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The weekend
Jun. 21st, 2009 09:47 pmThe weather has been absolutely beautiful this weekend, particularly yesterday. I went to the 61st Street Farmers' Market mid-morning, rather than earlier, because Mary Mastricola, the chef-owner of La Petite Folie, one of the nicest restaurants in the area, was doing a demo. She talked about food sanitation, knife work, and how to make a nice dinner without turning on the oven (very useful in a Chicago summer). She made a couple of salads, a tomato and hard-boiled-egg sandwich, and wild mushroom and asparagus over polenta (the polenta was already made). We got to sample:
And this was after I'd had a crêpe with strawberry-raspberry preserves.
There was also a drummer entertaining the crowd, with a little help from some friends:
I almost bought a bike, too. The guy from Blackstone Bicycle Works said they had a Huffy one-speed for sale, but it was too big for me; even with the seat adjusted all the way down, my toes barely could touch the pavement.
In the afternoon, I went to the South Shore Cultural Center to hear some opera. This was originally the South Shore Country Club, which we used to pass by when I lived in the neighborhood, but couldn't go in, as it was highly restricted. Despite the fact that club membership dwindled in the '60s as the neighborhood changed, they still refused to open the club to blacks and Jews, and the property was sold to the Chicago Park District. The buildings were threatened with demolition, but most have been saved and renovated. It's beautifully set, right on the lakefront. The Washburne Culinary Institute now calls it home, and they have a restaurant, The Parrot Cage, there. It's also a very popular place for weddings and similar events; in fact, the Obamas were married there.
The concert yesterday was held in the Paul Robeson Theatre, formerly the ballroom:
and was put on by a new organization, the South Shore Opera Company. This was their second free concert here (unfortunately, I missed the first), and the place was packed. They actually had to delay the start as so many people were coming, there was a traffic jam! (I, wisely, took the bus.) The singers are all professionals (a couple are alums of Lyric Opera's Ryan Center), and it was altogether a good time. During the intermission, I took lots of pictures.
Instead of going home after the concert, I went to the Hyde Park Art Center, where there was a block party going on. There were games, art, hot dogs, face painting, karaoke, and even Spiderman showed up:
Today, I read a lot, and then went down to the Siskel Film Center to see Terence Davies' Of Time and the City, a documentary about growing up in post-WWII Liverpool. Good film.
And this was after I'd had a crêpe with strawberry-raspberry preserves.
There was also a drummer entertaining the crowd, with a little help from some friends:
I almost bought a bike, too. The guy from Blackstone Bicycle Works said they had a Huffy one-speed for sale, but it was too big for me; even with the seat adjusted all the way down, my toes barely could touch the pavement.
In the afternoon, I went to the South Shore Cultural Center to hear some opera. This was originally the South Shore Country Club, which we used to pass by when I lived in the neighborhood, but couldn't go in, as it was highly restricted. Despite the fact that club membership dwindled in the '60s as the neighborhood changed, they still refused to open the club to blacks and Jews, and the property was sold to the Chicago Park District. The buildings were threatened with demolition, but most have been saved and renovated. It's beautifully set, right on the lakefront. The Washburne Culinary Institute now calls it home, and they have a restaurant, The Parrot Cage, there. It's also a very popular place for weddings and similar events; in fact, the Obamas were married there.
The concert yesterday was held in the Paul Robeson Theatre, formerly the ballroom:
and was put on by a new organization, the South Shore Opera Company. This was their second free concert here (unfortunately, I missed the first), and the place was packed. They actually had to delay the start as so many people were coming, there was a traffic jam! (I, wisely, took the bus.) The singers are all professionals (a couple are alums of Lyric Opera's Ryan Center), and it was altogether a good time. During the intermission, I took lots of pictures.
Instead of going home after the concert, I went to the Hyde Park Art Center, where there was a block party going on. There were games, art, hot dogs, face painting, karaoke, and even Spiderman showed up:
Today, I read a lot, and then went down to the Siskel Film Center to see Terence Davies' Of Time and the City, a documentary about growing up in post-WWII Liverpool. Good film.
