FEBRUARY 2025 - 💕

in spite of ourselves we'll end up sittin' on a 🌈

Every Valentine’s Day, I listen to 69 Love Songs. For those unfamiliar it is the sixth studio album by the The Magnetic Fields. It’s a three volume concept album that is composed of you guessed it 69 love songs, all written by the Magnetic Fields frontman Stephen Merritt.

He came up with this idea at a piano bar in Manhattan listening to the pianist’s interpretations of Stephen Sondheim songs. When the idea first struck him he intended to write 100 love songs as a way of introducing himself to the world, really baring his soul so that the listener could truly get to know him at his most vulnerable state, explaining what love means to him. The then like most of us when we think big and then start to think practically that it would be a long feat, 100 songs sounded just too ding dang much. So he settle on 69, romance amirite? Merritt wrote most of the songs at Dick’s Bar (now closed) in New York, sometimes writing for almost 8 hours a day.

The funny thing about 69 Love Songs is that Merritt always intended it to be an album about love songs, not a album about love. The album is a music genre buffet country, synth pop, jazz and truly some of the saddest love ballads I’ve heard since I fell into the deep hole that is a love of Townes Van Zandt…but enough about me. The 69 songs deal with love in one from or another, ironic, off beat and exploring love in all its forms.

When I as in the concept stage of my project that would become my book 50 pies, 50 states in 2015? 2016?! I thought a lot about The Magnetic Fields and about Merritt and his long quest he found himself on. I thought about how he was using music to explain, understand and describe love in all its forms, platonic, sexual, unrequited. I with my project was doing the exact same thing but in pie form.

I went on my journey like he did to figure something out in my life. Mine was my sense of home, belonging and being able to finally give and expressed the love I have for the people in my life in written form. Giving the people their roses when I could not when I had too. What I didn’t realize was like Merritt wanted the songs to introduce him into the world, with my pies I would be doing the exact same thing.

What his journey and mine taught me is that the real common thread that runs through everyones lives, projects, day to day is that the motivation for it all really boils down to love.

Love in all of its forms, interpretations and meanings.

Below are my favorite songs on each of the volumes:
Volume one
"I Don't Want to Get Over You" - “Or I could make a career of bein' blue, I could dress in black and read Camus, Smoke clove cigarettes and drink Vermouth”

Volume Two
"(Crazy for You But) Not That Crazy" - “I built a ship with my own hands to take us to the moon, I took a pen in my own hand and wrote you a hundred tunes. Now I'm crazy for you but not that crazy.”

Volume Three
"Busby Berkeley Dreams" - “I should have forgotten you long along, but you’re in every song I wrote” - in every pie I bake away a little bit of the sadness

I unlike Merritt cannot write 100 love songs but I can make you a playlist of 69 of the most romantic songs in my book, for all kinds of love in your life. I recommend going at in shuffle. You never know what you’ll conjure up in your heart as each mystery track plays.

Notable tracks
”Shake the Frost” - Tyler Childers - for I too hope one day someone tells me that “I remind them of a Sunday”, arguably the most perfect day of the week.

“Can’t Do Much” - Waxahatchee - this song is perfect. Katie Crutchfield wrote this song three months into her relationship with Kevin Morby. He found the scribbled down lyrics to what this song would become on a piece of paper in her apartment and asked her what it was. She finished the song and said that it was exactly the way she felt about him. I think that his reply was most definitely the song “Stop Before I Cry” (also on the playlist). Listen to them back to back and you’ll see what I mean.

“You and I” - Mountain Man - this is of course a cover of the Wilco song from their 2009 album Wilco (The Album) Hearing it in Mountain Man’s most lovely harmonies brought a whole new level of earnestness to the song.

Happy Valentine’s Day lovers!
Here’s love loving a little more and a little harder this year!

xoxo
Stacey

What I am…
WATCHING: Hacks on MAX - I am powered through all the seasons. I KNOW I am late to the game. I am loved how intimately I got to know every one of these characters so much so that when I got to the end of season 3, I cried because I’m going to miss my friends.” Till next season!

LISTENING: Lifeform - Jenny Slate - when I am not ploughing through one of my hours long playlists or let’s be honest, listening to Waxahatchee. I am usually listening to an audio book in my kitchen. I breeze through the chapters as I breeze through my prep list. I love Jenny Slates style of comedy and her cadence in writing. Plus the audio book is narrated by her and has some wonderful guest appearances from some of everyones fave SNL alums like Will Forte. Its a book about motherhood, the journey and coming out the other side.

Pie Love You Berry Much: Love Letter Hand Pies

Prep Time: 3 hours
Cook Time: 20-30 mins
Total Time: 3 hours 30 minutes
Yield: 15 envelopes, 14 to give away, one for yourself

Everyone loves a little correspondence, especially when the little letter is made out of pie crust and filled with jam! These mini hand pies are a Pinterest board fave with a lil bit of a spiced twist! They are folded like an envelope and filled with a slightly spicy strawberry jam, cause what is love without a little spice! However you like to take your correspondence these are sure to be a romantic gesture! Calculated so that you get one to eat for yourself too! Cause you are numero uno!

Crust: 4 all butter pie crusts, rolled out into rectangles, about 1/8 inch thick.
Recipe available in 50 pies, 50 states

Filling
3 cups strawberries, frozen is fine, if frozen thawed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
2 teaspoons smoked chili flakes
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon vanilla paste
Pinch of kosher salt

Egg Wash
2 large eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons whole milk

Special Equipment
Pizza cutter
Clear ruler
Heart shape cookie cutter about 1 inch wide

Instructions
Make the Filling
In a medium size sauce pan over medium heat, add in all the filling ingredients. Cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally till mixture thickens. Once the mixture can coat the back of a spoon, turn it out on to a sheet pan and spread out to cool. Set aside till ready to assemble the pies.

Prep the Crust
On a floured surface, place rolled out pie crust and using a ruler and a pizza cutter (or sharp knife) cut dough out into 4 x 4 inches squares. Use left over pie crust to cut out small hearts with heart shaped cookie cutter.

Assemble the Pies
Rotate the squares to resemble diamond shapes, and add 1 heaping teaspoon of strawberry mixture in the center (do not overfill) of each. Lightly brush the bottom edges of the diamond with egg wash. Following the folds of a real envelope, close the left, right, and bottom flaps over the raspberry jam, leaving the upper flap open. Egg wash one side of the pastry heart and arrange wet side down onto the folded edges of the pastry envelope. Place pastries envelopes on a parchment lined baking sheet. Freeze for at least 15 minutes, up to 30 minutes.

Bake the Pies
Pre heat oven to 375 degrees.
Take pastries from the freezer and brush with egg wash, dust lightly with finishing sugar. Bake for 20-30 minutes until lightly golden brown. Rotating the pastries at 10 minutes. Let the pastries cool on the baking sheet for at least an hour.

Package them up and give them to people you love or save em all for yourself. Better yet give it to your crush as a little wink and a nod that they should probably ask you out for a bevy and a chat.

Happy Valentine’s Day y’all! xoxo