October 2008

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You know, I really love it when I find something that epitomizes what I enjoy most in life: love, beauty, simplicity, honesty, quirkiness, and music to go with it all.  So, I am just tickled to write about Lars and the Real Girl, because, for me, it was a charming way to package my favorites together.

First love, because that really is the cherry on top, isn’t it?  This is the story of Lars Lindstrom, his family, and the small town that loves and supports him during a rather interesting time in his life.  You see, the rather sweet and mild mannered Lars has purchased a Real Doll named Bianca (bearing a slight resemblance to Angelina Jolie), and rather than keep her hidden in the bedroom like most men of his age would (Lars is a gentleman and a Christian, he would never), he introduces her to all, giving her a story and life of her own.

Beauty – Filmed in wintry Canada, the gorgeousness inherent in cold landscapes is here – falling snow, icicles, dormant grasses, and bare trees.  On a more spiritual level, the myriad ways his family and the town come together for Lars are really quite lovely.

Simplicity – I suppose it isn’t a terribly simple story when a man takes a doll for his real girlfriend, yet it is when viewed through the lens of love and letting go.  As Yoda would say, “Do or do not – there is no try.”

Honesty – Through his delusion, Lars is finally able to express himself and with great candor, inspiring those around him to do the same.

Quirkiness – Um, a grown man acts like a doll is his real  girlfriend and everyone plays along.  Enough said.

Music – The soundtrack, like Lars, is a complex mix of melancholy,  playful innocence, and carefully measured beats – very easy on the ears.  I think I’ll buy it and play it on a loop.

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I say Spicy Tomato Chutney!

Well, I’ve still got the canning bug.  Over the past two weeks, I’ve made pickles, pickle relish, grape jam, plum jam, and this yummy spicy tomato chutney.  Aside from the pickles, the chutney has got to be my favorite.  I am a sucker for a good one.  With just the right balance of heat and sweetness, this tastes great on a rye crisp with brie or cream cheese, used in lieu of mayonnaise on a sandwich, over steak, pork, or chicken.  It really is an all purpose condiment!

If you’d like to make some for yourself, here is the recipe.  My neighbor Katie gave me one that was meant to be kept top secret, but I misplaced it, and adapted another from Preserves, by Catherine Atkinson and Maggie Mayhew, remembering what I could from the flavor of Katie’s.  I think it is just right.

Spicy Tomato Chutney

3 1/2 pounds tomatoes, peeled and cored

1 pound raisins, chopped in the food processor

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1 cup malt vinegar

2 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 cup salt

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

6 cloves garlic, peeled and finely diced

1 2″ piece of ginger, peeled and finely diced

Place all ingredients in a heavy, non-reactive pan, over medium heat.  Bring to a simmer, uncovered, and cook for 2-3 hours, stirring about every 15 minutes or so, to keep from burning, until it is very thick and about half of its original volume.

Put into warm, sterilized jars, seal, and finish in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes.  It should keep for about a year.

Welcome to my stove top.  Mary, Michael, are you out there?  I’ve got the horse shoe you gave us there in the corner.  For anyone who’s interested, Chat Bizarre means weird cat in French.  Anyway, getting back to it, here’s the chutney at the beginning.  The tomatoes are still bright red and in rather large pieces.

It’s been about an hour here.  You can see that the tomatoes are no longer in chunks and that it’s cooked down quite a bit.  I’ll let it go a another hour and a half before putting it in jars.

Jar time.  Ladle it in, leaving about a half inch of head space.  This blue funnel is a life saver.  We use it all the time, and not just for canning.  Also, if you don’t want to use a canner – you could give them as gifts right away and skip that step.  It makes anywhere from 6-8 pint size jars.  Enjoy!

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I’ve been having a difficult time accessing my inner Pollyanna these last few weeks, and all my usual tricks to make myself feel better – exercise, gardening, cooking, home projects – aren’t having their desired effect, so here is a little something I saw over at my friend Kelli’s to help me through.

Reasons I feel grateful today:

1. My cute partner in crime pictured above.  I love him and our life together more than words can say.

2. Also, to toot my own horn – I’m pretty fond of the composition of the above photo – the reflection in the mirror and the window are soo good lookin’ (a little Seinfeld never hurts either).

3. I’ve almost made up my mind about all of these candidates, and there is less than a month left of television ads.  Yippee!

4. Not-so-guilty pleasure – I got Sex and the City: The Movie on DVD!  Maybe I should put some new batteries in the remote, because, gentle readers, I’m going to be pressing the pause button a-plenty analyzing all those wardrobe changes.

5. Time with good friends – Nia with Mara, movies with Bridget, and long phone conversations with Sarah, not to mention the upcoming Bunco night with the whole posse!

6.  The rain is back and my grass is turning green again…

Ahh, that helped!

There’s this funny scene in You’ve Got Mail when Greg Kinnear’s character, Frank Navasky, is considering a topic for a book, and he says he’d like to write, “Something relevant for today, like the Luddite movement in 19th century England.”  Well, today’s spotlight is a bit like that.

Even though A Face in the Crowd came out in 1957, it is highly relevant to today, tackling issues like the power of celebrity, television ratings, and the Madison Avenue grooming of presidential hopefuls.

Andy Griffith plays – brace yourself my friends, this isn’t Mayberry –  Lonesome Rhodes, a drunken, womanizing, self-serving conniver whose meteoric rise to fame and power starts from a jail cell where he’s been arrested for drunken and disorderly conduct.  Complete with boyish good looks and a devilish laugh, he’s a force to be reckoned with.

The lovely Patricia Neal (that voice!) plays Marcia Jeffries, the woman responsible for his discovery.  Despite Lonesome’s wicked ways, Marcia remains loyal and protective, until her own sanity is at stake, forcing her to make a very daring choice.  Also cast is the young and handsome Walter Matthau (seriously – great glasses too!), playing the clever and equally devoted, though not to Lonesome, Mel Miller, Marcia’s savior.

With the exception of being filmed in black and white and Patricia Neal’s occasionally over dramatic hand getstures popular at the time, the movie really feels like it could have been made today.  The dialogue is razor sharp and the characters achingly real.  It is surprisingly racy, too – drunkenness, premarital sex, extra-marital sex, all this for 1957!

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100

I thought I would mark my 100th post with a bit of silliness, so here is a charming photo of yours truly and my favorite bit from Monty Python.

Nobody expects the Spanish inquisition!

Our chief weapon is surprise…surprise and fear…fear and surprise…

Our two weapons are fear and surprise…and ruthless efficiency!

Our three weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency…and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope!

Our four…no…

Amongst our weapons…amongst our weaponry are such elements as fear, surprise…Oh, I’ll come in again.

(The Spanish Inquisition EXITS)

I didn’t expect a kind of Spanish Inquisition.

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