0. 8A - Wednesday, November 21, 2012 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com FOOD COLUMN Perfecting the finishing touches PERFORMANCE PREVIEW PNT to bring ' Little Night Music'-to the stage ondheim's classic NightMusic"'willtakeAnnArbor I'm very, very impressed with Olivier and Drama Desk award Sondhelm's classc -A:-- ,- C!-- a nn ratenui 1-V-nor--,wno sm woriung.- -4 hough praising and bashing the eats in Ann Arbor is my customary modus operandi, I'm shifting course a bit this time around in honor of Turkey Day. Join me as I mix together a few family favorites, a blue ribbon_ culinary technique or NATHAN two and some WOOD real-deal tips and tricks that - served with a pinch of sarcasm - will have you cook- ing up the perfect Thanksgiving dinner in no time. In this last installment of my Thanksgiving series, we're putting the finish- ing touches on our spread so that Thanksgiving 2012 will be one to remember. One of my fondest Thanks- giving memories as a child is making homemade butter with my grandma. Of course, she had a million other (probably more pressing) things to do in order to get turkey dinner on the +* tabe but she somehow always managed to pause for a few minutes to help me whip cream into butter. And unlike back in the day, when a butter churn was necessary, it really does only take a few minutes. Homemade Butter Ingredients: 2 16-ounce cartons (2 pints) heavy cream / teaspoon kosher salt Directions: Pour your heavy creaminto an electric mixer or food pro- cessor and beat on high speed until the mixture curdles and turns pale yellow. There should also be a fair amount of sepa- rated milky stuff in the bottom of the bowl. These curdles will soon be our butter and this milky stuff is buttermilk! The whole process takes approxi- mately 10 minutes. Using a mesh strainer and some pressure from your palms, separate the buttermilk from the butter solids. Form the but- ter solids into a ball and dry on paper towel. Knead in the salt and serve chilled, if desired. And what could be easier to make from scratch than butter? Whipped cream! Plus, since Uncle Jimmy is responsible for bringing the pies this year, those sure-to-be Meijer Bakery specials could use a handcraft- ed touch. Homemade Whipped Cream Ingredients: 116-ounce carton (1 pint) heavy cream 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1 cup confectioner's ("pow- dered") sugar Directions: Pop the beaters and bowl of your electric mixer into the freezer for 10 minutes. Upon removing them, immediately add all ingredients to the bowl and begin whipping at high speed. Continue until stiff peaks form, meaning that when you hold the beaters upside down, the whipped cream doesn't fall over like the top of a soft-serve ice cream cone, but instead stands resolutely. Don't over- beat, lest you want little butter chunks in your whipped cream. But no matter how deli- cious your whipped cream is, there are always those fam- ily members who are going to want to top their pies with ice cream (guilty). If you're feel- ing really adventurous, keep with the theme and try making your own. I just saw a recipe for Brown Sugar-Bourbon Ice Cream in Bon Appdtit's October issue that I plan on making to serve with my pecan pie this Thanksgiving, though vanilla bean would also be a delicious addition to all sorts of after- dinner treats. But if you're looking to save time by going store-bought, Hsagen-Dazs offers the best alternative. To wash down those pies and our handcrafted toppings, keep it simple by offering only regular and decaffeinated coffees. Teas, cappuccinos, flavored creamers and dessert wines are all totally unnecessary. In the same vein, limit dinner drink offerings to wine, iced water, milk and spar- kling grape juice for the kiddies (St. Julian's Sparkling Red is as good as it gets). Soda, lemonade, iced tea and other artificially sweetened beverages are class- less when served at the table. Leave 'em for the other 364 days of the year. The true meaning of Thanksgiving. So with our desserts and drinks all wrapped up, the tur- key we prepared and roasted last week and the delicious sides we've been making this week, our Thanksgiving spread is nearing completion. (I mean, there is always the cranberry relish and buttered corn, but since I don't particularly enjoy either of these things, I've pur- posefully decided to overlook them.) Shift the responsibility of everything beyond these turkey dinner mainstays to your guests: One can bring the green bean casserole, one the fruity salad, one the Brussels sprouts, one the mac and cheese, etc. And don't forget t incorpo- rate family classics. In my fam- ily, this means Great-Grandma Buit's dinner rolls, Grandma Bowen's famous broccoli salad with raisins and bacon and Waldorf salad a la Grandma "Duper" (the unfortunate nickname my creative mind assigned her and Gramps when I was a kid ... long story). Because that's all that really matters anyway, isn't it? Deli- cious food is definitely a plus, but the Thanksgiving memo- ries you'll cherish for the rest of your life are eating Waldorf salad with Grandpa and Grand- ma Duper, laughing with Uncle Jimmy about his Meijer pies, remembering Great-Grandma Buit over her dinner rolls, peel- ing potatoes with Cousin Nata- lie ("Bratalie") and taking time to make homemade butter with Grandma Bowen. I think of Marcie's words in "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiv- ing": "Thanksgiving is more than eating ... We should just be thankful for being together." Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Wood started cooking. Wish him luck by e-mailing nisaacw@umich. edu. PAR T story to be told by talented cast By TEHREEM SAJJAD For theDaily This holiday season, Perfor- mance Network Theatre cel- ebrates its 30th anniversary A Little with heaps of ."Lh Music love, lies and NiMi liaisons in the Through form Stephen Dec. 30 at Sondheim's various times musical, "A Little Night Performance Music," which NetworkTheatre is a rollicking From $25 production of all three with a twist of comedy. As a renowned American com- poser and lyricist, Sondheim is known for bringing a contem- porary New York setting to the stage, but his take on "A Little audiences to Scandinavia. The winner of six Tony awards and a Grammy, "A Little Night Music" is set in Sweden in the early 1900s and follows a series of love triangles. When Fredrik Egerman, a successful lawyer, takes his trophy wife, Anne, to a play one weekend, he unexpect- edly meets his ex-lover, Desiree Armfeldt, an alluring Swedish actress. While the love between the two is rekindled, Fredrik's son, Henrik, falls in love with his stepmother, further complicating the situation. This chain of events drives this collection of charac- ters into a weekend of harmony and discord. "We have a brilliant cast," said Naz Edwards, a PNT associ- ate artist who will play Desiree Armfeldt. "It's amazing to see the talent that we have here - all from Detroit, Michigan. I think that you will see it - I've never seen such a strong vocal group of people in a show here ever. So, and gratetul tar who I'm working with." Opening its first act with the song, "Remember?," "A Little Night Music" is a triptych of songs that are first sung indepen- dently and subsequently braided together both musically and the- matically. As the lyrics begin to overlap, so do the characters. "The songs are a heavy exten- sion of the dialogue," Edwards said. "I think Sondheim has incredible lyrics and music, with a very definite tone, very - you know - it's not the basic musi- cal theater music. It's lyrics that are smart because they are just words that people speak. It's like one leading into the other - really beautiful, stunning music." Some of the other songs that will be featured in the show include "Send in the Clowns" and "The Glamorous Life." With Broadway music and a cast that includes Tony, Grammy,. winners and Pulitzer-Prize win- ning authors, PNT hopes to pro- vide Ann Arbor audiences with, an experience that speaks to a wide range of audiences through its production of "A Little Night Music." "Oh, I think it's a classical for everybody. I think its sophistica- tion is itself comprehendible for all ages and it's just fun for every- body," Edwards said. "It crosses over, too, I would say, to people who like opera - light Opera, because there's a lot of sophisti- cated vocal sounds in the music like there are in the pop music of today." She added: "(Sondheim's) lyr- ics are brilliant, the music is great. There's nothing like it. It's a very different journey when you go see a piece of his. For me, it makes me think so much and feel so much as a performer. It's not fluffy and light. It's just so incredible. It's very deep, and thoughtful and real - very real." EVENT PREVIEW Botanical Gardens to host world foods dinner party, holiday exhibition By JOHN BOHN and they came to be a tradition. Daily Arts Writer Things like chocolate and pineap- ple that really got moved around one who has ever had a the world and entered the major of caroling children sing to diet of foods," he added. demanding figgy pudding "Feast! A Cross-Cultural Culi- Anyi groupc them and a cup of good cheer may have wondered how children these days could be so rude - they might have also won- dered how figgy pud- ding has become such a staple of our holiday feast. Hopefully it's just the lat- ter - and for th ous, Matthaei B has put togethe answering justt "It's really international fo around the worl said Bob Grese the gardens. " in holiday times sources of eithe fruits that have holiday celebrat "Some of the found in Africa nary Tour of Plants Around the Feast! A World," a dinner at the Grese Gardens, will feature a variety Cross-Cul l of activities, including troll and Culinary Tour fairy villages for children to dis- f cover, live music and a world din- ner party, which is the main event Around the of this year's exhibit. World Saturday through Follow cocoa Jan. 6 from 10 a.m.to4:30 p.m. from the bean Matthae Botanical Gardens to the bar. Free ose who are curi- The Matthaei Botanical Gar- Botanical Gardens dens play an active role in the .r a holiday event community, offering multiple hese questions. programs for youth and adults centered around throughout the year. It also serves ods that are used as the classroom for Practical d in celebrations," Botany, a biology course offered , the director of during the winter. The exhibit So - particularly this holiday season is an exten- - plants that are sion of this community outreach r spices, sweets or in addition to the winter cheer been common in - in a way unique to what the ions." Botanical Garden have to offer. m were originally According to Geese, this isn't or South America, the first time the Botanical Gar- dens has hosted an event this time of year in the holiday spirit, citing a past theme of sustainable Christmas decorations. Through the years, a special guest has been making an appear- ance for the kids as well. "We've always done kids class- es, and Father Christmas has become a tradition," said David Betz, the garden's visitor opera- tions manager. "We've had dif- ferent activities that have been more related to either a craft or an activity in the conservatory or a speaker or a lecture related to the exhibit." Betz oversees the educative aspects of the event, as well as the creation of the overall look. One of the staples of the Botani- cal Gardens holiday events is the Poinsettia Tree, made entirely of Poinsettia plants. "It's always a big draw and a great photo opportunity," Betz said. "And there will be different colors of poinsettias depending on what (green) house you are in. There's a big focus on holiday col- ors to complement the interpre- tation of the feast and the plants and food that are celebrated." This year, however, is the first time the Botanical Garden will be hosting a culinary feast. "We're working with the U of M chefs, and they've created a menu using ingredients that could be found in the conserva- tory," Betz said. "Every entree, every appetizer, even our mock- tail has an ingredient that can be found in the conservatory." In an interactive way, the world dinner party sets the theme of the exhibit. "It's about reallyhelpingpeople make that connection between vanilla orchid and the vanilla fla- voring and the vanilla they expe- rience in foods," Betz said. "Orthe chocolate and how it becomes the chocolate we know and use and how other cultures use them." He added: "Some ancient cul- tures are showcased and how they use these plants as well as some current cultural celebra- tion." The dinner takes place on Dec. 14 at 6 p.m. and will include a pre- dinner tour of the exhibit as well as a chef's cooking demonstration. "We would love to see how (the dinner) is received," Betz said. "It would be great to have something in the conservatory, like around Valentine's Day, that can play off this idea to make a connection between plants and foods, and really just enjoying the space this way." "Really, during this time of year when we all are thinking of food, we can create environmen- tal awareness of relationships of food supply," Grese said. ARTS FOLLOW @MICHDAILY F a p'