Playlist: Coming Home

Moving to Manhattan in three weeks...Bug having bullying issues at school...all my weather-related depression (thanks, Kristin, for understanding the S.A.D.!)...it's been a challenging couple of weeks.

But I've been hanging in there.  Adam sent me tulips at work, promising me that spring would come soon.  The Soul Twin really is moving to NYC - I actually believe it for reals now.  And I have amazing food and wine almost every day.  So, through it all, I'm feeling rather blessed and lucky lately.

With that in mind, I would love to share my latest playlist with you: Coming Home.  Yes, that's what I named it and, yes, I came up with that name BEFORE I saw that craptastic GP movie, Country Strong*.  And, yes, I'm corny enough to listen to it on my subway ride home from work.  But, more importantly, I play it while I'm making dinner and while I'm cleaning it up.  Here is a sample of a few of the songs on the playlist:

Eat, drink, and rush home at the end of the day.

* Seriously, you have to see it ASAP.  It has the #1 qualification for a craptastic cult movie: you can make a drinking game out of it.

Playlists: the Comfort Food edition

As I mentioned in my last post, all I really needed this weekend was to feel grounded and sane. That included stirring risotto while belting out some of my favorite "heartswelling" songs. Yes, I have a playlist on my iPod labeled "heartswelling." I would normally feel slightly goofy admitting that...but I'm guessing that most people who read this blog won't be surprised by my unabashed corniess. So here is a sample of what I was listening to last night while stirring and reading:

Eat, drink, and always have a soundtrack for it.

Food playlist - the ZipCar version

When we moved to NYC, we sold both our cars and went ZipCar. ZipCar, for those of you who don't know, is...well, it's hard to explain. It's sort of like a rental car, except if the rental car was just sitting in a random parking garage somewhere and you could just pick it up on a moment's notice, use it for an hour to go to Trader Joe's, and then leave it where you found it. It's all very snazzy and technological and awesome. And it makes being without a car nearly effortless.

As you can imagine, things get left in the ZipCars. In fact, I have laughed with Adam before about us leaving CDs in the player because, whoever has the ZipCar after us, will be greeted by the soundtracks to Mamma Mia, High School Musical 1 and 2, and Hairspray. Well, here is the text of the e-newsletter we received from ZipCar today:

That mix cd you left behind? Um, we found it.

Admittedly, we got a little ahead of ourselves and thought we'd seen it all: the good, the bad, and the ugly of mix CDs and iPod playlists. Over the years we've learned all of your darkest secrets and bad listening habits (which we actually love). And then recently we stumbled upon a playlist so original, so profound, so amazing that we think it could redefine the whole genre of the playlist. Enter, the fantastical, mind-blowing, "Songs About Food" playlist! (Yes, you know we immediately started compiling a "Songs About Vehicles" playlist which, naturally, will include lots of Beach Boys.) Check it out:

Everybody Eats When They Come To My House - Cab Calloway and His Orchestra
Red Vines - Aimee Mann
Know Your Onion! - The Shins
Bobbing for Apples (live) - Regina Spektor
Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk - Rufus Wainwright
Beans and Cornbread - Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five
Les Sucettes - France Gall
Eat the Music - Kate Bush
Breakfast in America - Supertramp
Quiche Lorraine - The B-52's
Red Apples - Cat Power
I Want A Little Sugar In My Bowl - Nina Simone
Warm Beer and Cold Women - Tom Waits
Black Coffee in Bed - Squeeze

Now while the idea of a food playlist isn't that original (see here and here and here), I still thought this one was a good one...I mean, Nina Simone, The Shins, and Tom Waits? Excellent!

Eat, drink, and rock ON!

Bring on summer!

I was browsing through my Picasa folders and I found this:

Helloooooo, summer!

This was the ceviche I made last summer, actually, and forgot to blog it.  Thanks to running with tweezers for the recipe - it was fantastic.  She says you can use catfish, but we used shrimp since that's about the only seafood Bug will eat.  But doesn't this just look like summer personified?  With chips, a mojito or a cerveza, sitting on the balcony (or in your yard for you suburban dwellers), listening to some summer-esque tunes...

Which makes me think about another of my playlists: "Barcelona".  Now, I don't think a single one of these songs is actually sung by someone from Spain.  Nevertheless, it evokes a mood and I play the list interchangeably when we eat Spanish, Latin, or South American cuisine.  Here is a sampling:

• "Bamboleo" - Gipsy Kings
• "Moorea" - Gipsy Kings
• "Andalucia" - Bill Whelan (Riverdance soundtrack)
• "Maridos Majaderos" - Pedro Luis Ferrer
• "Brazil" - Pink Martini
• "Galanton" - Lura
• "Represent, Cuba" - Orishas (Yes, this is from the Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights soundtrack.  It's still a fun song.  And a fun movie.  Don't be a hater.)
• "Patria" - Ruben Blades
• "Sodade" - Cesaria Evora& Bonga
• "Angola" - Cesaria Evora
• "Pordiosero" - El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico

Eat, drink, and get ready for warmer days!

NOTE: You guys, I still couldn't get the accents right.  I didn't have an "option" key on my keyboard and every time I did the alt key and the "e", I kept getting that "thunk" error sound.  I'll keep trying...

Playlists

Two weekends ago, I went to a Twilight viewing party and had an absolute blast. Heckling and unintended laughter were encouraged, and we made wildly inappropriate remarks about Robert Pattinson's ridiculously good looks, despite the odd makeup. Our hostess served, among other things, Hot Tamales, Twizzlers, Swedish fish, strawberries, raspberries, red wine...get the theme? And we all sported Team Edward/Jacob shirts...any guesses which one I wore? It was a case of "30 going on 13"...

In the midst of the event, we admitted to listening to the songs on Stephenie Meyer's playlist*, and I praised Meyer for introducing me to Blue October. And then I further admitted that I made a "Bella & Edward" playlist, comprised entirely of Meyer's music, and listened to it continuously while reading Breaking Dawn. Believe me, people, this isn't an easy thing to admit. See how I'm willing to make a fool of myself in front of all of you? Now, that is love.

But that got me thinking of playlists. They're so personal: how many times have you looked at a friend's playlists and thought, "Huh? I don't get the organization or the vibe or what they were going for." Which is why I am fascinated by how others do it.

Music plays an integral, inextricable role in my cooking and eating every night. Seriously, not a single night goes by that I am not playing music. One of my favorites to cook to on weeknights is the "Martini - cheers!" mix. I usually play this while I'm cooking, waiting for Adam and Bug to get home. Sipping wine and munching on a couple slices of Idiazábal is usually involved. Here is a sampling of my "Martini - cheers!" mix**:

• "Pick Up the Pieces" - Average White Band
• "Got to Be Real" - Cheryl Lynn
• "Hiphip Chinchin" - Club des Belugas
• "Ain't That a Kick in the Head" - Dean Martin
• "The Best is Yet to Come" - Frank Sinatra
• "We Are in Love" - Harry Connick Jr. (Don't laugh!)
• "30 Something" - Jay-Z (thanks, Amy!)
• "Golden" - Jill Scott
• "Mucci's Jag MK. II" - Joey Altruda
• "Une journée fade" - Kohndo
• "It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over" - Lenny Kravitz
• "Chilly Winds Don't Blow" - Nina Simone
• "Sea Lion Woman" - Nina Simone (Feist ain't got nuthin' on Nina!)
• "Anna (El Negro Zumbon)" - Pink Martini
• "Let's Never Stop Falling in Love" - Pink Martini
• "Austin Powers (Soul Bossa Nova)" - Starlight Orchestra
• "Caramel" - Suzanne Vega
• "The World Keeps on Spinning" - The Brand New Heavies
• "Beyond the Sea" - Robbie Williams (is it wrong to prefer this version over Bobby Darin?)
• "Jump in the Line" - Harry Belafonte

Eat, drink, and don't forget the music!

* I linked to the "soundtrack" for Twilight but, if you click on each of the books on the left side of screen, you'll see that Meyer made a soundtrack for each book.

** All of these songs should be available through iTunes - I checked before posting them.