Love Sarah (2020)

First and foremost, this is a British romantic comedy, and if that is appealing to you, as it is to me, it starts pfoff with the sudden death of a woman who is dear to all the remaining characters in the movie. Overcoming that is a tall order, and while it is not the structure that is ideal, I did enjoy this. The movie revolves around a project to open a bakery, and I am a little bit more forgiving of a plot that includes some exceptional baking than one that does not. The business has all sorts of impediments to being successful, but the route that they pursue is one of inclusion, of making the newcomers to London feel a bit more at home, and in the meantime making that who are native born more multi-cultural, and that is a message I can enjoy however it is delivered.

Frida Kahlo Retrospective, Glen Ellyn, IL

This exhibit, which was held in a college museum and consisted of some 30 paintings and drawings by the artist, was hugely successful. We heard that it was selling out on weekends, and we bought our tickets in advance. The cost was exactly the same as getting into the Art Insitute of Chicago, so hefty, especially given that you had to pick not just your date but also the time you would arrive. None of this was a deterrent for the packed crowds we encountered at the exhibit itself. Masks were required and distancing was recommended, both of which were largely adhered to, but it is a testament to the enduring start power of this artist that so many people braved the rising tide of COVID even amongst the vaccinated to come out and learn more about her early work and the sum of her life. She really is inspriational for so many, including quite a few young people. My recommendation is to seek out these small venue exhibits because this was very well done and enjoyable.

Shrimp Scampi A La Alex

The author of Cook With Me serves this with bread to sop up the sauce, whereas I pour it over a pound of pasta, adding a bit of the pasta water to make it the appropriate amount of sauciness. The add ons this recipe has over what I normally make with scampi is the dashes of both hot sauce (on top of the red pepper flakes) and the Worcestershire sacue--both of which are nice additions that I will add to my mental recipe of this classic dish--which I am sure would be good with just bread as well. 1 1/2 teaspoons plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces 1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs 1 lb. shrimp Kosher salt 2 tablespoons canola oil 2 large cloves garlic, grated on a rasp 3/4 cup dry white wine 2 dashes Worcestershire sauce 2 dashes hot sauce, such as Tabasco 1 large lemon, zested and halved 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes Melt 1 1/2 teaspoons butter in a small skillet over medium-high heat, then add the panko and cook, stirring constantly, until the breadcrumbs are golden and toasty-scented, about 2 minutes. Set aside. Sprinkle the shrimp on both sides with salt. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the canola oil. When the oil begins to smoke lightly, quickly arrange the shrimp in a single layer, with a little space between each. Brown the shrimp on their first sides, adding a couple of pieces of the butter around the shrimp to add flavor as they brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Turn the shrimp on their second sides and brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Quickly transfer the shrimp to a plate. Return the skillet to medium heat. Add the remaining butter and the garlic to the skillet. Press the garlic into the melting butter to break up any clumps. Add the wine and stir up the brown bits in the bottom of the skillet. Add the Worcestershire, hot sauce and lemon zest. Simmer until the garlic softens and the wine reduces down to a lush sauce, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the parsley and squeeze the juice from half a lemon into the sauce. Return the shrimp to the skillet and sprinkle with the red pepper flakes. Toss the shrimp in the sauce to coat well. Remove the skillet from the heat. Sprinkle the shrimp with some more lemon juice and the toasted panko and transfer to a platter. Serve with crusty bread, if using.

Dear Comrades! (2019)

This movie was on the short list of international films for the Academy award this year--that is the list of 15 films that the submissions from all countries has been pared down to, and the final five that are nominated come from. The longer list of good foreign language films is a great source for quality films, and sometimes the things that don't make the final cut are less emotionally taut than those that are nominated, so in some ways a bit easier to watch and absorb, at least for me. This movie, which focuses on an outbreak in a town in Soviet Russia in 1962, and everything that is done to cover up the violence and death, to quell the anger, and to let the viewer experience what lie in a totalitarian regime is like. It is magnificent and beautiful. The cinematography is breathtaking and the editing is superb. In reading about the film afterwards, it appears that the director is as complex as this film. There can’t be many people who have made a faithful adaptation of Turgenev’s “A Nest of Gentlefolk” and a buddy-cop thriller with Kurt Russell and Sylvester Stallone—“Tango and Cash” (1989), and now this. His range is as stunning as this film. I promise you it is brutal but not hard to watch and it will make you think about Putin's Russia for quite some time.

Pandemic Atoning

Here we are, Yom Kipur has rolled around and it is once again time to take stock of the year and how it has gone. Since it was laregely taken up with the pandemic, it was much easier in some ways to avoid messing up with people. On the other hand, if we look at community and what each of our personal role is in that community it became even clearer that for about a third of people, there is no sense of community. If they would not do something for themselves, then they would not even consider doing it for someone else. And I have been seeing something else as well. That the people who do things for their community do not want to have to shoulder the burden of those who do not. They are tired of not just their attitude, but also of bearing the consequences of their reactions. So as COVID is raging in the non-vaccinated and resources are once again stretched, there is more talk of rationed care, and there arre far fewer people who are outraged by that. The pendulum is swinging to the opposite side, and unless things change a lot in the next few weeks, there will not be room in hospitals to care for those who choose to put us all at risk. I hope the year is sweeter than it is starting out is all I can say.

Where We Come From by Oscar Casares

I found this book in an article entitled something like 17 Books To Read About The Border That Are Not American Dirt. This is the ninth book I have read, and I would lighly recommend this as a reading guide. Like all of them, this book revolves around immigration. The novel takes place in Brownsville, one of the poorest Texan border towns, though the setting, as dramatic as it is, never dominates the narrative. It begins with an American-born teenager, Orly, kicking a soccer ball at a pink house — a guesthouse — behind the main blue house where he’s staying with his godmother, Nina, who is also his great-aunt. His parents were in the process of getting divorced when Orly’s mother died of an aneurysm. It’s now a year later, Orly’s father is away on business, his older brother is at camp, and Orly is in Brownsville because in Houston, where he had been living, he was not manly enough according to his father, and without connection to his roots. Patriarchy and machismo undergird the family structure, as do female gender roles--Nina is taking care of her elderly mother even though she herself is getting on in years. The pink house has a central role in the novel. Nina does a favor for her maid that ends up escallating throughout the story. What is hidden behind the windows? How did it start, how did it worsen and how will it stop? The issue of family, immigration. skirting the law, and being loyal all play a role in this story.

Dorie's Dutch Oven Chicken

Dorie Greenspan is not a fussy cook, and she emphasizes flavor and ease over pomp and circumastance, and this easy week night vhicken recipe hit the spot. The only think is to add some potatoes to teh Dutch Oven and do not discard the onions, they are the best part. We had a tiny chicken from our CSA and this was perfect for it. FOR THE CHICKEN: ¼ cup olive oil 1 medium onion (preferably yellow), trimmed, peeled and cut into eighths 1 head garlic, cut crosswise 5 fresh thyme sprigs 5 fresh rosemary sprigs Fine or coarse sea salt Freshly ground black pepper 1 whole chicken (about 4 pounds) ½ lemon ¾ cup white wine FOR THE VINAIGRETTE: 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard 2 tablespoons wine vinegar (preferably sherry) 1 teaspoon walnut oil (optional) FOR SERVING: 3 to 4 handfuls salad greens PREPARATION Make the chicken: Heat oven to 450 degrees. Pour 3 tablespoons of the olive oil into a Dutch oven large enough to hold the chicken, then toss in all but 1 piece of the onion. Add the garlic and 4 sprigs each of the thyme and rosemary. Stir to coat, then season generously with salt and pepper. Pat the chicken dry, season the inside with salt and pepper, and tuck in the remaining piece of onion and herb sprigs. Rub the chicken with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Squeeze the juice from the lemon half over the bird, and then pop the lemon inside it with the herbs and onion. Settle the chicken into the pot, breast side up. Pour in the wine and cover. Roast the chicken for 60 minutes, then check on it: It’s done when a thermometer plunged into the thickest part of the thigh has reached 165 degrees. If it’s done but doesn’t have enough color for you, you can run it under the broiler for a few minutes; if it’s not done, remove the lid and continue to roast until done, 15 to 30 minutes more. Transfer the chicken to a platter, cover loosely with a foil tent, and let rest. While the chicken rests, make the vinaigrette: Pour off the pan drippings, measure out 6 tablespoons and return them to the pot. (If your drippings are scant or very dark, you can still use them. Keep any extra drippings for another use.) Hold onto the garlic but discard the onion and herbs from the pot. Place the pot over medium heat, pour in 1/2 cup water, and boil for a couple of minutes, scraping the bottom of the pan to pick up any stuck bits. You should have about 1/3 cup of drippings; if they’re very chunky, strain them when you add them to the vinaigrette. Working in a medium bowl, mash 6 to 8 cloves of the soft garlic with the mustard, then whisk in the vinegar. Slowly whisk in the reserved liquid, followed by the walnut oil, if using. Taste for salt and pepper, then pour the vinaigrette into a small pitcher. To serve, carve the chicken, cutting it into quarters or eighths, and arrange on the platter. Pour over a little of the vinaigrette. Dress the salad greens lightly with vinaigrette and serve on the platter or in a shallow bowl. Pass the rest of the sauce at the table.

Zappa (2021)

I was never a big fan of Zappa, he was just too out there for me. I did see that he was a deeply creative man, and that it was that I did not get it, not that he didn't have a lot to offer. I also thought that it might help some if you were slightly intoxicated when experiencing what he had to offer, and was surprised when I learned long ago that he was not into drugs at all. My spouse, on the other hand, was really into him, all of that happening prior to our meeting, but despite merging a lot about our lives together, Zappa was one thing that stayed decidedly in his court. This documentary does a good job of displaying just how complicated a man Zappa was, all the while coming off as pretty unlikable. Brilliance is hard to be around, it turns out, although he did have his bubble of people who stuck with him, including his wife. He comes off as matter of factly brilliant, someone who says what he feels regardless of who it might hurt, almost a little autistic in that way, but that quality is both the good news and thebad news. Doors opened for him because he was willing to speak his mind, and the did a wide variety of things with his talent. Ultimately the world is a better place for having him in it.

Intimacies by Katie Kitamura

This book is on Obama's summer reading list, and as you might expect from him as a recommendation, it is a novel with a couple of layers to it, and in the end you might still be a bit perplexed. The main character is escaping an emotion charged situation at home, and when she takes a job as an interpreter at the Hague, working with people who are pursuing war criminals on the world stage, she is maybe not in the ideal place in her own life to balance the emotional intensity that is inherent with the job. The woman arrives in the Netherlands with no ties, and when we enter, she is enmeshed in a relationship that is equally fraught with challenges as those presented by her job. Her boyfriend has a wife he is not voluntarily losing and children who he intends to bring back to him, and while you would hope that an interpreter might be good with language, that is not the case here, and she is not reading the text or the subtest. All the while she is working with people who are accused of doing horrible things and their vicitms. The work is clearly deeply disturbing, and yet it seems to come as a bit of a surprise to her. “My job,” she says, “is to make the space between languages as small as possible.” And as we learn more, we understand just what kind of psychological demands that process of translation involves in this setting, even if she is slow on the uptake. A very thought provoking book with a protagonist who you can root for, even if she repeatedly makes choices you would advize against.

Tomato Salad with Bacon

We are deep into summer now, and trying all sorts of different ways to have tomaotes and corn (together and separately). This is simple and delicious. 2 tbsp red wine vinegar 1 medium red onion thinly sliced 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar 2 tsp pomegranate molasses 6 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 6 oz sliced bacon cut lengthwise into 1-inch-wide strips and then sliced crosswise into 1⁄2-inch pieces 3 large beefsteak tomatoes cut into 1-inch-thick slices 1 pint heirloom cherry tomatoes halved 2 tsp sugar 2 tsp Maldon sea salt 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper Leaves from 6 sprigs fresh tarragon QUICKLY PICKLE THE RED ONION: In a small bowl, combine 1 cup water with a few ice cubes, and stir in the red wine vinegar and the onion slices. Set aside. MAKE THE DRESSING: In a small bowl, whisk together the balsamic vinegar, pomegranate molasses, and olive oil. Taste for seasoning, and set aside. COOK THE BACON: Heat a medium skillet over medium heat, and add the bacon pieces and 1⁄2 cup water. (The water will “blanch” the bacon as it cooks and you will end up with crispier, less greasy bacon.) Simmer until the water evaporates and the bacon is crispy, 8 to 10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon pieces to a kitchen towel to drain. ASSEMBLE THE SALAD: Arrange the beefsteak tomato slices, flesh side up, in a single layer on a platter or on individual plates. Scatter the cherry tomatoes over them. Season them evenly with the sugar, Maldon salt, and black pepper. Drain the onions, pat them dry with a kitchen towel, and sprinkle them over the tomatoes. Drizzle with the dressing and sprinkle with the tarragon. Finish with the warm bacon. Serve immediately.