Merry Christmas!

I'm home at last! I got home on Wednesday and after an exhausting day in London (complete with aftenoon tea!) we decorated the tree last night. Now I am officially ready for Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone, and I will see you in the new year!

Song of the Week

It's exam time again! My first exam isn't until Friday, but then I have an evil cluster of them, so that will be fun.
This week it is the return of my favourite creepy carol, in a slightly different form. Castleton Carol, by Kerfuffle. It's a renaissance carol, also known as Down in Yon Forest. Variants have been collected a few times, most notably by Vaughan Williams, as the title suggests in Castleton, Derbyshire.

Song of the Week

School is starting to get busy once again. I had a bit of a rest for a bit, but now everything is hotting up again and I'm going to have to start revising for finals. The last day of the semester is this time next week, I can't believe it! Everything is going so fast! I also can't believe that it is the first Sunday of advent this weekend - where has the time gone?
My first final is in Statistics, and fittingly I have gone for a song called Mathematics by Cherry Ghost
Cherry Ghost have been around for a while now. I got to see them at Truck festival in the summer and I was surprised by how many of their songs I had heard before. Anyway, this is probably my favourite of theirs.

Song of the Week

Dad and I had a really great time in Washington and Oregon at the weekend, despite the rain, wind and snow!
This week's song is "How Come You Never Go There" by Feist, from her new album Metals. I bought the album last week and this is probably my favourite song from it :)

Song of the Week

Midterms are finally over for me! I am very happy, even if the last one went awfully. Tomorrow evening I will be flying down to Seattle and meeting my Dad. We are going to travel around Washington for the weekend, I can't wait. For this week's song I have gone for a band from Seattle - Fleet Foxes. The song is "Drops in River" from their EP Sun Giant

Song of the Week

Bit late this week, but here it is:
I bought the new album Ceremonials by Florence and the Machine and I am really liking it. Her sound is definitely evolving, and I am enjoying the way it is headed!
This week's song is "Seven Devils"

Song of the Week

So, I have a midterm on Thursday, but instead of revising yesterday, I may or may not have watched all of the episodes of Misfits so far in about 12 hours. Oops. I honestly didn't mean to, but it turned out to be so good, and my desire to study was so small that I couldn't stop. I don't really know why I didn't catch on to it sooner, I've heard so many people raving about it. I guess I was scared that it would be really violent - I tried to watch the first episode once and had to stop because I was so scared that something gross was going to happen!

Anyway, after my Misfits binge, I bought the soundtrack from iTunes and I've picked one of the songs from that to be my song of the week. (Minor spoilers ahead) It plays in a fairly pivotal scene between Alisha and the man in the mask (who incidentally have got to be the most attractive couple on television) and I can't get enough of it.
The song is "Paradise Circus" by Massive Attack, from their 2010 album Heligoland

Treacle Tart Debacle

So last week, when I said I was about to make treacle tart? I was lying. Well, that's not to say I didn't try, but apparently the universe just didn't want me to do it.
For one thing it turned out that I didn't have enough golden syrup, but that didn't really matter because I only found that out after this had happened:

Yes, that is meant to be the pastry case. I'm not sure what happened, I followed the recipe exactly. I think it was a combination of my scales not being very accurate and trying to use canadian ingredients to follow a british recipe. But never mind. A couple of days later, I went and bought more golden syrup, and, I have to admit, a pre-made pastry case *guilty face*. I made the tart on Friday and it turned out very well

I used the recipe from the Peyton and Byrne cookbook my sister got me for my birthday. The filling was delicious, though I used bread crumbs instead of cake crumbs, and there was a bit too much to fit inside the pastry case.

Song of the Week

Hi there! Another busy week, full of quizzes and lab reports. Two midterms next week too - yay!
Sometimes I get a bit fed up of how big my university is. In some ways it is great because there is a huge variety of people, and it means that we get some really awesome facilities. However, on the other hand it does just make one feel completely anonymous sometimes. I've had over 25 professors in the past two and a half years, but a maximum of 3 have ever actually learnt my name, some of the classes are so huge. It was quite a big shock in first year. I came straight from my sixth form, where the biggest of my A-level classes contained only 17 people, and where almost all of the teachers in my school knew who I was, sometimes even though I had never been taught by them.
Thank goodness, then, for my swedish class. Our class only has about 30 people, and our professor learnt all of our names within a week. Learning a language makes it easy to get to know people in the class because we are all struggling through conversations in swedish together.
Every Friday, we finish the class by singing a song in swedish. Last Friday we sang this song, and I really liked it so I have decided to make it my song of the week.

Satan i Gatan by Veronica Maggio
(if you don't speak swedish, there is a helpful translation of the lyrics here)

Song of the Week

Happy thanksgiving! We are having a rather non-traditional dinner today - Turkey chili and treacle tart! We did make up for it by having the proper thanksgiving meal upstairs with our landlords and their friends last night - my first proper thanksgiving - which was lovely.
I'll tell you all about today's dinner soon, but in the mean time, here is the song of the week for this week!
This week's song is "Cat in the Hallway" by Tiny Ruins, from her debut album Some Were Meant For Sea. I bought her album after hearing "Old as the Hills" on the radio a few weeks ago, and I am besotted with it.
Tiny Ruins, aka Hollie Fullbrook is a musician and songwriter from Aukland, New Zealand.
I've heard that Hollie was recently involved in a motorcycle accident in Zanzibar and has had to cancel her tour dates, so here's wishing her a speedy and complete recovery :)

Song of the Week

Well, my computer is finally fixed, and just in time too, since I have a lot of work to do on it at the moment!
For this week, I have chosen a song which I must have listened to on average at least three times a week since I first heard it.  As well as being amazing to just sit down and listen to, it is perfect for playing when doing homework or trying to go to sleep. It is chilled and relaxing, but with an interesting complexity that you can tune into if you so choose.
The song is "Child Song", by The Cinematic Orchestra, from their 2007 album Ma Fleur. If you like this at all, I urge you to seek out some more of their music, they really are great. You'll probably have heard at least one song before.

Song of the Week

I am having quite a lot of problems with my computer at the moment, and I am taking it to the repair place tomorrow, for the second time in two weeks. Since I don't know when I'm going to get it back, I thought I would post the song of the week today, then I will be back with a new recipe when my computer is (hopefully) fixed!

This week's song of the week is "Bubble" by King Creosote and Jon Hopkins. I bought their album, Diamond Mine back at the beginning of June and I haven't stopped listening to it since.  It is just stunning. They were nominated for the Mercury Music Prize this year, but were pipped to the post by PJ Harvey.

Take a listen, and enjoy the beautiful video :)

Lorra Lolly Lentils

It's starting to feel a little autumnal here in Vancouver, and by that I mean it's raining. Standing at the bus stop in the rain is not a particularly heartening experience, so I like to have something warm, tasty and filling waiting for me at home. Today's recipe fits that description perfectly.
The dish I went for was Tarka Dal, following Anjum Anand's recipe. We have Anjum's book I Love Curry back home, and the dishes in that were delicious, so I had high hopes. I was not disappointed. This dal is warming, moreish and as a bonus, healthy! I served it with this zucchini rice, minus the cheese!
You can find the recipe here.

In other news, do you know how hard it is to make daal look nice when it's dark and you just want to devour it?

I'm Back! ...Sort of...

So, I'm back at school. Third year, I can't quite believe it! I'm all settled in to a new flat, have five new courses to wrap my head around (including Swedish - hej alla!), and hopefully I am ready to get back into the swing of blogging!
There are going to be some changes around here for now, since I have yet to figure out just how to balance my workload. For one, I am going to go from Artist of the Week to Song of the Week. There are a few reasons for this, but one big one is that I'm worried that I will run out of artists of whom I own an extensive back catalogue! Secondly, I have decided that this semester is going to be about improving my cooking skills, and that means following other people's recipes. I will still do my own recipes occasionally, but more often than not, I will be showing you my results from using other people's recipes.
I hope to have something new up soon, but in the mean time here are a couple of the cooking adventures I've had since I last saw you:

Cooking *live* shrimp

moments later, one jumped across the room.

Cocktails with The Hungry Undergrad!

Life Update!

If you follow my blog at all, you may have started to notice a pattern developing: I get very quiet when I go home. I have no particular excuse for that, just that I have been enjoying having time to relax and catch up with everyone! Just thought I'd give you a little update on what I've been up to, to prove that I am still alive! My first few weeks back have been fairly eventful, lots of music and theatre, lots of food!

So, here goes - I've included links to everything in case you are interested

War and Peace at the Circus, Ridonkulous Amounts of Squee, Guy Garvey Knows I Exist!, That Bit Where Darren's Shirt Went See-Through, David Tennant Covered in Paint and Catherine Tate's Lovely Legs, A Day of Culture, The End of My Childhood, Beards and Bare Chests at the RSC and A Date With The Truck Monster!

also, here are a couple of things I've been cooking

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 27

Today calls for A song that you wish you could play. Though there are many songs I wish I could play, I think this is top of the list. I know I will never be able to play it, and I just love the way it sounds. It is Canadee-i-o by Nic Jones, a folk song from Labrador.



Luckily for me, there is a slightly more achievable version - and it is on octave mandolin! This is from Jon Boden's folk song a day project, and the guy playing is Dan Plews


A folk Song A Day - Jon Boden - Canadee-io & Bold Sir Rylas from edward cooper on Vimeo.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 26

Day 26 is A song that you can play on an instrument. Well, it isn't really a song, it's a dance tune, and it is my absolute favourite thing to play on the cello.

This version is performed by Mischa Maisky who, it has to be said, has some fantastic hair.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 25

I'm awful, I know. Let's get on with day 25 - A song that makes you laugh. Many songs make me laugh, for many reasons - they could be comedy songs, or they could be so bad that they are just hilarious! I've gone for the first one that popped into my head.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 24

Gosh, it's been a while, hasn't it? It's so hard to believe it has been 2 weeks since I was in England. I'm currently doing summer courses, which is a new experience for me, and is a lot more intense than I had imagined. I'm two weeks in and I already have midterms and papers rearing their ugly heads because the courses have been condensed from an entire semester into 6 weeks!
I have been spending the past few weeks firstly enjoying my time at home, then moving and settling into both my apartment for the summer and my timetable, but I'm back now, so I will hopefully be doing a bit of blogging.
Today's description gave me some trouble A song that you want to play at your funeral. How do you come up with that? Most of the songs I thought about seemed terribly self-indulgent or overly miserable, but I think I have chosen one which satisfies me. Rather than being about me, it would be to thank my friends for being there throughout my life :)

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 23

I think there may be some delays with the 30 Day Song Challenge for the next week or so - I am home and have lots of fun things to do and lovely weather, and my internet access is sporadic at best! Today is May Day and some of my friends and I went to join the May morning celebrations in Oxford. I will post a full account in the next few days - I took so many photos, I ought to share some of them - but I had a brilliant time, and I am so happy to be back in Oxfordshire for the moment. Until I went away to Vancouver I took this place for granted, but now I really appreciate what a wonderful place this is to grow up and live. I can't see myself staying anywhere else for too long!

So, back to the challenge - today is a song that you want to play at your wedding. I haven't given too much thought to how I would want my wedding to be, but I think romantic songs are generally appropriate, so I have chosen a song that I think is very romantic.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 22

I'm on my way home! I'm currently sitting in the airport looking out at the runway, waiting for my plane :). In the meantime, here is day 22 of the 30 day song challenge - a song that you listen to when you are sad.
This song is also good for travelling and going to sleep, so I will probably end up listening to it on the plane later!

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 21

Today is a song that you listen to when you are happy. Today I am very happy because I am finally finished with exams and I am off for a week at home tomorrow! This came on my iPod today and made me smile. To me it is a song for sunny, chilled out days - bring on the summer!

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 20

I did it again! I wrote the post but forgot to publish it! Silly billy!

Today's song description is A song that you listen to when you're angry. When I'm angry I tend to have a very low tolerance for upbeat music, but every so often there is a kick-ass song that just makes you feel better when you listen to it, and this is one of those songs. I've gone for Song for the Dumped by Ben Folds.

(Beware! Language!)

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 19

Today's description is a song from your favourite album. The album I have gone for is Rumours by Fleetwood Mac, since it was the first album I actually loved as an 'album' rather than a bunch of songs I liked. Now, in no way was I alive when this record came out, my love for Fleetwood Mac is definitely my parents' doing, so a big thank you to them for introducing me to one of my favourite bands!
and yes, I know that Rumours is everyone's favourite album, and therefore a bit of a boring choice, but there is a reason so many people love this album and that is that it is amazing. The combination of three main singers and songwriters means that the sound is incredibly varied, and the anguish that they were all going through at the time runs through the entire album, giving it this unexpected edge. Fab! It was so hard to choose a single song, since one song could never sum up the entire album, so I have cheated and gone for one song from each of the three main songwriters
first up, Stevie Nicks


Next, Lindsey Buckingham


and last but not least, Christine McVie









Ohhhh, and let's have one from all of them! I have no restraint tonight, I've just had about 5 long island iced teas!

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 18

The description for today is A song that you wish you heard often on the radio. Well, an awful lot of the songs I love are the sorts of songs that you just don't hear on normal radio programmes, so it is hard to select just one. I did another search-through-my-iPod-until-I-find-something-suitable job, and this is what I came up with!

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 17

Day 17 is A song you hear often on the radio. The only radio show I can really make time to listen to at the moment is Adam and Joe on 6Music, and they rarely play the same song twice. However the last two times I've been in the car with the radio on, this song came on. I was pretty happy about it too, as I love it! It makes me really happy to see genuinely talented singers like Jessie J and Adele topping the charts, as they are at the moment :)

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 16

Today calls for A song you used to love but now hate. It was quite difficult to think of one for this - songs usually tend to grow on me, and I tend to keep a soft spot for songs I liked when I was younger.
I have managed to come up with one though - Teenagers by My Chemical Romance. For some reason, for a short while in my life, this song spoke to me in some way. I don't know whether I was going through an angry phase or what, but I was a teenager and this is a song about teenagers.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 15

Whoops! I was so out of it last night - I wrote this post but forgot to publish it! I'll make up for it by posting two today!
Sorry my posts have been so brief lately, I have been cramming furiously for the past few days! My next (and last!) exam isn't until next week, so I am looking forward to doing something other than revision (namely, packing up all my stuff to move out of here) for a little bit.
Today's description is A song that describes you. This was hard. I have become convinced that musicians don't really write songs about people like me! Or rather, if they do, they write about aspects of myself that I don't particularly want to broadcast over the internet...
I've gone for Battery Human by Stornoway. I've certainly felt like this for the past few weeks - the combination of rain and revision has left me inside all day, chained to my computer and drowning in bits of paper! I intend to spend all summer outside to make up for it!

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 14

A song that no-one would expect you to love.  Well I have no idea what people expect of me, but I think if you only knew my music tastes from what I put up on this blog, you probably wouldn't expect me to like this

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 13

Today is A song that is a guilty pleasure. I definitely have plenty of those - I am a huge power-ballad fan! However I haven't gone for a power ballad today, I have chosen Star Girl by McFly. I know, shameful - but isn't that the point of a guilty pleasure?

My favourite bit is when they say "there was nothing on earth that could save us when I fell in love with Uranus". Yes, I am very mature.

30 Day song Challenge - Day 12

Just a quick one today - today is supposed to be a song from a band you hate. Not sure I hate any bands (except possibly Kate Nash) but there are plenty I don't like, or that annoy me. One of the things that annoys me about some songs is the artist's attitude towards women, and also euphemisms that are so obvious they kind of cease to be euphemisms. Today's song encompasses both of these.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 11

Day 11 is A song from your favourite band. Yet another difficult one! I'm not sure I have one favourite band, as there are many that I adore, so I've gone for a band who's music I have been listening to a lot lately, and, well, I've listened to them a lot since I first came across them a few years ago.
Today's song is by Sigur Rós, from the first album of theirs I bought - Takk, and the song is Sæglópur, which translates as "lost at sea".



incidentally, what happens at 4:10 is part of the reason I am terrified of seaweed!

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 10

Today's description is quite fitting for how I feel today - A song that makes you fall asleep. It was also a very easy choice. I've gone for Silent Sigh by Badly Drawn Boy, although it isn't the particular song that makes me fall asleep, but the album it is taken from, the soundtrack to About A Boy.
Around the time the film came out, my sister bought the soundtrack. It proved very popular with my whole family, and we would listen to it in the car. I distinctly remember a time that we went to visit my family in Co. Durham - one day, this CD was playing as we were driving back to my Grandparents' house from my Uncle's house. Suddenly a song came on that I had never heard before. I was completely puzzled - we had had the CD for months, and I had listened to it many times... Only then it dawned on me - I had only ever listened to it at night, or on long car journeys, and I had always fallen asleep halfway through!

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 9

Today's song description is A song that you can dance to. I feel that this needs to be accompanied by a disclaimer - I cannot dance. I have the sense of rhythm, but absolutely no co-ordination or style. So, if by dancing, you mean flailing randomly in an overexcited manner, then this song will make me do that! I would have gone for Do You Love Me by The Contours, but since I mentioned that in an earlier post, I thought I'd go for something else. If you don't at least give a little shimmy when you listen to this, there is something very wrong with you!
So, here it is - I Wish by Stevie Wonder!

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 8

Day 8 calls for A song that you know all the words to. Well, this was quite difficult, since I know the words to an awful lot of songs. There is a lot of valuable space in my brain that I could use to store knowledge of chemical thermodynamics or phylum synapomorpies, but instead is taken up by song lyrics. I still remember all the lyrics to every song by the Spice Girls and S Club 7, who I was obsessed with when I was about 6. You get the picture.
Since this was so hard to choose, I basically came up with my selection by skipping through songs on my iPod until I came to one that I really enjoy singing along to. It also happens to be rather nerdy!
I've gone for one of the songs from the Lord of the Rings musical - Lothlorien
I went to see the Lord of the Rings musical with my Dad just before it finished in the West End, and absolutely adored it. We have the CD, of course, and I do know pretty much the entire thing off by heart (yes, including The Cat and the Moon), but this song wins for today, thanks to all those twiddly bits, that bit of elvish at the beginning (told you I was nerdy), but most of all, it's sheer belt-ability!
The beginning bit is Legolas singing, but the main bit is Galadriel, played by the fabulous Laura Michelle Kelly

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 7

Today is A song that reminds you of an event. I've gone for a song that I can't hear without thinking back to the beginning of my first year at university, and specifically back to Science Frosh. It was summer 2009, a day organised by university students who were clearly fans of SNL, and at the end of the day, there was a party boat cruise of False Creek. We were on a boat. Yes, you guessed it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7yfISlGLNU&feature=related

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 6

Today's description is A song that reminds you of somewhere. It was actually surprisingly hard to think of songs that reminded me of places that weren't gigs or festivals (thought that would be a bit boring) since songs generally remind me of events rather than just places. A lot of songs make me think of driving between places too, rather than one particular location, since I always listen to music in the car. Then there are the songs that make me think of places where I've never even been - so all in all, it is quite difficult to filter through all of that to find a song that reminds me of an actual, single, place!
The song I've come up with is Love Today by Mika, and it reminds me of the carriage driving camp I went to in the summer for a couple of years. One year, one of the other kids had the CD with them, and we ended up listening to it all the time, and even doing a musical drive to it on the last day.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 5

Today calls for A song that reminds you of someone. For this I have chosen What a Difference a Day Makes by Jamie Cullum. As for the person it reminds me of, well, they know who they are :). Whenever we hear our favourite rhyme in this song ("when you" with "menu"), we have to send the other person a little message to let them know. I've gone for the live version because we were both at this concert. It was in the courtyard of Blenheim Palace, it was my first proper concert, and it was absolutely mind-blowing! Jamie Cullum is such a fantastic performer!

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 4

Today is A song that makes you sad. I'm not sure any song makes me sad, exactly - music is generally a joyful experience for me, unless it is bad! However there are many songs that move me deeply, so I have gone for one of them today. I've also gone classical, because I find that classical music is the most likely to move me to tears. I have chosen A Child's Prayer, composed by James MacMillan in memory of the victims of the Dunblane massacre. Even before I knew the story behind the piece, the first time I heard it on the radio, it was so unlike anything I'd heard before and it moved me profoundly.
This version is by The Sixteen, my favourite choir, from their album Ikon and the soloists are Elin Manahan Thomas and Grace Davidson

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 3

Day 3 calls for A song that makes you happy. Well, there are many songs that make me happy, but if I have to pick just one, I have to go for the one that only takes one second to cheer me up - it's that good.  It might seem weird to go for a Smiths song, but it doesn't really have anything to do with the lyrics - I mean, it's The Smiths, they are hardly going to be all happy-go-lucky. Nope, instead it is that fabulous Marr guitar riff that gets me up and doing 80s dance moves around my room! Have a listen:

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 2

So today's description is Your least favourite song. Well, that is a lot easier than day 1, but only because of the existence of the song I'm about to post. I hate this song. I hate everything about it. I don't even know why. When it comes on the radio I will start screaming until someone turns it off. It makes me want to pull my brain out through my eye sockets. I think you get the picture.

Kate Nash - Foundations

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 1

So here we go on day 1 of the 30 Day Song Challenge, and of course they started with the hardest one: Your favourite song. I really don't have a favourite song - I like too many to ever make a definitive choice! In desperation, I looked at the most played songs on my iPod and was bemused to find that many of the top ones were songs that I don't actually like that much. Have a look:

I am totally confused by number 2 - I mean, I like that song, but listening to it 1980 times? That can't be right.
Anyway, finally, down at 9 is a song I genuinely adore. I don't know if it is my favourite, but if you count the number of times I have listened to it in the car with the bass turned up, it must be my most listened-to song. So I have gone for that one!


Seth Lakeman - Sound of a Drum

The man himself in action at Cropredy 2009

Spine-tingling bass, slightly creepy lyrics, Seth's lovely voice, and that mando bit at 3:30 make one fab song!

Bad Blogger!

Forgive me, I am a very bad blogger! As I mentioned in a previous post, I am quite busy with school at the moment, but I feel bad for neglecting this place! I just haven't felt like I have had time to write big blog posts - I do put a bit of work into them you know!
However - finals are starting properly next week, and the procrastination part of my brain is kicking in, so I thought I would attempt to ration my time-wasting into a little bit each day, and this is where the blog comes in!
You may have seen the 30 Day Song Challenge floating around on the internet, and I thought I would do it, but not on facebook, on the blog. That way, I can have a little bit of messing around on the internet every day, when I feel like taking a break from studying - good idea, non?
So, here is how it works - there is a list of criteria, one for each day, and each day, you find and post a song which fits the description! So, here is the list:
I'll be starting tomorrow, so hopefully I'll see you then!

day 01 - your favorite song
day 02 - your least favorite song
day 03 - a song that makes you happy 
day 04 - a song that makes you sad
day 05 - a song that reminds you of someone
day 06 - a song that reminds you of somewhere
day 07 - a song that reminds you of a certain event 
day 08 - a song that you know all the words to
day 09 - a song that you can dance to
day 10 - a song that makes you fall asleep 
day 11 - a song from your favorite band 
day 12 - a song from a band you hate 
day 13 - a song that is a guilty pleasure 
day 14 - a song that no one would expect you to love 
day 15 - a song that describes you 
day 16 - a song that you used to love but now hate 
day 17 - a song that you hear often on the radio
day 18 - a song that you wish you heard on the radio
day 19 - a song from your favorite album
day 20 - a song that you listen to when you’re angry 
day 21 - a song that you listen to when you’re happy
day 22 - a song that you listen to when you’re sad
day 23 - a song that you want to play at your wedding
day 24 - a song that you want to play at your funeral
day 25 - a song that makes you laugh
day 26 - a song that you can play on an instrument
day 27 - a song that you wish you could play
day 28 - a song that makes you feel guilty
day 29 - a song from your childhood 
day 30 - your favorite song at this time last year


I'll be starting tomorrow, so hopefully I'll see you then!
Hopefully this will be nice for other people - maybe get some music recommendations? If not though, at the very least it will be therapeutic for me.

Artist of the Week - Elbow

Yes, yes, I know, I have already had Elbow as my artist of the week, but I wanted to have them again just to draw your attention the their new album Build A Rocket Boys! which came out on Monday. I was looking forward to it for a while, so I went downtown and bought it as soon as I possibly could, and boy, I was not disappointed! It is rapidly becoming my favourite Elbow album! Each song is so rich, and Guy Garvey's voice and lyrics are on top form. Their sound has evolved again, and they use new instruments, along with the Hallé Youth Choir. The album is full of unexpected twists and turns, heart-swelling and tear-jerking. In short, it is fab!

Now, I don't ask my readers for much, but today I would really like you to do me a favour - try listening to this album! Even if you just go to iTunes, their myspace, website or youtube page and listen to the 30 second previews, please do give the songs a go! 

and maybe, if you like them, you could go on and borrow the album off a friend, or even *gasp* buy it!

Or, should you need more convincing, try this review by Kitty Empire http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/mar/06/elbow-build-rocket-boys-review who is far more eloquent than I am!

Artist of the Week - Sara Bareilles

Artist of the week may or may not be happening weekly - we shall see how my workload is like over the next few weeks. I chose Sara Bareilles today because her song "King of Anything" was all over the radio in Hawaii, and it reminded me how much I like her music.

Artist of the Week - Sara Bareilles

Sara Bareilles is a singer-songwriter from California. She acheived mainstream success in 2007 with her (now platinum-selling) debut album Little Voice and hit single "Love Song". She released her second album Kaleidoscope Heart last month. Her music is lead by her strong and distinctive voice, and her piano playing (although her second album has fewer single-voice-and-piano songs). Apparently the Obamas really like her, since she has performed at many White House events, and she has done quite a few collaborations with other artists, one of which I will feature here.

Gravity
Quite a popular one, off her first album

Machine Gun
I think this one really shows off her amazing voice


Winter Song (with Ingrid Michaelson)
Favourite of many youtube users, a simple and gorgeous duet

Between the Lines
She is well known for her honest and relatable lyrics


King of Anything
Definitely one of those "you go, girl!" songs!


Say You're Sorry
Deceptively upbeat

Back to the Grind

A couple of weeks ago I gave a hint about what I was up to during reading break, and I can now reveal that I was in Maui, Hawaii, with my parents! I went last year at easter with my Mum, but this time around my Dad came too, which gave us a lot more freedom since he rented a car and is up for a lot of activities.
We had about a week, we stayed in a very nice hotel, did the road to Hana, snorkelling, paddleboarding, kayaking, swimming, tanning, and lots of eating and sleeping! We saw humpback whales, and green turtles, without even stepping on a boat, as well as colourful lizards, and lots of lovely birds (although none were endemic), amongst other things, including some biting insect that feasted on me when we stopped for a taco on the road to Hana!

Mum and Dad in Keanae

Now, however, I am back at school, trying to get back to work. The trip to Hawaii has lifted my winter blues somewhat, and I think the rest and sun did me good as I'm feeling a lot healthier (not to mention fatter!) than I was before the break. So, seeing as I haven't posted in a while, I thought I'd put up a recipe. I had this for dinner tonight, it is very warm and comforting, and brings a little spice to a winter night.

Easy Kedgeree

serves 4-6

Ingredients
1 cup uncooked rice
4-6 eggs
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp butter
1 onion, diced
2 heaped tsp curry powder
1 tsp minced ginger
1 tsp minced garlic
250g hot-smoked fish (eg kipper, salmon or mackerel), flaked or chopped
3/4 cup chicken stock
1/2 bunch asparagus or other vegetables of your choice


- bring a pot of water to the boil and cook the rice according to the directions on the package. Ten minutes before the rice is done, add the eggs, whole, to the pot. When the rice is cooked, drain it, and run the eggs under cold water until they cool.
- in a deep frying pan, heat the butter and oil, then add the onion and soften for a few minutes, then add the ginger, garlic and curry powder and cook for another minute.
- add in the fish, and stir it around to get coated in the spice mixture, then add the stock. Bring to the boil for a few minutes until it becomes a thick sauce, then add in the rice and asparagus and heat through*
- peel the eggs, then cut into halves or quarters. Serve the kedgeree topped with the eggs.

*I like asparagus to be crispy, but if you are using other vegetables, such as carrots or peppers, you should add them between the onions and the spices.

Short Hiatus

If you read my blog regularly (though I'm not sure many do) you may have noticed that I haven't posted very much in the past month or so. This is because I am very busy with schoolwork at the moment, amongst other things. It is important that I get good grades this semester, which is more difficult than usual since I am taking 6 courses. Therefore I just wanted to give everyone a quick heads up that I will probably not be posting as much as I have done in the past for the next couple of months, and also that there will be no update this week, since I have 3 midterms to study for. I hope you will bear with me, I should be back soon with some interesting posts :)

ps - here's a hint at what I will be up to the week after those midterms!

Artist of The Week - John Grant

Phew! It's all busy busy busy here at the moment. I'm taking 6 courses this semester, as well as attempting to get fit, so there is lots of running around back and forth to different classes and between classes and the swimming pool!

Artist of the Week - John Grant

John Grant is the ex-lead singer of the Czars, who last year released his first solo album Queen of Denmark. I first heard his music on the radio a few weeks ago, specifically the song Where the Dreams Go to Die and was smitten. He has a rich, almost old-fashioned voice which, when paired with his unconventional lyrics, makes something very magical and unique. The album Queen of Denmark, made with the band Midlake, is about his past struggles with alcohol and drug addiction, suicide attempts and coming to terms with being gay.

Where the Dreams Go to Die


I Wanna Go To Marz


It's Easier


Caramel


Fireflies


Sigourney Weaver


So what do you think of John Grant?

Winter Warmer

I cooked this before Christmas - the last proper meal I bothered to cook before the stress of flight cancellations! It is very comforting and rich, and I rather enjoyed it!

Veal Meatballs with Slow-cooked Tomato sauce and Spaghetti


Ingredients
olive oil and butter for cooking
 - For the sauce -
1 onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 teaspoon chili flakes
2 carrots, finely diced
1 tin chopped tomatoes
300ml veal stock (chicken or beef is fine)
 - For the meatballs -
500g veal mince
1 cup crushed crackers
1 egg
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp grated nutmeg


Start off the sauce first: Heat up 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan over a medium heat, then add the butter and let it melt in the hot oil. Next, add the onion and saute until it begins to turn translucent. Add the garlic and chili and saute for a minute, then add the carrot and saute for another minute or so. Next add the tomatoes and the stock. It should look a bit like this:

Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down so that it is barely simmering, cover and leave to cook for 2-3 hours.

Now for the meatballs: in a bowl, combine all the ingredients, using your hands or a spoon to make sure everything is well mixed

Shape the mixture into tablespoon-sized balls, then cover and refrigerate for at least half an hour*. To cook them, fry them in a little olive oil and butter until they are cooked through and crispy on the outside. Serve them with spaghetti, and the sauce, which will have reduced over the cooking time and become thick, rich and flavourful.

*The raw meatballs can also be frozen at this point - freeze them on a baking sheet, then when they are hard, put them into a tupperware or freezer bag

Artist of the Week - Fleet Foxes

Here we are, back to normal programming with a return to the beardy men's corner of the music world. I have been listening to these guys a lot in the past couple of days, since the sun came out. I think their music goes perfectly with bright, chilly days in the pacific northwest, probably because it was written here!

Artist of the Week - Fleet Foxes

Fleet Foxes are a five-piece band from Washington State. They have been around for a while, but began to come to real prominence with the release of their album Fleet Foxes in 2008. They have so far released two EPs and one album, though a second album has been in the works for a while. They are best known for their use of 60s-influenced vocal harmonies and many groups with a similar sound have popped up since their debut.

So, on to the music!

Mykonos
Probably my favourite Fleet Foxes song

Blue Ridge Mountains
I think this goes perfectly with winter sun.

White Winter Hymnal
This was a very popular single in the UK.


Ragged Wood
Just listen to those harmonies!


Heard Them Stirring
Really dreamy


Tiger Mountain Peasant Song
There is something very soothing about all their music

Home Comforts

I have been quiet for the past couple of weeks, and that is because I was at home for Christmas.  Once I finally got home, I had a lovely quiet break with my family and friends, and I had my first white Christmas!

Over the past couple of years, there are some things that I have really come to appreciate about being at home - the space (the space! Every time I come home now I collapse on the floor of my room, because I can), the fact that it is cleaned twice a week by someone other than me, how nice the furniture is, the outdoor space, the tv, and... The kitchen!

Let me give you a guided tour of why I love it so much:

Well, first off, it's huge. Plus it has marble counters and a giant island unit.

It is also very light - there are big, south facing french doors and this thing in the roof

There is food everywhere. Cupboards full of dry goods, and this fridge,

these fridge drawers,

and this chest freezer in the garage.

Then, there is the cooker.

*Angelic voices singing*


5 gas burners, 2 ovens and a grill!

Oh, and let's not forget the most important kitchen resident:


Hi Molly! I missed you!