Weekly Favorites #36

#1

I was able to see a production of my favorite musical Into the Woods

Into the Woods is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. The musical intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales, exploring the consequences of the characters' wishes and quests. The main characters are taken from "Little Red Riding Hood", "Jack and the Beanstalk", "Rapunzel", and "Cinderella", as well as several others. The musical is tied together by an original story involving a childless baker and his wife and their quest to begin a family, their interaction with a witch who has placed a curse on them, and their interaction with other storybook characters during their journey.

The music in this show is great, I think I just love the energy-the music is so fast and there are so many lyrics, everything is going at 110 percent. I also really like the message of Be careful what you wish for and what you pursue. Somebody is watching what you do and what you say, whether you notice it or not. We are all connected and influence each other more than we realize. 

If you haven't seen, The American Playhouse Production from 1991 is fabulous. I also really enjoyed the Disney movie that just came out. who doesn't love Anna Kendrick. 

>

#2 Postmodern Jukebox 

I have just heard about this band. Maybe its my old soul, but I really dig most of what I have heard. Its so fun. They take mostly popular pop songs and turn the arrangements into a 20s era Jazz song, or a classic 50s Duwop or even a hit from the Mowtown era of the 60s. 

I really have enjoyed what I've heard because I really appreciate when an artist can make a song their own without making it unrecognizable. 

Here are two examples.

I Think I Did It Again

All About That Bass

#3 Chicken Picante

Ingredients

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (4 ounces each)

1 jar (16 ounces) picante sauce

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon prepared mustard

Hot cooked rice, optional

Directions

Place chicken in a greased shallow 2-qt. baking dish. In a small bowl, combine the picante sauce, brown sugar and mustard; pour over chicken.

Bake, uncovered, at 400° for 30-35 minutes or a meat thermometer reads 170°. Serve with rice if desired. Yield: 4 servings.

This recipe really is so simple. Sometimes when we cook it, we will just cook the sugar, mustard, and picante sauce in a sauce pan with shredded chicken (pre-cooked or you can use canned chicken).

Then you serve that over rice and, if you so desire, crushed tortilla chips. So yummy!

#4 

New movie called Secret in Their Eyes