Deceptively Delicious and Freda Payne

I have the eating habits of a child. My favorite food is pizza and I have to work REALLY hard to manage my addiction to flaming hot cheetos. (Are those made with crack? Seriously, what's in the them?) But because it turns out you need to eat things of nutritional value, I try to eat healthy things. Sometimes. But the problem is I hate most vegetables. That's where Deceptively Delicious comes in.

Written by Jessica Seinfeld, it's a cookbook full of awesome recipes, all with hidden vegetables. It's meant for parents who need to deceive their children in order to get them to eat vegetables, but it works perfect for me. I don't care if there are vegetables in things, I just don't want to taste them. The main idea is to make a bunch of vegetable or fruit purees (squash, sweet potato, broccoli, cauliflower, etc) then add them to pretty much whatever you want. I made an egg and cheese sandwich for breakfast and put butternut squash/sweet potato puree on it and it was super good.

Are you thinking to yourself, "Hmmm. I wonder if she has any relation to Jerry Seinfeld..."? Yep, Jessica is Jerry's wife. I didn't put two and two together until I saw this drawing on the bottom of one of the pages.

The cookbook isn't all macaroni and cheese and pizza, although there are recipes for both. It has some grown up-y recipes too. I'm most excited to try the Aloha Chicken Kebabs. They sound delish! It even has a whole section of desserts: Brownies with carrot and spinich, gingerbread spice cake with carrot and broccoli, chocolate cupcakes with avocado and cauliflower, etc, etc, etc...In all honesty, I think those sound pretty disgusting, but Jessica swears you can't taste the vegetables. I'll let you know how it goes...

This week's hot jam is Band of Gold by Freda Payne. I've always really liked this song, although I'm not really sure why. Whenever this song comes on the radio I will unabashedly belt it out (not that I can do it justice.) Produced it 1970, it tells the story of a young woman who married a man who couldn't/wouldn't love her. When approached about the song Freda Payne refused to do it, saying it sounded like something a whiny teenager would say, but eventually gave in and the song became a huge it for her.

This isn't the best video, but it has a really awesome description and some great shots of people singing in the crowd.

Letters and Blu Cantrell/Carolina Chocolate Drops

I haven't written about letters yet, have I? I'm starting to lose track. Anyway, we are back to regularly scheduled writing and my favorite thing(s) this week is letters: writing them, reading them, mailing them, etc. It's a lost art form (right Sarah?) and I really think the world would be a better place if more people wrote letters. Can you really be mad at anyone when you get a cute, catching up type letter in the mail? No.

I'm not even going to start on love letters. Gentlemen, you want to win a girl over? Skip the flowers, send a letter.

I try to write letters pretty regularly (even though I'm behind in my writing currently, sorry pen pals.) The people I write to are people I talk to on a regular basis but keeping up via the US Postal Service is way more fun that keeping up via Gmail and Facebook. There's something more personal about it.

In a world that is all about instant gratification, I think letter writing is really important. It takes longer to sit down and write a letter versus sending an email, it takes a few days to get the letter, and then at least a few days to get one back. It reminds you to slow down, smell the roses, be patient, all those virtues we sometimes forget.

This week's hot jam is Hit 'Em Up Style by Blu Cantrell, a solid revenge song. Blu Cantrell (or the writer of the song, Dallas Austin, I guess) knows how to hit a man were it hurts. You want to cheat? I'm going to spend all your money AND ruin your credit. Ouch.

This video is actually a cover done by Carolina Chocolate Drops, a Grammy Award winning old-timeish string band from Durham, NC. What I like about this cover is it combines fiddle and banjo with beatboxing. I mean, what? Weird and awesome.

Slow Jam Week Day 6: The Wrap Up

Well today is the last day of Slow Jam week. (I know, I only did 6 days, but whatever.)

I don't have another attribute common to the slow jam equation, so I'll just leave you with some final thoughts. (Jerry Springer?)

Remember that scene in Say Anything where John Cusack holds up the boom box playing In Your Eyes? Gentleman readers, if you are ever thinking about doing that for me as a testament of your love, pick a slow jam. Sure In Your Eyes is romantic, but is it more romantic than, say, All My Life? I don't think so.

Our final salute to slow jams is a slaw jam about slow jams and it's called Slow Jamz. Is your mind blown yet?

Slow Jam Week Day 5: Melodrama

Slow jams are all about strong emotions; love, hate, passion, angst, it's all in there. And because of all the emotional turmoil you get some very melodramatic lyrics. "Baby girl, I'm going to die without you." "I love you so much my heart is going to explode." Everyone knows (except maybe angsty teenagers) that you aren't going to die and you're hearts not going to explode. But nobody wants to hear lyrics like, "Baby girl, I think you are okay." or "We've broken up, but don't worry, it's amicable"

Example 1: I Swear by All-4-One. First of all, who knew there was a Mexican guy and a white guy in All-4-One? Anyone? I sure didn't. Slow jams aren't known for their multiculturalism. But I digress.  I Swear is a heartfelt expression of love and commitment played at weddings everywhere. And rightly so, it's full of lyrics like "I'll love you with every beat of my heart" and "As time turns the page, my love won't age at all." If that's not slow jam wedding material I don't know what is.

Fun fact: My future wedding vows will be, word for word, the lyrics to I Swear. Not even kidding.



Example 2: Have you Ever by Brandy. About time I had a lady slow jammer on here. My melodramatic 8th grade soul really loved this one. In fact, I'd challenge you find someone who hasn't thought, "Brandy, I know exactly what you are talking about! It's like you are reading my thoughts!" Okay, maybe just people who also had melodramatic phases around the late 90s. But still, that's probably a lot of people.

Slow Jam Week Day 4: Talking

Sometimes singing just isn't enough. Sometimes you have to talk to get your point across. Right in the middle of a song. I'm not sure where this idea originated, but I think it's been going on for awhile. Maybe the point is to make the listener feel like the singer is speaking directly to them or maybe it's just to mix it up a little. (Even singers have to get tired of singing sometimes)

Example 1: Boyz II Men's On Bended Knee - A slow jam classic. Not only does this song feature talking in the middle it also features an argument in the beginning (see Slow Jam Week Day 3 ) and rain (see Slow Jam Week Day 2 ). The trifecta of slow jam awesome-ness. And that's why Boyz II Men are the kings of the slow jam (and probably why they've sold 60 million records and won 4 Grammy awards)



Example 2: Jimmy Fallon, Brian Williams, and The Roots' Slow Jam the News - Untraditional? Yes. Applicable? Definitely. Amazing? No Doubt.

Slow Jam Week Day 3: Arguments

Life is intense in a slow jam. You don't get to "Baby, I love you so much I'm standing out in the rain!" without having an argument first. So, in order to not confuse the viewers (because obviously we can't come to the conclusion on our own), many slow jam videos feature an argument at the beginning.

Example 1: R. Kelly's Bump N' Grind. Oh, R. Kelly you set yourself up with this one. Remember when you had sex with a minor? You should have seen something wrong with that bump n' grind.  This video starts with R.Kelly's lady friend being upset that he treated her like one of his groupies. "I know you didn't even try to play me like that..." complete with a sassy finger wag. Oh snap, R. Kelly, you better make it up to her. What better way than singing Bump N' Grind. Best part of this video - the back up dancers are wearing hard hats. Safety first at R. Kelly's concerts.



Example 2: I Wanna Know by Joe. This video starts off with an argument between an unnamed man and the object of Joe's desire. Joe, ever the hero, swoops in to rescue the damsel with the cheating boyfriend. It's not weird at all that they just broke up and he's are already asking her on a date. He gives her his real number, so you know it's legit.

Slow Jam Week Day 2: Rain!

Day 2 of slow jam week. Today's topic is rain.

Rain makes everything more dramatic. Oh the pain! Baby I love you so much I'm standing out in the rain!

Example 1: Usher's U Got It Bad, released in 2001. It spent 6 weeks at number 1 on the Billboard Charts and was song number 99 on Billboard's Hot 100 50th Anniversary Chart. Pretty good considering that chart was based on all the number one songs between 1958 and 2008.



Example 2: Crazy by K-Ci and JoJo (told you they were a slow jam powerhouse) Crazy has it all: rain, scenes from Save the Last Dance, things happening in reverse, fight scenes, ballet, AND it turns out K-Ci and JoJo have super powers over morality. Who knew?! Crazy didn't reach as high on the Billboard Charts as All My Life (only #11) but it did spend 23 weeks there.

Special edition!

Surprise! It's slow jam week here at a few of my favorite things! That's right, I'm frustrated with a lot of things right now, so I figured it's probably best to remind myself of things that I love everyday this week. And there are few things I love more than a good slow jam, everyday I'm going to write about a common attribute found in all slow jams (with musical/video evidence, of course)

So dim the lights and pop a bottle of Cristal because it's slow jam week: day 1


Picture it: Sicily, 1912. Wait, that's Sophia Petrillo

Picture it: Jefferson Middle School, 1999. Ah yes, nothing like a middle school dance. And what's the DJ playing? Slow jams. Because the 90s and early 2000s produced some of the best slow jams of all time. I'm talking Boyz II Men, Brian McKnight, Joe, Brandy, Monica, K-Ci and Jo Jo, All 4 One, Babyface, R. Kelly, Usher etc etc etc

All good slow jams have the same beat. You know it, it's the step-snap beat. It's perfect for slow dancing and performances featuring stools and/or microphone stands.

For example. K-Ci and JoJo's All My Life. K-Ci and JoJo are a slow jam powerhouse. They know exactly what they are doing. All My Life, realeased in 1998 was a  big hit for them. It debuted at number 15 on the Billboard charts and eventually made it to number 1. But the real success of a slow jam is measured in how many weddings it's played at and you can bet that All My Life is played at the majority of weddings. (Although, I've always found the lyrics a little odd for a romantic song. "Close to me just like my mother..." Um what?)

Fall and ICP (No, I haven't lost my mind)

So summer camp ending on Friday, which means fall is rapidly approaching. Unlike in most places that get a few weeks of summer weather after school starts, Alaska pretty much heads right into fall mid-August. But fall in Alaska is pretty great (even if it only lasts a few weeks.) Here are the top 10 things I like about fall

1. Leaves - The birch trees turn bright yellow and the fireweed turns bright red, it's beautiful

2. Wood burning stoves - A lot of people heat their houses with wood burning stoves so once fall rolls around it smells like a campfire outside
3. Abundance of fall scented candles - pumpkin spice, apple cinnamon, harvest cornucopia of home-y smells (I might have made that last one up...)
4. Sweater weather - Okay, I wore sweaters pretty much all summer too, but it just feels better in the fall

Evidence of summer time sweater weather

5. Crisp air
6. AK State Fair - Beard contest, moose calling contest, giant vegetables, tractor pulls, demolition derbies, etc etc etc. What's not to love?

7. School supplies - Even if I don't need them, I still like wandering the aisles at Target
8. Pumpkin spice coffee
9. Pumpkin bread
10. Okay, all things pumpkin...

 I haven't suddenly developed a horrible taste is music, it will all make sense, I promise. This week's hot jam was inspired by this article, a ridiculous news story from my hometown newspaper. The hot jam is Miracles by Insane Clown Posse. No, I'm not an ICP fan, but Miracles is the most ridiculous song in the history of the world and it's so bad it's good. It could have easily been written for Saturday Night Live (in fact they did a spoof) but no, it was legitimately written and produced by ICP.

NSFW due to language

Dinner Parties and The Shirelles

Okay, I know I've been really bad at updating lately. I'm sorry. I'm bad at this game.

So being that most of my friends and I live a significant distance from our families we rarely have an opportunity to attend a big, sit-down, family style dinner. To remedy this problem we have dinner parties. They're not fancy, maybe dinner get togethers is a better name, but they amazing nonetheless. There are few greater things in life than sitting around a big table with your friends and eating food everyone brought. (Usually it's a hodge podge of whatever we had at home, but it always turns out delicious.)

Last night we had a barbeque at my friend Geoff's house. He has a giant table in his backyard, perfect for dinners outside. The sun was shining, it was warm(ish), and we had tons of great food. Here are some highlights:

-Sydney nearly got her hair cut into a mullet
-Dogs running laps around the table
-Trying to figure out how to play the wedding march on 3 accordions, a pan flute, harmonicas, and a fife
-Going across the street to Casey and Kristen's to put their new tent up in the living room (and christening it with hot jams and champagne)

Girl groups of the 60s are in a class of their own. They had great hair, great costumes, and great harmonies. Not to mention their songs covered a wide range of topics, everything from love and breaking up to death. This week's hot jam is Will You Love Me Tomorrow by The Shirelles. It's a classic 60's girl group song, but it's a hot jam because it was the first ever #1 single performed by an all-girl group on the Billboard charts.


Fun Fact: By today's standards it's hardly scandalous, but at the time it did meet some trouble with radio stations for being too overtly sexual.