Wait For It: with a nod to Bono and Paris,Texas

You have to wait for it; the sorghum. It has to come from Kentucky or Tennessee – the sorghum molasses. Waiting for it is why I haven’t made my grandmother’s “Corn Light Bread” yet. I promise to feature it next week as a Valentines Day special. My cousin Sandra sent the recipe in a sweet old-fashioned Valentine a few years ago. It’s officially called “Auntee’s Corn Light Bread” and it is the thing I hated growing up. It sat on the kitchen counter next to the green beans and I pretended I was too full to eat it. I must have been asked four times if I wanted some anytime it was served.

“Don’t you want some cornlightbread?” as if there was serious concern about my overlooking this staple.

To be polite, I just said “Thank you but I’m so full” and ate a second barbecue sandwich.

After waiting decades, I now crave it, more for its sentimental value. It’s a Middle Tennessee specialty with a long history. Corn and sorghum were readily available and cheap. It is the perfect side to pork shoulder and takes getting used to. Maybe it just takes being away from.

So I’m waiting. I could substitute regular molasses but I’m in no hurry. The sorghum is the thing I’m looking for.

I also plan to make fiddle queen and IMBA Award Winner Becky Buller‘s Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies from “All the Thyme in the World“. Next week, both will be baked, consumed and maybe shared. I work with a chunk of people who are plant-based eaters, so that ruins the fun of bringing anything to work with butter or meat.

Check out Becky’s music and support her art while you wait for the cookies!

Wait for it – The Flip Side

Listening to a lot of music on vinyl at home is how I shake off the work week and feel human again. The music industry is pushing streaming hard, which is a great way to get music to the listener, but the emphasis on the “single” is kind of a drag. Putting a record on a turntable and listening to an artists work start-to-finish takes patience. You can’t pick up the needle and skip around on tracks. You can, but the risk of screeching that arm across the record is high. The real lesson comes when it’s time to flip it over. You know that point where you’re in a zone and hear the soft, almost silent “whomph” of the end of Side 1? Walk over, flip the record and start over. The artist who made that record has given you a gift and making art is hard.

So flip it already. Don’t just say you’re full and go to Spotify

But wait – there’s Paris,Texas and The Joshua Tree

Last week I worked on “Things in Life” until I felt semi-happy with it on mandolin and equally not-so-happy with the guitar version. I haven’t found all the guitar notes I’m looking for and keep moving the capo trying to make it easier. I need to work on it, wait and know it will come. In a classic effort to procrastinate, I watched “Paris,Texas” and went down a rabbit hole of research on the 1984 film. Paris, Texas inspired U2’s The Joshua Tree. Naturally, I’m listening to the entire album on repeat, on vinyl, and studying every word. Procrastination justified!

As a result, this week’s project song will be “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” I hope I can find all the notes. I never feel like I know enough notes to say what I need to say musically. As usual, I’m full of words, but still working on the flip side.

We’ll get to that.

Favorite record on vinyl?
Your personal “Corn Light Bread” ?
Full?

Drop a comment or request and come back next week for side 2. Thanks for reading!