Valentine's Day

Needless to say I was really really excited to see this movie. Let's start with the all-star cast, everyone who's anyone was in this movie. OK, that may be an overstatement, but there were a ton of fabulous people in this movie. Jennifer Garner is fantastic in almost everything. We will forgive her for Elektra and Catch and Release. Bradley Cooper, also from Alias, is always endearing. Taylor Lautner is humble and cute, even with his shirt on. Taylor Swift is always good for bringing a smile and laugh. Ashton Kutcher is charming in almost everything he does. Eric Dane truly is McSteamy even while not playing a surgeon. Hector Elizando is a name you may not recognize as easily, but I fell in love with him as a bodyguard in The Princess Diaries. The last big name I will mention needs no introduction, Julia Roberts will pull me to a theater almost every time.

While this movie did indeed have a lot of big names to reel in an audience, it had to keep that audience once they had taken the bait. The movie follows about a billion characters through Valentine's Day in Los Angeles. If you have seen Love Actually or He's Just Not That Into You, then you know the type of movie I am talking about. The characters are all related in various ways and the story hops from person to person. The characters range from an adult phone entertainer to an elementary school student in love with his teacher.

While I am a sucker for a love story, I liked this movie more for the comedy than for the moments when couples finally get together. Several of my favorite moments came from the film making reference to the plethora of films and shows that its cast has starred in. My favorite story line was that of the elementary school boy, Edison. I won't tell you any more than that because I want you to watch it and love it like I did. I will also tell you to stay for the credits, my favorite single moment in the movie was actually in the outtakes and moments after the credits started rolling.

This movie is definitely one that can be rented, it was fun to see in the theater but if you haven't seen it yet go ahead and wait for the rental. Ladies, don't make your boyfriends watch this movie. It is a chick flick in every sense of the word, save this one for ladies night. It's not the kind of movie that changes history, or that really even means anything. It is fun and fluffy, watch and enjoy.

Avatar

To tell the truth I put off going to see this movie. It was so hyped up. People were painting their faces blue, they went to see the film over and over. I feared getting excited about the movie and then being let down when it didn't live up to the hype. To tell the truth this movie looked weird. The blue people looked a little strange to me. I hate watching people fall in love when I know one of them is lying, which I thought was the premise of this movie. It makes me uncomfortable and nervous waiting for that moment when the truth is out there, and it just sits there. To Avatar's credit, while this does happen in the movie, the movie is so much more than that.

The people that have called this movie visually stunning were not over-hyping it. It was one of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen. James Cameron has always been one of my favorite directors. (Can you say Titanic?) He definitely didn't disappoint with this futuristic epic love story. Everything you loved about Titanic is taken to new levels in Avatar, except that boys actually liked this movie. I call this an epic love story because in truth that's what it is. It's not your typical love story though. Sure boy meets girl and falls in love with her, but it's more than that. Boy meets girl and falls in love with an entire planet.

The story takes place on the planet Pandora. A large company has set up an operation on this planet to mine for a substance cleverly called unobtainium. There are three types of humans on the planet: company suits, mercenaries and scientists. The suits don't play much of a role in the movie, except that they are the reason everyone is there. The mercenaries are there to protect the operation from the indigenous people, the Na'vi, who don't like their planet being destroyed by mining. The scientists are there to study the planet and the aliens who inhabit it.

The cast is not heavy on big names. Sigourney Weaver plays the lead scientist who has formed a bond with the Na'vi people. Sam Worthington, a relative unknown, plays Jake a paraplegic ex-Marine who the entire story revolves around. Jake's twin brother, who dies before the movie begins, was a scientist who had planned to travel to Pandora. The movie's title comes from the real life Na'vi bodies who are controlled by human minds and who cost millions of dollars to create. The Na'vi bodies are mapped to specific human DNA sequences, since Jake is a twin he will fit the mold for his brother's Avatar. He knows nothing about science, the planet Pandora, the native language or the mission of the company. Once out and about in his Avatar on Pandora Jake is separated from his group. While out in the wilderness he meets the daughter of the local Na'vi tribe's leader. This chance encounter is what sets the story of Avatar in motion.

The planet Pandora is like nothing you have ever seen. The mountains float, the flowers glow, the animals have too many limbs and the people are blue. Much of the beginning of the movie is spent showing you scenes of this crazy beautiful planet. The colors and shapes jump off the screen, especially if you see this in 3-D. Once your eyes have feasted until completely over-sated on the scenery, you begin to settle in to the plot.

Jake petitions the tribe to let him live among them and learn their ways. Neytiri, played by the beautiful in blue Zoe Saldana, is charged with teaching Jake the ways of the Na'vi people. At this point you are started to be reminded of Pocahontas, but Cameron takes the story to the next level. The standard scenes that could be expected from this story line are escalated from routine to extraordinary due to the stunning background. By day Jake is with Neytiri learning to survive on this beautiful yet deadly planet, by night he is back at the company home base documenting his adventures. It is complicated to explain how this works, just trust me when I say it makes sense in the movie.

I don't want to give too much of the story away, so I will just tell you that tensions build and a battle ensues. I must say that this is one of the more exciting battles that has ever been on the silver screen. It rivals the Helm's Deep battle at the end of Two Towers. I didn't expect to fall for the plot line of this movie in the way I did. I expected it to be the same story that has been told before, but I found myself completely enchanted by all things Avatar. I think that is James Cameron's true gift; he takes a story that we have heard before yet he tells it in a way that keeps you completely riveted.

If you have the chance to see this one in the theaters I highly recommend it. If you can afford the few extra bucks, and you don't get motion sick, then I suggest going for the 3D version. It is not the 3D where crap seems to fly out at you from the screen and scared the bejeepers out of you. It really just enhances the depth of the movie visually, everything pops just a little bit more. There is a reason this movie is generating Oscar buzz. Give it a shot, if nothing else your eyes will love you for showing them something they have never seen before.

Up in the Air

I realized a few days ago that I had not seen any of the Oscar nominated movies. I probably won't see most of them, but there were a few on the list that sounded like movies I would enjoy. Yesterday was a snow day for me, a first since high school. There are in fact a few upsides to being a teacher. I decided to take advantage of my unexpected freedom and went to the movie theater. We decided to see Up in the Air and Sherlock Holmes. I know Sherlock is not on the Oscar list, but it still sounded pretty interesting.

Up in the Air is a story about a lot of things, but I think what it boils down to is a look at the life of the modern businessman. Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, a corporate downsizer, his company comes in and conducts the exit interviews for companies who have to downsize. Essentially he fires people for a living. In order to do this he travels 270+ days out of the year. Through this lifestyle he has developed a philosophy that he lectures about, essentially teaching people to free themselves of all attachments.

There are two ladies that I would refer to as leading ladies in this film. They have both been nominated for the Supporting Actress category. Vera Farminga plays Alex, a fellow world traveler. She bonds with Ryan at a hotel bar while they compare company loyalty cards. Anna Kendrick plays Natalie a fellow downsizer who is trying to pitch the idea of firing people via video conference.

The film takes a quick but poignant look at life for the average person in the rough economy over the past couple of years. They had real people speaking after they have just been fired. From someone who has made the call to let people go in the past, it was definitely a difficult part of the film to watch. They try to make it light hearted by throwing in a few funny moments of the people being fired, but you never feel quite right laughing at people at their weakest.

The movie never really came to an end for me, I guess thats why its on Oscar movie. Maybe I am just not deep enough to get what the point of the movie was. What I took from it was that it is OK to form attachments with people, and its ok to just live a life free of commitments and attachments. Also I learned that a swivel suitcase is the only luggage to invest in, and it takes 35 minutes per flight to check bags and pick them back up.

I am glad I went to see this movie, I enjoyed it. There were some truly lovely moments, and to me a few great scenes can make a movie. Clooney can truly wear a pair of pants, even though he is way to old for me, it is still a pleasure to watch him on screen. Maybe you are deeper than me and will be able to appreciate the movie for its more artistic statements and the truth about life that it speaks to. I just enjoyed an interesting story about three people who live in a world that is relatively unknown to me.

Christmas Movies

The holiday season has come and gone. In the days since Thanksgiving I have spent nearly every waking moment trying to get my students to pass my class. This has not left a lot of time for movie going or for blogging, I dont think I have seen a new movie in quite some time. Do not fear young reader, I got movie theater gift cards for Christmas and they will not go to waste.

I did want to tell you a little about my favorite Christmas movies, the ones that are traditions in my family and the ones that I have come to love on my own. My list of top 10 Christmas movies is as follows: The Muppet Christmas Carol, The Holiday, Love Actually, Elf, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street (1990s Version), It's a Wonderful Life, Eloise at Christmastime, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, The Santa Clause

I dont think I could rank these in any kind of order, it would be like apples and oranges, I like them for different reasons, no two movies are quiet the same. I will tell you why I love them though, well at least the ones that may seem a little odd.

The Muppet Christmas Carol: Marley was dead to begin with. So begins Charles Dickens' beloved tale of a bitter miser who takes a harsh look at his life with the assistance of a few ghosts and discovers the tru meaning of Christmas. There are countless adaptations of this story, I would say every other year someone tries to put there own spin on this classic tale. These adaptations are as varied as the world is wide from the recent Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (dont waste your time by the way) which follows a young lethario who realises the true love of his life with the help of three girlfriend ghosts, to Scrooged which is a modern take on the classic version of the story, everyone tries to improve upon Dickens' original work. This story is a classic for a reason, it is not begging to be manipulated into something new, it simply asks to be told and be told well. The Muppets may seem an odd choice to bring this to fruition, but that is was they accomplish in there version of A Christmas Carol. The movie is narrated by Charles Dickens, played humbly by Gonzo. Sure they add a few songs, Bob Cratchitt is actually a frog, and they did turn the singular Marley into the Marley Brothers so they could be played by the crotchity old muppets who always heckle Fozzi. The Muppets bring a bit of light heartedness to a story that can be very dark, they stayed true to the book and incorporate several direct lines from the story itself. It would not be Christmas without a visit from the ghosts and muppets.

The Holiday - Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Kate Winslet and Jack Black. An all star cast, I have always loved Jack Black, and I will faithfully watch him in any movie not involving large monkeys. This movie is really two love stories in one. Truthfully I could take or leave the story set in England. I tolerate it because the little girls are so darn cute, and I love to hear there little accents. The American story is what makes this a true winner. It explores love on a few different levels. To me love is what Christmas is all about. Love for your family, love for your friends, and most importantly the love of God towards humanity. Kate Winslet's Iris finds herself again through the love of a neighbor and a friend. She learns to value herself while getting to know an elderly gentlemen who was a screen play writer. She learns to believe that she deserves to be loved through meeting a score writer who falls for her. I love men who play music and who write music. There is this beautiful scene where he is playing her a song he wrote for a mutual friend and then he plays a song he wrote for her. "Iris, if you were a melody... I used only the good notes." I melt every single time.

Love Actually - So this one again touches on the theme that Christmas is about love. It goes as far as to change the lyrics to the song "Love is All Around" to say "Christmas is All Around." Again this movie is really a collection of stories, there are some I don't care for and others I really enjoy. I think my favorite story line involves a writer and a housekeeper, they don't speak the same language but they love each other nonetheless. There is another story which on the surface seems to be about a young boy in love with a girl at his school, but really it is about the bond of a father and a child right after the death of the woman they both loved. So many different types of relationships but it all comes down to the same key point. Cherish the ones you love, and chase after the things you want. I love it.

Eloise at Christmastime - I have always wanted to be like Eloise, to be rich and live in the Plaza in the heart of New York. This is the story of a little girl, whose mother travels all the time and so she is cared for by her nanny (played by the incomparable Julie Andrews). She lives in the Plaza hotel, and essentially she has her run of the place. Christmas in New York is always a magical time to me, and Eloise has the same beliefs. In the midst of her adventures she saves a young woman from attaching herself to a low life, and simultaneously reconnects her to her childhood sweetheart. My favorite part though is when Eloise goes shopping. She is so excited to buy presents for all of the people in her life. I love the representation of a child who loves the giving of Christmas as much as the getting.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - While yes every Harry Potter movie goes through Christmas, I don't usually think of them as Christmas movies. The first one though, always seems like Christmas to me. Harry is a young boy of 11 who has never known love in his life. He has been living with his Aunt and Uncle who despised his parents before they died and then resented Harry for not having anyone else to care for him. They made him live in a closet and neglected him for 11 years. Upon his 11th birthday he learns that he is special and that there is a whole world of people who revere him. He leaves his Uncle's home to go live at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He is suddenly wealthy and popular, he could walk around that school like he owned it, bullying the weak and teasing the poor. He chooses a different path though and befriends a poor red headed student named Ron and a Muggle born teacher's pet named Hermione. Through these friendships he learns the important thing in life. There is a scene at Christmas when Ron excitedly wakes Harry up for Christmas. Harry springs out of bed just thrilled to be with his best friend, excited because Ron is excited. Then Ron informs Harry that he has presents. His face lights up like... well i guess the best phrase here is that his face lights up like Christmas morning. You just want to pick him up and swing him around and say yes Harry you do deserve all of this, and now you can have it.

So if your list of Christmas must sees lacks any of these above, I suggest giving them a try. And if you think wow I already watch so many movies at Christmastime, maybe you could skip one or two airings of that dreadful Christmas Story and replace it with one of these.

Thanksgiving Dinner

This past weekend our annual Turkey party. Last year it ended up being after Thanksgiving, so we put a Christmas theme on it. This year we got the timing right and had our turkey party as a pre-Thanksgiving celebration with friends.

I got a fantastic turkey from Trader Joe's, it was vegetarian fed and brined. The brine on a turkey keeps it moist while it cooks. If your turkey does not come to you brined, you can brine it yourself. Brining is the process of allowing your item to sit in salt water to push water into the bird. I would recommend buying a brining mix or adding some herbs to your mixture if you do this at home.

DON'T FORGET TO PULL OUT THE INNARDS! Most if not all turkeys come with the gross bits inside the body cavity. If you are a giblet gravy person, pull out the nasty bits and boil them then put them into some gravy. If you are grossed out as I am by the insides of a turkey, then you can simply toss them away. You can also turn a chicken stock into a nice turkey flavored stock by boiling the innards in the stock.

Once you have pulled out the nasties, and done what you will with them, you should stuff the body cavity with some aromatics. I recommend onions and an orange. The onions will supplement the flavor of the turkey; and the orange will steam the inside of the body and keep the meat juicy.

I always recommend trussing your bird. This simply means to tie the legs together and bind the wings to the body. This will ensure that everything cooks at the same time. Additionally, to this point, white meat cooks faster than dark meat. To prevent the breast from overcooking while the legs finish getting to temperature, you can place a double layer of tin foil over the breast during cooking. You can also stuff the breast between the meat and the skin This will keep the breast juicy during cooking.

For the outside of the turkey you want to ensure to use a fat and some flavor. Butter or oil will work well. For your flavorings use absolutely must include salt and pepper. After those key items you can use whatever you like. Sage, rosemary and thyme go nicely with turkey. I bought a turkey paste this year because the saleswoman at William's Sonoma was really convincing. It was truly delicious.

I am not one to stuff my turkey while cooking, it makes your turkey take much longer to fully cook. I do like stuffing, however, or I guess technically I like dressing. I made a sausage leek cornbread dressing that received rave reviews. Leeks have a very mellow and slightly sweet flavor. I have cooked with them several times, as I have detailed in several posts, and I always enjoy the results. I browned some sweet and spicy sausage in a sautee pan and then let it cool on some paper towels. In the sausage grease and some olive oil I sauteed the leeks until they started to become translucent. I combined the leeks and the sausage and then mixed in some cornbread crumbs. I topped the whole thing with my chicken/turkey stock and baked until it started to brown. Truly delicious.

I hope that you all have a very Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy yourselves in the kitchen!

Potato Risotto and Caprese Chicken Salad

My roommates invited an old friend over for dinner the other night. I had never met this friend, but I have this uncontrollable need to impress people with my cooking. I am not gifted at singing, acting, or sports, but I can cook a mean meal. I wasn't sure what to cook for this mystery guest, but I was in a creative mood as I sculpted my menu.

I watch Top Chef almost religiously. In the one of the first episodes of the new season the chefs are challenged to create something awesome out of potatoes. Mike Isabella chose to make a potato risotto. I had never heard of risotto being made out of anything aside from rice, but there it was. Being the arrogant and adventurous cook that I am, I decided that I too could make potato risotto. To go with the potato dish I decided to do a play on the classic caprese salad. The salad would traditionally have fresh mozzarella, sliced tomato and basil. I decided to make my own pesto and coat chicken in the pesto and then stuff it with mozzarella and tomatoes.

The plan started to go wrong when I started making the pesto. Typically this would be done in a food processor, which we do not have. I have used a blender to make sauces before so I tried to make the pesto in the blender. The problem with the blender is that it doesn't actually reach all of the ingredients sitting in it. Especially when the items are small like basil leaves. Long story short, the garlic got chopped up very finely but the rest of the pesto didn't process as well. This resulted in a pesto that was overly pungent with garlic.

The plan for the potato risotto was to put a very fine dice on potatoes and then saute the pieces in oil before slowly adding liquid to cook. All the recipes I found called for using a julienne setting on a mandolin, I don't have a mandolin, but I do have a julienne peeler from Pampered Chef. Let's just say that these two items yield very different results. The peeler did not work easily, and did not yield thick enough julienne strips to dice. The tragedy continued from there when the potatoes did not cook as the recipe said that they would. What resulted was something between hash browns and potato soup.

With the potato disaster, I ran out of time for my elaborate stuffed chicken plans. I ended up dicing the tomato and the mozzarella and serving a tomato cheese salad of sorts on top of baked pesto coated chicken.

All in all, this was one failure of a meal. I learned a valuable lesson. When you are having company over for dinner, stick to what you know. When I was younger we would make what we called Mike's Lucky Chicken whenever we had people coming to the house. It was so tasty and easy, we had perfected our version of the recipe and it was a crowd pleaser. Stick to a menu you know you can execute well.

Hollandaise Sauce

Recently my roommate had her 26th birthday. We had just moved in to our new apartment, we had never broken out the China from our China cabinet, so we decided to throw a fancy dinner party. We kept the guest list pretty small, and the menu was fairly simple. We had roast pork with leeks, pears and figs, asparagus with hollandaise sauce, mashed red skin potatoes and chocolate mousse. We also made a lovely champagne and pear syrup drink we called "The Leslie" it was quite tasty.

I have written about the roast pork dish before on this blog, it is becoming my go-to dish. The addition of the figs was a request from the birthday girl, and a brilliant addition the leek and pear flavor combo.

This was my first attempt at a hollandaise sauce. I tried a few different recipes to ensure that I got the sauce correct. I have a new policy when it comes to food, especially in regards to entertaining. Never serve a dish you have not previously attempted successfully to people you don't live with. I learned this lesson when a high school friend of my roommate's came over for dinner. See the potato risotto blog post for a description of all the ways in which this meal failed.

Hollandaise sauce is truly disgusting when you look at it as its ingredients. The sauce consists of egg yolks, a lot of butter, a splash of lemon juice and a pinch of cayenne pepper. Separately they sound like the bad makings of one of those cleansing beverages celebrities drink for three weeks to cleanse their chi. But when you whip the egg yolks over a simmering pot of water, and then slowly blend in the butter, you get something truly special.

The party was on Saturday night, so on Friday night I attempted Alton Brown's recipe for hollandaise. He instructs to chill the butter and cut it into small pieces. Whisk the egg yolks in a double boiler until they become lighter in color, and thicker in texture. Slowly add in small pieces of butter and whisk until they melt and incorporate, continue adding butter one piece at a time until it is all incorporated. You then add in the lemon juice and cayenne pepper. The result was an ok sauce, a bit heavy on the lemon. My arm was wicked sore from all the whisking, so the next day I decided to use a different recipe. The new recipe called to slowly add in melted butter. This was a little better on my whisking arm, but as i was making sauce for 15 people I did have to trade off with a friend half way through making the sauce.

My recommendation for those of you that would like to attempt this sauce is to use the melted butter approach. It will incorporate into the sauce a lot easier. I would also recommend using less lemon juice than is called for in the recipe. I would also recommend using a little more cayenne than is called for as well. This will add a little kick to the sauce, which is a delicious twist.