It's cold and rainy here in sunny So Cal today. The perfect day for something warm and comforting.
This is not your traditional Shepherd's Pie recipe, but that's why we love it. It's sort of an Italian/English hybrid. It should also just be used as a guideline - feel free to booger with it in any way you want (and see NOTE below).
2 tbsp. butter or olive oil
1 cup chopped red onion
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 lb. lean ground beef
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 (14 1/2 oz.) can whole peeled Italian plum tomatoes, drained and chopped
2 tbsp. tomato sauce
5 oz. fresh mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced
1 zucchini, thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped
1 tbsp. chopped fresh marjoram or 2 tsp. dried
2 1/2 tsp. chopped fresh oregano or 2 tsp. dried
salt and pepper to taste
7 medium potatoes, peeled and cut up
2 or 3 cloves garlic, in the skin
1/4 cup half and half
1/2 tsp. grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
In a large skillet, heat butter or olive oil; add the onion and garlic. Cook until soft but not browned, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the beef, breaking up with a spoon, and cook until meat begins to brown. Remove excess fat from the skillet. Add the wine, tomatoes and tomato paste. Then stir in the mushrooms, zucchini, parsley, marjoram and oregano. Season with salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 to 7 minutes or until vegetables are tender and flavors are melded. Remove from heat and drain any excess liquid. Transfer meat mixture to a 3 to 4 quart baking dish, spreading evenly.
Boil the potatoes together with the whole garlic cloves until soft. Remove the garlic skins and beat the potatoes and garlic together in a large bowl. Add the half and half, nutmeg, salt and pepper and beat together. Spread the potato mixture evenly on top of the meat mixture in the casserole to form a crust.
Brush top of potatoes with beaten egg and then sprinkle with Parmesan.
You can either bake it now, or keep, covered, in the refrigerator for up to a day.
Bake at 375 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes or until heated through and top is a light golden brown and crisp.
NOTE: Traditionally, Shepherd's Pie is made with lamb, but you can use any kind of meat you like - lamb, beef, ground turkey or sliced sausage. I've made it with 2 lbs. of Italian sausage, 1 lb. ground beef + 1 lb. sliced smoked sausage or 1 lb. ground turkey + 1 lb. smoked turkey sausage. It's all good. ALSO, I've used a variety of vegetables - corn, carrots, green beans - they all work great. I mean, pretty much anything covered in mashed potatoes is good!
To my husband, Jimmy, movies work like a balm to his soul. He may be in a dark, miserable mood, but turning on a favorite movie will completely shift his view of the world. He reacts to a beloved movie in a passionate, visceral way.
The films on this list are not necessarily Jimmy's picks for the best movies ever made (though some of them certainly qualify). They are the movies that he most loves and connects with on a deep, personal level. These are the movies that, though he's seen them each a hundred times, if he's channel surfing and happens upon them, he can’t turn them off, and he ends up sitting and watching the whole thing. They are all extremely personal for him, and served as seminal moments in his life.
I tried to make this a top 10 list, but he had such a hard time wheedling the list down, that I let him go with 11, or 12 if you count the Godfathers separately. And the quotes are pure Jimmy. Here they are in alphabetical order...
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948 - Directed by Charles Barton, Starring Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney, Jr.)
A favorite of Jimmy's since childhood. Part comedy, part classic horror movie, Jimmy says this movie still always manages to make him laugh and scare him to death. For him, it's serves as a movie version of comfort food. Sweetly, the thing that Jimmy says has always touched him most about this movie is Abbott and Costello's friendship, that "amongst all the monsters, they always tried to help and take care of each other." When he was a kid, the part when Abbott goes back to save Costello always made him cry - "they were best friends even in the face of death".
Casablanca (1942 - Directed by Michael Curtiz, Starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman)
Aside from simply being great film, Jimmy loves that it's hopelessly romantic. Romantic with a capital R. Not just the romantic love story, but also Victor Laszlo's heroic conviction to his cause, and Bogie's sacrifice for the greater good. This movie also happens to be Pop's favorite movie of all time.
The Godfather, Parts 1 & 2 (1972, 1974 - Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Starring Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro)
Both movies sweep you up and into the world of the Corleones. Coppola created a combination of sounds, smells and images that bombard you every moment. The thing that gets Jimmy is the beautiful paradox at the core of the films, that the story is really about a family like any family, they eat together and laugh together, but they're murderous gangsters, which sets them apart from the rest of the world. The tragedy of Michael Corleone was that his life could have gone another way, but it didn’t. His father meant to do well, he tried to do everything for Michael, but in the end, he made him someone just like himself. Vito Corleone wasn’t a vicious man, and yet he was a murderer. We knew what he was doing was wrong, and yet here was a gentle man who loved and cared for his family. The beauty about Brando was that he had so much pathos about him, and that made the viewer confused. Brando brought that to it. "Any other actor wouldn’t have brought that to it, but that cat? Come on."
GoodFellas (1990, Directed by Martin Scorcese, Starring Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci)
Jimmy's first reaction when thinking about this movie was a deep exhalation. "Edgy. GoodFellas is edgy, it’s sharp, scary, sexy." It has a similar family element like The Godfather, they all stuck together and took care of each other. But in GoodFellas,"these people weren’t family, they behaved like a family because of their business, because of money. And when you realize that at the end of the movie, when they all start to rat on each other, as an audience member it destroyed me. Because you thought that their life was just grand. But they were vicious, vicious people." Unlike the poetic Don Corleone, these people had no pathos, they were cold-blooded killers and didn’t pretend otherwise. And yet, "Scorcese did it again. He made such a great film, that you can’t stop watching it."
In the Heat of the Night (1967 - Directed by Norman Jewison, Starring Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger)
"Explosive. Great acting. Great story." Poitier and Steiger's performances are "an acting lesson", they were both at the peak of their talents.
La Dolce Vita - (1960, Directed by Federico Fellini, Starring Marcello Mastroianni, Anita Ekberg)
A brilliant Fantasy. "Marcello Mastroianni is poetry in motion." The dream sequence is "one of the most brilliant and frightening scenes I’ve ever seen on film". Watching Fellini’s film "was like going to Coney Island."
Last Tango in Paris (1972 - Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, Starring Marlon Brando, Maria Schneider)
"Tragic. Romantically tragic. Sexually tragic. Psychologically tragic." And yet, there was a beauty underneath the whole film. "The score really lit up the beauty, and heightened the emotional life of the characters." Beautiful and sad and raw. A journey into the human conditions. It's always fascinated me that when Jimmy was 16, Pop and Mommy took Jimmy and his friend Scott to see this movie, which was, at the time, notoriously rated X. After the first scene, when Brando and Schneider meet and have sex, Pop leaned over to Jimmy and told him "You and Scott. Other side of the theater." Apparently, Pop didn't mind him watching the movie, just not watching the movie while sitting with his mother!
"When Annie Hall came out, it was ground-breaking in that nobody had ever seen a movie like that, and nobody expected Woody Allen to make a film like that . Then, with Manhattan, he took it to another level. It has a class to it, a maturity." He matured as a director and in the subject matter. Manhattan hit a deep spot in me about how we can take loved ones for granted in relationships and not realize what you might have. "The intellectuals on the Upper East Side with all their problems fascinated me." It was extremely funny, and very sad. "Mariel Hemingway was a gem. I met her right before they did the pizza scene but I didn’t know who she was. My cousin Aurelio was an actor in the scene, he played the pizza parlor guy and I went to visit him the day they shot it at John’s Pizza in the Village. I hung out there all day. And I’m sitting on the ground, talking to this girl and I thought 'Oh what a cool chick.' and then all of a sudden one of the grips came over and said 'Mariel, we’re back on the set now.' And she left. We rapped for about 20 minutes.'"
Raging Bull (1980 - Directed by Martin Scorcese, Starring Robert De Niro, Cathy Moriarty, Joe Pesci)
Scorcese brilliantly captured the violence of these people. Not just in Jake LaMotta and his brother, but in the whole culture. "Just really scary and upsetting , but it was beautiful violence. The violence itself wasn’t beautiful, of course, but the artistry of the film made it beautiful. The photography was exquisite. As was the editing and the acting. You can only watch Raging Bull maybe once or twice a year tops because it’s too disturbing."
Swept Away (By an Unusual Destiny in the Blue Sea of August) (1974 - Directed by Lina Wertmuller, Starring Giancarlo Giannini, Mariangela Melato
Life-changing. It was a "special era" in Jimmy's life. In the summer of 1975, HBO was just coming onto the scene, and Swept Away was one of the first movies they showed. "It blew everybody’s minds and I turned everybody on to it that summer – Swept Away summer was a golden summer. A lot of romance in the air. Like we were just waiting for it, and it was perfect timing." The film was voted the most controversial film of the seventies. People were talking about it around the dinner table. From Manhattan all the way to the suburbs of Long Island, where Jimmy was. "I fell in love with Giancarlo and Mariangela Melato. Everybody had a crush on her after this movie. You wanted to fuck her and slap her at the same time. It was sexy watching this movie. It was hot."
[Jimmy wants me to make it clear that he is NO WAY condoning the horrible Madonna remake of this film. "It was disgusting. She ruined a masterpiece. A fart must have got into her brain. I can’t even discuss it, it’s so horrible what she did!"]
The Third Man (1949 - Directed by Carol Reed, Starring Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles)
Sinister. Filled with "intrigue and style." Anton Karas' zither music was "darkly romantic and fit the movie like a glove – genius."
Okay, I expect you all to go immediately to Netflix and line up the ones you haven't seen in your queue!
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Please do the polite thing and visit all of this week's spins on the topic "The Movies"...
Disclosure: This is a repost from two years ago. But I love it, it fits Mama Kat's Workshop's prompt so perfectly and it defines my marriage succinctly, so here you go...
Bedtime Story
11:45 PM
Gretchen has once again stayed up too late doing something important and meaningful on the computer while taking a hot bath and drinking wine. Satisfied after achieving a new personal best in Family Feud, she closes the laptop, gets out of the tub, dries off and covers her body with all of her various special creams. She brushes, flosses, pulls on pajamas, and exits the bathroom.
She tiptoes into Jude's room and finds him lying spreadeagle, having kicked off all the covers, but with one arm firmly clutching his four favorite stuffed animals. Sweet. She tucks the blanket around him, sticks her nose into his neck and inhales deeply, then gives him a kiss.
When she enters her bedroom, she finds Jimmy lying in bed, sound asleep, with the television blaring. As usual. David Letterman has just sat down post-monologue and is chatting with Paul.
She walks to her side of the bed and tries to get into her spot. Unfortunately, Fancy, the dog, has chosen Gretchen's spot as her spot, and is also sound asleep, legs and belly pointing to the ceiling.
"Fancy. Come on honey. You gotta move."
The dog looks up, pissed.
"Move honey. Come on."
The dog won't move. Gretchen manages to shove her slightly to the right, and jam her own legs into the tiny space allotted her by the dog and the husband.
She then carefully arranges her pillows the way she likes them. Five pillows. One particular pillow under her head, two special large pillows on each side of her, creating her little nest. Unfortunately, Jimmy has one of her special pillows under his head. Stealthily, she eases it out and eases a "not special" pillow into its place without waking Jimmy. Whew.
Pillows arranged, she then pulls yet another jar of special cream out of the bedside table and rubs it into her hands and arms, followed by Vaseline, which she applies to her lips and forehead wrinkles.
All ready for bed, she looks around for the remote control, so she can turn Letterman off. Damn. No remote in sight. She looks around on Jimmy's side. On the floor. Under the covers. No remote.
She extricates herself from the sheet and blanket and pillows and dog, walks over to the tv, and punches it off manually. She then crawls back into the bed, squeezes herself back under the covers and arranges her pillows again. Fluff, fluff, fluff, pat, pat, pat. Satisfied, she reaches over to turn out the light on the bedside table.
"And the man said...banana!" says David Letterman. The audience laughs and applauds.
Gretchen sits up.
"What the...?"
The television is on again.
Puzzled, Gretchen looks around. The remote must be in the bed somewhere, and she has accidentally hit it. She does another thorough search for the remote. Nothing.
"Well, this is ridiculous." she says to herself.
Again, she extricates herself from the sheet and blanket and pillows and dog, walks over to the tv, and punches the button manually. A little harder this time. She crawls back into the bed, squeezes herself back under the covers and arranges her pillows yet again. Fluff, fluff, fluff, pat, pat, pat. Sighing heavily, she reaches over to turn off the light.
"And my son Harry said...It was like a monster dance!" says David Letterman. The crowd roars with laughter.
"No way!" Gretchen says, sitting up again.
She looks at Fancy, who is sitting up now, looking disturbed.
"Fancy! Did you do that? Are you on top of the remote?"
Gretchen digs her hand under the dog, disturbing her thoroughly. No remote.
She searches under the sheets, under the pillows. She feels around Jimmy, careful not to wake him.
"Well this is just silly!"
Gretchen angrily kicks aside the sheets and blankets and pillows and dog. Gets up and walks around the bed, smacks the off button on the tv, gets back in the bed, jams her feet under the covers, jerks the covers back over her and arranges her pillows yet again. Fluff, fluff, fluff, pat, pat, pat. She reaches over and quickly turns off the light.
Silence.
"Number Two: Do I get a jet pack?" Much laughter and applause from the Letterman audience.
"NO FUCKING WAY!"
Gretchen sits straight up in the bed, the room filled once again with the light from the television.
Gretchen then realizes that the bed is now shaking violently. She looks to the right and sees that though Jimmy still has his eyes shut, his entire body is shaking with laughter. Slowly, he pulls the remote out and hands it to Gretchen, never opening his eyes.
"Oh, VEEERRRY funny, Mister." Gretchen says, snatching the remote and finally turning the tv off.
Dramatically, she settles herself at last into her nest of pillows.
Slowly, a sound builds in the dark and quiet room.
It's the sound of Gretchen giggling so hard that she's crying. Jimmy joins her, and they both laugh themselves to sleep.
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Inspired to repost by Mama Kat's Prompt #2 - A time you were tricked.
We will be eating the traditional pancakes for dinner tonight here in the Second Blooming house. So while everybody is preparing your jambalaya and King's Cake, why don't you listen to some Professor Longhair...
...and I'll try to entertain you with some Random Tuesday Thoughts...
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And since today is Fat Tuesday, that means tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the dreaded Lent. I have come to the painful and frightening decision to give up computer games for Lent. Now, I realize that for most people over the age of 16, this is perhaps not a serious sacrifice, but I'm ashamed to say that for me...it is. I spend a ridiculous amount of time playing Facebook and Pogo games. I'm totally and completely addicted. It's really very stupid. I try to justify this silliness by saying that the gaming is my rest and relaxation time. But when I think about what I used to do before I started obsessing over Gardens of Time or Pogo Addiction Solitaire, my rest and relaxation time involved doing things like reading, and knitting. Which I miss. Plus, I find myself easily distracted from doing things like WRITING because I find a sudden pressing need to check and see if the Silver Arrow I was crafting in Castleville was completed, or if it's time to feed the geese again. So no games it is. I'm afraid my little Castleville villagers will just have to fight off the gloom without me for 40 days. Wish them luck.
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To help me get through this difficult lenten time, my first errand this morning will be to the yarn store to start a new knitting project. Have y'all been to Ravelry? It's the best knitting website (thank you Aimee!!). I found a pattern there for a throw blanket I really like...
I like the pattern because it's complex enough to look interesting, but easy enough for tv knitting. I can't decide what color yarn to go with. I'm thinking either a taupe or eggplant or maybe a kind of moss green. I'll keep you abreast of my progress.
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And speaking of finding ways to occupy myself for the next 40 days...
I have done something a little shocking and out of character. I can count the number of books I have stopped reading mid-stream on one hand - I always just plow through them to the end, no matter how little I am enjoying them. It's an issue I have, and I'm afraid it's become a bit of an issue between Jude and I - I always make him finish any book he's started. But now...
Several years ago, I bought Stephen King's then-new hardback, Under the Dome. I don't know exactly why, but I think I thought it would be fun, and I used to love reading stuff like The Shining and The Stand, back in the day. This book is 1074 pages long, and weighs about 20 pounds. Okay, that may be an exaggeration, but the thing is damned heavy. I started reading it a couple of years ago, and stopped when I got vertigo, and couldn't hold the book up. I then, stubbornly, started it over again a couple of weeks ago, determined to finish it this time. I'm about a quarter of the way through it, and I just can't take it. It's too damned heavy. I love to read in the bathtub, and I just can't do it with this thing. This is the PERFECT BOOK FOR A KINDLE. But I fear I can't take it any more. And also, it's kind of gruesome and mean-spirited (it is a horror novel, after all) and after the third rape and the thirtieth time I stopped all feeling in my hands trying to hold the thing up, I have cast it aside.
I have instead started The Hunger Games, which I'm really excited about. I know, I know, I'm way behind here, but I want to read it quickly before the movie comes out. I've just started it, but I'm loving it!
But yesterday, Jude noticed me with new new book, did a double-take and walked over to me with a questioning, accusatory look. "Why are you not reading Stephen King's Under the Dome?" And yes, that is exactly the way he said it. I hemmed and hawed and told him something about how heavy the book was, and how it was hurting my back...But I don't think he bought it. The kid was on to me.
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Like many of you, I am presently mourning the end of the season of Downton Abbey, though I am VERY EXCITED about the way the season ended, and I'm looking forward to the arrival of Shirley Maclaine as Grandmama (pronounced Grand Mah-Mah, with the emphasis on the last Mah, please). But in the meantime, I'm thinking I am liking this Smash show. It's like Glee for grownups. I'm loving the music and the acting is terrific. And truly, I would watch it just to see Debra Messing clothes. She's just smashing (pun intended) in everything...
God, I love that pulled together, sophisticated New Yorker look!
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I just watched the HBO documentary The Union, and absolutely loved it. It's about the making of the album of the same name in which Elton John got together with his idol Leon Russell, basically dragging him out of retirement. It's a beautiful film about music and love and respect and friendship and aging. Definitely watch it if you get the chance. Anyway, I can't get The Border Song out of my head. And since it's not a bad song to have stuck in your head, I'll leave you with this...
Jude had a four day weekend - Friday they had one of those Teacher In Service days, and today, of course, is Presidents' Day. I overheard a conversation between Jimmy and Jude, wherein Jude informed his father that the quotation mark should come after the word "Presidents" since the day really belonged to all of the presidents, not just the current president. Clearly, the kid is absorbing something at that school.
And that's a lot of time off, time during which we could have been doing something fun. Half the people from Jude's school seemed to be heading off on a ski trip, or Mexico or something. But we're not doing anything. And by not anything, I really mean not ANYTHING. The whole weekend just slipped up on me, and I didn't even realize that it was a long weekend until about Wednesday. Not that we would be heading to Mexico anyway, because a) we're half broke and b) Jimmy teaches on both Friday and Saturday. But still.
And then lots of weird and stressful things happened.
First, on Thursday afternoon, while I was driving around like a madwoman to auditions and committments, I got a robocall from Jude's school, saying that due to police activity in the area, the school was under lockdown, and that nobody should come and pickup their kids until the LAPD had declared the area safe. I kid you not. I was nowhere near the school at the time, but when I called Jimmy, I found out that he had received the same robocall, and naturally, his response to the school telling him NOT to come and pickup his child because of police activity was to get into the car immediately and drive down to pickup his kid. Because really, there was POLICE ACTIVITY. Gotta love that in the man. Turns out, some nut had shot his wife and set the house on fire, which had nothing to do with the school, but the LAPD was just being overly cautious.
Then, I went to the most horrible and emotional funeral I've ever been to in my life. The son of one of my old friends from college had died of a heroin overdose. It's just so tragic, that it's really hard to write about. The service was at a mission down on skid row, a place where this young man had found help and solace, but clearly it still wasn't enough to help him get the better of his addiction. I really, truly can't remember ever witnessing grief and anger at such a level as my friend was suffering. I so wish I could help her, and give her strength, but really, what can I do? I am extremely thankful that our other friend, Wendell, and I could be there for our grieving friend, and I'm extremely thankful that Wendell was there for me, because this was a neighborhood that I would NOT want to have been walking around in by myself. It was everything that you would imagine Skid Row Los Angeles to be. And let me throw out an "Hallelujah" to the people who work at this mission, it's hard to imagine the level of commitment and faith that they have, ministering to the MOST downtrodden people, people who truly have no hope. It was all very, very, very humbling. And I left feeling horribly shaken, and achingly grateful for my child and my family and my blessings.
I left Skid Row and drove to Beverly Hills to help another friend by modeling for her in a fashion show for the clothing line she reps. Irony? You think? I enjoyed playing dress up with my friends Melissa and Laura, but really, I think this would have been much more fun if I hadn't just sobbed for 2 hours.
Then on Thursday night, at about 2:00 am, I woke up and threw up! Over and over. All the rest of the night. I have no idea why. I don't think it was a virus, we've just had this thing sweep through our house, and it didn't feel the same. I think it might be the Trader Joe's egg salad that I ate just before going to bed, which I found out later was one day over the "eat by" date. Eww.
So, Thursday was great.
And then Friday was the day of cancer.
First the good news - after I woke up from my night of vomiting and propped myself up with some Gatorade and the computer, I found out that Amy, who I had asked you to pray for last Monday, came through her lumpectomy with FLYING COLORS. Here's the update which Becky wrote on Amy's blog (Confused? I think sisters get to do that kind of thing) which explains it far better than I could. But it's GOOD NEWS y'all.
Then I got an email about Jude's friend Gus, the boy with the impish grin in the picture on my sidebar. Though he's doing really well, and making CRAZY good improvement, this email was asking for doubled prayers to help Gus's numbers get high enough for him to go back to school. He's been having to take class via Facetime on the iPad which the class bought for him, and he's really eager to get back to school. I have no idea what these "numbers" are. I feel certain that they have been explained to me, but...I'm an actor, these things just whoosh over my head. But I upped up my praying thing there.
Then about a minute later, I popped by What Now and Why? Which is a new favorite blog that I only discovered a few weeks ago. PLEASE check her out. The woman who writes it, Arnebya, is funny and raw and wry and really refreshingly honest. Anyway, she had just written a post titled "Negativity Ate My Positivity Then Belched It In My Face For Dramatic Effect" (and that title effectively defines everything I love about Arnebya) in which she says that she has found a lump in her breast and had to go in for a bunch of tests, and she was really scared. So I had to start praying about that one too.
Then, about 5 minutes after THAT, I got an email telling me that one of my beloved Cub Scout dads has just been diagnosed with a form of blood cancer called Chronic Lymphocitic Leukemia! So I had to start praying about that too.
And I know that because of all this praying and all of my church choir singing, that y'all must think I'm a terribly religious person or something, but really, I'm not so much. I mean it's not like I'm some kind of holy roller goody-goody who just walks around praying all the time. Not me...at all. So this is too much, really. Everybody needs to just GET WELL and STAY WELL.
On Saturday I managed to drag myself out of bed and do something about the semi-squalor into which our home had devolved while I was indisposed.
And on Sunday I managed to get it together enough to host my little writer's group meeting. So far, we haven't done any actual writing, but we're having a lot of fun.
If you've been reading carefully, you'll notice that during Jude's long 4-day weekend. there has been no mention of...Jude. He has been a real trooper while Mama has been running around/vomiting and Daddy has been working. So I promised him that today I would take him to Universal Studios Hollywood. Which is the easiest amusement park around - really close to us, and easy to get in and out of.
I'm sorry that this has been such an incredibly long-winded way of saying that I didn't do a damned thing for four days.
So my weekend in summation - police action, skid row, vomiting, cancer, amusement park. So basically...hell.
In the summer of my Sophomore year of college, I was cast in the chorus of the musical Chicago at a local Austin theater. I was "Pop"...
It's a fun and raunchy musical, and, like in the movie, our costumes were rather fun and raunchy as well. I spent the entire show strutting around in a black bra top, a black g-string, black fishnet stockings and black character shoes with 2 1/2 inch heels. This costume is the reason that I, to this day, know how to swirl tassels - not easy. It's all about the timing. Don't ask.
During the production, I made friends with a couple who were in the show together, an actor named Mitch Pileggi, and his then-wife, Debbie. You sci-fi folks would know Mitch as Skinner on The X-Files and as Colonel Caldwell on Stargate: Atlantis. Mitch is a wonderful, terribly charming guy (and a major flirt) and the sexiest bald man I've ever known.
Anyway, Mitch and Debbie decided that they wanted to set me up on a date with a friend of theirs, a guy named Gary. At the time, I was only 19 (I'm guessing Mitch was in his late 20's) and I was very excited to be set up with this Gary guy, as he was a MUCH older man of...30. And he was a singer, who had actually CUT AN ALBUM. Very exciting.
So I agreed to meet this guy, and Mitch set it up that Gary would come and watch the show and then we'd all go out afterward.
On the night that Gary came to the show, I was very excited and nervous, but I, determined to impress this guy, was working it! I was singing, I was dancing, I was strutting around in my skimpy outfit.
All was going great until midway through the second act, when we got to the song Razzle Dazzle...
All of my fellow chorus girls and I were still wearing out bra/g-string outfits, but for this number, we added tall feathered headdresses and huge white feathered fans a la Busby Berkeley.
At some point during the song, we ran around backstage, climbed a flight of stairs, entered the courtroom set from above and proceeded to dance our way down a long, glittery stairway, smiling and step-kicking like the Rockettes.
Then, on the 5th from the bottom step...the heel of my character shoe caught on the decorative Mylar strip around the edge of the stairs and I...
Fell.
From the 5th step to...the ground.
On my face.
With my g-stringed heinie in the air.
The audience gasped.
My headdress slid sideways.
I ripped my fishnets.
The feather fan flew across the stage.
I took a deep breath and stood up, located my feather fan and...
DANCED.
I just kept on smiling and dancing and singing while I turned about 15 shades of scarlet, and blood ran down my leg.
After the show, I rushed to the dressing room and hid in mortification. Mitch had to literally drag me out of the dressing room to meet Gary, who was very kind, and I actually ended up going out with a couple of times.
And to make me feel better, Gary did share an excellent story with me, of HIS most embarrassing moment, which is worth sharing with you. He and Mitch had met doing a production of Jesus Christ Superstar - Gary had been Jesus and Mitch was Pontius Pilate. One night, during the crucifixion scene, after the Roman soldiers had nailed him to the cross, the entire cross fell over...into the audience. The apostles and the Roman soldiers and the Virgin Mary were all trying to drag Jesus out of the audience and put him back on the cross, but then they all started to giggle...an ugly scene. But it did make me feel better.
Since that time, I have had a phobia of high heels. And stairs. And Mylar. But not of fishnets.
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After you've managed to wipe the image of my humiliation out of your mind, please drop by all of our other BRAVE spinners who have shared their most embarrassing moments with us all. And boy, are there some doozies.
It's Oscar time once again! So I thought that in preparation for Hollywood's big night, we could all talk about the Silver Screen - motion pictures, the cinema, flicks. Do you love comedies? Dramas that make you cry like a baby? Are you a horror fan? Sci-fi? Do you have a favorite movie of all time, one you could watch over and over? Or a movie that you can't stand, but everybody else seems to love? Is there a movie that changed your life? Or maybe your kid has a movie that they watch obsessively but it drives you CRAZY?
Spin it up and link it up here! If you are new to the Spin Cycle, it's the EASIEST blog carnival thingy around! Check out the tab above for an explanation. And remember to add the super cute button to your HTML. (If you are unclear about how to do this, let me know, and I'll try to walk you through it.)
See you next week for The Spin Cycle, and the popcorn's on me (I need to get rid of all this left over Cub Scout popcorn somewhere!)!
Share your spin! Highlight the code. Copy to your HTML. Et voila! Linked!
Well, this was the best Valentine's Day we've had in years. Hands down.
We are now officially crazy for fondue! It was so stinking good! We all made absolute pigs of ourselves, even Jude McPicky. And it was FUN, all of us circled around the flaming Sterno pot, dipping and slurping. Decadent. And SO stinking EASY.
First Course - Shrimp in Tomato Sauce
Not fondue. But this was Jude's request, and I just couldn't refuse him. He has only recently decided that he likes shrimp. Now, you have to understand how big this is for our family. Jimmy and I are serious seafood eaters, and Jude's refusal to even try things was a big, fat pain in the butt. But he has now decided that he likes shrimp, but only if it is cooked in a tomato sauce. So...
Shrimp in Tomato Sauce
1 28-oz can San Marzano tomatoes, whole, peeled
1 big clove garlic, minced
a couple of tablespoons of olive oil
1 lb raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
Put tomatoes and their juice in a blender and puree.
Heat oil in a large saucepan, add the garlic and saute for about 30 seconds. Add tomato puree and about a half a can of water.
Bring to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes. Add shrimp and simmer for about 5 minutes, until shrimp are just cooked through.
You can then serve this over linguini or spaghetti. But for some reason Jude decided he wanted the shrinp served on a plate as an appetizer - I think he just likes when he gets to use the little cocktail forks. Anyway, I saved the sauce to go over pasta the next day.
Jude ate about 20 shrimp! Jimmy is worried that we've created a monster, and now there's going to be fewer shrimp for him!
Second Course - Cheese Fondue
I really didn't think that Jude was going to eat this, as there's a fairly sophisticated flavor profile to this cheese - not your usual kid-friendly American or Cheddar. But he LOVED it (though he only dipped the bread and crab - nary a vegetable). Plus, it's a big, stringy, cheese adventure in eating, so what's not to love.
I fear that this is so good, that we MUST get the leftovers out of the house, because neither Jimmy or I have been able to keep our heads out of the fridge. It's totally addicting. This is very bad.
Classic Cheese Fondue
I found this exact recipe in three different places around the internet. And Jan's recipe is basically the same thing, just tweaked to fit her "real food" diet. So I'm guessing it's pretty classic.
1 clove garlic, minced 1 lb. Gruyere cheese 3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour 1 3/4 cup dry white wine 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg A splash or two of kirsch (optional - I didn't have any, so did without)
Toss the cheese with the flour. Place a saucepan over medium heat and add the wine and garlic. Bring to a simmer and add the cheese, one handful at a time stirring until the cheese is melted in before adding the next handful. Stir in the nutmeg.
Stir over low heat until smooth and cheese is melted and bubbling. Add the kirsch, if using, and continue stirring just until it begins to bubble. Transfer the cheese mixture to a heated fondue pot when ready for dipping. Stir frequently.
I served it with blanched cauliflower, cubed crusty bread, roasted brussels sprouts, roasted fingerling potatoes and chunks of crab leg.
But you can basically use any blanched or roasted vegetable you want that you think goes with cheese. Jan even used apple slices, which I kind of wish I had done, as Jude would have probably eaten them.
Weird, artsy (out of focus) shots of fondue
Dessert - Chocolate Fondue
In all seriousness, I have never witnessed anything as depraved and animalistic as Jimmy and Jude falling upon this big pot of hot, melted chocolate. They were like Augustus Gloop and the river of chocolate in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. They were like vampires swooping down on a fresh kill. It was stunning and a little frightening. They both ended up with chocolate dripping down their chins and forearms!
Chocolate Fondue
1 lb. premium semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, well chopped 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
In a medium saucepan over low heat bring the cream to a simmer. Add the chocolate. Simmer, stirring until the chocolate is melted. Transfer the mixture to a fondue pot.
I served it with little brownie squares, chocolate chip cookies, strawberries and a cut up glazed donut. But you could use pretty much any kind of fresh or dried fruit, as well as cubes of angel food cake, pound cake, graham crackers, lady fingers, marshmallows or biscotti.
I'm seriously thinking of doing more fondue for the Academy Awards. Maybe this time I'll try the broth fondue version - you heat broth in the pot and everybody skewers little chunks of steak, chicken or shrimp and cooks it themselves in the broth, and you serve it with a variety of dipping sauces. Although, it seems like this might require a bit of patience, and neither Jimmy nor Jude have any. We'll see.
After we all ate ourselves silly and Jimmy and I drank a bottle of champagne, we all snuggled into the bed together again. The men and the dog were snoring within minutes, and I got to plug my earplugs into my laptop and watch a little Netflix in bed. An excellent way to end the evening!
Our house is earning it's own mortgage again today. They're shooting a low budget movie in our front yard. Interestingly, it's directed by Jeff Probst, the Survivor host guy, who is, as it always is, much shorter in person. This time, our house is posing as the run-down Illinois home of an alcoholic. I swear, when we finally the much-needed paint job, the house will never work again. Anyway, I'm kind of trapped inside, unable to leave before they clear out. I have to say, the doorbell ringing at 6:45 am with an entire camera crew rolling up the street, isn't really too bad when they greet you with your check in hand!
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DOWNTON SPOILER WARNING!!!!!!!!!
Ah Lavinia! Ah Matthew! Ah Mary! Ah Bates! Ah Anna! Ah Sybil! Ah Sir Richard! Ah Ethel! And I even have an Ah O'Brien! and an Ah Thomas! Ah! Ah! Ah!
It just doesn't get much better than this.
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Okay, I think this is one incredibly excellent business idea. A real moneymaker. What young nerd man hasn't fantasize about having his way with a hot space babe? Maybe Jabba the Hutt's dancing slave girl Oola..
...or Captain Kirk's mechanical geisha girl, Andrea the Android...
...or one of Battlestar Galactica's sexy cylons...
Well, Nevada entrepreneur Dennis Hof thinks so too, and is opening a Sci-Fi Brothel outside of Vegas. The idea is that the hookers will all be dressed up as alien babes, so any geek willing to pay for it can truly go where no man has gone before.
Why don't I ever come up with these ideas?
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I am completely fascinated by this website, Ikea Hackers. It's an entire website devoted to showing you how to "hack, personalise, repurpose IKEA products into the very thing" you want. Really great out-of-the-box thinking. Sample: This is a cool bathroom vanity made out of a cheap dresser...
And this bathroom wall is made out of $2 vases!
You've got to check out the website, it will keep you clicking and clicking.
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New favorite cocktail -
Ginger Pear Sizzle
2 slices lime
Absolut Pear vodka
Sprig of mint
ginger ale
Fill highball glass with ice. Squeeze in lime slices over the ice. Toss in the mint. Add one part Absolut Pear. Top with ginger ale.
Soooo refreshing.
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Oh, I almost forgot...Happy Valentine's Day! We're going all fondue around here tonight - can't wait. I'll let you know how it goes.
So in honor of Valentine's Day, and of Adele's big Grammy wins, here's a Bob Dylan song I've always adored. She absolutely knocks it out of the park...
This is what I'd call the definition of "a big drag, man".
Two years ago, I wrote this post, telling y'all that Becky the Suburban Matron had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and I asked you all to start praying in an attempt to surround her with a "big, bloggy bubble of love".
Since that time, Becky endured a mastectomy, radiation, reconstruction, chemotherapy, hair loss, a wig named Codi and performing on stage with me at BlogHer.
Becky survived...no, TRIUMPHED over all this with tremendous grace and humor, proving herself to be the Jane Austen of the blogging world. Hell, in the middle of it she even finished up her PhD! So that makes her Dr. Becky. Oh yeah.
Well now this.
Becky's beautiful, darling, funny, brilliant sister Amy, the Matron Down Under, has been diagnosed with...breast cancer.
I know, I know, I know.
For those of you who don't know/read Amy, you should, but if you don't, Amy and her husband, Jason, are ministers who are pastors at a church in Sydney, Australia. They have 3 of the cutest children you've ever seen.
Amy is every bit as gracious and funny as Becky. I guess that makes her Jane Austen's sister. Wait, did Jane Austen have a sister?...Wikipedia...Yes, Cassandra Austen. No wait, Cassandra never wrote anything. So I guess they're more like the Brontes. But I don't really think of the Brontes as witty. More like the Mitford sisters Yeah. The Mitford Sisters works. Sorry...I just went off on a wee tangent. Sigh...here I am trying to be funny when we're talking cancer.
Anyway, Amy IS funny, evidenced by her posts revealing her new-found cancer - here and here. She's one of the few bloggers I read who always makes me laugh with her self-deprecating charm and wit. She is also a woman of tremendous faith and courage.
And her prognosis looks great. They have found the tumor VERY early, through what Becky described as a "for-the-heck-of-it" ultrasound. Because of the early diagnosis Amy will only need to have a lumpectomy, followed by radiation treatment. She won't know until after the surgery if she will need chemotherapy - there's a good chance she won't. Though if she does, I'm sure Becky will be happy to lend her Codi.
I am completely sickened by the injustice of this all. How is it that while the national statistics are that 1 in 8 women will get breast cancer, in their amazing family it's 2 in 2. It's just so unfair.
But really, if there's a family who can survive and triumph over such a mess, it's these guys. I've never known a family filled with more love and humor and intelligence. The whole bunch of them are amazing. I have previously mentioned my desire to be adopted by their parents, but I don't think they think I'm serious. But I am. I would very much like to be their big sister.
Don't you LOVE that picture? It's Becky and Amy and their brother Dave back when they were kids. It's kind of perfect, isn't it? I like to think that I'm the one in that boat in the background, their older sister who is supposed to be babysitting but instead, is drinking beer and "fishing" with her boyfriend. But I'm digressing once again...
So here's what we're gonna do. We're all going to start praying for Amy and her family. Just like we did for Becky. If we all start praying (or sending healing energy or white light or whatever) in her direction, we will create another big bloggy bubble of love and support to help her kick the cancer out of her body and tell it never to come back. Only this time the bubble is going to have to reach all the way to Australia, so PRAY HARD. I firmly believe in the power of prayer, and I know that Amy does as well. So DO IT!
Start...NOW.
Oh, and if Amy's parents happen to read this, now would be an excellent time for this adoption, as you could probably use a little help. And there were three Bronte sisters. I'm a good cook, and willing to take care of you in your golden years. And I come cheap, you didn't have to pay for my college or my wedding. A good deal, I think. Consider it.
Are y'all praying? Well DO it.
Oh, and FEEL YOUR BOOBIES. Here's a post I wrote a while back with detailed instructions.
