
by Irene Morse
Other Desert Cities, by Jon Robin Baitz, premiered on Broadway in November 2011. A finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize, the story revolves around a family and the disruptive quality of family secrets. Director, Donny Graham, saw the play at the Ahmanson Theatre and was immediately infatuated. His production is now playing at the Ice House Theatre.

by Irene Morse
The Visalia Community Players have re-made the lobby of the historic Ice House Theater into a sunlit porch at an assisted living facility. Local theater goers are invited to come down, sit on the brand new and very comfortable lobby-show chairs, and watch Weller Martin and Fonsia Dorsey as they play a few hands of gin and get to know one another.

by Irene Morse
Happy Year of the Snake. Be sure to decorate your doors with poems written on red paper scrolls, light your torches and set off fire crackers all night long to scare away the cruel and ferocious beast, Nian. The Cookers and Kibitzers didn’t go that far but we did celebrate Chinese New Year when we got together in February.

by Irene Morse
The members of the Arts Consortium are many and varied. They range from organizations whose presence in this area has been felt for many years to individuals and/or groups just embarking on careers or avocations in the arts. Here are two such members.

by Irene Morse
Our January menu was preposterous. Who cooks a meal based on food we don’t like? Well, the Cookers and Kibitzers decided that maybe food we didn’t like was the result of unimaginative preparation and not the food itself so we began compiling a list of food each of us didn’t like.

by Irene Morse
There are many articles and notices about visual and performing arts events happening locally in Tulare County. Most of the articles will have, “Member of the Arts Consortium,” as part of the by-line and some will be accompanied by the logo. It is a mystery to most people, however, just what an arts consortium is.

by Irene Morse
Rising before dawn on Thanksgiving morning, putting a turkey in the oven and then preparing mashed potatoes, dressing, side dishes, desserts, etc. is just no longer a logical game plan for me. Just as my stamina has begun to wane, my family has begun to grow exponentially and more of the food needs to be pre-prepared a day or two ahead of time. Even at that, a sous chef is an invaluable gift.

by Irene Morse
The Cookers & Kibitzers celebrated winter vegetables this month. Winter vegetables sometimes get a bad rap; all-too-often the preparation lacks creativity. We set out to right that wrong with our November meal.

by Irene Morse
The Cookers & Kibitzers celebrated Oktoberfest this month. It was a spectacular Indian Summer day and we spent part of it just lounging on the deck and chatting.

by Irene Morse
The Cookers & Kibitzers were planning on taking a road trip in September but it didn’t come off as intended. The idea was to hire a limo and driver for a day of wine-tasting in the Paso Robles area. Not all of us could make the trip and the cost was above what the rest of us wanted to pay.

by Irene Morse
Some of us like to cook, others not so much, so we formed the Cookers and Kibitzers. Several in the group are excellent cooks. Some were specifically promised that they would never have to pick up a utensil; their contributions would be to open the wine and kibitz. Deb became the official photographer.