Brandon Flowers, Flamingo - taking flight, not selling out, Matt!

So JBT sent me a text alerting me to the fact that Brandon Flowers will be releasing a solo album, Flamingo... shivers ran through me and I couldn't get the computer on fast enough to check it out!

Posted on the Killers official website: http://www.thekillersmusic.com, there is a neon flashing sign with Brandon's name and a red spade (staying true his vegas roots), and a techno loop that is crazy catchy, announcing a new solo album coming soon.

My first thoughts:
Nice inclusion of guitar, spacey keyboarding, heavy bass pumping, (thank you Ronnie)
breathy falsetto reminiscent of Bono... like I said, crazy catchy.

Despite Matt's comments:
"Brandon IS like all the rest, selling out" and "so, are all of TK members on the new album too?" I'm happy that Brandon's taking some artistic liberty and doing something on his own - I don't think it's a break from TK - I just think it's something that musicians should be allowed to do; Jack White from the White Stripes is a perfect example.

Honestly, I'm excited because I needed something new (musically) to look forward to and this loop, while limited, is like a shot of adrenaline piercing the monotony of music dribbling from the scene today. Maybe I'm a bit biased. I just hope this album is released before I have to give birth since its going to take something crazy catchy, and close to my heart, to get me through...


P.S. Matt has listened to the loop a few times and I can tell he likes it; he's figured out the guitar parts and is playing along; )

Franciscan Heritage Foods Bakery and Coffe Shop (1980-1994)

I'll admit that Cinnamon Rolls hold a special place in my heart - more than cupcakes, chocolate pudding pie (my favorite birthday dessert growing up), and more than a hot fudge sundae.

I went to Ada Village Preschool and on occasion, my mom and I would walk around the corner and stop in at the Franciscan Bakery and Coffee Shop. We would walk through the gateway, onto a cobblestone path, step up on the old stone stoop, push open the tall heavy door with the leaded glass, and the tinkling of a bell would announce our arrival. Stepping into what was once a general store or drug store, one length of wall had a counter with bins full of tea and gift items, the opposite wall filled with glass dessert cases with a nun or two standing behind it, taking orders, refilling coffee cups of and delivering orders to patrons sitting at the little tables spread the length of the room, and stocking the glass shelves with freshly baked goods that would emerge from the end of the room from behind two swinging doors.

I'm sure I tried a number of baked goods, but my all-time favorite, and the one that has since set on a pedestal in my mind as the ultimate-unbeatable sweet treat of all time, was the big glazed Cinnamon Bun.

I'll admit that I've never tried a Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll; in some moments of weakness, I've considered it, but I've never taken that step. To do so would dishonor, disrespect the memory and the gloriousness of those special stops at the Franciscan Bakery. Even if a Cinnabon Cinamon Roll was out of this world fabulous, how could the experience of purchasing a mass produced roll from a commercial franchise compare?!?

The flurry of baking this past winter was preparation for my attempt to make home-made Cinnamon Rolls. While my mom, on rare occasion, would bake a pan - and they were glorious -I have never attempted to make them; something about them being a yeast dough, time consuming, multistep, etc. Well, at this stage those reasons are no longer obstacles, but rather reasons to finally make home made Cinnamon Rolls. So, last night I made the dough, cut the rolls, and put them in a pan in the refrigerator to bake this morning. I got up at 5:45 a.m. and placed them on the stove for a final rise, moving them to the radiator for a final puff before putting them in the oven for 20 minutes. The result was unbelievable - even Matt, not a big sweet-eater, had two! I won't say how many I had...

While my dough was rising last night I looked to see what I could find about the Bakery and Coffee Shop. Unfortunately, the Master Baker, Sister Ann Boehm passed away in 2003 andthe only other Sister I can find, who was involved in the bakery is Sister Colleen Ann Nagle. She doesn't appear to be that old, so there may be time for me to contact her to see if she would share Sister Boehm's recipe for the best Cinnamon Rolls in Memory and maybe a picture or two of the bakery.

Opening Day: April 17, 2010 Owen's Catch of the Day

Like many others, it's a tradition for Matt to go fishing on Opening Day, so, like many years before, Matt joined the Sposatos, Gary, Adam and Drew, for fishing at Mashamoquet River at Mashamoquet State Park early in the morning. This year was no different, except that he didn't leave at 5:30 a.m. and Owen Brown was in tow,only slightly bribed by the prospect of stopping at Dunkin Donuts, "like a lot of other fisherman this morning."

Owen joined Adam's fiancee, Melissa, and her son Chris, as additions to the usual troupe, and two hours later the boys returned home, and Owen showed off his catch: 2 Brook Trout and 1 Rainbow Trout - absolutely beautiful fish that a boy and his dad should be proud of.



So, the tradition is alive and well, Owen is in the shower and Matt is cleaning the fish. I guess we'll be having fish for dinner this evening - and Matt officially has a new fishing partner!

The End of an Era? Can Pie Dough Pizza Finally Be Put to Rest?!?

Growing up, pizza from the pizza place was a treat and more often than not, before it was just too damn convenient, my parents would make their own pizza - my Dad was particularly patient and could stretch the dough to result in a crisp crust.

In my own time I have made a few home-made pizzas, with very limited success and a few disasters that my brothers love to use as an (unfair) illustration of my cooking abilities. Admittedly, when I was 14 years old I used a box of Jiffy pie crust mix that had alternate directions if you wanted to use it for a pizza crust. Today, I realize that the recipe probably doomed a good number to fail and I wonder if they yet endure the harassment from siblings who took a look at the dismal mess of pie-crust pizza coming out of the oven and were disappointed and, at the same time, amused.

When first dating, Matt and I both lived at our parents' homes and our respective incomes were plentiful enough to allow us to eat out quite a bit. One of favorite places to stop was Willington Pizza for the Shrimp Scampi Pizza and the Red Potato Pizza. When we first got our apartment and our parents first met, it was home-made Red Potato Pizza on the menu. I would like to point out that this success was despite Matt practically cutting his finger off and having to spend the night in the emergency room!

With so many pizza places around it is convenient to grab a mid-week meal, but often times the consistency is lacking and after awhile, pizza is the last thing you feel like eating. Since I've been baking so much lately, I decided that I should give the Italian-American pizza pie another chance. So, I skipped the American Test Kitchen Cookbook, didn't even open the Joy of Cooking, and just googled pizza sauce - after searching around some baking blogs and checking out simplyrecipes.com, I had some recipes and felt I had the confidence to make something worthy of Matt's Italian ancestry.

The result, I made AWESOME pizza dough and made the best homemade pizza I've ever made! Like I said, based on past experience, I'm not usually too keen on home-made pizza, but the crust was light, crispy and puffed just a little bit on the edges, tasted good - not too yeasty/fermenty and it was super good considering I only put mozzarella cheese and pepperoni strips on half of it... We don't even have a pizza stone (up until this point of my life, why would I?!?)but I preheated the oven with an upside down baking sheet in it and and I put my stretched dough on a piece of parchment with some cornmeal, and using another baking sheet transferred the paper onto the preheated sheet - almost unbelievably, success!!



So, finally, I have a recipe that may redeem the pie dough-pizza debacle from my youth; although, I don't believe my brothers will ever give up the opportunity to reminisce over their sister's utter failure - one of only two that they know of, apparently: )

Baking for Another Generation

Cook your way into his heart...while that used to be the way to catch a husband, it's also a way to cement the love of a 4-year-old boy. Stimulating the orfactory nerves, piquieing the sense of smell, is one of the surest way to imprint memories on the mind and this phemonena is alive and well at 542 Hartford Pike.

For a number of years now I have had Fridays off from work. While I use the day to catch up on cleaning, errands, finances, crafting with Owen, and all-around-personal time, I make it a point to bake...something. I admit that I love the baking process, the smell of goodies baking, the fact that the whole house smells lovely for hours afterward, and the site of a small boy following his nose to the kitchen to ask, "what are you making Mom?" and "when will it be ready to eat?"

I didn't realize until recently how much Owen loved my baking and how much baking was part of his weekly routine until after a long Friday of running errands and playing in the afternoon sun of an unseasonably warm early April afternoon, Owen asked, "why didn't you bake anything today Mom?" I was initially surprised by his question, and explained that we just got so busy and it was so nice to be outside, that I didn't have a chance. I assured him that since the next day was Saturday and another day off, I'd have time to do some baking. He was satisfied with the answer and I was filled with the satisfaction that my son, and soon my daughter, will have lasting memories of their mother being at home and baking on Fridays.