An Opera at Oberlin

Do you enjoy college theatrical productions? Do you like Shakespear? Do you like opera? Are you craving some live entertainment for mid November? If you answered yes to any or all of the above, then we invite you to come to Oberlin and take in the Oberlin College production of A Midsummer Nights Dream which opens on Wednesday, Nov. 14 and runs through Sunday, Nov. 18. The play, of course, was written by William Shakespeare as a comedy of errors about falling in and out of love with the wrong people because of meddling and trickery. Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears adapted the play in 1960 as a magnificent opera production that will be sung in English on the Oberlin stage. The opera, with music provided by the Oberlin Chamber Orchestra and local children performing as fairies in the magical woods, is in three acts with two intermissions.

Performances are at Hall Auditoruim at 8 PM on Wednesday, Nov. 14, and Friday and Saturday, Nov. 16 and 17. Sunday's performance is at 2 PM, Nov. 18. All seats are reserved with ticket prices $3.00 more at the door. Early tickets can be purchased by calling the Cenral Ticket Service at 440-774-8169 or 800-371-0178 or visiting the box office in Hall Auditorium between 12 and 5 PM, Monday-Friday. Early general public tickets are $12.00 and $8.00 for Seniors. For complete details go to the Oberlin College website - http://www.oberlin.edu/newserv/07oct/midsummernight.html

So if you decide to come and be a part of this great production, why not come and spend the weekend at Hallauer House B & B. Take in some of the other sites of Oberlin, do a little early Christmas shopping at some of our really super, local, downtown stores and enjoy lunch and dinner at our fantastic local restaurants. We'll cover your breakfast needs here at Hallauer House with one or more of our famous and fabulous gourmet breakfasts.

So give it some thought and then give us a call. You know you want too! See you soon!

New Pumpking Bread Recipe

In honor of Fall I decided yesterday that I would make a Pumpkin Bread recipe for this weekends guests. And wouldn't you know that last week I cut out from the Sunday paper just such a recipe! So, as all good ex-Home Ec. teachers do, I assembled the ingredients, preheated the oven, and began preparation. But this recipe used only 1 cup of pumpkin and I had a 30 oz. can. So instead of putting the leftover pumpkin in the refrigerator where it would probably be forgotten until it was ready for the compost, I decided to go ahead and adjust the recipe to accommodate the entire can. Thus, this required increasing the recipe times 4. No problem! My trusty math brained husband was close by so he shouted out the necessary increases for each ingredient and I diligently made the changes on paper.

Well increasing the pumpkin was easy - 8 ozs. changed to 32 oz. The spices went from 1/2 tsp. to 2 tsps. The water from 3/4 cup to 3 cups. Okay so far. But then I began wondering about the accurracy of this entire recipe! I needed to increase the brown sugar from 1 3/4 cup to 7 cups! Now, I've never made a recipe with 7 cups of brown sugar in it! Needless to say, I now am out of brown sugar! Had just enough! Then I added the increased amount of vegetable oil which amounted to 2 cups. By this time the mixture resembled a very dark bowl of spicey smelling liquidly goop! And I'm beginning to think that this is going to be a very expensive mistake! Then instead of the 2 eggs called for in the original recipe, I needed to add 8 eggs for the quadruple. Ok, now it really looks like dark brown, spicey, liquidy soup! Well, in for a penny, in for a pound! Might as well keep going and see what happens!

Next up was to add 7 cups of flour mixed with 4 tsp. of baking soda and 3 tsp. of salt. After mixing the dry ingredients just until blended, I found I still had a rather soupy mess! Well, I decided that I would just have to go ahead and fill the pans, bake the 'bread' and see what would happen and how it would taste. I had a muffin mix waiting in the wings that I would make for the guests just in case this recipe really flopped! Since we like to serve a mini loaf of bread to share between 2 guests, I decided to go ahead and bake this liquid batter in my mini loaf pans. And believe me, it was a liquid batter! Well, the original recipe said it would make 3 mini loaves so with the quadruple I figured I'd get 12 mini loaves (3 X 4 = 12, right?). I ended up with 20 mini loaves! Instead of a bread batter, I had more of a liquidly cake batter! Oh well. I had too much invested to deep six the entire mess, so I went ahead and baked all the loaves, expecting the worst and figuring that I would have a really messy oven to clean up once these things all overflowed! The baking time was supposed to be 50 minutes but I adjusted that to 40 min. and then if not done, I could continue baking.

They were done after the 40 min. and lo and behold, they did not over flow! They actually looked and smelled great! Well, the test is in the taste! Sliced one open. Smelled great! Sliced more like cake than bread but at least it didn't crumble apart! Joe took a bite. I took a bite. Great taste! Great texture! Great aroma! Can you believe! I almost threw the entire mess away! Now I have 15 loaves of cake/bread in the freezer. We used 5 already! The five guests this morning did not leave any leftovers and gave their stamp of approval. So, goes to show - don't jump to conclusions. Follow through, keep going, and see what happens!


So here is the ORIGINAL RECIPE! Give it a try and let me know what the batter looked like, how it baked up, and how it tasted. If you have another Pumpking Bread recipe you'd like to share, email and let me know.

PUMPKIN SPICE BREAD

8 oz. minus 2 T. pure pumpkin
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 cup water
1 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large leggs, lightly beaten
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Heat pumpkin, and spices in a small pan over medium heat until steamy, stirring continuously. Cook until pumpkin is stiff and starts to stick to the pan bottom, about 3 minutes.
3. Transfer pumpkin to a bowl and stir in 3/4 cup water, then brown sugar, then oil, then eggs and blend until smooth.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together remaining dry ingredients, then fold into the pumpkin mixture until just combined.
5. Scrape batter into 3 greased mini loaf pans or 1 9-inch loaf pan.
6. Bake until firm and golden brown, about 50 minutes for mini loaves and about 70 minutes for large loaf.
7. Let bread stand for a few minutes. Turn onto a wire rack and cool to room temperature.
Recipe freezes well.

An Oberlin Weekend

Summer vacations have come and gone, school is in full swing, fall is definitely here, there's a nip in the air and you're probably asking yourself, "Okay, what is there to do now? Where can I go for my Fall break?" Our answer to your question is "Come to Ohio!" Okay, so the Indians didn't make it to the World Series. But there WILL be next year, so plan to come to Ohio between April and Oct and take in a game!

But right now we want you to come to Oberlin, a little town of only about 8500 people, but what we lack in population we make up for in lots of top notch entertainment. I'll be making frequent postings on all the happenings here in Oberlin over the course of the next couple of months, so check back frequently.

Taking place next weekend is the inauguration of the new college president, Marvin Krislov and in his honor, the College is hosting a weekend of symposia, concerts, and ceremonies with FREE community events on Saturday which are open to the public!

The opening event on Thurs. Nov 2 is the Preservation Hall Jazz Band which is part of the Artist Recital Series. For information check a previous Blog post describing the entire series, link, cost, (there is a cost for this event) and ticket information.



The first big event on tap happens on Friday, Nov. 3. The inaugural concert begins at 8:30 PM in Finney Chapel with feature performances by current students and alumni. Performers include Jennifer Koh (OC '97)with pianist with pianist Shai Wosner, who will perform Maurice Ravel’s Violin Sonata in G Major. Pianist Spencer Myer (OC ’00) will perform J.S. Bach’s aria Sheep May Safely Graze, from his Hunting Cantata, BWV 208; two préludes by Claude Debussy—Les tierces alternées and Feux d’artifice—from Book II of his Préludes; and Igor Stravinsky’s Four Études, Op. 7. The songs performed by baritone Robert Sims (OC ’88) and pianist Cliff Jackson (OC ’77) will include Lena McLin’s Great Day, Aaron Copland’s Ching a-Ring Chaw, Jerome Kern’s Ol’ Man River, and Sims’ arrangement of Vera Hall and Dock Reed’s I’m Goin’ Home on the Mornin’ Train. The Prima Trio—clarinetist Boris Allakhverdyan (OC ’08), pianist Anastasia Dedik (OC ’06), and violinist Farhad Hudiyev (OC ’08)—will perform Peter Schickele’s Serenade for Three and Fleeting Miniatures, an original composition by Mr. Hudiyev. Finney Chapel is located at 90 North Professor Street, across from Tappan Square, on the Oberlin College campus. It is wheelchair accessible, and free parking is available throughout the campus. For more information about the inaugural concert, please call 440-775-6933, or visit www.oberlin.edu.

Saturday, November 3 is the day for enjoying community activities with a fun day of family events for kids of all ages. All events are free, open to the public, and are suitable for school-age children and beyond. Visit five or more events for eligibility in the raffle of great Oberlin prizes. Cards will be available at each location.

Activities begin at noon with the Community + College Tailgate Picnic.
Come and enjoy some tailgate food, fun, and live music featuring Oberlin Steel, jazz by The Sauce, and Oberlin High School Marching Band.

At 1:00 p.m. cheer on the Oberlin College Yoemen as they take on Kenyon College in the Sat. football game at Savage Stadium.



If football isn't your thing then try your hand on the climbing wall
at Jesse Philips Physical Education Center (lobby). From 1:00 to 3:00 you can try to make it to the top! Or go to Hales Gym where you'll find six lanes for open bowling.




Take a tour of the Adam Joseph Lewis Center which was built in 2000, and is a state-of-the-art facility which generates its own energy, purifies all wastewater for re-use on site, uses environmentally responsible materials, and maintains an organic garden and wetland. Talk about recycling—this place represents the "Three Rs" at their best.

From 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. there will be Planetarium/Observatory Tours in Peters Hall. Here you can explore new heights with a trip to the top. Take a look in a giant telescope, learn more about what is "up there," or just enjoy a new view of Oberlin.

During this same time frame you can participate in "The More You Look, The More You See" at the Weltzheimer-Johnson House. Most people are unaware that there is a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Oberlin! (See a future post about the house!) Come for a tour, practice your drawing skills, and have your artwork certified as an official Weltzheimer-Johnson House image!

From 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. the Oberlin Heritage Center is offering a journey back in time with tours of the Little Red Schoolhouse with school lessons and stories, and tours of the other historic buildings. Refreshments will be served on the porch of the Jewett House.

Looking and Learning Tours at Allen Memorial Art Museum will be available in the afternoon. You can try and determine "What's that hanging on the wall?" Take a short tour of the Allen Memorial Art Museum and tell them what you see. Tours are specially geared to school-age children and will be led by Oberlin College students.

From 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. play "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" at the Science Center where there are exciting physics experiments, demonstrations, and magic tricks.

But if you really need a break and are missing the feel of nice pool water, then go for a swim at Carr Pool from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.


For complete information on parking, locations, and specific times visit the college website at http://cms.oberlin.edu/inauguration/community_college.dot

So if you have some time and you need to get away, come to Oberlin. You won't be disappointed! We are small but we have mighty things to do!

Country Autumn 'Bag Lady' Tour 2007

Autumn Leaves
This is a "DRIVE YOURSELF ADVENTURE" that takes you into six small towns and townships in Lorain and Medina counties. Your adventure can begin at any of the 12 participating businesses where you can pick up a flyer and map. Get your flyer stamped at every location and then turn it in at your last stop. A grand prize winner will be selected from the flyers with stamps from all locations and a consolation prize winner from all incomplete flyers. The BASKET OF BOUNTY GRAND PRIZE includes gifts from every store and has a value of over $120.00. Also this year is a CHOCOLATE TASTING ADVENTURE!

Now the great thing about this adventure is that you can do it over a number of days! The first weekend runs Fri. Oct. 19 and Sat. Oct. 20 from 10 am to 5 pm and Sun. Oct. 21 from 12 pm to 5 pm. The second weekend runs from Fri. Oct. 26 and Sat. Oct. 27 from 10 am to 5 pm and Sun. Oct. 28 from 12 pm to 5 pm. The participating businesses are:

In Wellington: Bread-N-Brew; Black River Antiques; All Ohio Train, Toys, Bears & Collectables; Always in Bloom; Depot Street Designs.
In Rochester TWP: Bonnie Brae Farm Tours, Ltd.
In Hommerville: The Pumpkin Factory; Eichel's Christmas Tree Farm & Shop
In Penfield: Days of Yore Herb & Flower Farm
In Spencer: Spencer Feed & Supply; Amish House & Queen Right Colonies
In West Salem: C&L Shoes

We suggest that you schedule a FALL BREAK (the college kids get one!) and come and stay at Hallauer House Bed & Breakfast while you do the Bag Lady Tour! Check in early on the Friday of your choice and make a few shop visits before 5:00, come back, relax, and then go out for a fabulous dinner in town. After a fantastic breakfast, head out to visit more shops, get more stamps, have another fantastic dinner, maybe take in the movie at the Apollo. Sunday will be another fabulous breakfast and then finish up your tour before you head home, all refreshed and re-energized with the chance of winning the GRAND PRIZE! What better way to spend an autumn weekend. If you mention this Blog post when you make reservations, you will receive a 10% discount on your room!. And the added bonus is your chance to see all the beautiful fall colors of nature as your drive the country roads. Even if you don't have the time to stay with us, do come to Lorain County and follow the country tour. You know you want to! Plan for it!

For more information about the tour and Wellington merchants call 440-647-9424 and visit the Historic Wellington Merchants Association website at http://www.hwma.org/


Our warm autumn display!

Saddest Day of the Year!

Well that saddest day of the year is finally here - the closing of the swimming pool! But this year, we're draining the pool and installing a new liner, well Joe and I aren't the installers but The Great Escape install crew is doing it for us! Thanks to Andy, Mark, Joel, and Scott for all their hard work. Excellent job guys! Can't believe they completed the job in less than half a day! Thanks a million! Thursday they came to transfer the water to two portable pools and then yesterday they returned to finish the job. We will still loose about a third of the water but we needed to lower the water level anyway for the winter.
So today, Friday, the pool is officially closed with the new winter cover in place and wouldn't you know the temperature today was 85 degrees!!! And tomorrow and Sunday we will see the same weather, possibly pushing 90 degrees! It is so warm, calm, and humid that the pool would have been a great place to be right now at 7PM. But the Cleveland Indians are playing the New York Yankees in the play-offs so I guess it's best to be glued in front of the TV watching the game or sitting at the computer with the game just an earshot away. Go Tribe!!


Check out the pictures to see the pool go from old to new. And be sure to check us out next spring. Pool opens last week in April and will be warmed up and ready about 3 days later.