I’m just back from a very fast weekend in Brooklyn, NY. The John Wesley Harding concert was ace and once again I stood front row, right under his microphone. I’m getting spoiled having such great spots at the last few concerts I have attended.

I’ll have some JWH photos up to share soon.

I had seen this photo on the web and thought it was a joke. Not so. There really are these signs up as you drive out of Brooklyn to the various boroughs. Cracked me up.

The NYC area traffic was INSANE. I grew up there, so am no stranger to that kind of madness, but this was way worse than when I lived there. Dearest husband and I had some tense moments as we tried to navigate our way around without a map. Fortunately, we like each other enough that we can shake it off when destination is met.

Still, I thought of this cartoon on more than one occasion.

After a long, chaotic, white knuckle drive you want something simple to cook that tastes utterly wonderful.

Like this Lemony Kale Pasta.

Think you don’t like Kale?

Fuggedaboutit.

I’m always fascinated how kale is transformed into a delectable vegetable when oil is rubbed into it. It has almost no resemblance to its raw taste.

I loved the garlic, cheese and lemon flavors. Very vibrant and very good.

Lemony Kale Pasta

Ingredients for the dressing:

2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp kosher salt, divided
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
5 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 2 lemons
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Ingredients for the pasta:

1 lb pasta, such as penne or rigatoni
1 large bunch kale, rinsed and dried, stems removed
Lemon slices, for garnish
Additional Parmesan, for serving

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to the package directions.

2. Meanwhile, make the dressing. Mince the garlic cloves. Sprinkle the minced garlic with ¼ teaspoon of the kosher salt and mix well in a small bowl. Add in the Parmesan, olive oil, lemon juice, red pepper flakes and black pepper. Whisk together until well combined.

3. Chop the kale, transfer to a large bowl and add dressing to coat well.

4. Drain cooked pasta. Toss with the kale and dressing. Serve with sliced lemon and additional Parmesan if desired.

Recipe from Annie’s Eats

Edinburgh’s Rob St John is currently one of my favorite singers. I love how stripped down his music feels, yet how richly the songs come across.

Here is background on the song Sargasso Sea in Rob St John’s words:

“I’ve a reputation amongst collaborators and co-conspirators in Edinburgh for wrecking guitars with obtuse tunings. This is perhaps the worst offender. Bloody tricky to pull off live, it’s played in a guitar down-tuned to Sunn O))) proportions and capo-ed high up the neck. For non-guitarists (like me), this is a recipe for reluctant guitars straining themselves out of tune. I’m really pleased with the cracked choral harmonies of Brendon Massai, Neil Pennycook and Tom Western sailing high over the chorus. This song was written after reading descriptions of flying sun-blind over the light-flared ocean in the 1931 novel Night Flight by French aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The Sargasso Sea is a still, eerie region of the Western Atlantic Ocean, a dead eddy held by curling oceanic currents. A song of frustration and (possible) redemption.”
Rob St John-Sargasso Sea

You can read the rest of Rob St John’s track by track guide to his new album ‘Weald’ here.

Rob St John did a Song, By Toad Session which you can listen to here. Buy his music here.

Cheers!