Highlands Performing Arts Center

PAC Has You

Covered This Winter

With an exciting Winter 2023 schedule, Highlands Performing Arts Center proves it’s Much Ado About Nothing (and lots more). Tickets are available at HighlandsPeformingArts.com.

Much Ado About Nothing

January and February bring several options for your viewing pleasure. The National Theatre of London will present (previously recorded live): Saturdays at 1:00 P.M.: January 7: Jack Absolute Flies Again (by Richard Bean and Oliver Chris based on Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s The Rivals) is this year’s big, blockbuster comedy from the National Theatre. Set in 1940s pastoral Britain, the show is a hilarious wartime farce, with plenty of heart. January 28: Shakespeare’s well-loved romcom of sun, sea and mistaken identity, Much Ado About Nothing. The legendary family-run Hotel Messina on the Italian Riviera has been visited by artists, celebrities and royalty. But when the owner’s daughter weds a dashing young soldier, not all guests are in the mood for love. A string of scandalous deceptions soon surrounds not only the young couple, but also the adamantly single Beatrice and Benedick. February 11: The Seagull by Anton Chekhov. A young woman is desperate for fame and a way out. A young man is pining after the woman of his dreams. A successful writer longs for a sense of achievement. An actress wants to fight the changing of the times. In an isolated home in the countryside, dreams lie in tatters, hopes are dashed, and hearts broken. With nowhere left to turn, the only option is to turn on each other. February 25: Othello by Shakespeare, An extraordinary new production of Shakespeare’s most enduring tragedy. She’s a bright, headstrong daughter of a senator; elevated by her status but stifled by its expectations. He’s a refugee of slavery; having risen to the top of a white world, he finds love across racial lines has a cost.

At 12:55 P.M. Saturday, the MET Opera will present live via satellite, Umberto Giordano’s Fedora, the exhilarating drama returns to the Met Repertory for the first time in 25 years. Packed with memorable melodies, showstopping arias, and explosive confrontations. February 4, 1:00 P.M.: A special presentation: Portrait Of The Queen. Special focus is given to each of The Queen’s most intense, intimate, faithful portraits, symbols of 20th century history, contextualized by the photographers who portrayed Her Majesty. In addition, sincere, spontaneous comments from British subjects alternate with conversations featuring photographer Emma Blau; Valentino Creative Director Pierpaolo Piccioli; and actress, author, philanthropist, and model Isabella Rossellini, who met the Queen in person and gives viewers a more private, intimate reflection on the role, obligations and complexities of being a monarch.

by Mary Adair Trumbly, Highlands Performing Arts Center

DINING

Pages 68-78

One Little Sliver at a Time

Julie Bollinger

Julie Bollinger’s Carrot Cake is a slice of something that’s meant to be celebrated.

She had long searched for the perfect recipe to satisfy her family’s hunger for carrot cake. For its long been the case that their favorite way to celebrate any birthday, holiday or random joyful moment is with carrot cake.

Though cooking has many years been part of the family business – h er brother Alan owned The Dry Sink for 28 years, and Julie and her sister Susie inherited it when he unexpectedly passed away – she didn’t have a go-to recipe. She moved from recipe to recipe, hoping to strike gold with one but failing. “I was looking for more in my cake,” she said. It needed to be sufficiently moist and carroty with varied crumb and texture.

Now she thrilled to the combination of carrots and pineapple in a cake so delicious that the family eats the entire cake in one sitting. “It’s one of those cakes you keep cutting away at, a little sliver at time, until it’s all gone,” she confessed. Moist and luscious, sweet and spicy, its circumference smeared with a generous whoosh of scrumptious cream cheese frosting, the recipe was a revelation. So festive is the cake that she serves it annually at Thanksgiving in place of pumpkin pie. And when the family gathers for Christmas dinner at the house she shares in Maine with her husband, their holiday lobster dinner will end with a celebratory slab of carrot cake.

Ingredients For the Cake

2 cups sifted flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 2 ½ teaspoons cinnamon 4 large eggs 1 ½ cups vegetable oil 2 cups sugar 2 ¾ cups carrots, coarsely grated 1 8 oz can crushed pineapple (drained) ¾ cup chopped walnuts or pecans (Julie prefers pecans) 1 cup shredded sweetened coconut

For the Frosting

½ cup butter or margarine, at room temperature 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract Milk as needed

1 one-pound package confectioner’s sugar (you may not need it all)

Directions

For the Cake

1. Make the cake layers: Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. 2. Spread the pecans out on a small, rimmed baking sheet and toast in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until the nuts are deep golden brown and fragrant. Remove from the oven (leave the oven on) and transfer the nuts to a plate to cool. Chop the nuts when cooled. 3. While the nuts are toasting, grease and flour 3 round cake pans, or 9 x 12 sheet pan with edges 4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the

flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon until combined. 5. In a medium bowl beat the eggs with the granulated sugar. When the mixture is frothy, slowly add the oil in a thin stream and beat until the mixture is glossy, 6. Gradually add the flour mixture to the eggs, a little at a time, beating until the last whisper of flour disappears. 7. Add carrots and mix until combined. It’s one of those cakes you keep 8. Using a spatula gently fold in cutting away at, a little sliver at time, the pineapple, nuts and coconut until it’s all gone. 9. Evenly divide the batter between the cake pans. If needed, smooth out the tops of the cakes with a small offset spatula. 10. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the middle of the cakes comes out clean, and the cakes spring back when lightly pressed on top and start to pull away from the sides of the pan. Transfer the cake pans to a wire rack and let cool completely. (the cake will keep in the refrigerator for at least a week)

For the Frosting

1. Using an electric mixer, whip the butter and cream cheese together until light and fluffy 2. Beat in half the sugar and vanilla, and taste. Continue adding sugar until the desired sweetness is achieved. 3. If the frosting seems too thick to spread, add a little milk. 4. Spread the frosting over the cooled cake and serve. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 3 days. by Marlene Osteen