Taking (most of) the day off

I'm tired. Tired of working, tired of cleaning, tired of driving all over, tired of stressing. I really enjoyed spending time with family over the holiday, but I'm even tired of all the commotion involved with that.

Sitting pouring myself another cup from my new teapot, I have decided that after I finish a few basic tasks, I'm going to try to take it easy today. So far my plan for the day involves taking Abbey to the farmers' market, and teaching Emma how to make spaghetti. Not just noodles and a jar of sauce, but from scratch. It's easy enough, and she loves spaghetti. She's shown a lot of interest in learning how to cook, and we've started with stuff that she likes that is easy. I've noticed she's been more willing to try new foods the last few months, which is really encouraging. I think seeing how it's made and helping make food has helped that a lot.

Christmas really was lovely. We spent lots of time with both my family and Bobby's, and time with friends. Had visits from family we hadn't seen in much too long, and even met family we had never met before. Went to see Avatar together (great movie - a tad predictable, but beautiful and very entertaining. we all enjoyed it very much, and Emma left the theater wishing she had an avatar).

Instead of a big Christmas dinner, we had a big Christmas brunch: Belgian buttermilk waffles with whipped cream, bacon, sausage, eggs scrambled with mushrooms & leeks, chorizo & eggs. And I made my grandmother's Pecan Rolls.

Pecan Rolls

Can takes up to 5-1/2 - 6 hours when you have a stand mixer doing the kneading for you.

Starter:

1/2 cup hot mashed potatoes

1/2 cup warm water from boiling the potatoes

1/2 cup scalded milk

1/2 cup flour

1 pkg. or 2-1/4 tsp. yeast

Mix the mashed potatoes, potato water, milk, and flour. When temperature drops to between 100 and 110 degrees, stir in yeast. Let rise 45 min - 1 hour.

Dough:

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup sugar

3/4 tsp. salt

2 eggs

Starter

Approximately 3-1/2 cups flour

Cream the butter and sugar until smooth. Add salt, and beat in eggs, then starter. Add flour in 1/2 cupfuls until a good doughy consistency. Knead by hand or with dough hook until dough is smooth. Place in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise at least 1 hour.

Filling:

Melted Butter (1/2 stick or so)

Brown Sugar (1/2 lb. or so)

Cinnamon (just sprinkle it around)

Raisins

Flour your working space, and roll out the dough into a large rectangle, so that it is only 1/4" thick. Brush entire rectangle with a generous amount of butter. Spread with a layer of brown sugar - not a thin layer, it should be a solid layer so that you can't see the dough underneath. Sprinkle with cinnamon and raisins to taste. Roll up dough and pinch edges. Slice roll into slices approximately 1" thick.

Topping:

Butter (1/2 stick or so)

Brown Sugar (1 to 1-1/2 cups or so)

Raisins (1 to 1-1/2 cups or so)

Pecans (1/2 lb. or so)

Cinnamon (a sprinkling)

Combine topping ingredients and mix well. Grease two 8"x8" or 9"x9" pans with butter and spread topping around bottom of the pans. (If you try to use a larger pan, you'll wind up with a center that isn't cooked through and edges that are too browned.) Arrange roll slices among pans - they will swell quite a bit when they rise, so give them plenty of wiggle room. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise 1 hour.

Bake at 375 degrees until they brown on top and look cooked through in the center. These rolls leak, especially when crowded in the pan, so you probably want to put a large sheet pan underneath to catch dripping brown sugar/butter. Start checking after 20 minutes. When finished, remove from oven and immediately turn out onto foil. Wrap up in foil until ready to eat.

Best eaten when still warm from the oven - the edges toughen a little when reheated (reheats much better in the oven or toaster oven than in the microwave). They will stay warm longer if you put them in a long flat basket lined with a kitchen towel and cover with another kitchen towel. And if your rolls don't swell enough to catch all the topping, there will be people picking the leftover topping directly out of the foil.

I'm sure we received too much stuff altogether, and I only wish we could have given as much as we received. We got a Wii, and a Wii Fit Plus, which I'm really excited about, but my guilty pleasure the last few evenings has been Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga. I think I'm about 20% finished with the game already.

When my mom's family got together for Christmas in early December, we did what we often do - everyone brought a dish that my grandmother used to make often. Some people have one recipe, other people have others. But they are scattered. I brought Pecan Rolls, Lisa made lasagna, Kevin made coleslaw, etc. We decided that we needed to assemble the recipes and distribute them so that we all had a copy. Jessica decided that would be her Christmas present to the family - she would assemble family recipes, not just Gma's but as many as we could send her, and make binders for everyone with them inside.

As we were emailing recipes around, I confessed that I'm looking for the perfect Mac & Cheese recipe. My favorite mac & cheese is the creamy kind, not the baked. I hate to say it, because I'm really trying to eat less processed foods, but my guilty pleasure is in those blue boxes. Lucille's has an excellent mac & cheese, and I really want to figure out how to make something like that from scratch, using real ingredients. Keith recommended I try the recipe in Cook's Illustrated The Best New Recipe, but it turns out his older edition has a much different recipe than my version. He's a little too far away for me to swing by and borrow it, but he did send me pictures of the pages.

But before I could try that one out, I was watching Jamie at Home on the Food Network, and at the end of this segment, I had to make this pasta right away.

Of course, I had to make crème fraîche first, and that took awhile by itself. But I finally got around to it, and oh-my-goodness it was delicious. I'm now eager to try it using cheddar and fontina. Cannot wait.

The Dark Knight

Sometimes, really great movies are spoiled by their own hype. When the first Austin Powers movie came out, I had heard so many quotes, and saw so many re-enactments of key scenes, that by the time I saw it, I'd already heard all the funny parts. I was dissapointed. After the second movie, and then watching it again much later I was finally able to enjoy it.

The level of hype surrounding The Dark Knight made me worry that a great movie would again be spoiled. I don't watch a lot of television, and other than a couple of reviews, tried to avoid most articles. But word of mouth is hard to avoid.

I know, Bobby and I waited awhile to see the film - it may sound crazy, but we had more important things going on. That left plenty of time for everyone I knew that had seen it to tell me that it was the most amazing film they'd ever seen. Everyone literally gushed. Even the rating on RottenTomatoes.com was a solid 94%.

Bobby and I finally got around to seeing it tonight, and I have to admit it really was a very good movie. I love comic-inspired movies as it is, and this was definitely one of the good ones. Heath Ledger's performance was very good - and his makeup and voice were so well done that if I hadn't been aware that he was the actor, I never would have guessed it. In fact, he really did steal the show - Ledger's Joker seemed much more developed than Christian Bale's Batman.

The best movie ever made though? No, I don't think so. Entertaining, definitely, but in my opinion, an amazing movie will illicit more emotional response than this film did. Great films draw you in, and you sympathize with the characters. Biting your nails through suspenseful scenes, crying in sad ones, etc. For me the scenes that illicited the most emotional response for me had nothing to do with the Bruce Wayne - Rachel Dawes relationship, or Bruce's internal struggle, but with falling from extreme heights - more because I'm afraind of heights than because of any brilliant filmmaking.

Batman Begins was very good, and if you enjoyed that one, you'll like this one too. I would say The Dark Knight was better than Batman Begins, but not leaps and bounds better. When Bobby and I were back in the car alone, I asked him what he thought of the movie. "I really wish I hadn't heard so much about it." We agreed, it was a very good movie, and we both enjoyed it, but the hype had definitely killed the excitement for us.

Go see it, and expect to be entertained - not blown away.

Geeking out at Work

You can tell we are being really productive, when someone asks how long it would take the Millennium Falcon to travel 200,000 light years... and then we proceed to research the answer. No, we don't normally talk about Star Wars - in fact I don't recall a previous Star Wars conversation - but today we did.


First we had to find out how fast the Falcon is, right? Are you aware that there is a Wookieepedia? Amazing, right? I suppose there is a wikia for just about anything out there, right?


Okay, so from the Wookiepedia, I find the line I was looking for "she does 0.5 past light speed." But .5 what? Is that a percentage or a unit? km/sec? miles/hr? What?


Trying to find that answer, we looked at the statment Han made that they "did the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs." What's a parsec? A Parsec is "a unit of length, equal to just over 30 trillion kilometres, or about 3.3 light years." Wait. So a parsec is a unit of distance, not time. Since the Kessel Run is an 18 parsec route, I was kinda confused as to how he could run it in 12 parsecs. That's sort of like saying "I did a 30 meter race in 20 meters." Huh?


Apparently, "Solo was not referring directly to his ship's speed when he made this claim. Instead, he was referring to the shorter route he was able to travel by skirting the nearby Maw black hole cluster, thus making the run in under the standard distance, he may have indirectly referred to the speed of his ship here because to be able to go closer to black hole and still be able to get out of its gravitational pull you will need to be able to go faster. However, parsec relates to time in that a shorter distance equals a shorter time at the same speed. By moving closer to the black holes, Solo managed to cut the distance down to about 11.5 parsecs."


Never helped us solve our question, but we should all do some actual work. Don't you feel a bit more enlightened now, though?

I Am Legend

Last night after we finished up the dishes, we all sat down to watch I Am Legend. Here is the synopis from RottenTomatoes.com:

Smith, in a strong performance very different from his usual persona, is Robert Neville, the lone survivor in a New York City where streets are overgrown and deer gambol among deserted automobiles. Following an epidemic, the Earth's population has been turned into an army of nocturnal zombies. Immune to the virus, military scientist Neville searches for a cure in his Washington Square townhouse. Haunted by visions of his family leaving quarantined Manhattan two years prior, he drives through the city with his German Shepherd, Sam, by day and barricades his home from the monsters nightly. But when Anna (Alice Braga)--another immune stranger-finds him, they will have to fight the onslaught twice as hard.

This has to be one of the most suspensful movies I've ever seen. I lie - I didn't actually watch the whole movie. I couldn't sit through it, else I might have had a nervous breakdown. Let me add that there was no background music, at least during the really suspensful scenes (I wasn't paying attention during the rest of it). Just think about how the score adds to the oh-my-my-god-something-is-going-to-happen feeling, and then think about how suspensful the scenes have to be to do that without music. Like I said, I couldn't watch all of it. I had to get up and go wash my face, and other do other miscellaneous things until some scenes were over.

Heat, Oranges, & WALL-E

Even though Emma staying with her great grandparents meant we didn't need to drive out to Norco for that reason... we still needed to go to Norco this weekend. Doomed to drive, I suppose.

My mom had left her reading glasses at my house, and Bobby needed to show his mom how to use some business software. So we hung around our house until 2:30pm or so, and then headed out.

It had been in the low 90s at home - the car thermometer read 104° when we arrived in Norco. So hot. Bobby, Brian, and the kids got ready to go swimming, and I headed over to my parents' house. I told my mom about how the orange juice she brought me had been left out and was infested with ants. Then she shows me her stash and asks if I want more.

Fide, a longtime family friend (she used to live with us when I was young, and now cleans my, my mom's, and my uncle's houses on a regular basis) has a friend that picks oranges to sell on the side of the road. He gave her tons of oranges that were the "ugly" ones - the ones with discolorations that people don't like to buy but are perfectly good. Fide brought my mom two large baskets of them, and she's been juicing a few each morning.

Ah! I'm so jealous! I too have been trying to juice my own orange juice but at 3 to (preferably) 4 oranges a day, I'm going through lots of oranges. Instead of juicing me more oranges, mom just gave me a big bagful. Oh, I can't wait for orange juice.

I headed back to the Mahoneys' and since I was still exhausted from the holiday excitement, I tried my best to take a nap on the couch. When Bobby's mom came home from work, she made up some steak tacos, and soon we were rushing to the theater to see an 8:20pm showing of WALL-E. Seriously, where does the day go? Like five minutes ago we were eating breakfast, right?

WALL-E was so cute! I don't know how Pixar just keeps churning out the wonderful movies, but they do. Bobby and Emma even said this one may just be their favorite of the Pixar films! I had heard that the movie was good, but not as good as the others, and that the second half was not as good as the first half. I have to disagree with both of those. Not only was it a great movie, in league with the other movies, but I enjoyed it from start to finish. (Ratatouille is still my favorite though.) Even the short before the film was hilarious. It's truly amazing how the animators and storytellers can illicit such emotion without using any words. This new one is surely one of their best shorts.

After the movie, I really wanted to get home and to bed. Bobby still had to go over the software with his mom, but Erica had driven my Civic home the night before (so she could stay later), so Bobby and I were driving seperately anyway. Emma came with me, and we stopped at the store on the way so we could have a nice breakfast in the morning. We'd only been home 10 minutes or so when Bobby walked in to find us juicing some oranges. No, we couldn't wait until morning.

This morning we had even more orange juice. We must have been really tired, because Bobby and I were able to sleep until 9:30am. Unheard of. I never sleep this late. OK, there are exceptions.

I also finally got around to trying out a crepe recipe. You may recall I fell in love with some crepes at the cafe down the street from my house, and I've been looking for a good recipe ever since. Due to all the comments about time, I started the filling on Thursday night, when Bobby was in Norco with Emma, and now that I had more eggs, and more milk, I was ready to make the crepes themselves. They came out good but not great - I must agree with one commenter that they tasted sort of like chicken pot pie. In fact, maybe I'll use this sauce recpie in a chicken pot pie, since I'm still looking for a good recipe for that. I need to keep hunting or experimenting for my crepes though.

Emma is still asleep. Ah, how I miss summer vacations. We should wake her up soon though - don't want to waste the whole day.

Stunningly Beautiful Weekend

This last weekend was one of the most beautiful weekends in recent memory. Again, it was clear blue sunny skies with temperatures between 75° and 80° - we even had a very gentle breeze meandering around the back patio.


Bobby and I didn't leave the house once... well, except two trips to the grocery store, one of which I walked, and stopped at Rite Aid and buy a single scoop of mint chip ice cream to eat on the walk back. Mmm.


We also did nothing of importance whatever. It seems that lately we always have things that need to get done, or places or events we need to go to. This weekend? We spent some time Sunday afternoon cleaning the garage and kitchen, and doing a few loads of laundry, but other than that we relaxed, had our meals on the back patio, drank wine, watched Michael Clayton, and played computer games. It was a much needed rest.


For lunch we had some pork tacos. Bobby absolutely loves my shredded pork (my mom informs me that it's not carnitas if it's not fried in lard or something), and since I've had some on hand fairly regularly he has been eating it for lunch almost every day. Still, he doesn't complain when I suggested it for lunch. I just pulled it out of the fridge and warmed it in a pan so that it would crisp up some. I also cooked some red pepper and onion strips in a tiny bit of canola oil, adobo seasoning, salt, and pepper until they had just softened a bit. Some simple white rice with adobo seasoning, and some flour tortilla's warmed on the grill and we had a quick lunch. Lunch al fresca was peaceful and serene.


For dinner I made the dreaded chicken - Bobby was none too pleased with my selection. So I did what needs to be done to make him like anything - lots of garlic. We finally had the green & yellow beans my mom brought me, and we reheated some leftover pasta from yesterday to finish.


Roast Young Chicken
1 young chicken
6 large cloves of garlic, minced or sent through a garlic press
1 tsp. kosher/course salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 tsp. herbes de provence
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 lemon, quartered


Preheat the oven to 450°.


Mix the garlic, salt, pepper, herbes de provence, and olive oil together. Pat the chicken dry. Rub the seasoning/oil all over the chicken and inside the cavity. Stuff the lemon slices inside the cavity and close it back up. You are supposed to tie the legs together, but I've never found that necessary. Inster a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh (not touching bone), and pop it in the oven until the thermometer reads 170° (about 1 hour to 1hr 15min).


Pull the chicken out and let rest for 10 minutes or so before carving and serving. Makes for a really juicy chicken.


Beans with Shallots
2 tbsp. butter
1 large shallot, thinly sliced
enough green (& yellow?) beans for 2 people (for me, this is alot), trimmed and snapped into the size you want
kosher/course salt


Melt the butter over medium heat and throw in the shallot and beans. Sprinkle with salt and cover. Stir occasionally and cook to desired tenderness. I like them crisper, so I pull mine out first, then cook them a bit longer for Bobby - he likes them pretty limp.


After dinner, Bobby and I sat down and watched Michael Clayton. Now that we have made it through all three available seasons of lost, we can get back to watching other things... until season 4 is out on DVD of course.


Here's the synopsis from RottenTomatoes.com:
Michael Clayton (George Clooney) is what is known in the legal world as a "fixer," or in the character's own pejorative version, a "janitor" who cleans up legal messes for VIPs and corporations on behalf of a prestigious New York City law firm. A former litigator, Clayton has found a niche that capitalizes on his legal acumen and shrewd people skills, and yet, after 13 years on the job, finds himself increasingly disgusted with his clientele. The film covers four pivotal days of his life, in which a midlife crisis and a crisis of conscience neatly converge when he is called in to "fix" a situation unfolding in one of his firm's hottest cases. Brilliant lawyer Arthur Edens (another powerhouse performance by Tom Wilkinson), representing a huge agro-chemical corporation being hit by a class action suit, has a bipolar breakdown, compounded by guilt over his defense of a company that is probably in the wrong, but is wealthy enough to buy its innocence either way. The company's CEO (Tilda Swinton) will stop at nothing to keep Edens from sinking the case. Clayton must decide how much of Edens's mad rebellion against the company is sheer mental illness, how much is true, and how much it will cost him to do the right thing. Clooney delivers a rich performance as a hangdog and haunted man who wants to stay on the side of good, but is a little too skilled at moral margin-walking to make that an easy choice in every situation. Swinton glows as a secretly frail Amazon who somehow won't let a tortured conscience prevent her from getting ahead. The final third of the film is as suspenseful as any courtroom drama, without ever resorting to legal-thriller cliches.


It seems they are making their synopses longer, oh well. Bobby thought the movie was "great," I thought it was "good." I particularly enjoyed some of the ranting of Tom Wilkinson's character. I like to hear the rants of people that use words that you don't hear often, like "patina." I know, I'm a dork.


Coupled with a little mango sorbet (for me) and vanilla ice cream with strawberries (for Bobby), it made a nice end to a beautiful weekend.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Bobby and I stayed up late to watch The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford with his brother. I'd ordered it from Netflix a month or so ago and we'd just gotten around to watching it.

I'm generally a fan of both Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck - I find I enjoy most of their movies, and have a lot of respect for their acting abilities. I'd heard an interview with Casey Affleck and clips from the movie, and wanted to check it out.

Here is the synopsis from RottenTomatoes.com:
Jesse James (BRAD PITT) was one of the country's first bona fide celebrities. There have been countless books written and tales told about America's most famous outlaw--all of them colorful and fascinating, all focused on his larger-than-life public persona and daring exploits, and most of them bearing only incidental reference to the truth. To those he robbed and terrorized, and to the families of those he admittedly killed, he may have been just a criminal, but in the sensational newspaper articles and dime novels chronicling the James Gang throughout the 1870s, Jesse was the object of awe and admiration. He was a Robin Hood, they suggested, targeting railroad owners and banks that exploited poor farmers. He was a man with a tragic cause, a wronged and wounded Confederate soldier striking back against the Union that had ruined his life. Most importantly, to an increasingly buttoned-down and citified population leading ordinary lives, he was the last frontiersman--a symbol of freedom and the American spirit, a charismatic rebel who flouted the law and lived by his own rules...by all accounts, a legend. Foremost among his admirers was Robert Ford (CASEY AFFLECK), an idealistic and ambitious young man who had devoted his life to the hope of one day riding alongside his idol. He could never have imagined that history would ultimately mark him as the "the dirty little coward" who shot Jesse in the back. But who was Jesse James, really--behind the folklore and the selling of newspapers? And who was Robert Ford, just nineteen and a member of Jesse's inner circle, who was able to bring down such a formidable figure when lawmen across ten states had tried and failed? How did they come to be friends and what happened between them in the days and hours leading up to the gunshot that would end one man's life and become the definition and sum total of another's? No one will ever know the whole truth. Based on the novel by Ron Hansen, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" delves into the private lives of America's most notorious outlaw and his unlikely assassin to offer a new perspective on a legend and address the question of what really may have transpired in the months before that infamous shooting. The year is 1881 and Jesse is 34 years old. As he plans his next great robbery, he continues to wage war on his enemies who are trying to collect the reward money and the glory riding on his capture. But the greatest threat to his life could come from those he would trust the most.

Wow! That is a long description - kind of like the 2h 39m movie. Though I found the acting to be quite good (especially the body language of Sam Rockwell and others), I did not find the film very entertaining or even emotionally evocative. I had a hard time making out the dialog, or even following the story in some parts. I just didn't care about any of the characters. I found myself glancing at the clock to see how much was left before I could go home and get to sleep...

Lorenzo's Oil

Lorenzo Odone died last week, the day after his 30th birthday. If you haven't seen the movie based on his story, Lorenzo's Oil, I highly recommend it. Here is the synopsis from RottenTomatoes.com:

Based on a true 1985 story, "Lorenzo's Oil" chronicles a couple's search for a cure for their son's fatal disease. After diagnosing 5-year-old Lorenzo Odone's condition as an extremly rare degeneration of the nervous system known as Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), the doctors tell his parents that there is nothing that can be done, and that he has only two years to live. Refusing to accept the word of the medical establishment, the Odones begin researching ALD themselves. As her husband desperately seeks a cure, the boy's mother devotes herself to keeping her child alive with a single-minded fanaticism that alienates everyone around her, including, at times, her husband. Academy Award Nominations: 2, including Best (Original) Screenplay, Best Actress--Susan Sarandon.

Dan in Real Life

I think I first heard about Dan in Real Life on public radio - they were giving it a fairly glowing review, and some of the clips they played sounded interesting, so I added it to my Netflix queue. It showed up about a week ago, and we finally got around to watching it last night.

Synopsis from RottenTomatoes.com:

Just as LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE did in 2006, DAN IN REAL LIFE reveals that Steve Carell is an actor who can do more than just comedy. He's won both accolades and awards as bumbling boss Michael Scott on THE OFFICE, but there's a greater depth to this performance as a single father and man in love. Advice columnist Dan Burns (Carell) has his hands full with three daughters that he's not willing to let grow up. The girls still grieve for their mother who died four years ago, and Dan hasn't made any attempts to date. So he's pleasantly surprised when he meets Marie (Juliette Binoche) at a bookstore when he goes to his parents' Rhode Island home for the annual family reunion. But his joy is short-lived when he discovers that she is dating his brother (Dane Cook), forcing Dan to hide his feelings and chemistry with Marie. Carell adeptly balances his role's humor and heartache, while Binoche (CHOCOLAT) is radiant as ever. Comedian Cook (GOOD LUCK CHUCK) shows surprising talent as the third leg of their love triangle. Through his duties as director and co-screenwriter, Peter Hedges deserves much of the credit for creating a film that is sweet without being sappy. Even though he's working with a far bigger budget than he did for his directorial debut, PIECES OF APRIL, he still maintains the feelings of intimacy and honesty that made that film such a critical favorite. What could have been a standard romantic comedy of errors turns into a strong film that goes deeper than many of its peers in the genre. DAN IN REAL LIFE also succeeds thanks to its soundtrack from Norwegian indie pop musician Sondre Lerche. The singer's compositions, both originals and favorites from his career, perfectly suit the film's tone and moods.

I really enjoyed this movie. Carell did a really good job with the part, and the movie had a good balance of serious and funny scenes. Bobby's not generally inclined towards romantic comedies, but we both liked the film and found ourselves laughing out loud to a number of scenes.

Would Rather Be Baking

This post on La Tartine Gourmande makes me want to buy specialty flours and hang out in my kitchen baking. And then lounge in my hammock in the sun and eat my chocolate teacakes and drink tea. I don't even know where I could buy specialty flours locally... I'd probably have to order online...

The thought of specialty flours makes me think of Stranger than Fiction, when Will Ferrell's character brings the baker girl (Maggie Gyllenhaal) flours. It's a cute scene in a very good movie - worth watching if you haven't yet. It was a thoughtful gesture, and made me smile.

Girls Night

Since Bobby and I had our Valentines dinner a day early, and he wasn't going to be home until late, my sister-in-law came by with her good friend for dinner and a movie.

For dinner I made a Sweet Onion Soup, sauteed some green beans and shallots, baked some brined chicken, and warmed up my leftover Baked Orzo Pasta from yesterday.

I found the soup recipe yesterday when I was looking for an Herbes de Provence recipe. My search led me here, and as I scrolled down, the picture of the soup looked so lovely I had to make it - especially now that I have some Herbes de Provence (although that I didn't make - I found some at Whole Foods). The soup came out amazing, and I may have a new favorite.

Sweet Onion Soup for Two
from: French Kitchen in America

Three of the sweetest onions you can find, peeled and sliced
Two tablespoons unsalted butter
One-tablespoon flour
Two cups beef bouillon
Two cups chicken bouillon
¼ cup warm milk
Dash ground pepper
Dash sea salt
Dash herbes de Provence

After you've sliced the onions, brown them slightly in butter in a heavy stockpot or skillet. Add flour and brown, until the onions turn golden.

Add hot beef and chicken bouillon and allow the soup to come to a boil. Lower the heat and allow it to simmer for 20 minutes.

Next, add the milk and allow it to simmer a bit longer. Add pepper, salt and herbes. Optional: Top with cheese, like a blend of Mozzarella and Parmesan.

Oh, it was so tasty. OK, next I wanted a vegetable, but nothing too heavy. So I made some green beans the way my mom makes them.

My Mom's Green Beans
In a medium pan (not a pot, the more surface area the better), melt some butter, throw in some fleur de sel and freshly ground pepper, and added in 3 sliced shallots. Let those sweat a little, and then add in the green beans.

I used the bagged, frozen french green beans I get from Trader Joe's, because they always come out tasting fresh, but if you use fresh, add a little water too so they don't dry out. I only like to cook my beans a little so they are still crisp.

Finally the chicken. I started brining last night after Bobby and I finished dinner. I don't know where my mom got this, but I have it written on a post it.

Brined Chicken
for 32 oz. of chicken. In a medium stockpot, mix together:
1/4 cup course/kosher salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
20 whole peppercorns
1 cup hot water
Mix that around a bit, letting everything dissolve

Add in 3 cups of cold water
1 onion, sliced
1 lemon, sliced
2 cloves garlic
Mix it all up and add in your chicken. Stick it in the refrigerator for 4+ hours.

I doubled that, and used 4 leg quarters. I brushed the top with some butter, and then baked it at 325 for 1 hour 30 minutes or so. I covered it the first 30 minutes, but it probably could have gone without the cover, or cooked longer so the skin could crisp up some more. But the meat was super juicy and flavorful. Props to me.


After our tasty meal we watched Gone Baby Gone. This is the synopsis from RottenTomatoes.com:
Based on the novel by MYSTIC RIVER author Dennis Lehane, GONE BABY GONE marks the directorial debut of actor Ben Affleck. Featuring a solid cast that includes Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman, and Affleck's brother Casey in the lead role as a private detective, GONE BABY GONE centers on the disappearance of a young girl in the working class neighborhood of Dorchester in South Boston. With plenty of twists and turns, the movie works as a solid crime thriller, but it's as a study of a place--and one's ability to either accept and embrace or ultimately break free from it--that the film flowers. Beneath the movie's street-tough justice and cop shop politics sits a very complicated view of the world, which Affleck delves into unflinchingly, thanks in large part to his ability to extract some excellent performances from his cast. Casey Affleck offers a nice mix of both steely resolve and vulnerability, while Harris presents a strong performance as a conflicted, emotionally tortured cop. Of particular note is Amy Ryan as the mother of the abducted girl. Her character's outrageous foul-mouthed demeanor ultimately ends up feeling both tragic and pathetic, with the only appropriate reactions being either pity or rage. It makes for an uncomfortable but affecting dichotomy. GONE BABY GONE signifies a confident and impressive turn behind the camera for one of Hollywood's more contentious stars. A Boston native himself, Affleck takes great care in evoking his city's entirety, from its undeniably ugly underbelly, to what feels like an almost primordial sense of community. It speaks to Affleck's substance as a director, and of good things to come.

Great film. I can't say I would have made the same choice in the end, but I have to agree that Affleck's direction was quite good. Not a feel-good film, but very well made, and a powerful story.

Searching for Bobby Fischer

I checked out Google News when I got in to work today and one of the top articles was announcing the death of Bobby Fischer. Bobby Fischer was a chess prodigy - attaining the level of grand master at the age of 15, and becoming the world champion when he was still quite young. Then he disappeared for long periods of time - occasionally coming back to defeat everyone.

Until recently, the only knowledge I had of him was from the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer. It's an amazing movie, that really isn't about Bobby Fischer at all, but about Joshua Waitzkin, also a chess prodigy. Here is the synopsis from RottenTomatoes.com:

Though he's only seven, Josh looks at a chessboard and anticipates moves that mature chess players don't even see. He's a malleable young boy with an incredible talent for the game of masterminds. When Josh begins honing his talent, playing a speedy version of the game called "blitz" with hustlers and hobos, his father decides to take him to world reknowned coach Bruce Pandolfini, who claims Josh may well be the second coming of chess legend Bobby Fischer. But family struggles ensue when the mother worries that in cultivating the genius, they may be hurting the child.

It really is a wonderful movie, and very family friendly. I don't know anyone that I wouldn't recommend it to. I always think of it when I see people playing chess, especially in a park.

Awhile back, I saw an article about Bobby Fischer. He'd been invited to live in Iceland, and the article touched on some bizarre behavior of his. Out of curiosity I looked up his article on Wikipedia. It seems he was not just a recluse, but, in my opinion, definitely on the crazy side.

The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything

Katie and Erica made the trek out to our place so they could go see The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything with Emma, Bobby, and I. Here's the synopsis from RottenTomatoes.com:

From the creators of 2002's wildly successful Jonah--A VeggieTales Movie comes a new story of heroism in the beloved VeggieTales' world, The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything Now, we follow the comic misadventures of three animated veggie pals who reluctantly set sail for adventure and discover that real heroes don't have to be tall, strong, handsome...or even human.

Garrrrr! Working at the Pieces of Ate Dinner Theater is less than exciting when you're a busboy. For three moping misfits-- Elliot, Sedgewick and George (Larry the Cucumber, Mr. Lunt and Pa Grape)-all they dream of is the day when they can ditch their dishrags and take stage to star in the big pirate show.

But with Elliot's timidity, Sedgewick's laziness and George's lack of self-confidence, it seems as if the day to prove who they really are will never come...

Things are about to change when a mysterious ball drops from the sky and lands at the unlikely seafarers' feet. A "Helpseeker" sent from the past in search of heroes, the artifact sets in motion a series of events that drags the friends back to the 17th century--and into the belly of certain danger. The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything must each face their fears--becoming unlikely heroes in a battle to rescue a royal family from an evil tyrant, and themselves from living the life of common couch potatoes.

The latest in a franchise that has sold more than 50 million units since its 1993 inception, The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything--A VeggieTales Movie continues the hit series' values-based lessons in teaching kids what it really means to be a hero. --© Universal Pictures

The movie was by no means amazing, but it was cute and enjoyable. Better than some of the terrible children's movies I've seen in the last year or so. If I had the DVD at home, it probably wouldn't be the first children's (or even Veggetales) movie I'd pull out, but I wouldn't be opposed to someone putting it on.

Across the Universe

Bobby and I finally went to see Across the Universe tonight. His whole family had seen it (some of them a couple times) and we'd been told that we had to see it. But each time we thought about seeing it, something went wrong - it wasn't showing at any time that worked for us, or we had another obligation.

For those that don't know which movie I'm talking about, here is the synopsis from RottenTomatoes.com:
The Beatles' songs may have provided the soundtrack for the lives of those coming of age in the 1960s, but their extensive catalogue acts as the literal soundtrack in this romantic musical from visionary director Julie Taymor. Newcomer Jim Sturgess stars as Jude, a young man working on the docks in Liverpool. Eager to escape, he travels to Princeton where he meets Max (Joe Anderson). But it’s his meeting with Max’s younger sister Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood) that changes him. They quickly fall in love, but their relationship is tested by the chaos of the late 1960s and Max’s unwilling tour in Vietnam. Throughout the film, characters burst into classics from the Beatles: frat boys sing "With a Little Help from My Friends," while Uncle Sam bursts from a recruitment poster with strains of "I Want You (She’s So Heavy)." U2’s Bono makes a cameo as a counterculture leader and croons "I Am the Walrus," and actor-comedian Eddie Izzard provides a trippy rendition of "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite."

First off, the movie was not what I was expecting. I was thinking of something along the lines of Moulin Rouge - a story that was very cohesive, but enhanced by modern songs woven into the story line. A modern day musical.

I did not feel like Across the Universe did this - I felt like instead of watching a movie I was watching a string of music videos. The songs seemed to be reinterpreted to fit into a storyline, but in many cases I felt the integration was choppy. This is understandably more difficult, since the catalog of songs to choose from is significantly smaller when you limit yourself to a single artist or band.

Were this a music video, I would say they had done a good job, but for a movie I felt it lacking. There were a number of scenes, or particular song performaces that I enjoyed, and some of the imagery was very good, but again, it was a long string of music videos, not a movie.

The Wind that Shakes the Barley

Friday I was having a bit of a rough day and so Bobby and I had a mellow evening just watching a movie. I'd spent a little time watching previews on the Netflix website and thought I would give this movie a try.

Here is the synopsis from RottenTomatoes.com:
Set in 1916 in Ireland, THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY is the story of Damien (Cillain Murphy), a young Irishman about to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming a doctor. When his friend is brutally murdered for standing up to a band of British soldiers, Damien abandons his medical career and joins his brother Teddy (Padraic Delany) in the fight for freedom. Small guerrilla groups of Irish farmers begin to wage bloody attacks, forcing the government to negotiate a ceasefire. The Anglo-Irish Peace Treaty is offered, but it puts Teddy and Damien at odds. Teddy believes they should accept the treaty and try to work within the system to avoid further bloodshed, while Damien thinks they should continue to fight until they are completely free of British rule. Whereas the two brothers used to fight side by side, they now find themselves divided, and forced to choose between their familial bond and their ardent beliefs.

This movie was long and stressful. The acting and the direction were both good, but I think you would have to be in the mood for a long, depressing movie. Many scenes were very difficult to watch, and the end was very sad. I wouldn't go so far as to say it was a bad movie, but I don't think I'll be recommending it to anyone, nor will I choose to watch it again.

The Island

So instead of going out, we stayed in and had a little dinner theatre. We have a pretty nice setup - projector, high quality surround sound. Usually when we watch a movie we move our long folding tables out of the way, and move the couch to the middle of the room so we have a little in-home theatre. But this time we left one of the tables in the middle of the room, and sat in our office chairs, ate a nice meal, and watched The Island.

Here's a synopsis of the plot I pulled from RottenTomatoes.com:
Lincoln Six-Echo (Ewan McGregor) is a resident of a seemingly utopian but contained facility in the mid-21st century. Like all of the inhabitants of this carefully controlled environment, Lincoln hopes to be chosen to go to the "The Island"—reportedly the last uncontaminated spot on the planet—until he makes a terrible discovery that everything about his existence is a lie…and that he is actually more valuable dead than alive. Together with a beautiful fellow resident named Jordan Two-Delta (Scarlett Johansson), Lincoln makes a daring escape to the outside world he's never known. Now, with the forces of the institute that once housed them relentlessly hunting them down, Lincoln and Jordan engage in a desperate race for their lives.

OK, I'll try to reference that so as not to give anything away.

I was very disappointed by this film. It had a strong premise, and to be honest, if you are looking for a movie with great over-the-top unbelievable action sequences and the strength of plot isn't that important - then this is a great film. Like Michael Bay's other films - Armageddon, The Rock, Bad Boys II (I can't comment on Transformers, haven't seen it yet) - The Island has a lot of big, explosive action sequences. Much of which is just flat out impossible - these kids would be dead for sure. But the plot is full of holes.

Some of it was just silly little stuff - like that no one checked Johansson's character for weapons when the elite private security guys (including former Navy SEALS and other badasses) finally capture her. Or early on when they put one of the other utopian residents down, they do so in an unnecessarily painful way. If you are going to kill someone through an IV - make them overdose on Morphine or something, there is no reason they need to go through all that. In the context of the scene it makes absolutely no sense. Vets treat our animals more humanely than that.

I wish I could elaborate on all the holes without giving the premise of the movie away, but lets just say there is a bit of a conspiracy, and there is no possible way you could pull an operation like that off without being exposed just based on the number of employees necessary to maintain it. We are talking janitors, doctors, lunch ladies... thousands. And not in some third world country, but in the middle of Arizona or something.

The sad thing is that it started out strong, and had real potential. But as the story line tried to evolve, it really just unraveled.

Spiderman 3

I saw Spiderman 3 last night... and it was painfully bad. I was really disappointed. I had really been looking forward to it. I had been willing to overlook the plot holes in the beginning - chalk it up to movie magic - but the last 40 minutes or so were so bad it became comical. We began critiquing it a la Mystery Science Theater 3000.

A Super Bowl Sunday with Very Little Football

morning was pretty relaxed. I peaked into Emma's room and she was sleeping sideways along her pillows, head hanging off the side, still wrapped in her blanket but no longer under the covers or sheepskin. I started looking for something to watch that I wouldn't have to change when Emma woke up and settled on Lemony Snickets Series of Unfortunate Events. It's actually a pretty good movie. I think I read reviews when it came out that weren't very good, so I wasn't expecting much, but it was cute. Emma made her bed without being asked, and we set up Shrek 2 in her room.

Bobby and I were sitting at the table reading the paper and we hear Emma patter down the hall into the bathroom and start washing her face. We checked on her and she's rinsing her eye. She seemed a little embarrassed but finally tells us she was using some "spray stuff" and thought it was spraying out but it sprayed right in her eye. We walked down the hall and I tell you we could have been in the perfume department. My mom had given her two little bottles of perfume, and she'd sprayed one of them all over the room - now that bottle is empty. We told her that you shouldn't have to spray perfume more than once, but we're glad she did the right thing when she got it in her eye.

Eventually we packed up and headed to Bobby's parents' to watch the Super Bowl. We were both actually looking forward to the half-time show. Prince is an underrated guitarist. But 5 was when Emma had to be home, so the trip there and back was right during the show. After the game we were good and just packed up and headed home.

Pan's Labyrinth

Went to see Pan's Labyrinth last night. Good movie - great visually, interesting story... but downright brutal at times. It is definitely a grown-ups fairy tale. If you can handle the gore, then it is a must-see.

Here's the synopsis from RottenTomatoes.com:
Written and directed by Guillermo del Toro, PAN'S LABYRINTH is a thrilling, violent fairy tale set in post-Civil War Spain. Ivana Baquero stars as Ofelia, a young girl who moves with her mother, Carmen (Ariadna Gil), into the home of Captain Vidal (Sergi López), in an abandoned mill in the middle of dark, dangerous woods. Vidal is leading his team of soldiers against resistance fighters--and he will do whatever is necessary to kill every last one of them. As Vidal bosses around the pregnant Carmen, a flying creature leads Ofelia through a garden labyrinth and into an underground cave ruled by Pan (HELLBOY's Doug Jones), who believes that Ofelia might be the lost princess of this strange yet magical place. To prove she is royalty, Ofelia must complete three tasks, each more difficult and terrifying than the previous one. Meanwhile, Vidal is becoming more and more paranoid, torturing and murdering seemingly at will. Del Toro (THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE, HELLBOY, CRONOS) creates a marvelous battle between good and evil, between heroes and villains, in both the real world aboveground and the mystical land below. Baquero gives a compelling performance as the terrorized Ofelia, who is befriended by Mercedes (Maribel Verdú), a woman who harbors some secrets of her own. Stellar production design, superb special effects, and a stirring score by Javier Navarrete add to the scary fun. Selected as the closing-night entry in the 2006 New York Film Festival, PAN'S LABYRINTH is a captivating story that is not for the squeamish.

Christmas 2006

Christmas was good at both my parents and Bobby's. Emma had a great time, and really made out... really, the amount of gifts she got is ridiculous. My nephew, Jonah, was totally enamored with her. He kept looking at her, batting his big eyes... it was quite amusing. Malachy not so much - he's going through a bully phase right now... it's very frustrating. He started trying to wrestle with Emma, and he upset her pretty bad. She was crying pretty hard for a bit, but I made her tell Shannon what happened so she could punish him, and told her next time to go straight to Shannon so they can correct his behavior right when it happens. But Emma calmed down, and in the way she does, forgave the situation quickly. Besides, Jonah wanted her attention. We didn't get out of there until close to midnight, so when we got to Bobby's parents' we marched Emma straight to bed so Santa could come.


Then everyone else stayed up until between 2 and 5 in the morning. I was quick to fall asleep, as usual, but most everyone else still had wrapping to take care of. I was, as usual, first to wake up, followed quickly by Nana. I wanted to let everyone sleep until they woke up, but at the same time I knew Emma needed to be back at 10am, so I woke her up just before 9, and then had her wake her Dad up... then everyone started to drag themselves out of bed. After we opened gifts, we pretty much had to get Emma ready to go. As we were leaving to take her home I saw Bobby's sister Katie sleeping amid the wrapping paper in the middle of the living room floor. She had just passed out.

We made it back shortly after, and hung out the rest of the day. Bobby's dad had a pretty bad cough, but no one seemed to be too concerned. His mom just said he needs to quit smoking. Later that evening some cousins came by and we all had dinner. We were sitting around after dinner and decided to open some of the wine I received for Christmas. It was yummy. Once people started to go home, Bobby & I, Brian & Jessica, Katie & David, and Erica all headed up to Jessica's family's cabin. Once we got up to the cabin and set up, we had a good time. Brian and Bobby taught Erica how to play pool, we played some darts, and Scene It.


We had a nice leisurely morning, and eventually made it out to breakfast. At the restaurant we had two talbles and started slinging jelly packets at one another. Katie said something about loving the smell of napalm in the morning... smells like victory. Bobby and I both hear Emma say that all the time, where is that from. Well, Emma gets it from Garfield, but it's originally from Apocolypse Now. Bobby and I admit we've never seen it, and it is then decided that when we get back to Norco, we are buying it and we are watching it.... So they bought the double disc with the original and the extended edition.... which is 202 minutes. Weird freaking movie. Good, but bizare. The extended version has some really bizare scenes.

Bobby and I didn't make it home until almost 9pm. Lucas was not happy with us. Grandma said he was very depressed. He was okay until that morning, but he really missed us.