Les Intouchables : a movie review

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French, Les Intouchables, movie, postaday2014

This afternoon, my son and I watched this fantastic movie on NetFlix with Jack flitting back and forth from my lap to my son’s lap, apparently undecided over which lap was the most comfortable.

We both loved it, basically the story is about a very wealthy French aristocrat who is a quadriplegic, in need of a 24/7 caretaker in residence, while he and one of his assistants are interviewing dozens for this position, one of the interviewee’s named Driss, who is only there to get his paper showing that he did indeed apply for the position so that he can get benefits, Driss makes such an off the wall impression that the aristocrat decides to put Driss through his paces and a relationship starts to develop between the two of them despite the obvious disparities in their social positions, education and cultural backgrounds. Actually those differences between the two are precisely what drew the French aristocrat into hiring Driss and keeping him in the first place. The aristocrat’s name is Philippe and at one point Philippe tells his attorney and estate executor that the thing that drew him to Driss is that Driss actually forgets that he is stuck in a wheelchair at times and for him that was paramount. The relationship between Philippe and Driss is a literal breath of fresh air as you see often enough in the movie.

We both adore listening to French spoken in movies because our ears get to listen to different regional accents, we get acquainted with new slang and just hearing the different cadence of their speech is like music to our ears. So not only was this movie a beautiful story, but its words were spoken in our favorite language. It was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

A fantastic visit long in the making

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arguments, friends, politics, postaday2014, visit

Today I made the point of driving out to Chicopee to see my best friend Debbie and her husband Jim, who is also one of my best friends, but our dynamic is so very different. While Debbie and I are like sisters; Jim and I are like two toddlers constantly fighting over the same thing every time we see each. We never fight mean spiritedly, we hug it out every time, but boy does it get heated. Today I left Jim in a lather LOL.

Debbie and I were talking about everything under the sun as we always do while Jim was supposedly sleeping; I said one negative thing about Walmart and how they exploit their workers and Jim started arguing with me from where he was slouched over on the couch and we picked up right where we left off since the last time we argued over politics when they lived next door to me, several years ago. It is how I said, we are like two toddlers arguing over the same thing time and time again, today wasn’t different. He is a die hard republican and I am an impassioned progressive so we are like oil and water, but it never gets to the point of getting nasty or name calling, it just gets loud, poor Debbie.

We end each visit with I love you kiddo and I reply I love you too Jim. Debbie and I just laugh at Jim like Lucy and Ethel used to laugh at Ricky and Fred. That is what friendship is all about, knowing how to agree to disagree and remembering that there is more to someone than just their politics, there are shared experiences and memories that make a foundation and that is what counts in the end.

Food critic in residence

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food critic, postaday2014, Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was very lovely and intimate, just us. We all gave thanks and ate from early afternoon and then later in the evening. Jack was sitting patiently waiting for morsels from whomever to fall to the floor. He is so cute.

I have to be honest, I was a little disappointed with the turkey, it came out gorgeous, but the breast was dry; I got thrown off by getting a smaller bird than usual and I miscalculated how much less I had to roast it, I should have taken it out at least a half hour sooner. Aside from that, everything else was pretty good; I am a stuffing hound and it’s always my favorite part of the feast so I was really happy with the stuffing which is my mother’s recipe. In keeping with my parent’s cooking tradition, I am the only one taking my cooking apart, it is a holiday and traditions should be honored after all. LOL

Desert was seriously good, you can’t beat my cousin’s recipe for chocolate and pear tart. You either make your own pie crust or buy one and after you roll it out and put it into your pie dish, you melt a semi-sweet or bitter-sweet chocolate bar in a double-boiler, I use Ghirardelli chocolate, once it is melted you spread it out over the uncooked pie crust. After that you take a large can of pear halves in either its own juice or syrup and lay out the pear halves over the melted chocolate. This is when you prepare the custard, you mix a cup of heavy cream, with 4 eggs and 5 tablespoons of sugar and pour it over the pie, bake it for about 40-45 minutes in a 375 oven. It is delicious room temperature, cold or warm. Everyone will love it!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone

I hope that everyone is enjoying their Thanksgiving and for those who are overseas; I hope that you enjoy poking fun at our food comas and hilarious food disasters.

I was thinking about the whole cooking thing and I love cooking tremendously, but I will admit that it is the coordination that makes thanksgiving meal the chore that it has become for most of us. I am speaking of those who aren’t used to cooking for a lot people at once and even more importantly, cooking several different dishes that have their own timetable and require babysitting at certain times, that can drive anyone a little crazy.

Honestly anyone can cook each separate dish really well if that were all that was needed, but when you throw in the entire menu, it takes more than just cooking skill, it takes patience, focus and a bit of luck.

I am happy that today there is no pressure whatsoever, the food will come out when it is ready. It is just us and so far we had clams casino, a request from our son and all that took was opening the clams, slicing bacon and sprinkling a bit of wine. These tied us over until the turkey and the accompaniments are ready and that isn’t anything fancy; string beans, mashed potatoes and creamed spinach.

I can’t wait until desert, pear and chocolate tart.

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Our winter wonderland

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Jack, postaday2014, snowstorm

They weren’t kidding when they warned of a snowstorm!

Jack was in the car with me as I snapped the pictures blindly while going 15 miles an hour. I was watching the road and not at what I was shooting, so I was surprised that they came out so well. A spontaneous photo shoot if you will. I am very glad to be back home all cosy and warm.

The perfect Turkey!

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homeless, postaday2014, turkey

Since we might get hit with out first snowstorm tomorrow; my husband suggested that we go food shopping today just in case. I had a coupon for 7 dollars off from the Big Y for the turkey of your choice, so I was prepared to maybe have to fight over a prospective bird, but I lucked out. Everyone and their brother were politely vying for the big birds while I was hovering in the background, quietly scoping something smaller in size and there it was, hiding on the outskirts, right next to a huge organic, heritage breed from D’Artagnan. This was the perfect bird; about 13 pounds, antibiotic free and hormone free, just what I had hoped for and it was the only one. No one else seemed interested in my bird so I picked it up very , very happily. I went to the other supermarket in our area, just down the road, to pick up other things that I needed on my list and thank goodness I got the turkey when I did because Stop-n-Shop only carried big birds, nothing smaller than 18 pounds so I did very well. 🙂

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I laugh at myself for getting so proud and excited over picking a turkey, but while I was driving home, I became somber and reflective when I was thinking of all those who aren’t going to have a chance at being as happy over a turkey. I made a point of donating enough to feed 19 people at the Springfield Rescue Mission and at Stop-n-Shop we made sure to donate ten dollars to the food bank for the past two weeks whenever we shopped there. It is the least that we can do to help those who aren’t able to provide for themselves this Thanksgiving. I wish that we had better political and economic policies in place for those in need. As a society we should be trying harder to help everyone get a seat at the table.

Eggs are the perfect food

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eggs, frittata, postaday2014

I have to say that ever since I have discovered the beauty of the frittata, I see how the egg is the perfect food, conducive to marriage with so many different vegetables, herbs and cheeses. I can even envision a dessert frittata in the works one of these days.

Whenever I want to make our son happy, I turn out a frittata and he is satisfied and excited about eating which always makes me happy as well. This time around for the frittata experience I kept it very simple; eggs, goat cheese, garlic and potatoes. I also used a combination of olive oil and duck fat to sauté the diced potatoes before adding the egg mixture.

I am happy to say that the frittata was a hit; everyone enjoyed it. This is definitely one of my favorite things to make especially when I don’t have much in the refrigerator or I don’t have that much time to prepare dinner. I will experiment with the dessert idea one of these days; it could be fun and tasty. 🙂

Jack has a new friend

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cute, Jack, pet, postaday2014

I was in the kitchen this evening, getting dinner together (I’ll write about that tomorrow) I was at the stove top sautéing potatoes and our son came in and said out loud “look what Jack did, he posed his little horse perfectly on the area rug, Jack how did you do that?” Jack cocked his head to the right and wagged his tail while he was gazing at his big brother. I looked down and there was the little stuffed horse sitting, posed just right near where I always work in the kitchen. I had to take pictures.

Aren’t they adorable together?

Mockingjay Part 1: a movie review

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Mockingjay Part 1, movies, postaday2014

My husband and I went to see the latest installment of he Hunger Games series and we really liked it. We are both fans of Jennifer Lawrence and she loses herself in the character of Katniss and we were transported to her world and felt her anger, her despair, her anguish and her determination. I haven’t read any of the books and I am glad that I didn’t because I had no idea what to expect during any of the movie and I liked it that way.

I was also impressed with Julianne Moore’s character President Alma Coin; her character was strong, compassionate, perceptive and intuitive especially on military matters which was a breath of fresh air for a female character. It is not often that we see several strong female characters in film and I liked it.

What drives the movie even more than the great acting is the strong and vibrant story. The author’s vision of the dystopian world is so well laid out and so rich in detail that it feels real. The forced separation between districts, the analogy of the heart and the veins used to explain the relationship between the Capitol and the Districts are both tools used to subjugate the people and it is so very effective.

This brings me to my similar complaint that I read in other reviews; you don’t want the movie to end without a resolution. When the movie ends, it leaves you hanging and it doesn’t feel good. You are heavily invested at this point and it is jarring to just pick up and leave your movie theater seat. I am looking forward to part 2 and to more Katniss.

Thoughts of menus

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postaday2014, Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is fast coming upon us and my mind is shifting through various dishes in the hopes of settling on a menu. Right now I am vacillating between to turkey or not, if not then maybe a pork roulade? I don’t know. Either way I choose, it doesn’t change the stuffing so that at least is decided, I always make my mother’s stuffing (wild rice and sausage stuffing), but would my choice of fowl or porcine impact my vegetable choice? I am not sure. I do know that I would like to make a risotto with winter vegetables and shaved Parmesan cheese. The dessert has been ordered by our son, it is going to be a pear and chocolate tart.

There are many recipes to look through from now until next Tuesday simply because Wednesday will be both shopping day and preparation day.

I am getting excited about the coming days of food and cooking 😀