Almond Croissant

S'more PEEEZZZE!

I would like to start off by saying my ankles and feet are unrecognizable. They are swollen into the ultimate cankle. They look like a sausage about to explode out of it's casing. It's shocking people... absolutely shocking.
ANYWHOODLE lets get on a more appetizing topic. MACARONS.

There was some good baking brainstorming happening at the cute little wine bar last night.
One item on the list:
S'mores Macarons......

Start off with a graham cracker shell....
fill with homemade marshmallows and chocolate ganache...

BOOM BABY!
The s'mores macaron is born.



My first attempt at the graham cracker shell was a failure.. I mean the cracked topped puffy pillows tasted amazing but in no way or form could they be called a macaron. I decided to try a recipe that this girl made up with graham cracker crumbs and brown sugar in the shells instead of almonds and granulated sugar. What made me think this would work??? I have no idea. Obviously it's not going to be the same consistency as a traditional macaron batter.. far too light.

I ate about 14 of the failure shells, throwing myself head first straight into a sugar high. Like I said they didn't taste bad.. they actually tasted quite delectable. But my god, really? You must eat all the failures before you make another attempt???? Of course. I mean I am the queen of the sugar binge...

Attempt number two involved a traditional start and a risky finish. I used almonds and granulated sugar and got creative with the flavoring to try to make them taste as much like a graham cracker as possible.
The culprits:
cinnamon
honey
molasses
a little vanilla extract
cinnamon sugar-sprinkle for the tops

I know what you are thinking, people.. "Really, Jordan? Honey, cinnamon, and molasses are now considered risky?" Well if you have ever dealt with these temperamental little buggers know as macarons you would understand! Any addition of liquid can throw the macarons into oblivion. And I was going to put a sticky substance that doesn't necessarily combine and congeal very well. But it worked beautifully and the shells even took on the gorgeous graham cracker color! YIPPPPEEEEEEE!

As for the fillings we have homemade marshmallows and chocolate ganache on our hands.
What could possibly be more of a childhood comfort food?!

Freakin Awesome.


Making the marshmallows

They get a bit messy......

Oh hey, and did I mention it is the hottest day of the year and I am volunteering to heat my house by at least 15 degrees by using my oven? Yeah.. I could walk outside with one of my homemade marshmallows on the end of a clothes hanger and it would toast just like sticking it in a bonfire. And one other thing... I GOT AN ICE CREAM MAKER... Watch out world. We have entered a whole nother' realm of sugar highs and fat on the ass :)
SCORE!

WHERE DO I START?!

I have been putting this off for a week...
I am finally going to try to blog about my trip. There is just SO much I don't know where to start but I am going to whip out my handy dandy notebook and start from the beginning....

Journal Entry: June 29, 2010

"As you can tell from the lovely handwriting, I am in a cab... FINALLY. I think mom booked the most round-a-bout flight possible, but hey! I made it and it was an adventure from the start. Woke up at 4:00am on my bedroom clock (which is 13mins fast), moseyed around in the darkness of the morning, made my coffee and wrote a blog. I thought I was poetic, but to tell you the truth everything at that hour sounds poetic. Ali picked me up at 7:15... poor thing. So early on a vacation. I always like to have a good amount of time at the airport. Sometimes a little too much..... but this time we planned it with only and hour and a half total with travel time to the airport. We were cruising right along and boom we miss the 45South exit. We make a big loop around and get back on Allen parkway and wait at the longest light ever before we get back on and make a successful entry onto 45 south. That light felt like an eternity. I begin to sweat a bit knowing if I miss that first flight there is no chance of survival considering my mom booked 14 connecting flights to get to La Guardia Airport. Absolute unnecessary stress. Ali got me there with 50mins to get through security. This seems like a huge amount of time to get through this miniature airports puny security screening right? Wrong. Apparently they are redoing the lovely airport and the line is about as bad as D.I.A. on the day after the winter holiday.... I got through, punched some people, and saw my plane was boarding without me but still found the need to wait in line at Peets coffee to get a cup of joe. They played their usual game of "I am going to have to charge you for the 1/2 an inch of milk you ask to be poured ontop" and told them to forget about it and used the milk on the bar. I stumbled onto the plane splashing people with hot coffee as I walked by searching for an empty seat. Found a window seat surprisingly and had to lift my heavy ass suitcase into the overhead bin while under the pressure of all the bitter people who I splashed coffee on....... HUAAAAAHHHHHHHHH got it! haha I sat infront of this family with a little girl who was CRACKING ME UP. She had the funniest cutest little voice and was saying the most hysterical things. Like when the woman was giving the instructions for a water evacuation she was like "Oh Mommy, can we do that?! We are going to land in the water right?" and the mother was like "God honey, I hope not. You should not say those kind of things on a plane." HAHAHAHA Next stop was Jackson Mississippi. A woman and her husband got on and without even knowing anything about me asked if I was in Jackson for the IBC (International Ballet Competition) haaha I was like nope! But I am a ballet dancer haha. Weird. At this point I was absolutely wired on coffee and felt the need to ask questions and make people talk. I landed in Baltimore for a lovely layover (thanks mom! ;) ) and got some hot and sour soup complete with some major MSG. My head immediately began to swell and couldn't really see clearly.... Between the caffeine high and the MSG I was in a good state.... NOT! The next flight I got on and I was like screw it I will just take a middle seat towards the front. I would normally NEVER take a middle seat but for some random reason I did. Turns out I was sitting next to a woman who is best friends with David Hallberg and his mother! WHAT THE HELL?! (for those of you who don't know who David Hallberg is, he is a principal with American Ballet Theatre and has the most insane body and feet for a male dancer. Ridiculous.) She whips out her notebook and says "well then you will appreciate this". She pulls out the recent New York times review of David and Natalia doing Swan Lake. I told her I was going to see the mixed rep performance tonight! Small small world. Small small world. Well I will let you know how the performance was later.... Au Revoir!!!"