Seldom Seem

Simple Sailor

Never Mind

Kind Captain 1

On Tiptoe

Englishman

Many Years Ago

Please practice with these recordings rather than the others that have been made available, since these are the ones we will be performing with.

Buttercup Aria 1

Maiden Fair 2

Captain’s Song 1

Josephine Ballad

Monarch Of The Sea 1

When I Was A Lad 1

Audacious Tar

Oh Joy, Oh Rapture

Wicked Men 1

Please practice with these recordings rather than the others that have been made available, since these are the ones we will be performing with.

Boatswain: please note that you are the main singer in “He is an Englishman”

Captain of the Pinafore

maiden fair

We sail the Ocean Blue #1

Chorus: (all sailors, female relatives, Ralph, Josephine)
Carefully on tiptoe stealing, breathing gently as we may, every step with caution feeling, we will softly steal away.
Captain: (stamps) (chord)
Chorus: Goodness me — Why what was that?
Dick: Silent be, it was the cat.
Chorus: It was – it was the cat.
Captain: (whispered) They’re right, it was the cat!
Chorus:
Pull ashore in fashion steady, Hymen will defray the fare, for a clergyman is ready, to unite the happy pair!
Captain: (stamps) (chord)
Chorus: Goodness me, why, what was that?
Dick: Silent be, again the cat!
Chorus: It was again that cat!
Captain: (whispered) They’re right, it was the cat!
Chorus: Every step with caution feeling, we will softly steal away, every step with caution feeling, we will steal away!

He is an Englishman

Boatswain: He is an Englishman, for he himself hath said it, and it’s greatly to his credit, that he is an Englishman!
Chorus: That he is an Englishman!
Boatswain: For he might have been a Roosian, A French, or Turk, or Proosian, or perhaps I-ta-li-an!
Chorus: Or perhaps I-ta-li-an!
Boatswain: But in spite of all temptations, to belong to other nations, he remains an Englishman! He remains an Englishman.
Chorus: But in spite of all temptations, to belong to other nations, he remains an Englishman, he remains an Englishman.

Buttercup’s legend

Buttercup:
A many years ago, when I was young and charming, as some of you may know, I practiced baby-farming
Chorus:
Now this is most alarming! When she was young and charming, she practiced baby-farming, a many years ago.
Buttercup:
Two tender babes I nursed: one was of low condition, the other upper crust, a regular patrician.
Chorus: (explaining)
Now this is the position: one was of low condition, the other a patrician, a many years ago.
Buttercup:
Oh, bitter is my cup! However could I do it? I mixed those children up, and not a creature knew it.
Chorus: However could you do it? Some day, no doubt, you’ll rue it, although no creature knew it, so many years ago.
Buttercup:
In time each little waif forsook his foster-mother, the well born babe was Ralph – your captain was the other!
Chorus: They left their foster-mother, the one was Ralph, our brother, our captain was the other, a many years ago.

Finale

Captain: For he’s the Captain of the Pinafore
Chorus: (Ralph, Josephine, Female Relatives, Sailors, Sir Joseph, Buttercup) And a right good captain too!
Captain: And though before my fall I was captain of you all, now I’m a member of the crew.
Chorus: And though before his fall he was captain of us all, now he’s a member of the crew.
Chorus + Captain: Then give three cheers and one cheer more for the former Captain of the Pinafore, then give three cheers and one cheer more for the Captain of the Pinafore!
Buttercup: For I’m called Little Buttercup, dear Little Buttercup, though I could never tell why; but still I’m called Buttercup, poor Little Buttercup, Sweet Little Buttercup, aye!
Chorus: (Ralph, Josephine, Female Relatives, Sailors, Captain, Sir Joseph)
For she’s called Little Buttercup, dear Little Buttercup, though she could never tell why; but still she’s called Buttercup, poor Little Buttercup, Sweet Little Buttercup, aye!
Sir Joseph: I am the Monarch of the Sea, and when I’ve married thee, I’ll be true to the devotion that my love implants.
Hebe: Then good-bye to his sisters and his cousins and his aunts, especially his cousins whom he reckons up by dozens, and his aunts!
Chorus: (all characters)
For he is an Englishman, and he himself hath said it, and it’s greatly to his credit, that he is an Englishman, that he is an Englishman.

Monarch of the Sea

Sir Joseph: I am the monarch of the sea, the ruler of the Queen’s navee, whose praise Great Britain loudly chants.
Cousin Hebe: And we are his sisters and his cousins and his aunts!
All Female Relatives (Mikayla, Dani, Lidya, Evelyn): And we are his sisters, and his cousins, and his aunts, his sisters and his cousins and his aunts.
Sir Joseph: When at anchor here I ride my bosom swells with pride, and I snap my fingers at a foeman’s taunts;
Cousin Hebe: And so do his sisters and his cousins and his aunts
All Female Relatives: And so do his sisters and his cousins and his aunts
Cousin Hebe: His sisters and his cousins and his aunts
Sir Joseph: But when the breezes blow I generally go below and seek the seclusion that a cabin grants
Cousin Hebe: And so do his sisters and his cousins and his aunts
All Female Relatives and All Sailors: and so do his sisters and his cousins and his aunts, and so do his sisters and his cousins and his aunts, his sisters and his cousins, whom he reckons up by dozens, and his aunts!

When I Was a Lad

Sir Joseph: When I was a lad I served a term as office boy to an attorney’s firm I cleaned the windows and I swept the floor and I polished up the handle of the big front door.
Female Relatives and Sailors: He polished up the handle of the big front door.
Sir Joseph: I polished up the handle so carefully that now I am the ruler of the Queen’s navee!
Female Relatives and Sailors: He polished up the handle so carefully that now he is the ruler of the Queen’s navee.
Sir Joseph: As office boy I made such a mark that they gave me the post of a junior clerk, I served the writs with a smile so bland, and I copied all the letters in a big round hand.
Female Relatives and Sailors: And he copied all the letters in a big round hand.
Sir Joseph: I copied all the letters in a hand so free that now I am the ruler of the Queen’s navee!
Female Relatives and Sailors: He copied all the letters in a hand so free that now he is the ruler of the Queen’s navee!
Sir Joseph: In serving writs I made such a name that an articled clerk I soon became, I wore clean collars and a bran’ new suit for the pass examination at the Institute.
Female Relatives and Sailors: For the pass examination at the Institute.
Sir Joseph: That pass examination did so well for me that now I am the ruler of the Queen’s navee!
Female Relatives and Sailors: That pass examination did so well for he that now he is the ruler of the Queen’s navee.
Sir Joseph: Of legal knowledge I acquired such a grip that they took me into the partnership, and that Junior partnership I ween was the only ship that I ever had seen
Female Relatives and Sailors: Was the only ship that he ever had seen
Sir Joseph: But that kind of ship so suited me that now I am the ruler of the Queen’s navee!
Female Relatives and Sailors: But that kind of ship so suited he that now he is the ruler of the Queen’s navee.
Sir Joseph: I grew so rich that I was sent by a pocket borough into Parliament, I always voted at my party’s call and I never thought of thinking for myself at all
Female Relatives and Sailors: And he never thought of thinking for himself at all.
Sir Joseph: I thought so little they rewarded me by making me the ruler of the Queen’s navee.
Female Relatives and Sailors: He thought so little they rewarded he by making him the ruler of the Queen’s navee.
Sir Joseph: Now landsmen all, whomever you may be, if you want to rise to the top of the tree, if your soul isn’t fettered to an office stool, be careful to be guided by this golden rule.
Female Relatives and Sailors: Be careful to be guided by this golden rule.
Sir Joseph: Stick close to your desks and never go to sea, and you all may be rulers of the Queen’s navee.
Female Relatives and Sailors: Stick close to your desks and never go to sea and you all may be rulers of the Queen’s navee.

Oh Joy, Oh Rapture

All sing (Carlie, Natalie, Dani, Mikayla, Lidya, Evie, Gabe, Rich, Ben):

Oh joy, oh rapture unforeseen
For now the sky is all serene

The god of day – the orb of love
Has hung his ensign high above

The sky is all ablaze

With wooing words and loving song
We’ll chase the lagging hours along

And if he finds the maiden coy
He’ll murmur forth decorous joy
In dreamy roundelays

Roulades, while delightful to make and view, have generally fallen flat flavor-wise for me. This recipe, however, using whole eggs, walnuts, and pumpkin wrapped around cream cheese, sugar, and butter, is as delightful as it is fattening. Left in the refrigerator or freezer overnight and the cream cheese sinks into the cake slightly, keeping it moist and sticky. The moistness of the cake also helps eliminate the cracking so common to this kind of cake, as most of the small fissures meld back together during the chilling period. While the recipe itself is similar to one found on the Libby’s brand pumpkin, our recipe card, typed, yellowed, and handed down from my great-grandmother, makes it feel more special. And, now that I’ve timed myself and determined that it can be made, complete with kitchen clean-up and breaks to watch some of the more spectacularly silly scenes of ‘The Swan Princess’, in an hour-an-a-half, I think it’s safe to say that it’s also a fairly simple dessert, with impressive looking results.

And it disappears quickly

As I mentioned in my last post, my job requirements currently require me to create desserts every week. Sometimes there are additional desserts to be made, for special dinners or caterings. Just before the Christmas rush began, my boss requested that I modify one of my desserts of the week for a plate-up dinner on New Year’s Eve. I was thrilled at the request, because it was one of the desserts where I had assembled a variety of components to fit with an idea, rather than simply executing an idea from a website or cookbook. But, in the contrary way that things often work, I was also frustrated with the request, because the cones themselves had yielded awkward and dissatisfying results.

The flavors of the dessert, a gingersnap cone filled with a soft, lemon infused, cream cheese mouse and given a finishing touch of chocolate through dipping the ends of the cones in bittersweet chocolate, were very nice. When I had followed the instructions for the cones as given in my cookbook, however, they had turned into more of a tube than a cone. Due to the nature of the batter, they had to be formed quickly and individually, or they would shatter or become misshapen. And knowing that making a mere eight for a dessert of the week had frustrated me, the apprehension that attempting seventy cones for the plate-up made me consider submitting a request to change the dessert out for something simple.

But I was too attached to my mental image of the dessert to abandon it, and since my boss had apparently been satisfied with the previous results which I considered to be much less than picturesque, I arrived at work the day before the party with my recipe card in hand and the knowledge that after forming seventy cones I would most likely be much more proficient than I felt after the measly sixteen or so that I had made previously in my life.

My first step, in the interest of having a shape that did not need to be explained as a cone, but was self-obviously so, was to abandon the instructions directing me to form circle and instead form a template of a wide wedge. I was delighted, when I pulled the first one out of the oven, to discover that it formed a cone much more readily than the circles had done. With the use of a small offset spatula, one of my favorite pastry tools, and the template, cut from an old plastic lid, forming and shaping the cones suddenly seemed much easier.

Even with my best efforts and disregard for singed fingers, I found I was not quick enough to form two cones from one pan. The second cone invariably shattered or turned into a bumpy, unidentifiable shape. Instead, I worked out a five pan method, where I had four pans in the oven and a fifth on which I was actively forming a cone. The quantity of pans eliminated the need for timers, by the time the next cone was ready to go into the oven, one was ready to come out. I would work the cone free of the pan liner, flip it over and quickly roll it. Using a metal cream horn mold, I would press the seam of the cone in place and leave it for a minute to harden. The first seven or so were better than I had ever made, but the next sixty-three matched the image I had formed in my mind when the dessert first occurred to me.

There were a few obstacles that I quickly worked around. Using just paper to line the pans led to the lightweight batter being sucked up into the pan, but weighting the paper with ramekins and using the two available silpats when I could fixed that issue quickly. Safely storing the cones afterward was also a slight issue, since I wanted to put them in an out of the way place where nothing would crush them, drip on them, or eat them (an issue that does occur when non-kitchen staff passes through).

In between batches of cones, I made time to whip up the cream cheese mousse, which tasted rather like a no-bake cheesecake, but had a fluffier texture. When the cones were finished, except for chocolate dipping the tips, I task that I reserved for New Year’s Eve, I quickly went through a practice plate up, decorating the dessert plate with chocolate sauce swirls and standing the cones upright. The cream cheese acted as a stabilizer, allowing even the off center cones to be placed correctly. Additional cream cheese piping for garnish, with an added benefit of hiding any blemishes near the base of the cone and I was satisfied with the design.

By January 1st, I was comfortable enough with my skills as an ice cream cone maker that I volunteered/begged my younger sister, who was stubbornly refusing to have a birthday cake at her party, to allow me to make her ice cream cones for her dessert. She gracefully allowed my request, and I whipped out another twenty cones, while teaching several housemates how to mix, spread and shape the batter. At home, I found myself making a few substitutions for the tools at work. I had fortunately been gifted with a small offset spatula for Christmas, which made spread the batter much easier, but in the absence of a plastic lid, I cut my template out of a rectangular cake board. With no metal cream horn molds, I used the tapered marble pestle from my mother’s mortar and pestle set to help shape the cones and hold the seams while they cooled. My help and I dipped the cones in chocolate as quickly as the cooled, while my brother used the remainder of the melted chocolate to coat leftover pretzels from candy-house making. Served in traditional ice cream cone style, these desserts were just as enjoyable and picturesque as the previous cream cheese cones had been.

Gingersnap Cones (recipe, with slight adaptations, from David Lebovitz’s ‘The Perfect Scoop’)
(said to yield six cones, but mine results ranged from 11 to 13 cones per recipe)

1/4 cup egg whites (about 2 eggs)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
2/3 cup flour
2 tbsp melted butter
1 tbsp molasses
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Stir together the egg whites, sugar, molasses and vanilla. Stir in the salt, spices, and half of the flour. Add the melted butter. Beat in the rest of the flour.

The dough does thicken up some as it cools and the butter firms, but I actually found it became easier to spread before it started thickening up so much that it became more difficult.

Use a wedge shaped template as a guide to spread a rounded tablespoon of batter across parchment paper or a silpat. I had my wedge measure seven inches along a side, but only eyeballed the width of the arc. Of course, adjusting those measurements changes the circumference and length of the cone. As I mentioned before, I had an offset spatula to spread the batter with. The cookbook says a spoon could be used instead, but it sounds much more frustrating.

The depth of the dough should seem very thin, but don’t worry about it. As long as the dough is all connected, it will rise and fill in around the thin spots. My cones were frequently transparent when then went into the oven.

Place the baking sheet in a 350 degree oven and watch the first cone carefully to get an idea of how long they’ll take to cook. The cone will start to look dry and darken up quite a bit. If it’s underdone when you pull it out, it will be too formless to shape and if it’s overdone, you won’t be able to roll it. It may take a few cones for you to find the right doneness. My cones were probably taking five to seven minutes each, but I never timed them, so I’m not sure.

To form the cones, flip the wedge over onto a workspace that won’t cause the searing burns that the baking sheet might. I found, since the narrow tip cools faster, that it works best to pinch the tip into shape first and then follow with shaping the remainder of the cone. It only takes a minute for the cones to harden completely, but in the interest of streamlining, you may want a tapered weight to set inside the cones to hold the seam while it hardens, so that you can move on to spreading out more batter.

Dipping the ends in chocolate can seal small holes and provides nice flavor contrast to the gingerbread. Be aware, though, that the chocolate will shorten the lifespan of the cones and will bloom after a few days, which is much less attractive.

Cream Cheese Mousse (adapted from Epicurious.com)

6 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup chilled whipping cream
zest of 1 lemon

Beat cream cheese with 1/4 cup powdered sugar, vanilla and lemon zest until mixture is fluffy and no cream cheese lumps remain. Beat the whipping cream until medium to stiff peaks form. Fold the whipping cream into the cream cheese in three additions. Taste and sift in remaining 1/4 cup powdered sugar to desired sweetness.

When I filled the cones for the plated dessert, I used a pastry bag to guide the mousse into the tip of the cone. The lemon flavor will be brighter if the mousse sits overnight before use, but the mousse will begin to lose structure if you leave it for longer than a couple of days.