A Christmas movie

I just watched a holiday movie that I really enjoyed, "Noelle". I love little indie films and this one is visually poetic; with endearingly real characters; and thoughtful questions. If you have Verizon, it's currently On Demand. It's the story of a Catholic priest, who perhaps shouldn't be one, and how we relate to the "people side" of life. After watching it, I read some reviews and was surprised at how many Catholics took it to be anti-Catholic. I actually thought it was respectful of the responsibility and dedication required of someone in the priesthood. I wonder how often we are over-sensitive, thinking that things reflect badly on us when they do the opposite? It was originally titled "Mrs. Worthington's Party", so don't let that part of the trailer confuse you. I also like the fact that the lead actor is also the screnwriter, that always makes things more interesting. (And, is it just me, or does he look like a young Robert Redford?) Anyway, check if out if you're looking for something to watch.

A new blog!

Yeah, I know, what am I doing starting a new blog, when I can't keep up with this one?! I was bored last weekend (translation = didn't feel like doing the chores I SHOULD have been doing) and decided to start a new blog based on my love of foreign movies. On my "REEL PASSPORT" blog I talk about foreign movies and tv shows I've watched, and give you little video clips to watch. Hopefully you will see something that looks interesting and give it a watch. There are so many great films and shows out there that Americans don't know about, and it's nice to watch stuff that isn't mass produced in the Hollywood mold. I only include stuff I've actually watched, and that is available on DVD online at places like Amazon and Ebay. So check it out! Here's a sample from each category:

ROMANCE

(5) BRIDE AND PREJUDICE



This is a fun, colorful, and musical, Bollywood treatment of Pride and Prejudice. There's a little something for everyone...colorful locales and costumes, music and big dance numbers, comedy, romance, etc. AND, SAYID FROM "LOST" DANCING!!! It's great... kind of corny lines, improbably situations, and some wooden acting here and there... but it's just so cheerful and colorful that its endearing. And probably the only movie where you'll see an musical number including mariachi singers, a gospel choir and baywatch lifeguards all mixed together on the beach...lol.

SUSPENSE

(1) SMILLA'S SENSE OF SNOW



1997 thriller based on a Danish novel. Smilla, an expert on snow, becomes involved in the mystery surrounding a child falling off a rooftop. Plenty of intrigue and suspense, leading to an increasingly far-fetched, but entertaining explanation. Notable for its cast:

* Julia Ormond as Smilla Jasperson
* Gabriel Byrne as The Mechanic
* Richard Harris as Dr. Andreas Tork
* Jim Broadbent as Dr. Lagermann
* Tom Wilkinson as Prof. Loyen
* Robert Loggia as Moritz Jasperson
* Vanessa Redgrave as Elsa Lübing

DRAMA

(7/8) ONCE WERE WARRIORS/WHAT BECOMES OF THE BROKEN HEARTED?



It is no exaggeration to say that "Once Were Warriors", a 1994 film from New Zealand is one of the most powerful movies I've ever seen. This gut-wrenching film explores the effects of alcohol, poverty and violence on an urban Maori family. It literally takes your breath away at points, and you won't soon forget it. Not for the faint of heart, but, such an achingly important message about how families can destroy those they love the most. This is considered one of the all time great movies from this market. Great soundtrack, also.

Thanks to Gavin for letting me know that a sequel, "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?", was released in 1999. Although good, it is no where near the quality of the first movie, and it seems that the critical acclaim of "Once Were Warriors" led producers to amp the sequel up with more Hollywood-like, less realistic violence and subplots. It is an interesting look into the New Zealand gang culture, and despite being a bit of a disappointment compared to its predecessor, it does have some moving parts. I was touched by the relationship between the fresh out of jail, lifetime gang member, and a local single mother, but, it was a relationship tinged with sadness and doom.



The lead actors, while not well known in Hollywood circles, are acting royalty in New Zealand.

* Beth Heke - Rena Owen
* Jake "the Muss" Heke - Temuera Morrison


COMEDY



One of my all time favorite films. This 2000 British movie tells the story of Grace. Her comfortable, genteel life is thrown into disarray when her husband dies, and she discovers he had lost all of their money. Her one great talent, gardening, leads her to a money-making opportunity when she is asked to nurse a sick plant....a marijuana plant, back to health. Before Craig Ferguson was a late night TV host he was an actor, and in this movie he teams up with Grace to salvage her finances and keep her home from foreclosure. Hilarious film.

* Brenda Blethyn
* Craig Ferguson

TV

(3) MCLEOD'S DAUGHTERS





I love, love, love this show. It ran on Australian television from 2000 to 2009, and I snapped up each season as they were released here in the states. [They are all available on region one dvds, from amazon, ebay, borders, etc.] This series had it all...drama, humor, romance, adventure, etc. The scenes below are not the best ones, because the best ones involve info that will give plots away. But, they are still great and give you a taste for the show. The premise is that rancher Jack McLeod had a daughter, Claire, with his first wife, then another daughter, Tess, with his second wife. When he divorces and Tess and her mother leave, the two sister, then children, are out of touch until Jack dies when they are adults. Claire has remained on the ranch, Drovers Run, and Tess is a big city girl, hoping to own a restaurant. Notified of Jack's death, she assumes they'll sell the ranch and she'll get half the money. But, it doesn't work out that way, and she moves to Drovers. We meet the wealthy Ryan neighbors and all sorts of other locals. When the male ranch hands revolt at the thought of taking orders from females, they're all fired, and Claire and Tess build up an all female team to run the place. This is a wonderful show.

Fat free, low sugar chocolate cake!

I tried the famous Harry Eastwood Deep chocolate cake recipe today, and my verdict is that it's pretty darn good! For those of you who aren't familiar with the concept, her recipe replaces all fat in the cake with......beets! Yuppers, my hands are a delicate purplish pink from grating the beet, but it did the job. The cake is also low sugar, just 3/4 cup in the entire cake, in part because the beets add some sweetness, and also I think from the ground almonds in the batter. The cake is then iced with a deep chocolate glaze of dark chocolate, honey and coffee. Coffee also is an important ingredient in the cake itself, as it makes chocolate's flavor pop. Here's the picture from the cookbook. I didn't take any good pics of my cake because we were all distracted by the birthday candles with flames that matched the colors of the candles....ooohhhh, look at all the pretty colors......., yeah, we were easily distracted.

Cheap eats

I had an almost full bag of unbleached white flour that I wanted to use up, instead of storing. So, I decided to make a batch of gluten (sometimes called seitan). Gluten is the protein that's left when you wash away the starch in the flour. It's a great non-meat source of protein (approx. 31 grams of protein per 4 oz. of gluten), with no cholesterol or saturated fat. And, it's probably the cheapest form of protein you can find...a 5 lb bag of flour costs around or under $2. To make the most efficient use of my time, I usually try to cook 10 lbs of flour per batch, and then freeze some, but today I just wanted to use up the remains of the 5 lb bag. Give it a try, it's cheap, yummy and versatile.

Main ingredient: Unbleached flour


You will need a larger bowl than you think you will, but, remember that it will need to fit in the fridge for a few hours, so I find that a large stock pot is often better than a bowl. Empty the flour into the bowl/pot.


Slowly mix in enough water to form a soft dough, similar to bread dough. [You always want to wash your hands before handling food, but, when making gluten, you especially want to make sure they are clean, and that you also rinse off all traces of soap].


Using your hands, knead the dough, trying to mix in all traces of flour, until smooth. Use a spatula to scrape any dough down from the sides of the pot.


Fill pan with enough water to completely cover the dough,


Put water covered dough in fridge overnight.


Sit pot in the sink and pour off most of the water. Start filling with new water and gently kneading dough. What you are doing is gently washing away the starch, which is white, and you will be left with protein. This is why at first, your water will look almost as white as milk, and your dough will be very soft.


At this point the dough will be so soft that you will have a hard time picking it up.


Keep the water gently running into the pot, continuing to knead and rub the dough in your hands. Knead out any small hard pockets of undissolved flour. Periodically drain out the water and refill. Be careful not to let the soft pieces of dough drain out with the water. The dough will start getting firmer, and easier to hold in your hands.


As the dough gets firmer, start kneading all the small parts together, forming one ball of dough.


You are done when the water is almost, but not quite, clear. If you washed it completely clear, your gluten would be a bit tough. After you've made a few batches of gluten, you'll get used to how soft/tough you prefer the final product.


Take the ball of gluten out of the water, and set on plate. At this point you will look at the small ball of dough and wonder why you just exerted all that effort for such a small return. Don't worry, it won't stay this small.


Take a sharp paring knife and cut the dough into small pieces the size of a sausage patty, and flatten with your hand. Keep them slightly separated so they don't stick together.



Grab another large stock pot, or wash out the one you used for the dough. You are now going to simmer the pieces of dough in a broth, which will flavor it. Gluten takes on the flavors it is cooked in, making it very versatile. I used my favorite Asian broth, made of water, cooking oil, soy sauce, onion, celery, garlic, and brown sugar (no ginger, I got ahead of myself in the picture, I'll need it if I make teriyaki.) I also frequently make a chicken like broth, use whatever flavors you prefer.


Drop the pieces of dough into the boiling broth, then stir occasionally as you cook over medium heat for an hour. At first you will barely see the dough in the broth.


Only 8 minutes or so into cooking and you can already see the gluten pieces puffing up as they cook. Keep stirring gently every now and then. Toward the end of the cooking time start making sure that the liquid is not cooking dry.


The pieces will have absorbed most of the stock and are now firm enough to slice. The soy sauce in the Asian stock makes the finished gluten fairly dark, it will be lighter if you use a chicken flavored or vegetable stock.



You now have a batch of finished gluten. It can be added as is to things like vegetables and rice, sliced and sauteed, breaded and fried, ground into vegeburger, etc. It also freezes well. I may slice this batch and make it into teriyaki.


Here's a link if you want more gluten recipes or the specifics of the Asian broth.

Acrylic album

I played around with making an acrylic scrapbook album for the first time, and really enjoyed it. It was a birthday gift for my sweet cousin, Shauna. Just remember the best bit of advice I had, overheard from someone's conversation at the scrapbooking convention....plot your acrylic album from the back, keeping in mind what you'll see when all layers are stacked together and you can see through all of them.

Cardboard box aviation

Josh and Luke wanted an airplane made out of cardboard boxes, and their request had specific requirements...it had to have controls, and room for a pilot and passenger. Luckily I had a huge memory foam mattress box sitting downstairs, so I went to work with an exacto knife and duct tape. In retrospect, I'm not sure that the duct tape was the best method of holding everything together. It's not as permanently sticky as I'd hoped, and tends to peel off too easily. Certain areas, like the wings, would probably benefit from the judicious use of a staple-gun. We started out with chairs in it, but they took up too much room, and were too high for the control panel.

It's about time!

{Cyndy, skip this post unless you've caught up to season seven!)

We've been waiting more than six seasons for this to happen! It's about time!

Bento update

Well kind of an update, I'm so far behind on blogging that this is new even though it took place a few weeks ago! I tried making a few bento lunches (below). What I discovered was that I had ordered the wrong size box, one that was intended for a small child, so it was hard to fit things in it. I ordered two new boxes in the correct size and now need to play with them. It's amazing how much healthier you eat when you pack your own meal.