Song for Lockdown #6 - Just Breathe (Pearl Jam)

Man, the last week has been rough. Everything starts to blur together. I’m somehow drinking less daily (which is great), but over a longer period of time daily (which… probably isn’t great). Anyway, I’m starting to get a good feel for my ups and downs and figuring out a way to manage them. I’m really trying to get back to thinking about music. I picked up my guitar (which I suck at playing) and played this for a bit tonight.

Just Breathe by Pearl Jam had started becoming a favorite of mine in the past few months. I could play it on the guitar and I could sing it pretty well at Karaoke. I had heard Eddie Vedder call it the closest thing they’ve ever done to a love song.

I hope you love it as much as I do.

Songs for Lockdown #5 - Dancing With Myself

I know what this song is actually about, but it’s still a great tune for these times.

Songs for Lockdown #4 - It's The End of the World

This came on while I was out for a run today and I’m surprised I hadn’t thought to listen to it before.

In 1994 when the alt-rock station The Edge was getting shut down in Minneapolis, they played this non-stop for their last 24 hours of airtime.

One fun interesting line for today’s trauma…

Team by team reporters baffled, TRUMPED, tethered, cropped

Anyway, have a listen.

Cooking for Lockdown

I have been making marinara for a long time now, but I really started doing it a lot in the last few years. It’s a great way to focus on something and take your mind away from the world. I have never written down my recipe, but I do pretty much the same thing every time. Here we go.

Starting out… white onion, garlic, oregano, rosemary, basil, san marzano tomatoes, portobello mushroom cap, and wine.

Coat the bottom of a 12” pan with a lot of olive oil (probably about 3 tbsp if you want to be exact)

1” cubed mushroom cap into the pan. Cook until the juices are out of the mushrooms.

One chopped white onion and dried chilies (who knows how many, I like it spicy… chilies are optional). Stir occasionally while moving on to the next two steps until the onions are translucent.

Wine to taste.

Dice up enough garlic to kill one (1) large Dracula. This is tedious so I won’t blame you if you use store-bought diced garlic (it also kills Dracula). Add it to the pan when the onions are translucent and stir. Let it cook for about 3 minutes.

Add the can of San Marzano tomatoes and stir. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to simmer.

Let it simmer for like twenty minutes. Move on to the next two steps while it simmers.

Wine to taste.

Chop up the basil, rosemary, and oregano.

Add the herbs and stir. Let simmer for 3-4 minutes.

Do not let them simmer for long. The heat will kill the flavor.

Move on to the next step while it simmers.

After simmering, put the marinara in a jar or tupperware (or serve! I’m just prepping for Saturday right now). Then move on to the next step.

Wine to taste.

Congratulations! You’ve just made marinara and got a little drunk!

I hope you like the recipe! Please follow me on instagram @shane.hudak or on facebook @shanehudak

Songs for Lockdown #3

Man, I had a rough couple of days (they’re all rough these days). I was going to put up another blog post on this on Tuesday night when I learned that John Prine had died. I really just learned about him a few years ago, but was so glad I did. His music was melancholic and incredibly beautiful.

His last album was released about two years ago and one song immediately was my favorite… It’s that perfect mix of sadness and happiness that he was so great at.