NCM Fathom and Sony Masterworks have brought the four string virtuosos together to  perform songs off their collaborative album, The Goat Rodeo Sessions, at the House of Blues® in Boston, which will be broadcast live to theaters nationwide.

Tickets for The Goat Rodeo Sessions LIVE are available at participating theater box offices and online at www.FathomEvents.com. For a complete list of theater locations and prices, visit the NCM Fathom website (theaters and participants are subject to change). The event will be broadcast to more than 430 select movie theaters across the country, which I think is extremely cool on many levels.  It is rare for most people to afford to go to a live concert with artists of this calibre.  It is even rarer for mainstream population to have access to these artists unless they are in a city where a tour is taking place.  This brings the power of live to 430 different venues across the US and the chance to see such talent in this type of collaborative effort is stunning.  The music is not for everyone’s tastes.  The combination is like a blue-grass, jazz, structured jam session.  It is exciting music, with unexpected and intense twists, jumps, and turns.  From Sony:

While each artist is a prominent figure in his own music sphere, the group came together as a unified ensemble on a most remarkable and organic cross-genre project.  The Goat Rodeo Sessions is an 11-song recording of original compositions that has been dubbed “genre proof” by the group. The music feels both new and familiar – it’s composed and improvised, uptown and down home, funky and pastoral, and above all, uniquely American.

I agree.  For a partial sound sample of the released album, here you go.   “Attaboy” will have your heart racing, your feet tapping and your head bobbing in about 5 seconds.  And “No One But You” will have just have your heart.  Great talent and great music. LIVE. Enjoy. At $15/ticket, I know my daughter and I will!

First is an unusual memoir/cookbook by none other than the always amazing Linda Evans.  Yes, I have a fireplace, and yes, I LOVE to curl up with a good book.  But what I love the best is when I can curl up with a good book and smell dinner cooking in the other room.  For those of us boomers who watched every episode of Dynasty with bated breath, Linda Evans was beauty personified.  But who knew she was a great chef, too?  In her truly delightful book, Recipes for Life, My Memories, Evans weaves her life story with recipes from those periods in her life, including recipes from many of her celebrity friends (like Leslie and Tony Curtis’ Lemon Souffle with Raspberry Sauce!).  It’s an inventive take on creating a memoir and the peek inside her life and her ability to rebound (with gusto) from the bumps in the road of her life, make for a really fresh read.  Here’s a freebie recipe:

Linda’s Famed Artichoke Dip
By Linda Evans,
Author of Recipes For Life: My Memories

I’ve been making my artichoke dip for years. Practically everyone who has ever tasted it has asked me for the recipe. It’s perfect for large parties or for smaller, intimate gatherings. Or when your husband’s ex-wife comes to dinner! The secret here is to use the artichoke bottoms, not the hearts. Artichoke hearts may be easier to find, they don’t produce the same results. The recipe easily doubles or triples for large gatherings. You can also replace the artichokes with 7 ounces of lump crab meat for a delicious variation.

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, at room temperature
½ cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Tabasco (or more, to taste)
1½ tablespoons thinly sliced scallions (white part only)
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese (I prefer Parmigiano-Reggiano)
1 (13¾ ounce) can artichoke bottoms (not hearts), drained and finely diced

Preheat oven to 350°F.

With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese with the mayonnaise. One by one, blend in the Tabasco sauce, scallions, and Parmesan.

Using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, fold in the artichokes (don’t use the mixer for this).

Spoon the mixture into a 3-cup baking dish and bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm with crackers.

The above is an excerpt from the book Recipes For Life: My Memories by Linda Evans.

Here’s a coupon site that gives as it receives.  What if every purchase you made at 2,500 retailers (from Amazon to Zales) earned a free donation for your favorite charity?

GoodShop.com is an online shopping mall that donates a percentage of each purchase from more than 2,500 stores to the charity or school of your choice.  I’ve tried it out and while I couldn’t find some of the charities I wanted to donate to, I was able to find enough to make this site worthy of a mention.  It also provides over 100,000 of coupons and free shipping deals so you save a bit of money. If you are an online shopper, like me, this is a good find.

Chocolate.  Chocolate.  So many choices and isn’t it nice to find something new and interesting in the world of chocolate?  Yum…Frangelico Truffles are created by renowned chocolatier, Maribel Lieberman, chef/owner of MarieBelle Fine Chocolates in New York.   

The truffles are available at Neiman Marcus stores and online (for those without a Neiman Marcus near them) and come beautifully packaged in five different assortments to chose from, starting at just $15– a reasonably priced for the chocolate lovers in your life!

Forever in Blue Jeans, Baby.   The master of making a Boomer swoon, Neil Diamond, is justabout to release a long-awaited compilation CD of 23 of his best-loved hits from the 1960′s to 2008.  With his inside recollection liner notes and the authenticity behind the original studio recordings, who wouldn’t want this as a Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanza or … ANY kind of reason for a present?  Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings The Very Best of Neil Diamond – The Original Studio Recordings on Tuesday, December 6.

I’ll let you know what else I find that is super special.