John Lee Hooker - Mr. Lucky

Godfather of Blues, John Lee Hooker was a singer-songwriter and blues guitarist. He was born in Mississippi in 1917, left home at fifteen, went on to work in Memphis, Tennessee and ended up in Detroit, Michigan in 1943 where his popularity grew quickly when his recording career began.

John Lee Hooker was known for his trademark 'talking blues' style, incorporating the boogie-woogie piano and the use of his electric guitar bringing together the Delta blues with the post-war electric blues. John Lee Hooker recorded hundreds of singles and albums over the years. Two of his hit songs, 'Boogie Chillen' released in 1948 and 'Boom Boom' in 1961 are both named in the list of 'The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll'.

John Lee Hooker's single 'Mr. Lucky' was originally released in 1967 on Bluesway Records a track recorded for his album 'Urban Blues'. Hooker released another version of ‘Mr. Lucky’ with Robert Cray in 1991 for the title track of his album ‘Mr. Lucky’. This album has some of the biggest names in modern blues and rock making appearances; Ry Cooder, Carlos Santana, Johnny Winter, Albert Collins, John Hammond, Van Morrison, Keith Richards and Robert Cray.

This is a great live recording of 'Mr. Lucky' performed by John Lee Hooker with Robert Cray.



They call me, Mr. Lucky

Bad luck don't follow me

They call me, Mr. Lucky

Bad luck don't follow me

Everything I touches turn to gold

That mean I can't do no wrong

I woke early one mornin'

Mr. Lucky, standin' by my bed

I woke early one mornin'

Mr. Lucky, standin' by my bed

I listened to him real closely

This is what he said

You was born for good luck, Johnny

Bad luck can't do you no harm

You was born for good luck

Bad luck can't do you no harm

I guarantee you'll never go wrong

That's why they call me, Mr. Lucky

Bad luck don't follow me

That's why they call me, Mr. Lucky

Bad luck don't follow me

Everything I touches turn to gold

I never felt misery

Another great version of 'Mr. Lucky' that I truly enjoy, appears on the album 'Strictly Whatever' recorded by Canadian guitar masters, Harry Manx and Kevin Breit. Worth checking out!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lee_Hooker

La Tome de Chèvre Paul Georgelet

La Tome Georgelet is an artisanal ash covered goat-milk cheese from France.

The exterior rind is dry with a grey-blue mould covering its surface and has a musty odor. The interior cream coloured paste is lightly salty with a wonderful goat milk flavour that melts in the mouth.

Since this chèvre comes in the form of a small tomme of approximately 18 cm (7") diameter, the center (le coeur) of the cheese remains soft and creamy for a longer period. La Tome Georgelet can easily be enjoyed aged up to six months. Naturally, as the cheese ages the texture becomes firmer and the cheese flavours develop into more complex intensity.

This excellent Tome de Chèvre is produced by artisan cheesemaker and farmer Paul Georgelet. As well as producing international acclaimed goat cheeses, Le Chabichou du Poitou and Le Mothais Sur Feuille, Paul Georgelet owns and operates an eighty hectares farm with five hundred goats. The farm and fromagerie Les Fromages de Chèvres Paul Georgelet is located in Villemain, a small commune in the department of Deux-Sèvres, in the Poitou-Charentes region of France.

http://www.paulgeorgelet.fr

Public Enemies (TV Series)

Public Enemies is a quality three-part BBC television drama series, created by the award winning writer Tony Marchant (The Mark of Cain).

 

The story is about the relationship between a convicted murderer, Eddie (Daniel Mays - Ashes To Ashes, Made in Dagenham) who is released from prison after serving 10 years and his probation officer Paula (Anna Friel - Pushing Daisies, The Street) who is just back at work herself after being suspended for a crime that was committed by an offender under her watch. Both characters have to deal with the strain of personal and public disgrace while they are still trying to reclaim their lives and reputations.

Public Enemies is an amazing, riveting and incredibly moving drama with a captivating performance by Mays.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0196wrt/episodes/guide

Nosey Goat Camelot

Nosey Goat Camelot is an award winning goat milk cheese from Ontario's Niagara Peninsula.

Nosey Goat Camelot is a semi-firm cheese, with a washed rind made from pasteurised goat milk. It has a golden colour washed rind and a firm wheat colour paste with eyes dotted throughout. It has a strong earthy aroma as a result of being aged for two months in a cellar. The paste's texture becomes quite creamy on the palate with a delicious lingering goat milk flavour.

Nosey Goat Camelot is produced by Upper Canada Cheese Company a small artisanal creamery located in Jordan Station in the heart of the Niagara wine region of Southern Ontario. Lauren Petryna is the skilled cheesemaker behind Upper Canada Cheese Company celebrity cheeses including Niagara Gold, Guernsy Girl, Comfort Cream, Nosey Goat Camelot and Nanny Noire.

Upper Canada’s Nosey Goat cheeses are made with the milk from a rare herd of Lamancha Goats pastured at Gord and Melanie Wood’s Idllywood Farm in Keene, Ontario in Peterborough County. Lamancha goats are perhaps the most distinctive goat breed. They are easily recognizable by their very short ears. They are also known for their high milk production, and the high butterfat content in their milk.

http://www.uppercanadacheesecompany.com

Photo source: http://wecanhearyafarms.webs.com/

Chèvre d'Or

Chèvre d'Or is a soft pasteurised goat-milk cheese shaped into a small 150 g (5.3 oz) disk. It has an almond coloured natural rind with spots of white mold.

Chèvre d'Or is a living cheese. It is not wrapped and can ripen slowly, gaining in character. The texture also develops from creamy soft to flaky as the cheese ages. Naturally the flavours also develop from smooth to powerful. After three weeks it becomes dry and crumbly.

This chèvre is best served at the end of a meal. It pairs well with a white Sancerre or Sauvignon Blanc when the cheese is young or a more robust red wine when the cheese is more mature.

Chèvre d'Or is produced by Sèvre et Belle, a small cooperative that was founded back in 1893, in the village of Celles-sur-Belle in the Deux-Sèvres department in the Poitou-Charentes region in western France.

At Sèvre et Belle, the principles of artisanal production are kept alive. In the manufacture of dairy products, the cheese makers use the ladle 'molding' technique: where the curds are collected using a ladle and placed in straining molds. The molds are then turned over three times by hand and then curds are removed from the molds.  The salting, maturing and packaging processes are carried out with the same meticulous precision.

http://www.coop-sevrebelle.fr

Le Pizy

Le Pizy is a soft ripened pasteurised cow-milk cheese from the Lanaudière region of Quebec.

Le Pizy has a soft, mild, salty butter flavoured paste and an ivory coloured bloomy rind that emits hints of whey with a slight mushroom aroma. Le Pizy is a small circular 200 g. (7 oz.) flattened cheese wheel.

Le Pizy is produced by Fromagerie La Suisse-Normande located in St-Roch de l'Achigan, Québec. La Suisse-Normande operate a lovely goat farm and this gives them greater control over the quality of the raw cheese.  The fresh cow milk used for Le Pizy is supplied by their neighbors’ herd. La Suisse Normande are familiar with food, health and care given to the animals and the neighboring cow farm has the same values and the way it conducts its farm.

La Suisse-Normande produce several artisanal type cheeses among them Le Sabot De Blanchette and Le Barbu two of my favourite Quebec chèvres.

http://lasuissenormande.com/

Cake aux Tomates, Basilic et Le Pizy

Here is an easy delicious recipe for a tomato, basil and Le Pizy cheese loaf. It is called "Cake" inspired by the recipes "Les Cakes de Sophie" by Sophie Dudemaine. I think these cakes are great in the summer time served with salads and they are ideal to take along for a picnic.

Cake aux Tomates, Basilic et Le Pizy

Recipe Ingredients

3 eggs

150 g (5.3 oz) of sifted flour

1 small 8 g yeast envelope

80 ml (1/3 cup) of olive oil

125 ml (1/2 cup) of milk

100 g (3.5 oz) of grated gruyere cheese

200 g (7 oz) of Le Pizy cheese

2 red tomatoes

1 tbsp of olive oil

8 leaves of basil

2 pinches of salt

2 pinches of pepper

Directions

- Preheat oven at 180 degrees C (350 degrees F).

- Pass the tomatoes under boiling water for a few seconds.

- Peel, seed and dice the tomatoes. Place the tomatoes with 1 tbsp of oil in a pan, add salt and pepper and simmer for a few minutes. Let dry out and cool down.

- In the meantime, cut "Le Pizy" into small pieces; mix them into the tomatoes along with the chopped basil.

- In a large bowl, whip the eggs, flour and yeast. Slowly incorporate the olive oil and the pre-heated milk. Add the gruyere cheese and mix well. Incorporate the tomatoes and Le Pizy mixture and stir until well blended.

- Pour the batter mixture into a non-greased loaf pan and place in the oven for 45 minutes (or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean and cake begins to pull away from sides of pan).

Serves 5 – 6
 

Romance & Cigarettes

Romance & Cigarettes is a 2005 offbeat romantic comedy musical written and directed by John Turturro.

The film has quite a stellar cast; James Gandolfini (The Sopranos), Susan Sarandon (Thelma & Louise, Deadman Walking), Kate Winslet (Titanic, The Reader, Mildred Pierce), Christopher Walken (The Deer Hunter, Pulp Fiction), Steve Buscemi (Fargo), Mary-Louise Parker (Weeds), Aida Turturro (The Sopranos) and singer Mandy Moore.

Romance & Cigarettes is not your usual drama about a troubled marriage. It attempts something original by melding light opera with soap opera into a modern day musical. It is a dark and passionate comedy about one man's journey into infidelity and redemption. The hero, Nick Murder (Gandolfini) is a Queens, NY iron worker who has been married for years to Kitty (Sarandon), who works as a seamstress and is the mother of Nick's three daughters (played by Moore, Parker and Turturro). While Nick loves his wife, he is seduced by the sexy red haired lingerie salesgirl Tula (Winslet). When his wife finds out about the affair, she becomes enraged and kicks him out, forcing him to decide what he really wants from life and what's most important to him. During the movie, the characters periodically turn to their favorite songs to explain their emotions, lip-synching along with the original recordings.

There is a scene during the film with a slicked back Christopher Walken performing Tom Jones' "Delilah". It's quite fun! Walken had a notable music video performance in 2001 with Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice".

Some of the other songs featured on Romance & Cigarettes' soundtrack include; Engelbert Humperdinck - "A Man Without Love", Dusty Springfield - "Piece of My Heart", Bruce Springsteen - "Red-Headed Woman", Cyndi Lauper - "Prisoner of Love", Elvis Presley - "Trouble", Buena Vista Social Club - "El cuarto de Tula", James Brown - "It's a Man's Man's Man's World", Vikki Carr - "It Must Be Him" and original performances by Mandy Moore with Aida Turturro and Mary-Louise Parker of "I Want Candy"  and also James Gandolfini and Susan Sarandon singing "The Girl That I Marry".

Romance & Cigarettes is quite the work of art; it breaks out of the Hollywood movie mold with originality that is bold, cheeky and liberating.

Sarah Vaughan - Whatever Lola Wants (Gotan Project Remix)

 



American jazz singer Sarah Vaughan recorded "Whatever Lola Wants” back in the 50’s. What makes this version so special is that it has been remixed by Gotan Project who distinctly gives it their unique signature sound with sultry tango beats and the incorporation of the rustic romantic accordions.

Gotan Project is a musical group based in Paris, France consisting of musicians Philippe Cohen Solal of France, Eduardo Makaroff of Argentina and Christoph H. Müller of Switzerland.  This Gotan Project Remix of Sarah Vaughan's "Whatever Lola Wants" appears on the Verve Remixed 2 compilation released in 2003 on Verve Records.

 

"Whatever Lola Wants" is a popular song that was written by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross for the 1955 Broadway musical Damn Yankees. The song is performed by ‘Lola’, who plays the role of the Devil's assistant, a role performed by Gwen Verdon who also stars in the role for the musical film "Damn Yankees" that was released in 1958.

"Whatever Lola Wants, Lola gets" has been recorded by many artists through the years among them; Petula Clark, Ella Fitzgerald, Eartha Kitt, Mel Tormé and Sarah Vaughan.

"Whatever Lola Wants" is also the title of a light romantic comedy film, released in 2007. The movie directed by French Moroccan Nabil Ayouch and stars Laura Ramsey who plays the title role of 'Lola'. The movie is about a young woman who dreams of being a dancer but has to work as a New York City postal worker to make ends meet. Lola decides to travels to Cairo to find and reconcile with her recent boyfriend but ends up pursuing a passion for belly dancing and finds 'Ismahan' a legendary Egyptian dancer played by Carmen Lebbos to be her instructor.

Le Barbu

Last week, I had the opportunity to go to the Lanaudière region of Quèbec with my sister Pauline and our maman. Our first stop on our journey to discover Lanaudière, was in St. Roch de L'Achigan to visit the Fromagerie La Suisse-Normande. This artisanal cheese producer is the maker of one of my favourite Quebec goat-milk cheese Le Sabot De Blanchette.

The farm and cheese production is owned and operated by husband and wife team Frédéric & Fabienne Guitel. Fabienne is a Swiss native and her spouse is from Normandie, hence the name "Fromagerie La Suisse Normande". The cheese production is done on the premises directly across the street from their goat farm. Visitors can view the artisans making the cheese from the glass windows inside the cheese shop.  It was a wonderful visit, where we were welcomed by a lovely friendly lady who introduced us to several Fromagerie La Suisse Normande cheeses.

Le Barbu is a delicious artisanal pasteurised goat-milk cheese with a soft paste and a white bloomy rind. Le Barbu has a fresh mushroom aroma with a lingering floral and woodsy flavour. The texture is slightly chalky but creamy on the tongue with a fairly pronounced nutty goat-milk taste. This chèvre comes in a small 90 g. conical form.

Le Barbu pairs well with a Sauvignon Blanc or California Chardonnay.   

                                                 

http://www.lasuissenormande.com