Hedwig is one of my all time favorite soundtracks as well as movies. I first saw it about five years ago and I was instantly enamored. So when I recently found out that the stage version was playing locally I naturally bought two tickets before I even had a clue who I would invite and shook with excitement.
If it is your first time going to the American Theater Co you might be as surprised as I was on your approach. The theater itself is a tiny building on a mostly residential street – tucked just a few steps away from Lincoln Ave. It’s a cute building and out front were two very friendly volunteers or employees chatting with people and directing them where to go.
The entrance to the stage itself is on the side down a short alley. You’re instructed to knock three times to get in. We trailed in behind another group so the door was already open but I have a hunch that the three knocks is just cute joke 
Inside it is tiny though not at all cramped. Every chair is different, there is even a loveseat in the first row. Enough about the theater though let’s talk about the show!
The production was very impressive considering the size of the venue. They really had the place decked out. An elaborate warehouse-looking wall of window panes provided a backdrop upon which images and videos are projected. Nothing about the show seemed tiny, underdone, or low budget. It was like seeing a big broadway show in a 40 person theater.
The actor who played Hedwig was amazing. He seemed close enough to the movie to not upset folks like myself who went in only having seen that (and I suspect that is a fairly sizable portion of the audience) but strayed enough to keep it original. They used local references frequently throughout the show, mentioning Halsted St, Boystown, Lake Shore Drive, and other Chicago locations and references.
Long story short (yeah, long story short!) – you should absolutely make a point of checking out the show while it is playing in Chicago. They’ve extended the run through May 31 so there is plenty of time to get tickets!
As with any good book, Miles from Nowhere ended with me not wanting to set it down. Nami Mun’s first “novel” is really more a collection of stories centered around the main character, Joon. Joon has had a hard family life, with a father who has left home many times and a mother who is bordering clinical insanity and ends up leaving home to live on the streets. Each chapter is a free standing story that tells about Joon’s difficulties and most of the stories focus on her teenage years.
There are so many parts of this book that I highlighted because they made me laugh or think. I really wish that Mun had more books published because she is an amazing author. Check out the Chicagoist interview if you want more info, or just get the book and read it!
Last week I had my first taste of the CB&J at Hopleaf and I haven’t stopped thinking of it since. The menu describes it as “on sourdough; house-made cashew butter, fig jam & morbier cheese, pan-fried.” Whether it is lust or love, this sandwich has my full attention. It isn’t even very expensive ($10), but being that Hopleaf doesn’t deliver and how I don’t feel like taking a trip to Andersonville I figured I would try my hand at it at home.
Of course I’m lucky if I have a can of tomato sauce in my cupboard, let alone fig jam, so before I could cook anything I had to make a quick trip to the store. I placed my bets on Treasure Island over Jewel as the selection for the unordinary is far better in “America’s Most European Supermarket.” Sure enough I was able to grab all the ingredients I needed (though I did forget what kind of bread Hopleaf uses so I ended up with wheat bread instead of sourdough.)
For those interested, here is the Treasure Island shopping list. If you end up elsewhere it better be someplace like Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s, otherwise you’re on your own!
MaraNatha cashew butter
Stonewall Kitchen Fig & Walnut Butter
1/3 lb morbier cheese (will make about 2 sandwiches)
Wheat bread (Hopleaf uses sourdough but I goofed up, still tasted good though)
Butter
Now being that this is nothing more than a glorified hybrid of a grilled cheese sandwitch and a peanut butter & jelly sandwich it shouldn’t be hard to figure out how to make. Adjust quantities of ingredients to taste, but this is what I ended up with after sandwich number two.
- Turn on your panini press (read George Foreman grill) to let it heat up.
- Butter both two pieces of bread.
- Spread a healthy amount of cashew butter on top of the butter on one piece. By healthy I mean a lot, like your grandma would say healthy, not your twink boyfriend. Also, be sure to mix up the cashew butter before using it or your sandwich will be grosser than the stilton mac & cheese.
- Spread a thin layer of fig jam on top of the butter on the second piece of bread. Avoid having too much fig jam in any one section or your sandwich will begin to taste like a Fig Newton. -It really, really will taste like a Fig Newton-
- Cut some thin slices of morbier cheese and place on top of either the cashew butter or the fig jam, it doesn’t matter which side. Take a moment to savour how your fingers smell.
- Place the two pieces together (if you can’t figure out how then maybe you should have Mommy, Daddy, or “Daddy” make this…) and put on the Foreman panini grill (or pan fry it you pretentious tard.)
- Don’t burn it, eat it, and forget about how many calories you just consumed in one freakin’ sandwich.
Lessons learned from making this sandwich: Too much fig jam really will make your sandwich taste like a fig newton, I SWEAR; butter makes a world of difference, get all Paula Deen on it; one sandwich is PLENTY, the darn thing is filling I tell ya’.
It isn’t quite the same as going to Hopleaf. Maybe it’s missing the atmosphere, or it’s the lack of beer on tap, or maybe it really is the ingredients and the chef. I’ll tell you this much though – being able to whip one of these up at home in a few minutes sure is a pleasant alternative to braving the 15 degree temperatures in Chicago right now!
For the record, Hopleaf serves this with stilton mac & cheese. When they brought my plate to me I tried one bite of the mac & cheese and handed the rest over to a “friend.” I think it tastes like dirty socks and rotten mouse turds and wouldn’t wish the horrific disaster that is stilton cheese on anyone. If that’s your bag, however, feel free to try your hand at that as well (and send me the recipe so I can update the post!)
Did I mention if you put too much fig jam on it that you’ll end up with a giant fig newton? Yes? Good.
Two book reviews in one day, you must think I’m crazy…
I just finished reading Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. After hearing all the hype about it I really wanted to check it out, especially since I have been wanting to read a vampire novel.
I have to say I am a little disappointed. Maybe it was all the hype or maybe it really just wasn’t that wonderful, but I had several problems with the book.
The first and most glaring problem was how quickly Bella became infatuated with a vampire, without ever really going through any stage of disbelief. As a human firmly planted in a human world I can tell you that it would take a long time for me to go from thinking someone was a lunatic to actually thinking they were a vampire. Bella seems to go from zero to vampire in record time, requiring nothing more than a few suggestions and a 33.6k connection to determine that Edward could be a vampire and that she is “ok” with that. Then she instantly falls in love with Edward and he for her.
His gold eyes grew very soft. “You said you loved me.”
“You knew that already,” I reminded him, ducking my head.
“It was nice to hear, just the same.”
I hid my face against his shoulder.
“I love you,” I whispered.
“You are my life now,” he answered simply.
This takes about a week as best I can tell. Granted, it is the first relationship for both of them, but puhlease?
Once you move past that part of the story it does get better though. The last third of the novel is where all the action is and honestly I would have been perfectly happy if the first two thirds were compressed to a chapter or two since they did a poor job anyway and the last bits lengthened and elaborated on.
I do think that Meyer has a bit of a problem with the word “incredulous.” Your mileage may vary but this is a word that I have rarely heard or seen used and Meyer uses it eleven times throughout the book. “…incredulous eyes…” “His face was incredulous.” “‘Incredulous, for the most part.’” “I shook my head, incredulous…” “The inning continued before my incredulous eyes.” “…incredulous as he took an involuntary step…” Holy crap – and those quotes don’t include “incredulously”. It was to the point where I actually highlighted a section and noted “author uses the word incredulously too often.”
I will admit to this, though, I think I am in love with the man I have conjured up in my head as Edward Cullen. And he does not look like Robert Pattinson.
In the end, my recommendation is move on and find something else to read. I’ll probably end up reading the second book at this point though since I’ve spent so much time on the first, I’m hoping the series gets better.
One of my favorite things about taking public transportation to work instead of driving is having that time each day to read. You can always tell a commuter on the CTA because they’ll have a book in their hand. A couple weeks ago I found myself at the office without anything to read on my way home. Sure, I could have braved the below-zero temperatures that day and gone to the book store, but lucky for me I know of a few places around the office to find something to read. So, I went to a friend of mine, and asked her if she had anything I could borrow.
Einstein’s Dreams isn’t a particularly long book. It took me just a couple days to read using only my time on the bus, which is relatively short. The language isn’t difficult either. It is, however, incredibly interesting and thought provoking. The book isn’t a factual depiction of dreams that Einstein actually had. Instead Lightman used Einstein as a tool to look at different ways time could exist and how that might affect the world.
One particularly interesting chapter for me says that time moves slower the higher you are. As a result everybody lives on mountains and puts their houses on stilts, only coming down when absolutely necessary. “Height has become status. When a person from his kitchen window must look up to see his neighbor, he believes that neighbor will not become stiff in the joints as soon as he, will not lose his hair until later, will not wrinkle until later, will not lose the urge for romance as early.” How can you read that and not translate it to the world we actually live in?
There are so many different ways we could have ended up at this very moment. So many decisions and possibilities. Time is a mysterious thing and maybe it is different for me than it is for you. Grab a copy of Einstein’s Dreams, head down to your local coffee shop, and spend a Sunday reading and thinking about all the directions time may travel in.
