So there's some new photos, plus a live recording of "Don't Go" up on our profile now. Enjoy! We have many things in the making!

Hi folks. We have two new songs up, "Don't Go" and "Not Feeling It". David just got a new keyboard, a MicroKorg, and we fucking love that thing. You can hear it on "Not Feeling It". I hope you like our new songs, we've been spending a ton of time recording. We are going to do some more shows again soon, probably next month or March at the latest. And here's your recipe.

Ingredients:

l lb. rhubarb, cut in l/2 inch slices (about 4 cups)
l lb. can (2 cups) pitted tart red cherries, drained
l l/2 cups sugar
l/4 cup quick-cooking tapioca
5 drops red food coloring (or fresh or frozen red cherries)
Butter
recipe pastry for double crust pie

Procedure:

Combine rhubarb, cherries, sugar, tapioca, and food coloring; let stand l5 minutes. Line a 9-inch pie plate with pastry; pour in filling. Dot with butter. (Sometimes I like to sprinkle lightly with cinnamon and nutmeg also)

Top with a lattice crust: From remaining pastry, cut strips of dough l/2-inch wide. Lay lengthwise strips on top of filled pie at l inch intervals. Fold back alternate strips; fold up as you weave crosswise strips over and under. Trim even along outer rim of pie; seal edges. Dampen edge of pie slightly with water and place extra strips around entire rim of pie, covering ends of lattice. Flute edge, pressing well to seal. Bake in hot oven (400 degerees F. 40 to 50 minutes.

So we've been kind of quiet lately writing new songs and recording. Or more accurately, trying to record, and having lots of problems. But we have four recordings almost ready to hear and we're lining up shows for next year. It will be fun, okay?

Recipe!

Burritos!

1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon dried whole oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 can (16 ounces) refried beans
1 can (10 ounces) enchilada sauce, divided
6 flour tortillas, 8-inch size
shredded lettuce
Optional garnishes: shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, sour cream, salsa, sliced ripe olives, shredded cheese

 In a large skillet cook ground beef, onion, and garlic until ground beef is no longer pink, stirring to break up meat. Drain well.
Add chili powder, oregano, cumin, salt, and pepper; simmer for 5 minutes. Add refried beans and 1/2 cup of the enchilada sauce. Cook until heated through; keep warm.

Wrap tortillas in foil; bake at 350° for 10 minutes, or until thoroughly heated. Spoon about 1/2 cup ground beef mixture on each warm tortilla. Roll tightly and place seam-side down on a shredded lettuce-lined serving platter. When all burritos are made, spoon remaining enchilada sauce over the burritos. Garnish with your choice of toppings.

Burrito recipe makes 6 servings.

Okay, so in the aftermath of our two show weekend we have a final official super great line up which is not going to change (I hope). Chris is officially our bassist, which is awesome, because he is a really great bassist. Josh couldn't really make live shows, so we've replaced him with David, who will be doing both keys and on some songs, second guitar. I really want to explore some sweet two guitar harmonies.

In other news, we have two shows this weekend. The first is another acoustic set at Mouth Off in San Francisco (Off-Market Theaters The Gallery at 965 Mission Street) and the second is a house party in Santa Cruz, which is for obvious reasons not open to the general public. But if you're a friend of the band or something, feel free to hit me up and maybe we can swing an invite.

And now, your recipe!

Baked Eggplant Tofu

6 Japanese eggplants, cut into 1/2 to 3/4 inch slices
1 large onion, sliced
1 head garlic left whole
1 12 ounce tub tofu, sliced - 3 grams fat per 4 ounce serving
 
Put all ingredients onto a big sheet of foil. Sprinkle some lemon pepper on the tofu slices.
 
Bake at 400 degrees F for about 40 minutes; check to make sure that everything looks well roasted.

Boil 1 pound whole wheat spaghetti, add all the vegtables, including the garlic, squeezed out.
 
Dress with about 1 1/2 cup canned crushed tomatoes and 1/3 cup
tarragon wine vinegar.

Now you can impress your vegan hipster friends!

We had a lot of fun last weekend, both at our acoustic set on Friday and our first real show Sunday night. It was a little rough, but I think our enthusiasm carried it. I want to thank all the amazing bands we played with (Blackheart, Supe, The Ian Fays, and Axiom), and of course Johnny V's. Actually, special thanks to the Ian Fays for being really nice to us too.

For the curious, we really did improvise a song at the end, and we had never actually played through Electric Six's Gay Bar before, and I wasn't totally sure of the words, but what the fuck, it's rock!

There are some cool pictures from the show up there as photographed by Waffle Princess Sarah (thanks!) and probably more coming soon. Thanks to everyone who came out to watch us, including the people who came in from the street.

Now, recipe time.

Broccoli Curry

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
50 grams / 2 ounces freshly grated or desiccated coconut
2.5 centimeter / 1 inch cube fresh ginger, peeled and sliced finely
50 grams / 2 ounces raw peanuts, skins removed
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 onion, finely sliced
2 tomatoes, chopped
500 grams / 1 pounds 2 ounces broccoli cut into chunks
3 green chillies, slit lengthwise
Salt

In a frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil and cook the sesame and poppy seeds for 2 minutes over a medium heat, stirring. Add the coconut and ginger and saute until brown. Then add the peanuts, chili powder, turmeric and some salt. Mix well and continue cooking for another minute.
Remove from the heat and place the contents of the pan in a spice mill or grinder. Process the mixture for about 3 minutes to give a fine paste. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoon of the oil in a large saucepan. Add the sliced onion and cook for 2-3 minutes, then add the tomatoes and continue cooking for another 5 minutes or until most of the juices have evaporated. Stir in the coconut paste, then the broccoli and green chillies, stirring gently, for 5 minutes. Add 450 milliliters / 16 ounces of water, then cover and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Taste and add more salt, if required, then bring the mixture to a boil and cook until the broccoli is tender, stirring occasionally. Serve hot.

So yeah, we have two shows this month, which I'm excited about! The second one in Santa Cruz is a birthday party, so uhm, we should probably not publically rant about it too much. But the show in San Jose the weekend after this one is gonna be awesome. It's at Johnny V's in downtown San Jose and it's our first show! It's Sunday August 13th at 8:30 PM! Everyone should come out and have fun and drink heavily and hit on me. Especially that last part.

So yeah! I promise to bring the life-sized rubber skeleton, and you know, I just can't resist that saucy set of bones.

So we have a ton of new songs, but we don't have very good quality recordings yet, just rough demos we're practicing with, but after the shows are done we will probably invest some time into good quality recordings.

Note that we moved Josh from bass to keys, and we're still trying to find a full-time bassist, but we're kind of sharing bass duties at present, and at the show I will probably be playing bass part of the time and some synth bass will be happening, unless we can work something out with a fill-in or find a last minute full-time bassist. Wouldn't that be cool? Oh well, we'll work that out.

And now, what you've all been waiting for... a recipe!

Pasta e Fagioli

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 red onion, chopped
4 cups water, approximately
1 zucchini, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 potato (russet), cut into bite-sized pieces
1 can white beans, not drained
juice from 1 15 oz. can Italian stewed tomatoes
salt and pepper, to taste (usually uses a lot of salt)
1 tablespoon basil, or more to taste
1/2 - 1 teaspoon thyme
1/2 - 1 teaspoon marjoram
2 cups cooked pasta (keep some of the water cooked in, for thickening)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 red onion, chopped
4 cups water, approximately
1 zucchini, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 potato (russet), cut into bite-sized pieces
1 can white beans, not drained
juice from 1 15 oz. can Italian stewed tomatoes
salt and pepper, to taste (usually uses a lot of salt)
1 tablespoon basil, or more to taste
1/2 - 1 teaspoon thyme
1/2 - 1 teaspoon marjoram
2 cups cooked pasta (keep some of the water cooked in, for thickening)

Servings: 4-6
Minutes of prep time: 30 minutes

In soup pot, warm olive oil over high heat.  Add garlic and onion and cook until slightly browned. (2-3 minutes)

Add water and reduce to medium heat.

Add zucchini, potato, beans, tomato juice, and spices.  Let cook/simmer until vegetables are softened. (about 10 minutes)

Add cooked pasta, plus some of water cooked in, and allow soup to thicken and vegetables to soften to desired consistency. (about 10 minutes)