Thursday, September 17, 2009

Houston, Voice Teachers, Schools, Food

I left behind the torrential rain in Oklahoma City Thursday morning for the sunnier pastures of Houston, TX. I am traveling all across the land researching and discovering all I can about music institutions of high learning. You could probably consider this the first in a series of installments about me looking at schools.

First was the University of Houston Moores School of Music


Beautiful campus and facilities! Also in a great and convenient neighborhood which all makes for a good first impression. I have a tendency to get swept up in a school so I'm trying to stay objective through all the proceedings (so as not to pin all my hopes on something that may never be *sigh* or idealize something to the nth degree) and I can objectively say that UH was pleasant in every way and the faculty I had the opportunity of meeting with were informative and congenial.

What is right for one person isn't always right for another. UH seemed like it would be a good fit for me, financially, aesthetically, geographically, and professionally. Let's just say it will stay on my A-list.

I met with a few voice teachers, sat in on an opera music rehearsal, and spoke with the graduate admissions counselor on Thursday and was all pooped out by 4:30 and in much need of sustenance. This is when I made an incredible realization. Houston is home to a wonderful thing...


CENTRAL MARKET!

I went to one of these places with my friends and Logan's mom in Dallas once. At the time I was young and smitten. Now that I'm older I can say with certainty it is the most wonderful place on earth. It's a grocery store, btw, more appropriately a foodie paradise!

At central market there is unbelievably huge section of produce, a 30 foot long olive bar, 700 kinds of cheese, a giant bakery, gourmet cured meats, 100 kinds of fresh fish, you get the idea. It's a beautiful place.

I wandered around in there for almost an hour sampling and taking in the atmosphere. Finally settling on making a beautiful sandwich. This is what I came away with:

Havarti cheese, mustard seed salami, parmigiana focaccia, roasted tomatoes marinated with garlic, green bean salad, fresh figs, peaches, and honey flavored Greek yogurt (which if you have never had it go out and buy some right now!), and a fitness magazine, to curb the guilt of eating salami!!!

For dinner I made a focaccia sandwich with the tomatoes (and all of the marinating oily goodness!), salami, and cheese. This sandwich was incredible. It tasted like peperoni pizza the morning after when all the flavors have mellowed and you eat it cold from the fridge. Just fabulous. I also ate the green beans for some vitamins and crunch and had two of three figs.

Allow me take a moment to talk about figs. Figs are incredible. They are tiny (like about the size of a ping pong ball), really sweet, and they have the texture of butter creamed with sugar (smooth but with a kind of fine granulated texture). You can eat the entire thing and they look like this. Don't be afraid.

The Greek yogurt and one of my peaches and figs are my designated breakfast along with the pecans I brought from home. We will see if they last the night. I have a weak spot for midnight honey yogurt treats.

So for the rest of the night I'll be distracting my self with some tube, especially the much anticipated season premier of It's always Sunny in Philadelphia (9pm central time on FX). Tomorrow I'm hitting my next Houston school: Rice!

I'll edit this post with some pics from my trip soon. Forgot to bring my usb camera cord on the road with me.

3 comments:

  1. Ooh, we definitely to chat on this. Rice is on my DMA list, and U of H has a DMA Comp program, I just have no idea how it is/what its like. What 'tier' it's in so to speak. I'd love to get your perspective :)

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  2. Just discovered honey flavored Greek yogurt myself a couple of weeks ago. Agreed, it is delicious AND healthy. And I just snacked on figs yesterday from the health foods grocery after stopping off at Oma's Deli for some gourmet cheese. Parallel universes at work...

    Love your new blog.

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