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Worst Theme Songs
May as well update my top 5 worst list-
1. DAD- NO Madonna, James Bond does NOT NEED TECHNO! The most gutless and soulless music (if you can call techno music) ever created. It's scary to think that she wrote a better song for Austin Powers.
2. AWTD- I can still take this a lot better in comparison because it's based on rock rather than garbage. It's only when Keys starts wailing the "whoah's" like a wounded animal during the bridge that it gets the total DAD mute treatment the rest of the way.
3. TND- Shameless Beatles ripoff, and not well done either.
4. TMWTGG- I can listen to it, but Lulu herself said it best- she sounds like Ethel Merman here.
5. FRWL/OP- Both have dated terribly, can't decide which one more than the other.
SirHenry said (2012):
1. OHMSS- well, it's only the master! Only the Nina collaboration is subpar and keeps it from being perfect.
2. TLD- The master's series finale, and his best among many excellent efforts since DAF. Theme song is just average.
3. TND- Arnold pays pure homage to the master with some modern sensibilities, with the brilliant Surrender used throughout and excellent romantic themes.
4. QOS- Arnold's best work since TND, a bright spot in the film. The locale pieces are varied and fit perfectly, bits of Vesper's theme tie it to CR.
5. CR- The action pieces not his best work, but the romantic and spy pieces among the very best and rate with anything Barry ever did. As does the title song, also one of the best in the series.
6. LTK- The title song and action pieces are very Bondian and dramatic, a definite Spanish flair fits the locales.
7. DAD- After you put aside the worst title song in the series, not a bad effort at all.
8. TWINE- Solid title song, the Baku themes are very good. His worst effort in the romance area though, and way too much techno. My least favorite score of his 5.
9. GE- Aside from the title song and the timpani drum rendition of the 007 theme, this is a Bond soundtrack in name only and easily makes the Norman and Conti efforts look like genius in comparison.
SirHenry's take on music is a lot to digest, I know. So just pick and choose as you'd like to read. It is rather like a dissertation, but I wanted a good deal of it here. We shall be finishing up music tomorrow.
I'll be concluding this section with SirHenry's (brief!) comments about metal and guitar gods. Those will be coming up in about 9 hours (yes, I am going to sleep soon). I-)
After music, we shall move on to SirHenry's take on cooking - one of his great passions.
G'night. And thanks for joining us on this tribute week for the one and only Greg Ferrell/SirHenryLeeChaChing! :)>-
:x
A bit more of SirHenry's take on music (various Bond music and other things) shall be coming in a couple of hours.
Cheers!
We appreciate your hard work on this, @4EverBonded.
BOND SOUNDTRACKS (continued)
SirHenry said:
You Only Live Twice - Coming off the somewhat disappointing Thunderball and the magnificent tear jerking Oscar winning score of Born Free, it was interesting for me as a child to see what Barry would come up with, and the effort was closer to the latter. A timelessly beautiful and memorable title song and other pieces such as "Mountains and Sunsets" and "The Wedding" just seem to perfectly embody the scenes and scenery. Barry's use of Japanese instruments adds to the overall ambience without being too cliche, I love this soundtrack and give it top marks-5/5
For Your Eyes Only - Much of the FYEO soundtrack is simply awful and perhaps worse than GE, for nothing more than the fact that Conti understood what they wanted him to do much more than Serra did, and still failed to marry his sound with the Bond sound and make it work. If not for the theme song and managing to use variations of it throughout, I'd have come to the same conclusion. I have the FYEO soundtrack but listen to it as much as I listen to the GE soundtrack I don't have- which is to say not at all.
Goldeneye - If Barry had scored GE, it would be a classic for me. A Bond classic has to have Bondian music and this is the worst soundtrack among the 23 films so GE can never be considered a classic in my book although it gets there in lots of other ways.
Just because GE is more "original" does not make it better. That's just an baseless opinion. There's great original Bond music (Martin) and then there's crap and GE fits the latter. Barry left a musical legacy and the template for those who followed of what Bond music should sound like. Every other Bond composer accepted this premise and incorporated it as well as a little bit of their own style. I don't understand why people are so eager to fix something that isn't broken, Arnold got that right away and Barry appreciated that as well as his talent in the first place. Serra gets that now and I'm sure in hindsight we would have gotten a lot better if he could turn back time. This is one soundtrack I'd fully embrace for a re-score.
Thunderball - Believe it or not, this is probably my least favorite Barry written soundtrack in the series. Not that it doesn't have it's moments. The title song is tremendous and variations using it such as "At The Casino" with it's sensual and classy piano accompaniment are fantastic. Barry also continues to experiment with African drums as he did in Goldfinger, which would lead him to his first Oscar a year later. What I don't care much for here is the underwater themes, which are a little too basic and repetitive considering Barry's calibre, and often the loud brass makes it sound like Godzilla is about to emerge from the depths. Not a fan of the equally pedestrian "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" either. A fairly big step down from his previous effort- 3/5
Octopussy - John Barry is back, and from the first strains of "Bond Look-Alike" in the PTS, I just knew I was in for another sonic treat. For the title theme "All Time High", with lyrics from Broadway master Tim Rice, country/pop star and multiple Grammy Award winner Rita Coolidge is chosen for the vocal duties. There is a little bit of a country ballad feel to this one that has little to do with Coolidge's vocals, which are thankfully not typical hillbilly twangy in this instance, yet this performance doesn't overwhelm me either. It's a nice song and melody but not one that lives overly long in the memory. But in traditional Barry style, the song's strict instrumental "That's My Little Octopussy" is simply out of this world and blows the vocal version out of the park. It's amazing how simple flute and strings featuring a little echo can be so lush, sensual, and romantic, and that's part of the genius of Barry, who is second to none in this category. It's revisited again as part of "Bond Meets Octopussy" and makes the love scenes here really go. Another standout track heard during a Khan visit to his business partner is "Arrival At The Island Of Octopussy", where the flute is again featured but some dark elements such as African drums and even a gong are effectively mixed in to add to the mystery, as to this point we still haven't seen Octopussy's face. Then there's action tracks such as the brilliant compilation of "009 Gets the Knife/Gobinda Attacks", and "Death Of Vijay" that work very well. Great tension is built in Germany with "The Chase Bomb Theme" and concludes with the rousing"The Palace Fight" (also featured in "Yo-Yo Fight") complete with all the Bondian overtones that even have a little of the old brass for the final confrontation. Another great effort from Barry that I often enjoy when in the mood-4.5/5
The Man With The Golden Gun - History tells us that this particular soundtrack was a rush job by Barry, if I remember right he composed it in a few short weeks. He was not personally happy with the title song and felt it reflected poorly on him, and it always seemed more of a Bassey than Lulu vehicle. Otherwise, I always felt he underrated what he did here because it is very enjoyable as a standalone and both "Goodnight, Goodnight" and the fun house pieces I feel are among his best work in the series. This Barry rush job is still better than anything anyone else who has composed a Bond soundtrack has done. The man was the Mozart of his time and like Mozart his works will be remembered for eternity.
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And SirHenry always talked about the theme songs in his reviews of Bond films here on this thread (well worth going back and reading these!). Just want to share another couple of tidbits from those:
Live and Let Die theme song - Harry S's initial reaction to it
SirHenrysaid:
Paraphrased from the Burlingame book, a treasure trove of information on Bond music I must say-
Yes indeed he did, he thought McCartney's recording was just a demo of the song and started suggesting names like Thelma Houston as possible singers, not realizing differently until Martin advised him that Paul and Wings were also the performers and that if they didn't agree, Paul would just keep it for himself. Although he professed to like the song, ever the musical genius, Harry asked Hamilton what he thought about what Martin just said. Hamilton said it wasn't "exactly his bag" but that one would have to be an idiot not to go along with it, so Harry did.
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Octopussy -
The film's "All Time High" main title song sung by Rita Coolidge is the first Bond theme song not to feature the title of the movie anywhere in its lyrics. Casino Royale's "You Know My Name" by Chris Cornell is the second whilst the Jack White and Alicia Keys' song "Another Way To Die" from Quantum of Solace is the third.
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More musical thoughts from SirHenry later today, as we wrap up his take on music. :)
As always, you are welcome to comment about SirHenry in any way, totally unrelated to the current topic of music is fine. This is a week of tribute to our wonderful Bond colleague and friend, Greg Ferrell/SirHenryLeeChaChing.
And indeed here is what SirHenry said in general about John Barry:
When the subject of Bond music, or any music for that matter comes up, you can be sure I'm all in for discussion.
Barry was not just the master of, but as we know the CREATOR of the Bond sound. Of course he had his own influences but according to my late father who was a great musician in his own right, no one had ever composed music quite like his when it came along in 1964. Thankfully Cubby recognized it's genius because if it had been up to Harry, it would not have been. That cannot be overstated. And when his style of movie composition began to change, right about this time in fact because this soundtrack feels different than his work up through DAF, so did the Bond sound. So in reality the "Bond sound" was truly the Barry sound.
SirHenry said: Barry's magnificent music has always been a big part of my Bond experience from day one. It adds so much to what is happening on screen. My Dad was also a musician and I was surrounded with Bond and all kinds of various music my entire life. My mother's father was a musician and my younger brother still plays nearly every weekend back in my home county. Music is a way of life with us.
As mentioned earlier, SirHenry had his own band and toured parts of the U.S. Overall, he had a very good time indeed.
I thihk it is fitting to re-post his photo again here. Greg, in his young rocker days:
Here SirHenry talks a bit about his own music and how he loved the '80s:
You may be interested to know that while I had the knowledge to transcribe my compositions into sheet music, I never handed my band mates a single piece of paper. Like Mozart, every part was first heard and written in my head. They were damn fine musicians as good or better than I was in terms of playing ability and to lord my knowledge over them would have been both pointless and insulting. I showed them what I wanted and if they had a more creative idea, I welcomed it.
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Granted I freely admit that although I became a teen and graduated high school in the 1970's, I better related to the 1980's. Heavy metal, scantily dressed women, even the Bond films were better during this period. This baby boomer (ending in births in 1964 I believe) had more fun than humans should be allowed to!
(Did you try clicking on he "older messages" notation that would be at the top of your PMs with him?)
I looked through a few pages and only found two conversations we had. I could've swore that there were more, but I may also be wrong on that. Either way, there are still exchanges there that make me happy to read.
Metal
Metal hasn't entirely died, there are still a few good newer bands like Pop Evil and Sweden's Sister Sin who are trying to carry the torch, and some of the European "symphonic rock" bands aren't too bad either, but there are too far and few in between. There's a heavier guitar driven edge in a lot of the newer U.S bands over the past few years, but by and large the singers sound fairly similar and most still lack a serious guitar player who knows how to shred like a Mark Tramonti. Slash is still kicking it, thankfully.
******
Guitar Gods (though he seems to be of two minds to include Eric C. or not) ;)
Eddie Van Halen for me as the guitar god of the 70's. An innovator like Page, but cleaner and faster solos. A huge influence on generations to come. Another innovator who belongs in that group is Brian May. Ritchie Blackmore also comes to mind. I'll have to think about this some more when my brain isn't quite so fried after 3 stressful hours getting a gumbo ready for a dinner and NFL football party.
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The Stones - Richards was mainly the rhythm guy, and Ron Wood was a lot better guitar player for my money. I can play guitar at least as good as both of those guys and consider them more 60's in style that 70's.
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GUITAR GOD - Clapton??? No f'n way as far as I'm concerned. For that style, I liked Alvin Lee better and thought his chops were equally good from a musical standpoint. Jimi Hendrix was a true innovator and game changer, truly the very first guitar god and the very best of all of them back then, how anyone could dispute that is beyond my personal comprehension of style and musical training.
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I don't deny EC is a legend and influential by any means, nor do I have trouble with calling him a guitar god. In fact, from a personal taste standpoint there is obviously no wrong answer. I think the original heavy metal riff master himself, Sabbath's Tony Iommi, should also be considered for god like status. But any discussion of guitar gods of the 1960's must start with Hendrix as far as actual ability and revolutionary innovation that influenced the next generation more than any other. The next such innovators were Eddie Van Halen and Randy Rhoads.
My all time favorite and the guy I consider to be the greatest in every aspect as far as sheer ability and taste is the late Gary Moore of Thin Lizzy and solo fame. Late in his career he was a consummate blues man, but before that he was a rock guitarist that influenced virtually every hard rock/heavy metal player you can name. He was considered a virtual god in the UK.
Love Deep Purple except for their debut, which wasn't who they really were and would later be. Black Sabbath of course, Alice Cooper, Mountain, MC5, these were the earliest metal acts.
from the "Scene you could live without" thread:
SirHenry said:
As bad as scenes with Jaws, Bondolas, winking pigeons, and Jinx are, I still can't neglect several other scenes.
1. Sheep's head for dinner in Octopussy. I can safely say that the popcorn, raisinets, and drink I was enjoying while watching this in the theater in 1983 suddenly became a bit uncomfortable.
2. Carmen duSautoy/Saida in TMWTGG. Rog should have got hazard pay alone for that scene. Somehow I just know that Harry had something to do with her hire.
3. Madonna as Verity. Her lines rated right there with Berry's for cringeworthy.
4. Sam Bond and virtual sex with Bond. Who could forget this cinematic gem?
5. Rog in bed with Grace Jones and her big black dildo. Forget about hazard pay. Bigger share of residuals, please!
And now, moving onwards a bit to take a peek at:
SIRHENRY'S TAKE ON FLEMING AND BOND
SirHenry said:
Fleming Bond and Cinema Bond are two different things. Cinema Bond got culture from Terence Young. Yet people confuse the two all the time.
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SirHenry's top scene from Dalton's Bond (he always said Dalton was closest to Fleming's Bond)
1. The pseudo assassination of Pushkin, TLD. Dalton and Rhys-Davies are both amazing here. The look in Dalton eyes radiates extreme danger and for me, at that moment during that glorious opening weekend in 1987, he became the personification of the professional side of literary Bond as I understood Fleming's version to be. Up until that point I wasn't 100% convinced he was any better than Moore during his best moments in the series - at that moment he elevated his status to the best Bond actor short of Connery in the glory years 1962-1965.
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More re Fleming and Bond from SirHenry:
I've read and own the entire Fleming Bond collection and mention both of these stories in my preview, which you might want to read. Property Of A Lady is still a possibility as a title, but over the years we've seen that very few of Fleming's works have been faithfully adapted.
This is Hollywood and novels are commonly altered to some degree, YOLT and Spy are virtually unrecognizable film versus novel. Giant octopuses just aren't any more compelling than Dr. No drowning in bat s**t. Can you imagine that in place of dissolving in his own nuclear reactor? I sure can't.
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Craig to me is an interesting mix. Fleming Bond on one hand but not quite Dalton. I don't think he wants to be quite that intense. He also has Connery's sense of dry humor and can deliver that. What I think he may be going for is a balance of both, in other words a more fun version of Fleming Bond, and it's these qualities I'll be looking for.
Unlike Brosnan, Craig has a solid understanding of Fleming Bond and has stated he's read the novels but as I see it, that was much more Dalton's bag as far as bringing that to the big screen. Craig comes more under Cinema Bond, but he's trying to be more like early Connery than Moore and Brosnan, and he is succeeding in the eyes of the public if box office to date is any indication.
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timmer said:
I maintain absolutely that Fleming did not have a racist bone in his body. He loved life, he loved people. He loved the world. He lived large. He had issues no doubt, but hating persons of different skin colours wasn't one of them.
SirHenry said:
I agree with this 1000% percent. I never read or heard an interview with Fleming that made me question his motives like Boyd has. It is very possible to create a fictional character with views that don't match your own, that may appeal to someone with those views.
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If it were the 1980's and I showed up at a live Fleming's door, he would have taken one look, called me a "dirty hippie", and immediately ordered me to leave the premises!
:D
COOKING
Yes, SirHenry had a real passion for cooking and eating good food, and he sure enjoyed talking about food! So he started a very tantalizing thread. And other folks contributed their own favorite recipes, too. Do head over to the (now dormant) The Cooking Thread http://www.mi6community.com/index.php?p=/discussion/8014/the-cooking-thread/p1 to find a wealth of great recipes and cooking info.
SirHenry posted oodles of great information, about cooking and specific foods and spices – their origin, use in different cuisines, family favorite recipes, etc. Today I will be sharing some of SirHenry's words about cooking, including some of his favorites. Enjoy!
SirHenry said (opening post):
Among my various hobbies is a love of good food and the various cuisines of the world, and making them at home for my son and I to enjoy. I guess I would be called a "foodie". So with mod permission, let's get the professional chefs, at home gourmet cooks like myself or just general cookers, and lovers of food together to discuss your favorite cuisines, share recipes, etc. Grab a bottle of good vino, sit at Sir Henry's table, and get ready for some good eating!
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(from various posts ... all photos are random from the internet except Crawfish Monica, which SirHenry posted)
Before I leave work and go home to make dinner, tonight's meal will be Northern Italian Seafood Pasta - Shrimp and bay scallops are sautéed in butter, drained, and added to a homemade garlic Parmesan sauce flavored with Italian seasonings before being tossed with thin spaghetti. Garnished with prosciutto and green onion tops, and served with garlic bread. ..........
The next day
Last night's meal of my Northern Italian seafood pasta, by the way, was absolutely awesome. I'll explain. I used to make it with the Ragu garlic parmesan sauce but last night I decided what the hell, let me try and do it myself. After I sautéed the shrimp and scallops in garlic and butter, which is how you do a scampi dish, I removed only the seafood and left the garlic and butter in the pan. I added 1 1/2 cups of cream and the Italian seasonings and as it started to boil, I slowly added 3/4 cup of fresh Parmesan to incorporate. At that point the seafood and pasta went back in along with some green onion tops and got tossed.
I plated it in 2 nice sized bowls for Alex and I, stirred in some fresh prosciutto, and it was done. I was making happy grunts throughout to the point that Alex said "Dad, stop grunting already. It sounds like someone's having sex at the table!" I laughed my ass off of course. And I have to add that sometimes great food can be about as good as having sex.
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SirHenry’s favorite cuisine - Cajun
SirHenry said: Although I cook classic American dishes, Italian, Asian, and Mexican as some of my favorites to enjoy, my personal favorite of all the different cuisines I make is the food of New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, known as "Cajun/Creole".
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I am posting here two of SirHenry's favorite cajun recipes. First, up: Crawfish Monica (Belluci). We were chatting about him renaming it the Monica Belluci in honor of the Bond Girl that Should Have Been.
He then said: Well, while I will never be able to eat and enjoy my preferred Monica (except in another one of my cheap fantasies), the following recipe is one I can!
Here's my new love Monica
Crawfish Monica is a Louisiana food tradition, and those who have been to the annual Jazz Fest know of it's legend. It has been the top selling dish at that festival for the past 30 years. Ingredients include pasta (often rotini), crawfish tail meat, onion, garlic, creole seasoning, cream, wine, salt, pepper, and butter. The dish was created by chef Pierre Hilzim, who is the head of Kajun Kettle Foods. He named it after his wife Monica Davidson. Parsley can be used as a garnish, and for those who cannot obtain Louisiana crawfish tails, shrimp, crabmeat, and oysters can be substituted for the crawfish.
The formula for this dish is restricted by Kajun Kettle Foods and unless you live in the U.S and have $150 US to order the complete dinner kit, or just the sauce as a separate item, you'll have to go with a knockoff recipe. In this case, I used the one from the international star chef Emeril Lagasse you'll see below, with some slight modifications on my part. I hope those who try this out will enjoy it as much as we did!
Ingredients-
1/2 pound rotini pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup chopped yellow onions
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons Emeril's Essence seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne (or more if you like it hotter!)
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 pound crawfish tails*
1/4 cup (2oz) finely chopped green onion (green part only)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
Preparation-
Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid. Return to the pot and toss with the olive oil and reserved cooking liquid. Cover to keep warm.
In a large saute pan or skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, Essence, salt, and stir for 1 minute. Add the white wine and cook until nearly all evaporated. Add the cream, lemon juice, and cayenne and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly reduced. Add the crawfish tails and cook, stirring, to warm through. Add the cooked pasta and green onions and toss to coat with the sauce. Cook until the pasta is warmed through, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat, add 1/2 cup of the cheese, stir through. Turn out into a serving bowl and sprinkle more Parmesan cheese on top.
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SirHenry said:
This is my recipe for Brabant Potatoes, a New Orleans staple side dish, as Emeril Lagasse would say it's "kicked up a few notches" from the usual French fry or roasted potato because of the garlic butter and Creole seasonings!
The finished product should more or less look like roasted potatoes, and when I make them for a dinner party these are always gone in no time flat!
Brabant Potatoes
INGREDIENTS - Serves four
4 large white potatoes, very starchy (no green)
2-3 cups vegetable oil (canola or peanut oil works as well)
2 cloves garlic, minced very fine
1 sprig parsley, minced very fine
1 stick butter
2 Tbs. olive oil
2 tsp. Creole seasoning
1. Scrub the outsides of the potatoes under cold running water, or peel if you don't like potato skins. Cut off the ends and make the potato into a rectangular shape. Dice into pieces about 1/2 inch on a side, wash again, and drain well. Allow 5-10 minutes for the potatoes to dry.
2. Meanwhile, heat vegetable oil in a large saucepan or deep skillet to 375 degrees. Put the potatoes in and fry until they're a very light brown. Remove them from the oil with a skimmer and drain on paper towels.
3. Arrange potatoes in one layer on a baking pan or dish. In a skillet over medium-low heat, melt the butter in the olive oil. When butter is hot, add the garlic and parsley and cook just until the garlic is fragrant.
4. Remove butter from heat and spoon over the potatoes. Put the pan of potatoes into the oven and bake for roughly five to seven minutes or so at 375 degrees until edges becomes a crisp, medium-dark brown. Sprinkle with Creole seasoning and serve with a little extra garlic butter, if you have any left.
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While Cajun cuisine was his favourite he had a lot of interest in the traditional dishes of many different countries. We shared many PM regarding portuguese dishes and I translated several recipes for him. He also had a special curiosity regarding German cuisine because part of his family originated in Alsace (now part of France). I introduced him to Flammkuchen, a traditional dish for that region. He actually made it and I know he and his family really enjoyed it! That story brings me such good memories :)
Thanks, @Sandy! :) I will be posting more soon. And actually I am posting the Flammkuchen, so please be patient. I cannot access my email (which is where I have all the posts saved) and I may not have access to it until I use the computer at work, in about 2 1/2 more hours. EDIT: Just got back on my email. Yay!
German
@Sandy said: Now that you speak of Alsatian cuisine you reminded me of one of my favourite things with bacon: Flammkuchen(German) or Tarte Flambée (French). I like it better than pizza (and I love pizza). Here's how I do it:
Mix 200g flour, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 125mL water and a pinch of salt to make the dough. Work until it's not sticky (add more flour if necessary). It's OK to do it in a food processor, it's an easy dough. Roll out the dough very thinly to the size of the baking tray, in fact you can roll the dough on top of the baking tray to make it extra easy (don't forget to flour first if you want it to come out). Spread Créme fraiche on the dough (I would guess sour cream would work as well), spread sliced onions (purple ones look very nice) and sliced bacon on top and season with salt and pepper. Put in the oven (high temperature) and bake until the bread looks crispy (10-15 minutes, but depends on the oven).
This is the simplest, most traditional way of doing it however I've had it with just about any topping you can imagine, including sweet versions with apples and cinnamon, or strawberries and chocolate (delicious).
Actually my recipe doesn't state the temperature, just says maximum temperature. I usually heat to 200-250ºC. I'm not too familiar with Fahrenheit but I used a converter and that corresponds to 392-482
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SirHenry said:
Finally got to make Flammkuchen and @Sandy, if you were here right now, Alex and I would be hugging you in thanks! I'm thinking to go a little heavier on the sour cream base next time, otherwise it was crunchy and could be folded over just like people eat it. I did saute the onions until they were just soft and they came out brown and sweet. The bacon was nice and crunchy too and the black pepper mixed with the sour cream really enhanced everything. And dried chives sprinkled on top just as it came out were just the perfect way to finish it.
@Sandy, thank you so much for suggesting and thus bringing this little slice of my ancestral history back to our family. I actually feel closer to them and can almost tell they are smiling.
SirHenry said:
Okay, here’s my bacon cheeseburger meatloaf recipe – keep in mind you can easily feed a family of 4 and have 1-2 days of leftovers for sandwiches.
Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf
INGREDIENTS-
2 pounds ground beef
½ cup Italian bread crumbs
¼ cup minced onions and celery mix
½ red bell pepper, minced
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 eggs
1 tbsp sea or kosher salt
1 tbsp black pepper
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
8 slices of pre-cooked bacon
1 can Campbell's tomato soup or your favorite brand
Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large mixing bowl, combine beef, bread crumbs, onions, celery, bell peppers, garlic, eggs, salt, and pepper. Mix well. On a piece of wax paper, shape meat mixture into a ½-inch thick rectangle. Lay bacon on top of the meat and then spread cheese over the bacon, leaving a ¾-inch border around the edges. Roll the meat in a jellyroll fashion to enclose the filling and form a pinwheel loaf. Press all open ends to enclose the cheese. Place in a 10" x 15" baking dish and pour tomato soup over meat, then bake for about an 1 hour and 10 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 160°F. Any leftovers make great sandwiches for the next day.
What I do after removing the finished meatloaf for slicing is to pour the tomato soup, which has combined with all the natural juices and flavors during the cooking process, into a bowl. I serve regular mashed potatoes and I like to spoon the gravy onto my meat and potatoes. If you prefer another kind of sauce like a steak variety for your meat, you can also do a quick diced tomato/green chile relish with works very nicely with the potatoes.
Enjoy!
Thanks to @Sandy for providing the list of what was discussed alphabetically on that thread.
Several people gave their own great recipes, too, for many different kinds of foods - well worth a look. :)
ALPHABET OF INGREDIENTS
(+ and the bold means he really liked the ingredient or wrote more than usual about it):
A
Abalone
Apple+
Acorns
Almonds
Anchovies
Anise
Apricots
Arugula
Artichokes
Asparagus
Avocado
Allspice+
Aioli
B
Bacon+
Bagels+
Baguette
Baked Beans+
Bakewell tart
Baking powder and baking soda
Balsamic vinegar
A litle more cooking info from SirHenry later today! Good eating, everyone! :-bd
Greg was passionate about a great many things. He also had a highly developed sense of justice. Whenever he felt that a friendly member was being hassled or agitated without reason, he'd do everything within his digital powers to defend that member. That's something many of you know. What some of you may not know, however, is that he also PM'd to say hi and offer comfort. He had a talent for that. With good jokes, great lines and a lot of friendliness, he'd always achieve the desired result: to make one feel happy again.
Greg was my brother from another mother. And he was a good friend.
And I miss him, more than the digital world is able to conceive.
Greg really enjoyed life, and he loved to make people smile and laugh. I think he would be happy with this tribute week, as we have tried to make it more of a celebration of him, and more lighthearted. :) Today I'll be thinking of him cooking away, having a grand time trying out new recipes, and making dinner for his kids.
So attention everybody: The final day of our "official" tribute to Greg/SirHenry will be tomorrow - though our appreciation and recalling of his words will be ongoing for sure. I will have more to share later today and tomorrow.
Please do feel free to chime in as you'd like, as we wrap up our official tribute to the incomparable and deeply missed Greg Ferrell/SirHenryLeeChaChing. :)>-
SirHenry’s Family Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years’ traditional cooking
SirHenry said:
I think American Thanksgiving dinners can vary from region to region and culture to culture to be honest. The turkey is the key. We always had cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, corn, and spinach casserole. Our bread stuffing was made with bacon, onion, and celery. Gravy of course. Dessert was pumpkin pie at my Dad's parents, at my Mom's we'd have both pumpkin and the PA Dutch (Deutsch) shoo fly pie made with molasses and brown sugar.
Christmas Eve was always at Dad's parents, Nana was Lithuanian and we always ate kielbasa, Lithuanian black sausage (don't remember the name), and pierogies. My wife always ate at her Ukrainian grandmothers growing up and also had much the same kielbasa and pierogies.
New Year's Day though was always the traditional German pork and sauerkraut for both of us.
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As always, when reading the cooking thread and SirHenry's comments on food, I am now so hungry!
I hope some of you do check out The Cooking Thread- it is chock full of great information, with several members contributing recipes.
That's all for today. Tomorrow we begin our final day of salute to our friend Greg/SirHenryLeeChaChing during his birthday week. :-bd