Singing in the Rain

This is a YouTube gem with Ukulele Mike. Stay with it to hear the women's chorus--just brilliant!

Here's a link to info about the original musical: The Hollywood Revue.

Tea for Two, Sexy Lady Style

This is my favorite version of the song I've heard. It's by NOON, a Japanese singer with South Korean roots.

Come Fly Away

Here's another cool vid and great song from Jeremy Fisher. I could listen to this song all day.
Feeling tired after a weekend of rehearsing and the concert, but it went well, with about 300 people attending. This morning I was craving coconut, so I made sour cream coconut muffins with chocolate icing. I like baking in the morning while I'm putting Ules' lunch together. I think I should do it every day.

I am hoping to head to Victoria this week and looking forward to checking out some new places to eat. Fun!

Jeremy Fisher's Cool Vid

I like this music video created by Jeremy Fisher on his own, on the cheap. The song is called "Shine a Little Light" and it's on the soundtrack of my new favorite movie, The Big Year.

Buckwheat Noodle Salad with Peanut Tamarind Dressing

The Guardian posted recipes for 10 winter salads and tonight I made the buckwheat noodle salad. I cut the water in the sauce in half so it would take less time to thicken and I would cut back or omit the maple syrup next time. I also added some ground turkey for protein. This is a good Monday night clean-out-the-fridge one dish meal. Thumbs up!

Worry

I have a longstanding appreciation of this fabulous quote by Gertrude Stein:

"Anything scares me, anything scares anyone but really after all considering how dangerous everything is nothing is really very frightening."

Yes, but what do highly educated folks think we should worry about? Edge.org compiled a list of short essays that have me thinking about some of the things I didn't know I should worry about. So many choices!  

Mr. Armstrong, your pants are on fire

This Bingo card is so funny, I am printing it out and hanging it on the wall.

Germ Wars

With so many viruses and the flu going around, I find the news coverage on this subject very frustrating. So why is there a health advisory administered by the  Fraser Health Authority when apparently Vancouver is not having a really bad year for flu? What gives? And which flu is it? Did they match the vaccine with the right flu this year? It always seems like a crap shoot. And since it is a gamble, I'd like to know the odds regarding vaccine efficacy.

I have been downing anti-viral tinctures and potions and doing the voodoo-that-you-do to ward off the germ nasties. I hope y'all avoid them devils.

I tried my first App! It's a birding App called iBird and I drove P crazy last night playing bird calls in his ear. This is my bird call: app! app! app! More apps pleeeze! Does this mean I have to get an iPhone?! Shocking.

One more big rehearsal before the big concert. Still lots of work to do. We had a concert tonight at a senior's home and the best thing was they had a resident cat. He sat right in the middle of the case for the drum kit and walked through the concert during one of the solos, completely taking the spotlight. Ha!

I think the ingredient of the week has got to be red lentils. Apparently they are hella healthy, so garlic, lentils, chicken stock . . . more fodder for the anti-viral voodoo pot.

Craving Nutmeg

Orangette has started a doughnut muffin (or baked doughnut) trend with this lovely recipe and blog post. For those of us who love butter, sugar, and nutmeg, these little babies rock. I made them today in a mini muffin pan, using fine white sugar rather than icing sugar to dredge them. I also just used solely buttermilk and made the proportions more even than the ones in her recipe, just to make it less fussy. They are best warm out of the oven. Are they healthy? No. Healthier than doughnuts? I doubt it. Are they easier to make? Yes. Will they make you break your New Year's Resolutions? Yes.

You will find many tweaked versions of this recipe around the blogosphere and in a coffee shop near you.

Today I had a lovely seasonal salad at the Nat Bailey market at the Le Tigre Food Truck with cauliflower, brussel sprouts, capers and parmesan. The sunshine made the market all sparkly and lovely and it was PACKED which is very good news for the vendors.

Resolution Smoothie

How are y'all doing with your resolutions? Today was a good day for healthy eating starting with homemade granola made with flax, oatmeal, hemp seeds, honey, olive oil and pecans. We had some simple DIY sushi for lunch and for dinner Ules had tofu, rice, and apple and I had wild rice, mushrooms, onions, and kale. Instead of a glass of wine with dinner I made a Resolution Smoothie: 1/2 apple, 1/8 cup ginger "juice", juice of 1/2 a lime, a handful of kale, a cup of coconut water and two ice cubes. Of course we had to have a small dessert: a tiny bit of local vanilla ice cream with salty caramel sauce and crumbled ginger cookies from Trafalgar's bakery--an awesome combo if I do say so!

This is my horoscope for the year from Rob Brezny. I love it!

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In 2013, I pledge to help you feel at peace and in love with your body; I will do everything in my power to encourage you to triumph over media-induced delusions that tempt you to wish you were different from who you actually are. My goal is to be one of your resourceful supporters in the coming months — to be a member of your extensive team of allies. And I will be working with you to ensure that this team grows to just the right size and provides you with just the right foundation. If all goes well, your extra help will ensure that you finish almost everything you start in the coming year. You will regularly conquer everyday chaos and be a master of artful resolutions.

--Jan 3, 2013. Westender

Retro Potato

I gave our son a cookbook from The Sugar Cube, a "badass dessert food cart" in Portland run by pastry chef Kir Jensen. I love this woman's attitude! We are having a simple casual dinner party tonight, so I made the salty caramel sauce this afternoon for pouring on ice cream. Her directions were easy to follow and spot on. We're having salmon, salad, and a retro potato casserole with a recipe from dear MIL. It involves a can of cream corn, minced onions, and thinly sliced potatoes. I looked at the ingredients in cream corn and balked at the idea you would actually add sugar to corn, so I could not bring myself to buy it. Beloved is making the dish, so I will turn a blind eye to the travesty. I would have used frozen corn and "creamed" it myself.

The sun has left us again, which makes me feel somewhat bereft. I have started the new year on a melancholy note, immersing myself in episodes of the British Wallander. This makes me miss the Swedish production which is SO MUCH BETTER. Instead of one actor hogging all the close-ups, and practically every scene, I miss the complexity and warmth of the supporting actors in the original series and I am so sick of Mr. Drama King Branagh. Wallander was written for a different sort of actor. Anyway, same lovely haunting theme song, although not enough of it.