Compared to a cooking method like boiling potatoes, using less water will help prevent nutrient and often color loss. Ever boil veggies like broccoli and wonder why it ends up coming out all soggy, dull looking, and bland? All the delicious vitamins and flavors end up in the swampy-looking water in your pot. Microwaving steams the veggies from the inside-out, helping them retain their vibrant colors.
Cooking veggies safely in the microwave comes down to the kind of container you use to cook them in, and what you use as a cover (to prevent you having to clean-up an impromptu splatter paint masterpiece on the inside of your microwave).
Cook Up King WAV
Beyoncé conceived and recorded Renaissance during the COVID-19 pandemic, seeking to inspire joy and escapism in listeners who had experienced isolation and to celebrate a club era in which marginalized people sought liberation through dance music. With its songs seamlessly arranged like a DJ mix, the album blends post-1970s Black dance music styles such as disco and house and pays homage to the Black and queer pioneers of those genres. The album's lyrical content explores themes of escapism, hedonism, self-assurance and self-expression.
The album received universal acclaim from music critics for its eclectic yet cohesive sound, joyous mood, and Beyoncé's vocal performance. The most highly lauded album of 2022, it was named the best album of the year by publications including the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, NPR, Pitchfork, and Rolling Stone and received nine nominations at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Record of the Year. Renaissance won four awards, making Beyoncé the most Grammy-awarded person in history, while its loss in the Album of the Year category was widely described as a "snub".
Creating this album allowed me a place to dream and to find escape during a scary time for the world. It allowed me to feel free and adventurous in a time when little else was moving. My intention was to create a safe place, a place without judgment. A place to be free of perfectionism and overthinking. A place to scream, release, feel freedom.
The tracks are connected by seamless transitions facilitated by beatmatching, evoking a DJ mix.[24][31] This reflects "the shifting moods and the physicality of the dance floor" rather than "the constraints of a radio station or a playlist", according to The New Yorker's Carrie Battan.[32] Some tracks also have unconventional song structures, containing multiple tempos and movements.[17][33][34]
Beyoncé collaborated with, sampled and interpolated several progenitors of dance music on the album, including both mainstream and underground artists. This made the album a celebration of black and queer dance culture, with Vulture's Charlie Harding liking it to "a DJ set curated by house-music pioneers".[39]
On June 20, 2022, Beyoncé announced the album's lead single, "Break My Soul", would be released at midnight Eastern Time on June 21, to coincide with the 2022 summer solstice.[56][57] The song appeared on music streaming service Tidal hours early, on June 20, and a lyric video was later released on YouTube.[58][59] The song peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100, making it her twelfth total career chart topper (eighth as a solo artist) and her first solo song to do so since "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" in 2008.[60]
On September 21, 2022, Hiphop-n-more reported that "Church Girl" would be released as the album's second single; a week later, it was announced that it would be simultaneously released alongside "Cuff It" as the next two singles.[61] "Church Girl" was scheduled to impact rhythmic contemporary radio on October 4, 2022,[62] but the release failed to materialize whereas "Cuff It" was released as the sole second single, being sent to radio in France on September 28, 2022.[63] It impacted rhythmic and urban contemporary radio stations in the United States on October 4, 2022.[62][64] The song peaked within the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, making it the 21st song in her solo career to reach this milestone, and 31st overall.[65]
The song "Heated" was met with criticism online for its use of the word "spaz" in its lyrics, which disability advocates said is an ableist slur.[100] Other users online said that "spaz" has a different meaning in Black American English and is synonymous with "freaking out".[101][100] Beyoncé announced the following day that the word would be removed from the song, with the word soon being replaced with "blast".[102]
At the end of 2022, Renaissance appeared atop a number of critics' lists ranking the year's top albums. According to Metacritic, it was the most prominently ranked record of 2022, and the album that was listed at number one by the most publications (25 publications).[103] Renaissance was the most nominated album at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, receiving nine including Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Record of the Year. This tied Beyoncé with Jay-Z as the most Grammy-nominated artists of all time. Her four wins made her the most awarded artist in Grammy history with 32 wins, surpassing the previous record of 31 that was held for 22 years by Hungarian-British conductor Georg Solti.[104][105]
Considered by many music critics and journalists to be the favorite for Album of the Year, Renaissance's loss to Harry Styles' Harry's House was widely considered a "snub" or upset, with some critics ascribing Beyoncé's repeated losses in this category to the Recording Academy's overlooking or misunderstanding of Black women musicians and African American musical styles.[106][107][108]
Additionally, Renaissance became Beyoncé's first album since I Am... Sasha Fierce (2008) to achieve multiple top ten singles in the United States, with "Break My Soul" and "Cuff It" peaking at number 1 and 10 respectively.
By its second day of release, Renaissance was outselling the rest of the week's top five bestselling albums combined in the UK.[24] The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, becoming Beyoncé fourth album to do so as a solo act, and her fifth including Destiny's Child. The album also debuted at number one on the Official Vinyl Albums Chart.[134] In Ireland, Renaissance debuted atop the Irish Albums Chart, becoming Beyoncé's fifth number one album in the country. Simultaneously, "Break My Soul" also peaked at number one on the Irish Singles Chart, allowing Beyoncé to score an Irish Chart Double.[135] In France, Renaissance debuted at number one on the SNEP albums chart, becoming Beyoncé's first number one album and her fourth top ten album in the country. Previously, 4 was Beyoncé's highest-charting album in the country, peaking at number two in 2011. Additionally, the album was the first album by a female artist to top the chart in 2022.[136] In the Netherlands, the album landed atop the Album Top 100, becoming Beyoncé's third consecutive album to reach the summit in the country. The album has so far spent three non-consecutive weeks at number one, following its return to number one in its 11th week on the chart.[137]
A number of industry fellows reacted positive towards the release. American singer Crystal Waters, who helped make house music mainstream in the 1990s, said she was "ecstatic" when she heard Beyoncé's new music and expressed gratitude for how she is shining a light on underappreciated house singers.[143] Chicago house DJ Ron Carroll described Renaissance as a "trailblazing" album that has reintroduced house music to the radio and encouraged other musicians to follow Beyoncé's lead.[144] Aluna Francis of English electronic music duo AlunaGeorge lauded Renaissance for its impact on dance music and its Black creators. Francis explained that throughout her career, she had hoped and fought for the widespread recognition of Black musicians' place in dance music. Francis wrote that this revolution has now occurred following the release of Renaissance, with Beyoncé breaking stigmas and declaring that dance music is Black music, in turn encouraging listeners to reflect on the visibility and exploitation of Blackness within dance genres. Francis added that Renaissance could greatly benefit the investment and growth of communities around the world which allow Black dance music to thrive.[145]
Other musicians also praised the album for its impact and musicology. British singer-songwriter Ellie Goulding said that her upcoming album Higher Than Heaven is a dance and house album in the same vein as Renaissance, with Beyoncé taking those genres globally.[146] She later said that Renaissance restored her faith in pop music after the genre was heading in a bad direction.[147] American singer SZA said that the album was the biggest risk a mainstream artist has taken in recent years.[148] American musician Sufjan Stevens praised the production on the album, telling Stereogum: "The wizardry on that album is so awesome and frustrating for me as a musician, because even if you took out her vocals, I'm still obsessed; I'm still intrigued by the engineering and production that's going on and the harmonic relationship between chords."[149]
Experience musical worlds colliding against the backdrop of international politics and war. Go back in time to 1400, when Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos, seeking foreign aid for besieged Constantinople, spent Christmas in the court of English King Henry IV.
These chicken dinners are the opposite of boring. From soups to casseroles to easy slow cooker recipes, we've got something for every night of the week...and then some. Plus, make one of these sides that go perfectly with chicken.
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