Ma Jour en Fromage

Dearest readers, there is no subtext to read into my shamefully long silence--other than the fact of absurd mismanagement of time and genuine busy-ness. And with what, you may very well ask, am I so damned busy?

well. I made lasagna last week with five kinds of cheese. Much more on that in a moment...


We are in fact making great strides with the new CD journey--"THE JUGGLER'S PROGRESS" and it's quite exciting. To us. It features performances which we in the TRUE MARGRIT trio are very proud of. AND! we have some superlative guests who joined us on SEAWORTHY back for a second helping of rock (plus some new faces). Who exactly? Well! We have the great fortune to be once again recording tracks with Pamela Delgado who is singing up a storm on even more tunes this time, and she is sounding AMAZING!!! (She can also be heard in BLAME SALLY) Speaking of Blame Sally-- their magnifique guitarist, Jeri Jones is also back, gracing the album with her spectacular electric guitar! Also! The uber-talentedKAT DOWNS has been in the studio with us singing some gorgeous vocals. As on SEAWORTHY, we are psyched to have a couple of songs again with our double reed hero, Ned Howey on bassoon... and..we are proud to offer some tracks with sax superstar Symon Michael. YES! And finally, one of our newcomer guests is Louis Stephenson on backing vocals crooning some supersweet tenor harmonies. + more more more...

So, I love to share meals with these fab players before and/ or after our sessions if possible, cuz the only thing as good as playing music is eating.. and of course --well you know. Sometimes we go out for a bite, but I prefer to make a homecooked meal. Last week I was expecting Pam for a session, so I whipped up some lasagna--but the whipping up became protracted for some reason. Maybe it was the extra sauce? Or the five cheeses I picked out at Rainbow Grocery?

Anyway, I made a romesco sauce for one of the layers (roasted red bell pepper, roasted garlic, and nuts--walnuts & hazelnuts in this case-- which are spun in a blender / food processor), then I made a marinara sauce w/ lotsa garlic & mushrooms & eggplants & zuchinnis. As this was getting time consuming, I popped in the DVD of "La Vie En Rose" to watch whilst grating the various cheeses and constructing the many-layered marvel. Also, I wanted to experience the Oscar-winning lead-actress, Marion Cotillard as Edith Piaf. I confess: I have never really loved Piaf's music,,, it's always seemed counter to my taste for more raw genres of music --or, well, I found her songs to have a certain elusive element that hinted at cheese. But I was pleasantly surprised-- I think I get it now. Ah, bien sur, the basic shmalzty fromage flavor of Piaf's classic repertoire is how I remember it, with melodramatic accordion and swelling strings...and yet.., her gritty-sweet-tragi-comic heroine/heroin persona, and perilous life and times were edgy indeed-- & she played every gig with utmost integrity. She rocked. Hard.. Nevermore will I dismiss the Little Sparrow. Maybe that ephemeral cheese is the very thing that shows us where the real flavors are found...?

And the two-sauce five-cheese lasagna rocked. Some people eschew dairy products, I say, life is short & cheese is delicious.