December 2016

By Kathryn Kingen

Whatever it is that we have always done, doing it again makes the holidays seem right. Traditions! It wouldn't be OUR holidays without them. At Salty's, the Magical March of the Nutcrackers and our festively decorated restaurants has inspired an annual December ritual for so many of our guests. The holidays are all about the celebration of family, friends and especially FOOD! What do you serve for holiday dinner? is always an interesting question to ask, and for me the answer is incredibly delicious LAMB. My Grandma Ruth passed down the roasted lamb with savory mint sauce tradition, and somehow that yummy goodness just has to go on.

By Chef Jeremy McLachlan

This month we are featuring lamb at all Salty's restaurants. Lamb is like our last presidential race, you either love it or you hate it. Throughout my culinary adventures I always wanted my mom to try lamb and she never would. Whenever she thought of lamb she remembered overcooked gamey flavored mutton. So one day I gave her a "beef shank" and she loved it. Afterwards I told her she had just eaten lamb and we haven't spoken since. Ha! I did not know she would disown her son over eating lamb. Now I'm known as a Baaad Boy! It is funny to me how a poorly cooked dish in your childhood changes your eating habits as an adult. I have heard these same comments about brussels sprout, scallops and turnips.

By Chef Jeremy McLachlan

This month we are featuring lamb at all Salty's restaurants. Lamb is like our last presidential race, you either love it or you hate it. Throughout my culinary adventures I always wanted my mom to try lamb and she never would. Whenever she thought of lamb she remembered overcooked gamey flavored mutton. So one day I gave her a "beef shank" and she loved it. Afterwards I told her she had just eaten lamb and we haven't spoken since. Ha! I did not know she would disown her son over eating lamb. Now I'm known as a Baaad Boy! It is funny to me how a poorly cooked dish in your childhood changes your eating habits as an adult. I have heard these same comments about brussels sprout, scallops and turnips.

On December 10 & 11, two of the ensembles of Northwest Associated Arts will present their annual Christmas programs at the Highline Performing Arts Center in Burien.
 
Saturday, December 10 at 2pm, KidSounds and YouthSounds join forces for a fun-filled concert, Christmas Treats. Artistic Directors Colleen Thomas-Reitsma and Kerstin Shaffer have programmed a concert guaranteed to deliver a healthy serving of cheer that includes all the familiar and favorite musical songs of the season.
 
Sunday, December 11 at 2pm, ChoralSounds will present WinterLight. Artistic Director Ryan Ellis has prepared a program that celebrates the energy and beauty of the holiday season. Keith Hampton’s joyous gospel arrangement True Light is paired with favorites like Keep Your Lamps and Eric Whitacre’s stunning commission Glow, written for Disney’s World of Color: Winter Dreams. There will also be a dash of fun with a medley from Elf: The Musical and a spirited Twelve Days After Christmas, a moving performance of the Bing Crosby/David Bowie duet Little Drummer Boy and Peace on Earth, and many other choral gems.
 

On Sunday, Dec. 11, enjoy the sounds of the season as Burien Actors Theatre presents a Holiday Concert with the Northwest Symphony Orchestra (NWSO) Brass Quintet—featuring internationally renowned soloist Natalie Dungey. This concert presents traditional holiday music played by the brass quintet in chamber-music style.
The NWSO Brass Quintet is drawn from the nationally acclaimed Northwest Symphony Orchestra, which has been featured on National Public Radio and NBC’s Today Show. Artists as diverse as Alice in Chains and Natalie Cole have performed with the NWSO.

by Adriane Vetter

It's hard to say what I loved about this year's Christmas show at Burien Actor's Theatre.  Directed by Mark 'Mok' Moser,
'The Ultimate Christmas Show (abridged), at times reminded me of some of the funniest skits from early Monty Python's Flying Circus, and actors, Beth Davis, Pepper Handrich, and Anna Richardson definitely are as funny and quirky with their
humor as John Cleese, Graham Chapman and Eric Idle.  In fact, the antics of these three, as they try to put on a show that is supposed to have many more acts (the premise of the play is that after all of the acts for their show are held up by a
killer Winter storm, these three, rather than cancel, decide to put on the show by their lonesomes), are the reason to go.

There's an attempt at Christmas rap, that fails, but tickles as well, as well as some hillarious renditions of familiar Christmas songs, that involve, at one point, impromtu interaction with the audience (if you sit in the front row, be prepared to be pulled