Charleston Practice and Cannoli Rewards

Tonight we had swing practice and since the snow is just starting to fall - most folks stayed home. We were lucky that Jonathan, Serafina, Darin, Megan, Cathy, Allen and Ashley joined the kids and I for a couple hours of fun. Since we had an uneven number of leads and follows we decided to work on some charleston and the jitterbug stroll. The basic charleston step starts on the right for follows (left for leads) its a right foot rock, step, kick, step (down with the right foot). Weight shifts to the right foot (left for leads) with a left foot kick, hitch, kick back, step. The hitch is a lift up and pause before moving the foot back for the kick and then down for the step. It sounds like this rock, step, kick, step, kick, hitch, kick, step- and as Jonathan says...rinse and repeat...rock, step, kick, step, kick, hitch, kick, step-rock, step, kick, step, kick, hitch, kick, step- Seraphina told us about a variation that had the followers step out to the right instead of the rock/weight shift. It sounded like push(out to the side), step, kick, step, kick, hitch, kick, step-push(out to the side), step, kick, step, kick, hitch, kick, step- We danced and practiced for almost three hours.
After dancing- Elizabeth and I had a delicious treat. Her tastebuds are growing-and she is finally sharing some of my favorite foods. The Mediterranean Kitchen in Damariscotta has lovely Cannoli- Here is a recipe to make them at home. If you've got some extra chocolate you can melt it and dunk the ends of your cannoli shell either before or after it contains the sweet cheesy filling.

Cannoli
3 lbs ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips or finely chopped chocolate
12 Cannoli shells
melted dark chocolate
chopped pistachios
Mix cheese, sugar, cinnamon and chips together well and stuff into cannoli shells. You can dip one end of the empty shell or the finished cannoli in the melted chocolate and roll in chopped nuts if you like.