So this was the week of concerts. Cody, pictured below, is a percussionist in his middle-school band, and he loves it. He also takes piano lessons and takes electric guitar lessons too.
I took this picture before his first concert, complete with photo-bombs by his friends in band.
Bailey is in the middle-school honors band, and tried out for, and made, both the Sectional Band and Regional Band. He plays trumpet and piano.
So these are the videos of their middle-school band concerts:
First, Cody on snare drum (3 minute video):
Next, Cody on chimes, then on bells (two short songs in one 4 minutes video):
Then, Bailey's honors band, the first piece (3 minutes):
The honors band's second piece ("Greensleeves" a 4:35 video):
The honors band's final piece ("Up on the Rooftop" a 2:35 video):
Then yesterday the Regional Band had a concert. These are some of the finest music students in east Texas. They played four pieces, after meeting for the first time Friday night, getting the music, meeting the directors and practicing for a few hours, they met again yesterday morning and practiced again, then had the concert.
Band is pretty big here in Texas. Note that the venue for this concert - the perfomance space shown in these videos, is one of the local middle-schools. These are the facilities for middle-school students to practice in, and to perform in. We are amazed.
Anyway, here is the first piece from the regional middle-school band (4:50 video):
Here is the second piece (2:50 video):
The third piece (1:36 video):
The fourth ad final piece from yesterday (4:20 video):
That's all for now, except to say that I hope this little musical interlude put you in a "holiday state of mind!"
Merry Christmas from us, down here in Texas!
John P. Needham
December 14, 2014
Spring, TX
Cody and I made chili last weekend. Some folks had asked for the recipe. So here it is:
What you'll need: a large cast iron enameled chili pot, and a son willing to help by watching the pot, and stirring, so you can nap while the chili simmers. I had both those. This recipe is sometimes called Texas Red or just "red" (as in "gimme a bowl of red) since it has a lot of tomato products.
So here we go:
Texas-Style "Texas Red" Chili
5 pounds boneless chuck roast, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (trim off some fat, get rid of that silver-skin)
3 tablespoons chili powder
2 (6-ounce) cans tomato paste
1 (32-ounce) container beef broth
2 (8-ounce) cans diced tomatos with the juice
6 cloves crushed garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1 palmful of dried oregano crunched up in you palm
3 teaspoon ground cumin
3 teaspoon paprika
1 large white, and I large red, onion, finely diced
Two large jalapenos, stemmed, seeded, finely diced
4 ears fresh corn, or two C frozen corn, thawed
1 bunch of scallions, sliced
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Olive oil for browning the meat and vegetables
Dice the beef up into half-inch to one-inch cubes, removing some fat, the really thick, hard parts of fat, and removing that silver skin along the side. Spread the chunks out on two sheet pans. Season liberally with salt and pepper. In batches, brown the meat up in oil, don't overload the pan, get them good and browned on all sides. This part takes the longest time in hands-on work. When each batch is done, remove to a large bowl, drain the fat from the pan as needed and re-oil. You don't want the beef sitting in a lot of fat, just searing over heated oil.
When all the meat is browned, drain the pan again, wipe out with a paper towel if needed, and then re-oil the pan; add the onion and jalapenos, season w/ salt and pepper, and saute the onions/jalapenos in oil.
When the veggies are good and browned 8-10 minutes, add all the spices at once, add the oregano, and stir for about a minute to refresh the dried spices. Then add the garlic and stir in for about 30 seconds. When you smell the garlic, add the tomato paste and stir, combining, and cook for five minutes. Add the canned tomatoes, scrape up the browned bits at the bottom of the pan, and cook away most of the tomato's water.
Then add the beef broth, and add back the beef. Bring to a boil, cover the pot, lower the heat and simmer for two hours.
After two hours, get in there with a potato masher and squeeze the meat down into the bottom and sides of the pot, crushing it to shred it. It should shred really easily; if not, put the top back on and simmer for another half hour, then try again. Once the meat is shredded, let it sit there for a minute, it needs the rest.
And you can slice the corn kernels off the ears of corn onto a clean towel. When the corn is ready, pick up the towel by the ends (or just use the frozen corn) and add the corn to the chili. Turn the heat on low and simmer (covered but with the lid ajar) for another 45 minutes, stirring gently every 15 minutes (but make sure to get the chili at the bottom up to the top, scrape the bottom of the pot, you don't want any tomatoes down there getting scorched).
If at any point you think the dish looks too dry, and not chili-like, you can add water or more broth. I used an extra cup of water when I shredded the beef.
After cooking the corn, you can serve. Ladle the chili into bowls, top with the scallions, with raw onion, with crispy bacon, with whatever you like. I usually add a scoop of sour cream. When you're serving, you can serve with cornbread or breadsticks, even garlic bread. I always add a lager or three...
Enjoy!
John Needham
November 14, 2014
Spring, TX
These are videos from Bailey's Honors Band concert last night. We think Bailey did terrific, the whole band did, really. And I'm particularly fond of his lucky Bacon Socks.
John Needham
October 30, 2014
Spring, TX
John Needham
October 30, 2014
Spring, TX
These are the members of the local school district Honors Band. Bailey is in the back, 2nd from the right. He is 1st Trumpet in the district Honors Band.
John Needham
October 30, 2014
Spring, TX
So we're in Tennessee this week, taking a little family vacation. We're in Memphis today, visiting some familiar haunts for me and Carolyn, but places that are new to Bailey and Cody, since this is their first visit to TN.
Last night we took them to Corky's Memphis BBQ, a place where Carolyn and I have both been to many times. The food was typically great, especially the banana pudding dessert, which the kids loved. They also had a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with their cousin Emily, who just moved to Memphis and starts work this week.
Today we visited the world famous Peabody Hotel downtown for the "Duck March" which was a lot of fun, an event the kids really enjoyed; so did Carolyn and me.
After the Peabody we visited the National Civil Rights Museum, also in downtown Memphis. You just can't imagine.
This was a site I've long wanted to visit. I can remember seeing images in the Chicago Tribune from the days after April 4, 1968, seeing the images from the Lorraine Motel.
This is the image burned into my brain - burned into a lot of brains, let's be honest. I can recall the black and white images of the front of this hotel in the Chicago Tribune, from years ago, when I was still just eight years old.
This is the view of Room 306. See that balcony up there? Just to the right of the door? That's where Martin Luther King spent his last few moments on earth.
At the museum, they've laid gray bricks that show the line of sight, that show where the shot came from, that indicate where the shooter was: in that bathroom, up the hill, with the window slightly open. The shooter was in there, slid his rifle barrel out that window, pulled the trigger and assassinated Dr. King.
It is really pretty intense standaing there. Very moving.
You start your tour here. This is at the entrance to the National Civil Rights Museum. Then you walk through the museum, and see the history of the civil rights in the U.S., from slavery in the 1700s, the commerce of the late 1700s through the 1800s, though the Civil War, the late 1800s and the early part of the last century, and Jim Crow laws, to the upheaval of the 1950s and 1960s in the American south, and then, after all that, when you get to modern times, you exit the museum by walking past Room 306 and that balcony.
It is a very intense, surreal place.
If you ever find yourself in Memphis with a couple of hours to spare, you should visit this site. I am really glad I got to see it. I am particularly pleased that I got to share it with my wife and two sons.
John Needham
June 16, 2014
Memphis, TN
So we're in Tennessee this week, taking a little family vacation. We're in Memphis today, visiting some familiar haunts for me and Carolyn, but places that are new to Bailey and Cody, since this is their first visit to TN.
Last night we took them to Corky's Memphis BBQ, a place where Carolyn and I have both been to many times. The food was typically great, especially the banana pudding dessert, which the kids loves. They also had a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with their cousin Emily, who just moved to Memphis and starts work this week.
Today we visited the world famous Peabody Hotel downtown for the "Duck March" which was a lot of fun, and event the kids really enjoyed; so did Carolyn and me.
After the Peabody we visited the National Civil Rights Museum, also in downtown Memphis. You just can't imagine.
This was a site I've long wanted to visit. I can remember seeing images in the Chicago Tribune from the days after April 4, 1968, seeing the images from the Lorraine Motel.
Lorraine Hotel
Last night we took them to Corky's Memphis BBQ, a place where Carolyn and I have both been to many times. The food was typically great, especially the banana pudding dessert, which the kids loves. They also had a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with their cousin Emily, who just moved to Memphis and starts work this week.
Today we visited the world famous Peabody Hotel downtown for the "Duck March" which was a lot of fun, and event the kids really enjoyed; so did Carolyn and me.
After the Peabody we visited the National Civil Rights Museum, also in downtown Memphis. You just can't imagine.
This was a site I've long wanted to visit. I can remember seeing images in the Chicago Tribune from the days after April 4, 1968, seeing the images from the Lorraine Motel.
Lorraine Hotel
The boys played their spring piano recitals yesterday. The videos are below.
First up was Cody, who played two pieces: Just Struttin' Along and Midnight Blues. This is a 2-minute 48-second video.
Next up was Bailey, who also played two pieces: Suwoofer Lullabt and Slippin' Around. This one is a 6-minute 8-second video. Minecraft players like Bailey will probably enjoy his first piece a lot.
John P. Needham
Aurora, IL
May 4, 2014
6:35AM
First up was Cody, who played two pieces: Just Struttin' Along and Midnight Blues. This is a 2-minute 48-second video.
Next up was Bailey, who also played two pieces: Suwoofer Lullabt and Slippin' Around. This one is a 6-minute 8-second video. Minecraft players like Bailey will probably enjoy his first piece a lot.
John P. Needham
Aurora, IL
May 4, 2014
6:35AM
A couple of trumpet performances by John Bailey this month. Here are the videos.
First, there was his first trumpet recital at PM Music Center in Aurora.
This was, according to his teacher there, a technically challenging piece. We think he did fabulously. (A 4:12 video.)
Yesterday Bailey played a solo piece at his school. He is in 7th grade but plays with the 8th grade band, as he did last year. In this case he was playing for his grade at school. This was his piece. (A 2:04 video.)
John P. Needham
February 23, 2014
Aurora, IL
First, there was his first trumpet recital at PM Music Center in Aurora.
This was, according to his teacher there, a technically challenging piece. We think he did fabulously. (A 4:12 video.)
Yesterday Bailey played a solo piece at his school. He is in 7th grade but plays with the 8th grade band, as he did last year. In this case he was playing for his grade at school. This was his piece. (A 2:04 video.)
John P. Needham
February 23, 2014
Aurora, IL
Thirteen years ago today, Carolyn and I were waiting to go to the hospital the next day to meet this little fella. 24 hours later, he joined us. This was (I think) the first picture we took of our new son, John Bailey Needham.
Here is what he looks like now - this image was taken a few weeks ago, before his winter piano recital.
So tomorrow our little guy - who isn't really all that little any more, to be honest - turns 13 years old. We could not be prouder of him.
Happy Birthday Bailey. It is a blast having you as our son.
John P. Needham
January 11, 2014
7:15PM
Aurora, IL
Yesterday the boys played in their winter piano recital. They have come a long way this year.
Cody played first. "Deck The Halls" was his piece. It was about a two-minute arrangement.
We thought Cody played really well. He admitted beforehand that he gets really nervous in front of audiences, but playing in piano recitals is easier than, say, speaking in public (like at school) since he can look at the sheet music and he doesn't have to look at the audience. An astute observation, that.
Bailey played next. He played "The Fruitcake That Ate New Jersey" which was both seasonal *and* an homage to his mom's home state. Very cute. This piece was a little longer than his brother's, clocking in at about 4.5 minutes.
Well, that's it for today. Happy Sunday!
John P. Needham
Sunday, December 8, 2013
10:45AM
Aurora, IL
We hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful. Ours was.
We always start with a salute to our bird:
The bird was brined for 13 hours in an apple-juice brine, then slathered with butter and hit heavily with pepper. After that, it was into a 500-degree oven for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, we inserted a meat thermometer, covered the breast with a double-layer of heavy-duty tin foil, and put it back into a 350-degree oven. That's also when we add the root veetables to the bottom of the roasting pan: rutabagas, turnips, squash.
While the bird was roasting, we had time to make the side dishes. Cody made the Stuffin' Muffins:
We also had time to cook the turkey's heart, liver, gizzard, and neck bone for the giblet gravy.
When the thermometer in the thickest part of the breast reads 161-degrees, the bird comes out. It has to rest for 45-60 minutes, which gave us plenty of time to finish off all the side dishes.
The dogs were really good all day, I think they were hoping for some turkey too. Their hopes were dashed, alas.
To carve, one should remove the legs and wings, extract both sides of the breast from the back bone in one large peice, and then slice it cross-wise.
And...voila! Turkey, mashed potatoes, Stuffin' Muffins, cranberry sauce, Carolyn's family's stuffing with sausage, roasted root veggies, and maple-glazed carrots. A perfect Thanksgiving feast.
We all hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful too.
John P. Needham
November 28, 2013
10:16PM
Aurora, IL
Happy Halloween. It poured rain today. The kids, and the rest of us, made the best of it.
Cody was Morpheus Man....
Even a dancing Morpheus Man!
Bailey went as The Stay Puff Marshmallow Man....
...and he was a dancing Stay Puff Man too!
They boys' friend James, as a Viking, joined them for Trick or Treating.
So did their friend Hunter, who was a Taco. By the end of the night, he was mostly a soft-shell taco, from all the rain!
Even Rose the Super Hound got into the act.
We hope you all had a great Halloween! We certainly did.
Meanwhile, click here to see images from Halloweens gone by!
John P. Needham
Halloween, October 31, 2013
Aurora, IL
We made these brownies yesterday for a friend's barbecue, and we were asked for the recipe from several people. Here is is!
Techniques: make the brownie base a day before, so they have time to cool completely and set up properly. We let the brownies come to room temp and then chill them in the refridgerator. Before you ice them, take them out and let them sit, covered, at room temp for a couple of hours. This will be the end result:
And a close-up:
Okay, start by making this recipe a day ahead, with a few tweaks:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/saras-secrets/bittersweet-beachside-brownies-recipe/index.html
Out tweaks: When making that recipe, we always add 2T extra flour. It makes the brownies a little "cake-ier" but they hold togeter better when slicing. Also, after you've melted the chocolate and butter mixture, when you remove it from the heat to cool. stir in 1t cayenne pepper. Doing that at this point gives the cayenne time to bloom a little in the warm chocolate. Also, just on principle, we always double the amount of baking soda so the brownies puff-up more. Don't worry, they settle back down when they're cooling.
So, make those brownies, let them cool and set up overnight, then proceed.
The next day: Make a milk chocolate ganache: simply melt 1 bag of high-qality milk chocolate chips plus 3T heavy cream in a bowl over a small pot of simmering water (double-boiler). If the chocolate looks like it needs it, add a little more cream. The gamache should be fully melted, shiny and glossy when it is ready. Let the ganache cool slightly, maybe a half-hour to an hour. Before piping on the ganache, whip it up with a hand-mixer. It will lighten in color and become pipe-able when you do this.
Slice the brownies into thin little "fingers" and place them on a cutting board. Pipe the gamache into the brownies in a thin strip. When they're all iced, sprinkle them with sea salt flakes. Then chill to set the ganache.
The brownies have a lot of flavor: sweet, savory, salty, heat. We call it umami. These brownies have all that in spades!
Make 'em. Enjoy.
John Needham
September 22, 2013
Aurora, IL
We made this today for the Bears game. Chicago Bears footbal often means the start of fall cooking, and that means stews and other long-cooking dishes. And it means chili.
We had some requests for the recipe, so here's how we did it.
This version was smoked chicken chili. So yesterday we smoked some chicken thighs, sprinkled with dry rub, for about two hours on the smoker. But this would work just as well with roasted chicken too: just rub the thighs with olive oil, salt and pepper on both sides and roast for an hour at 350.
10 chicken thighs, cooked, skin removed after, deboned, meat chunked up
2 medium yellow onions, finely diced
1 large (or two medium) red peppers, finely diced
1 jalapeno, finely diced
5-6 cloves garlic, finely diced
3-4 tsp cumin
1-2 tsp cayenne
5 ears of corn, cooked (we wrap in foil and grill high for 30 minutes)
(slice the kernels off the corn cobs; press out the liquid and save)
2 15oz cans diced tomatoes (with the juice)
5-6 C chicken stock (low sodium)
2 bunches scallions, bottoms removed, just the white and light green parts, sliced
2-3 chipotle chiles in adobo, plus 3T adobo sauce
A big handful of parsley (since we hate cilantro, but if you like it, use that instead)
Saute the onion, pepper and jalapeno in 2T oil until well wilted, maybe 10 minutes. Season pretty heavily here with salt and pepper. Except for the cumin, we won't be reasoning until the end. When most of the liquid is gone, sprinkle on the cumin and mix for about 60 seconds, then add the garlic and mix for another 60 seconds. Add the chipotles and adobo sauce and simmer until the liquid evaporates. Add both cans of tomatoes and mix, then simmer until most of the liquid is again evaporated.
Add one cup of stock and scrape up the browned bits with a wooden spoon. Then add the rest of the stock. Simmer for 30 minutes. Then add the cooked corn that had been cut from the cob.
While all that is happening, you can cook the chicken thighs. They should be bone-in, skin on. Once cooked, let them cool, remove the skins, debone them and chunk up the meat. Add the chicken to the chili base. Add the scallions at this point. Chop up a big handful of parsley and add that. Stir. Taste. Re-season w/ salt and pepper.
We added homemade corn tortilla chips: take a bunch of corn tortillas, stack them up, then cut them in half (across) then cut each half into three pieces. (Six chips per tortilla.) Add oil to a skillet and heat. Fry the chips in batches, until they are crisp, seasoning each batch when it comes out, while it drains on paper towels. Use more seasoning that you think you should for the first batch, and adjust accordingly in subsequent batches. If you do this, you might never buy tortilla chips at the store again. Trust me on that.
Enjoy!
John P. Needham
September 8, 2013
3:30 p.m. CST
I played at my home course Saturday morning. Orchard Valley in Aurora, IL. http://www.orchardvalleygolf.com This was a farewell to golf for August, 2013.
We kicked in September golf the following day. Sunday afternoon I went back with one of my favorite playing partners, 11YO Cody.
We played the front nine as a scramble, just the two of us. Here is Cody standing over our only birdie putt of the day. He missed it, alas, and then putted my ball and missed that too. We got a par on this hole, though.
Cody driving on the par-4 6th hole that we parred.
Cody standing on the 8th tee, a long par 5 with an elevated green at the end.
That's it for now.
John Needham
Aurora, IL
September 2, 2013
Today is the first day of school in Aurora. This means Bailey and Cody are heading back to the classroom. It also means that they are back in the same school again, after a year where Bay was in middle-school and Cody was still in primary school.
We're happy to have them back in the same school, an on the same schedule, even though Cody is not the early-riser that Bailey has always been. This will likely be a challenge for Cody in coming days and weeks.
Cody has some trepidation about middle-school, though the rest of us are quite sure he'll do just fine. He is not as big a fan of change as we are.
I think it helps that Cody's older brother will be in school with him, and he'll also have tons of friends from his primay school with him too.
We're super-proud of *both* boys and I was happy to be able to work from home today to walk them both to the bus stop. Now I can't wait until they get home so we can get a full report on their first day!
John Needham
August 19, 2013
Aurora, IL
...has balls!
ha
But seriously, the four of us went galfing this past Sunday. We played from the forward tees, as a four-person scramble. We had a blast.
Earlier that day I played the same course, our local public course, Orchard Valley in Aurora.
I started on the back 9 around 550AM. This is the signature par-3 12th hole.
As you can see, I had a birdie putt on this 12th hole. I made par.
The approch to #13, a par-4. You have to lay up to here, then you have about 220 yards, over water. Alas, I hit into the pond and had to take a drop.
This is the look back up #13 from behind the green.
Here is the par-5 16th. Hit your drive left, over water, and then it is a 90-degree dogleg right to the green. I left my drive too far right, wound up in the water and had to take a drop.
The par-3 17th. I got a par here.
I had a birdie chip, missed, and tapped in for par.
I played the front-9 after I finished the back-9. This is the par-4 3rd gole, drive over water.
This is the par-4 9th, a monster hole, straight, no water, but LONG. 470 yards. I got a bogey here and considered myself lucky.
So that was my Sunday: 18 holes, alone, in the AM. Nine holes with my family in the evening. Lawn mowing and pool-hanging in between. It was a great Sunday.
John P. Needham
Tuesday, July 16, 2014
Aurora, IL