happy birthday to us! oh, and new year to you.

tomorrow is the first day of 2011, and burning down the house’s first birthday. if that’s not cause for a jpeg of neon-colored candles, i don’t know what is. i started this blog mostly because i finally moved to brooklyn and consequently, finally had a kitchen in which to explore my foodieness. the whole music obsession thing had been already going on for about 20+ years so that aspect was obvious.

as 2010 went on, i got too busy for my britches and sadly, BDTH suffered. but i’ve got a plan in 2011: new recipes every monday, food and music spotlights on wednesdays, and a weekly roundup on fridays. i’m pretty damn excited. in the meantime, i’ll give in to the year-end mush and share my BDTH highlights of the year…

food: winning 3rd place in the brooklyn edition of the food experiment this fall, and seeing wylie dufresne nod in approval after trying my beet bread pudding dish. the win was sweeter because of help from the inspirational and all-around awesome friend danielle gould there, co-creator of food + tech connect–the flourish of which was another major highlight of the year for me to watch. girl’s going places… if you aren’t already following her, you should start doing that like now.

music: helping dissolve the myth that classical music is dead, or more accurately, stale, by exposing more people to groundbreaking works such as those on indie-classical label new amsterdam records was a major highlight. this is a goal i’ve been working toward since i was just starting on cello and heard smashing pumpkins’ “disarm” or saw nirvana rocking with my instrument of choice during their mtv unplugged concert (after which all of my time was instantly devoted to practicing back up on “man who sold the world”).

it was the first time i heard my old instrument used for something other than mozart, and i suddenly realized that the music in my walkman (yeah, 90s!) was just what i knew as “classical music” evolved and in different forms. an obvious connection, but an important one that created a transparency of “genre” labels and helped me become the curious music listener i am excited to be today.

health & fitness: i took time to understand food’s power as with my first recipe for chicken noodle soup, but want this to be a bigger part of BDTH in 2011. my ’10 highlights were qualifying for the 2011 nyc marathon (my first, yikes!) and making a bicycle my primary form of transportation. as such, i need more fuel and energy than ever and hope to share the healthful info and tips i learn on here in case you’re battling the same kind of splenda demons as i am.

finally, i want to say thanks to you my reader, or accidental discoverer of this site via google, for stopping by and giving it an eye. drop a note anytime, especially if it’s with a link to something funny involving kittens. have fun this weekend and i’ll be here with a new recipe on monday!  xjill

the joy of butter.

i love french cuisine, so it was a little painful to be ballin’ on  a backpacker budget when i traveled there last month. fortunately, some of the best foods in france–baguettes, fromage de chevre and pain aux raisins (and pralines…and pistaches…)–are cheap, and i got great restaurant tips from kind locals along the way. but for one day i ate like a queen during a beautiful day of market shopping, learning, cooking, and eating (of course!) during chef paule caillat’s promenades gourmandes cooking class, a surprise farewell gift from contender for best boss ever, nick at 7-10.

the charismatic chef paule sparkled as she shared her knowledge, wit and passion with us from why stohrer patissier trateur was better than the rest to how using the right high-quality ingredients takes a meal from great to unforgettable. the day of learning about french culture and cooking (and how they’re one in the same!) was exactly why i wanted to go to france, and lucky for anyone in NYC, chef paule is hosting workshops at NYC’s culinary loft on dec. 16th & 17th! check them out if you can, or if you’ve been looking for an excuse to get away click HERE to take a virtual tour of her stunning paris kitchen (you might want to hide your credit card if not, though). and now for the food porn…

grenadins aux herbes in bechamel sauce with encrasee de potimarron aux herbes

this tarte au chocolat haunts my dreams, and the pears are dusted with pink peppercorns!

asphalt orchestra @ lincoln center.

saturday – despite a cold that made me to stay in bed curled up next to my AC all day – i caught one of asphalt orchestra‘s five (!) free performances as part of the lincoln center out of doors festival. they played magnetic works by david byrne + st. vincent, yoko ono, bjork, and my favorite frank zappa song, “zombie woof”. set list below and their self-titled debut album is out now on bang on a can’s stellar cantaloupe records for only $6.93 HERE.

“can you turn that down, please?”

or, i love wolf parade and i especially love them loud.

tuesday night, i was finally face-to-face(ish) with the canadian quartet again to hear new songs from their brilliantly chaotic, danceable album Expo 86 (and yes, i totally pre-ordered the vinyl on Insound.com to get the crappy but adorable promotional poster). as always, wolf parade delivered a high-energy, consuming show despite being in a massive space like terminal 5, so much so that fans near the front even attempted some short-lived crowd surfing. but instead of reviewing the show or new album, i would just like to gush for a bit about the fun of fandom.

i first discovered wolf parade my first week at my first job in 2005, when i was assigned the task of going through a massive bag of promo albums my pr company had been sent to check out and consider as clients. i listened to the ep first and was captivated; the frenetic “disco sheets” made me elated, the maudlin ”lousy pictures” crushed me to pieces. to this day, i remain sideswiped by these two tracks in particular and hope until the very end of each show to hear them live.

also in this bag was Apologies to the Queen Mary, which i have probably listened to at least once a week for the past 5 years. from the spastic energy on”fancy claps” to heart-rending ”grounds for divorce” and, of course, “i’ll believe in anything,” i quickly fell in love. if i fall for a band i fall hard, but unfortunately most of the bands i’ve fallen for throughout the years are no longer active (talking heads) or it’s near impossible to click “purchase ticket” fast enough to see them live (radiohead). so, loving WP has allowed me to feel like the rapturous music fan i never get to be and i am beyond grateful for that feeling — no matter how much it costs me in merch, ticket fees, and travel costs to see them as many times as possible.

enjoy…

“the little death: vol. 1″

i am very excited to help out with my first opera this week. however, i am guessing this will be my last that is categorized as a “post-christian nihilist pop” opera!

details below and check out the duo behind the work’s seductive preview performance for “live at TONY HERE.

Matt Marks’ Opera The Little Death: Vol. 1

July 8-17th, 2010. 8PM.

@ Incubator Arts Project at St. Mark’s Church  (131 East 10th Street)

Ticketing info: General $18/Student $14.

http://incubatorarts.org

In Little Death, NYC-based composer/performer Matt Marks tells the tale of two lovesick Christian teenagers, Boy (performed by Marks) and Girl (performed by versatile vocalist Mellissa Hughes), to a magnetic mix of 1970s gospel, frenetic electro-pop, and classic hip-hop beat. As the two characters explore their Fundamentalist Evangelism in an attempt to keep their relationship pure in the eyes of the Lord, a tale unfolds that is both inviting and unsettling to a score of hypnotic lyrics, catchy hooks and bouncy breakbeats. Marks is a founding member of Alarm Will Sound and known for his recent performance and arrangement of the Dirty Projectors’ live realization of The Getty Address. It will be directed by Rafael Gallegos.

i got my wolf parade tickets, did you?

Watch: New Wolf Parade Song Live

now off to celebrate with food (cake pops!) from hundreds of local vendors at the greenpoint food market.