Music to Cook by...

This is more of a geek post than anything else.


I enjoy listening to music.  My husband, on the other hand, is a music freak.  He's not an audiophile like Monica in Wapsi Square, but he does know quite a bit about who sings what/who writes what/who was a studio musician for so-and-so, etc. (I haven't been able to find the proper word to describe someone like that).  He has a huge CD collection and keeps our personal radio station (KMAG) going.  Yeah, it's only server with our music on it, but with it running 24 hours a day with only the songs we like--it's better than any station out there.  In fact, a few days ago, we celebrated KMAG playing it's 600,000 song.  I also have a nice little speaker setup next to the kitchen so I can hook up my iPod and listen to whatever personal Playlist is appropriate for the moment (working, cleaning, gardening, kitchen, writing, and so on.  Yes, I have different music for different activities, although working, cleaning, and kitchen are actually the same playlist.).  It's thanks to my husband's music mania that I've been able to expand my own musical horizons.

One day last week I was working in the kitchen and baking along to my music when Scissor Sisters' "I Don't Feel like Dancin'" came on.  I stopped what I was doing and started dancing around the house like the big goober I am.  Seriously, you can't keep still when this song is playing.  That made me think about sharing some of the music I listen to when I'm baking.  This post is mostly aimed at my sister who has recently acquired her very own iPod and needs to find something other than the stuff her kids listen to.  I've listed 22 of the 208 songs in my Snarkychef playlist (in no particular order).  Some are new and some are pretty old, but I love 'em anyway.

1. "Fat Bottom Girls" by Antigone Rising, Album: Killer Queen
2. "Just Enough" by Aslyn, Album: Lemon Love
3. "Hungry Town" by Big Pig, Album: Bonk
4. "That’s the Kind of Sugar" by The Brian Setzer Orchestra, Album: VaVoom
5. "Glad to be Alive" by Cowboy Mouth, Album: Voodoo Shoppe
6. "Solid Gold" by the Eagles of Death Metal, Album: Death by Sexy
7. "Do you Want To" by Franz Ferdinand, Album: You Could Have it so Much Better
8. "Kissing Asphalt" by the Go-Go’s, Album: God Bless the Go-Go’s
9. "Shiny Shiny" by Haysi Fantayzee, Album: Battle Hymns for Children Singing
10. "Us Amazonians" by Kirsty MacColl, Album: Tropical Brainstorm
11. "I’ll Be Anything You Want" by Melissa Auf der Maur, Album: Auf Der Maur
12. "Do What You Want" by OK Go, Album: Oh No
13. "Here it Goes Again" by OK Go, Album: Oh No
14. "The New Kid" by Old 97’s, Album: Drag it Up
15. "Planet Tokyo" by Puffy AmiYumi, Album: NICE.
16. "Shall we Dance?"  by Puffy AmiYumi, Album: Splurge
17. "Eden" by Rick Springfield, Album: Shock Denial Anger Acceptance
18. "I Don’t Feel like Dancin’" by Scissor Sisters, Album: Ta-Dah!
19. "Kiss You Off" by Scissor Sisters, Album: Ta-Dah!
20. "Ripper Sole" by Stomp, Album: Tank Girl Soundtrack
    
21. "She’s So High" by Tal Bachman, Album: Tal Bachman
22. "Close but No Cigar" by Weird Al Yankovic, Album: Straight out of Lynwood

Favorite Books: Baking Illustrated

At the cafe, we have a resource library that we use for both unusual catering requests and standard cooking issues.  I picked up Baking Illustrated: The Practical Kitchen Companion for the Home Baker as something to look through during a short break, and now it's my new favorite baking resource book. 

The people of Cook's Illustrated have put together a collection of their best baking recipes (which is nice) along with a brief, and sometimes not so brief, synopsis of why that recipe works better than other variations (which is even nicer).  I don't always use the recipes out of the book, but I do read up on it before working on new recipes.  This is because the book tells you not only what does and does not work--but also WHY it does or does not work.  This is what makes Baking Illustrated an important book for people who like to tinker with recipes.

 

 

Sadly, I don't own this book yet.  Amazon.com has it for about $11 less than the bookstore, but snarkyboy won't let me buy it until I unload some stuff on ebay.  I guess I need to start rummaging through my geek collection and find something to let loose.