Congratulations to Kristen Rendall, winner of December’s Piano Safari giveaway!
Here are a few fun stats as we wrap up our last episode of Friday Finds for the year.
Since Piano Pantry’s kick-off in March of 2016, I’ve shared 293 finds, and received 53 comments on 36 Friday Finds posts for 2016.
Can I tell you something? I LOVE it when you comment – even if it’s a short one! As a blogger, you can see the stats, but the numbers are just that – numbers. It’s getting a chance to read the words and thoughts of you, my readers and getting to interact with you that makes it so much more fun, so keep it up in 2017!
You would think after sharing 293 things I would be completely out, but quite the contrary. Absorbing content is something I love doing and I promise to only ever share finds that I feel are completely worth your time to check out.
Here’s what’s on my mind as we take a turn into the new year:
As 2016 comes to a close, I’m looking back at this past year and can’t believe what a whirlwind and blessing it has been. It’s been a year of opportunity, growth, challenges, and firsts.
Today I would like to share with you a personal reflection as well as the best posts from Piano Pantry in its first year.
Goal-Setting
This past year, I decided not to make any “New Years Resolutions” but to instead, sit down and set specific goals for myself. Evernote guru Michael Hyatt wrote a post How Evernote Can Help You Achieve Your Goals in 2015that I used as inspiration.
Speaking of Evernote if you missed it, check out my post on using Evernote as an independent music teacher.
One of those goals was to start this blog and my studio website by March 1 (the latter of which I accomplished this summer). This site’s first post, “Welcome to My Studio”,was published on March 20, 2016. Check!
When I first started teaching piano as an independent music teacher, I learned quickly there was more to the profession than being a pianist and pedagogue. I was managing a business and, in a way, people. Tasks like tracking student information, lesson plans, overall student progress, music to be ordered, recital participation, and repertoire lists became a big part of the job.
Before Evernote…
I would find myself unable to recall the materials I needed to purchase when I happened by the music store unplanned.
Oodles of information and ideas that I intently recorded during sessions at local, state, or national conferences found themselves in paper stacks without a second glance.
I read valuable and detailed advice regarding iPad to MIDI capabilities in a Facebook thread, but it was later fuzzy in my mind when I needed it most. When I tried to find it, the conversation was lost in a sea of never-ending social media posts.
If you’re like me, you long for anything that streamlines the business side of your work. While today’s digital world offers many tools and applications to help us manage and organize the tasks we juggle on a daily basis, one stands out:Evernote.
These Colgate Wisp’s are great to keep in your purse, or in the console or glove-box of the car for a quick mouth refresher!
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My discovery is a little late for this year but I’m now looking forward to next Christmas as I’ll have both Anne Crosby Gaudet’s Chord Town Christmas and Irina Gorin’s new Christmas Collection that goes along with Tales of a Musical Journey.
As I was rifling through some old files of my graduate years, I came across this photo I had completely forgotten. Austrian pianist and recording artist Paul Badura-Skoda is by my side after he performed a concert in 2009 at the local arts center (called Arts Place) in my hometown here in Indiana. I also had the privilege of being the designated transport for him, to and from the Indianapolis airport.
(I’ll admit I had never heard of him previously as I’m not completely in the know-how of famous classical pianists. Still, I think it was pretty cool I had that opportunity.)
The fact that I had completely forgotten about this makes me realize how beautiful photos are at capturing moments of our lives.
Can I tell you quickly how I got to this place? (Feel free to jump down to this week’s finds below but if you have a few minutes, I promise it’s a good and short story)!
Piano Safari has been a method on my radar since the first version of the books came out. I’ve known about it since (I’m guessing) 2008. Julie Knerr, one of the authors, went to grad school with a girl I did my undergrad studies with (they may have even been roommates, but I can’t remember for sure). My friend told me about the method, and I haven’t looked back.
I was drawn to Piano Safari due to my disappointment with the technique books on the market. I hated them to be quite frank. I didn’t feel they were effective and they were…well, what they were – exercises – and boring to boot. Even though most technique books do correlate with what the students are learning in the lesson book, I never felt the transfer of learning happened.
It wasn’t until 2013 that I started using the method heavily. With the increased use came the desire to maximize the “fun” of the safari theme more with stuffed animals.
Building up my safari-themed animal collection was a bit of a chore! I remember asking the authors where they got theirs, but mostly, I was on my own finding them. Today, I hope to help YOUR search a little easier than mine.
I’ll be sharing not only where I purchased the animals but also why they’re a good investment and how I use and even store them.
My intrigue with the limited edition Pumpkin Spice Triscuit was rewarded when I found they were quite tasty! They have just the right amount of seasoning, and while they held their own all alone, they would be awesome with a cranberry cheese ball or some sharp cheddar. Well, everything goes with sharp cheddar in my opinion!
This recommendation is of my accord. Triscuits is not paying me to proclaim their goodness.
I first became aware of The Alexander Technique in my undergraduate days. Most of what I remember is laying on the floor in the practice room. While I appreciated it and understood its importance, as time went on, it got left behind in my day-to-day life. Thanks, to Joy Morin for reminding us of why it’s useful and valuable for piano teachers.
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I’ve been checking out the podcast The Entrepreneurial Musician with Andrew Hitz. While I don’t foresee listening on a regular basis, he did have a few past podcasts I enjoyed and thought you might as well including one with motivational speaker and entrepreneur Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser, one with David Cutler of the Savvy Musician, and for all you entrepreneurs and bloggers 1,000 True Fans
Oprah’s favorites lists were always the first page I turned to when I used to get the magazine. Today, we’re not getting Oprah’s list, but Amy’s list!
This list includes the recipes and gadgets I arm myself with year after year for holiday cooking and the Christmas albums that create the most nostalgia in my ear during the season.
For years (until I started using Spotify Premium), I had a personal tradition of purchasing a new Christmas album each Christmas season. I love listening to the same albums each year with one new one thrown in.
Since I start listening to Christmas music on the first of November (about the same time I start Christmas pieces with my students), it’s the perfect time of year for a holiday favorites list as we’re planning our biggest holiday meal of the year (Thanksgiving), and while simultaneously setting the mood for the upcoming Christmas season through music.
A couple of tips: First, I needed six tortillas when I used a regular soft taco shell size. If you use the large burrito shells, you might be okay. Second, adding 1/2 cup of sour cream to the mixture helped make it more spreadable. Adding thin slices of ham on top of the spread is a nice variation before rolling.
Mushrooms are one of my top five foods. I could eat them on everything. Ina Garten’s Sausage-Stuffed Mushrooms are delectable. My best friend and I salivate over these puppies. The recipe calls for 5 oz. of mascarpone – forget that! Throw in the whole 8 oz container!
My sister-in-law often makes Pioneer Woman’s Green Bean Casserole, which everyone loves. It’s as creamy as they come, and the pimentos are a nice touch.
The Bird
My husband and I hate nothing more than dry/overcooked meat. The best way to avoid dry turkey is to use a brine. Not only does our favorite turkey recipe use an excellent homemade brine, but it’s also grilled. Drew loves to grill and smoke meat on our Kamado-style grill, so this recipe is a match made in heaven!
After the first time my nephew ate it, he has forever declared, “Aunt Amy makes the best turkey” (sorry, Mom and grandma!) :-/
Here I am in 2010 with my first grilled turkey. He was a 25-pound beauty!
2012 – looking even better with experience!
The same 2012 turkey off the grill and on my favorite cutting board(recommended below). That’s my mom with me. Can you tell?
Dessert and Sweets
I’m not usually in charge of dessert as I prefer cooking over baking, and no one else in my family likes being in charge of the meat. Even so, I still love making a few recipes during this season.
Note: I did one loaf and a pan of mini-muffins instead of two loaves. There ended up with a bit too much batter in the loaf, so it was still wet in the middle after 50 minutes in the oven. The batter was probably 3/4 whole in the loaf pan. If you do two loaves as the recipe calls for you, will probably be fine.
Ina Garten’s Ultimate Ginger Cookies are deliciously spicy. I’m not a huge ginger fan, but I still, love these. I pull back just a bit on the amount of chopped crystallized ginger in the recipe – just a little.
Favorite Gadgets
Disclaimer: The equipment and CD links are all Amazon affiliate links, which means that if you happen to purchase using these links, I will get a tiny percentage back without it costing you anything extra.
This J.K. Adams Reversible Maple Carbing Board won America’s Test Kitchen’s carving board equipment test. One side is flat, and the other has a poultry-shaped well. The trench is nice and deep to catch juices. I’ve had plenty of messes over the years with turkey juices, so a deep
The Polder Digital In-Oven Thermometer, America’s Test Kitchen’s “best-buy” choice, has worked pretty well for us so far. A thermometer like this is an absolute must for anyone interested in smoking meats.
The oblong shape of the Trudeau Gravy Separator is perfect for pouring liquids into it from a pot.
The best and most convenient way to brine a large turkey and have it still fit in your fridge is to use these fantastic heavy-duty brining bags from Williams Sonoma. They come in a set of 3 sizes. I always use the biggest one, but the small bags are excellent for things like pork loins.
One of my personal Christmas traditions is to purchase one or two new Christmas albums each year. For some reason, Christmas is one of those times when I don’t want to let Pandora randomly choose the music I listen to on the “Christmas station.” I like having specific albums I listen to each December. I think a lot of it has to do with the nostalgia of listening to the same albums each season.
I usually just Google “Best Christmas Albums of 2016” or something of the sort to research what’s out there.
This last CD has a story to it. Country music isn’t usually my first choice. I don’t hate it; I just don’t like it as much as other styles. However, in March 2016, Joey Martin Feek passed away from cervical cancer. She grew up in the same hometown as my husband, Alexandria, Indiana. She was four years ahead of him in school. With a small-town population of just over 5,000, she became a source of local pride.
In September 2016, select movie theaters played the movie To Joey With Love, which told her story. Her husband, Rory, took lots of video footage the last year she was alive, apparently, for no particular reason – he just felt for some reason like he should be filming their lives more. *insert tears!*
I cried the.whole.movie.
Share your favorite holiday grub and tunes in the comments – I can’t wait to hear what you love to eat and listen to over during this season
: My new OXO Good Grips 14.5″ x 21″ cutting boardis “amaAAAAzing” that’s me singing the word amazing. Why, oh why have I relegated myself to such small cutting boards the last 15 years?
