The Wait Is Over — Rock Band Track Pack Is Here!

I think Nickelback said it best:

Hey, hey, I wanna be a rock star...

Really, don’t we all? Unfortunately, as I mentioned previously, playing Rock Band is pretty much as close as I’ll ever get.

But while I am only a legendary vocalist (and bassist) in my own mind, like all great rock stars, I still need new material to keep things fresh for my virtual audience. That’s why I was so excited that MTV Games finally released Rock Band Track Pack: Vol. 1 this week for both PS2 and Wii. So excited that I went to three stores on Tuesday looking for it, and spent a good portion of the day on Wednesday hitting refresh on the Best Buy website trying to buy it. Sure, I know I’ve only had the first Rock Band for eight months, but you have to keep working on your art, right?

Priced at $29.99, the Track Pack is a pretty good deal, considering that it contains 20 songs, all recorded by the original artists. Downloaded individually for Xbox or PS3, that would run you about $40. On the other hand, that only seems fair, considering that neither PS2 nor Wii players have ever before had access to the now 156 downloadable tracks that have been offered to Xbox and PS3 users since November 2007.

The song list for Track Pack Vol. 1 is pretty satisfying. I’m not a big fan of David Bowie in general, and it’s much harder to sing along with the Grateful Dead than I imagined. But there are a lot of tracks that I love. “Crushcrushcrush” by Paramore is my new favorite to sing, although I also absolutely love Weezer’s “Buddy Holly”, “Move Along” by the All-American Rejects, and 30 Seconds to Mars’ “The Kill” (although I kind of wish that last one was the acoustic version I’ve been listening to on the radio). The one that surprised me a bit was how much fun it was to sing Blink 182’s “All the Small Things”. (It would have been fun even if I hadn’t scored 100% on medium on my first try — but it probably helped.) I also like “Live Forever” by Oasis, now that I’ve moved from “I don’t think I know that one” to “Oh, yeah — I remember now!”

There are still lots of downloadable songs I want — AAR’s “Dirty Little Secret” and Weezer’s “El Scorcho” come immediately to mind — but I’ll try to be patient. After all, the best thing about the Track Pack is that it’s Volume 1. So Volume 2 has to be on the way. Although it can’t get here soon enough for me.

After all, my imaginary fans will expect new material at some point, and you have to give the people what they want.

Television News: Ausiello’s Back!

Or should that be “Television News News”?

My favorite television journalist, Michael Ausiello, has finally completed his move from TVGuide to Entertainment Weekly. His new online presence, The Ausiello Files, launched on Wednesday, July 2.

I have enjoyed Mike’s work on TVGuide.com for years. It’s not just that he provides enough television scoop to keep an obsessive fangirl like myself happy. He’s funny, snarky, and does not tolerate fools well — so I’ve always considered him a bit of a kindred spirit.

Both loyal fans (aka “Ausholes”) and newbies who love television should rush right over. You can once again get your fill of television scoop, have your burning questions answered at Ask Ausiello, and guess at new blind items. (One of which he even answered in Ask Ausiello – a first!)

At first I was sad to hear that Mike was leaving TVGuide.com. But it appears that the news is all good for us Ausholes. Not only has his blog been updated more regularly than his old site was (even on weekends), Mike premiered his new “Ausiello TV” weekly vodcast on Friday. And unlike his weekly vodcast on TVGuide, you can actually download the ATV video without any trouble at all — no need to post comments begging the privileged few viewers for a transcript anymore! (The first edition was a hoot, featuring some really special guest stars — definitely worth checking out.)

Welcome back, Mr. Ausiello! We missed you for those few weeks between gigs, and I can’t wait to read your first postings about the Television Critics Association Press Tour this week.

Playing with My Food: The Memphis Farmers’ Market

Part 1: Peaches

On Saturday morning, despite his better judgment (and with promises of a nap later), I drug EAToo out of bed and downtown to the Memphis Farmers’ Market. Just a couple of blocks from the Mississippi River, the Memphis Farmers’ Market is a bit of a drive from the suburbs, but it’s worth the trip. Located at the old Central Station pavilion on Front Street, the MFM is open from April through October, and offers entertainment and family activities in addition to the opportunity to meet and buy food from local growers. They also sponsor events out in the community, such as their Dinner Tour this summer (the next one is at Restaurant Iris this summer.

We arrived at the MFM around 9:00 a.m. — not as early as I had hoped, considering it opens at 7:00 a.m. — but it was still fairly cool and pleasant for a July morning in Memphis, owing to the clouds that were threatening rain. My main intentions were to buy peaches and cucumbers, before heading to breakfast at Café Ecletic (more about that another time). I had bought both items a few weeks before, but had not gotten around to using the produce due to a rather unfortunate incident involving my (now former) car and a light pole on I-240.

I did get my peaches (purchased from the lovely folks at Jones Orchard) and some lovely pickling cucumbers (from the Ly Vu family farm). After some discussion, and a promise from EAToo that he would help me keep it alive, we also bought a basil plant. Our final stop (which required very little discussion) was at Bun in the Oven bakery and catering, for the best carmelitas I have ever had. (Sorry, Mom.)

Saturday afternoon, I began my first project, a peach cobbler. Since I hadn’t made a cobbler in years, I did a bit of recipe research online, but couldn’t find a cobbler recipe that sounded right to me. I finally gave up and went with my old standby, the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. (A wedding gift in 1993, mine is the updated version of my mother’s BH&G, which I used to read over and over as a child, the way normal kids would have read a favorite storybook.) It’s a great starting place for just about anything I want to cook, and very useful for conversions, ingredient substitutions, etc. However, as always, I couldn’t help but going off book a bit. Here’s the recipe as I actually ended up making it:

Peach Cobbler

EA’s Peach Cobbler
(as adapted from Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook)

Ingredients for filling:

4 c. sliced peaches (about 8 or 9 medium peaches)
1 c. sugar
1 tbsp. corn starch
1/4 c. water

Preheat oven to 400°. Peel and slice peaches into a 2-quart baking dish. (I suggest doing your peeling and slicing over your baking dish, so as not to lose any juice.) In a separate bowl, mix the sugar, corn starch, and water to form a slurry. Stir the slurry into the peaches. After the oven has fully preheated, go ahead and place the baking dish into the oven to allow the filling to cook a bit while you make the dough for the topping.

Ingredients for topping:

1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
5 tbsp. butter
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 to 1/2 c. milk, as needed

Combine flour, sugar, and baking powder. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a separate bowl, combine eggs and ¼ cup milk. Stir into flour mixture until just moist. Add milk as needed until dough is completely moist and a workable consistency. Drop topping dough by spoonfuls onto hot filling. Spread to cover — the crust won’t spead much as it bakes. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick in center comes out clean.

The cobbler turned out pretty well, although I really think it needed more sugar (I added more in the recipe above). The BFFs definitely seemed to enjoy it, and didn’t force me to take the leftovers home with me, which I think is a good sign.

My project Sunday afternoon was to use at least some of the remaining peaches for ice cream. This time, I did go with an internet recipe that I found on AllRecipes.com. After much looking around, I went with this recipe. Yes, I know. It calls for eggs, and yet the custard isn’t ever cooked. But EAToo and I weren’t scared, and you shouldn’t be, either. (It’s not that I laugh in the face of salmonella — it’s just that food borne illness from uncooked eggs is unlikely. If you’re worried, buy pasteurized eggs.)

It was during my ice cream making adventure that I had my only unfortunate incident of the weekend. Saturday afternoon, EAToo kept offering to peel and slice peaches for me. He swore he was just offering to help so I could work on something else, but I’m pretty sure he thought I was going to hurt myself. On Sunday, while peeling and cutting the peaches for the ice cream, I thought I had slightly cut my thumb. Except there was no blood. Turns out that I had given myself a little splinter from a peach pit, once again ensuring my title as “Queen of the Freak Accidents.”

For some reason that I can’t properly explain, the ice cream didn’t freeze in my ice cream maker. Now, I don’t mean it didn’t get hard. I mean it was still liquid. Not one to give up, I went ahead and froze the mix in a bowl in the freezer, with pretty decent results:

Peach Ice Cream

It’s extremely rich ice cream, with the eggs and heavy cream. But that’s fine — I managed not to overindulge. You don’t need a lot at one time with the kind of flavor you get from the Jones Orchard peaches. And let’s face it — if I wanted to worry about the calories, I’d have skipped the ice cream making in the first place.

Stay tuned for Part 2: Adventures in Pickling!