-
August: Osage County
August: Osage County is the story of a brutally toxic family brought together for the funeral of the patriarch. This family is so dysfunctional it’s painful to watch. Based on the play by Tracy Letts, and starring Maryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Chris Cooper, Sam Shepard, Abigail Breslin, Ewan McGregor, Dermot Mulroney, Juliette Lewis, Margo Martindale, and Benedict Cumberbatch, August: Osage County begins with Sam Shepard explaining the lay of the land to a new caretaker (Misty Upham, who plays the only sane person in the house). The lay of the land is that he drinks all day, and his wife takes pills all day, and they barely tolerate each other.…
-
Jacques’s Pommes de Terre mont d’Or
Last night was the season premier of season 4 of Downton Abbey. I’d spent the last few days getting caught up and ready, re-watching season 3. Gah, the stories, the clothes, the scenery, and…the food. The food is oftentimes gorgeous. So Ted decided that in honor of our season premier, we should have a somewhat extravagant dinner. He chose roast beef, caramelized carrots, and Pommes de Terre Mont d’Or, which he found in our cookbook, ‘Julia and Jacques’. I made the Pommes de Terre Mont d’Or (mountain of gold potatoes). It’s made of potatoes, eggs, and cheese, and is light and fluffy, much like a souffle. Truly elegant, and truly…
-
What I did on my Christmas Vacation
I took a bit of a vacation from work (and, apparently, from blogging), which was relaxing and delightful. We didn’t do any traveling this year, and mostly kept ourselves home bound. So, what did I do with myself? Christmas was lovely, spending time with family, a delicious feast, wonderful gifts. Then my favorite week, the week between Christmas and New Year, which is mighty relaxing. So, what did I do with this week of grace? Let’s see… Delivered Meals on Wheels. I considered taking the time off from this activity, but discovered that many regular drivers do, so they were looking for volunteers. So I drove both on the 26th…
-
A Muppet Christmas
-
Merry Christmas to All!
It’s morning on Christmas Eve. I was watching Tim Minchin sing “white wine in the sun”, my favorite secular Christmas song by far, so I thought I’d share it with you. Gifts have been purchased, delivered, and wrapped. Cards and packages were mailed early last week. Cookies have been baked. The house is decorated. Our traditional Christmas morning breakfast of Cinnamon rolls (from a tube) is in the fridge, as well as the ingredients for our contributions to Christmas dinner. Ted is at work, and Maya is still sleeping. I’m not sure I can face the grocery store today, and I didn’t plan a Christmas Eve dinner, so it’s…
-
Blog Love
Remember when blogging was all new and honest? When we wrote about anything and everything? For some of us, that stopped when we felt that the world had heard everything we have to say, so no need to say it again. For some of us, that stopped when our kids got to a certain age, and it wouldn’t be appropriate to write about them in a public space anymore. For some of us, both are true. Enter Carla, a friend I had in High School. Carla and I were not super close, and I think I only met her in my senior year. But I admired her greatly, for her…
-
Book Meme
I grabbed this one from Facebook, and I wrote about it there, so if you’re a FB friend, you’ve already read (or ignored) this. I believe I’ve written about all of these books here before, but man, they’re worth it. So I’m writing again. Here’s the meme. Rules: In your status line, list 10 books that have stayed with you. Don’t take more than a few minutes; don’t think too hard. They don’t have to be great works, just the ones that have touched you. The Blood of Others ~ Simone de Beauvoir. (something about reading this one and then seeing “Glory” hit me kind of hard back in college.)…
-
The Big 5-0
Richard is turning 50 today. How can this be? It’s a shocker in some ways. He told me recently that he was more affected by my 20th birthday than he was his own. I think I feel that way about his 50th. I mean, What? Then again, 50 is the new 40, or the new 30, or whatever. Is it weird that I now look at pictures of my grandmother in her early 50s, and my parents, and think they look young? They looked so old and mature and responsible to me then. Now I wonder if they knew what they were doing. I don’t question that Richard knows what…
-
The Book Thief
The Book Thief is the story of Liesel, a German girl who is given up for adoption by her mother, who is a Communist and is perhaps being taken away by the Nazis. The story takes place in the lead-up to and during World War II. On the train with her mother and younger brother, Liesel’s brother suddenly dies. No explanation is given, other than harsh living conditions and not enough food. He is quickly buried, and as they family walks away from the grave, Liesel picks up a book dropped by the grave keeper. Rather than calling out and giving it back to him, she hides it in her…
-
Happy Birthday Maya and Melissa!
Happy Happy Birthday to my wonderful sisters, Maya and Melissa, of whom I am so proud and whom I love SO much. I wish we lived closer, so I could see you and your beautiful families more often. When we do see each other, though, I enjoy that time so much. I’m very glad we were able to see each other this summer.
-
Happy Thanksgiving!
And happy anniversary to my blog! I missed it, on November 23, but as my first post was regarding Thanksgiving, I’ll celebrate my blog today, and how much pleasure it has given me these last 8 years. To think I didn’t really want to have one, and Ted, Cherry, and Dorothy talked me into it…
-
Wordless Wednesday ~ Thanksgivukkah Edition
-
Thanksgiving Week
Today is shopping day for Thanksgiving week. I need to get: dinner for tonight (whatever that turns out to be) ingredients for latkes, homemade applesauce, and chicken for Hanukkah on Wednesday ingredients for apple cake, cranberry sauce*, fruit salad, and yams for Thanksgiving I generally tend to go to the grocery store every day, or at least every day. So planning on going to the store for enough food to cover 3 entire days is kind of crazy. My goal, of course, is to avoid the insanity of shopping either the day before Thanksgiving, or, God forbid, actually shopping on Thanksgiving. I predict this shopping will bring me to two…
-
Catching Fire
Ted and Maya went to see “Catching Fire” on Friday, and they liked it enough that they were willing to go see it again with me yesterday. Perhaps luckily for me, my memory is crap for books that I only read once…Gone With the Wind and Little House on the Prairie, I know every word. Catching Fire, I have vague impressions, though I know they were good and I was hooked and HAD to get into the next book asap. So it was although it was new to me, which I’ll admit, I enjoy. Side note that the bad part of the film, for me, was that I didn’t eat…
-
Nance’s Pasta with Butternut Squash, Sausage, and Spinach
(kinda blurry picture of delicious pasta) A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I made a pasta recipe that was basically a mac and cheese recipe with some sausage and butternut squash, and my bloggy friend Nance commented about her own sausage and butternut squash recipe. I wasn’t in love with my recipe, as it was too much like mac & cheese, and I love my own mac & cheese recipe. But Nance’s recipe sounded lovely, so I decided to try it. And boy, I’m so very glad I did. It’s a winner. Maya’s first bite, she said, “make sure you try a bite with butternut squash and sausage, because…
