Concert: Emmylou Harris and Mary Chapin Carpenter

Image found here

This was my second* country music concert at Wolf Trap this summer. I was mainly excited to see Mary Chapin Carpenter; I grew up listening to her Come On Come On CD. I think she was actually supposed to open for Emmylou Harris (like she did at the same venue in 1989), but Emmylou had to catch a ferry somewhere, so they swapped timeslots. I was wondering why Emmylou had a 90-minute set as the "opener" ! 

I didn't know any of Emmylou's songs. I think she was big well before my time, so I wasn't familiar with the music. But her band is very talented! Many of them play multiple instruments, and I enjoyed hearing their brief solos throughout the set. And she looks fabulous for her age! Here are a few songs of hers:

One of These Days

Red Dirt Girl

Tougher Than the Rest

Once it was Mary's turn to come on, I actually think what I liked best about her set was her storytelling. Between some songs, she would tell a story about what inspired a song, or how she felt at a particular moment, and she really knows how to tell a narrative! She talked about playing croquette with her bandmates, spoke about how Eudora Welty's story of Halley's comet inspired the song Halley Came to Jackson, and described how butterflies flew from her chest when she thought a young man recognized her (only for him to tell her, "My grandmother loves you!"). I'd be just as happy to listen to her tell tales as I would if she sang songs!

She did change up her songs a little bit, which I realize a lot of artists do for live performances, but I like the original versions best. And she (like Emmylou, too, actually) had what I might describe as an "ephemeral" voice: it would go in and out. Sometimes she'd hit the notes loud and proud and perfectly, and other times I could barely hear her, or it felt off-key. I understand that voices change as they age, and I think that's what was happening in this instance. 

Here are some of my favorite songs of hers:

I Feel Lucky

Passionate Kisses

Shut Up and Kiss Me

He Thinks He'll Keep Her (As I was listening to her sing this song, I was thinking that, even as a child, this song was one of the reasons I didn't want to have children myself. I remember thinking, "It sounds like this woman isn't happy being just a mom and a wife. I don't want to be that." The power of music! I also looked it up, and Mary was inspired to write this song when she heard a sexist commercial in which a man likes how his wife keeps the household and jokingly says, "I think I'll keep her." It's amazing where songwriters can find inspiration.)

The Bug (She did not perform this song. Too bad!)

This was a fun, relaxing concert. I mostly just laid on my picnic blanket staring at the sky as I let the music wash over me. It was just a lovely evening to be outside and listen to some nice music!

*The first country concert I went to this summer at Wolf Trap was to see Little Big Town. But my friend ended up being very distracted with work phone calls, and he had to leave before the main act even started. At that point, it had begun to rain, and while I would have stuck it out with him, since my friend was leaving, I just left, too. So I only had the chance to see the opener, Karley Scott Collins. I had never heard of her before, but I liked her! She kind of had a young Taylor-Swift vibe (but maybe it's just because she's a pretty blonde, because her folksy voice is very different). Here are a few of her songs:

Heavenly

Tattoos

I Hate That I Love You

I love seeing more women in country music!

Recipe: Fluffy Banana Cookies

Recently I made banana muffins (read that blog post here), and once again I faced having too many bananas going ripe at once. I have made so many banana breads and muffins (see that list in that blog post, too), so I wanted to try something else. I found this "easy kids' recipe" on the All Recipes website, and I'll try any recipe with "easy" in the title! And it really was that easy!

Ingredients

• 2 ripe bananas, mashed, or more to taste
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup white sugar, or more to taste
• ¼ cup butter, melted
• ¼ cup chopped walnuts (Optional)
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon white sugar

Directions

·      Step 1

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

·      Step 2

Place bananas, flour, 1/2 cup sugar, butter, walnuts, egg, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Mix until well combined. Drop 3 tablespoonfuls of dough 2 to 3 inches apart onto baking sheet. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon sugar on top.

·      Step 3

Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown and edges are set, 15 to 20 minutes.

Unlike most of the recipes I make, I actually followed this one to a T. The only thing I changed was that, instead of using walnuts, I used chocolate chips. Otherwise, this recipe is so simple that there's no need to try to use tricks or cheats to make it easier! I do feel like there should have been another step in the directions: how do you cool the cookies? I left them on the pan for a few minutes after removing them from the oven, and then I used a spatula to move them to plates. I didn't want to put them on wire racks because the bottoms did stick to the parchment paper a little and I thought that might be messy.

These cookies are fluffy, and they remind me a little of pancakes. They are not very sweet, so if I made this recipe again, I would probably use more sugar (and more chocolate chips). The texture is spot-on, though! Because the directions say to make 3-tablespoon-sized cookies, they are kind of big, and therefore you don't get as many cookies as you might with another recipe (I only got 17). That could be good or bad: you get fewer yummy cookies, but then you also don't feel obligated to eat so many yummy cookies.

This recipe is worth a try, though, especially if you are baking with kids or you are a beginner baker yourself!

Recipe: One-Banana Banana Muffins

 

Getting great use out of my reusable cupcake liners!

Even though this recipe markets itself as a "one-banana" banana muffin recipe, I still made it with two bananas. I made this recipe because I had 1. two ripe bananas and 2. another can of condensed milk (read about the first recipe I made using that ingredient). I first found a recipe that fit this description, but in reading further, I would have had to bake the bananas until they were black. Who has time for that? This recipe from Sorted Food did not have that step, so I chose it instead.

In general, I don't think this recipe was a good one instructionally-speaking. I've made enough banana breads and muffins* to know the basic ingredients, but if I were new to baking, I wouldn't suggest this recipe. The ingredients are listed all out of order (as opposed to listing all the wet ingredients together, the dry ingredients together, the garnishes last, etc.). It also doesn't list preheating the oven as Step #1, which it clearly always should be (although I'll admit I don't start preheating the oven until I'm halfway through the directions, otherwise I feel like it's staying hot for too long for no reason). It also doesn't say to chop the nuts (can you imagine full walnuts in a muffin?), to soften/melt the butter (you can't put half a stick of butter from the fridge right into the batter!), or explain how 1/2 cup of sugar equals 1/2 cup of condensed milk (they are two very different consistencies. How does that work?). 

But here we go:

Ingredients

• ¼ cup pecans / walnuts (optional)
• 1 egg
• ½ cup sugar / condensed milk
• ⅓ cup milk
• 1 ripe banana
• ¾ tsp baking powder
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp pumpkin spice OR cinnamon
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 4 tbsp butter / oil

Directions

Step 1

SIFT/WHISK TOGETHER FLOUR, BAKING POWDER AND SODA, SALT, AND PUMPKIN SPICE/CINNAMON IN A BIG BOWL.

Step 2

IN ANOTHER BOWL, WHISK TOGETHER SOFTENED BUTTER/OIL, SUGAR/CONDENSED MILK, EGG, MILK, VANILLA.

Step 3

MASH BANANA WITH A FORK ON A SHEET OF PARCHMENT AND ADD INTO WET MIXTURE.

Step 4

COMBINE THE TWO MIXTURES WITH A WHISK OR RUBBER SPATULA.

Be careful not to over mix or the muffins will be tough.

Step 5

GENTLY FOLD IN PECANS OR WALNUTS IF APPLICABLE.

Step 6

SPOON AROUND A QUARTER CUP OF MIXTURE INTO LINED OR GREASED CUPCAKE TIN.

Step 7

FOR AN OPTIONAL CRUMB TOPPING...

... Mix a tbsp of melted butter with 2 tbsp flour, 1 tbsp sugar, 1/2 tbsp oats, and 1/4 tsp cinnamon. Sprinkle over cupcakes.

Step 8

BAKE IN A PREHEATED 350°F OVEN FOR 15 MINUTES.

Or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Step 9

LET COOL. IF YOU WANT, DRIZZLE WITH GLAZE.

Mix together 3 tbsp powdered sugar to 1 tbsp milk.

I did double the recipe (I got 21 muffins), since I did have two bananas. But that didn't impact the final product; it just meant I got more muffins! I also only had 1/2 stick of butter, but since I was doubling the recipe, I added in four tablespoons of orange-infused olive oil (which I have used in brownies before. Delicious!). I did not mash the bananas on parchment paper (who does that?); I mashed them in the bowl and added in the other wet ingredients. And even though this called for only 1/2 cup of the condensed milk, I ended up using nearly the entire can. I didn't use my KitchenAid mixer in fear of overmixing, so I just used a handheld spatula for that. And clearly I did not bother with a crumb topping or a glaze. I left the muffins just as they are!

In the end, I did like these muffins. They have a soft texture, which is nice. And I do like the added crunch from the nuts. They are not as sweet as I might expect from a muffin, but not in a bad way. These were very easy and quick to make, so I appreciate that, too! These are worth a try!

*Read about the other banana baked goods I've made here (this list is even longer than I remembered!):

• Cream Cheese Banana Bread
• Small Batch Banana Muffins
• Easy Banana Bread
• Banana Oat Muffins
• Dark Chocolate Chip Raspberry Banana Bread
• Peanut Butter Banana Brownies
• Chai-Spiced Banana Bread
• Chocolate Workout Brownies
• Monkey Nut Cookies
• Banana Chocolate Bread Pudding
• Strawberry Banana Sour Cream Breakfast Cake
• Peanut Butter Banana Cookies
• Banana Peanut Butter Bread
• Banana Coconut Muffins
• Strawberry Banana Bread

Recipe: Eggless Chocolate Cake

I was helping my parents pack up for their move, and my mom gave me a bunch of canned goods that she didn't want to schlep around with her. She gave me three cans of condensed milk. I've never used that before; I just knew it was in some dessert recipes. I quickly found this post on the Insanely Good blog which lists 30 easy recipes that call for condensed milk. Voilà!

I decided to try the eggless chocolate cake recipe from the Spice Up the Curry vegetarian blog. My boyfriend and I were going to another couple's house for dinner, so I thought it might be nice to bring this along for dessert. 

Ingredients  

• ▢1 ½ cup All purpose flour

• ▢3 tablespoons Unsweetened cocoa powder

• ▢1 ½ teaspoons Baking powder

• ▢¾ teaspoon Baking soda

• ▢1 cup Sweetened Condensed milk

• ▢¾ cup Unsalted Butter melted and cooled

• ▢1 ½ teaspoons Pure Vanilla extract

• ▢¾ cup Water

Instructions 

Prep:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F for at least 10 minutes.
2. Melt the butter in a bowl in the microwave. Or melt it on the stovetop, but don’t let it boil. Let the melted butter cool down.
3. Using this melted butter, grease a 9-inch round cake pan (w/ 2-inches high sides) using a pastry brush and keep it aside.

Making Cake:

1. Place a strainer in the bowl and add dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder) into the strainer. Sift this mixture into a bowl to break all the lumps. Using a wire whisk mix them well.
2. In another bowl take melted butter, vanilla, condensed milk and water. Beat it using a wire whisk until everything is well combined.
3. Add dry flour mixture into the wet mixture. Start mixing using a whisk and halfway through switch to a spatula to avoid overmixing. Make the batter using a spatula with a folding motion.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Spread the batter evenly.
5. Bake into the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Check the cake by inserting a toothpick in the center of the cake. If it comes out clean that means the cake is ready.
6. Let the cake cool down in the pan for 5-10 minutes. Then loosen the sides using a butter knife. Then invert the cake upside down to the cooling rack and let it cool down completely.

Per usual, I did not follow the instructions to a T. I didn't sift the dry ingredients; I just whisked them around the break up any clumps. I did not wait for the butter to completely cool before mixing in the other wet ingredients. I may have overmixed a little bit as well. But my biggest mistake may have been using a Bundt pan instead of a regular 9" round cake pan (which I didn't have). My cake ended up looking like a gigantic donut:

I was lucky that the cake come out in one piece, but that may have been because I overfloured the pan. I really didn't want the batter to stick, so I sprayed the heck out of it with Pam, following by sprinkling (er, dumping) flour all over the mold. So when the cake came out of the oven and I took it out of the pan, I could clearly see light spots all over the top of the cake where the flour was, well, caked on. So I spent close to ten minutes using a small fork trying to ever-so-gently scrape off the excess flour without tearing or puncturing the cake (I felt like a dentist; I even had a paper towel to wipe everything off.).

But the next day (since I made the cake the day before our double-date), I drizzled the cake with probably twice as much frosting as I had originally planned, and that definitely helped with the appearance of my donut-cake:

In the end... I didn't really like this cake. It's not very chocolately, so it almost seems more like a spice cake, just without any spice. And it was dry. Not super-dry, but more icing could have helped (and ice cream certainly would have). It was just "meh." Not the worst thing I've ever baked (that would be this and this), but not worth baking again. 

After baking the cake (because I always do this after I've already started baking... *face palm*), I took a look at the "notes" section of the recipe:

Notes

• No substitute for condensed milk: Many readers ask me in the comments what they can use instead of condensed milk. Sorry to say, there is no replacement for it in this eggless chocolate cake.

The condensed milk is the whole reason I made this cake!

• Don’t over-mix the batter or it will end up dense. Once you start mixing in the flour only mix just until combined.

As stated, I may have over-mixed the batter. But not by a lot!

• Don’t over-bake or it will start to dry. Mine is perfect at 30 minutes but each oven varies a bit so do the toothpick test for doneness. A moist crumb attached is fine but there shouldn’t be batter.

I did listen to this part of the recipe and did not bake the cake for more than 30 minutes.

• Wait and let cool completely before frosting the cake or it will melt. You can speed up cooling in the refrigerator if needed.

Nailed this by waiting until the next day to frost it!

• 2-layer cake: This is a tall cake, you can cut it in half horizontally to make a double layer cake.

This one made me laugh. This is NOT a tall cake: my cake is a flat donut!

There is no way I could cut this cake in half and not have it become a complete mess.

To reiterate: don't bother with this recipe. There must be better eggless chocolate cakes out there!

Black Keys Concert

 

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Sure, I had heard of the Black Keys, but that's really all I knew: the name. But when a friend asked me on Sunday night to go to their concert for the following day at Merriweather Post Pavilion, I thought: Why not? I love live music, and my only other plans for that night were to work out, so I cancelled my Pure Barre class to go to the show!

The first act was Ceramic Animal. I had never heard of this band before, but I liked their sound. In looking at their YouTube channel to find videos for this post, I saw that they haven't uploaded many videos at all, with their newest video from two years and the first video from seven years ago. In reading about them, the band is made up of three brothers plus two of their friends, and they self-produced and self-funded their first three albums. So maybe they're an older, scruffy band? Hopefully this tour will help boost things for them! Here are a few of their videos:

Look for a Lover

All My Loving

Working (Real Hard)

The second opener was Band of Horses. Just like with the Black Keys, I had heard their name before, but I couldn't tell you a single song they sing. I also enjoyed their rock 'n' roll sound, and I was particularly enamored with the fox design of their backdrop (in photo above). Why don't they have that on a tank-top?!

Here are a few of their songs:

Warning Signs

Crutch

In Need of Repair

And then it was time for the Black Keys! My friend told me that it's really just two guys who are "the" Black Keys, and that they had a blues sound. I definitely could hear the blues influence in their music, but their beats were a little too fast for actual blues dancing, which is my jam. In doing some research, I saw that their bassist Richard Swift passed away in 2018, which is sad. I also learned that their duo name comes from a saying a friend of theirs used to use: he would call people he didn't like "D Flats and Black Keys." I knew black keys was in reference to piano keys, but I didn't get why they would pick that name since the two main guys don't play the keyboard. Now it makes sense!

I think the lead singer looks like an older, less attractive Ewan McGregor.

I was taken aback by the lighting/color effects that were used on the monitors: it was like they were trying to hurt your eyes and make the lead singer (Daniel Auerbach) look as bad as possible, all at the same time! Sometimes it felt like you needed 3D glasses, sometimes it was like looking through blinds, and most of the time the effects enhanced the wrinkles on the lead singer's forehead. Just, why? See what I mean:

But other than those visual notes, I did enjoy their show and their energy. Check out some of their videos:

Stay All Night

Weight of Love

Tighten Up (I knew this one!)

Wild Child

Little Black Submarines (This was my favorite song of the night, although I wish the whole song were a ballad!)

Even though I wasn't familiar with most of this music, and it's probably not something I would listen to on my own, I still had a lot of fun. Going to a concert is way better than spending a Monday night at home!

*Apologies for my photos: I was taking pictures of the screens as opposed to the actual bands themselves. But I was thankful that we had seats inside the pavilion instead of on the lawn, because there had been a big thunderstorm before the show!

OneRepublic Concert

 

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This past weekend I went to Jiffy Lube Live for the first time! I had never been to this venue before because I had heard such horror stories of the traffic and parking situation there. But my boyfriend was able to get $20 tickets from Goldstar to see OneRepublic in concert there. I figured I might as well have a fun time with him and then decide for myself if the venue is worth the hassle or not. 

We arrived around 5:30pm so we could tailgate before the show. I think that was smart because we weren't rushing, and it meant getting into the parking lot was a breeze. So that part was easy! Gates opened at 6:00pm, so shortly after we made our way inside. There is quite the staircase to get onto the lawn (which is a little tricky when you're carrying lawn chairs), but the place is huge! I looked up the stats: Jiffy Lube Live can hold more than 25,000, while Merriweather Post Pavilion is closer to 19,000, and little Wolf Trap hovers only around 7,000. So this was quite the lawn!

We had brought our own snacks, so we didn't visit many of the vendors. But it looks like they have a good variety, from basic concert food (i.e. pizza, chicken tenders) to different things like tacos and plant-based burgers. There were also a TON of drink vendors. I liked that several were along the perimeter of the lawn so you didn't have to trek very far to get a drink. As with most venues these days, many of the drinks come in 16-20oz cans, which is a lot (plus your drink gets warm by the time you're getting to the second half of the can). But my boyfriend did buy us fun frozen drinks in plastic guitars!

And I only visited the restroom once early in the night, so I can't speak to how long the line gets for the ladies room. But it looked like there were a lot of stalls, and each had a clever label attached to it so that when you closed the door, it pushed a button and turned red so you knew that stall was in use. I like useful tricks like that! I also appreciated that they had paper towels instead of hand dryers. So much faster and more efficient! Plus I needed to wipe the sweat off of me from being outside in the humidity!

Now to the actual music...

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There were actually TWO openers for the show, so we definitely got our money's worth! The first opener was John K (not to be confused with John Kay). In doing my research for this post, I found out he was on American Idol not once, but twice! He has a very pop-like sound, and a voice kind of like Justin Bieber. I really liked his music! I didn't end up stopping at the merch table, but part of me was tempted to get his CD! Here are a few of his songs:

A LOT

If We Never Met

Cheap Sunglasses

Parachute

Everything

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The next opener was NEEDTOBREATHE. I had never heard of this band before, although I did end up recognizing one of their songs. I liked their southern rock (i.e. country-like and sometimes bluesy) sound. A woman near us was a big fan and told us that the band got their start in Christian rock, so that gave us some context about their music. I almost bought some of their merch, too! Here's a taste of what they do:

Brother (I had heard this song but had no idea who sang it!)

Banks (This song was better live!)

Washed by the Water

Money & Fame

Hard Love

The Outsiders

I Wanna Remember

Image found here

Before the main act came on, both my boyfriend and I got warning notifications on our phones about a possible storm and even flash flooding. Part of me thought we should just leave right then to avoid the bad weather. But then we would have felt silly if it didn't rain, and we would have missed the big band. So we stuck around, but it did end up raining. Luckily we were prepared with umbrellas as well as chairs that kept us off the ground. We still got a little wet, but not nearly as bad as some people! We did get a short break in the rain, and I thought about leaving then, but we had only heard a handful of OneRepublic songs at that point. So we stayed and sat through another bout of rain. But they were worth it!

Before this show, the only song I could associate with OneRepublic was Apologize:

But they have a lot of other hits that I didn't realize were theirs! I had heard some of these songs plenty of times of the radio, but I didn't know who sang them. Now I do!

Counting Stars

Stop and Stare

Secrets

Someday

West Coast

And he wrote the song I Lived for his son, as a message to live every day to the fullest:

And then there were songs I hadn't heard before (I know, I live under a rock) but I did like, like this one:

Lose Somebody

OneRepublic even did a song called I Ain't Worried for the new Top Gun movie:

I also really enjoyed the mini-set (if you will) that Ryan Tedder, the band's lead singer, did in the middle of the show. It sounds like he is a really talented songwriter and has written songs for many other celebrities.* The list is very long, but here are a few he sang that night:

Beyoncé's Halo

Adele's Rumor Has It

Leona Lewis' Bleeding Love

Ellie Goulding's Burn

Maroon 5's Love Somebody (He also helped write these other songs for the group: Lucky Strike, Maps, and New Love)

It really was a great show! We left before the first encore so we could beat the crowds (and get out of the rain). And because of that, it really wasn't difficult to leave the venue, either. I don't know what all the fuss was about! I have missed SO many country music concerts because I was avoiding this location, and for no good reason! I'll definitely need to come back!

*Old Dominion does the same thing at their concerts; some of their band members are amazing songwriters, too! Read my blog post about their concert in 2019 at the Anthem.