Let out the Dancing Queen

Too many people take life too seriously all the time. It really is a shame, especially at times like this when things are really kind of stressful.  I’m not sure why so many people seem to lose their joie de vivre too young, but it’s a shame.

It’s funny, but some of the happiest people I know have had far from the easiest starts in life. A few have survived the harshest tolls of war and suffered terrible personal hardships. Yet they are sunny, warm, generous, and as uplifting to be around as a cool breeze on a hot afternoon. Make no mistake these ladies are not mindless Pollyannas. They have serious intellects, but they also have joyful spirits. Others who inspire me have had less dramatic pasts, but have also led lives filled with challenges and disappointment, but they stay connected to an inner sense of fun and serendipity. They know how to make every day an occasion. Life is never a mundane affair around these ladies. They have a gift of wanting, pursuing, and capturing joy.

I think that is an appealing element in so many enduringly popular movies and songs. I know it is for me. As a child, I nurtured my life-long love of all things beautiful and magical, by losing myself in books and movies. To this day I have something of an MGM view of life. I don’t think it’s a bad thing. It’s what makes me strive to make everything as lovely and fabulous as possible. I know there isn’t always a happy ending in life. But is it a bad thing that I’ll move heaven and earth to try to make one happen? I don’t think so. And I think every day just looks a little better through a layer of laughter.

Don’t get me wrong; there are many things a girl has to be sensible about all the time, such as safe sex, saving for the future, avoiding bad and hurtful people. I take civil rights and taking care of loved ones pretty seriously too. Smart women can’t let up on those serious matters for a minute. But that still leaves lots of room to play.

The instinct to play is strong; it just lies buried from neglect. If you want to see it come out, go to see, Mamma Mia! I did recently. Don’t believe a word of any of the negative or even tepid reviews you might read. It is fabulous.

I saw the play when it came out. It was written around ABBA’s hit pop songs from the 70s. I was doubtful that it would be any good. After all it was simply patched together around a bunch of crazy, but catchy ABBA tunes. I was wrong; it was a magical play. The story of young love, lost and found love, and old friends -- all set to infectious hit songs by the Swedish quartet -- was irresistible.

The movie is every bit as good as the play, maybe better. It captures joy and evokes it. I won’t recap the story; this is not a review.  I will say that the movie shot in Greece looks delicious. And don’t we all love that? The last movie that looked this delectable was Kenneth Branagh's lush Much Ado About Nothing, set in Tuscany.

Meryl Streep is divine. She acts and sings those wonderful silly songs with abandon and verve. It’s not deep, but it is a happy film. There is a wonderful scene in the movie. And please stop reading, if this might ruin it for you. Skip a few paragraphs down, please.

It’s a magical scene. It was wonderful to watch the women of all ages as they  relished being the ‘Dancing Queen’. As I sat in the theatre, I felt the surge of emotion and heard laughter of pure joy erupt from the audience. Even though it was pure fantasy, the message was strong, real, and stirring: The Dancing Queen was alive and well.  Sudenly and briefly, I was in a room with many Dancing Queens, and it was lovely.

There are special scenes like this in many movies.  There is a classic dinner scene in The Big Chill.  Old friends set a table and share a meal to the sexy strains of Marvin Gayes’s Heard It Through the Grapevine. That scene defined good times for a generation.

 I am sure you can think of your own evocative scenes and memories.

If we are lucky, a few of these “magic scenes” spontaneously happen in life. But if we make a little effort to set the scene and use a little imagination and effort we can stage-manage our lives to have these gorgeous scenes happen on a regular basis. I do it all the time. I know some people consider it a bit fey, but I couldn’t care less. The people I admire most do it too.

It’s about making life a bit more of an occasion. Dressing up a bit more, fussing over the food, or the drinks, planning a special outing, or just being ready with an unexpected invitation for drinks on the deck.  Having this kind of unfettered fun with friends makes fatigue fall away and puts many irritating problems to rest - at least for le weekend. 

One of your special “scenes” might be a fancy French picnic in the park, an atmospheric Italian dinner for four, complete with the decor, or a trip out of town for afternoon tea and to see a new museum. Maybe you crave a complete make-over that makes you feel glam. Go for it and then get a friend to help you debut it at a really swanky cocktail or dinner place.  Go ahead, embrace your Sex and the City persona, it’s your scene, your MGM moment.

Darlings, I can give you recipes for quiche and gazpacho, but not for joy. What lifts our spirits and sends our souls and spirits soaring is as individual as our fingerprints. But inside of every woman there is a Dancing Queen, let her out and watch her fly.

Nancy Gerstman and Emily Russo:

Independent women in film

This week we have a very special centre column interview. Contributing journalist Debbie Williams, whose area of expertise is film, interviews Emily Russo and Nancy Gerstman, founders of Zeitgest Films. We are very excited to have this exclusive interview from a talented young woman journalist with two women who have distributed some of the most original independent films to be seen on the modern screen. Do not miss a word from these three very special women.

Williams/DD: What are some of your favourite films?

Williams/DD: How do you choose a film?

It must be an Aphrodite thing

The hottest buzz word in beauty is ‘marine extract’. Beauty makers today are looking to the sea for active ingredients in some of the hottest new anti-aging potions. Elizabeth Grant was one of the first to discover the miraculous beauty making properties of the ocean with her patented ingredient Torricelumn.

Spritz on a cool summer’s breeze

Biotherm’s new body mist Eau Pure is one of those light summer scents you catch on a breeze. It reminds me of cut lemons, freshly ironed linens, fresh wet moss, or scent of the sea. It’s the perfect scent for white t-shirts, relaxed afternoons, and a modern woman who is still a romantic at heart.  www.biotherm-usa.com   

Our Anne Gravel and Aussie Sun-Touched Hair Spray.

DolceDolce  beauty tip:

Be sure to finish with a good spritz of hair spray. It may sound old-fashioned, but your hair will look better with a spritz of spray in steamy weather.  We love Aussie Sun-Touched Hair Spray. It holds, shines, and is priced right.  I am addicted to Aussie’s line of candy-scented, budget-priced products.

Our West Coast Editor recommends

Alice Farnsworth, our West Coast Editor, is a journalist and former bakery owner. She will be reviewing books and products in upcoming issues.  Here’s her first review:

If you are a first-time grilling enthusiast, or are looking for new and exciting recipes for the family or your next fabulous barbecue party, Napoleon’s Everyday Gourmet Grilling Recipes by Chef Ted Reader is for you. Chef Reader provides yummy recipes for main courses, along with marinades, rubs, hors d’oeuvres, side-dishes, desserts and much more. Who ever thought grilling could be so simple yet so sophisticated? A definitive cookbook.

Inspiration

Recently my husband and I attended a dramatic reading of the late Ossie Davis’s play The People of Clarendon County in a most auspicious location, the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church here in Atlanta. This was Martin Luther King, Jr.’s church and the site of many historic events, including this one. The reading was done to help raise educational awareness - and a million dollars a year for the next five years - for the Ossie Davis Endowment. The fund will support grants for future Ossie Davis Scholars. The accomplished actress and director Jasmine Guy, joined by Sonia Sanchez and two local pastors read the parts.

The play commemorates a little-known struggle by people in a small South Carolina town who fought racial discrimination in their schools. Their real-life lawsuit was combined with others in the appeal Brown v. The Board of Education, and the U.S. Supreme Court’s ground-breaking ruling in the case led to school desegregation in the United States. The actor Ossie Davis wrote the play with the hope that schoolchildren would perform it.

Environmental activist Laura Turner Seydel, daughter of CNN founder Ted Turner, and her husband Rutherford Seydel hosted the reading. They helped put together an evening that was a moving reminder that we must do whatever we can to inspire and enable our youth everywhere. As Pastor Warnock of the Ebenezer Baptist Church put it so eloquently - “they need so much.” www.ossiedavisendowment.com

Simple and delicious side dishes

As August approaches summer’s bounty has arrived. Farmer’s markets and local gardens brim with ripe tomatoes and tons of the much maligned zucchini - or gourgette as they are lovingly called in French Canada and abroad. Too often these tasty vegetables are neglected. Tomatoes are often just tossed into salads. And zucchini is simply stir-fried, until no one wants to look at the poor, green squash any more. What a shame. Zucchini baked with yellow summer squash is a divine and mouth-watering side dish. Both are good for vegetarians too. Try this savory tomato tart with a green salad for a memorable lunch.

Tomato tart

One 9-inch pie crust. Make your own or roll out a pre-made one into a glass dish. You can use a frozen type in the foil pan. 

Sauté 1 med. onion. Do not brown.

Spread the cooled onion in the bottom of your tart

Crumble into the pan 1 log of goat cheese 4 oz. /250 grams.

In a measuring cup break 4 eggs and beat them with a fork and 1tsp of salt and pepper, with  1 tsp of fresh thyme or ¼ tsp. of dry thyme. Add milk to make 2 cups of liquid in total. Pour the eggy mixture over the cheese. Top with sliced rounds of fresh tomatoes arranged nicely. Place the tart in a hot 400/220 oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat and bake for 30 minutes at 300/180 until the eggs are set. Cool slightly to set.

This is nice baked in a removable bottom tart pan if you have one. You can use 4 ounces of any type of cheese you like, if you don’t care for goat cheese. Grate hard cheeses. You can also use all soy products. The texture will be different, but still good. You can also use reduced fat products, but not less than 2 percent.

Serve with a green salad spiked with fresh basil.

Summer squash gratin light

Slice well-washed young zucchini and yellow squash very thin. Use one-half of each colour squash per person to be served. Place in a bowl. Lightly salt and toss with a scant amount of olive oil and 1 clove of pureed garlic (use a garlic masher or chop fine). Use just enough oil to coat. Place the slices slightly overlapping in concentric circles in a shallow gratin dish or gratin pan. Build the layers two layers deep, no more. Top the casserole with finely grated parmesan or Romano cheese. If you don't want to use cheese, top with a few tbsp. of seasoned bread crumbs. Bake in a hot oven 400/220 for about 20 minute until the top is brown and crunchy.

Use this week to fly, let your feet leave the ground. Find the Dancing Queen that lives in all of us, and let her out to play. Find your own joy and share it with a friend or family member. Let your heart take wing and carry others along on your spirit.  Darlings, life is short make it sweet!

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