Goodbye, October, it’s been nice.
And thus officially begins the final countdown to 2020, with all the holiday happenings and traditional goings-on it entails. But, before the madcap sprint to New Year’s Eve truly gets going, maybe kick back for a relaxing weekend here on Bainbridge Island?
There are several options for those seeking good times, and here are our Best Bets.
First, up, it’s First Friday!
On the same streets only just the day before trod by ghosts and monsters and treat-seeking terrors, now aesthetes roam, enjoying the latest offerings from the nearly 30 galleries, show rooms, museums, shops and offices participating.
The action, as always, will be in full swing from 6 to 8 p.m.
Visit www.bainbridgedowntown.org to learn more.
Of particular newsy note is the display at the Bainbridge Public Library, which will feature Bainbridge Island Modern Quilt Guild’s exhibit titled “Modern Quadrilaterals.”
The exhibition opens with an artists’ reception from 5 to 7 p.m.
For the past few years, Bainbridge Island Modern Quilt Guild assigns a challenge in which members are given a simple theme to interpret in any way they would like.
The only requirements are that the quilts should be 24 inches or less and that the quilter incorporates one or more characteristics of “modern quilts” as suggested and outlined by the Modern Quilt Guild. Examples of these characteristics could be the use of asymmetry, improvisation, negative space, simplicity and minimalism, alternative block structure, reinterpreted tradition, inspiration of modern art and architecture, and a distinct esthetic of colors whether it be the use of bold colors, solid colors, graphic prints and/or neutrals in white and gray.
The show will be in the meeting room during all of November and on the library website at www.bainbridgepubliclibrary.org.
Then, learn how to make delicious whole grain sourdough breads with recipes designed for home cooks in a special one-day-only demo “Sourdough on the Rise” by Cynthia Lair.
The class will be held in the Bainbridge Performing Arts lobby from 5 to 6 p.m. Saturday.
Fermented breads are remarkable for their digestibility, health-giving properties, and depth of flavor. With detailed instructions on how to create your own unique starter, recipes for 12 high-fiber whole-grain breads, and another two dozen recipes to accompany them, you’ll be able to bake bread the way it was originally done, using basic kitchen equipment, time, and lively ingredients.
Slather a buttermilk biscuit with homemade crème fraîche butter with sea salt or enjoy naan with Indian spinach with fried paneer.
In the morning, whip up yogurt flapjacks served with lemon-blackberry sauce or take an orange, pecan, and fig loaf and make “figgy French toast.”
Familiar to Bainbridge audiences as a longstanding member of The EDGE Improv, Lair is a faculty member at Bastyr University’s Department of Nutrition and Exercise Science and is the founder of their Nutrition & Culinary Arts program. She is the author of “Feeding the Young Athlete: Sports Nutrition Made Easy for Players, Parents and Coaches” and “Feeding the Whole Family: Recipes for Babies, Young Children, and Their Parents.”
Her latest, “Sourdough on the Rise – How to Confidently Make Whole Grain Sourdough Breads at Home” is on sale now.
Visit www.bainbridgeperformingarts.org to learn more.
Poetry will take the spotlight Sunday when Tess Gallagher and Joyce Rudolph visit Eagle Harbor Book Company at 3 p.m.
Gallagher’s latest book, “Is, Is Not: Poems,” is a luminescent exploration of the natural world and of self. Restorative in every sense, it upends our notions of linear time, evokes the spirit and sanctity of place, and hovers daringly at the threshold of what language can nearly deliver while offering alternative corollaries as gifts of its failures.
Guided by humor, grace, and a deep inquiry into the natural world, every poem nudges us toward moments of awe. How else except by delight and velocity would we discover the miracle within the ordinary?
Gallagher claims many Wests: the Northwest of America, the Northwest of Ireland, and a West even further to the edge, beyond the physical. These landscapes are charged with invisible energies and inhabited by the people, living and dead, who shape Gallagher’s poems and life.
Admission is free and all are welcome.
Visit www.eagleharborbooks.com to learn more.
Also happening on Sunday, Yvonne McAllister will return to the Treehouse Café at 6:30 p.m., and she’s bringing some friends along, too.
McAllister has been playing the trumpet since she was 3 years old, when her mother, the first female trumpet player west of the Mississippi, put the instrument in her hands.
Originally from Ballard, she has performed professionally all her life, including at the Show Box in Seattle where she appeared with Sophie Tucker and other greats of that era.
She and her sister Jobyna worked together for many years in their band “The Sirens of Swing,” and held court regularly at the former Whiskey Creek in Keyport.
McAllister’s engagements since then have continued to earn her many fans, and the admiration of other professional musicians.
Joining her at the Treehouse will Helene Smart, whose own singing has brought longtime joy to islanders, and Tim Malland (on drums); Ted Enderly (bass); Al Harris (keyboard); Jeff Winslow (sax and flute); and Dale Brown (violin and banjo).
Admission is free and open to every 21-or-older.
Finally, the Men’s Compline Choir of Bainbridge Island will sing the Office of Compline at 8 p.m. Sunday at Saint Cecilia Parish.
Compline, also called Night Prayer, is the last of the traditional daily services sung by monastic communities and dates back to the 8th Century.
The service consists of chant, readings, psalms, prayers, petitions and hymns, sung in a contemplative setting in a darkened church and is approximately 30 minutes in length.
All are welcome.
Saint Cecilia Parish is located at 1310 Madison Ave. North.
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