I've been riding an exercise bike twenty-four minutes a day for five years now. I go downstairs to ride at 9:00 am when 103.7 FM, The Mountain broadcasts its' commercial-free "Nine at Nine" segment. Every day the disc jockeys feature a year between the 70's to the present day. Last Tuesday I pedaled to 1976—David Bowie, Tom Petty, Tin Lizzie and Queen. My energy surges and ebbs and according to the revolutions per minute—when they are up to 80 rpm, I am rocking.




Queen's, "Somebody to Love" powered me through the Tuesday doldrums. The song reminded me, as only a song can, of a specific time and place: the post-dinner rush at Sound Food.  Patty, my pantry cook, and I cleaned the line after the last dog had been served. By 11:00, we had been slammed by at least 200 customers, four hyper-active waitron units, one surly dishwasher, and we were ready for a beer and a bed. Music got us through.

Bob the baker listened to tapes during his 1:00 am -7:00 am shift, dancing with whoever came into his reach. Floured with flour and caked with cake, the tape player had seen better days. There was no volume control. A pair of pliers, if you brought your own, reduced the sound from ear-splitting to loud. Musical choices were limited: Bo Diddley, Fats Domino and Chuck Berry for solo jitterbugging in the earliest morning hours; swing music when the first breakfast waitress showed up; and head-banging music from the radio to finish off the day. Patty and I needed head banging and found two Queen tapes. Bob didn't much care for Queen, but it suited our late night clean up perfectly.

We listened to that tape each night for months. Before long, we knew every word and performed our way through the grill scrub, the stove scrape, and the floor mop. Years later, while searching through a Tupperware T-shirt spread at a Eugene yard sale,  I heard the familiar words of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody". A ten-year old boy was belting out the song to his little sister who sat in rapt attention. The boy knew every word, every falsetto, every arm expanse. Good things never disappear.

Here are a few good recipes from the golden era of Sound Food.

Orange Date Muffins

1 orange

½ c. orange juice
½ c. chopped dates
¼ c. softened butter
1 egg
1 ½ c. flour
¾ c. sugar
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1 t. salt

Either remove rind from orange and chop finely or grate orange-only part of peel, then chop whole orange. Add coarsely chopped orange, orange rind, dates, soft butter and egg—combine well.

Sift together dry ingredients and add to orange/butter/egg mix until it is just combined. Don’t over mix. Bake 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

Sesame Chicken

Perfect when cooked, cooled and picnicked. Also reheats well.

One cut up frying chicken

Marinade:
½ c. honey
½ c. lemon juice
1 c. sesame seeds, toasted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine marinade ingredients. Brown cut up fryer in hot oil. Be sure to let the oil come up to a near smoke stage before browning the chicken and please, don’t bother the pieces until a nice crust forms on the bottom.  Pour off excess oil. Pour sesame marinade over chicken, bake in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Basting the pieces during the cooking time can only help.

Sound Food Clam or Fish Chowder

3 T. butter
3 T. flour
2 c. ½ & ½ or heavy cream
Liquid reserved from one can clams
Plus remainder of chicken or fish stock to equal 2 cups
2 stalks celery, fine dice
1 onion, fine dice
3 carrots, fine dice
1 t. dry thyme
¼ t. dried dill or 2 Tbs. chopped fresh dill
2 cans canned chopped clams or 1# firm fish (salmon, halibut, cod, snapper) cut into chunks

Drain clams and combine liquid with chicken or fish stock to equal two cups. Melt butter and flour for roux. Saute vegetables in roux until soft. Add stock and simmer until thickened—10-15 minutes. Add cream, simmer until thickened—10-15 minutes. Add chopped clams or raw cubed fish. Cook until clams are heated through or until fish pieces are opaque. If chowder is too thick for your liking, thin with milk or half & half.

Remove fresh dill before serving. Serve with pesto, red pepper rouille,  or chopped parsley