Anchor Hocking White Grape Footed Bowl

Bowl showing octagonal foot

Purchased this lovely shallow bowl today at a consignment shop. The bowl is on an octagonal foot and is decorated with a raised grape and leaves pattern on the inside of the bowl. This amazing fruit bowl made by Anchor Hocking is rimmed with 22 karat gold. The bowl measures just over approximately 8" across (10" with handles) x 2½" tall. it is in perfect condition with no chips or cracks and is an unsigned Anchor Hocking bowl. This will make a great companion piece to my egg plate and relish dish with the same gold rim pattern.

Top view showing raised grape and leaf pattern

Moonstone Opalescent Hobnail Open Sugar Bowl

Moonstone Glass Sugar Bowl With a Pedestal Base

This vintage hobnail open sugar bowl belonged to my grandmother Miller. The Moonstone glass sugar bowl has a pedestal base with a white frosted top edge and two large "ear" handles This style glass was manufactured by several different companies during the 1940's and 1950's and is referred to by different names. Anchor Hocking called it "Moonstone”, a lovely blue glow, just like the moonstone it was named after. Fenton called it French Opalescence Hobnail. The opalescence has a beautiful bronze depth when viewed in the light. It is made using clear glass and bone ash is thrown into the mix to give that white opal coloring. This sugar bowl is about 4 inches wide from handle to handle, 2-1/2 inches deep and about 2 inches tall. I do not have the glass companion creamer and not sure if this is an Anchor Hocking or Fenton sugar bowl. Only she would know where she purchased the bowl or if it was a gift.

Open Hobnail Sugar Bowl

Winston-Salem Journal Review - "Annie"

'Annie' brings 'magic time' to the stage'
By: LYNN FELDER | Special correspondent
Published: November 06, 2011

Annie and Sandy

It may be a "Hard-Knock Life" out there in the world, but the audience at the opening night of Twin City Stage's production of "Annie" was on "Easy Street" Friday night.

Annie and the 11 other orphan girls set a high standard of performance in the first scene with "Maybe" (Annie's solo) and "Hard-Knock Life" (a great production number). They proceed from there to fairly run away with the show, and there's plenty to run away with: Benji Starcher's choreography is exuberant; Bland Wade's gold-and-sepia-toned sets are elegant; Justin Hall's 1930s-style costumes are pitch-perfect.

The orchestra, under the talented leadership of Margaret B. Gallagher, often sounds much fuller than its 10 pieces, and the singing is fine throughout.

Anytime the girls are on stage, it's magic time, and the same goes for the orphanage supervisor Miss Hannigan, played with wicked relish by Peggie Kaan. Miss Hannigan, one of the juiciest roles in the repertoire, loves booze as much as she hates "Little Girls." Kaan rips into her role, stomping and reeling about with one sock up and one sock down as she hectors her charges and bemoans her fate.

Hooverville

But the orphans are far too plucky to seem like victims. Annie, well-played by Beatrice Howell, 11, and the littlest orphan, Molly, played by the effervescent Isabella Ellis, lead the others in numerous assaults on poor Miss Hannigan's dubious dignity.

The villains and the heroes are pretty clear-cut in "Annie," but director Steven LaCosse stays away from comic-book characterizations and lets his actors develop real personalities.

LaCosse's opera-director hand can be seen in some wonderful ensemble staging and in his collaboration with choreographer Starcher: "I Think I'm Going To Like It Here," the number when the servants welcome Annie to her new (maybe) home; and "NYC," when Daddy Warbucks (Ken Kennedy) and his secretary Grace (the graceful Miriam Davie) take Annie out on the town.

Many of the 32 cast members play multiple roles and perform amazing feats of quick-costume change. Mark Pirolo does a fine turn as Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Joshua Gerry as Rooster Hannigan (Miss Hannigan's ne'er-do-well brother) and Mary Lea Williams as his girlfriend, Lily, are deliciously sleazy and fun to watch. Drake, Warbucks' butler, played by Miles Stanley, has a grand sonorous voice.

And there's something just irresistible about a little red-haired girl standing on a desk in the Oval Office advising FDR and his Cabinet to believe in "Tomorrow."

Act I is a little long, and the energy dropped a tad before intermission, but things picked up fast in Act II. In fact, there are too many wonderful moments in this show to note them all here. Suffice it to say, it's a show that's so full of love and optimism that you will likely leave the theater feeling a whole lot of both.

Winston-Salem Journal Article - "Annie"

'Little Girls' have big shoes to fill in beloved 'Annie'

By: LYNN FELDER | Special correspondent
Published: October 30, 2011

Twin City Stage

     "Little cheeks. Little teeth. Everything around me is little," sings Miss Hannigan, the orphanage supervisor who is hilariously unsuited to care for the "Little Girls" whom she's singing about in "Annie." The musical opens Friday night at the Arts Council Theatre
     Eighty-five girls from in and around Winston-Salem auditioned for "Annie" in September. That's a lot of little cheeks and little teeth; a lot of little voices for singing and feet for dancing, too.
     "It was a tough decision to pare it down," said director Steven LaCosse. "We had a first round (of auditions) and a second round, and just sort of pulled it in little by little.
     "There were several girls who stood out … and we had them reading together and singing together."
     Beatrice Howell, 11, won the coveted title role. She is slender with a piping voice and a sunny personality. But there was so much talent on display that LaCosse ultimately selected 11 girls to play the orphans instead of the usual seven in the script.
      Rehearsals for the all-volunteer cast are nightly from 7 to 11 p.m.
     "We try to only call the orphans for rehearsal on a couple of school nights," LaCosse said. "But Annie's in every scene, and she has to be there every night."
     Despite the grumpy Miss Hannigan, played by newcomer Peggie Kaan, and a few other n'er-do-wells, love and optimism are at the heart of "Annie's" appeal.
     The time is 1933, in the midst of the Great Depression. The setting is New York.
     Annie was left at the orphanage in 1922 with a note from her parents saying that they would return for her one day. She's hopeful, but decides to take things into her own hands.
     After comforting the littlest orphan, Molly, played by a lively and bespectacled Isabella Ellis, Annie escapes from the orphanage to search for her parents.
     Annie is taken in temporarily by Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks, a millionaire, who offers a $50,000 reward to anyone finding her parents.
     "Annie is able to bring light and change back into Daddy Warbucks' all-business world," LaCosse said.
     This is LaCosse's fifth show in 13 years for Twin City Stage. He is the opera director and the assistant dean for enrollment in the music school at UNC School of the Arts. He has sung and directed with Piedmont Opera.
     A quiet man in interviews and conversations, LaCosse is animated in rehearsals. He bounces from room to room for the first run-through of the Act II opener, "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile." The number is done in two scenes: One, a radio show, includes Annie and some of the adults. The second, a room in the orphanage, includes all the other Little Girls.
     In the rehearsal hall, Daphne Nichols plays accompaniment on piano, and Margaret B. Gallagher directs the singing. LaCosse gives a few instructions to the girls and to choreographer Benji Starcher, who then teaches the dance steps and staging to the Little Girls.
     The girls fidget and chat a little among themselves. But they mostly pay rapt attention to LaCosse, Gallagher and Starcher, and concentrate on the words and movements.
     After he has them do the dance for what seems like the 2,000th time, Starcher smiles with infinite patience and says, "Don't worry. You've got it. It will happen."
      Down the hall in the theater lobby, LaCosse works with Annie and the adults on the radio-show version of the song.
     "I enjoy directing, and it's always fun working with people. This show has a lot of heart," LaCosse said. "It rings very true to what's happening in the country today. The real heart of the story is in the relationship between Daddy Warbucks and Annie. He came to realize that all he ever wanted was money and power. What was missing was someone to care for — who could count on him and he could count on."
     LaCosse said that planning and preparation are essential to working with a 32-member cast. "Musicals are the ultimate collaborative project," he said. In addition to the music director and choreographer, the scene designer Bland Wade, costume designer Justin Hall and stage manager Edwin Martinat are also key team members.
     LaCosse said that he has directed more than 600 productions in his career, and he has learned how to work with the volunteers and the professionals.
     "You've got people volunteering their time, so you really want to treat them with respect," he said. "If you have patience and people are doing their job, it will get done."
     So he plans, prepares and then remains open to suggestions. "If they make a suggestion, we try it. That's how we rehearse," he said.
     "We need a show that has optimism and says that things are going to get better, and they will get better," LaCosse said. "Sometimes, it's hard to remember that."

Vegetarian Lasagna

10 Lasagna noodles

2 packages (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach

1/2 Cup chopped onion

1 Cup grated raw carrots

2 Cups sliced fresh mushrooms (2 small packages)

1 Cup (15 oz.) tomato sauce

1 Cup (6 oz) tomato paste

1/2 Cup chopped pitted rip black olives (1 can)

1 1/2 tsp. Dried oregano

1 cups cream-style cottage cheese

1 lb. Sliced Monterey Jack Cheese

1/4 Cup grated Parmesan Cheese

1.     Prepare noodles, drain.

2.     Prepare spinach according to package.

3.     Sauté onion in oil, till soft. Add carrots and mushrooms; cook until crisp-tender. Stir in tomato sauce, paste, olives, and oregano.

4.     Grease 12x9x2” casserole pan.

5.     Layer 1/2 each noodles, cottage cheese, spinach,  sauce mixture, and 1/3 cheese. Repeat placing remaing 1/3 Monterey Jack cheese on top. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

6.     Bake 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Serves 8.

Weathervane Winery Stratosphere