C'mon!

Hey all. I was told I needed to update this blog. I know! A ton has happened since I last posted. I guess I need to do better.

I am in school at BYU Idaho and majoring in Accounting. This makes me really nervous, but I am just doing it anyway. Who knows what the future holds. It's been 16 months since I left Texas to move to Idaho. Was it worth it? Yes, and no. More yes's that no's though.

I will do better at posting pics etc. Lots going on! Call me if you want to know more. Ha!

spot the cat

Our cats think that our Christmas tree is a real tree that we brought in from outside. Thus, they always sit under it and nip at the branches.

chicken piccata

So foodnetwork.com gets the credit for this one. Giada De Laurentiis has a show with really simple recipes. I love Chicken Piccata, but had never made it before. If I can do it, anyone can. The prep time was 45 minutes...not bad. Everyone said they liked it..Dan, Sadie and Dad better not be lyin!

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

* 2 skinless and boneless chicken breasts, butterflied and then cut in half
* Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
* All-purpose flour, for dredging
* 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
* 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
* 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
* 1/2 cup chicken stock
* 1/4 cup brined capers, rinsed
* 1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Directions

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess.

In a large skillet over medium high heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter with 3 tablespoons olive oil. When butter and oil start to sizzle, add 2 pieces of chicken and cook for 3 minutes. When chicken is browned, flip and cook other side for 3 minutes. Remove and transfer to plate. Melt 2 more tablespoons butter and add another 2 tablespoons olive oil. When butter and oil start to sizzle, add the other 2 pieces of chicken and brown both sides in same manner. Remove pan from heat and add chicken to the plate.

Into the pan add the lemon juice, stock and capers. Return to stove and bring to boil, scraping up brown bits from the pan for extra flavor. Check for seasoning. Return all the chicken to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove chicken to platter. Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter to sauce and whisk vigorously. Pour sauce over chicken and garnish with parsley.






That looks like a TON of capers, but it wasn't that many. The sauce was way lemony and good, I would use less capers next time and make more of the brown butter/lemon sauce for the pasta.

sam the chef? i dunno.....

Since I have moved up to Idaho, I have been cooking a TON more than usual. Something about having a kitchen at my disposal, not to mention all the free time I have now compared to Texas. Anyway, I want to post recipes here so that I can keep track of what I am cooking. Tonight I made a sausage & kale soup with some flat french bread for dinner. It turned out pretty good, although the soup turned into more of a stew. We had flat french bread growing up all the time, so it was great to be able to make it again, well for the first time (mom always made it before). I don't have any pics this time, hopefully next time!

_______


Sausage & Kale Soup:

Ingredients:

* 6 ounces turkey kielbasa, sliced
* 1 large onion, chopped
* 1 large clove garlic, chopped
* 1 teaspoon olive oil
* 1 pound fresh kale, washed, or 1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped kale, thawed and drained
* 2 cans (13 3/4 ounces each) reduced-sodium chicken broth
* 4 cups water
* 2 carrots, sliced
* 1 teaspoon dried leaf marjoram, crumbled
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/8 teaspoon pepper
* 1/2 cup uncooked long-grain white rice

Directions:

Saute kielbasa, onion and garlic in oil in large pot over medium-low heat until tender, about 10 minutes.

If using fresh kale, cut off stems and slice into 1/2-inch pieces. Keep stem pieces separate. Coarsely chop fresh leaves.

Add to the pot the chicken broth, 4 cups water, carrot, marjoram, salt, pepper and sliced fresh kale stems or frozen kale, if using. Bring to boiling. Lower heat; cover and cook for 15 minutes longer. If using fresh kale, add the leaves at this point along with the rice to the pot. Bring to boiling. Lower the heat; cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until the rice is tender.

Flat French Bread:

Ingredients:

2 tblsp. yeast
2 cups water
1 tblsp. sugar
2 tsp. salt
4 cups flour
1/2-1 stick melted butter
1/2 cup (or so) sesame seeds

Directions:

Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the water. Make sure the water is warm. Let sit for 5 minutes to dissolve. Stir in the salt and flour. Cover and let rise until your dough has doubled (about 1.5 hours).

Grease a 10 1/2 x 15 1/2 pan well on all sides. Press and spread your dough into the pan. Cover the dough with the butter and sesame seeds. Let rise for another hour in the pan while covered.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes and then at 350 degrees for another 10 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Thanks to my Aunt Shannon for this recipe and she makes it so much better than I do.

____

Yum! Maybe I am watching too much Food Network. Yup...that's it.

Back From The Dead - Changes

Hello again. It has been almost a year since I have blogged on here. Incredible how time passes so quickly. A lot has happened in my life since I last blogged. Long story short, I have left Dallas and moved back to Idaho. I will be going to school here soon (I hope). I won't bore anyone with the long story of how I ended up here etc. It was a great change for me, and I love living outside the big city life (at least for now). I have a lot of time to spend on music now, and working for Proton.

Today, my dad (Phil) and my brother Dan and I went up to our property toward the tetons. My grandpa purchased it back in the 80s. Here are a few pics from it.

Good to be back...hopefully I can post more often!

My December Mixtape

I made a new mix today for the show this Wednesday. It's a bit weirder...so a lot of people will probably not like it, but it is made up of a lot of the music I have been listening to lately.

Tracklisting:

The Books - Meditation Outtakes [The Books]
Tvarvagen - Hallan [Knoppar]
Yuichiro Fujimoto - Little Sunset [Smalltown Supersound]
The Books - You'll Never Be Alone [The Books]
Miwon - Daylight Promise [City Centre Offices]
The Books - Ah I See [The Books]
Tvarvagen - Skogen [Knoppar]
Sin Fang Bous - Carry Me Up To Smell Pine [Morr Music]
The Books - Of The Word God [The Books]
School Of Seven Bells - For Kalaja Mari [Ghostly International]
Slaraffenland - Dust [Rumraket]
Ambidextrous - Landing By Midnight [U-Cover]
The Books - Ghost Train Digest [The Books]
M83 - Je Vous Hais Petites Filles [Sonic Cathedral Recordings]
Michna - Believe In It [Ghostly International]
Sin Fang Bous - A Fire To Sleep In [Morr Music]
Fennesz - Perfume For Winter [Touch]
The Books - Liternite [The Books]
Growing - Reconstruction [The Social Registry]
Ricardo Tobar - With You [Trapez]



happy holidays to all...

My November Mixtape

Tomorrow morning is another edition of Mixtapes on Proton Radio. Here is the download to this month's mix:

Tracklisting:

Horse Feathers - Father [Kill Rock Stars]
This Will Destroy You - Freedom Blade [Magic Bullet Records]
Haruka Nakamura - Sign [Schole]
Helios - The Red Truth [Type]
I'm Not A Gun - Turning Circle [Palette]
The Alps - Hallucinations [Type]
Koushik - Nothing's The Same [Stones Throw]
The Remote Viewer - Untitled [Mobeer]
Lymbyc System - Nartia [Magic Bullet Records]
Helios - A Mountain Of Ice [Type]
The Alps - Labyrinths [Type]
Helios - Glimpse [Type]
Juana Molina - Lo Dejamos [Domino]
BjöRk (Feat. Thom Yorke) - NáTtúRa [One Little Indian]

A lot is going on here right now with my dayjob and other things. I am djing this Saturday at Proton Sessions...should be a lot of fun as well. Today is election day. Go Obama!!!

Proton Sessions @ Zubar, Dallas (11-08-08)

We have secured a new night here in Dallas for Proton Sessions. It's at a really cool little venue that has been around for a long time...so hopefully a lot of people will show up. Me and Bon will open for Opencloud and Lance Cashion for the first one on November 8th. The flyer is above.

Sigur Ros - Live @ Saltair, Utah (09-28-08)

These are some of the shots I got at the Sigur Ros show in Utah last weekend. It was truly an amazing night...probably the best performance by them that I have seen out of the three times I have had the chance to experience them live.

We got very lucky in that we ended up in a VIP box right by the stage. I started taking pictures and then got so enthralled by the show that I forgot to keep taking them! I ended up getting a few good ones at the end of the show when they shot huge cannons of confetti over the crowd. It was truly a memorable and inspiring show. Jonsi even broke his bow on the guitar at the end by slamming it violently...so awesome.

My October Mixtape

Time for another Mixtapes show on Proton. I compiled these tunes after returning from a great trip to Utah. It was mostly inspired by my hike at Sundance.

Tracklisting:

Mika Vainio - Behind The Radiators [Touch]
Megapuss - Surfing [Vapor]
The Boats - Italics Mine [Our Small Ideas]
July Skies - Distant Showers Sweep Across Norfolk Schools [Make Mine Music]
Antony & the Johnsons - Another World [Secretly Canadian]
Parachutes - Your Stories [Moss Stories]
Alias - Autumnal Ego [Anticon]
Miaou - Morning Sun [Thomason Sounds]
Department Of Eagles - Around the Bay [4ad]
Dark Captain Light Captain - Circles [Loaf]
Bon Iver - Creature Fear [Jagjaguwar]
Bon Iver - Team [Jagjaguwar]
TV On The Radio - Love Dog [DGC/Interscope]
Plants And Animals - Bye Bye Bye [Secret City]
Deerhoof - Jagged Fruit [Wepi]

Sundance

I went to Salt Lake to see Sigur Ros last weekend. The concert was incredible...I will post some pics a little later. One day, we went up to Sundance resort and went on a hike in the mountains. I hadn't been up there for years, so it was a great thing to experience. Above are some of the pictures that I took.

We stayed in Park City this time, but I really would love to stay at Sundance next time. I can definitely see why people live south of Salt Lake. The mountains are so amazing there! I will post some more pictures from our other travels soon. I would definitely recoomend going to Utah for anyone who wants to relax :)

my september mix for proton

i compiled some tracks for one of my protonradio.com shows called 'mixtapes'. i started the show back in 2004 to focus on non-dance music on the station. my playlist this month has been a lot of acoustic and mellow rock stuff. here is the tracklisting for this month's edition:

1 Bobby & Blumm - Hiss And Rustle [Morr Music]
2 Nick Drake - Parasite [Umvd]
3 Bowerbirds - Human Hands [Dead Oceans]
4 Department Of Eagles - Phantom Other [4ad]
5 What Laura Says - Pairadice [Mri Associated]
6 Son Ambulance - Constellations
7 Final Fantasy & Beirut - The Ballad Of No-Face [Blocks Recording Club]
8 Atlas Sound - Winter Vacation [Kranky]
9 All Smiles - Backward, Forward, Through [Dangerbird]
10 Mogwai - Thank You Space Expert [Matador]
11 Electric President - Monsters [Morr Music]
12 Stars - Sad Robot [Sadrobots.ca]
13 Calexico - Two Silver Trees [Touch & Go]
14 Mogwai - Unknown [Matador]
15 Lackthereof - Ask Permission [Barsuk]

I got a new Macbook!

I bought a Macbook this week. It's white and it's the 2.4Ghz one. I love it. I will post more about it later.

Sarah had a baby this week and I really wish I was in Utah with my family. I miss them so much!

Work has been extremely busy this week. I am ready for the weekend.

Man, I am not a good blogger. Hopefully more soon!

sigur ros...september!

it has been about 3 years since i have seen sigur ros live. i went to two of the shows in texas that they did. they were both amazing! for those of you who don't know who they are, they are a band from iceland that creates amazing soundscapes with their music. they sing in icelandic or hopelandic, and it doesn't even matter, because they create emotions through their music. you FEEL what they are trying to say..it doesn't matter if you know what they are actually saying.

here are a couple videos from their last album:

Sigur Ros - Glósóli:



Hoppípolla:



and one from their recent dvd 'heima':

Starálfur:



their latest album came out yesterday and it's phenomenal as usual..and with recent performaces at bonnaroo and other festivals, i am really excited to be able to see them again!

today i bought my tickets to see sigur ros at saltair in SLC, utah in september. i hope that some of you will join me! anyway, i am sure you will hear a lot more about them on my blog as it gets closer.

first things.

hello all. i will be blogging about random things here for family, friends, and people interested in what's going on in my world. check back for updates!

-sam