"He just couldn't say no to her"

In a recent post I asked, when did you first fall in love with comic books? Well what spawned that post was a visit to my friend, Patrick Titus' The Comic Book Shop. While visiting  and taking in the G.I Joe Launch party, besides reminiscing about the good old days, we got to talking about the comics we like, and how it had been awhile since I had bought one.  That is when Titus pointed me to Saga, Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples. And now I am completely hooked,

Saga, Vol. 1 is simply brilliant.  As an avid reader I am always looking for a story that has it all, that pushes all the limits and this storyline does just that, and does it successfully.  I will state this up front, this is an adult graphic novel, I would not recommend this to just anyone.  Vaughan takes you on a trippy space odyssey of star-crossed lovers, caught in the midst of a war, and yes, with the Shakespeare innuendo there is the upper class royal characters as well, but what Vaughan does with them is pretty far out and wild, he gives them television/monitors for heads, which just adds to the ongoing humor throughout the story. If you like magic, fantasy, sexual exploration, and bounty hunters, yeah, it has all that, and you will love it, or at least admire Vaughan's creativity.

What hooked me in from the beginning was the opening scene, the star-crossed lovers, Alana and Marko are in the midst of the birth of their child, when Alana says, "Seriously, you'll never have sex with me again if I defecate all over you". LOL! Yes, I know my humor may be just as twisted as Vaughan's, but I think I know plenty women out there who have given birth, and know that thought and sometimes fear of pooping on the table during childbirth.  I know one woman who shared with me during my pregnancy that she was so worried about pooping on the table, that she kept downing castor oil, so this is not as far fetched as some of you might think.  But that is what caught me, I love Vaughan's raw and edgy writing, it reminds me of some of my own writing.  Some critics have said Vaughan is batshit crazy, well personally I think he writes in a very real and honest way, that most people are just not accustomed to hearing, because we follow what society deems is appropriate.  Another passage for all you mothers, "You know what my idea of horror is? Nine months of forced sobriety. If I could survive that..."-Alana.

So needless to say, I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series and can't wait to get my hands on Volume 2.  And if you need more to draw you to at least take a peek at this graphic novel, then this might do the trick...another critics review of this work, stated this story is Game of Thrones meets Star Wars. Thanks again, Titus for turning me onto this one!

Brilliant. A story that has it all, sci-fiction, fantasy, drama, and even a little Shakespeare...if you like stories about star-crossed lovers you will love this, well keeping in mind you also don't mind adult graphics and storyline as well. I can't wait to get my hands on the next volume and see where this story continues to go.

Sweet Potato Casserole

This recipe was originally created by my husband, Kyle, when he decided to take on the paleo diet. When I grabbed a hold of it I changed a few things and added a few ingredients.  Now it has become a weekly staple in our household.  This dish is great as a breakfast side dish, a snack, a side for dinner, or great as a dessert all by itself or with a yummy scoop of vanilla ice cream! :)  Kids love this dish!!!


Ingredients:
2-3 Tbsp. grassfed butter (Kerrigold), salted
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1 1/2" pieces
2 granny smith apples, peeled and diced into 1" pieces
2 D'Anjou or Bartlett pears, peeled and either diced or sliced into moon slivers
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup of chopped pecans
sprinkle of Penzeys Cinnamon

Directions:

Grease the casserole dish with the butter, it will not take the entire 2-3 Tbsp. to grease, Leave the remaining butter in the bottom of the casserole dish. Personally I like to chop up the butter into smaller pieces around the dish. Then layer the ingredients starting with the sweet potatoes, all the way through to the sprinkling of Penzeys Cinnamon. Then cover with aluminum foil and bake in the oven @ 350 for about 1 hour and 15 mins.

A Wise Shepherd Once Told Me

 

Shepherd's Pie with a Twist

 

So many of you are very familiar with the traditional Shepherd's Pie Recipe:     This twist on the old tradition first was just an adjustment for me to make one of my favorite comfort foods strictly paleo. However, I quickly changed more than just the topping from starchy mashed white potatoes to mashed sweet potatoes, to all sorts of earthy mashed goodness options. These now include mashed cauliflower and one of my favorites mashed celery root, I have even blended all three for a topping. But now I even play with what ground meats I use and how I am making the sauce or gravy to cook the delicious meat, also known as "hash" mixture in.

So most shepherd's pie recipes call for some sort of Worcestershire Sauce, Oil (Canola or other), tomato sauce/paste, and chicken stock to cook the mixture aka hash.  I however, have discovered something that I like not only to use for cooking the mixture, but also to drink while I make this yummy comfort dish- Dogfish Head Tweason'ale.  It enables me to keep my shepherd's pie gluten-free.  Now the word is still out on whether this gluten-free beer fits the paleo diet or not, only because it is made from sorghum and there are mixed theories and opinions about whether sorghum is paleo or not.  Personally, I like to try the best options in my cooking that give well-balanced flavors to my food, sometimes that means a little compromise and understanding that we live in the age of industrialized food.

 

Ingredients:

1 bottle (12oz) of Dogfish Head Tweason'ale
   (half of it for the pie, half for your drinking pleasure)
1 yellow onion peeled, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup button mushrooms, diced
1 1/2 cups of fresh diced carrots
1/ 1/2 cups of frozen peas
6 Tbsp of grassfed butter
2 Tbsp of Worcestershire Sauce
1 1/2 pounds of ground lamb (or ground beef, ground pork, ground turkey)
3 celery roots (3-4 lbs, about the size of baseballs) peeled/diced 1" pieces
1 Tbsp Susie Q Blue Label Seasoning (*Must be ordered through Susie Q Brand, California/otherwise substitute with Garlic Salt with Parsley)
1 Tsp of Salt
1 1/2 Tsp of ground black pepper

Directions for Topping:
In a a large pot, or stock pot, bring to boil about 5-6 cups of water.  Once water has reached a boil, add chopped celery root.  Cook until celery root is tender, very much like cooking diced white potatoes, approx. about 25 mins. Drain, once the celery root is tender, and place back in pot.  Add 3 Tbsp of butter and 1 Tbsp of Susie Q seasoning (you can also use garlic salt with parsley, if you do not have Susie Q seasoning). Blend with an immersion blender (I like Cuisinart's Stick Immersion Blender).  Blend until it resembles mashed potatoes, set aside, until you have the hash mixture cooked.

Directions for Hash Mixture:
In a large skillet on medium heat, melt 3 Tbsp. of butter.  Add worcestershire sauce, diced onions, garlic, and button mushrooms.  Cook until lightly golden, then add, carrots, peas, and first 3 oz. of Dogfish Head Tweason-ale.  Once the carrots have become slightly tenders and the peas softened, then add the ground lamb (or other ground meat), and the salt and pepper.  Cook until the meat starts to brown, add the final 3 oz of Dogfish Head Tweason'ale and cook on a low simmer, until meat is cooked through, approximately 20-30 mins.

Preheat oven to 325. Place Hash Mixture in a Deep 2 1/2 Qt. Casserole Dish, top with Mashed Celery Root topping and place in oven uncovered for 30-40 minutes.

***Topping Substituions*** You can replace the celery root with Mashed Sweet Potatoes or Mashed Cauliflower. If using Mashed Sweet Potatoes you can omit the Susie Q Seasoning. However if using the Mashed Cauliflower I would still use it, I find the Susie Q really helps bring out the earthy flavors of the Celery Root and Cauliflower.



Firefly Music Festival Returns to My Home State

Okay yesterday I shared  my love of music and my thoughts on this resurgence of blues rock. Today I get to share that I am so stoked about this year's lineup!!!  I really was not sure how Red Frog Events was going to pull together a lineup that would top its inaugural year, but I am impressed with this year's lineup.

I mean could my high school friend have been more right about wanting to get fueled up on Alabama Shakes? But I will admit the first band that I saw in the video announcing the lineup that got me on edge, was The Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I wanted them to be part of last year's lineup so desperately, and am so glad they are going to be there this year.  I also have to say, for the record, I was right in my research with the clue that Firefly gave on LP, everyone was figuring out the morse code for the "Beep beep beep Beep..." clue and thought it was referencing Eddie Vedder's Into the Wild (because the morse code revealed that was the ISBN for the book Into the Wild, which was turned into a movie, which Vedder did the soundtrack for).  With some research, because I love me some Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam, so I did not want to get completely hopeful, and that is when I discovered LP  has covered a song with the same title as Into the Wild. I will state here and now, that I would still be overjoyed if Eddie Vedder or Pearl Jam was added to the lineup. However, I am also completely content with the lineup that is listed. I mean come on, "Give it away, give it away now..." - Red Hot Chili Peppers and the legendary Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.  And finally I will say what is so wonderful about this festival is that its not just all headliners, but all new and upcoming musicians, and it gives us a chance to catch them on the wave of their success to the top.

So excited to watch Flea, the bassist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers get his fingers jumping up and down the neck of his guitar.  And like someone recently posted on FB, you know you are a true fan when you know the bass players' name.  Flea is a legend, working with so many great artists.  I am still trying to take the lineup completely in, what is amazing about Firefly too, is that you go there to see bands you love, and you quickly find yourself falling in love with new ones.

As I shared yesterday, watching Jack White play in his bare feet was something so memorable.  It brings the whole night back, how it started misting rain, and the wind kicked up just a little.  White had slipped in his boots and decided it was time to let them go, these are the things that are unique to each show. And when I look back on it, there we were in the Woodlands of my home state rocking out and as soon as he let go of the shoes, the rain eased up and Firefly Nation came together, singing along in unison, rocking to the beat.

 

This photo is the aerial view of the grounds of Firefly...typically as a Delawarean I see this site get filled with campers, RVs and tents filled up twice a year with Nascar fans.  Growing up I always thought Dover Downs International Speedway should be the site of major concerts. I really love that Red Frog found it and moved it into the Woodlands of Dover Downs, it makes for such a laid back setting.  Especially with a glass of wine or some Dogfish head Firefly Ale brewed special for the festival. So come on join the fun, get your tickets, they go on sale February 21st!!!

 

Blues Rock Revival-we are gonna be friends...

 Recently a friend of mine posted that she was eagerly anticipating watching Alabama Shakes be the musical guest on SNL (Saturday Night Live).  She is someone who I have discussed music tastes with since high school, and she stays on top of the music world crossing all genres, so when she was taken aback by them at the Grammys, I thought I definitely need to tune in.  I had heard their music, but I had no clue that yet again another wonderful blues rock band was on the scene.  This seems to be a growing trend...and one I am very happy about, especially with the Firefly Music Festival being in my home state and the 2013 lineup being released tomorrow.

 

So I am feeling musically inspired and completely anticipating tomorrow's news about the lineup. I looked back at last year's festival and thought, I don't know how they are going to beat it, but man what an amazing event! How do you beat Jack White taking off his Beatles style white boots and play in his bare feet, and sing along with him and the rest of the audience, We Are Gonna Be Friends..."Fall is here, hear the yell, back to school, ring the bell, brand new shoes, walking blues, climb the fence, book and pens, I can tell that we are gonna be friends".

 

 

 

When I think of this Blues Rock Revival, and it is upon us..the last one from the 60s and 70s and well early 80s brought us some great music, most people reflect upon the Beatles, but let us not forget B.B.King, Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton, Cream, Jimmy Page, Bluesbreakers, Stevie Ray Vaughan and many, many more.  Today the Blues Rock Revival that is growing, yet no one has seemed to deem it what it really is, includes Jack White, Dan Auerbach and the Black Keys, Mumford & Sons, Monsters of Folk,Wolfmother, Black Belles and Brittany Howard and the Alabama Shakes. 

 

 

 

I think all of us can enjoy music, but that some of us appreciate it on a little different scale.  I know that I was eager to learn guitar, so I saved and paid for not only my own guitar, but I also paid for my own lessons.  I loved Dolores O'Riordan and her unique yodeling abilities, but I knew I could never be a singer, I just didn't have that gift, so I turned to guitar.  I quickly learned that you can only learn so much from one teacher, that to truly grow as an artist, I needed to play with a variety of people and try to play a variety of music as well.  So I bought a grey guitar, because Counting Crows told me to...it was really silver, but I liked to think it was grey.  I quickly became frustrated because I have short fingers and so trying to master power chords was difficult for me, I never really became good at it.  But it allowed me to have an appreciation for bands and musicians that played them with so much grit and soul.  I found I was drawn to many songs with groovy and wicked bass lines.  Little did I know later on, I would be confronted to pick up a bass guitar, which is similar to guitar, but not so much.  (I learned to play a few songs on bass guitar in a band my husband and I were both in, but again my hands became an issue. I even sold my first bass, to buy one like Paul McCartney's because the Hofner viola bass has a much smaller neck which makes it much easier to play. I had discovered Hofner guitars when I started following a British girl band called The Staves).Okay so what I am getting at is not all of us are gifted to be legends, but that does not stop us from admiring them.  However, we must also take in account the instruments we use too..and I am talking about amps, tube amps, and then all the actual instruments, and then finally the soul-the blues soul. The Black Keys sound tech team was an amazing thing to watch, they spent Flaming Lips entire set time checking and rechecking the sound, and when they hit the stage, it was literally better than the album, just spot on, brilliant!!!

 

The soul is back, when you listen to a Blues Rock style band you feel your blood driving like the music, bouncing when the drum kick is hit and feeling it soar when the guitarist rocks out a killer lead.  I am a very short woman and when I went to Firefly I drove my husband and my father-in-law to be my bodyguards so I could get as close to the stage as I could, because I wanted to be as close to these music legends as possible, and I was right up front, not center, but just as close.  (I am very thankful to them for getting bumped, elbowed and stepped on, it was really great having personal bodyguards). They are taking us on a journey, telling us a story, one that often we have shared a similar human connection to, which is why we feel so moved by it.

 

Now you might ask why is it coming back?  I think it has always been there, just simmering there on the back burner waiting to show itself again.  I mean lets face it, my generation went through it with legendary artist dying on us: Kurt Cobain Nirvana, Bradley Nowell Sublime, Shannon Hoon Blind Melon, just to name a few. I think we have mourned those losses and are ready to be revived, so bring on the REVIVAL. 

 

 

 

If you want a little encouragement to help you get in on this revival, I ask you first to get the Black Snake Moan Soundtrack...that is where I first heard the Black Keys.  Listen to it at least 3 times, you will find yourself quickly drawn to specific songs, and one of those should be Samuel L. Jackson singing Stack O Lee.  After that then move onto Jack White's Blunderbuss, Wolfmother, slow it down a bit with some Monsters of Folk and Mumford & Sons, kick it back up with The Black Keys Magic Potion and El Camino and then finish up with some Alabama Shakes and some Dan Auerbach.

 

And to the rest of you anticipating Firefly's Lineup, I am right there with you!!!



When did you first fall in love with comics?



Veronica Blue- my first attempt at a comic book


Inspired by the movie Brown Sugar, but instead of hip hop, I asked when did you fall in love with comics?  For me, who grew up with two older brothers, I can say that I was exposed to comics at a pretty early age. I could even tell the first time I set foot in a  comic book store and why, but when I fell in love with comics... that is a story I want to share.

In high school I shared a bond with a unique group of individuals, we were the art kids.  We were our own clique, you see we knew we didn't fit the mold of the normal teenagers. We were quirky, creative and lived in the art room.  We thrived off of each others' creative abilities, pushing each other to grow.  You see, my friends Patrick Titus, Matthew Wright, and Danny Prahl were all drawing "comic book" style drawings.  All of them had their own flare and spin on the style, but I fell in love with comic books then.  I realized then that comic books allowed artists/illustrators to push the boundaries.  I no longer felt I had to draw exactly what I saw, but that I could elaborate what I saw, change proportions, and mix the fantasy world with the real world. I decided to try this style out when we were learning how to do batiks.  My first batik, was done on a t-shirt, it was this anime style face with a tear running down one eye.  Unfortunately, during the final process I burnt a hole in the t-shirt, I was quickly able to recreate a new one.  I still cherished the first one, in fact, I remember Matt asking me if he could have it, he didn't care I had burnt a hole in it.  I knew then that this style of work was something very special.

Now when it comes to the comic itself, and by that I mean the story inside.  I didn't fall in love with that until much later on.  I had read a few stories, but never felt the writing was all that, but I discovered later it was because I was drawn to comics first by the illustrations, not always the best indicator of  a good story.  I fell in love with the stories, when I took a graphic novel course in college.  I found myself not only reading the required material, but diving into other comics and graphic novels needed to conduct research.  While reading about Maus, Frank Miller's 300, I  realized how the comic book was created to help bridge the gap of a growing nation, it was one of the cheapest forms of entertainment-dime store comic.  (Not to mention it also helped with literacy).  Our final assignment was to create our own comic book or graphic novel, I can honestly say, my story was awful, but I loved working on my illustrations.  The picture attached to this blog, is the cover of my comic, called Veronica Blue.  The premise was to be about a girl who grew up in Delaware, but had spawned powers of becoming half crab due to the levels of mercury and toxic waste in the water system.  It was campy and ridiculous, but so much fun to create.

Since then, I have grown a fond love of all sorts of comics and graphic novels alike, which include: Persepolis, Embroideries, Maus, Mouseguard, Dead @17, Sandman, Batman, just to name a few.  Today I had the privilege of sharing this love with my son for the first time.  I had been wanting to check out my friend, Patrick Titus' shop- The Comic Book Shop, and since there was a special event the GI Joe #1 launch party, I decided this would be a great time to introduce my son to comics and to visit my friend.  We had a wonderful time, realizing how many new titles are out, and also getting Finn's first comic signed!!! Although he may be too young just yet, to really understand how special today was, I am sure he will cherish this comic along with others in the future!