I got home Sunday night from La Creuse where I performed in 10 shows in 7 different villages in 15 days and, after sleeping 14-hours straight (I don't think I got more than five hours sleep maximum per night since I left), found that my blog had been taken over by the cats! Those crazy furry creatures!
I may have been eating badly - yuck school cafeteria food - but it was in all other aspects a wonderful experience. I acted in a French Medieval farce entitled Frère Guillebert, directed another entitled Naudet ou le Gentilhomme, and "coreographed" (and I use the term very lightly) the cabaret portion of a dinner theater evening. When we took the farces to a number of small villages (the smallest had 90 inhabitants), we did excerpts, teasers for the final show which took place in front of the church in St Benoit du Sault.
Despite the hot weather (worse when you're wearing at least three layers of skirts), it was a beautiful place to be. The town is gorgeous and it's close to a lake where, despite working 20-hour days most of the time, we managed to get some swimming in, in between memorizing lines the first couple of days.
The only interesting culinary moment was the afternoon where the entire troupe prepared the food for the dinner theater. I made fruit salad for 55 people - enough peaches and apples and kiwis and bananas to take a bath in - and hard boiled, iced and shelled at least that many eggs. The only frustrating thing was that we didn't get to eat anything we'd made!
Yesterday, I was thrilled to finally be able to cook for myself again and for lunch, I let thaw a salmon steak I had in the freezer, cooked some zucchini in olive oil and fresh thyme. I rubbed the salmon with garam masala, pushed the zucchini to the sides of the pan to let it slowly caramelize there and cooked the salmon. Then I served both with a simple tomato salad (no industrial dressing- yes!). It felt like the best meal in the whole world - until dinner when D. made my world a better place by making roast chicken and potatoes. It doesn't get any better than that.
10 comments:
Welcome back! I hope you had a great time despite the bas food...
That dish looks really good.
Cheers,
Rosa
Thanks Rosa! Despite the food, it was a lot of fun. Makes me appreciate home-cooking all the more when I get back!
Welcome Home! Sounds like it was a great experience, besides the heat and the food :) You're a better sport than I am . Bad food and heat, I would have been very unhappy.
Glad to hear you had a good time, and that you're back! Now on to the wedding plans... ;)
Glad to see you've turned up once again. Sounds like fun even if you didn't get much sleep ... and even if you were a little hot under all those skirts!
Nothing like home cookin' I say. Tonight, I am going out to eat. Oh well. Given the circumstances I'll take company over food. I'm quite a social eater ... otherwise food doesn't hold quite the appeal. I sure do miss my D's cooking. He was some good cook. Sigh.
That sounds like an amazing experience!! Was this a dinner theatre show every time? Do you have any videos? I'd love to see it!
-Mel
Julie - Usually that would be enough to make me miserable too (I wilt faster than a day lily in the heat) but theater makes almost anything bearable :-)
Camille - Goodness yes. That's what I've been doing non-stop since I got back. Still so many decisions to make, emails to write, arg!
Cicero - It's good to see you around the blogosphere again! I know what you mean about being a social eater. I'm especially a social cooker - but it's good to take care of oneself by making good meals too. If I wasn't so far away I would invite you over to eat sometimes :-)
Mel - We only did one dinner theater show. The medieval farces were outdoor theater. No videos, but I do have lots of photos. I'll have to share the album with you if you like!
You can beat Roast Chicken and Potatoes!! Welcome back, that place is so beautiful, glad you had a fantastic time and congratulations on your directing debut :)
Welcome back! And what a meal to return to. Sometimes the best meals are simple, home-cooked ones, especially when you've been on the road. I am glad you have reclaimed the blog from your cats!
What a delicious looking meal - especially the sauteed zucchini. Nice looking olive oil too. A deep-green oil is always the perfect crowning touch.
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