Halloween Poetry Reading: A Photo Essay

Back in May, when we did our poetry reading at the wine shop, one of the audience members asked us to do an October reading at her children's theatre space.  We said yes, and we immediately started thinking about the possibilities that  late October reading offered.

I love the space.  It's amazing what a determined group can do to transform a space that used to be a small furniture store into a theatre.  And the stage was set for the current production, and happily, the set matched our reading.

We decided that we'd each read for 8-10 minutes, and then we'd do a Halloween-themed round robin.  I read exclusively from my new chapbook.  That's me, below.  When choosing what to wear, I selected autumnal clothing.  The scarf has colored leaves, as close to colored leaves as I'll get down here.

For the round robin, we chose themes in advance: 

1.  witches
2.  wolves and other monsters
3.  spells, potions, and enchantments.

Marissa Cohen reads above.  Shefali Choksi reads below.  In the background of all these pictures, you can see the set.  What an amazing set!

Below, our audience mingles after our reading.  Teenagers came!  Sure, they came because their moms came, but still, how thrilling.  And one of them asked me very insightful questions about my poem "Kitchen Remodels" after the reading, and we talked about first world problems and third world problems.  Delightful.

I promised my easy tiramisu recipe.  It's adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts.

Tiramisu 

I doubled this recipe because I wanted leftovers; as is, this recipe serves 5 generously, 6 modestly

8 oz. mascarpone cheese (cream cheese will do)
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 tsp. cocoa
1/2 c. whipping cream
2-4 c. coffee (you can add in some coffee and/or amaretto liqueur)
12 ladyfingers

Whip the cream in one bowl.  In another bowl, beat the mascarpone cheese, sugar, cocoa, and vanilla together.  Fold the whipped cream into the mixture.

Pour the coffee into a shallow bowl or pan.  Soak the ladyfingers for a minute or two on each side.  You can then create individual bowls or one big bowl.  Put the soaked ladyfingers on the bottom of the bowl (and the sides, if you like).  Add the whipped cream mixture.  You could keep doing this in layers or not.

Refrigerate for at least an hour and serve cold.  You can top with grated chocolate or cocoa or raspberries--whatever you'd like.