Monday, January 25, 2010

Lazy Sunday Movie: Julie and Julia & Boeuf Bourguignon


I saw this movie over my Christmas vacation. I loved it and was really intrigued with the idea of cooking your way through the Art of French Cooking. Of course, I have no plans to do such a thing, but since my mother and I made Boeuf Bourguignon last night. I felt it was only fair to post this movie as my Lazy Sunday Movie of the week.

Julie and Julia is a movie that follows the lives of two women. Surprisingly enough named Julie and Julia. Julia Child's life is discussed, how she lives in Paris, how she became a cook, how she wrote a cookbook about French cooking in English before anyone else. It also discusses her relationship with her husband and family.

The other story line is about Julie Powell. She's a writer, but hates her day job and is trying to find a hobby. So she decides to write a blog about her decision to cook her way through Julia Child's Art of French Cooking.

So now, here's a faux pic of what our Boeuf Bourguignon looked like. Faux because we didn't have a decent camera to take a pic of our wonderful meal!

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Pots on Simmer

I'm sorry for the radio silence here. It's been a whirlwind lately. Not only do I have a wedding I'm standing up in at the end of the month, but I have a bachelorette party this weekend and a ton of other things simmering for February.

I've debated putting this up here since I try not to put much that can identify me. (Not out of fear for my safety or some nutjob thing like that, since many people here do know me in real life. But out of a sense of privacy, odd but that's me.) But I figure, what the hell.

I decided to do the Susan G. Komen 3-day walk for breast cancer. I agreed to walk 60 miles in 3 days. Crazy I know. I've always wanted to do this. Prove to myself that I am the She-ra capable of walking three 20 mile days, back to back to back. Many people, including me, won't really jump start training until March or April. This said, I'm trying to fit any sort of exercise in my day.

Training aside, I have to raise $2300 to walk. This was the stopping point for me for many years. But I decided to join an established team, that can help me with fundraising tips and tricks and the support anyone needs to do this event. So, I've got all these different pots on the stove, Euchre tournament, Superbowl Squares and a Packzi Sale to name a few. Which is why I've been running around all crazy like.

And to end this in a predictable but necessary fashion...If you would like to donate to help me reach my goal, please include your email in a comment on this page. (I'm still trying to be as non-identifiable as I can. LOL) And I will email you the link to the site.

Monday, January 18, 2010

I Have a Dream...

Go here to hear him present his speech.

I Have a Dream....

"I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. *We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by a sign stating: "For Whites Only."* We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."¹

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."²

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of
Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Haiti

Please send any thoughts, prayers, and healing energy to the people of Haiti. Goodness knows they can use all the help they can get.

That said, if you can at all help financially, please consider donating to a reputable organization.

Red Cross: This is the online donation link or you can text “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10 to American Red Cross relief for Haiti. The $10 will be added to your phone bill. This gives you more info about the texting donations.

Unicef

Doctors without Borders

Monday, January 11, 2010

Lazy Sunday Movie: Cannibal the Musical


Such a great movie. My lovely sister-in-law and brother-in-law shared this gem of a movie with me a while ago. Very hilarious! If you haven't seen it, you need to hit up your netflix account and put it on your rental list.

The musical is about Alferd Packer. He was accused of cannibalism during a 1873 trek from Provo, UT to Breckenridge, CO. Since this musical was done by Trey Parker of South Park fame you can guess the humor.

Anywho, I give you "It's a Shpadoinkle Day" And you can go here to download the entire soundtrack.



Friday, January 8, 2010

Potato, Bacon and Gruyere Torte

A week or so ago I made this torte twice since it was sooooooo yummy. Twice in one week. Of course, once was for my sis-in-law, bro-in-law and their kids. All in all very easy to make and very yummy to eat!

I got this recipe from Melissa d'Arabian's 10 Dollar Dinners show on Food Network. I semi-homemade it a bit by using store bought pie crust and microwave bacon. Really cuts the prep-time in half.

Ingredients

  • 4 strips bacon
  • 3 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 2/3 cup heavy cream
  • 2 Pie Crusts, recipe follows
  • 3 medium baking potatoes, peeled
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 cup grated Gruyere cheese
  • 1 egg yolk, whisked with a splash of water

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon until just crispy. Drain on paper towel lined plate and set aside. Crumble the bacon when cool to the touch.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, heat the thyme and cream over low heat to a bare simmer. Turn off the heat and let steep for about 5 minutes. Remove the thyme sprigs.

Remove the pie pan from the refrigerator. Slice the potatoes in half lengthwise and then finely slice the potatoes. Working in circles, arrange the potato slices in the pie crust, stopping to season each layer with salt, pepper, and about 1/4 of the crumbled bacon. Continue layering until the pie pan is nearly full. Top with an even layer of the cheese and gently pour cream around and over the entire pie, allowing it to seep down between the potato slices. (You may not use all the cream.)

Roll out the remaining disk of refrigerated dough. Cover the pie with the dough and crimp the edges closed. Brush the top and edges of the crust with egg wash. Make a few slits in the center of the top crust, for the steam to escape, and put the pie pan on a baking sheet.

Bake the torte until the crust is browned and crispy and the potatoes are cooked through, about 50 to 60 minutes. If the crust edges get too brown, cover them with some strips of aluminum foil.

Remove the pie from the oven and let rest at least 15 minutes before cutting into wedges and serving.

Pie Crust:

  • 1 cup butter (2 sticks), cubed and chilled
  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 8 to 10 tablespoons ice water

Put the butter, flour, and salt in the food processor, and pulse lightly just until the mixture resembles wet sand. Add the water, 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing briefly after each spoonful of water. Keep adding water until the dough just begins to gather into larger clumps. Transfer equal amounts of the dough into 2 resealable plastic bags and pat each into a disk. Let rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Remove 1 of the disks from the bag to a flour coated surface. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to a 10-inch round. Gently fit the rolled dough into a 9-inch pie pan, and refrigerate while you prepare the torte ingredients.

Yield: 2 (9-inch) pie crusts

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Lazy Sunday Movie: Avatar (yes I know it's Tuesday, deal with it.)

Yesterday was a really rough day at the office. I guess that's what happens when the office is closed for two weeks. The first day back everyone has to call.

I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday season! I know I did. The little one has discovered stairs. Oh my. It was quite interesting to see Mommy and Daddy trying to figure out what will block the stairs (since we haven't had a chance to get a big enough gate.) It took three attempts. Man she's good at figuring things out.

Other than the numerous trips up and down the stairs with my daughter, not much else has happened. We had fun visiting family & friends. And now it's time to get back in the groove.

Without further ado, here's my Lazy Sunday Movie post a few days late.

AVATAR!!!!



I know it's been advertised and talked about by everyone lately. But it is really good. I went not expecting to like the movie, probably because I had no idea about the plot. But it was amazingly good. The Hubs really wanted to see this in 3D before it disappeared from the theaters. Honestly, I doubt the 3D will disappear anytime soon. We went two weeks after the opening weekend and it was PACKED!!!! And if you haven't seen it yet, you HAVE to see it in 3D!

I don't want to give too much of the plot away. But the main idea is there's another planet "Pandora". This planet has a particular mineral on it that sells like crazy on Earth. But there is an indigenous group living there already. The movie centers on this issue and looks at both sides.

I found this movie to be very interesting and it brought up a whole heap of philosophical questions for me.

Has anyone else seen it? What do you think?