Paloma Faith - Picking up the Pieces

I just stumbled upon this British singer, in an article where she was heralded as the next Adele.  I'm not sure about all that, but she did release a good music video for her first single, Picking up the Pieces.



You can also get a free download of the song on her website.  She doesn't have any U.S. tour dates scheduled, but hopefully that will change.



Image via.

Currently Craving: Sunglasses

The sun has finally come out in Portland, and while I already have a couple of pairs of sunglasses that I love, it is easy to be swayed by a pretty pair.

Here are a few that I've been craving recently:

Tory Burch Rounded Cat-Eye Sunglasses, available at Tory Burch.

Country Music Round-up

While it is not always my inclination, there's something about the 4th of July that calls for country music.  Also, I'm going to the St. Paul Rodeo this weekend and so have been listening to a bunch of country music leading up to that.



Here are some of my most recent favorites.

Fashion Inspiration - White Blazer

I finally bought a white blazer after catching myself continually drawn to them and pinning them like crazy over on pinterest.

Here are just of few of the looks I hope to recreate, in feel if not in specifics.  I just think a white blazer is so nice in the summertime.

Kimchi Pancake

Tea over at Tea & Cookies has done a couple of posts about shortcut foods, which has gotten me thinking about what I throw together when I'm short on time, but not so desperate as to go straight to my emergency meal.  While I don't really have an answer for that yet, my sister cooked me dinner last night, and I think it could become my new shortcut food.

I was second-guessing posting this, because I neither came up with the idea nor actually cooked it myself.  (I helped though, kind of.  I sat there and read directions out loud while drinking cava - that's helping, right?  Oh, and I poached the eggs - that definitely counts as helping.)  However, I decided it's so good, and easy, and adaptable, that it was worth posting about, and I don't think my sister will mind.



She made kimchi pancakes, adapted from this recipe from Bap Story.  They came together pretty quickly, and happily accepted the addition of some chopped, sauteed zucchini and corn kernels cut off the cobs in addition to the standard kimchi.  Megan served them over rice and with a poached egg on top, and then with some siracha, because almost everything is better with hot sauce.  I'm eating it again today for lunch, except without the egg.

I think these would happily accept almost any mix of vegetables in withe kimchi, which helps make it a happy, clean out the crisper drawer kind of meal.  Just make sure whatever vegetables you're using are either pre-cooked (like sauteed zucchini) or don't need much cooking time (like corn kernels) since these come together pretty quickly and don't spend a lot of time in the pan.



Kimchi Pancakes, adapted from Bap Story:
serves 1, very scalable

1/2 cup pancake mix of flour
1 cup chopped vegetables (kimchi, sauteed zucchini, corn kernels, etc)
1/2 cup icy cold water

Chop up your vegetables into bite-sized pieces.  Put your vegetables, flour, and water in a bowl and mix well.  Heat some cooking oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat.  Once hot put a scoop of pancake mix onto the pan and spread out into a flat, round shape.  Once the bottom is crisp, flip it over.  Cook until the other side is also crisp.  Drain on a paper towel and serve, either alone or over rice and with a poached or fried egg.

Angus and Julia Stone - Big Jet Plane

This song is great.



Angus and Julia Stone are a brother and sister duo from Australia.  They each also have solo albums out recently and soon, Julia's album "By the Horns" came out May 25 and Angus' album "Broken Brights" is coming out in July.



Image via.

Ben Taylor - Oh Brother

I've been a big Ben Taylor fan ever since seeing him open for Tracy Chapman at The Fillmore in San Francisco while I was in college.  He is, incidentally, James Taylor and Carly Simon's son.  His new album, Listening, is coming out in August, but he just released a song through Rolling Stone, "Oh Brother."  I can't embed it, but here's the link to listen to "Oh Brother."



He's also touring a little this summer, only really on the east coast.  Below are the tour dates and links he sent out through his mailing list, in addition to a video of my favorite Ben Taylor song, "Nothing I Can Do" which he wrote for his mom.