Ask Mikey Book Reviews Movie Reviews Recipes

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  Ahwatukee Foothills Concert Band to perform at ARC

  The Ahwatukee Foothills Concert Band is gearing up for its two performances at the Ahwatukee Recreation Center (ARC).Brendan Anderson, music director, said during the two performances the band will be playing songs from different genres of music, and will also play some holiday jingles.Last year, the band decided to have two performances to meet the high volume of attendees.“We found that our audience was getting bigger than the room could hold, so we decided to split into two concerts to allow more people to come,” Anderson said. “It’s been a great time over there.”The band has been conducting these performances at the ARC dating back to since their first year as a group in 1991.The Ahwatukee Concert Band, consisting of 85 members, meets once a week to rehearse and has been preparing for the two performances at the ARC since August.

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  Creamy truffles without cream? Turn to chestnuts!

  Who doesn’t love chocolate truffles? They are the essence of chocolate, and a sure-fire mood enhancer. Pop even one into your mouth and see if you don’t get happy.Given the richness of a chocolate truffle — a blend of chocolate, sugar and cream — it’s nice that chocolate has been found to be good for us. Still, assuming you wanted to jettison some of the calories in this treat without sacrificing a molecule of its lush flavor, where would you start? Cutting the chocolate or sugar would be a bad idea. Both are needed. But how about the cream?The trick to cutting cream is that you don’t want to sacrifice the creaminess of the truffle in the process. The solution? Chestnuts.This brilliant work-around was discovered years ago by Sally Schneider, the author of a great healthy cookbook called “The Art of Low-Calorie Cooking.” In fact, this recipe is my adaptation of Sally’s recipe for chocolate truffles. She found that roasted and pureed chestnuts provide a super-creamy texture for treats such as truffles.And because chestnuts don’t actually taste like much, they don’t compete with the truffle’s chocolate essence. Added benefits? Unlike most nuts, chestnuts are low in fat and high in complex carbohydrates.Of course, chestnuts — or at least those roasted on an open fire — have figured in Christmas lore for ages (and got a boost when Nat “King” Cole recorded his hit version of Mel Torme’s “The Christmas Song” in 1946). And indeed, during winter you still could buy that treat from street vendors in New York when I was growing up.

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  Holiday decor trends: inventiveness, eclecticism

  Following the general trend in home décor, holiday trim and accessories this year are an eclectic mix of traditional and non-traditional colors and styles.Remember when blue or pastel pink ornaments were the height of kitsch? Now they’re mainstream, elegant options. And while red and green are popular hues, they are not married to each other. Red might be paired with ivory, or amethyst; green may partner with copper, caramel or bright white.As for what goes on the tree or the mantel, well, that’s the thing — anything goes.Style watchers say we’re approaching the holidays with a more open mind. Households are more diverse, relaxed and less tied to old-school ways of celebrating. So it follows that ideas of what works in décor have never been more expansive.Some general trends: Holiday HuesWhile jewel tones and creamy palettes hold strong, red is red-hot.

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  ‘A Christmas Story’ at 30: Now part of the family

  Even after three decades, the triple-dog dare doesn’t get old.The film “A Christmas Story” opened 30 years ago to mixed reviews but has shown its staying power as a holiday family favorite. Cleveland, where parts of the movie were filmed and hard-luck Ralphie dreamed big, is celebrating the anniversary with iconic leg lamps, holiday store windows like the ones that drew Ralphie’s wide-eyed stares, and stage and musical versions of “A Christmas Story.”“It becomes part of your fabric for your whole life,” said Kevin Moore, managing director of the Cleveland Play House, where the stage version of the story has become a holiday staple.In the film, starring Darren McGavin as the father, 9-year-old Ralphie was transfixed by the brightly decorated storefront windows. And he dreamed of getting an air rifle as a Christmas gift, despite warnings that he might shoot his eye out.The plot follows his determined gift-begging, his encounters with bullies and his family’s daily hopes and dreams — including a lamp in the form of a shapely leg.The Cleveland house where Ralphie’s film family lived will highlight the anniversary Friday and Saturday with appearances by original cast members and a BB gun range in the backyard.

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  F.Q. Story Historic District to host annual home tour

  Historic homes in downtown Phoenix are rolling out their welcome mats this weekend.The entire street of Willetta and 9th Avenue, just two blocks south of McDowell Road, will take part in the 29th Annual Christmas Home Tour and Gift Sale Dec. 7-8.These homes date back to the 1920s and boast architectural styles such as English Tudor, bungalow, Pueblo and Spanish Colonial. They will be decorated for the holidays and open for viewing both inside and out.The streets will be decked out with luminaries during the Saturday night tour, which takes place from 6 to 9 p.m., and carolers will be strolling by with serenades. The Sunday tour from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. will feature gift, craft and food booths to help cross some items off your Christmas shopping list. Free trolley services will also be available.Tickets can be purchased for $15 at www.fqstory.org. Bring a non-perishable food donation for a $1 discount.For more information, visit www.fqstory.org or call (602) 258-9282.

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  ‘The Girl You Left Behind’ makes for compelling reading

  A true story made headlines Nov. 4. A trove of approximately 1,500 works of art confiscated by the Nazis in World War II were seized in a Munich apartment. The value was estimated to be $1.3 billion by artists such as Picasso, Matisse and Chagall. The news goes on to say that determining the rightful owners of the works decades after they were either sold under duress or seized could take years.One might think this would be a great premise for a novel and “The Girl You Left Behind,” by Jojo Moyes, might just be that novel. Published earlier this year, it was obviously written before this news broke. The work of art at the heart of this story is of course fictitious as are the events surrounding it. The painting titled, “The Girl You Left Behind,” was painted in 1915 by French artist Eduardo Lefevre and resurfaced in 2001 in London.There are actually two girls left behind in this story. The first is Sophie Lefevre whose artist husband, Eduardo, goes to war for France in 1916. The second is Liv, a young widow in London whose husband dies prematurely in 2000. Their stories, some 80 years apart, are connected through a painting of “the girl” who is actually Sophie painted by her husband. The painting resurfaces in the story in Liv’s bedroom. It was a gift from her husband on their honeymoon. The two girls are united by a passion for this painting, which represents both their husbands’ love and devotion to them.The dual time frame storyline almost a century apart flows effortlessly from one to the other, although Sophie’s historical storyline is, I believe, the stronger of the two. Sophie, struggling to keep the family’s hotel afloat under the German occupation of France, hangs her portrait in the hotel where it is a daily reminder of the proud self-reliant girl her husband saw. She wants this reminder as the German invasion causes her to feel that the “glowing girl willful in her confidence” is slipping away due to enemy oppression and poor nutrition. Although the opening scene would have readers doubt this when she confronts the German Kommandant’s accusation that she is harboring livestock, it is my favorite scene in the book.The risk she takes in hanging the portrait in a public place is that it is also visible to all. When the German Kommandant notices the painting, his comments reveal that he is a cultured man. The portrait is the catalyst that causes Sophie to risk everything — reputation, family and her life — in hopes of seeing her Eduardo again.What follows is a wary connection made between the Kommandant and Sophie that leads to tragic circumstances.