Artsy-Fartsy Friday

Friday was a highly cultured day for me. In the morning, the preschool (where I am an assistant teacher) went on a field trip to Orchestra Hall. Twelve kids out of fifteen brought a parent so it wasn't too hard to keep track of the kids. We went to attend the "Kinder Konzert". Every year the orchestra sets a children's book to music and plays it for groups of school kids. We have been preparing our kids for months. They know the story, (The Tin Forest), they know piano, forte, staccato and legato. They know high sounds and low sounds and what families instruments belong to. They were all as good as gold. When we asked them what they liked best, many liked the school bus ride to get to Orchestra Hall! Most of them have never been on a school bus and have wanted to ride one their whole lives. As they will be riding a school bus to kindergarten in the fall, this is a good opportunity to try it out. Many of the kids also liked how the trombone player played the theme from"Star Wars" during his introduction.

As soon as the bus got back to school, I hopped in my car and drove to the airport to get Paul who has been in California for the week. He was working in a tomato processing plant. Manwich comes shooting out of there at 700 cans a minute and that is just one line! Who's eating all that Manwich? We were starving so we went back to one of our old college haunts, "Tracey's Saloon" (by Augsburg on the west bank). We split a sandwich and an appetizer. Tracey's makes fabulous fried mushrooms. They come with a horseradish/sour cream sauce that is sooo gooood!


Paul was so happy to be home that he agreed to go to the "Art in Bloom" exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts with me. Once a year, floral artists interpret some of the artworks in flowers. I get a big charge out of this. I spent several years as a "picture person" volunteer for the MIA. We were taught about several of the pieces of art each year and in turn taught kids at our local school about these pieces with the aid of large photos and props. The pieces I presented still feel like "mine" and I like to visit them. The artists mimic the art by color or shape or feeling. In this one can you see how the flowers dripping down the side of the cube are his legs and the white flowers are the owl? Above the owl is a bat, which is shown by the tangle of moss in the branches over the flowers. I know, it's a little odd and abstract, but I love to see it.

This one has a much clearer shape. The pink flowers are obviously her head coming out of the white ruff above the dark dress. I just think that is cool. The ones that go just by color are nice too, but boring. Big blue bowl, big blue flower arrangement. Blah. Paul was being very patient, even though flowers are SO not his thing! He liked the Rembrandt and the Monet, though. What he liked best was going home to watch his favorite cultural event, BASEBALL! When Joe Mauer hit that home run there was joy in Mudville! I vegged, my brain was all full.


This is the only recipe I have for fried mushrooms, if you have a nice tempura batter recipe, you could also try that. I almost never deep fry. It is so messy and I do not need to mention that fried food is not my friend. These are worth making an exception for, just don't skip the horseradish sauce.

Fried Mushrooms

1/3 cup flour
1/8 tsp salt
1 egg - divided
1 Tbls vegetable oil
5 Tbls dry white wine

1 pound small white mushrooms (wiped but not soaked)

Whisk flour, salt, egg yolk, oil and wine together (you thought I was going to say whomp it in the blender, didn't you?) and let sit for an hour or two at room temp. Beat the egg white with a pinch of salt until it holds stiff peaks and fold it into the batter. Dip the mushrooms in the batter and fry them at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until they are deep brown. Turn them to get all the sides brown. Drain on paper towels and serve with sauce. Be careful when biting into them, they are hot and so are the drippy juices.

Sour cream/horseradish sauce
Start with 1/2 cup sour cream and 1 tbls prepared horseradish. Stir together and see if it is hot enough for you. If not, add more.