If You’re Having Italian

Whipping up a great homemade pasta or pizza is plenty of fun, but finding the right music to accompany your meal can be a challenge.  You have a few alternatives to make your night in as good as a night out at a fancy Italian bistro.

Remember Paul Potts, the tenor who won Britain’s Got Talent?  Potts’ operatic voice is perfect if you want to bring a little Italy to the table.  Selections from Potts’ first album One Chance will help to set the scene, but do stay away from the Christmas songs unless you’re cooking Italian over the holiday season!  Potts’ second album, Passione made it to number four on the charts in Canada and can help you fill in your mix tape.

Frank Sinatra seems to go hand in hand with eating at a red and white checkered table over candlelight.  Sinatra’s big voice and Rat Pack flair will bring a certain something to your meal, even if you’re having a very simple pasta dish.  Don’t forget to include the classics, embrace the love songs and include a duet or two on your Sinatra themed mix tape!

Embrace the irony, include songs such as “Mambo Italiano” on your mix tape.

If It’s a Night of Barbeque

It’s time to create a mix of your favourite country songs.  Nothing screams (North) American down home barbeque flavour like the sounds of the banjo, or if you’re into more modern country, the sounds of big, brassy voices.

I think that a selection of Johnny Cash songs could help set the mood for a good meal, but remember to stick to the upbeat selections:  “A Boy Named Sue” and “Folsom Prison Blues” rather than “Hurt” and “One.”  Barbeques are about having fun with your food and enjoying each other’s company, not about sitting around the table listening to some of the most morose (but hauntingly beautiful) songs in Cash’s musical artillery.

Make it a coupled themed mix tape, with songs from powerhouse couples like Faith Hill and Tim McGraw and Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood.

Or enjoy your barbequed meal with singer-songwriter Bob Dylan’s more recent discs.  Together Through Life, Modern Times and Love & Theft have a quality that would go really well with an outdoor picnic table and since Dylan’s voice isn’t perfect, it sets the right mood.

Spice it Up

Help to spice up your home cooked meals by getting your honey involved in the cooking and by setting the table and the mood with music that compliments your meal.  Eating in can get boring, but with a little embellishment you can bring restaurant ambience into your house.  Enjoy eating in again!