Friday, August 31, 2012

Yellow Ostrich - Marathon Runner

I posted another Yellow Ostrich song back in May, so maybe this is a little late coming around, but I just keep coming back to this song, well the whole album really, but particularly "Marathon Runner".



They still have more tour dates coming up this fall.  I sadly didn't manage to see them when they played at Mississippi Studios here in Portland (which is an awesome venue), but hopefully I can catch them the next time around.  And in the meantime, I'll keep listening to this great album.


Album cover via.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Tomato Salad Days

After getting back from vacation, which was delightful although expensive (maybe I'll even do a travel post, how novel), I was not up for much cooking but also didn't want to have to buy lunches this week.  So I fell back on the summer staple of tomato and bread salads.  They are super easy, especially if you have some stale bread on hand.  It's basically just chop, dump, shake, and then sit back and let the bread soak up the goodness.  The only tip, as it were, is to make sure you really season (ie salt) the tomatoes (and zucchini if you use them) to get them to give up their juices, which then soak into the bread.  (And chili flakes, but I'm pretty sure they make everything better.)



This is endlessly adaptable, even outside of summer, as you don't even necessarily need to use tomatoes.  You basically just need bread and some sort of vegetable - it's basically panzanella.  You can use whatever you have on hand, cooking or leaving raw as the vegetables dictate.  There are panzanella recipes everywhere online.  Go forth and throw your favorite vegetables together with some stale bread.  And then take prettier pictures than I have.



Summer Tomato and Bread Salad:

Day old bread, torn into shards or diced
2 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced
2-3 tomatoes, diced
salt
pepper
chili flakes
olive oil
balsamic vinegar

Preheat over to 400.  Toss the bread shards with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with salt/pepper.  Bake for about ten minutes or until crispy, tossing once to help cook evenly.

Throw all ingredients in a bowl, season with salt/pepper/chili flakes, and then pour olive oil and balsamic vinegar to taste. Toss to combine, and ideally let sit for 15 minutes to a couple of hours to let them juices soak into the bread.

(If packing for a lunch, I like to make it in the morning and layer bread on bottom of container, cover with chopped vegetables, season the vegetables, pour the dressing over, and then shake it all up before eating.)

Friday, August 3, 2012

Pomplamoose - Do Not Push

This is such a great mash up of Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know" and Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe."  I was getting sick of both songs, but this is just so good.



Pomplamoose has some really great videos on their youtube channel.  They first got a lot of views with their "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" cover.



Image via.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

LP - Into the Wild

My lovely friend Anne put this song on a Songkick mix for me when I was in need of new music, and I have been loving it ever since.  And then I found out L.P. are her initials, for Laura Pergolizzi, so of course I think she's great.  She also has some pretty impressive song-writing credits.



She sounds so great on both her recordings and live, as shown by her street performance at SXSW.  She's touring a bit the rest of this summer and fall.  Also, if you sign up for her newsletter on her website, you can get a free download of her cover of Beyonce's song "Halo."



Image via.
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