Recipe: Spaghetti Squash Casserole

INGREDIENTS:
1 Large Spaghetti Squash (or 2 small/medium)
1 pkg 'Italian' Veggie Ground Round (or other fake burger crumble *some types of TVP will make it gluten-free)
1 Tomato, diced.
2-3 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 cup Pasta Sauce (I use arabiatta or other simple tomato-based sauce)
3 slices Bread, torn into 1-inch chunks (slightly stale works best, can use gluten-free)
1/2 cup Flaked Nutritional Yeast
1 tbsp Oregano
2 tsp Basil

Preheat oven to 375F. Cut spaghetti squash in half length-wise and scoop out seeds. Lay skin side up on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum, add some water to prevent burning. Poke with a fork to release steam and bake for 30-40 minutes, until soft.

With about 10 minutes left on the squash, fry the ground round in a pan with the minced garlic until lightly browned (2-3 minutes). Add the tomato and stir until soft, set heat to low. Remove the squash from the oven and use a fork to pull out the 'spaghetti' strands. Add all of the strands to the pan and coat with just enough pasta sauce to mix in all ingredients, simmer for 5 minutes then pour into a casserole dish.

Using a food processor, blend together the bread, nutritional yeast and spices until it resembles bread crumbs. Spread the crumbs evenly over squash mix, drizzle with olive oil and bake at 400 for 5-10 minutes until the top is lightly browned.

 
 

A Record a Week: Six to End the Holidays

SIDE 1.

WANNA BE STARTIN' SOMETHING

BABY BE MINE

THE GIRL IS MINE

THRILLER

SIDE 2.

BEAT IT

BILLIE JEAN

HUMAN NATURE

P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)

THE LADY IN MY LIFE

Yowza, it's no wonder this record is the top-selling album of all-time (reportedly). I myself have 2 or 3 copies I have accumulated through various collection dumps/bulk box buys. Many artists would be ecstatic to have their best-of albums amount to a group of songs this good at the end of their career, yet Jackson had this all on one album. He was already a seasoned veteran, having started singing with Jackson 5 almost 20 years beforehand. This album came out a year before I was born, but I remember it through all my childhood and onward.

One of my finest memories of this album came from my wedding, where an impromptu (well, sort of*) zombie dance broke out spanning the entire dance floor. Not the only impromptu dance of the night and perhaps not even the best, but certainly had the widest berth.

I didn't have to listen to this record by any stretch, I've heard it so many times. However, I certainly never pass up an opportunity to throw it on.

*Some attendees of the wedding had done the first (and THAT was totally impromptu) version at my mother's wedding a couple years previously.

 

SIDE 1.

BAD

THE WAY YOU MAKE ME FEEL

SPEED DEMON

LIBERIAN GIRL

JUST GOOD FRIENDS

SIDE 2,

ANOTHER PART OF ME

MAN IN THE MIRROR

I JUST CAN'T STOP LOVING YOU

DIRTY DIANA

SMOOTH CRIMINAL

Well, how many artists can put out back-to-back albums like these two? I guess he had to earn the name King of Pop somehow. Interesting fact: the tour from this album was my first concert experience, though I don't remember it.

I think I let this album pass by me when I was younger and favoured Thriller, like i did with the Beatles Sgt. Pepper's and that was a mistake. Songs like Bad and Dirty Diana always were on my radar, but songs like Liberian Girl, Smooth Criminal and Man in the Mirror have come up more in my rotation in the last few years. Man in the Mirror is probably in my top 2 or 3 MJ songs. Even though it wasn't a song Penned by Jackson, the lyrics are less love song (like many of the non-Jackson-written ones) and more a cry for help or cry for change. Perhaps it took me being older, or seeing it as a reflection on him post-mordem to have the lyrics have more meaning.

Definitely a great hour and a bit listening to these two back-to-back. I had been waiting on them for a while and glad I finally got to them.

 

SIDE 1.
DETOUR AHEAD
GOODBYE

SIDE 2.
OLD DEVIL MOON
SKJ
OPUS DE FUNK

I must admit, jumping straight from two Michael Jackson records to this was a touch of a letdown. Maybe not a letdown, but a total switch of gears. This record is smooth Jazz, which while full of talent, is not as in your face as MJ (the other MJ I guess, since this is MJ too).

This music sounds either like something from the better selection of hold music or perhaps something that the band would be playing in the background at a bar in Mad Men or other such show.

Usually I like to do something else while listening to records in the basement; play a video game or build lincoln logs with my daughter or such. My major knock with this album is that, since it fits in as hold music/background music, the music drifts by without any parts that jump out and grab you. Nothing specifically bad, but nothing that jumps out. I guess that's generally my problem with the smooth Jazz genre. I don't not want to hear it, I just don't reach for it as a thing to listen to.

SIDE 1.

THE BLUE ROOM

A FINE ROMANCE

JALOUSIE

BILLY 

LOVE IS HERE TO STAY

AURORE

PICK YOURSELF UP

NIGHT AND DAY

SIDE 2.

I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT YOU'RE IN LOVE WITH ME

THESE FOOLISH THINGS

ERROL

OH, LADY BE COOL!

JERMYN STREET

CHEEK TO CHEEK

THE LADY IS A TRAMP

The music was instantly familiar to me and at first, I couldn't figure out why. The style is a little out of my wheelhouse, being 1930's fiddle and piano Jazz/Pop. Then it hit me - the songs sound like the interstitials played by John Sheard and Dennis Pendrith play at the live Vinyl Cafe shows. Heck, I've never sourced those songs, they could very well be the same ones on this record. That tie made it an enjoyable and comfortable listen to me. I just imagined stories layered over top and I was good to go. It's definitely head-bob-finger-snap-inducing music that's sweet on the ears and completely inoffensive. Not going to get you up and dancing necessarily, but certainly a fun listen.

Note: Jalousie is french for jealousy and there is a version of this album that goes by the English name. 

SIDE 1.
GLAUCKENSPIEL
STANDUP
CLASS WAR
BEETLE
4U

SIDE 2.
NO TURNING BACK
ADDICTS
STICK PIPE
THE '60S SONG
DANA WILSON

It's funny to think about, but when this record came out, these guys were like my idols. I was 15 at the time of this release, so they couldn't have been more than 20. When I first saw them, they were probably 17-18 and I was 12 or 13. Now, it might be the fact that ska was in style at the time, or that it was 15 years ago and current me is years older than the members of the band were at the time, but this record sounds WAY out of date.

There was a popular hardcore band called Grade in Burlington when I was a teenager. They started as a metal-ish band and became more melodic over time. It was Greg Taylor's presence in the band that added that melodic tone. He started Jersey as a side project, but it eventually became his main priority, at which time he left Grade to pursue it full time. This record has the original formation with a female vocalist and horns included. The next record left behind the horns and got more of a rock-punk feel to it and eventually, the female singer left to get married and the band was significantly smaller than when they began.

The album's opening and closing songs are ones that have stuck with me over the years, even though I rarely listen to this album anymore. It was a nice piece of nostalgia to hear this after so many years and also nice to see how my tastes have changed. This band was definitely part of my formative music years and they were amongst the bands that allowed Burlington to become the thriving music scene it did over the following decade.

SIDE 1.
I'VE FOUND A NEW BABY
THERE'S A SMALL HOTEL
INDIANA
MY ONE AND ONLY ONE
THE WILD CAT

SIDE 2.
IT'S THE GIRL
OH, LADY BE GOOD
SOMEDAY SWEETHEART
C JAM BLUES

Well, I've come to learn that my stepfather certainly has an interest in dixieland Jazz, or he at least did at some point. This record covers some jazz standards from that era and does so with great understanding and emotion. It's the coming together on the first of three records by Joe Venuti and Zoot Sims, both masters of their own instruments. They mesh very well and the result is a great record that is very cohesive and well executed.

I find it funny that on the same sequence of records there is both Oh, Lady be Cool! (Jalousie) and Oh, Lady be good. Makes me wonder if they are different versions or takes on the same song or just a coincidence? They both fall into the same sort of style, but to be honest there was a bit of a gap between the two and I don't remember specific songs. I wouldn't mind checking out the other two records they did together, but I don't believe I have any of them and lots of time they can be super hard to come by. Perhaps I'll stumble upon one or both at some garage sales this coming season.


Well. That's it to wrap up the holiday season 2012-2013. Hope everyone had a good break, whatever of it you got!

Sunday Brunch: The Kitchen Cupboard Breakfast Cookies

In football, sometimes they say 'throw the kitchen sink at them', which means a bunch of different defensive looks. I call these 'The Kitchen Cupboard Breakfast Cookies' because everything is closed today and so I was relegated to throwing in whatever was in my kitchen cupboards and I used as much of it as possible to make this (relatively) healthy cookie. On a coincidental note, the pictures on this entry were img2012 and img2013 - your fun new years day fact. Happy 2013!

INGREDIENTS:
3/4 cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 cup Instant Oats
1 cup Mixed Seeds & Nuts (I used Chia, Sesame Seeds, Sunflower Seeds, Hemp)
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
2 Bananas
1 cup Brown Sugar
1 Egg Replacer (Ener-G)
1/4 cup Oil (appr)
1/4 cup Soy Milk (appr)
1 Mango, peeled and chopped
Handful of Raisins (Chocolate Chips would work, but I was trying to limit sugar)


In a large bowl, combine flours, oats, seeds/nuts, baking powder, baking soda and salt, set aside. In a separate bowl, mash bananas and cream with sugar. In a liquid measuring cup, measure out the egg replacer (should be just shy of 1/4 cup on the marker). Pour oil to bring it just short of 1/2 cup mark, then soy milk to just short of the 3/4 cup mark. Combine with banana mixture and then add wet and dry together. If mixture is too wet (think pancake batter), then dust in a little WW flour until it thickens (think muffin batter).

Sunday Brunch - Cinnamon Toast Twisted

Everyone knows how to make cinnamon toast, right? I thought so. I know some people make it with white sugar, but it's always been brown in my family. Try these added flavours for a different twist on the original.







INGREDIENTS:
1 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 tbsp Cinnamon (or more, to taste)
dash Ground Cloves
2 tbsp Vegan Margarine
splash Vanilla Extract

In a bowl, mix margarine with vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix brown sugar with spices. Spread margarine mix over freshly toasted bread and sprinkle with sugar mixture.

A Record a Week: Joe Jackson - Jumpin' Jive

SIDE 1.
JUMPIN' WITH SYMPHONY SID
JACK, YOU'RE DEAD
IS YOU OR IS YOU AIN'T MY BABY
WE THE CATS (Shall Hep Ya)
SAN FRANSISCO FAN
FIVE GUYS NAMED MOE

SIDE 2.
JUMPIN' JIVE
YOU RUN YOUR MOUTH (And I'll Run My Business)
WHAT'S THE USE OF GETTING SOBER (When You're Gonna Get Drunk Again)
YOU'RE MY MEAT
TUXEDO JUNCTION
HOW LONG MUST I WAIT FOR YOU


The first thing I think of when I think of Joe Jackson is Adam Carolla's constant rants about the current state of music and lots of 'when people are in my car and hear Joe Jackson they like it. Why does terrestrial radio pump this crap down our throats, why can't they expose us to more better music?'

Well, I certainly can say that the music on this record supports that statement. Now, I know radio stations have their 'must plays', but I don't know why they don't fill in the gaps a little better. I am lucky enough to have CBC Radio 2 playing good music most of the time I am in the car, but have definitely worked in locations that played rock stations or whatnot. All day long hearing the songs they must land on 10 times plus the same 15-20 filler songs, ugh.

The horn-swing style of this record may not fit in to most of those stations styles, but certainly is brimming with talent. It's really a record that makes you want to dance, or at the very least, snap your fingers. The only question I have is, why bury the lead? I know Joe Jackson did not write Jumpin' Jive, but if you are going to call the album that, why is it relegated to the 2nd side lead? Maybe the CD version is different, but that's not what I do now, is it.

This record was a real break from Jackson's otherwise New Wave/pop sound, spawning a change to a more Jazz influenced sound from there on.

It would be great background music for a cocktail party or other casual/semi-formal gathering with a touch of the drink, especially if anyone happens to be wearing a smoking jacket.

A Record a Week: Lena Horne - The Lady and Her Music (Live on Broadway)

SIDE 1.
OVERTURE
FROM THIS MOMENT ON
I GOT A NAME
I'M GLAD THERE IS YOU
I WANT TO BE HAPPY
COTTON CLUB REVIEW
COPPER COLORED GAL
RAISIN' THE RENT
AS LONG AS I LIVE
LADY WITH A FAN
COTTON CLUB TO HOLLYWOOD (DIALOGUE)
WHERE OR WHEN

SIDE 2.
CAN'T HELP LOVIN' THAT MAN
HOLLYWOOD (DIALOGUE)
JUST ONE OF THOSE THINGS
STORMY WEATHER PT.1
LOVE
BROADWAY (DIALOGUE)
PUSH DE BUTTON
THE LADY IS A TRAMP
YESTERDAY WHEN I WAS YOUNG

SIDE 3.
DEED I DO
LIFE GOES ON
WATCH WHAT HAPPENS
THE SURREY WITH THE FRINGE ON TOP
FLY
BEWITCHED, BOTHERED AND BEWILDERED

SIDE 4.
A LADY MUST LIVE
LOVE THIS BUSINESS (DIALOGUE)
THAT'S WHAT MIRACLES ARE ALL ABOUT
EARLY CAREER (DIALOGUE)
I'M GONNA SIT RIGHT DOWN AND WRITE MYSELF A LETTER
STORMY WEATHER PT. 2
IF YOU BELIEVE
STORMY WEATHER (CURTAINS/CROWD/BOWS)

When was the last time a band put out a double record? I feel like there have been a lot of these in my collection thus far and I'm nowhere near done. I know, I know, this is a Broadway piece, which is different than a studio double, but still it begs the question of how long it's been since that was popular practice.

Horne is a multi-award winning artist who rose up from the New York club scene to Hollywood and back to the nightclubs where she used her fame to rise to the top of the circuit. Later in life, she took her skills to Broadway where she recorded this album.

It is no wonder she had such success at every level, because her talent shines brightly on this record. Even with that talent, she must have had a hard time making a name for herself at the time she was famous. She refused roles in Hollywood that pushed stereotypes and fought for civil rights much of her life. This record showcases her life while also interspersing bits of her personal history between songs. The tracks referring to the Cotton Club are about the club of that name where she got her start. Now, if the name brings up any flags in your head, you're probably not far off the mark in your thinking. The club was an all-white club with predominantly black performers (who presumably had a separate entrance, likely the kitchen). The racism didn't only come from one side, though. When she was young, fellow African-American children mocked her light skin and having one white parent. She managed to rise above all of that and become a talented actress and singer. Her life of stories and years of honing her skill come out in fine form on this album, which is a wonderful listen.       

A Different Take on a Holiday Gathering

As a child, it was a day I looked forward to with great anticipation. Each day growing more eager with anticipation. Some years I would get the thing I most wanted and inevitably, some years I would not. However, it was always a day I looked forward to, enjoyed and certainly relished opening gifts no matter what they held. As I got older, the gift giving became as much fun as the receiving; one of the greater joys is watching someone you care about getting enjoyment out of something you have put your heart into.

Even when my parents separated, Christmas tradition took on a new meaning and a new look. On the eve, my dad would take my sister and I skating at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto and we would do our presents with him that night after dinner. We would return to our mom's house and sleep there (some of those years I still lived there) and wake up and do Christmas morning with her. In fact, the new tradition was not only enjoyable, but I think we probably made out a little better present-wise (a thing that is a by-product of some parental separations), if I'm being honest.

My sense of family Christmas-time took a massive blow the year my mother died. The effort of Christmas began feeling more stressful than exciting. Since that time, the skating tradition with my dad has held up and my wife and her family have done a wonderful job of setting up and taking care of dinner on Christmas day. It's a nice solid foundation to have her family all here in London, making for a reliable yearly tradition that I am very thankful to have. With my dad in Toronto and sister in Ottawa (her job has her traveling cross-country yearly leading up to the 23rd of December), it is a sort of patchwork deal as to when we can all get together around Christmas.

Last year, everything worked out perfectly that my sister finished here and her husband (and their dog) came out to join us. That's not always the way, as scheduling and weather is not always on our side. This year, she was in town this past Sunday and being the only holiday time with her, I tried to make the most of the opportunity. My wife's parents agreed to take our daughter so we could enjoy the matinee showing of the show she produces and they would see the evening one. My wife was wonderful and took our daughter so I could stick around for the second showing and join the whole group for a drink afterward. Our son stayed for the first half to get a look at the inner workings of the show and offered to help sell merch during the breaks. I drove him home and returned to the show. I got a feeling it would end up being a subdued sort of evening. They had flown cross-country the previous day and had endured a two-show day and had a week to go.

We left the venue at about 11 and a few people on the bus decided to head to a pub across from their hotel to meet a couple of the singers from the show who were already there. We drank a few beers as the show members 'talked shop' and about upcoming shows. Around midnight, the bar set up karaoke and what I originally thought would be an early night took a wonderful turn. As usual karaoke goes, the group included a range of talent from mediocre to impressive. The trio of wonderful female singers from the show (dubbed the Vinylettes on the tour, but go by The Measure at other showings) got up and did a harmonized version of 'Don't Stop Believing' by Journey that kicked the night up to a different level. All four of the show's singers got up at various times and did wonderful versions of songs and bar patrons had some lively takes as well. I convinced the DJ to let us leap-frog the line and do the last song, so long as I could get the girls to come up. We chose 'Midnight Train to Georgia' as the show-stopper, with the professional singers taking the lead and the rest of us as 'The Pips'.

All in all it turned out to be an incredible night and served to remind me that holiday gatherings can be unexpected, spontaneous and special in an entirely different way than the kind you are used to. I am very thankful for this night and hope that in it in its own way can become a new tradition.

The Measure aka The Vinylettes