Christmas Songs That Aren't Played Enough

There is a long-running debate in my family about whether to start playing Christmas music the night before Thanksgiving, or the day after. Or, if you're like me, anytime we have a cloudy day and chilly weather (I have been known to play my Christmas Pandora stations when a particularly heavy marine layer hits in August). My Dad and I have always been on Team Night Before Thanksgiving while my mom prefers to wait... but I think in the last year or so my brother has joined the Cheery Side. muah-ha-ha-ha.

I can totally understand, however, that when department stores and radio stations start playing holiday music before Halloween --- and they keep a continuous rotation of the same 20 songs or so --- that you can be Grinch-tastic before December 1st. As I am somewhat of a curator of Christmas music, and look for new songs each year -- and not just unimaginative standards recorded by the pop music flavor of the month -- I thought I'd share a few of my old and new favorites that (for reasons I will never understand) don't make it onto the radio. Adding a few of these to your holiday playlist (you have one, right?!) will mix things up a bit and make your spirits bright. You're welcome.

Peggy Lee - Ring Those Christmas Bells
When swing and big band music was really trendy in high school (though I've always loved it) my dad got me an album of swing and Rat pack -type gems. This was one I adored.

Natalie Hemby - The Perfect Gift
So a few years ago Target used some cool, funky songs in their holiday commercials and then had the songs availble to download for free on their website. This and the next song were two that I really enjoyed.

Little Jackie - Mrs. Claus
Another fun, funky song that I discovered from the Target commercials. I dedicate this to all the moms out there (especially mine!) who have worked hard to make the holidays magical and memorable for their kiddos.

Sammy Davis, Jr. - Christmas Time All Over the World
Ok, actually I can understand why this isn't on the radio, since it's Mad Men-era "Oriental music" probably isn't quite PC anymore, but the children's choir is so cute and the spirit of the song is delightful and timeless. Plus, if Sammy Davis Jr. can't inject some cool factor into your holiday cocktail party, then you my friend may be hopeless.

Celtic Woman - Christmas Pipes
This one is really traditional, and my mom thinks my dad and I are dorks for liking them, but do the ladies of Celtic Woman have the voices of angels, or what?! I mean, stunning. This is a song I've rarely heard sung or recorded but I think it is so sweet. I also really adore their version of Ding Dong Merrily on High.

Straight No Chaser - ?Donde Esta Santa Claus?
Despite my complete lack of singing of musical ability, or perhaps because of it, I think acapella is so darn cool. I like everything I've heard from SNC's Christmas albums but I think this one is super-fun and you'll be salsa-ing your way around the kitchen whilst you make tamales.

Francesca Battistelli - Christmas
I discovered her last year, can't remember how, and I think her while album is fantastic. Some are standards and some are orginals, which is fun... if I had to pick favorites I would say Marshmallow World / Christmas Is / Go Tell It On The Mountain / Heaven Everywhere

Sheryl Crow - There is a Star The Shines Tonight
There's not a lot of original Christmas music these days that doesn't sound like mass-produced, adult Top-40 crap, so this is really pleasant to me.

Kay Start - Everybody's Waiting for the Man with the Bag
In 9th grade I had this Dance/PE class where we had to do a one-minute choreography as the final, which happened to fall the day we left for Christmas break. The teacher was super laid-back so most people did it as a group and threw something together at the last minute, but I loved this challenge and used this song (off the swing album) and did this really cute dance with a chair, tap and jazz steps, and high kicks. I could have earned the same grade improvising, but I had fun with it.

Willie K - O Holy Night
This might be my favorite version of one of my favorite Christmas songs.

Freddy Fender - When They Ring Those Christmas Bells
I just adore Freddy Fender's voice and this is another that you never hear but will enjoy when it comes on after you've listened to "Jingle Bells" for the thousandth time. This whole album has a cool, country-ish vibe but not too much twang.

Jimmy Buffett - Merry Christmas Alabama
This entire album is really fun and sets a cool, coastal vibe (Up on the Housetop, Run Run Rudolph and Ho Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rum are all gems) but I like how this showcases that Jimmy Buffett, known for Margaritaville and fun times, writes a really good, thgoughtful ballad, too.

I'd also recommend the entire Chris Isaak Christmas album, especially if you're like, having a backyard bonfire or watching the Christmas Boat Parade or something.

You might also want to add in some non-holiday favorites that convey the feel-good, home-y spirit of the season nonetheless. I did this for our Christmas party last year and think that it's a nice break from the same songs everyone has been hearing for weeks. A few of my faves:

• The Beatles - All You Need is Love
• Three Dog Night - Joy to the World
• Jackie Deshannon - Put a Little Love in Your Heart
• Jack Johnson - Better Together
• Keith Urban - Somebody Like You
• Ray Lamontagne - You Are the Best Thing
• The Eagles - Peaceful Easy Feeling
• Extreme - More Than Words
• Jimmy Buffett - I Have Found Me a Home
• Ray Charles and Van Morrison - Crazy Love
• Louis Armstrong - When You're Smiling
• The Lumineers - Ho Hey
• Phillip Phillips (is that his real name?) - Home

So it's "OFFICIALLY" that time of year!!!! What Christmas Carols and holiday classics are you listening to on repeat? Any underplayed songs I've missed? Anyone avoid Christmas music entirely since it's almost impossible to ignore in the mall?

And what's your favorite? I couldn't possibly choose one favorite (taking the easy way out of that one) but I personally cry at least once a year listening to BandAid's "Do They Know It's Christmas" and my sister and I lip synch -- in character -- all of baby Michael Jackson's "Up on the Housetop."

Joy to your ears,

Employment Update (2)

I was rejected from two jobs yesterday! And one last week!

But they did say I was "lovely" to interview. So I got that going for me.



What kind of job is good for a "lovely" person?


Pondering,

The Last Five: New Recipes I've Tried

I'm not a great cook; nor is it something I particularly love.  I do like to bake, but mostly because I like to eat baked goods. Sometime I feel particularly inspired and enjoy the process, but mostly I just want to get something fast, cheap and easy in my mouth (#TWSS).

I do know how to make a few things in my sleep (hellllo E's favorite pasta and chicken!) but I like to try something new once in awhile. Some of the following are winners, some are just okay (which may be more of a product of the cook as opposed to the recipe).

Baked Gnocchi with Chicken - E loves gnocchi and so we had a package of it lying around, but the times we've made it according to the package I thought it was really bland. Since I also had chicken marinating that I had planned to grill but then didn't and it had to be cooked, I made the chicken and then made my own version of this. Except that I don't like muchrooms and didn't have spinach so I used zuchinni and corn I had on hand. I liked this, I think it was just okay for E.

Cheddar Jalapeno Chicken Burgers - oh my yum! These are awesome. I made them once with chicken and a couple of times since using ground turkey since it's been cheaper. Also I used whatever cheese I had on hand at the time, I think it was even a couple of cut-up pieces of string cheese once. No matter, they are delightful. We took them camping and it felt like a bit of a sophisicated upgrade from your standard hot dog, you know? It's easy to make quite a few of these and freeze them, also they make cute little sliders for a crowd that maybe isn't such a fan of spicy.

"the BEST fluffiest chocolate frosting EVER" - So I pinned this and the pin didn't track back to the original source... I tried to track down something identical and found this on Kraft recipes. Full disclosure: I had a big glass of chocolate-coconut milk on hand from a recipe I had started to make (this one) when I realized I had low-fat coconut milk instead of the the full-fat I needed... Long story short, I decided to try using that in the recipe and it still came out great. One person mentioned (without prompting) that it had a slight coconut taste and one person (again, unprompted) mentioned a slight pudding taste. I loved the texture of this right out of the fridge -- it was more like mousse than frosting (I also ate the rest out of the bowl after frosting all the cupcakes I made. The only thing was that it was a hot day and just leaving the cupcakes covered on the kitchen counter for an hour or so while doing party prep caused the frosting to melt a bit and sticking them back in the fridge didn't reclaim the same fluffy, mousse-y texture. Bottom line: super yummy if you keep it nice and cold.

Hungry Girl Sassy Wonton Tacos - I had something like this at a restaurant awhile back and was stoked when I found the recipe (I mean, it's not rocket science, but...) and had been meaning to make them for awhile. I made these the other night for a potluck but I think they'd be better without having to transport --- 20-25 minutes in the car left them a little sloshed-around and a little but soggy but still good. I cheated a bit by using a salad mix (it was basically cole slaw with some bacon bits and tossed in bbq and ranch sauce) and since I had some "salsa-con-queso" sour cream on hand from a family dinner and an avocado, I added those as garnish. The shells are the most time-consuming and hands-on to make, I had to turn them so that both sides browned evenly and there's a very fine line between firm enough to hold fillings and firm enough to crack when you touch them. Also, it was quite easy to make the opening way too narrow and almost impossible to stuff. Since I had leftover chicken and salad topping E and I made them again the next night but just cooked the wontons flat and ate them tostada-style. just as good if a little bit messy (they really had a tendency to crack and fall apart when you bite into them). Verdict: Very cute but probably easier (if higher calorie count) to skip the wontons and just use tortillas as a burrito or tostada. The filling combinations are yum.

Pumpkin Spice Rice Krispie Treats - There's no special trick to these or anything, you just need the Pumpkin Spice marshmallows and make as you would any other Rice Krispie Treat recipe (or for the Heather-and-Leila version -- don't even bother putting them in a pan and cutting into squares, just let the molten marshmallow cool enough --or not -- to eat straight from the pot). If you like pumpkin-flavored-any-and-everything this time of year, of course they're yummy.

I also tried adding a zuchinni and a yellow squash to the turkey chili I've made a few times... I wasn't sure E would like the veggies but he gobbled it and even ate leftovers, which he usually only does with pizza, score!

What should I try next? I have a cookbook of beautiful-looking chocolate recipes for the holidays, so I think some of those will be a must in the next month. Maybe I should try making some kind of showstopper chocolate cake for our anniversary (our 5th is coming up -- ahh! where have 5 years gone?!?! -- and I want a tribute to our amazeballs chocolate cake covered in ganache).

I also want to do that thing where you make like ten crockpot meals and put them all in your freezer at once and then you have crockpots and leftovers and your life is magical... but have I done that yet? Obviously not.

Until then...

Happy Cooking!