Loney Dear: Dear John
Camera Obscura: My Maudlin Career
The Postmarks: Memoirs At The End Of The World
Passion Pit: Manners
Say Hi: Oohs & Aahs
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
The Low Anthem: Oh My God, Charlie Darwin
The Raveonettes: In and Out of Control
The Big Pink: A Brief History of Love
The Depreciation Guild: In Her Gentle Jaws


From Joshua Kaufman:

My top ten favorite albums that I bought in 2009 (but aren’t necessarily from 2009):

Alaska in Winter: Holiday
Passion Pit: Manners
Memory Tapes: Seek Magic
My First Earthquake: Downstairs
The XX: XX
Yeah Yeah Yeahs: It’s Blitz
Yo La Tengo: Popular Songs
Bachelors of Science: Science Fiction
Cut Copy: In Ghost Colors
The Pains of Being Pure At Heart: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart


From Andy Myers:

Hmm I could only think of 8 so I kinda cheated on the last two:

Deer Tick: Born On Flag Day
Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion
Wilco: Wilco (The Album)
Islands: Vapours
Girls: Album
Dark Was The Night Compilation
Flight of the Conchords: I Told You I Was Freaky
Bon Iver: Blood Bank EP
Beatles Remasters
Neil Young Remasters


From Jude Huzicko:

Tough year. But there were a few stand-outs. And a lot of UK, NYC.

Broken Records “Until the Earth Begins to Part”
The Antlers “Hospice”
Phantogram “Phantogram – EP”
The Rest “Everyone All At Once”
The Twilight Sad “Forget the Night Ahead”
We Were Promised Jetpacks “These Four Walls”
Andy J. Gallahger “Helicopter Dolphin Submarine”
Pteroldactyl “Worldwild”
Pet Ghost Project “Idiot Brain / Genius Heart”
Gildon Works “Artful Rifle”


From Kevin Myers:

Girls – Album
Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
Kurt Vile – Childish Prodigy
Real Estate – Real Estate
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Its Blitz!
Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
Wilco – Wilco (The Album)
Bill Callahan – Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle
Them Crooked Vultures – Them Crooked Vultures


From Kevin Quaid:
Wow, either I need to listen to more music or I’m overly discriminating (I know the answer, the former)!

Fruit Bats – Ruminant Band
Passion Pit – Manners
Girl Talk – Feed the Animals (US release in 2009)

Barb’s Top 10 (in no particular order):

NASA: Spirit of Apollo
Dark Was the Night Compilation
Tune-Yards: BiRd-BrAiNs
We Were Promised Jetpacks: These Four Walls
The Thermals: Now We Can See
Monsters of Folk: Monsters of Folk
Metric: Fantasies
Dirty Projectors: Bitte Orca
Camera Obscura: My Maudlin Career
Bonnie Prince Billy: Beware

Honorable Mention:
Noah and the Whale: The First Days of Spring
YACHT: See Mystery Lights

Need more? Here are lists from other people who have fine taste in music.

Click here for past years’ lists.

If you had any hope over the years that I would become a football fan, you must think that now is the perfect time for my conversion. With the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Oregon Ducks playing in the Rose Bowl, you may think that I have no choice but to become a fan—at least for a day. After growing up in Ohio and now living in Oregon, I must surely see the light and root for one team or the other.

But alas, I have to apologize to you once again, because I still don’t care about football.

Please do not hate me even though I may cause you shame. I thank you for all of the times you tried to help me become a better person: the time you explained the difference between a basketball and a football, the time you tried to dress me in scarlet and gray and put that garland of buckeye nuts around my neck so I wouldn’t get beat up, and the time you stopped me from proceeding with the Heimlich when you were actually referring to the Heisman all along.

I understand why you are concerned about me and the things I’ll never be able to do like:

• name the players on a football team and the positions they play, let alone remember how many there are
• discuss the strengths and weaknesses of coaches and if their wives are pretty or not
• pick out team colors and try to match them with my Converse
• yell at a TV with rejoicing cries of “Boo-yah!” and “Touchdown!” and “Woo-hoo!”
• yell at a TV with denouncing cries of “Git ‘em!” and “What kind of bullshit call was that?” and “Tackle that motherfucker!”
• choose players for my very own successful fantasy football team to override all those years of being picked last in gym class

But even though I may be deficient in those areas, I can still shine in my own way when I can:

• name the discography of Pavement, Wilco and more indie bands than I can count
• discuss the strengths and weaknesses of Sartre, Camus, Gide and Proust and their long-dead lovers
• pick out Jonathan Safran Foer, Sufjan Stevens and Romain Duris in a line-up
• yell at a TV, rejoicing when Mr. Blonde severs Nash’s ear while singing, “Stuck in the Middle with You”
• yell at a TV, crying “Nooo!” when Buffy drives the sword through Angel’s heart, sending him to hell, to close Acathla’s vortex
• choose 70% versus 60% cacao to make the final-touch ganache just a tad more decadent

I realize that these skills may not be useful in everyday life. They probably won’t help me land a job, get a raise, be the life of the party or even hold conversations with most normal human beings. But I have decided that I’m OK with that. And I’m comfortable with my football deficiency.

So when you’re cheering on your favorite team at the Rose Bowl this January in Pasadena (my mom told me that’s where the game is after almost hanging up on me when I didn’t know), please don’t worry about me. While the game is on, I might watch a movie, read a book, or go for a hike. As much as you’ve tried to make me a better person, you have to realize that my football education is futile. But please, find it in your heart to still love me, or at least still mock me at reunions.

Yours truly,
Barb

Bing cherry attack

My friend Chris stopped by to say hi and deliver a Santa-sized sack of bing cherries. Gotta love friends who bear gifts of the edible kind.

After washing, stemming, drying and freezing two gallon bags of cherries, I was still left with tray fulls. So  made cherry almond muffins and froze two dozen. Then I tried a new recipe for cherry compote that is amazing and so easy to make.

Syrup

Cherry Compote

1. Boil 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of water until the syrup becomes light tan in color.

2. Add 4 cups of pitted, whole cherries. (Watch out because the mixture bubbles up and can splatter.)

Cooking cherries with balsamic vinegar

3. Cook the cherries until they are soft and the mixture thickens.

4. Add 2-3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and cook a few minutes longer.

5. Serve the warm compote over vanilla bean ice cream and chocolate-ginger brownies if you feel like baking.

6. Store the compote in the refrigerator and warm before serving.

Bakery Bar

The well-designed sign outside of Bakery Bar on Glisan and 30th says, “Eat cake.” OK, no problem. But wait, there is a problem because not only must you eat cake there, you must eat scones, muffins, breakfast sandwiches on homemade English muffins, brownies, and more. Then you can eat cake.

Bakery Bar is my new favorite place to hang out, read, work, drink a latte and listen to the great mix of music that they play. They’ve also expanded their menu to include breakfast and lunch.

Good design, good music and good food converge all in one spot.

Roasted Caprese Salad in March

Caprese salad isn’t a dish I normally crave in the middle of winter. Although caprese-quality Ttomatoes are usually scarce this time of year, it can be done with Romas. Yes, I said Romas—those tomatoes that are usually tasteless, gritty and unremarkable. The trick is to slow roast the tomatoes until they are sweet and concentrated.

I used Ina Garten’s recipe for Roasted Tomato Caprese Salad and was happy to taste summertime in March.

Mmmmm...bacon

A long, long time ago I was a quasi-vegetarian for about 8 years or so. Then I remembered bacon.

Heather and I got Ryan and Eric a delicious holiday gift…two nights of cooking school at In Good Taste. The class, Charcuterie 101, taught the basics of curing, smoking, salting and devouring various meats—from duck to pork belly to trout. Chef Ben Bettinger of Clyde Common (and of the future Beaker and Flask…we hope) helped his pork disciples deliver some of the best bacon I’ve ever tasted. It was think, smoky, and salty…and almost too good for words before it was devoured.

Cookie Fest 2008

For the last 5 years or so I’ve baked 5 different kinds of cookies for the holidays. It has always been therapeutic sprinkled with fleeting moments of stress.

This year I didn’t have time for a baking extravaganza, so I chose the simple yet divine chocolate chip cookie as the headliner. I used the trusted recipe from Jacques Torres that appeared in the New York Times months ago. The secret is lightly dipping the dough balls in sea salt or fleur de sel for a sweet and salty touch. Holiday cookies don’t have to be red or green, they just have to be delicious.

Raisin Fennel Bread

Bread can be a boring vehicle for sauces, meat, cheese, jam, or it can be fabulous on its own. I found one such amazing loaf—raisin fennel bread—at Petite Provence Bakery on Division and SE 48th. It seems to be a dense pain au levain base packed with sweet raisins and licoricey fennel. It makes perfect toast with a thin layer of butter and tart jam.

The bread’s sourdough base reminds me of my favorite bread in Columbus: La Chatelaine’s au levain loaf.