Butternut Squash Soup!

I love soup! ;)
Anytime of year really...but especially on a cold, cozy, Fall or Winter's night!
This is my homemade Butternut Squash Soup...with ham and fresh ground nutmeg and crostini...
Just sautee a potato, some garliic and onion in a little bit of olive oil...add a bit of chicken stock...
Slice up two Butternut Squash in halves(long ways)
Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet(use a little olive oil or cooking spray like Pam) face down and roast in the oven at 350 degrees for about an hour...
When cooked scoop out squash and combine with potato/onion mixture and about 3 cups of chicken broth in a big pot...Add salt and pepper and ground nutmeg to taste...a little bit of cream(about half a cup).You can use milk if need be...and a little butter...
Use an immersion blender to blend and puree...and then cook on medium heat about a half an hour...done!!:) Toast or grill some Italian bread...buttered with a little garlic powder and parsley...
To add a special touch...slice up some ham or prosciutto...whatever you like or may have on hand and add to the center of the bowl and sprinkle some chopped chives on top if you have them...and a sprinkle of white pepper and some fresh ground black pepper....serve! :)
This soup is delicious on it's own ...but the smokieness of the ham, offsets the natural sweetness of the squash and is delicious!! ;)
Mangiare bene!! ;)
Love,
Joe

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About My song "25 Hours"...New Video and Info

Hi everybody! Hope you're all enjoying an awesome weekend!

I have a new video up now over on Youtube for my song "25 Hours"! It has a groovy 1960's-1970's vibe...hope you all enjoy it!

I thought I'd write a litle about the song and how it came to be..for those that may be interested in that kind of thing..

"25 Hours" was originally a live jam session we did at rehearsal...and we played it in the studio while recording "The Godsend Sessions" as a kind of warm up tune to loosen up before pressing the record button to lay down the live rhythm tracks.

Many of you may not know that my record was recorded in this way...the basic bass, drums and a guitar track were performed live...with all of us playing in the same room.We would typically do a couple of takes of each track...and then later choose the best ones to use for the record.I know..to many of you...today that may sound like an ancient concept!:)lol But...I wanted to capture all of the raw feeling, emotion, sweat, cohesiveness, nuances, power and magic to tape(Yes, Tape)...which only is possible by doing it this way...Sometimes the greatest and coolest things happen in music by actually having musicians playing together...mistakes may happen that turn out later to be sheer genius for the song, feedback, overtones and overall vibe.Of course..it is very difficult and time consuming...it definitely costs more and takes alot of pre-production and 100's of hours of rehearsal to accomplish this believe it or not...unless of course you have a ton of backing and zillions of dollars to spend on studio time and you don't mind watching the clock tick by while your money goes out the window while doing take after take!:) This of course was not the case for me...so we had to have are shit together and be tight before heading in to the studio on day one! I am very lucky to have had THE best and most professional and prepared Bass player and Drummer alive to accomplish this feat and they happened to also be two of my closest friends...if you do not have this...then I do not suggest recording this way these days!:)lol

Back to "25 Hours"...as I said..it was recorded during the studio sessions as a live warm up jam....Near the end of production on the entire CD...I had the music for the song in my head constantly and went home one night and started writing down some thoughts and ideas and lyrics...then the vocal harmonies came to me...I could hear them...it happens like that sometimes for me...and finally...the horns started coming into my head..all of the parts....which ended up being a five piece horn section to accomplish what I heard and envisioned...

I remember walking into the studio the next night...excited..and psyched to tell the guys..and to say we were not finished yet and had to complete one more song! My guys new "That Look" on my face all too well...lol... and I remember Neal saying..."Oh No!!!" LOL Anyway....with the help and genius of musician, engineer James B. Gately....we went into overdrive over the next few weeks to try to get what I had heard in my head recorded and to finish the song in hopes to having it make the record...and I'm so glad that it did!

Notes:

"25 Hours" was originally entitled "Sway"...a term we used to call it in rehearsal..which is a reference to the beautiful female form:)

Many have asked...and yes...as with the entire CD...all of the vocal harmony parts and background vocal overdubs are sung by me...the "25 Hours a Day" back up is a five part harmony....that was one hell of a long night in the studio...lol...as I individually sang every part throughout the song from beginning to end...no Pro Tools copy and paste!!lol

Also...their is actually 4 versions of "25 Hours"...each with a different ending... I shall post those mp3s sometime soon to see which one you all like the best....

"25 Hours" was origanally the last track on the album...but..after much feedback and success at live shows it wuickly was moved to track #1

 

Thank you all so much for reading...I hope you all enjoyed my ramblings and thank you for all of your positive feedback, love, friendship and support!! I really appreciate it so much!

To Listen to "25 Hours" and more and to purchase my music...Please Visit:

http://www.joegande.bandcamp.com

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-godsend-sessions/id416008000

Here's the vid:

Singer/Songwriter/Guitarist Joe Gande...video of the song "25 Hours"...taken from the cd...Joe Gande-The Godsend Sessions

From the upcoming DVD...live and in the studio footage, personal interviews, rehearsal antics and more....coming soon!

Please leave your thoughts and comments here and also visit Youtube to view in HD,  rate, like, +1, comment and share!:)

Thank you!

Love,

Joe

 

 

 

Mushroom, Zucchini, Tomato, Parmigiana

This is an awesome dish that I found in one of my favorite magazines...La Cucina Italiana.
Originally said to be made with porcini mushrooms...I improvised with what I had on hand and used regular white button mushrooms instead.
It was delicious! I love meatless dishes and try to eat a few per week...
This is a great way to throw together a great meal with the fresh vegetables you may have and want to use up before they go bad....
Buon Mangiare!:)
Love,
Joe

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Escarole and Cannelini Beans

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This is truly one of my favorites...escarole and cannellini beans...Minesta as we say...or more properly "Minestra". This dish reminds me of my childhood and my Nonna...It is inexpensive, fairly simple to make and delicious...Italian Soul Food!!:)
It really is mainly a wonderful sidedish...but I enjoy it as a main course with Italian bread to sop up the juice and a nice glass of vino... and I make it for dinner quite often.
You can also make it using spinach or cabbage or broccoli rabe...and if you'd like you can add some water and chicken broth to make it a soup or add Italian sausage or pork etc.. for flavor...but, I prefer it "as is".
All you need is escarole, cannellini beans, olive oil, garlic and red pepper flakes...simple and delizioso...Buon Mangiare!;)
Love,
Joe
http://joegande.bandcamp.com
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Insalata Caprese

Made one of my favorites...A little appetizer to enjoy with a nice glass of wine for a Sunday afternoon...Insalata Caprese. 

Mozzarella, tomato and fresh basil with extra virgin olive oil, a pinch of sea salt and black pepper.
Hope you're all enjoying a beautiful summer day!:)
Love,
Joe
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

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Sunday Ziti

Just doesn't feel like a Sunday to me unless I make...or at least have...some kind of macaroni;)
I made a quick sauce...with some hot sausage and a nice big bowl of Ziti. All the time I've spent as an adult out in the world away from home...no matter where I might be at the time...alone or no matter who I may be with...no matter how busy or hectic life gets...with all the crazy rock and roll lifestyle and fast paced NYC living going on over the years...I almost always would make sure that my Sunday was a day of r and r and be a relaxing and peaceful day and make a big macaroni dinner...I guess it just made me feel close to my family...remember my grandparents and lost loved ones and one might say that maybe it has helped me to stop to remember what is important and stay grounded and close to my roots...I just say is who I am, how I feel and how I like to spend my Sundays...it simply makes me feel good!:)lol...and I will continue to do so to this day and beyond!:)
Hope you are all enjoying a beautiful day and have a great week!
Love,
Joe
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

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God I Love Soup!!

There's nothing like homemade soup...I love it...it's simple to make, good for you, certainly economical...yet can be elegant, rich and flavorful and soul warming...winter, summer...doesn't matter.
Since I've been getting more and more food aware these days and reading the labels of some of my favorite quick go to canned soups we have all grown up eating...I noticed the extremely high sodium content...it's unbelievable! So I've been on a kick lately of making my own instead.It' so much healthier, easy to do and delicious!
If you're having one of those days when you're low on food in the house...and don't have a clue on what to make for dinner...have a look around the kitchen, chances are you have the makings of an awesome, hearty soup!
I through this great soup together tonight.It's a pureed cannellini bean soup...a little olive oil and garlic and a can of cannellini beans(white beans) into the food processor... then off to a big soup pan...a little water...or chicken broth...throw in some spinach, a few potatoes...sea salt to taste...a few sprinkles of peroncino(hot red pepper flakes) simmer ahile... Done!;)Squisito!!
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A little mellow guitar jam to start the day-Hope you enjoy :)

A little mellow guitar jam to start the day-Hope you enjoy :)

Joe Gande - Live - Rehearsal Studio - All I Need is You-Outro...

Now...if only I can find that hat!:)lol An awesome friend of mine made it for me...he gave it me as a present for helping him out with guitars and gear while I was working at Manny's Music on 48th St in NYC...He made all kinds of leather goods and hats and belts  and such for all kinds of musicians and rock stars...I typically do not wear hats very much...but this one was very cool...and reminded me of the one I wore when I played "Oliver Twist" in a school play when I was ten years old!:) I'll save that story for another blog post!:)LOL

 

Rock Singer/Songwriter/Guitarist Joe Gande Live performance video black and white film clips of the song "Hang Around With You"...from the upcoming DVD...live and in the studio footage, rehearsal antics, personal interviews and more....coming soon!

Please Visit:

http://www.joegande.com

http://www.joegande.bandcamp.com

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-godsend-sessions/id416008000

Have an awesome weekend!

Love,

Joe

 

Baccala Marechiara

Baccala Marechiara...

This is a dish my Nonna used to always make...and my Mother also.
It is a fish stew with Cod, San Marzano peeled plum tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, large green olives, a touch of oregano, black pepper and salt...


Baccala is always associated with Christmas Eve...but I like to enjoy it at any time of year...and seeing as it is Ash Wednesday and I wanted to make some fish...I thought it would be a great night to make this awesome dish.

I use green olives with the pits but you can use black olives and capers too if you like.
Also...when making it throughout the year...I prefer to use fresh cod instead of the traditional salted cod that I use on Christmas Eve...I find it a bit less "fishy" and it saves a lot of time also... 

Marechiara means "sea light" :)
When you see this name on a menu it usually means a light tomato sauce, in most cases paired with fish.
Enjoy!
Love,
Joe
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The Beatles Cartoon STEREO - I Am the Walrus

This is so cool...for my fellow Beatle's fans....Just found this awesome video that one of my friends posted on muliply.com and had to share! Hope you enjoy!

via discoenex.multiply.com