Happy Star Wars Day!

Get it? May the 4th . . . Sigh. It is also National Candied Orange Peel Day if that is better.

This weather sucks! I feel like I am back in Pittsburgh. This weekend was a nice relaxing weekend. Well, compared to the last few anyway.

Saturday we ventured out in search of shoes for me for a wedding we are going to next weekend. A whole lot of walking for me considering I have spent most of the last few weeks avoiding walking. But I did pretty well. I am able to take a few "normal" steps now. But it hurts and my ankle gets really tired really fast. We did eventually find shoes and then stopped at DiBruno's for some snacks on the way home. $30 later we had lots of cheeses, olives, bread, pepperoni. Yum! We got home in time for the Derby. I had picked Dunkirk to win (because he was the only true grey), General Quarters to place (because he was the heartstring favorite and because he is a beautiful black with dark grey hindquarters) and Mr. Hot Stuff to show (because he had the best name). Of course they came in 11th, 10th and 15th respectively. I am so happy that Mine that Bird won. A 50-1 shot with a local yokel type jockey (he is great!) who was driven from New Mexico? Awesome! After the race and some time with my foot up we headed to Karla's. We hung out there, got dinner from Greek Lady and played House of the Dead: Overkill. Which is pretty fantastic. It is a zombie . . . I am sorry mutant, shooting game. With a gun. You dont have to move, you dont have to do anything. You just point and shoot at the zombies . . . sorry mutants. And there is swearing (strange for a Wii game). We played through the whole game.

Sunday we were supposed to go for steaks. But we couldnt decide on where to go. So we decided we wanted Mexican. And then couldnt decide where to go. So we ended up at National Mechanics. We had only been a few times to drink and had heard good things about the food. The weather was AWFUL! And of course we just missed a 17 and no 40s came so we had to wait in the rain for awhile. And then we forgot about Equality Forum closing down Market in Old City, so we had to walk. But whatever. We finally got there and sat at the bar. I tried the make-you-own-bloody mary bar. Not as good as Astral Plane, but pretty good for $8 (for Absolut). Matty had an Obama-bomb (Boddington's with a shot of Van Gogh Triple Espresso and Tuaca) which was pretty tasty. The trouble came when it came to our food. Because we ordered . . . and then waited for an hour! Which is ridiculous. It wasnt packed, it wasnt crazy, it wasnt early, or late. They were nice enough to take off a round of drinks from our bill. And we didnt really ahve anywhere to be. But still. An hour! But once the food actually arrived it was delicious. Matty had the National Burger (burger, fried egg, provolone [he added], served with fries) which was cooked perfectly and was very tasty though the egg was a little overcooked. I had the National Skillet (ham, potatos and tomatoes with oaxaca and fried eggs) which was also delicious. We stopped at the Terminal to pick up ingredients for dinner and then headed home to avoid the rain.

We watched True Romance (1993). Neither of us had seen it before which is a bit surprising. Since EVERYONE is apparently in it. It is a bit of a Bonnie and Clyde-esque romantic comedy of sorts, Quentin Tarantino style. Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette play the leads. Mmmm . . . 1993 Christian Slater! Then you have Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer, a very young Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, Christopher Walken, Bronson Pinchot (Balki!), Samuel L. Jackson (for a hot second), Michael Rapaport and a very skinny James Gandolfini. And those are just the big names. Because there are so many others that you recognize in there. IT was pretty great. In a Quentin Tarantino-written, early 90's romantic comedy, crime drama sort of way. You should see it. You really should.

For dinner we had Pork Carnitas with Carmelized Onions and Chipotle. I totally forgot how much I love these! They are time consuming which means I don't make them often. But yum! Yum yum yum! I am trying to decide what to do with the cooking liquid because it is just so delicious! Just thinking about it make my mouth water! For dessert Matty made toaster oven s'mores! Yum! A tasty night indeed.

Pork Carnitas with Caramelized Onions and Chipotle (the onions are totally not carmelized)


Serve with jicama, roasted red peppers, and avocado wrapped in soft corn tortillas. Or spoon over a bed of rice. (We served ours in soft corn tortillas with cotija cheese)

2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano (I used about a tablespoon)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 pounds boneless Boston butt pork roast, trimmed and cut into (1-inch) cubes (We ended up with a 2 lb bit of loin I think because they had it in the size we needed)
2 bay leaves (I used 3)
2 teaspoons olive oil
Cooking spray
2 cups chopped onion (about 2 medium)
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin (I used 1 tsp)
1 chopped chipotle chile, canned in adobo sauce
1/2 pint of grape tomatoes, halved
1 (14-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

Combine first 4 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag; seal and shake to coat pork. Refrigerate 8 hours or overnight. (The other two times I made this I did this, this time I didnt since I wanted it that night. And honestly I dont think I noticed a significant difference)

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. (I use my French oven for this, it would have to be a very large skillet) Remove pork from bag. Add pork to pan; cook 10 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove from pan. (I just cooked the pork with the oregano, black pepper and bay leaves)

Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion and garlic; sauté 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Stir in salt, cumin, and chile. (I added cherry tomatoes here this time for a little different flavor and highly recommend). Return pork to pan, and add broth. Bring to a simmer; cover. Cook 2 hours or until pork is very tender. (We probably ended up letting this simmer for about 3 and a half hours). Remove from heat; discard bay leaves. Stir in cilantro and juice.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1/2 cup) (Ha! I guess if you served it with rice, or something else, for us it made enough for 3, maybe 3 and a half) CALORIES 191 (35% from fat); FAT 7.4g (sat 2.2g,mono 3.7g,poly 0.8g); IRON 1.2mg; CHOLESTEROL 58mg; CALCIUM 45mg; CARBOHYDRATE 8.3g; SODIUM 631mg; PROTEIN 21.7g; FIBER 1.2g Cooking Light, JANUARY 2007

Happy National Kazoo Day!

I have never been able to play a kazoo. Is it just me?

Ok, so let me see. This weekend . . . Friday we finally got to see Rob and Jennie's place in Bella Vista. It is adorable. They have done a really nice job with it. And best of all, it is around the corner from Royal Tavern. Ok, maybe not the BEST part. But definitely a plus. We went there for dinner. Mmmmm . . . Royal Tavern . . . we split nachos and then I got the BBQ puled pork sandwich special and Matty for the meatloaf sandwich. Both of which are just so yummy.

Saturday we were a little slow to start. We did some shopping around the city. We are in the market for a new coffee grinder. Any suggestions? Matty really liked this Cuisinart one (see pic). But the amazon reviews suck! We are replacing a Black and Decker one that was a hand-me-down from one of our parents. Saturday night we went to Dan's for Rock Band and Marshmallows. Meaning that we played Rock Band and roasted marshmallows in his fireplace. Now I have gone to great lengths to compare how I feel about Guitar Hero World Tour vs Legends of Rock. So now Guitar Hero vs Rock Band. I like Guitar Hero better. I feel like they map songs better and the songs are more guitar-centric (obviously) which is good for me since I play mostly guitar and a little bass. I should never sing and I am not that good at drums. Also, I like the Guitar Hero guitar better than the Rock Band one. And I am more used to the timing of Guitar Hero. While I feel like Guitar Hero is a lit bit harder, I think it is a little more forgiving on individual strums. But maybe it is because I am more used to the Guitar Hero timing. I also like the breakdown of performance for Guitar Hero. That being said, I think that Rock Band is a far superior party game. First of all, there are WAY more songs. And WAY more variety of songs so that there is much more likely that someone will be able to find a song that they are willing to sing. And each song comes with a little rating of how hard the guitar is, how hard the bass is, etc. Which is good for beginners. Or people that are between difficulties. Like Matty is getting close to expert on bass, but some songs he needs to play on hard. Though I am not sure how much I necessarily trust the ratings all the time. And most importantly and really a huge deal killer (IMHO) for Guitar Hero as a true party game - The No-Fail Mode. Because you are not going to be able to get someone who has never played to keep playing and have a good time at it (which is neccessary to get any good at it) if they keep failing out of songs. Because in Guitar Hero, when one person fails, the whole song stops and that is awful for a first time player. So while guitar hero has beginner mode to help first timers, I think that No-Fail is key. We stayeda t Dan's til after 3. So apparently I dont dislike Rock Band that much. But I like Guitar Hero better. Oh and we brought soft pretzels (Matty had a craving) and buffalo chicken dip (I had a craving). It was the first time I had made the dip and I was pretty happy with it. It is a recipe I got from my cousin who made it for one of my parent's Christmas parties.

Buffalo Chicken Dip
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 12-oz bottle Frank's Red Hot
1 12-oz jar Marie's Chunky Blue Cheese Dressing
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
3-4 breasts cooked chicken, cut into small pieces or shredded (we poached and shredded it)

Spread cream cheese on bottom of large glass baking dish. Mix chicken with hot sauce. Spread chicken over cream cheese. Pour dressing over chicken. Spread cheese over dressing. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until melty and delicious. Serve with tortilla chips and celery sticks.

It was a little wet when it first came out of the oven (probably from the poaching liquid) but it was better after a little while.

Sunday we went to Cantina for brunch. I was having a bad day. I could not for the life of me make a decision. I was starving and could NOT decide what to get. It was awful. But brunch was excellent. We did halvsies on chillaquiles with eggs and a breakfast burrito. After brunch we went shopping again. I desparately needed pants. I HATE pants shopping. I think it is awful for all girls, but for us fat girls, it is downright depressing. Because nothing fits to begin with. And all of the popular styles - skinny jeans, flares, wide leg, trouser cut, low rise - should never, ever be worn by fat girls, and yet, there are few other options. Luckily I had a pair of jeans that I liked so I could just go and buy another pair of the same. Then we went back on our coffee grinder and tea kettle search.I finally talked Matty into getting a tea kettle. My mom always had one on the stove, with water, so if you need hot water you can just heat it up real fast. But we dont drink a lot of tea, so Matty always refused. Well, then he went to Ireland and fell in love with hot whiskey. And so now he is heating a lot more tea. Also, Rob and Jennie had one. So apparently that made it ok.

I want this one (on the left). Matty wants this one (on the right). We will see.

Monday night we went to Mercato for Restaurant Week. It was fantastic! Highly recommended. A word of caution - highly meat-centric. Also cash only. But the food was excellent, the service was great, the portions were perfect. And it is BYO! The make old fashioned Italian sodas by the glass or pitcher and recommend bringing your favorite rum or vodka which I think sounds lovely. For appetizers we had a roasted portabella and arugula in puff pastry with peccorino, pine nuts and thyme citronette. And a trio of bruschetta - fresh mozzarella with tomato, basil and truffle oil; wild mushrooms and cheese; white beans and pesto (fantastic pesto!). For entrees we had a short rib ragu with ricotta gnocchi, broccoli rabe and shaved locatelli. And orecchiette with meatballs, sweet sausage and broccoli rabe in a red gravy. Both were excellent. The short ribs were the best. Cooked to perfection. For dessert we had tiramisu and a warm bittersweet chocolate molten cake. We brought a bottle of Apollonio Elfo Salento Negroamaro with us. One of our RI 3 for $9.99 bottles. A very serviceable red Italian table wine. I would buy it again if I saw it. Overall, I would highly highly recommend Mercato. Normal prices dont look bad either. And as a BYO you can have a nice meal without paying a fortune.

Movies:
Finally saw WALL-E. It was of adorable. I loved the story. He was soooo cute! the animation is amazing and was great all around. I do wonder how much darker original plans were for the plot. But maybe that is just me.
Charlie Bartlett - This was on the previews for a bunch of movies we have gotten recently but I totally dont remember it coming out. I am not sure why. Fairly good cast. Anton Yelchin (I know him from Huff) plays Charlie. I like him. (I am interested to see that he is playing Chekov in the new Star Trek, I am concerned to see that JJ Abrams is directing it.) Because I am a geek. Hope Davis plays his mother, just like she did in Hearts in Atlantis (A little bit of trivia for ya). Kat Dennings plays the girl. And Robert Downey Jr. plays her dad. It was good. Nothing awesome, but worth seeing I would say.
We watched the Dark Knight last night at Dan's. You know the only thing better than the Dark Knight? The Dark Knight in HD baby!

TV:
Still loving The Wire Season 2.
And Lost has started. Yay!!!!!!! I was very happy with the premier. They answered questions! Yay!!!!! 3rd episode tonight. Exciting.

Yeah. I should get back to work now. Oh, we are going to RI this weekend. Matty's great-uncle passed away on Monday so we are going back for the funeral.

Brrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!

Is it cold there? It is cold here in Philly. And not just cold, because I should be able to handle cold. RI was cold. But the wind. For Christ's sake. I totally wimped out and took a bus this morning. That was how cold it was. I was willing to pay money to not be in the cold for another half hour.

Ok, so last night we made an Irish Farmhouse Bake from Irish Food & Folklore which Matty bought for me in Kinsale, Ireland. It is a really cool book actually. It has both traditional and modern Irish recipes along with explanations and a goodly amount of Irish history and folklore thrown in for good measure. Yeah thats right. Goodly. Ok, so this was by far our least healthy meal this week. Though I did make a spinach salad on the side. First you boil some potatoes. While they are boiling you fry some bacon in butter! That's right, not just bacon, bacon fried in butter. When that is crispy you remove it from the pan (and I made Matty drain some of the fat too) and then fry onions and mushrooms in the bacon fat-butter combination. When the potatoes and the onions and mushrooms are done, you toss the bacon, onions, mushrooms and potatoes in a baking dish. Then you season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with some fresh parsley. Then you pour double cream (or in our case heavy cream because I wasnt finding cream with MORE fat in it) over the top. And then you top with shredded farmhouse cheddar (or Celtic cheddar in our case). Then you bake. And it was delicious (how could it not be right?).

We also played some Guitar Hero. We finished the co-op career mode on Legends of Rock. I have to say, I like some of the songs on Legends of Rock, but I like World Tour better. 1) When playing co-op career (I am not sure about two player quickplay), in order to activate star power, you both have to do it at the same time. And you have to do the swing up in the air thing. Well there is rarely in a song a good time for both the bassist and the guitarist to do that at the same time. 2) Legends of Rock is way harder than World Tour. So I guess I am saying that I am just not that good. But it was really frustrating. There were two songs that we could not do. Black Sunshine by White Zombie. The bass part is just ridiculous and Matty had to give up on hard. And One by Metallica. I just couldnt get either the bass or the guitar. I cant do blue to green or vice versa transitions fast enough I guess. I mean we could obviously have kept trying and eventually gotten through it. I mean people do it on expert all the time. But that just isnt that much fun. I was playing on Medium. I want to be able to get through it within 4 or 5 tries. Not 100% or anything. But not fail out. Thats all. 3) You know when you screw up and you get that little bouncy thing? Well that is fine, but I dont want to get that little bouncy thing when Matty screws up. It throws me off. And the noise when you screw up is also too loud.

Ok, so for some back up updates. Though I have lab meeting in 18 minutes. So we got new bookcases for the apartment, but I will tell that whole story once I can post pics. So back to Matty-Sara Christmas which was the 3rd. It was very nice. We were better about buying less crap for stockings. So that was probably good. My big gift to Matty was that I got a half dozen or so gift certificates to restaurants that he has wanted to try but that I have been reticent to go to. Not because I dont think i will like them, but because I like going to the same places and staying home and he likes to constantly be out and about and doing new things. The gift cards themselves arent worth much. But since there is money behind it, we will actually go to those places. And whenever he wants to use one of those, I promised to go with him. And I got him the Philadelphia Inquirer Restaurant guide and put them all in there. So he really liked that I think. Matty's big gift to me was a new food processor. The day before our holiday party I kinda killed ours. Like it wasnt dead, but it was hurting. And I use it a lot and it was a cheapy Hamilton Beach one and it was REALLY loud. So he got me a Kitchen Aid 12 cup food processor** and it also has a 4 cup insert so that I have a big one and a small one at the same time. So we got rid of our little Black and Decker one too. It is really heavy but it if Kitchen Aid and I shouldnt be able to kill this one. And it is really pretty and comes with its own case for all the attachments and blades and stuff. I know people always say not to buy girls appliances for presents, but I dont know why. I havent gotten a chance to use it yet and I am totally itching. Yay! He also got me the Hug series of blocks from Absolute Abstract that I love and are now on the new bookcase. I will post pics, hopefully this weekend. Let me see. I got 2 Irish soccer scarves. One real real one for Celtic. And one generic Ireland one. I am using the Celtic one everyday now, except in bad weather I will use the Ireland one. And I gave him my goggles that he used while skiing. He is officially a skier now and should have some of his own ski gear. He got me a bunch of chocolate in Ireland. Yum! So yeah, we had a very nice Christmas. I made a little baked ham and my mom's Christmas frittata (potato, sausage and mushroom).

Ok, lab meeting time. More later. Next up (after bookcase) is New Years. And then skiing!

Edit: Matty has informed me that it is a 12 cup, not 9 as I originally wrote. Sorry Matty!

Working backwards

Ok, I am way behind on posts, I know. And I am going to do my best this week to catch up. And I am going to do it in reverse chronological order. So most recent stuff first. So if you are waiting to here how my Christmas was you are going to have to wait a bit.

So this weekend was our post-New Years brunch. We used to throw the brunch on New Years Day and watch/make fun of the Mummers. But there were several problems with this. 1) It meant we had to be up and functional on New Years Day in order to cook and throw a party. 2) It meant our guests had to be up and function on New Years Day in order to attend and not throw up at a party. And honestly, those 2 criteria simply werent working out. So generally we throw the brunch the first Saturday after New Years. Saturday because, well it isnt a regular 2 hour, single mimosa brunch and I at least need time to recover from it. However, the first Saturday after New Years this year was also the first Saturday Matty and I were back from vacation and so it was Matty-Sara Christmas. So, to make that long and boring explanation end, this weekend was our post-New Years brunch.

It went pretty well I think. 12 people, 13 bottles of champagne/asti/cava/prosecco, 8 hours. Doesnt sound like your normal brunch? Well you are doing it wrong. This year we served blueberry french toast casserole; carmelized onion, spinach and asiago quiche; veggie and real breakfast sausage (real from Martin's - delish!); Matty's potatoes; assorted fruits; assorted olives; sundried tomato provolone bread; spinach and cheese foccaccia that Tre brought; brie en croute with sherried mushrooms; apple, almond and cranberry quinoa; cranberry and blood orange zest scones with mango chutney, strawberry preserves and honey butter; pumpkin bread (a gift from someone Matty works with); cranberry bread (from my Aunt Lyn); moose munch (from my grandparents); egg nog cake; mississippi spiced pecans and frozen mocha cheesecake (from Dan). We also had fixins for hot whiskey (Matty's new favorite drink from Ireland) and premixed Malibu Cranberry Splashes. Oh and lots and lots and lots of bubbly stuff.
The first guest showed up at 11:59 and I think the last ones left around 8ish maybe? I am not entirely sure as I helped my fair share towards the 13 bottles and lost track of time around 7. I was also asleep by 10. It happens. Thank you to everyone (beth, tara and nancy) who provided playlists and music for the brunch. It was much appreciated by many of us. Some of us preferred gay house and that took over for awhile. But the official playlist was great. If anyone is interested let me know and I will post the whole list.

Yesterday we went on a guitar search. Dan gave me Guitar Hero World Tour and one guitar for Christmas. So Matty and I wanted to get a second guitar so that we can play together. So off we went. 6 stores and 3 phone calls later we find out that 1) they do not sell the Guitar Hero World Tour guitar separately. Only as part of the bundle with the game, or part of the 2 guitar/2 game bundle, or part of the whole band kit bundle. 2) No one in the city seems to sell the Guitar Hero Legends of Rock guitar. Well not entirely true. fye at the Gallery had it for 50. And Gamestop at the Gallery had the Aerosmith guitar and game for 80. So then we called Best Buy and they said they had lots of the Legends of Rock guitar and game for 60. So we got a car and went down there and bought it, because at that point I just wanted it bought and done. Of course by "lots" they apparently meant 1. But whatever. We got the one and now we have Guitar Hero World Tour, Guitar Hero Legends of Rock, 1 World Tour guitar and 1 Legends of Rock wireless guitar. The new (legends) guitar is going to be mine. It is a bit smaller than the world tour one, but it doesnt bother me. And it doesnt have the tap thingies on the neck, which I dont imagine I will ever be good enough to use. And it doesnt have a star power button, which kinda sucks, because I am not good and the move thingy you have to do to activate star power. But it is something to work on. It feels a bit tighter than the world tour one too. But I cant explain what that means. You will just have to come over a play. Legends of Rock the game is pretty cool. A whole new group of songs to play. And there is a co-op career mode so Matty and I get to play that together. I kinda feel like Medium is a bit harder on Legends of Rock than World Tour. But maybe I am just not used to the songs yet. But that is what we did last night.

Ok, food wise we have not done much new cooking lately. But I have 3 new recipes I am trying this week so I will have to let you know how they go.

Movies:
10th and Wolf - A movie about the Philly mob shot entirely (and very obviously) in Pittsburgh. That doesnt really even mention Philly. So why not just set it is Pittsburgh? I mean it isnt a true store or anything. The only thing Philly about it was that Tony Luke Jr was in it. But not as Tony Luke Jr. I would say, watch it if you want, but dont spend any time or money getting it.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - Wow. Fail. Really. I mean it is kinda cute and fun. But it isnt an Indy film. And it isnt a 50s alien film, which apparently they were going for. So, fail. I was really hoping for awesome. And then I was hoping for "not cringeworthy". And there were some cringeworthy, shark jumping scenes. So yeah. Indy fans, you should see it cuz it is part of the legacy, but dont get your hopes up.

We now have Nightmare Before Christmas, which I wanted to watch before Christmas but didnt get around to and Matty doesnt particularly want to watch. And Paragraph 175. This is what Netflix has to say

"Actor Rupert Everett provides the narration for this disquieting documentary that shines a light on the Third Reich's vicious persecution of male homosexuals during World War II. The title comes from an arcane, 1871 German statute making sodomy punishable by incarceration (with the ultimate goal to eradicate gays completely). Only a handful of survivors -- now frail and withered -- remain to recount their traumatic tales in this poignant film."

Sounds like fun! So I predict a major slowing down of the Netflix machinery.

TV:
Mad Men Season 1: It started a little slow. But we are definitely hooked. Cant wait for Season 2 to come out. Really spectacularly done. Acting, wardrobe, directing. Really.
The Wire Season 2: Just started last night. We will see how it goes. Liked Season 1, but not sure how this season will go.

Ok, well I should do some actual work at work today. I will fill you in on Matty-Sara Christmas, New Years, skiing, and Christmas soon. Hopefully! As a preview:

Things that have made me laugh today

As a warning, I am alone in the lab, the day before Thanksgiving, having already accomplished my one goal for the day:

"A search of his car uncovered pornography, a home-made sex aid, women's stockings and a Jack Russell terrier." In a story about a dude being pulled over because they thought he had a weapon and then the police finding that in fact he was fucking a jar of pasta sauce.

Having a conversation with a Chinese woman about the difference between the words "bacteria" and "bacterial." Go ahead, say them in your head with a Chinese accent.

Would of course be funnier if he wasn't OUR president. Who WE elected. Twice.

In other news:
We started watching Man Men, season 1. I see the potential, but I feel like it is starting a little slowly. Definitely going to watch through Season 2 though.
Has it been that long since I reviewed movies?!??!
Lars and the Real Girl: Incredibly well done. Just great all around. I cant give a synopsis because either you won't see it or you will see it for the wrong reasons. But you should see it.
Rome, Season 2: Bloodier, sexier, raunchier, more pornographic, more extravagance.
Breakfast at Tiffany's: Beautiful, classic Audrey. Does more need to be said?
Dreamgirls: Jennifer Hudson was great. overall the movie was very good, a little long it seemed, like Boogie Nights was long, because it covers so much time it seems to be very long, but probably isnt. I would recommend it if you are at all interested in musicals and it is kinda chicky.
Lolita: Kubrick's. I didnt really get it. I mean I got it, but not why it was such a big deal. I guess it exemplifies the difference between 1962 and now. It was REALLY long. I probably wouldnt recommend it to anyone because anyone who would really like it has probably seen it. It is not Kubrick in the way I think of Kubrick.
In The Bedroom: It was ok. It felt a little self important. Worth seeing but not moving to the top of your queue. Has at least one part I couldnt watch. Tom Wilkinson was great.
The History Boys: Very Dead Poets Society. A bit edgier. Feel like I would have liked some background on how the school system works in England. Richard Griffiths was fantastic.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix: I almost feel like maybe they should nto have made these movies. So much has to be cut that some of the feel and the wonder and awe gets lost. But I must admit, that after this one I felt once again that I wanted to be at Hogwarts. So badly. I know, big dork, right here.
Hell House: A documentary about the original Hell House put on by the Trinity Church Assemblies of God in Cedar Hill, Texas (I know shocker). A haunted house of sorts where the hauntings are sins like homosexuality, domestic violence and school shootings, re-enacted (with real guns even) by high school kids who are then dragged off to hell for not repenting. At the end you get to be saved. Gained notoriety for portraying the Columbine shootings 6 months after the fact. With real guns. Loaded with blanks. But still. Crazy fucking Christians. I would recommend it assuming you arent one of them. Was talked about on This American Life.
The Professional: Early Natalie Portman (she was 13). Jean Reno is absolutely fantastic. Creepy Gary Oldman. Had a bit of a late 80's, early 90's feel to it, but worth seeing despite that.
Cars: Ratatouille good, not Bugs Life good.

Food:
Made this last week:
Chipotle Pumpkin Black Bean Soup. Used lager instead of Mexican beer. Used yellow onion instead of red onion for the salsa. Didnt do the cranberry sauce thing. Just used sour cream. Fabulous. Really really good. Even though I am not a huge pumpkin fan. And not a bring sweet/savory mixing fan. So yeah. Highly recommend!!!! Would probably cut the chicken broth in half so it was a bit thicker. Good leftover too.






Also made this:
Italian Sausage Supper Stuffing. OH MY GOD! SOOOOO yummy. Really just so awesome. We used Italian long hots because they didnt have cubanelles. Seriously recommended. A bit on the complicated side, a lot going at once, so is easier with two people. The sauce itself is totally worth it.

Also made this:
Speedy Layered Chicken Enchilada Pie. I didnt cut the tortillas, I just used a round baking dish and used them whole. I am not really surea botu the whole half vs strips thing. Seems complicated. I used Trader Joe's enchilada sauce and chipotle salsa which I really like. Also, I left the corn fozen because I didnt notice it said thawed and that was totally fine. And I used colby jack. Really quick and easy and tasty. Would also recommend.


Radio:
Have been listening to This American Life recently and have fallen in love. Oh Ira Glass. What is with guys named Ira and public radio huh?
Also still love Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me. Oh Peter!

Games:
Have fallen in love with and may possibly be a little obsessed with Guitar Hero World Tour. Sigh. I know. But it is so much fun! Dan has it for the PS3. And he has a guitar, bass, drumkit and microphone. And it is so much fun! I am getting near being a strong medium guitarist and bassist. I cant really drum and should never be allowed near a mic apparently. But even that doesnt bother me. So yeah. So much fun! Ok, I will stop.

Nina and I had a bit of an incident last week. She essentially told me that she donest want me here anymore. And maybe I should get a Masters. And I pretty much told her that that is too bad cuz it is her job to support me and I am getting my PhD. Out of spite if nothing else. So yeah, that didnt go well.

Matty leaves Friday for Ireland. He will be gone until the 8th. Without me. I will be all alone trying to get our apartment ready for our holiday party and doing the shopping and starting the cooking. I am not looking forward to it. I dont sleep well without him. And I have never actually lived alone. Soooo . . . yeah. We will see how that goes. But I am happy for him. He is going to have such a great time.

I would like to remind you to: Send me your unique, your guilty pleasures. Send me your playlists!

Have a great Thanksgiving! Leaving for RI in about an hour. Just one more hour to waste.