Speaking of the (Cold) Weather

Began the day with breakfast and more new Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. "Daniel Finds Out What's Fair" when he wants to ride in his baby sister Margaret's stroller, but his father reminds him that he's old enough to walk, and Margaret isn't. Likewise, "O the Owl Learns What's Fair" when he gives up the first seat on Trolley next to Teacher Harriet to a motion-sickness-prone Jodi. Katarina also learns about fairness when gives the baked apples they have on their school trip to Daniel, who is allergic to the peaches all the other kids had. 

Watched a bit of a later Richard Dawson Family Feud episode (I saw the lollipop trees next to the desks) before heading out to do this week's grocery shopping. I mainly needed coconut milk, a roll for lunch, and more of those little apples at Sprouts. They were having a buy one, get one 50 percent sale on many items. I grabbed two boxes of Annie's organic granola bars and two Zevia diet sodas. Loaded up a small bag with dried mango slices from the bulk bins.

The Acme was actually a bit less busy than Sprouts. Had no trouble grabbing blood oranges, Kind and Made Good breakfast bars (the latter was on sale with an online coupon), a Poppi and two Olipop sodas, oatmeal cookies (also on sale with an online coupon), yogurt, bagels, more of the Crest Gum Detoxify Enamel Restore toothpaste that was on clearance, and water for the ride home. Though they weren't on sale, I grabbed a box of spice cake mix and a bottle of Canada Dry ginger ale for an experiment I wanted to do later. 

Had a quick lunch of peanut butter and apple butter on the Sprouts kaiser roll and a clementine, then vacuumed and Swiftered my rooms while watching Gold Diggers of 1937. I go further into this bizarre entry in the Warners series at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Gold Diggers of 1937

Switched to Match Game '73 while doing the dusting and pulling out the stuffed snowmen I have as general winter decorations, and later as I ate dinner. Yes, the second episode we saw tonight featured Gene and that infamously hideous green plaid suit. It was so ugly, the panelists wouldn't even look at him when he came in. Patti Deusch made her debut on the show the next week, joined by Jim "Mr. Magoo" Backus. Patti took offense to Gene's attempt to ask her about her answer by saying "Can we get a little milk from Patti here?"

Went downstairs between shows to try that baking experiment. I've seen many recipes online mention using soda instead of eggs or oil in cake mix to make it fluffy and give it a unique taste. I've been craving something spice, and it seemed to suit today's blustery and chilly (if sunny) weather. Since I couldn't find pans to make cupcakes or a sheet cake, it became a coffee cake with the addition of a struesel topping. Ginger Spice Coffee Cake came out a bit dry but otherwise tasty and smelled amazing in the oven.

Finished the night back upstairs with music while I worked on the review. Hooray for Hollywood is a collection of songs from Berkeley musicals I picked up during one of my trips into Philadelphia last summer. What I like about this one is you don't always get the songs from these movies you expect. The title song is probably the most familiar today. The entry from Gold Diggers of '37 is "All's Fair In Love and War"; we get "The Words are the Music In My Heart" from '35. 42nd Street is represented by Bebe Daniels' playful ballad "You're Getting to Be a Habit With Me." There's also songs from lesser-known entries, like "The Lady In Red" from In Caliente and "Don't Say Goodnight" from Wonder Bar.

I'm not a fan of the mushy 1993 romantic comedy Sleepless In Seattle, but I've loved the soundtrack since it came out. I had the cassette for 20 years before I finally found it on CD. This soundtrack was my first exposure to many classic jazz standards, like "Stardust" (here performed by Nat King Cole) and "A Kiss to Build a Dream On" (a delightful Louis Armstrong). We even get some early country with Gene Autry's "Back In the Saddle" and Tammy Wynette's "Stand By Your Man." The major hit was "When I Fall In Love" with Celine Dion and Clive Griffith, while Harry Connick Jr.'s "A Wink and a Smile" was nominated for an Oscar. If you are a jazz aficionado or also have a budding one in your household, the score here holds many treasures.