Dinner Prep Music

If it’s not immediately obvious, Annie and I are no strangers to getting in the kitchen and whipping up something for dinner. Sure, we enjoy it, but we’re also total cheapskates. We don’t order delivery that often and it’s even rarer that we go out to eat, which really isn’t a huge deal now thanks to the COVID-19 induced dumpster fire that is the year 2020. So while we’re putting together our soon-to-be leftovers, there’s one thing that is an absolute must for the kitchen: music.

Growing up, we were both in families that played music in the house a lot. Like, all the time. So naturally we have an inclination to do the same as adults. And not just because we enjoy listening to music while we’re making dinner (or while doing anything, really). Not having at least something on in the background us f*&#!ing boring.

When it comes to the question of what to play, we’re creatures of habit: jazz and standards are the go-to. But not like crappy weather channel jazz. Cool, bebop jazz from the likes of Count Basie, Dave Brubeck, Thelonious Monk, Vince Guaraldi, and friends.

Typically we’ll just let our Amazon Echo do the playlist selections for us with a “Alexa, play music like Dean Martin” or “Alexa, play music like Charlie Parker”. That usually does the trick, but there’s something special about curating the perfect playlist for the occasion. The digital equivalent of the mixtape. So that’s exactly what we have: our personal selections that we think are outstanding for dinner prep. Now all we need to do to get started is a quick “Alexa, play my dinner prep playlist” and we’re golden.