Music Monday - "They Say It's Spring" by Blossom Dearie

Blossom Dearie is one of my favorite jazz singers.  In addition to one of the best names ever, she had such a light, pretty voice, and was a talented jazz pianist as well.  "They Say It's Spring" was a hit for her in 1957.  This song was written by Bob Haymes, who wrote the great standard song, "That's All," and it has a similar sound.  It is a beautiful, Spring-like day in Atlanta, and this seems like a perfect song to share with you today.

Friday Faves: Daylight Saving Time and the Napoleon Bowl

Happy Friday!  Hope you've had a great week.  

My first Friday Fave is Daylight Saving Time.  We spring forward Saturday night, and Sunday, March 9 will be the first day of DST.  I like Daylight Saving Time:  it always makes me feel energized, and I love sunlight that lasts later in the day.  

My other Friday Fave is the Napoleon bowl.   This is one of my favorite restaurant meals, and it is served at Napoleon's, a little pub in Decatur, Georgia (Atlanta area).  I order my bowl with no cheese and guacamole added instead.  This is what it looks like:

It is a layer of rice, salsa, black beans, tomatillo sauce (salsa verde), onions, tomatoes, and guacamole, with a little crown of tortilla chips.  Yummy!

Napoleon's is a fun little restaurant.  I was there with a group for my Mom's birthday.  (Happy Birthday, Mom!) She had the fried green tomato sandwich on marbled rye, with chipotle mayonnaise and sweet potato fries.

Napoleon's has several vegetarian entrees. I wish the restaurant had more vegan options, but you can special order and vegan-ize a few things on the menu.

How about you -- how has your week been?  What do you think of Daylight Savings Time?    I hope you'll leave a comment below.

Music Monday: "After the Gold Rush" by Neil Young

I will tell you a secret:  when I cannot sleep at night I listen to "After the Gold Rush" by Neil Young.  Oh, I listen to other songs too, but I keep coming back to this one. I'm not sure why.  If you listen to the lyrics, it's actually a sad song, although it sings like poetry.  It moves me.

I first encountered "After the Gold Rush" by Prelude, when I was in elementary school.  Later I loved the version by three of my favorite singers, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris from one of their Trio albums.  But this is the version that I always come back to:
 

Friday Faves: Fooducate

Happy Friday!   Hope you've had a good week.   I have had one of those weeks where I've been busy, but haven't accomplished as much as I wanted.  I intend to take the weekend off, have fun and relax, so I will have lots of energy when Monday rolls around.

My Friday Fave this week is Fooducate.   If you have an interest in nutrition, this is an invaluable site.  You can look up any food and see the nutrition label (calories, protein, sugar, etc.) and also look at the ingredients.  The site sorts out "mystery ingredients."   

Growing up, my father was interested in natural foods and we shopped at health food stores regularly.  I grew up with whole wheat bread, natural peanut butter, wheat germ, bran, yogurt, etc.   I am a long-time vegetarian, but I will admit that until this past year I didn't look at labels past an ingredient check to make sure the products were vegetarian.

Then I found Fooducate.

It has been very eye-opening seeing the ingredients that are in many foods:  propellant (cooking spray), brominated vegetable oil (sports drinks), phosphoric acid (sodas), industrial caramel color (many foods, including salad dressing).

When I shop at my favorite grocery store, I always read labels now.  If in doubt, I look up the products on Fooducate.  There are always good choices in almost any category, products that do not have those long, unpronounceable chemical ingredients.

This site is available for computer, Android, and iPhone.  It is not available as a Blackberry app, unfortunately.  (Of course, I have it bookmarked on my phone and can pull it up that way.)

Fooducate has made a positive difference in my life, so I wanted to share it with you.

Hope you have a great weekend!   

Music Monday: "Yeh Yeh" by Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames

"Yeh Yeh" by Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames was a hit in 1965.  Georgie Fame (real name Clive Powell) is a British jazz pianist and R&B singer.  The song has a bit of jazz, a bit of R&B, and a sort of garage band sound that I really like!   I only found this song in the past few years, via SiriusXM radio, and it is one I always turn up.   There is also a great cover by They Might Be Giants.