personal (amy) Archives

NCKP Meet-Up with Amy and Tim

June 17, 2017

The National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy is just around the corner. This biennial conference put on by The Francis Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy is always held in Lombard, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.

The 2015 event was my first NCKP experience and I was hooked. Being that I’m only a 3-4 hour drive away, I plan on attending every one from now on!

After my first Piano Pantry reader’s dinner at MTNA in Baltimore, I was excited to get the chance to offer something again at NCKP. This time I’m honored to team up with Tim Topham who’s making the trek all the way from Australia for this great conference.

Let me share how I first came to meet Tim. Continue reading

An Exciting Announcement

May 29, 2017

by Amy

Almost one month ago exactly, I mentioned in my post on conducting year-end student evaluations meetings with students, that I had a BIG announcement I was making to my studio families during our one-on-one meetings this year.

Of course, many families wanted to take a guess. Most came up with: I was either pregnant, moving, or hiring an assistant.

Do you want to take a guess too before I let you in on the secret?

Evernote Community Leader

April 29, 2017

by Amy

By now many of you are aware that I am a huge Evernote fan. I can’t help it! Nothing else has been able to match this productivity workhorse in regards to the way I work and capture information.

I have been using it for 5 years and every year I continually improve and streamline how I use it on a daily basis not only in my professional life but in my personal life as well. The first time I shared with you how I use it as an independent teacher was in December 2016 in the post/video Evernote: An Independent Music Teacher’s Handbook.

That initial post was followed up with:

Evernote Part 2 [Web Clipper]
Evernote Part 3 [Account Features, Tagging, and More]
and my most recent post, Using Evernote for Student Evaluations

I am super excited to announce that in January 2017, after completing a training course, I was accepted into the Evernote Community Leader (ECL) program! Continue reading

Piano Pantry Readers’ Dinner
MTNA 2017 Baltimore, MD

February 24, 2017

by Amy

I am SOOOOOO excited to announce that I will be hosting my very first Piano Pantry reader’s dinner meet-up at the upcoming MTNA Conference in Baltimore!

The first readers’ dinner I ever attended was with Natalie Weber (then Whickham) of Music Matters Blog. I think it was in Albuquerque because I remember being in grad school at the time.

It’s the perfect chance to put faces with names and get to know you a little. In order for me have a chance to actually get-to-know-you and chat with all who attend, I have set my own personal maximum limit.

So…if you are interested in reserving your spot and attending the dinner please email me ASAP.

The dinner will be held on Monday night, March 20. Details will be sent to all attendees via email.

Amy’s Holiday Favorites

November 12, 2016

by Amy

Who else is a sucker for “favorites” lists? For years I used to love reading Oprah’s favorites. It was usually the first page in the magazine I would read.

I’m ready to share some of my holiday favorites with you today including favorite holiday recipes from all over the web and my tradition of purchasing a new Christmas album every year.

Since I start listening to Christmas music the first of November – the same time I start Christmas pieces with my students, I figured it’s the perfect time to bring you my favorites. We’re planning our biggest holiday meal of the year – Thanksgiving, and simultaneously setting the mood for the Christmas season to come.

I’m not one to make the same recipes over and over so anytime you get a recommended recipe from me, it means it’s a keeper!

Favorite Holiday Recipes and Cooking Equipment

Cranberry Feta Pinwheels

My family goes CRAZY over these Cranberry Feta Pinwheels from Food.com.

A couple of tips. First, when I used a regular soft taco shell size, I needed six tortillas. If you use the large burrito shells, you might be okay. Second, I found adding 1/2 cup of sour cream to the mixture helped make it more spreadable.

A nice variation is to add thin slices of ham on top of the spread before rolling.

Chris Botti Concert with the Philharmonic

May 2, 2016

by Amy

My husband, Drew, and I had a fun night out this weekend as our local Fort Wayne Philharmonic hosted the brilliant jazz trumpeter, Chris Botti (BOH-tee), in their annual Pops Concert.

I’ve only been to a handful of concerts with the F.W. Philharmonic and tonight certainly reminded me of what I’ve been missing.

The concert was packed (if not sold out), but first, of course, we had to start the night out with good food. The bacon-wrapped pork looked better in person than it did in this photo but oh well, it was fantastic, and my cute hubby makes the picture even better. 🙂 OK, I’ll stop the sap.

If you’ve never seen him live in concert, I would highly recommend catching him on tour. Mr. Botti is quite the entertainer. The quality of musicianship displayed was out-of-this-world.

A Multigrain Bread Morning

April 28, 2016

by Amy

OK so even though this blog is more about piano than it is food, I just have to share my exciting morning. I had my first experience baking homemade bread and not in a breadmaker! (I experimented with making bread in a breadmaker years ago and didn’t like it. It always turned out too much like store-bought bread. Who knows, maybe it was just the recipes I tried or the old breadmaker I used).

We don’t eat much bread at all partly because we try to keep or carb intake on the low-end (within reason) and partly because I’ve never found a store-bought bread I’ve ever liked. Several months ago I saw Martha Stewart make this recipe on Martha Bakes and suddenly for some reason it has been on my mind, enticing me to make it the last few weeks.

I finally got a chance to do so, and it was totally worth the work! Honestly, it wasn’t as much work as you might think!

It’s full of whole grains like wheat berries, bulgur, oats, sunflower seeds, and flax seed and uses a mix of rye, whole wheat, and all-purpose flour.

A Fountain of Joy

April 20, 2016

by Amy

The word “joy” has been on my mind quite a bit lately.

It started with reading the book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing. Besides learning how to store clothes in a way that makes good use of space, the word “joy” came up frequently. The author, Marie Kondo strongly encourages readers not to skip one important step when working to reduce and organize “stuff” in our life. That is, we should hold every single item physically in our hand and ask “does this bring me joy?” Such as simple question!

I finished that book on my flight to San Antonio a couple weeks ago and the next day was once again asked to consider “joy” when I heard Robert Duke speak. Continue reading