Nannerl Mozart Day 21 Y2

imdb.com

I watched a video on Netflix called, “Mozart’s Sister.”  The film touched me on numerous levels.  First, it was lovely to hear the French language.  It puzzles me that, on occasion, I can watch a move in French and never notice it is not in English.  How can it be that there are other French movies that cause me to strain to keep up with the subtitles? The most perplexing situation arises when I need to read the subtitles but feel committed to correcting the mistakes.  A small example; sans doute means “without doubt”..... which simply is not the same as the translation that appeared on the big screen.  There, it appeared as “perhaps.” There is no perhaps in "without doubt."  

from http://www.murky.org/images/travel/calais/white_cliffs.jpg
Calais

The second thing I enjoyed when watching “Mozart’s Sister” was seeing some of the familiar sights at Versailles (Room of Mirrors, the garden, the Dauphin’s chambers) and in Paris (l’Opera and the National Academy of Music).  The cliffs of Calais were never more breathtaking.  Normandy wore a new face.  I never realized that it looked like the grander, albino cousin of the cliffs at Aquinnah, Martha’s Vineyard.    

The final thing that moved me about the movie was the recognition of the the rights I have as a woman today.  There is room for me to study what I choose, learn what I desire, create what I dream.  I can vote. I can pursue my own destiny without my father’s or my husband’s hand controlling me. I was reminded that Nannerl and other women of that time, no matter how educated, would not have enjoyed such freedoms.

I would have liked to meet Mozart’s sister. If we could bridge the communications barrier, what would she share?  Surely, she could not have imagined her life would be raked for details to illuminate her brother’s.  But, perhaps, I am wrong. Despite her own creative genius, she was eclipsed by her younger brother’s -- yet, Nannerl made it her life’s work to preserve her brother’s.

The Mother's Connection Cookbook

Once upon a time, when I was a very young mother, my dear friend Elizabeth was editing a community cookbook. She is an accomplished writer and editor and it was only natural that she was recruited for the job. When she had finished the work, she mailed me a copy with a note of encouragement about the many confounding days ahead as a parent. At least, she said, she had got me covered on recipes!
The Mother’s Connection Cookbook has remained front and center on my bookshelf for twenty years. With rare exception (page 32, Chocolate Chip Banana Bread seems to be missing some ingredients), every recipe I have tried, my family has relished. Goop, which a sort of homemade silly putty, was one of the first recipe on which we experimented. The Elmer’s glue makes it less than edible, but it was the first recipes in the Kids ‘N Cooking section that appealed to them. Rainy day fun. Edible Play Dough made from peanut butter, honey and powdered milk is kind of funky to the touch, but really is pretty tasty. That was our second recipe. From there, our taste buds wandered.
This cookbook has provided kugel recipes and brisket galore. I have made Lemon Chicken, Easy Pot Roast and Chicken Divan 1 (I stopped there and never tried Chicken Divan 2). The Mandarin Sesame Chicken Salad is commendable, as is the Autumn Butternut Squash. However, the page that shows the most egg white legs, oil stains and gritty flour residue is page 31. There you will find the Anything Goes Bread. In the book, in my own hand, I renamed it The UBIQUITOUS Anything Goes Bread. It is the most forgiving quick bread recipe I have ever made. You make the basic recipe, but you have 2 ½ cups left to add whatever you want. Pumpkin, squash, pumpkin and squash?
Or maybe yogurt and carrots and raisins and nuts? Cranberries and walnuts? Delish.
Nothing short of your imagination limits you.
In a sweet irony that I wonder if Elizabeth intended, the facing page has a large chart entitled
SUBSTITUTIONS FOR A MISSING INGREDIENT.

1 square chocolate (1 oz.) = 4 TBS coca plus ½ TBS. fat
1 TBS cornstarch = 2 TBS flour for thickening agent
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour = 1 cup flour plus s TBS sifted cake flour
1 cup sweet milk = 1 cup sour milk or buttermilk plus ½ tsp baking soda
1 cup sour cream, heavy = 1/3 cup butter plus 2/3 cup milk

The list goes on. There is, as well, a table of equivalencies. One never knows when one might need to know that 2 cups of sugar equals 1 pound, for instance. Or that 7 0z dry pasta equals 4 cups cooked pasta.

In my continued quest to understand life and to bring order out of chaos, I look for answers in tea leaves, road side signs, the Bible, and yes, even cookbooks. What I glean from the wise women of the Mother’s Connection is that there are substitutions and equivalencies that will serve if our plans are not going quite as imagined. Your friend can‘t attend a movie with you? SUBSTITUTION: apple picking with your children.
You can’t drive to the mall? SUBSTITUTION: internet shopping. Your career takes a right turn unexpectedly? SUBSTITUTION: go back to school. I would contend that an EQUIVALENCY for a one hour face to face visit with my daughters might be half an hour on Skyppe. An EQUIVALENCY for a short walk with my husband might be three turns around the field. Not quite the same, but it is somewhere in the same neighborhood.
So, this morning, when I opened the Mother’s Connection Cookbook and started measuring ingredients to make The Ubiquitous Anything Goes Bread, I was grateful for all the book has taught me about life. And today, my 2/12 cups of anything consisted of carrots, apples, craisins and coconut.
Day 21

Puzzles

I have always loved doing word puzzles. This morning, I spent an hour doing puzzles and testing my brainpower on www.lumosity.com. I expect that I will be unqualifiedly successful at math problems and am constantly surprised when I am not!
Please, put away the suduko. I have read lately that the regular use of the brain in ways that cause it to stretch in new ways is one of the key factors in staving off dementia. The number of online sites that offer free puzzles reflects the growing need for that kind of stimulation. Music lessons, art projects, and blogs are also valuable contributors to sound exercise for the brain.
Since I was very young, I enjoyed putting together picture puzzles. I liked bringing order out of the many irregular pieces. I liked watching a picture emerge from the colors and multi-edged pieces. I always start with the edges. It occurred to me that by the end of the year, when I have written 365 blogs, I will have nothing more than 365 pieces of the puzzle that, together, will begin to define me. The colorful anecdotes, the mundane observations, and the occasional illuminating thoughts that I will have shared are simply pieces of me. As I mull this over, I don’t find it puzzling at all.
Day 21