March Music Challenge - Day 7

The Day 7  March Music Challenge is to choose a song that reminds you of your childhood. My childhood was filled with music. My mom played the organ, sang at church, and filled our house with hits from Jesus Christ Superstar to Petula Clark's Downtown that she played on a then state-of-the-art record player and sang along to -- it's difficult to pick just one song. For some unknown reason, I have been thinking a lot about the novella and music of Jonathan Livingston Seagull. I recently re-read the novella written by Richard Bach and published in 1970, which tells the story of a seagull who becomes disenchanted with the conflict and materialism of his flock. Jonathan follows his passion for flying practicing and perfecting his flying abilities until he finally leaves the flock and is taken to a higher plane where he is mentored by a generous and skilled teacher. Jonathan realizes that his journey is not complete until he can find the forgiveness he needs to return to his original flock and continues his journey towards flight by taking his own students and spreading his wings so to speak. It's a beautiful story of the search for our true passion, self-fulfillment, and teaching and learning. In a truly enlightened situation, the positions of teacher and student constantly shift as the teacher often learns from the student and vice versa.

The soundtrack sung by Neil Diamond is equally moving winning the 1974 Grammy for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Special.

Not the typical childhood song but then I didn't have a typical childhood mom.

March Music Challenge - Day 5 and 6

So I forgot to do the music challenge again yesterday - this challenge is proving to be more of a challenge that I thought.

Day 5 is to pick a song with several renditions and to choose my favourite rendition. For this song, I chose Crazy Love released in 1970 by singer-songwriter Van Morrison. The song has been featured in numerous movies and several artists have done covers of it including Helen Reddy, Ray Charles, and Michael Buble. Lyrically, it's quite a simple song but those few words express the depth and breadth of true love. My favourite version of this song is by Harry Manx. Although originally from the Isle of Man, Manx spent years in India studying music and now calls Canada home. His rendition of Crazy Love contains subtle Indian tones that I feel deepen the song and pair nicely with the lyrics. I was fortunate enough to hear Manx play this song live. Even though this is far from the most famous rendition, Manx's soulful picking makes his version my favourite -- as he says in the video the "right notes sing sympathetically ... anxious to play".

Day 6 is easy for me as there is only one song I know how to play in its entirety and most of it I still know off by heart -- When the Saints Going Marching In. My mom tried so hard to teach me to play the organ and her method was that you memorize the first bar, then add the second and continue to play from the first bar through adding another bar once you had the last one down, which is why when I see a piano or organ, I can still play the beginning of this song. Also, I feel it's not a particularly difficult song to play. I don't come close to the beautiful version I have added her by Louis Armstrong.

I would love to hear about your music choices ... 

March Music Challenge - Day 3 and 4

Sorry I missed yesterday so you get a 2 for 1 day.

So the Day 3 challenge is to list the last song on your music library and Day 4 is a song from the soundtrack of your favourite movie.

The last song on my iPod is 1973 by James Blunt. I haven't actually listened to this song for a long time so it was a treat to play it again today. While the song isn't particularly nostalgic for me, it's about nostalgia -- the idea of the glory days, lost loves, and aging. The song that Blunt references, Here We Go Again, is also somewhat nostalgic taking back a lost love. That's one of the beautiful things about music is its ability to take us back in time.

The Day 4 challenge is trickier for me because I have so many favourites that I'm fickle with favourites. One of my favourite songs of the moment is from movie (not my favourite movie as it's about a subject painfully close to my heart -- dysfunctional families), Last Mile Home by the Kings of Leon. I actually thought this was an old song but it was written for the movie, August, Osage County. It's a brilliant song and I love the guitar music so much that I often play it in the car with the windows shut and music so loud that the guitar dictates the beat of my heart. The song conjures up for me that last couple of miles into Nelson, BC. (the place my heart has always called home).

But I guess I would have to say that my favourite movie is Love Actually. It has that Dickensian story line that appeals to me so much. Taking multiple lives and connecting and intertwining them together but knits them all up into a nice tidy ending. And I would have to say that despite the great soundtrack my favourite song is Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell.

Easy and Luscious Chocolate Cake

Every time I make this cake I get asked for the recipe ... it's the best homemade cheater chocolate cake ever.

Luscious Chocolate Cake

Make 1 bundt cake - serves anywhere from 10 or 2 hungry teenagers

This recipe is from Company's Coming with a slight modification.

1 chocolate cake mix (2 layer size)

1 chocolate instant pudding mix (4 serving size)

4 large eggs

1/2 cup cooking oil (try it with coconut oil - it's even more delish)

1/2 cup warm water

1 cup sour cream (yes, sour cream)

1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Glaze:

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 Tbsp. butter/margarine (or try coconut oil - again it's adds a slight coconut flavour)

*Just a disclaimer - I truthfully buy whatever cake mix is the cheapest - the brand doesn't matter.

Combine mixes, eggs, oil, water, and sour cream and beat until smooth. Beat on medium for approximately 2-3 minutes. The batter will be thick. Stir in 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips. Truthfully, I use 3 handfuls.

Spray a bundt cake pan with cooking spray and pour in cake batter. Spread to even it out.

Bake at 350F for 50 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool and then invert on a cake plate.

For the glaze: Melt butter/margarine/coconut oil in pan and add 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Melt until smooth and then spread over the top of cake allowing some to run down the sides.

Perfect Roast Chicken

I love to cook but often life is busy and end-of-the-day, rushing-home-from-work cooking is never any fun.So on the weekends, I try to make up for it by cooking more elaborate meals as well as getting us prepared for the week ahead. I do get a lot of compliments on my cooking but everything I make is quite easy and I believe within the capabilities of any basic cook. I have taken a lot of my cooking inspiration from Nigella Lawson, Michael Smith, Ina Garten, Martha Stewart, Sandi Richard, and Caprial Pence. I try to cook healthy, well-balanced meals and lately have been looking to more whole food cooking with less reliance on processed food.

This roast chicken is a perfect weekend meal and often I cook two at once -- one for dinner and the other for meat for sandwiches, salads, etc. throughout the week. I will use the carcass for soup stock. Our local Costco sells 3 whole chickens for quite a reasonable price so it's a very affordable dinner. Also, a basket of roast chicken, fresh bread, a mixed green salad, and chocolate cake, is what I bring to new moms or families in need. It's a healthy versatile dinner and in times of need food can be a welcome gift.

I've been making this roast chicken for so long that I can't recall where I got the original recipe from so my apologies for not giving where and if credit is due. And unfortunately, it's a recipe where I don't measure but I will try to give some measurements for those who want to try it at home.

Perfect Roast Chicken
Serves approximately 4.

Ingredients:

• Whole chicken
• Olive oil (approx. 2 Tablespoons)
• Whole lemon (you can also use an orange)
• Fresh thyme (4-5 stems)
• Fresh rosemary (2 long stalks)
• Salt (approximately 2 teaspoons but really to taste)
• Pepper (approximately 2 teaspoons but again to taste)
• Garlic - fresh chopped (5-6 cloves) (I cheat and use prepared chopped garlic and then I use 2 big Tablespoons)
• Water

Rinse your chicken and check the cavity for any giblets. Place it into the roasting pan. 

Rinse the lemon and pierce in several places with a knife. Spoon about a teaspoon of garlic into the cavity of the chicken and then place the lemon into the cavity.

Drizzle the olive oil over the chicken. If you have a flavoured olive oil -- definitely use that but you don't need to. It's a great place to experiment with flavours.

Spread the garlic over the outside of the chicken -- hands are best for this. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. 

Note about the fresh herbs - for both thyme and rosemary, take the stalks from the top and slide your hand down the stalk pulling the needles/leaves off as you go. I usually lightly chop both to help release their flavours. These herbs are quite sturdy and can be stored in a sealed bag in the vegetable drawer of the refrigerator. 

Sprinkle both the thyme and rosemary over the chicken.

You will want to add a tiny bit of water to the roasting pan. Be careful not to pour over your beautifully dressed chicken washing off all your work. Just enough water to barely cover the bottom of the pan.   

Cook for about an hour and 15 minutes at 350F. The internal temperature should be 165F on the meat thermometer for food safe. 

I start my chicken covered to increase its juiciness and then uncover about halfway through the cooking time to cook the skin.

And voila!

Winner, winner, chicken dinner. :)

March Music Challenge - Day 2

Today's challenge, Day 2, is to post the first song that appears alphabetically in your music library -- for me, I'm proud to say that my music library is my original Classic 5th generation iPod 5th with the rotary wheel and 120 GB of memory. That thing has been my travelling companion across continents. It's been dropped, scratched, mistreated, and well loved. Even though sometimes like this week, it threatens to quit on me, it hasn't so far.

The first song listed is The A Team by Ed Sheeran. Sheeran's debut single came out to critical acclaim and he's quoted as saying that the lyrics came from a visit he made to a homeless shelter when he was 18 but he purposely chose to set the lyrics to an upbeat rhythm which I believe is part of its appeal as well as its irony. The melody was what originally drew me to the song until I really listened to the lyrics. I love how he plays with the ideas of cold (weather and society), snowflakes, and cocaine -- this song eloquently paints a very real picture for the listener. As a motherhood scholar, the idea of flying "to the Motherland" is interesting as motherland can be such a loaded term -- one's home or native land, where we come from, the land of one's ancestors -- and makes me wonder about the pre-story. How did this girl get to this place, obviously if she flies to the Motherland, she didn't always live in this place.

For me this song carries the message that we -- parents, people, society -- need to be so careful with our youth. They are so precious.

Often it's too cold for angels to fly.

March Music Challenge - Day 1

Day 1: Song that always makes you feel like dancing. 

There are so many that it is hard to choose. My best dancing years were in the 80's. I was young, single, and went to the local club dancing almost every night. To this day, 80's music makes me start to wiggle in my seat - in fact, one day at work, a colleague caught me chair dancing to 80's pop hits, likely one hit wonders, with my headphones on. I was more than slightly embarrassed but the song in my heart and in my head was alive. I still feel like that twenty-something girl, bangs clinging to my sweaty forehead, feeling on top of the world. 

In 1983, the Kinks song called to all of us to Come Dancing ... 

So I invite you to come dancing with me for the month of March. As much as I love the Kinks' song, the current song that has me dancing at my desk is You Get What You Give by the New Radicals (another oldie that recently popped into my thoughts - not sure how - maybe it was Desert Island Discs but more on that later). For the other thing I've never lost is that teenage girl play it over and over tendency. 

And remember ...

You've got the music in you, don't let go.

You've got the music in you, one dance left,

This world is gonna pull through, don't give up,

You've got a reason to live, can't forget

We only get what we give.