Merry Christmas Shortbread Cookies

It's that time, again....a post from last year -- and the year before -- but cookie recipes are ageless. AIn't life grand?

I make about 70 pounds of this shortbread dough in December -- we give away most of the cookies - to customers, friends, roving bands of neighborhood teens. It's my favorite holiday recipe because it's SO simple and still so amazingly good.

You can roll the dough out, cut out fancy shapes. You can decorate them or drizzle them with melted chocolate. But I prefer them plain, naked -- pure, simple perfection.

I started with a recipe from Jeremiah Tower -- but I added vanilla to it and played with the baking time, so I consider it mine, now.

Feel free to consider it yours:

Christmas Shortbread Cookies

1 pound butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 cups flour


Cream butter, sugar and vanilla. Mix in flour. Form dough into logs and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least one hour. (Logs can be frozen.) Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Slice dough and place slices on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for thirty minutes.

The cookies should be pale, not browned - take them out just as soon as the tops are dry. They will be delicate and oh-so-wonderful.

Enjoy!

NOT a Christmas Letter

I completely flaked out in 2010 (and still feel guilty about it)  but this year I managed to put  together a Friedman Family video Christmas Card for 2011.

It comes with wishes of joy for your Holiday Season and all throughout the New Year.



or click here to go to youtube

51 Days

It's true. Christmas is just 51 frantic fun-filled days away. If you're thinking lists, gifts and oh-my-where-did-the-year-go? Don't worry, because local artists are here to help get you through this Christmas season.

This Saturday, you'll find 40 local artists and crafters at ARTsMART at The Mt. Shasta Mall from 10 - 9. Come out and enjoy art displays, demonstrations, musical entertainment and craft booths. The kids can work on fun projects, and you can peruse the art displays and find unique local gifts for everyone on your list.

Still Married will play original tunes in the Food Court from 11 until noon, and we'll have some CDs to give away. We'd love to see you there.

Simon's Still Amazing After All These Years

Celebrating the brilliant Paul Simon on his 70th birthday. This is my favorite version of my favorite Paul Simon tune: Kathy's Song, performed by Eva Cassidy.

Enjoy:

Celebrating Redding's Sundial Bridge

I'm thrilled that Forbes Magazine has named the Sundial Bridge "One of the World's Most Incredible Bridges." Of course, I always knew it was special, and I've been inspired time and again by its beauty.

In celebration, we are giving away free downloads of our song, Under the Sundial Bridge on our website. Click here.

We're looking forward to sharing that tune and others on Thursday evening, from 5-7, at Redding City Hall at the Fall Art Reception. We'll be alternating sets with talented folk-rocker Nick Ciampi.

And because "Forever begins with a kiss under the Sundial Bridge," we'll be giving away kisses. Please stop by.

Be There: Art and Music this Week

Come out for the opening of abstract artist Lita Couhart's show on Wednesday evening, 5 - 7, at the Bohemian Art Loft. Her work is colorful and exciting and she uses textures and shapes in wonderfully imaginative ways. Lita is celebrating her first solo show here in Redding - come out and enjoy music and refreshments and meet the delightful Lita.

Aug 3rd, 5-7

Bohemian Art Loft

3304B Bechelli Lane

Redding

229-7818

Saturday evening, cool off with a drive up to Gray Pine Farm for dinner and some incredible Bluegrass/Americana music. Shasta County native Rita Hosking will be there with her band, Cousin Jack. Sharing the bill is North Carolina band Dehlia Low.

Rita charms audiences every time she comes to town. Her voice is magical and her songwriting is always poignant and poetic. Her Shasta County roots run deep, and her story songs are vivid and brilliantly crafted. Winner of the Dave Carter Memorial Songwriting Contest, Rita's toured in Europe and recently finished recording her fifth CD.

Here's one of my favorites:

Craig and I are looking forward to some amazing musicianship and great harmonies from Dehlia Low. We caught them on TV a while back and were impressed with their soulful bluegrass-country tunes.

Cool mountain breeze, cool mountain music -- should be a perfect evening out at Gray Pine Farm.

Tickets are available at Bernie's Guitar

3086 Bechelli Lane, Redding, CA

(530) 223-2040

or the Oak Run Country Store

(accepts cash or checks only)

(530) 472-1029

*subject to availability

Raise the Roof

Out little town of Cottonwood is pulling together this weekend. The mission? Raise $14,000 to fix the weather-damaged roof on the Community Center. The building is dear to my heart -- it's where my kids first learned to dance - and they ALL live to dance now.

Cottonwood is dear to my heart because we fell in love with this place - the old-west landscape, the generous people and the can-do spirit -- when we moved here thirteen years ago.

The event gets underway on Friday at 1 PM, when Shasta County Supervisor Les Baugh and Cottonwood Mayor Mary O'Keeffe begin a 24-hour stint on the Community Center roof. Trip-tip barbecue starts at 5 -- $15 for adults, $5 for kids.

Craig and I - Still Married - will play original Shasta County tunes from 5:30 - 6.

Other entertainment will be provided by Ronnie Brackett, Donna White-Frampton and Richard Horner. The evenings' activities include a live auction, silent auction and raffle. The festivities continue on Saturday with a pancake breakfast and Kids Fun Day including free hot dogs for the first 200 kids, compliments of Wallner Plumbing.

If you can't make it and would like to help out, our little town would sincerely appreciate your donation. Checks can be mailed to:

Cottonwood Community Center

PO Box 1909

Cottonwood, CA 96022

Exceptional Coffee and Original Tunes

My word for 2011 is "FORGE" (see New Year's blog post) and when I picked that word, I made a few promises to myself. One thing I vowed to do was participate in more Open Mic events. Sharing songs in a casual setting is perfect for networking, trying out new material, and honing skills that can ONLY be developed in front of an audience.

So -- how perfect is this? My buddy Nick Ciampi has organized a Songwriters Open Mic at Barista's Coffee ROASTING. Roast....Forge. Can you see how I might take that as an omen?

Nick is hoping the event will become a Thursday evening tradition at Barista's.

If you're a fan of original music, come on out on June 23rd. If you're a songwriter, please join us and share what you're working on. Sing a little bit and enjoy a cup of exceptional specialty coffee.

Songwriters Open Mic

June 23, 6-8 PM

at Barista's Coffee Roasting

1007 Dana Dr

Redding

530-221-7070

Presented by the North State Songwriters Group. If you'd like info on the North State Songwriters, please email me.

Shasta County Folk Song Honored

We're very excited that our song The Hour of the Outlaw received an Honorable Mention in the Folk category of the West Coast Songwriters International Song Contest.

I wrote the song in response to a challenge on the Songwriting Scene blog: "Write a song based on a book title." I had read Maiya Williams' time-travel novel, The Hour of the Outlaw, to my kids a few years before and thought the title had a nice musical lilt to it. For the song's story, I found inspiration in a local historical event -- the Ruggles Brothers legend, with its bad boys, sunken treasure and lynch mob.

As a songwriter, I like to take the truth and make it better, so I whipped out my Poetic License and embellished the tale, creating a Shasta County folk song with a supernatural twist.

The song is on our latest CD, Storms and Other Blessed Burdens.

The Hour of the Outlaw
words and music © 2010 Erin Friedman

He checked his pocket watch and he pulled his hat down low
Crouched in shadowed canyon beside the stagecoach road
Stood ready with his shotgun and when the stage arrived
Shot the guard and stole the gold and proved his daddy right

The Hour of the Outlaw
Seconds beat like a drum
The Hour of the Outlaw
The countdown has begun

His daddy was a scoundrel, a gambler and a thief
Took a bullet in his back for the aces up his sleeve
Before he died he said, "Son, outlaw blood runs through your veins
And all I got to leave you is this pocket watch and chain"

The Outlaw of the stagecoach trail could not out run his fate
Time had come for justice and justice would not wait
An angry mob rode out to Whiskey Creek and tracked him down
Left him swinging like a pendulum from the highest tree in town

The treasure still lies buried on the banks of Whiskey Creek
Many men have searched and failed - fortunately
But when the time is right, some unsuspecting soul
Will dig up a cursed pocket watch and strongbox full of gold

70 Candles: Blowin' in the Wind

Bob Dylan celebrates his 70th birthday this Tuesday, so singer-songwriter (and devoted Dylan fan) Nick Ciampi has organized a party.

May 24th, 5:30 PM

Ultimate Pizza

1730 Pleasant Street

Redding, CA 96001

241-8646

"Dylan is a legend and still doing it," says Nick, when asked why he's putting together this musical tribute. "I wonder how many of us would be writing songs if he didn't start that bug in so many of us so long ago?"

Nick has invited area musicians to come out and join in the celebration. It will be "a night for people to get together and play and have fun," Nick says.

I'm planning to be there - I'll sing one of my favorite Dylan tunes, One Too Many Mornings.I first heard to the song on a Bobby Sherman album back in the late 60s. Yes - EVERYONE does Dylan.

Nick promises "a lot of great songs done in a lot of different ways."

So what's Nick Ciampi's favorite Dylan tune? "So many songs to choose from," he says, "I could write a book on my favorites." But he's especially fond of "Blind Willie McTell," a ballad he calls honest and real.

Come help celebrate an American Icon on Tuesday night. You're welcome to sing, if you'd like, sing along, or just enjoy the great pizza and the camaraderie of fellow music fans.

Here's The Kingston Trio's version of One Too Many Mornings:

A Saul T. Show this Thursday

He's a mix of Jack Johnson and John Lennon with a dash of Ralph Stanley and he's coming to town on Thursday. You can catch Saul T. 's acoustic folk show at The Bohemian Art Loft - doors open at 8.

The Bohemian Art Loft

3048 Bechelli Ln, Redding

Check out his tunes here and enjoy the intimate venue Thursday night:

Saul T. on Reverbnation

Jewish Carpenter Tackles Coop

Several years ago when we had baby chicks, we cobbled together some plywood bins and called it a chicken house. Amazingly, the chickens thrived - produced many years of eggs, though their offerings were not always easy to find.

We are older and wiser, now, and one of us has obsessive-compulsive tendencies when it comes to building projects. Craig decided that this time he'd build a perfect chicken house, right of Better Coops and Gardens. He spent hours researching chicken requirements, calculating, measuring and planning. He built a Chicken Taj Majal for our girls.





Laying boxes - with a drop down door for easy access.



Roosting bars.









Now you would think these birds would be grateful - happy to nestle into their safe (expensive) plywood haven in the evening. No. Chickens don't do grateful, but they do aggravating very well. They huddle on the ground, under the ramp in the evening chill and we have to go out at dusk and gather them up one at a time and force them into their house.

Not the brightest of breeds, our Buff Orpingtons and Black Australorps will find their own way into their coop at night or they will end up a tasty, not-quite-kosher midnight snack for our neighborhood owls.

Of course, our two old, retired chickens still prefer to free-range. They spend their days messing on my patio and their nights huddled in a jasmine bush. On occasion, they enjoy making a political statement.

Here's Killer, doing her take on "A Chicken in Every Pot:"

St. Patrick's Day Giveaway

According to family legend, my great-great grandfather, George Convy, brought a piece of sod from the homeland when he emigrated from Ireland in 1866. Now and then, when he was feeling particularly homesick, he would take it out and have a good cry.

The Irish, who fled their country by the thousands, did not have a word for "emigrate" -- instead, they used the word for "exile," which struck me as sad and poignant. In this song, The Turf o' Tullamore, I pay tribute to my Irish ancestors, who came from Tullamore, Ireland, to make a new life in St Louis, MO, -- and who occasionally grieved for their homeland.

In celebration of St. Patrick's Day, t

he song is available as a free download on our website, . Click here: Free Download Turf o' Tullamore

The Turf o' Tullamore

words and music © Erin Coombs Friedman


Into the West – land of the free
In freedom will I e’er a stranger be
So up the stairs I climb
Open up the trunk and find
The piece of home I carried ‘cross the sea

chorus:

Weeping o’er The Turf o’ Tullamore
Exiles both – the Irish sod and I
The Turf o’ Tullamore
Will know my bones forevermore
Sweeten my grave when I
Lay down to die


For my sons, I made a pledge
They’ll not beg the Crown for daily bread
There’s days I understand
The promise in this promised land
And days I fill my glass with my regrets

chorus

When I take my final rest
Lay the Turf o’ Tullamore upon my breast
And it’s sweet - the dream I’ll dream
Home to Erin’s fields of green
By the Shannon’s holy waters, I’ll be blessed

chorus

Youtube Link Here

Saturday Night Nick

Our dear friend and musical mentor, Nick Ciampi, will be rocking Vintage in Downtown Redding this Saturday night, at the ArtHop After-Party. Nick plays the folk rock tunes you know by heart and a huge selection of his original tunes. In addition to being an all-around wonderful guy, Nick is also an inventor, music teacher, and guitar player extra-ordinaire.

Do yourself a favor and get out on Saturday night and do some serious Hopping. Then wind down at Vintage with a glass of your favorite beverage and one of Redding's favorite musicians.

ArtHop After Party

Saturday, March 12th 9 PM

at:

Vintage Wine Bar

ArtHop Maps on ANewsCafe.com: Here

Check out Nick's website: Here

In Search of The Perfect Gig

The Business That Pays the Bills (Wrap-N-Pack) has demanded our undivided attention for the past year. We've managed some songwriting and recording, and we play occasional gigs, but mostly we've been busy helping our customers.

We probably should have stepped into this musician thing back when we were young and bullet-proof. But here we are, in our fifties, where a good night's sleep is mandatory, and our business and our kids require us to be upright and responsible during the day. So nighttime gigs are pretty much out of the question.

Late nights are not an option, and our free time is limited. That didn't keep us from envisioning The Perfect Gig for Still Married: It's in the early evening and it lasts about an hour. At The Perfect Gig, the audience is congenial and connects with the music. There are smiles, mutual respect.

It's elusive, and, we thought, probably imaginary.

But last Friday afternoon, we lucked out, and enjoyed The Perfect Gig, when we played our tunes for the residents at Oakdale Heights Assisted Living. The folks there were kind, beautiful and generous with their attention. They smiled, they sipped wine and sang along while we played "Stand By Me" and "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain." We felt truly blessed to be there and share the music.

Now that we know where The Perfect Gig awaits, we look forward to returning.

Celebrate Culture

The Cultural Cruise - a city-wide celebration of the arts - gets underway on January 28th at 4 PM.

From the Turtle Bay website: Join the Turtle Bay Museum, Shasta County Arts Council’s Old City Hall Gallery, Redding City Hall, Redding Library, First United Methodist Church, Shasta State Historic Park, Shasta College Art Gallery and North Valley Art League for a night of visual enjoyment. Cruise with your family and friends around Redding to see exciting art exhibitions and enjoy refreshments at each hosting gallery – a truly pleasurable evening. Pick up a Cultural Cruise map at the locations listed above for more detailed information. FREE!

Click here for a map: Cultural Cruise Map

Craig and I will be playing our original music at Redding City Hall beginning at 5 PM, along with another husband and wife duo, The Pine Dogz.

We've shared the bill with Steve and Diana Wallis several times and always have a ball.

We're looking forward to sharing tunes from our new CD, Storms and Other Blessed Burdens, including this one, inspired by a Shasta County legend:

THe Hour of the Outlaw
words and music © 2010 Erin Friedman

He checked his pocket watch and he pulled his hat down low
Crouched in shadowed canyon beside the stagecoach road
Stood ready with his shotgun and when the stage arrived
Shot the guard and stole the gold and proved his daddy right

The Hour of the Outlaw
Seconds beat like a drum
The Hour of the Outlaw
The countdown has begun

His daddy was a scoundrel, a gambler and a thief
Took a bullet in his back for the aces up his sleeve
Before he died he said, "Son, outlaw blood runs through your veins
And all I got to leave you is this pocket watch and chain"

The Outlaw of the stagecoach trail could not out run his fate
Time had come for justice and justice would not wait
An angry mob rode out to Whiskey Creek and tracked him down
Left him swinging like a pendulum from the highest tree in town

The treasure still lies buried on the banks of Whiskey Creek
Many men have searched and failed - fortunately
But when the time is right, some unsuspecting soul
Will dig up a cursed pocket watch and strongbox full of gold