So, I'm not quite sure who "Heather" is, but I'm a big fan of her Apple Cobbler Recipe. I discovered it after scouring the internet for a cobbler recipe that would be comparable to the fabulous peach concoction my friends made one night following yoga. I think she had me with the words "fool-proof" in her description, so I dug through my cabinets for the ingredients. But weren't you trying to make a peach cobbler?, you might ask. No, no... I'd just gone apple picking and had a large bag sitting on my kitchen counter just waiting for inspiration... which came in the form of peach cobbler that early October night.
::fantasizes about eating peach cobbler::
Oh, sorry. I get a little distracted by my love for food sometimes. What was I saying? Oh yes, Apple Cobbler. So, I basically take Heather's recipe and suit it to my own taste (as I always recommend once you've tried the original recipe at least once). She asks for 6 cups of peeled/sliced green apples, but you can mix it up and throw a few Red Delicious in with your Granny Smiths. Basically you take a giant mixing bowl and dump 3/4 cup of white sugar, 1/4 cup flour, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar (or slightly more), 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and 1/4 cup hot water. Instead of doing 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (because I react to nutmeg) I then add in 1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon of clove.
Next is the fun part...
After dumping all these ingredients into your bowl, mix it up with your hands, adding the apples in and covering them using a toss-like motion. Lightly butter a square baking dish and then pour the entire mixture in, placing the 1 1/2 tablespoon of butter you've scooped out (or cut) in the center of your filling.
To make the topping...
Grab another bowl and mix 1 cup flour, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt (BE CAREFUL NOT TO OVER SALT! LESS IS MORE!), 2 tablespoons of softened butter (if you're using country crock it's already soft, yay!), and 1 egg (or egg substitute). Use a spoon to mix until smooth and then drop it on top of the filling. Heather suggests that you do it evenly, but I just try to cover the top using a drop-cookie technique of little spoonfuls of topping placed side by side and gently smushed together with your fingers. it gives it texture.
What Heather doesn't tell you to do is create a mixture of brown sugar, water, and cinnamon that is NOT TOO watery. Then, you take a spoon and "Pollock" your crust. (Yes, you pretend your name is Jackson and dribble the mixture across your crust). The mixture will bake in and look pretty. If you want to create cinnamon icing, you can always add a bit of confectioner's sugar to your mixture as well... but that's far too sweet for my taste.
The batter will spread as you cook the cobbler for 30 minutes at 350.
River City Extension played The Glasslands Gallery in Brooklyn last night. They, of course, did not disappoint, even after my high expectations following the Gogol Bordello show at Starland Ballroom last July where they opened with The Dead Kenny G's (who by the way are absolutely insane and wonderful and are SO worth checking out live!) for their gypsy punk headliner. The gallery itself is located in the most obscure spot humanly possible which I very well may never have found had I not thought to acquire directions prior to making the voyage from New Jersey to Brooklyn. It's off the Bedford stop on the L, down a bunch of blocks, past what appears to be somewhat abandoned (or at least closed and abandoned for the night) buildings, around a corner and down toward the water. Walking back did not take nearly as much time as walking there, but I blame my quest for some delicious vegan fast food at FoodSwings for side-tracking me to Grand for an hour. (You can read about that on my food blog by clicking HERE).
Anyway, the venue is this little "hole in the wall" sort of place that is deceiving from the outside. Inside you have a very creative, inventive, swanky sort of vibe with a bar to your right, a bathroom with a shower in it, vines on the walls, church pews to sit in, a little overhang that reminds me of what a fort from when I was 9 would look like had I made one now complete with a few tables and chairs with flickering candles. The stage is framed by a piece of installation art resembling clouds against a sky blue wall, elevating the bands into the heavens and creating a very gorgeous visual. They are a fully licensed bar so there is beer on tap, some in bottles, wine, and other lovely spirits. I stuck to a night of Shock Top myself. The sound quality was considerably better than average and the event was fairly priced: $10 ADV / $12 DOS. This is the way shows used to be, the way they should be... no ticket, pay at the door, get your hand stamped, reasonably priced drinks, and a very intimate, inviting, and inspiring environment. Needless to say: I was most impressed by the space. I won't lie, though, it was slightly overrun by catty hipsters... but this is Brooklyn we're talking about, and Bedford at that.
Now, on to the show...
The opening band (Only Son) reminded me much of bands I would see in high school and the singer had a voice that I never expected to come out of his body. If I had more cash on me, I'd have looked into buying their CD. It's a nice mix of slow and upbeat with a very chill sound. Apparently the singer (Jack Dishel) was also the lead guitarist for The Moldy Peaches. I can dig that. Anyway, you can check them out on myspace if you'd like a sampling of their music, but they had a very different feel live. Perhaps I am partial to live music or perhaps these recordings do not do them justice. Regardless, check them out.
Second up was a band called Common Prayer whose website pretty much sums up the experience of seeing them live. The most valuable members of the band (musically) are without a doubt the singer and the drummer, flanked by an interesting keyboardist with a very ska scene vibe and ensemble to match, and two women with varied talents. One had a very sweet sort of style that reminded me of a friend from youth group ten years back. She sang and played a free standing drum. The other woman had the most peculiar style to match her instrumental expertise... she reminded me of a young Sophia from the golden girls (strictly based on her choice of glasses and hairstyle) and played the clarinet, a milk pail, and a coach whistle in addition to singing as vocal support to the lead singer. Their music is a little bit of Unicorns meets Neutral Milk Hotel, meets a mellowed-out family in the south playing banjo and whatever other creative instruments they had lying on their front porch. Listening to their music on myspace has a VERY different effect than seeing them live because of the visual distraction of how eclectic this band really was. It reminded me of a family of roomates, not that that's a bad thing, but it was different... more relaxed. I'd give their CD a shot to listen to in the car or just relaxing and editing photos or writing. The singer's voice reminds me a bit of Delta Spirit whom I love because of their fist album and am supporting through their second despite its different feel.
After a significant time of technical difficulties from the bands prior, we finally did get to enjoy River City Extension. Here are some clips from the show (I am sorry if the sound is a bit blown out... I just got a new camera that I am not quite used to filming with yet!):
Something Salty, Something Sweet
Our New Intelligence
Friends & Family
With the single tweet: "River City Extension does not disappoint." I believe I summed up their performance. They were well worth the wait to see them between sets. Great job, guys. Very tight. I really appreciate the energy in an amazing live show... and quite frankly that was some of the hottest drumming I've seen in a long time.
The headliner for the night was Nicole Atkins and the Black Sea who is described on myspace as "heartache in combat boots climbing a mountain in the dreamy lands." The woman has quite a voice on her, let me tell you that. I'd have enjoyed her more had the venue not become a bit of a sauna from the energy of the crowd mixed with the humidity of what was apparently an insanely destructive storm outside... it was also after 1am, so I was starting to lose steam after a long day of being awake, traveling in, enjoying vegan fast food, and consuming numerous beers. Check her out and see what you think for yourselves... it's some very cool stuff if you're into sexy female singers. She's apparently on tour with The Black Keys on the west coast for the next few weeks if you're out there and want to check her out live.
Sadly ducking out early into a light drizzle, we caught the L to 14th, grabbed some garlic knots, and then waited an eternity for the PATH (which, as always, was only running one way at 2am and that way was of course not the direction we wished to head... I think it's NYC trying to tell us to stay). Rolled in around 3am and passed out cold. Overall, a great success on an otherwise stormy, dismal night.
Once upon a time in the Summer of 2010, a joyous gathering of assorted performers and costumed companions inspired the name of a concoction now known as "Hippie Juice" when a recycled container filled with pink lemonade perfection was shared and enthusiastically enjoyed at a surprise dance party on an island during a sunshower. There were hula hoops, streamers, and instruments of musical merriment at our annual gathering celebrating life, costumes, and colorful creativity. We paraded and danced until the sun set and it was a beautiful time to be alive in New York City.
The recipe itself was developed entirely by chance. I'd hosted a birthday party for a friend the night before and discovered a collection of primarily empty bottles of assorted liquors left on the counter, a donation to the house.
There was quite a bit of watermelon vodka and pink lemonade mix from the vodka lemonades, a tiny bit of Malibu left from the bay breezes, and an equally tiny bit of triple sec. I decided to measure these out and funnel them into a recycled orange juice bottle by smell, adding some of the pink lemonade mix and filling the remaining space with water until it reached the top. I added a few slices of strawberry for good measure that had been left over from the birthday cake I made the day before. The result was surprisingly good and incredibly sweet.
The recipe I came up with was simple:
Ingredients:
- Water
- Country Time Pink Lemonade Mix
- Fresh Strawberries
- Smirnoff Watermelon Vodka
- Triple Sec
- Malibu Coconut Rum
Supplies:
- Simply Brand (Apple, Orange, Etc.) Juice Container (59 oz carafe) or equivalent
- Measuring Cup
- Funnel
- Knife
- Cutting Board
Easy Prep:
Carefully wash out your Simply brand Juice Container. Then use the funnel to neatly pour 4 scoops of Country Time Pink Lemonade into the container. Next, measure out 1 cup of Smirnoff brand Watermelon Vodka, 1/3 cup Triple Sec, and 1/3 cup Malibu Coconut Rum into a measuring cup and use the funnel to add your mixture. Using cold water, fill the rest of the container up to the base of the neck. Rinse 4 strawberries and cut straight across with a knife to remove the stem. Then place the strawberries upside down on the cutting board and slice evenly into 4 pieces using two motions forming a cross. Drop the strawberries in, add water to the top, cap and shake gently to mix. Refrigerate and voila! Hippie Juice!
