Beatles-Freak's Reviews

This is a guest review by Beatles expert and author – Jude Southerland Kessler:

Recipe Records

A book about Music ‘N Food

“We Go Together like….”

Now that you’re singing “ram-a-lama-lama, ka dinga ka dinga dong,” and are in a groov-a-licious mood, let me tell you about Lanea Stagg and Maggie McHugh’s music-and-recipe book, Recipe Records.

It’s not just a recipe book. It’s not just a book about great music to appreciate, and enjoy.

It’s a book about Food-and-Music Events or “happenings” that you can stage in your own home!

What Stagg and McHugh really do is give you ideas for throwing intimate, fun, “cooking parties,” complete with theme songs to listen to as you chop, sauté, grill, or slurp up the delicious results. They supply the recipes and the “Suggested Song List” (as opposed a Suggested Wine List), and they encourage you to get you naturally high.

Let me give you an example. On page 84, Lanea and Maggie offer readers a GREAT recipe cleverly entitled, “Oye Como Veal.”   It’s a superb creation of veal cutlets topped with mushrooms, shallots and artichoke hearts.  But that’s not all. They give you a “Suggested Song List” to play as you prepare this feast, including hits such as “Heading for the Light” by Traveling Wilburys (yeah, George!), “Born the be Wild” by Steppenwolf, “Ballroom Blitz” by Sweet, “Take the Money and Run” by Steve Miller Band, and four or five other rockers, including of course, the Santana theme song in the recipe title. If you follow their complete recipe, including the music, you’ll dance away your calories before you ever sit down to dinner. Cooking will become unbelievably fun!

Here are the things I loved about this very cool book:

1)      I discovered brand new groups and solo musicians. Look, I’m a John girl. So I’m limited in my musical experience. If it’s not John Lennon in some form or another, I might not have heard it. Lanea and Maggie, however, introduced me to Chickenfoot, The Black Keys , Jonny Lang, and Cross Canadian Ragweed (really?).

 You might do what I did. I put a star by each song I’d never heard, and now I’m working my way through that list, discovering a whole new world of music and perspective. Thanks to Lanea and Maggie, I’m growing. (I still like John best. Don’t tell.)

2)      I learned the “back stories” of many favorite songs, like “Garden Party.” Great vignettes!

3)      I re-encountered recipes from the 60’s and 70’s that I had forgotten about. Remember the things your mom used to bake for the holidays? Well, they’re all in here.  Sunday Ham with Cherries and Pineapples. Chuck Roast with Mushroom Soup and Sherry. All the old standards are housed in one collection. Honey Pie!

4)      I was given a chance to laugh (don’t we all need that?) at their clever recipe titles: “Then He Quiched Me,” “Girls Just Wanna Have Rum,” and “Love Me Tenders.” And I got to shake my head and roll my eyes at the cornier ones: “Wrapped Around Your Chicken Breast” and “Paradise by the Meatloves.”

5)      I was entertained with never-before-told stories about Elvis, Neil Diamond, Jakob Dylan, and Zack de la Rocha. (Yes, NOW I know who he is!) Some of the stories were funny. Others, heart-touching. All were well worth reading. I would buy the book for these stories alone.

Finally – and surely most importantly – “My Boys” were well-represented in the recipe list and the play list. Some of my fav recipes include: “Helter Skelter Skillet,” “I Am the Eggs, Man!” and “Mean Mr. Mustard-Butter.”

When Lanea and Mags (as Lanea fondly refers to her) give readers a “Suggested Movie List,”  I was happy to see “A Hard Day’s Night” on it. And when they included a segment entitled, “Everything I Need to Know, I Learned From the Beatles,” I was hooked. Big time.

Let me add with great joy that BOTH Pete Best and Ringo are listed on Lanea and Maggie’s roster of “The World’s Greatest Drummers.”  And The Beatles’ songs even show up on the page of most frequently committed Mondegreens at the very end of RECIPE RECORDS. What’s a mondegreen, you arsk? Well, buy the booke and find out, son!

This book isn’t one that you’ll put on a shelf. You’ll read every word. You’ll make grocery lists, shop,  and cook with it. You’ll discover new horizons in music with it.  And, if you step up to the challenge, you’ll use it as a guidebook to becoming a cooler, savvier, and better person.

RECIPE RECORDS isn’t about food, entirely. It isn’t about music, entirely. It’s about life…and living life with gusto. That’s what Lanea and Maggie are trying to say. “Life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans.” What a genius concept! I wonder who said that?

Go forth and purchase this book at http://www.reciperecords.webs.com

It’s 19.95 and well worth it.

Jude