Donna the Buffalo sounds like: “Ralph Stanley sitting in with Bob Marley’s Reggae/Zydeco All Stars, and that’s beyond nice…”

So I’ve recently discovered that there are a ton of killer Donna the Buffalo YouTube clips… Watching them reminds me that Jeb has about the best stage presence I’ve ever seen in a musician. You can see him in true form in the first clip below from 2006. In the second clip, check out the gathering herd and band at the Barton Hall in Ithaca ten years earlier in 1996…classic. And the third vid is a nice, mellow and rainy version of Way Back When from Grassroots 2007, last summer. Enjoy the sounds of central NY…

Buffalo, NY 2006 – Blue Sky

Click here to view the embedded video.

Barton Hall Ithaca, NY 1996 – If You Only Could

Click here to view the embedded video.

Grassroots 2007 – Trumansburg, NY – Way Back When

Click here to view the embedded video.

Note: The Herd is a growing family of people who enjoy the music and atmosphere surrounding Donna the Buffalo.

After a long week of dealing with a nasty cold that has victimized all three of us I decided we could use a treat. I didn’t have the time or energy to make Grandma McKenney’s cinnamon rolls so I improvised and made cinnamon biscuits instead. They turned out quite good actually, but you really can’t go wrong with anything that contains butter and sugar, right? They brought up a flood of memories for me. Whenever I had the opportunity to stay with my aunt Laurel as a youngster she would make a stop almost every morning at the Hardee’s down the road for their yummy cinnamon biscuits and coffee before we headed up the canyon to Alta. I’m so excited because I nailed it. They taste exactly like what I remember.

Cinnamon Biscuits

2 cups flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

6 tbsp unsalted butter (cut into pieces)

3/4 cup milk

Set your oven temp at 425. Combine flour, salt, sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl. Cut butter into dry ingredients. Stir in milk. Don’t over mix or you will end up with a tough dough instead of a nice flaky dough. Bake for about 8 to 10 minutes. Also, you can get ahead of the game by mixing everything but the milk the night before and just add the milk the next morning. If your like me this helps prevent mistakes due to the pre-coffee “morning fog”. Finally mix up a bit of powdered sugar with some milk for a tasty frosting. Wala!

On another topic but relevant to our Saturday morning: Gary informed me that he added the Neil Young “Living With War Today” link to the site. I was going to try to avoid political commentary on this blog but Gary is so passionate about wanting a change I guess we should share what we are doing and talking about. Besides I am a big Neil Young fan, and Harvest Moon is my all time favorite song.

Click here to view the embedded video.

We just got done watching all the video of his recording sessions. In case you haven’t heard about Living With War (LWW), this is Neil Young’s documentary recording series focused on the part of the war you WILL NOT see on the main stream news, and protesting the war in Iraq. Neil is still at it. Bless this man! If you’re interested, here are some links:

• Living With War Today Videos (All videos are included in the “Living With War: In The Beginning” CD/DVD set.)
• This video is particularly touching. Neil talks about how when he finished and was reciting the lyrics to his wife, he broke down crying: Flags of Freedom

Finally something so wonderful to post about. Ellen is starting to sit up on her own! She is also starting to say mama in her babble mostly when she is complaining or on the verge of crying (not sure how I should feel about this). She doesn’t associate mama with me yet but its exciting none the less. Needless to say our hearts are soaring.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I’m totally getting into these youtube clips fun stuff…

oh, and here is a little bonus poem/rant of Gary’s…

Can’t trust the machine. Rotten food consumed by helpless babies
with families that can’t afford to pay for anymore than the big
grocery store brands. Time to farm it up. Be sustainable. Don’t
rely on semi-trailers hauling rotten spinach and meat 2000 miles
to make you sick, or die.

We’re coming to farm it up my friend. Here is a preliminary 3-
year plan I am spewing out as I type…this outlines our
migration to the heartland of my youth. A place with forests
and lakes.

• Year 1:
  • Potatoes & tomatoes galore to get the soil conditioned
  • Install coup and bring 12 Hens on board, with one Rooster
  • Prune legacy fruit trees and berry bushes
  • Get annual herb garden in the ground
  • Dig root cellar for Potato stock
  • Fence in 1-3 acres for livestock
  • Establish relationship with local food co-op
  • Register booths at ALL market’s within two hour drive
• Year 2:
  • Purchase rootsy flat bed truck for market trips
  • Embrace more heirloom varieties in garden
  • Bring sheeps and goats on board in fenced acreage
  • Expand free range chicken farm for co-op
  • Build outdoor clay oven
  • Sing to fruit trees and berry bushes with Ellie
  • Harvest first season of sheepwool and goat milk
• Year 3:
  • All of the above, plus add annual summer trip to Alaska, where I’ll return with 65 lbs of smoked and frozen wild Salmon