Music to my Ears!!!!

Throughout my life I have been to different concerts, seen many bands and heard all sorts of music. I think about the artists and how they've changed over time.

I grew up in a big family and there was all sorts of music. My mother loved Bing Crosby, Pat Boone and Irish music, we sat and listened to it on our old radiogram! I loved to listen to and still do The Police, Sting, ELO, America, Fleetwood Mac, The Beach Boys, The Beatles and a few more. I remember hearing my one of older brothers and sisters talking about a river cruise they went on and seeing a band called Highway, later they changed their name to Sherbet, a well known Australian band in the 1970's.
When I went to high school one of my friends loved to play the guitar and later went on to play in the Baby Animals.

There are a lot of Hotels and Pubs as we call them in Australia. They had what we called a "Sunday Session" which was popular, you listened bands playing music while you drank and caught up with friends.

Over  the years I have seen, in Australia, the Rolling Stones with Mick strutting his stuff and flames coming up on the stage! All ok, just part of the performance. The Who at an open air concert as well as Elton John and Billy Joel dueling away on their keyboards and singing!
In America I saw The Beach Boys at a concert in a small stadium. There were enormous beach balls for people to hit around the stadium while waiting for them to come on stage.
One of my favourite memories was one sunny Sunday afternoon, I remember going to a place on the beachfront in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina  for a drink and to relax with friends. The next thing, The Drifters appeared and played some songs....now that was cool! 

Today I am married to a Radio Announcer who loves his music and have a child that turns the radio up and changes the channel in the car! I laugh when a song comes on and it is remixed from music when I was  growing up. My child wants to know how I know the lyrics  because it is only a new release!!! What's the old saying? "Everything old is new again."

I hope this makes you stop and think of something to do with music from the past, if not, put it on your to do list and go to a concert. Never too old to make a memory!

Now for a recipe, put some music on while you cook.....

Chicken Cannelloni
 
Ingredients

1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
500 grams of chicken mince
250 grams of ricotta cheese
250 grams fresh English spinach
200 gram packet of instant cannelloni shells
1 bottle, about 575grams, of pasta sauce
For cheese sauce
4 tablespoons of margarine or butter
4 tablespoons of plain flour
500mls of milk
150 grams of tasty cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Method

Heat oil in a large fry pan over a medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the chicken mince and cook until slightly brown. Remove from heat, add ricotta cheese, spinach, then salt and pepper to taste.

To make cheese sauce: Melt butter or margarine in a saucepan, remove from heat and add flour. Return to heat and stir milk in slowly a little at a time. The mixture will start to thicken, make sure you keep stirring so no lumps appear. Once the sauce is thickened add the cheese and stir until a smooth paste. Remove from stove.

To assemble the cannelloni: Take the chicken mixture when it has cooled and with clean hands then fill each tube and put to one side. 

In a large square baking dish place a little of the cheese sauce on the bottom and then put the filled cannelloni on top. Spread the pasta sauce nice and evenly over the cannelloni. Place the rest of the cheese sauce on top. Finally, some people like to sprinkle a little more freshly grated cheese - that is optional.

Now cover with foil and bake in a moderate oven for about 30 minutes. Take out of the oven, remove the foil and return to oven and brown for about 5 to 10 minutes. 

I like to serve the cannelloni with a fresh green garden salad, crusty bread and perhaps a glass of wine....Enjoy!!!