reveiw essays

reveiw essays On Friday November 3rd I had the pleasure of attending an evening of Opera titled Love Through the Ages with Maria Fortuna and Nancy Townsend at the Sean OSullivan Theatre. Having never been to an Opera performance I had no idea of what to expect and was looking forward to this new experience. Fortuna was accompanied by multi-faceted pianist Nancy Townsend. These two musicians showed tremendous expertise and were able to keep my attention through the extent of the program. Maria Fortuna is a soprano and she has enjoyed international success with her stunning vocal talent. Fortunas repertoire ranges from the lyric soprano to the dramatic coloratura roles, being performed in front of many large audiences and critics. Fortuna was born in Niagara Falls N.Y and more recently received her Masters of Music which led her to her teaching position at SUNY Fredonia. Nancy Townsend is a pianist, vocal coach, conductor and stage director. She has recently performed in recitals throughout the United States, primarily in the west. As I had no idea of what to expect when entering this concert I went in with an extremely open mind. Even leading up to the intermission I wasnt convinced that I was understanding the structure of opera. However, even with my very limited knowledge of opera I could come to a few conclusions. Fortuna and Townsend evidently worked well together, they were always in sync and fed off of each others talent. As well it seemed as if Fortuna was using an aspect of call and response to enhance her production. Her call would be in the form of a story and she would then answer her call with her singing. The show was slightly disrupted in the first half with a large group of people that had been late for the performance, I couldnt visually see any signs of fault on Fortunas behalf when this occurred. An interesting aspect of Fortunas style was unlike anything I had ever seen befor...

Make Hot Maple Syrup Ice Cream - Molecular Gastronomy

Make Hot Maple Syrup Ice Cream - Molecular Gastronomy Who says ice cream is a dish best served cold? Maybe you should try it hot. Heres a molecular gastronomy project that applies science to make hot ice cream. The key ingredient is methylcellulose, a polymer  that gels when its heated rather than chilled. Try hot maple ice cream on in an ice cream cone or perhaps top your waffles with it. Hot Maple Syrup Ice Cream Ingredients 150 grams (1-1/4 cup)  plain yogurt115 grams (1/2 cup) cream cheese50 milliliters (3-1/2 tablespoons)  maple syrup75 milliliters (5 tablespoons)  water20 grams (5 teaspoons)  sugar6 grams (2-1/4 teaspoons)  methylcellulose powder (Methocel food gum, SGA 150) If youre not a fan of maple syrup, make chocolate ice cream by using chocolate syrup instead of maple syrup. You could use other syrup flavors if you prefer. Lets Make Hot Ice Cream! In a bowl, whisk together the yogurt, cream cheese, and maple syrup. The mixture should be smooth and creamy.In a saucepan, bring the sugar and water to a boil.Remove the saucepan from heat and whisk in the methylcellulose powder. Mix in the powder until the mixture is smooth.Whisk the two mixtures together until they are fully blended. This is your ice cream mixture.Refrigerate the ice cream at least 2-3 hours.When you are ready to serve the ice cream bring a pot of water to a simmer.Use an ice cream scoop to drop spoonfuls of the ice cream mixture into the hot water. You can drop multiple scoops into the pot, as long as there is room for them to remain separate.Let each scoop of ice cream simmer for 1-2 minutes.Use a slotted spoon or ladle to remove each maple syrup ice cream scoop. Drizzle on maple syrup, if you like. Enjoy it while its hot since this ice cream melts as it cools, rather than as it heats up. Do you want to try another molecular gastronomy project? How about making powdered olive oil.