I  have this beautiful book of amazing illustrations set to a calendar, and each month there is a new recipe. I truly love this book, but the entry for March is kind of hilarious. I want to know if anyone is actually willing to make these cookies. And don’t forget, you can always add more prune juice!

Actually, I not-so-secretly love prunes, but as you might imagine, Tanner won’t touch them. There are many, many foods he won’t touch (sigh).

Here’s to trying something new in the month of March… prune cookies and beyond!

If you have figured out how to make delicious hash browns that don’t completely stick to the skillet, please let me know. I am very nearly scared off of making hash browns ever again. In all other aspects, the meal was a success. Oh, and please feel free to join us for breakfast anytime!

With whom would you like to go out and have that kiss with? Here’s hoping your Valentine prayers are answered.

We hope your holidays are filled with smiles, cookies and hugs.

Love, Ami and Tanner

Mike Doughty and His Band Fantastic, as expected, were also amazing.

We heard good music and saw something I have never seen done… they sold a live recording of the show at the merch table just a few minutes after the show.  People (myself included) were lined up to buy it.  Why isn’t everyone doing this?  Offer your fans music they enjoy + something not easily found free online + a memory to take home and they will eat it up.

Mike Doughty is embracing the distribution changes the main stream music industry has been fighting hard against.  He is not suing fans for downloading and sharing his music, he encourages them to do it!  During the show he said the following, ”You many not have money. If this is the case, I advise you that there are many many many places to steal the album on the world wide web and I’m genuinely encouraging you to do so. It is more important to me that the album is listened to than I buy sandwiches.”  He went on to say, ”If you can’t afford it, go steal it. If you do buy it, thank you very much, please take it home insert it into your laptop, rip it as the kids say, and then give the compact disc to a friend.”

Apparently Switzerland agrees with Mike Doughty when it comes to sharing music online…
http://torrentfreak.com/swiss-govt-downloading-movies-and-music-will-stay-legal-111202/

A few weeks ago, Tanner and I traveled down to Wichita to see Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings perform at the beautiful Orpheum Theater.

Reasons I love Gillian 

1. She wears boots and she means it.

2. Her voice melds with Dave Rawlings like it’s completely effortless but it’s so superb, you can’t tell the two voices apart.

3. Her sound evokes an old-time feel and while her lyrics are similar, they remain relevant and poignant.

4. Her music is so completely American and it’s hard to explain, but it makes me feel proud that there’s a branch of country music that’s actually an art form, and not a formula.

Her newest album.

Here’s a video of Gillian performing the song “Wichita.” I tried to find a current one, but wasn’t successful. It’s still worth checking out, don’t worry.

My favorite part was when he came out by himself and played “Sound of Silence” with just his voice and a guitar. What an indelible memory! So haunting and amazing.

Photo Source

Reading: Just finished The Giver, in the middle of Beauty and The Magician’s Elephant

Listening: Bluegrass goodness (kind of Alison Krauss-esque) by Sierra Hull

Revelling: getting photos published in The Hype Weekly (link shows some photos, but the print edition has others)

Creating: Recipe books for dear family members (details to come!)