A Tale of Three Pianos

"The piano was here in the house when I bought it," the owner told me, "do you want it?"

"Yes, that would be lovely".  I replied.  "How ironic", I thought to myself.  This would be the third piano I owned, none of which I had ever purchased, and none of which I could play.  My last piano had belonged to my grandmother, who had been a beautiful singer in vaudeville days.  When my grandmother came to live with our family, her upright piano found a new home in our living room, becoming a fixture of my childhood. All my siblings pounded away on it, attempting chopsticks and the like.  We imagined ourselves as accomplished pianist.  Though none of us ever managed more than a basic finger dancing around middle C, we competed with each other trying to outshine the others rudimentary skills.  The piano bench also served as extra seating during holidays when we would have more mouths around the table then chairs.  Eventually, I inherited the piano and moved it from home to home, my own kids copying the practice of bad piano playing, until a new move forced me to realize this home had no corner for it and I had to pass it on to hopefully more skilled players.

Perhaps it is my love of music that brings that pianos into my life.   My first, an ancient upright, arrived from an unexpected source when I was just out of college.  It came from a musician boyfriend who thought it would fit well at my house.  The piano lasted longer than the relationship and one suffocatingly hot and humid August day that piano nearly met its end as well.  I had coaxed my male friends into helping me move by enticing them with offers of pizza and beer.  During the move, as they were turning a corner in the UHaul, the unsecured piano fell with a resounding thudl.  When we arrived at the house my sweaty, exhausted friends decided it was damaged beyond repair and not worth carrying up my steep drive into the house.  It was decided - it was staying by the curb.  That night the heavens opened up and what wasn't already damaged become soaked.  The next morning, sleepy from the move, I awoke in the early morning hours to the sound of someone playing a piano.   "What?'  I was in a confused morning fog, I looked out my window and saw that a pedestrian had stopped in front of my house to play the piano.    Three times that morning the drenched piano beckoned to passersby to take a moment to play a tune.   As the sun climbed the sky, turning the night's rain into another sauna-like day, I walked outside and looked again at the forsaken piano.  One of my new neighbors came out to greet me.  Within a matter of minutes he had decided it was worth saving and rallied a group of neighbors to carry the piano up my drive and into my new home.  

So now a new home, a new piano and an endless love of music.

A SYMPHONY OF VEGETARIAN DISHES

TO SATISFY EVEN THE MOST DETERMINED CARNIVORE

MUSHROOM SOUP

5 1/2 c vegetable stock

2 white onions, diced

2 T olive oil

6 garlic cloves, minced

16 oz mushrooms, sliced

8 oz shiitake mushrooms, sliced

1/2 c sherry

soy sauce

1 medium size potato, peeled and sliced

1 T fresh herbs, parsley, thyme, marjoram (or equivalent in dried herbs)

fresh lemon juice

     Sauté onions and garlic in olive oil until caramelized. Add sherry.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Add mushrooms and soy sauce and sauté for several minutes.  Add herbs and vegetable stock.  While soup is cooking boil potato in separate pot until tender.  When potato is tender puree with some of the stock.  Adjust seasonings and enjoy.  

 

FIG CARROT SALAD

2 c. grated carrots

3/4 c. roasted pistachios

4 diced scallions

1/4 to 1/3 c Fig Balsamic Vinegar

Toss all ingredients together and enjoy.

 

FRENCH GREEN BEANS

10 cloves of garlic

1 lb of green beans

1 lemon,  or meyer lemon if possible

Add garlic cloves to a pot of salted water and bring to a boil. Add green beans and cook till just tender. Remove to bowl. Squeeze fresh lemon just over and season with salt and pepper to taste. 

 

SPAGHETTI SQUASH FRITTATA

3 c spaghetti squash (pierced and baked for one hour)

I onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

4 T olive oil

salt and pepper (to taste)

1 t basil

I zucchini, cut into half moons

4 oz of crumbled feta

1/3 c parmesan

1/3 c ricotta

8 eggs

In cast iron skillet or omelet pan, sauté onions, garlic and seasonings in olive oil till onions are translucent.  Add zucchini, sauté just till tender.   Stir eggs and cheese and spaghetti squash together.  Add to vegetables in skillet.  Stir together and let cook on low till sides of frittata are just set.  Sprinkle top with additional parmesan

Bake in oven on 350 for 20 to 25 minutes until frittata is set.