Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Yom Ha'atzmaut Inspired Hummus

For those of you who don't know, Yom Ha'atzmaut is Israel's Independence Day, which happened to be yesterday. Because I work for an organization that raises money for Israel, I was involved in the celebration this year and volunteered with my colleagues at the Rady Centre to help make it a great experience for the kids. There's tons of crafts and activities and it's just a really fun night for families, complete with fireworks. 

Definitely one of the highlights of the night was getting to try falafel for the first time and basically eating my weight in hummus. The hummus they had there was so fresh-tasting and it really inspired me to try my hand at making my own! I am also planning on making falafel - I have some dried chickpeas soaking as we speak!

I got this great little appetizer cookbook as a gift from my dad a while back so I thought I'd take a look and see if there was a recipe in there and sure enough, there was! 


Such a cute, little book :) 



What you will need:

14oz can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained (I used a 19oz can and just adjusted the measurements of the other ingredients a little bit)
1 garlic clove, crushed (garlic press works best for this)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tbsp tahini
3 tbsp olive oil
juice of 1/2 to 3/4 lemon
salt and pepper
Pitas to make chips for dipping

Garnish:
paprika
Fresh flat-leaf (Italian) parsley, chopped


I used my spice grinder to grind the coriander seed. I love this thing.


Then, just put the works into a food processor and go to town. Feel free to taste along the way, adjust the seasonings and add more olive oil if you'd like it a little smoother/runnier.


I chopped some fresh parsley, squeezed a little lemon, sprinkled some paprika and drizzled some olive oil over the top. I also added some of the reserved chickpeas to just mix in and have the few little chunks in the dip. I copied this presentation from the hummus plate I had last night!


I cut up a whole wheat pita into little pieces, put them on a cookie sheet, sprayed them with a little cooking spray and baked them in a 375 degree oven for about 5-7 minutes to serve as pita chips with this dip.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Off topic: PTE play Gunmetal Blues

Last week I took my mom to see PTE's newest play, Gunmetal Blues, described as "A rollicking parody of film noir".  It's described as "a hard-boiled lounge act, a musical mystery, film noir on stage." I was very excited as I'm a HUGE fan of musicals and PTE, of course. It runs until April 21st.

The plot is a pretty standard murder mystery; mysterious blonde, Laura Vesper (Meghan Gardiner) hires detective Sam Galahad (Andrew Wheeler) to investigate the disappearance of a wealthy heiress whose father has just committed suicide (or was he murdered?) The story is narrated by lounge singer, Buddy Toupee who occasionally narrates and occasionally interacts with the characters.

When I walked into the theatre, I was very intrigued by the set. It looked like a bar on one side and an old, run down office with a desk on the other. I'm always amazed by what PTE is able to do with their sets as they don't have a big budget like say, MTC, where they can change things around throughout. They do a really good job of utilizing different pieces to tell the story.

Photo from Winnipeg Free Press

I was very impressed by one of the characters, Buddy Toupee, who played the piano pretty much throughout the whole play. The musical wasn't your typical "Grease" or "Chicago" type where there are different songs with a clear start or finish. There was some dialogue but the music ran quite consistently throughout.

As with many PTE plays, there was a small cast - only three actors who played different characters. I'm always amazed by how the same person can put on a hat or a different coat and portray such a vastly different character than they were just portraying moments ago.

Overall, this play is worth seeing if you're into 1940s drama and you love a good mystery. It certainly didn't have me on the edge of my seat but it was entertaining and fun and perfect for a night out with my mama!