Reflections On the Year Gone By

The year has been a good one, especially in the area of travel, friends and family celebrations, and food.  Here we are pictured at Restaurante

Victor Gutiérrez in Salamanca, Spain.  The self-description of the food here is that there are three pillars that are absolutely essential, in equal parts, to the food they prepare.  The first is having quality products, so focusing on what can be obtained locally and  what has flavor, going back to the old French idea of terroir, the flavor of the earth.  The second is their technique.  Here is where we as home cooks falter a bit, and the professionals can take the food to a level that we cannot easily attain as amateurs.  The third pillar though is something that we can all bring to our cooking and that is feeling, a passion for the food that we are making and eating.  That is something that my spouse and I did very well with this past year, if not in our own kitchen always, then at the hands of others.  Sharing that with people who are speacial to us just makes it all the more memorable.

Braised Cream Cabbage

As the winter heads into the new year, we are down to just a few things that are left from our 2018 CSA.  We have some fennel, Brussels sprouts, some squash, garlic, and lots of cabbage.  In order to have something that reminds us of the things that grow well into the fall in our neighborhood at the holiday table.  This was this year's cabbage dish, suggested by a friend of a sibling.

• 1 medium green cabbage, cored and thinly sliced
  
• 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
  
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
  
• 1 tablespoon (heaping) grated fresh ginger
  
• 2 tablespoons butter
  
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
  
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
  

1. In a very large pan, heat the butter over medium heat until it is melted and starting to bubble a little. Stir in the onion and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes, until softened.
2. Stir in the ginger and cook for about a minute. Then, add in the cabbage, stirring well to coat it with the butter and other flavors. Cook, stirring occasionally for about 15-20 minutes, until the cabbage has softened and caramelized.
3. Turn the heat to low and stir in the cream making sure to scrape any browned bits up from the pan bottom. Cover and cook over low for about 10 minutes. Uncover, add salt and pepper to taste. Then cook for a few more minutes, stirring once or twice, to let some of the liquid evaporate. Adjust seasonings as desired and serve.

Roma (2018)

This is an atmospheric movie.  The director shot the film himself, so he clearly wanted it this way.  The film rarely uses close-ups, keeping us at a distance from Cleo (masterfully acted by Yalitza Aparicio), the maid in an upper class Mexican household in 1970,  and his other characters, and allowing the details of the world around them to come to life. He uses the long shot most frequently,  often placing Cleo in a tableau that could be called chaotic, whether it’s a market teeming with people behind her or even just the home in which she spends so much of her time, full of noisy children, relatives, and servants. Cleo’s existence is a crowded one, and it almost feels like it gets more so as the film goes along, mirroring her increasing concern as her life becomes more complicated.
The story is one of class differences, cultural differences, differences between the city and the countryside, all wrapped up into one very neatly told story that doesn't raise anyone's defensiveness as to their place in the world.  It is quietly brilliant.

Raspberry Cream Swiss Roll (Gluten Free)

We have just started watching the Great British Bake Off, and are really loving it.  The very first thing that they made was a Swiss Roll, which is largely unfamiliar to us, but looked like good fun to make.  Since we have a family member who would be at the dinner we planned to serve it at, we made it gluten free, and used 90 gm of King Arthur Gluten Free flour instead of the rice and corn flour.

• 3 eggs, separated
• 110g of caster sugar, plus extra for dusting
• 1 lemon, zest finely grated
• 45g of rice flour, brown
• 45g of cornflour
• 50g of raspberries
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 125ml of whipping cream
• 2 tbsp of icing sugar

1.  Butter and line a 9 by 13-inch baking tray or Swiss roll pan with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4

2.  In one bowl, whisk the egg whites until frothy. Gradually add half of the caster sugar whilst still beating until you reach a stiff peak consistency

3.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks with half of the remaining caster sugar and half of the lemon zest until very pale and thick. Pour the egg yolk mixture into the beaten egg whites and sift in the baking powder, rice flour and corn flour. Fold together using a rubber spatula until only a few streaks of egg white remain

4.  Pour the mixture out onto the lined baking tray and bake for 10-15 minutes until golden. Turn the cake out onto a clean tea towel dusted with caster sugar. Peel the baking parchment off of the cake, trim the edges with scissors and then roll the cake up tightly (starting at the short end) keeping the sugared tea towel inside the roll. Leave to cool completely

5.  Meanwhile whip the cream until thick then gently stir in the icing sugar and the rest of the lemon zest. Set aside

6.  In a sauce pan over a medium heat, cook the raspberries with the remaining caster sugar and a splash of water. Use a fork to crush the raspberries down to a sauce and bring to a simmer. Take off the heat and set aside (you can strain it through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds if desired)

7.  Unroll the cooled cake and spread with the raspberry sauce. Then layer on the whipped lemon cream and roll up tightly. Chill for 30 minutes before serving

The Witch Elm by Tana French

I usually do not write about the myriad of murder mysteries that I read, but this one was one of the New York Times 100 notable books, (which is really on the 50 notable fiction book list), so I am making an exception.
The basic message in this stand alone book by the talented Ms. French is that if you scratch the surface of any extended family you are likely to find a rotten apple or two.  Or someone who when push comes to shove, shoves back in a very deadly manner.
At the center of the story are three cousins who have known each other well since childhood and an uncle that they share who is dying from a brain tumor.  Toby was the incredibly lucky one, nothing stuck to him, whereas his two cousins were not so lucky.  Then Toby is murderously beaten one night to within an inch of his life, and it all changes for him forever.  He finds out what his family is capable of and what he himself can be led to as well.  There are some leaps that need to be taken especially toward the end, but all in all a very good read.

Short List of Short Animated Films

Here is a truly great link that gets you to 8 of the 10 short animated films, 5 of which will make up the five nominees:
https://www.cartoonbrew.com/awards/more-than-half-of-the-2019-oscar-shortlisted-animated-shorts-are-currently-online-168102.html
I really hope the last two will join this club, because it is so much fun to watch them and discuss them amongst ourselves, and then have a real opinion on them at the awards ceremony.  I think that it has also raised the interest in short animation as a genre to have a wider audience for them, even before the finalists are announced.
One thing that I have noticed is that there is a certain degree of darkness associated with many of the nominees, and one has an out and out swear word in it, so while animated, they are not exactly suited to young children (the two Dreamworks nominees and the Pixar one are largely good hearted fun, but even Bird Karma has a bit of a dark side.  In any case, enjoy, the whole undertaking will take about an hour, and is well worth it.

The First Noel

This photograph, taken in the living room of our house on Dubuque St., is now 28 years old.  It was our first Christmas in Iowa.  We had a newborn and a 2 year old, we were working crazy long hours and we barely knew anyone.  Despite how that sounds, we were happy in our new home community.
And here we are, almost three decades later, still feeling the glow we felt that very first year.  The warmth comes not from the weather, which when we first moved here was can't-start-your-car cold, causing me to learn that the flashpoint of gasoline is -40 degrees, a fact I am not the least bit happy to have reason to know.  It is considerably warmer most of the winter these days, but there is no diminution in the warmth that comes from within.  The Danish concept of Hugge is something that I associate with the friends and acquaintances I have here, and at the holiday season it seems like a good time to reflect on that.

Happy Holidays

I like the plural in this phrase, because there is so much that is being celebrated this time of year.  We just passed the winter solstice, and in our household also celebrated the marriage of a family friend's daughter.  It is always nice to have a big party to take one's mind off the shortening days, and we had two, which was twice as good. 
The other is that around the holidays there is a lot of good will towards your fellow man.  Not uniformly true, because in the airports I was in today, I heard some decidedly uncharitable descriptions of people, largely based on race, creed, or national origin.  I am pretty sure that someone nearby moved seats because what we were saying about inclusion in general was making her uncomfortable.
But at work there is an aura of being thankful for what we do for each other rather than harping on what sets our teeth on edge. 
As a health care worker, I am caring for people who cannot be home with their friends and families celebrating, and as a cancer survivor, I have also bee that patient, so enjoy being part of making that less awful too.  So wishing you and yours the very best, and soon we will be ringing in the new year.

Bar Borda Berri, San Sebastian, Spain

This was our fist pinxcho  bar experience and I was so happy to have a culture navigator to guide us through it.  We were staying at a beautiful hotel on the edge of the old part of town, and this was literally a couple of blocks away.  The culture is that you order a couple of things, run a tab, order a glass of either red or white wine to go with it, and then, when you have finished your first round, you either pay up and go to another place or go back for a few more options.  It is loud and rambunctious and not for the timid.

The "risotto" is famous here, and is really an orzo that is served in a creamy cheese sauce that is flat out delicious.  The other thing that we ordered that is frequently commented on was the beef cheeks, which were so tender and flavorful that I could have had that and that alone.  A third delicious option was the pork ribs, also fall off the bone tender and busting with herbs and spices.  After an evening here, where we stood the whole time, enjoyed the people watching as much as the food, and had an exceptionally inexpensive meal, I was ready to stay in Basque country for and extended visit.

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)

The Coen brothers continue in their auteur genre that sort of defies definition but you know it when you see it.  This anthology of six stories, which maybe have a theme and maybe don't, are all deliberately and above board about bursting the bubble on the view that heroes defined the American West.  I was convinced by one of my sons that the first and last story are clearly linked, but the things that happen in the middle four stories seem the revolve around a thematic center, but are really largely independent of each other.  The screenplay is whip smart (as you would expect), the cast of characters are superbly played by excellent actors, some known, others less so, the musical score is top notch, and the cinematography is breathtaking.  No matter how you feel about the winning of the West, it is a gorgeous place to be.
This is a movie put together from bits and pieces of cinematic tropes, conventions, and clichés, including ones borrowed from a range of genres, from ingenious physical comedy to romantic lyricism to Gothic horror. But all are united by a giddy Western revisionism centering upon a common theme: the relentless cruelty, wanton violence, deadly recklessness, and cavalier abuses of unchecked power that prevailed in the thinly and casually governed Wild West. With a Quentin Tarantino helping of gore.   If clinging to the mythology of what the West was in the mid 1800's is yout thing, skip this.  Otherwise, it is something to enjoy.

Shrimp Bisque

My youngest son and I were inspired to make a weeknight meal of fresh baked bread and soup.  Over the weekend we had a delicious shrimp bisque at a friend's house, and we worked to recreate that experience, reasonably successfully.

1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined, shells reserved

4 cups seafood stock

3 tablespoons good olive oil

1 c. chopped onion

1 carrot, diced

1 tablespoon chopped garlic (3 cloves)

Pinch cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp. thyme

1/4 cup Cognac or brandy

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup half-and-half

1/4 cup tomato paste

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Place the shrimp shells and seafood stock in a saucepan and simmer for 15 minutes. Strain and reserve the stock. Add enough water to make about 3 1/2 cups. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add the onions and carrots and cook them for 10 minutes over medium-low heat, or until the leeks are tender but not browned. Add the garlic and cook 1 more minute. Add the flour, some thyme, and the cayenne pepper cook over medium to low heat for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Sautee the shrimp in the butter until just done.   Add half the shrimp and the stock mixture to a food processor fitted with a steel blade and process until coarsely pureed. Put back into the stock pot.   Add the half-and-half and cook, stirring with a whisk, until thickened, about 3 minutes. Add the Cognac and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the pureed shrimp,  add salt and pepper, season to taste, and heat gently until hot but not boiling. Serve with parsley on top.

The Annex Kitchen, Fresno, CA

I recently had the pleasure of eating in this restaurant, which is the best bold American food that I have eaten in Fresno (I have to exclude Mexican food, because there is a lot of excellent versions of a wide range of Mexican food in the Central Valley).
I had the squid ink pasta with seafood sauce that was perfect.  The pasta was cooked the way I like it, which is 1/2 minute beyond when it still has some rawness in the middle. and the sauce had small pieces of seafood, so you didn't need to cut anything up.  My table mates both had the butternut squash agnolotti, which was also delicious.  We shared some appetizers, of which my favorite was the herb and cheese filled ariancini, because I do not make them at home and I love them, but the cauliflower was excellent, as was the bread and the butter lettuce salad.  I definitely had the feeling that this is the sort of restaurant that if you went back and had a completely different dinner it would still be excellent.

Mission Impossible: Fallout (2018)

I actually really like what Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames bring to this movie series.  They kind of make Tom Cruise look better as an action hero.
Wasting absolutely no time, this movie drops viewers into the narrative, getting the important details out of the way so the action can get started. So many action movies spend forever with extensive set-ups. But there’s no fat on this movie, even early on, where action so often takes too long to get to the “good stuff,” and definitely not late when the movie is intense enough to leave you exhausted. A group called the Apostles wants to create chaos. That’s really all you need to know.  They have a bomb and they are going to set it off in a way that would create the most havoc world wide.  Kind of like what the Russians are doing on a cyber level, they are doing the old fashioned way.
One fascinating thing is to see how Cruise is finally allowing his age to show a little bit. Cruise's latest version of Hunt stumbles a few times and his punches don’t land with the force they once did. And the supporting cast is uniformly strong, especially Cavill and Rebecca Ferguson

Pad Ka Pow Gai

We took two cooking classes when we were in Chiang Mai and while is something that we have made before, my confidence in making it went up with lessons.  I would highly recommend doing a cooking class when traveling.  Sometimes I just do not make time for it, but the times that I have done so, I have not regretted it.

1 Tbsp oyster sauce 1 tsp light soy sauce 1 Tbsp dark soy sauce 1 Tbsp fish sauce 2 tsp sugar 2 Tbsp oil 1 medium shallot, minced 6-8 cloves garlic, minced 4-5 Thai chilies, finely minced (depending on your spice tolerance)* 2 large chicken breasts, cut into 1/2" cubes large handful of fresh Thai basil, reserve a few leaves for garnishing To Serve 2 C steamed white rice Instructions Frying the eggs In a large wok or frying pan, add 1 tsp vegetable oil and heat over medium high heat. When the oil is hot, crack an egg into the oil and let it fry up for about 2-3 minutes, or until it's cooked to your liking. Remove the egg and transfer to a clean plate. Repeat with the remaining eggs. Set aside. Cooking the basil chicken In a small bowl, whisk together the chicken broth, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, fish sauce, and 2 tsp sugar. Set aside. Using the same wok, turn up the heat to high and add in the 2 Tbsp oil. Add in the shallots, garlic, and Thai chilies and quickly stir fry until fragrant, about 1 minute. Next, add in the cubed chicken and continue to stir fry for another 2-3 minutes. Pour in the chicken broth liquid and toss to coast all of the chicken. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the wok to remove any sticky brown bits that are full of flavour. When most of the chicken broth has evaporated, turn off the heat and add in a large handful of Thai basil. Stir to incorporate the basil into the chicken as the residual heat will continue to wilt the basil. Remove from heat. Serve the Thai Basil Chicken with fresh hot steamed rice, and a fried egg. Garnish with additional basil leaves. Best served hot.

Read more at Curious Cuisiniere: Pad Krapow Gai (Thai Basil Chicken) https://www.curiouscuisiniere.com/pad-krapow-gai-thai-basil-chicken/

1 Tbsp oyster sauce 1 tsp light soy sauce 1 Tbsp dark soy sauce 1 Tbsp fish sauce 2 tsp sugar 2 Tbsp oil 1 medium shallot, minced 6-8 cloves garlic, minced 4-5 Thai chilies, finely minced (depending on your spice tolerance)* 2 large chicken breasts, cut into 1/2" cubes large handful of fresh Thai basil, reserve a few leaves for garnishing To Serve 2 C steamed white rice Instructions Frying the eggs In a large wok or frying pan, add 1 tsp vegetable oil and heat over medium high heat. When the oil is hot, crack an egg into the oil and let it fry up for about 2-3 minutes, or until it's cooked to your liking. Remove the egg and transfer to a clean plate. Repeat with the remaining eggs. Set aside. Cooking the basil chicken In a small bowl, whisk together the chicken broth, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, fish sauce, and 2 tsp sugar. Set aside. Using the same wok, turn up the heat to high and add in the 2 Tbsp oil. Add in the shallots, garlic, and Thai chilies and quickly stir fry until fragrant, about 1 minute. Next, add in the cubed chicken and continue to stir fry for another 2-3 minutes. Pour in the chicken broth liquid and toss to coast all of the chicken. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the wok to remove any sticky brown bits that are full of flavour. When most of the chicken broth has evaporated, turn off the heat and add in a large handful of Thai basil. Stir to incorporate the basil into the chicken as the residual heat will continue to wilt the basil. Remove from heat. Serve the Thai Basil Chicken with fresh hot steamed rice, and a fried egg. Garnish with additional basil leaves. Best served hot.

Read more at Curious Cuisiniere: Pad Krapow Gai (Thai Basil Chicken) https://www.curiouscuisiniere.com/pad-krapow-gai-thai-basil-chicken/

6 garlic cloves, peeled
6 bird’s eye chillies
1 large red chilli, cut into chunks
A pinch of sea salt
1 tbsp sweet soy sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
1–2 tbsp water
A pinch of sugar
2 tbsp vegetable oil
300g chicken, roughly hand-chopped
100g green beans, topped, tailed and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 onion, cut in halfg and then thin wedges cut
1 large handful of picked bai krapow, or holy basil leaves – the more the merrier
For the eggs (optional)
2 eggs
Vegetable oil, for deep frying
1 In a pestle and mortar, pound the garlic, chillies and salt together into a rough paste, and set aside.
2 Now mix the soy sauces, fish sauce and 1 tbsp of the water together in a small bowl, and stir in the sugar to dissolve.
3 Heat the oil in a wok until it’s really hot. Throw in the chilli-garlic paste and stir-fry for a few seconds, until you can smell everything in the pan, but not long enough to colour the garlic. Be careful as it will make your eyes water. Now, add the pork and stir-fry until it’s cooked through. Add the green beans, and stir-fry.
4 Add the soy and fish sauce mixture and stir through, allowing it to bubble up before adding nearly all the basil and wilting it into the dish.
5 Serve over steamed jasmine rice, with the remaining basil leaves scattered on top.
6 For the eggs, heat about 2–4cm depth of vegetable oil in another wok and, when it’s super-hot, crack in an egg. Fry until the white is crispy on the outside, and the yolk running within – it should take about 1 minute. Drain, and serve on top of your pad krapow and rice.

1 Tbsp oyster sauce 1 tsp light soy sauce 1 Tbsp dark soy sauce 1 Tbsp fish sauce 2 tsp sugar 2 Tbsp oil 1 medium shallot, minced 6-8 cloves garlic, minced 4-5 Thai chilies, finely minced (depending on your spice tolerance)* 2 large chicken breasts, cut into 1/2" cubes large handful of fresh Thai basil, reserve a few leaves for garnishing To Serve 2 C steamed white rice Instructions Frying the eggs In a large wok or frying pan, add 1 tsp vegetable oil and heat over medium high heat. When the oil is hot, crack an egg into the oil and let it fry up for about 2-3 minutes, or until it's cooked to your liking. Remove the egg and transfer to a clean plate. Repeat with the remaining eggs. Set aside. Cooking the basil chicken In a small bowl, whisk together the chicken broth, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, fish sauce, and 2 tsp sugar. Set aside. Using the same wok, turn up the heat to high and add in the 2 Tbsp oil. Add in the shallots, garlic, and Thai chilies and quickly stir fry until fragrant, about 1 minute. Next, add in the cubed chicken and continue to stir fry for another 2-3 minutes. Pour in the chicken broth liquid and toss to coast all of the chicken. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the wok to remove any sticky brown bits that are full of flavour. When most of the chicken broth has evaporated, turn off the heat and add in a large handful of Thai basil. Stir to incorporate the basil into the chicken as the residual heat will continue to wilt the basil. Remove from heat. Serve the Thai Basil Chicken with fresh hot steamed rice, and a fried egg. Garnish with additional basil leaves. Best served hot.

Read more at Curious Cuisiniere: Pad Krapow Gai (Thai Basil Chicken) https://www.curiouscuisiniere.com/pad-krapow-gai-thai-basil-chicken/

¼ C chicken broth 1 Tbsp oyster sauce 1 tsp light soy sauce 1 Tbsp dark soy sauce 1 Tbsp fish sauce 2 tsp sugar 2 Tbsp oil 1 medium shallot, minced 6-8 cloves garlic, minced 4-5 Thai chilies, finely minced (depending on your spice tolerance)* 2 large chicken breasts, cut into 1/2" cubes large handful of fresh Thai basil, reserve a few leaves for garnishing To Serve 2 C steamed white rice Instructions Frying the eggs In a large wok or frying pan, add 1 tsp vegetable oil and heat over medium high heat. When the oil is hot, crack an egg into the oil and let it fry up for about 2-3 minutes, or until it's cooked to your liking. Remove the egg and transfer to a clean plate. Repeat with the remaining eggs. Set aside. Cooking the basil chicken In a small bowl, whisk together the chicken broth, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, fish sauce, and 2 tsp sugar. Set aside. Using the same wok, turn up the heat to high and add in the 2 Tbsp oil. Add in the shallots, garlic, and Thai chilies and quickly stir fry until fragrant, about 1 minute. Next, add in the cubed chicken and continue to stir fry for another 2-3 minutes. Pour in the chicken broth liquid and toss to coast all of the chicken. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the wok to remove any sticky brown bits that are full of flavour. When most of the chicken broth has evaporated, turn off the heat and add in a large handful of Thai basil. Stir to incorporate the basil into the chicken as the residual heat will continue to wilt the basil. Remove from heat. Serve the Thai Basil Chicken with fresh hot steamed rice, and a fried egg. Garnish with additional basil leaves. Best served hot.

Read more at Curious Cuisiniere: Pad Krapow Gai (Thai Basil Chicken) https://www.curiouscuisiniere.com/pad-krapow-gai-thai-basil-chicken/

¼ C chicken broth 1 Tbsp oyster sauce 1 tsp light soy sauce 1 Tbsp dark soy sauce 1 Tbsp fish sauce 2 tsp sugar 2 Tbsp oil 1 medium shallot, minced 6-8 cloves garlic, minced 4-5 Thai chilies, finely minced (depending on your spice tolerance)* 2 large chicken breasts, cut into 1/2" cubes large handful of fresh Thai basil, reserve a few leaves for garnishing To Serve 2 C steamed white rice Instructions Frying the eggs In a large wok or frying pan, add 1 tsp vegetable oil and heat over medium high heat. When the oil is hot, crack an egg into the oil and let it fry up for about 2-3 minutes, or until it's cooked to your liking. Remove the egg and transfer to a clean plate. Repeat with the remaining eggs. Set aside. Cooking the basil chicken In a small bowl, whisk together the chicken broth, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, fish sauce, and 2 tsp sugar. Set aside. Using the same wok, turn up the heat to high and add in the 2 Tbsp oil. Add in the shallots, garlic, and Thai chilies and quickly stir fry until fragrant, about 1 minute. Next, add in the cubed chicken and continue to stir fry for another 2-3 minutes. Pour in the chicken broth liquid and toss to coast all of the chicken. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the wok to remove any sticky brown bits that are full of flavour. When most of the chicken broth has evaporated, turn off the heat and add in a large handful of Thai basil. Stir to incorporate the basil into the chicken as the residual heat will continue to wilt the basil. Remove from heat. Serve the Thai Basil Chicken with fresh hot steamed rice, and a fried egg. Garnish with additional basil leaves. Best served hot.

Read more at Curious Cuisiniere: Pad Krapow Gai (Thai Basil Chicken) https://www.curiouscuisiniere.com/pad-krapow-gai-thai-basil-chicken/

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

 This is a magical place, there is no doubt about that. 

The Khmer Empire’s various capitals thrived here from the 9th to 15th centuries, while their rulers presided over an empire that stretched from Myanmar (Burma) to Vietnam. Including forested areas and newly discovered “suburbs” Angkor covers more than 400 square miles.

Though just one of hundreds of surviving temples and structures, the massive Angkor Wat is the most famed of all Cambodia’s temples—it appears on the nation’s flag—and it is revered for good reason. The 12th century “temple-mountain” was built as a spiritual home for the Hindu god Vishnu.

The temple is an architectural triumph laden with artistic treasures like the bas-relief galleries that line many walls and tell enduring tales of Cambodian history and legend.  I did not take a lot of pictures of these, because it was hard to capture just how cool the story telling technique is.  The stories are largely about gods, but some center on man.  The majesty of the temple, with restoration that is more complete than anywhere else that we traveled to, is well captured in this reflecting pond shot.

Skyscraper (2018)

I was on a bit of a Dwayne Johnson marathon of late.  I blame it on the in air options, the frequency with which I have been flying of late, and then there is the fact that I really do have a bit of a soft spot for him.  just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over.  It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it successful at the very end of the day.
In this film, which is largely Towering Inferno meets The Fast and the Furious, we watch him pull out his bad ass military skills in order to save his family.  He is working in the world's tallest building in Hong Kong, which looks a lot like  the Shanghai Tower, and faces some dastardly criminals who want to force the building's owner to give them something they dearly want.  It is as good as this sort of movie can be, with an equally strong female character as well.

Organizational Ideas From an Asian Kitchen

This is the wall of a restaurant where we had breakfast in Singapore.  It is amazing how well off Singapore is, how expensive things are, especially compared with other countries in the neighborhood.  I was not there long enough to really get a feel for it, but somehow this wall of kitchen essentials seems very much like the orderliness of everything around it.  I could really use some of this in my life, having everything that I need on a regular basis fit neatly together and stack up so nicely that I wouldn't even need cabinets to hide the clutter behind.  But instead, I have almost exclusively mismatched dishes of all different sizes, many of which I have bought from places I have traveled to or at thrift shops and estates sales.  I have managed to harmonize my water glasses to pint glasses that we pick up when we travel both near and far, but that is the only thing, and while i love the way this looks, I would have to give up much too much of things I love to achieve this.

Hawkers in Singapore

On our trip to Cambodia and Thailand, we had a 16 hour layover in Singapore, which could be seen as annoying, but we saw as just enough time to see whether we would want to go back.  In the not too distant past Singapore was known for it's food stalls that were open at night.  Now they have been brought into what are known as Hawker markets, which are about 50-70 stalls, each smaller than a food truck, which are arranged in a circle with tables in the middle.  We were there about 10 o'clock at night and it was packed with people, we were lucky to get a table, and then we ordered several different dishes, the best of which were the grilled chicken wings, BBQ skate, and the Singapore noodles.  So good.  We spent most of our time, whether on the street or in the Hawker market, amidst crowds of people, out late at night, enjoying food and lights and festivities. 

Mama Mia: Here We Go Again! (2018)

I loved the first “Mamma Mia!” movie back in 2008, and well, “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” offers a bit more—and a lot less.
The sequel includes the back story to the first movie, so the mother is depicted as she was when she was the daughter's age, and we get a chance to see why she was involved with three men more or less simultaneously.  It  features a bigger cast, a longer running time, extra subplots and additional romantic entanglements. But it’s emptier than its predecessor and has even lower stakes. It’s less entertaining, and for all its frantic energy, it manages to go absolutely nowhere. 
The thing that saves the day is the ABBA music, which makes it impossible to be down, and I watched it on a transpacific flight, which was the perfect setting.

Sticky Thai Chicken Wings

We just had some Thai food in the land of origin and are now working on expanding our repertoire at home.

• 1 1/2 kg (3 pounds) chicken wings/nibbles (tip removed, drumettes and flats separated)
• 1/2 - 1 tablespoon sea salt flakes (adjust to your taste)

Glaze:

• 3/4 cup Thai sweet chili sauce
• 4 tablespoons coconut sugar, or brown sugar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar (or white vinegar)
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 tablespoon minced lemongrass
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons sesame (or peanut) oil

To serve:

• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced to serve
• Red chilli flakes
• Generous pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Lightly spray a large baking tray with cooking oil spray; set aside.
2. To prepare the glaze, combine all of the glaze ingredients in a small bowl or jug; whisk until combined. Pour half of the sauce into a small saucepan and reserve for later.
3. Trim any excess skin off of the wing edges. Season with salt to taste. Place the wings on the prepared baking tray; pour the sauce over the wings and toss to coat evenly. Arrange the wings in a single layer and bake for 10-15 minutes.
4. While the wings are in the oven, bring the remaining glaze to a simmer on low-medium heat, until the sauce bubbles up and begins to thicken (it should take about 5 minutes).
5. Once the chicken wings are cooked on the one side, rotate each piece and bake again for an extra 10 minutes. Change oven settings to grill (or broil) on a medium-high heat setting; baste wings with half of the ready-made glaze and allow to crisp up for a further 5 minutes. They will look golden and shiny from the glaze.
6. Once the wings are golden, remove them from the oven and baste again with glaze. Garnish with the cilantro, onion slices, chilli flakes and sprinkle with salt (if needed). Serve with any remaining glaze for dipping!

Pho Lucky, Iowa City, Iowa

I live on the south side of Iowa City, and we have some very good ethnic restaurants nearby, but not so many that we couldn't use another one.  There are also some really mediocre places to eat in the neighborhood, so each new place that opens, we eagerly and hopefully try it.
Pho Lucky is a Vietnamese restaurant in the greater parking lot around the Waterfront Hy Vee.  The menu has several kinds of pho, several options for bun, and then some rice and meat options.  We were served an eggroll on sitting down, which was really my favorite part of the meal.  Really flavorful filling.  I thought the pho broth was excellent, and would recommend that, especially if you need some hot soup, just delicious.  The bun was good, with the pork being the stand out feature, so I would recommend getting that as a main course with the rice.  Definitely a keeper!

Love, Simon (2018)

I watched this sweet coming of age movie, which I watched on a long haul flight recently.  It is a mainstream-styled teenage rom-com that uses every cliche in the book. There's the nerdy Vice Principal, the bacchanalian high school party, supportive yet somewhat clueless parents, witty voice over from the protagonist, public declarations of love in front of the whole school, all held together by a stream of catchy pop tunes. But it uses of these cliches represents a huge first, because it is the story of a young closeted gay kid's difficult and often humorous march towards coming out.
Simon has a secret ongoing email dialogue with another closeted gay student, and it has the effect of making him more aware that he is hiding something from everyone he loves, but no less fearful of being exposed.  Then he gets involuntarily outed, as so often happens, and his whole world comes momentarily comes crashing down, and then it has to be put back together again.

The Long Take by Robin Robertson

This book was long listed for the Booker prize, and is also on the New York Times list of notable books.  It has the feel of an epic novel, in that it is more like a long form poem that it is a novel.  The author is a lyric poet and he deploys his artistic reach in a fiction narrative of more than 200 pages, composed in a mixture of verse and prose. It is a beautiful, vigorous and achingly melancholy hymn to the common man that is as unexpected as it is daring.
Walker is a WWII veteran, having served in the D-Day invasion, and coming home very much damaged by the war.  He is, in his way, as much a casualty of war as the friends and foes who died in the slaughterhouse that was the coast of Normandy in the summer of 1944.The book alters between his ramblings to New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco in the post war expansion of society, which he views with a dispassionate eye, all the while he can be thrust back into the middle of battle in his mind without warning.  Really good depiction of the experience of PTSD.

Shrimp and Bamboo in Coconut Milk

This caught my eye because I have just recently come off a trip to Southeast Asia, and it really only takes 15 minutes from start to finish if you have already peeled the shrimp and are using leftover rice (both of which were true in my case).

• 2 tablespoons neutral oil, such as sunflower or canola
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 red chiles, preferably bird’s-eye, chopped
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
• 2 tablespoons minced white onion (about 1/4 of a small onion)
• 2 cups full-fat coconut milk
• 1 pound peeled jumbo shrimp
• 1 teaspoon Asian fish sauce
• 1 cup canned bamboo shoots, drained and cut into strips (or substitute fresh, blanched bamboo shoots if possible)
• Kosher salt, as needed
• Black pepper, as needed

1. Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Stir in garlic and cook until just beginning to brown, about 3 minutes.
2. Stir in chiles, ginger and onion, and cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in coconut milk, bring to a boil, then adjust heat to maintain a simmer.
3. Stir in shrimp and fish sauce; cook until shrimp is just opaque, about 5 minutes. Stir in bamboo shoots, remove from heat and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately over rice.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2018)

It’s hard to say whether “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle,” about a group of teenagers who turn into videogame characters, is a sequel to the 1995 movie that Robin Williams is in, or a remake, a reboot, or something else.  Whatever it is, it is a likable, funny diversion, and sometimes more than that.
What it does do is update to the 21st century, where there are way more hours spent playing video games than actual board games.
The protagonists here are Spencer, an earnest nerd; Spencer’s onetime best friend Fridge, a football star who ends up grounded after authorities realize Alex wrote a homework assignment for him; Bethany, a classic snotty Heather-type who’s addicted to her smartphone and takes selfies constantly; and the bookish, socially anxious Martha. They all have insecurities and issues. Once they end up inside the Jumanji video game, these same characters are played by adults, not always gender conforming to their original character.  The movie is kind of stuck in the 1990's in a lot of ways, and almost slapstick in its comedy, but surprisingly enjoyable.

Washington Black by Esi Edugyan

I really loved this book, which was short listed for the Booker Prize this year, and one of the New York Times five best works of fiction.  The book is an engrossing hybrid of 19th-century adventure and contemporary subtlety, a rip-roaring tale of peril imbued with our most persistent strife.

The story is written as a memoir written by a former slave named George Washington Black, an ironic appellation that pricks at the festering wound in American mythology. When we first meet Wash  he’s about 11 years old, working on the Faith Plantation in Barbados. His master is shockingly cruel, even by the standards of Caribbean slavery. But when the master’s brother visits from England, Wash meets a white man who seems created from some wholly alien material.  He is a scientist who enlists Wash's help in his experiments, and discovers that Wash is very good at drawing.  It is a skill that makes him valuable to the brother, and eventually leads to his freedom.  A different take on the slave story and engrossing to the end.

Blistered Shishito Peppers

I have loved the expansion of these peppers into many restaurants that I have eaten at, and they are pretty consistently delicious and a nice vegetable side dish.  The thing that I did not know until I went to Basque country and came home wanting to explore more Basque food is that they come from that region.  I would love to go back and spend more time in San Sebastian learning more about the food, but until then, here is this simple recipe to enjoy them at home.
1 lb shishito peppers
4 tbsp olive oil
 Coarse sea salt or Kosher salt

– Heat cast iron skillet or grill
– Rinse and dry shishito peppers. Coat in the olive oil.
– Throw into pan, and cook for about 5-10 minutes uncovered. Stir occacsionally and flip peppers to blister evenly.
– If using grill, cook for about 2-3 minutes one side, then flip and cook the same on the other.
– Place shishito peppers onto serving dish. Drizzle peppers with some of the remaining olive oil and sprinkle coarse salt on top. Enjoy immediately!

Baltimore Museum of Art

I was visiting family recently and for once it was just for fun.  No one was getting married and it wasn't a holiday, it was just a chance to catch up a little, something that we do not often get around to doing.
So imagine my surprise when I found out that there is an exceptional art museum there, and that it is free to go to!  The hallmark of the museum is a collection of largely French impressionists that were collected by two sisters from Baltimore, Etta and Claribel Cone.  They came about their money through family and they bought what they liked, which ended with them having amassed over 200 Matisse paintings because he was one of their favorites.  That part of the museum (a bit of it pictured here) is spectacular, but there is so much more than that to see.  It is a must visit when next you are in the Charm City.

Killer Elite (2011)

This movie is remarkably slow going for a thriller with this high caliber cast.
Incredibly, this story is claimed to be based on fact.  In a nutshell,
Robert De Niro plays Hunter, the mentor of Danny (Jason Statham). Both were skilled professional killers. Danny has had one of those epiphanies where a man of action decides the killing must stop and retires until Hunter is kidnapped by the oil sheik. The sheik wants revenge against the killers of his sons, he knows Danny is the best in the world, and he correctly calculates that only the need to save his beloved teacher would lure him back into action.
The sons, it turns out, were murdered by four SAS men. Oh my goodness.  In comes Clive Owens as their hired assassin, and the games begin. 
Jason Statham is once again a hard-boiled man carved from solid macho. Clive Owen, who by disposition seems more like a good guy, but is also sufficiently cold-blooded.  De Niro is under used here, and all in all, it was about 30 minutes too long, grinding to an anticlimactic stop.

Bar Vasquez, Baltimore, Maryland

This is a really lovely East Harbor eatery that has really exceptional food, but also a great atmosphere.  I went with my husband's sister and her husband and we shared a number of dishes.  My favorite was the calamari, which is battered and lightly fried, served with a red pepper aoili, so very traditional, but oh so delicious.  Pictured is the shrimp ceviche and in the crab toasts, both of which were perfectly prepared, fresh and balanced.  We had a couple of salads, which did not disappoint, and for dessert, the passion fruit flan is hands down the best flan I have ever had. If you can't go for dinner, check out this dessert.
The soaring restaurant space — once a warehouse dating to the 1880s — hasn't changed structurally since it was gutted and transformed into a restaurant space. But the interior is inviting and there are lots of separate spaces to choose from.
There is a lounge with couches and a casual dining space on the lower level. Upstairs is more formal, with the scrolled wrought-iron railing allowing views of the action below.
The unique thing about Bar Vasquez is the live music.  There is a stage on the first floor, featuring acts like a classical flamenco guitarist and a tango trio. The music is lively, but it doesn't overwhelm conversations.

Pair of Boots by Vincent Van Gogh, 1887

Okay, I know this photo (which I took) is somewhat wonky but the detail is better than I could find elsewhere, so I am keeping it.
Van Gogh  was fond of the imaginative possibilities of old boots, and he painted or drew them on a number of occasions.  A fellow student in Paris reported that Vincent bought these workman's boots at a flea market, intending to use them in a still life. Finding them still a little too smart, however, he wore them on a long and rainy walk. Only then were they fit to be painted. There is some of that in this painting.
It was done fairly early in his relatively short career as a painter, when he was living with his brother Theo in Rue Lepic, devouring subject matter of all kinds. You can tell that his eyes just could not get enough of these old boots, with their gleaming, tough-minded studs and riddling, near-dancing laces.  The use of colors in the painting has been said to herald his change from dark paintings with lots of browns to more vibrant colors that characterize his works from Arles, where he moved in 1888.

Oceans 8 (2018)

The truth is that I really did not like any of the recently done Ocean movies, and I never saw that original that spawned the remake, so maybe it was a lot to expect that I would like this one.  I did wait until a transatlantic flight to watch it, because I am almost always more forgiving when I can do almost nothing but sit, but that did not help.
I thought that maybe the all female cast would sway me in their favor, and while it is a truly awesome line up of female actors, who are seemingly having fun working together, that was not enough.
Here's what is good.  It’s a heist flick, carrying on the tradition of Ocean’s trilogy, with all the elaborate machinations you’ve come to expect from the series. It is crime as high art—which is fitting, given that the robbery this time takes place at The Met Gala, the annual fashion extravaganza at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, which is all about how you dress and what you wear, as much as who is invited.   Slickly paced and radiating sexy glamour, this film moves with the swagger of a supermodel prancing down the runway.  That and the female power theme are well done, and if you like that, this might suit you.

Transcription by Kate Atchinson

This is somewhere in between her books that revolve around World War II and her Jackson Brody series.  There is a bit of a mystery going on, and the book, while largely taking place in and around the war, does have some close to present day action as well.
It is  a flat out traditional spy story, with double agents, disappearing ink, corpses spirited away in rugs, recording devices hidden in walls and a plucky young heroine who knows how to use a pistol — and even a sharp knitting needle — when backed into a tight corner.
Juliet Armstrong is an 18-year-old file clerk in 1940 when the British Security Service, otherwise known as MI5, plucks her out of her routine and throws her into the dodgy world of “counter-subversion.” Together with a couple of recording engineers, Juliet spends days crouched over listening devices in a London flat, eavesdropping on conversations that her boss, Godfrey Toby, conducts next door with his visitors, all of whom are “fifth columnists,” or British Nazi sympathizers.  The book, in the usual Atkinson style, jumps between the war and times into the near and then far future, but it is all well done, and keeps you guessing along the way.

The Player Schneklud by Paul Gauguin, 1894

This imposing portrait of a seated cellist is one of the last of Gauguin's French works. I saw it as part of the Cone Sister's Collection, which they donated in it's entirety to the Baltimore Museum of Art.  It is a very impressive collection which again shows that there was a lot of support for French Impressionists in the United States.  It was painted in the first months of 1894. Its curious title, Upaupa Schneklud, inscribed on the canvas at top left, combines the sitter's surname with a reference to Gauguin's first Tahitian sojourn.
The sitter is usually referred to as the Swedish cellist Fritz Schneklud. According to recent research, however, the cellist was Fréderic-Guillaume Schneklud, a French born in Paris in 1859. His family of German origin emigrated to Paris from Poland.
The slight resemblance of the cellist in the painting to Gauguin has led to some speculation that the painting might be a self-portrait. However, a recently discovered photograph of Schneklud leaves no doubt that the portrait is in fact quite accurate.
As for the title, "upaupa" is a traditional local dance in Tahiti, which Gauguin enjoyed during his first stay there. There is a painting in the collection that is very much of Gauguin's Tahiti period as well.

Tag (2018)

This is a movie and grown men who one month a year drop everything and resume the game that they played as children.  So it is highly unrealistic (when was the last time you had an entire month off of work?), but there you have it (and in fact, this is based on a true story). 
The game began when they were nine years old. Thirty-five years later, it’s still going strong as five lifelong friends dedicate one month each year to playing  tag,  the old grade-school classic most kids leave on the schoolyard — right around the time they stop believing that girls have “cooties.” If that sounds like the setup for the ultimate man-child comedy, you wouldn’t be far from the mark, although  the casting of Jon Hamm and Jeremy Renner, who have credible dramatic role histories, is inspired. And yet, nestled amid all the runaway immaturity of this loosely reality-based laugher, “Tag” delivers the compelling case that anything that manages to keep a bunch of childhood buddies in contact over the course of more than three decades can’t be all bad.

Our Homesick Songs by Emma Hooper

What is it about Newfoundland that inspires these mournful tales that are beautifully told?  Whatever it is, keep them coming.  This is the second book by the author who managed to write one of the best road stories ever (Etta and Otto and Russell and James), and it does not disappoint.
The book focuses on a fishing village, Big Running, where over time, maybe because of climate change, maybe something else, but for whatever reason, there is no more fish. Most people just up and leave, but some refuse to budge at all, and others, like Martha and Aidan,  go outside to work for money, and come back to enjoy their home.  They  remember the first time a net came up only half full, but the town has been slowly depleted until only six houses are still occupied.

But their children, fourteen-year-old Cora and ten-year-old Finn, feel each parent’s absence keenly.  Each comes up with their own plan to save the family.  This part of the story is interspersed with tales from the past, when life in Big Running was full in every way.  There are plenty of people in town and still plenty of fish in the sea.  No one can imagine that their robust way of life can ever end.
Contrast this with the yearning and desperation of the Connors in 1993, as they cling to a lifestyle that is quickly disappearing.
The book is filled with the mysticism, stories and music of Newfoundland.  The writing is lyrical and poetic. But the biggest triumph is the depiction of a family that must make some very hard choices, but continues to love each other unconditionally.