Great British Baking Show

Make a joyful sound.  This has been a great experience.  I ave to say that I avoided it for quite some time, just thinking what could possibly be so great about British baking, and I was so wrong.  There was a convergence, where several people who I like and respect told me that it was really terrific, so I got started.  And they were so right.  The situation is that each season 12 amateur bakers from across the British Isles compete each weekend for up to ten weeks.  Each week they do a Signature Bake, a Technical Bake, and a Showstopper.  It is a timed test, with an overall theme (Bread, Pie, Patisserie, Cake), and they are able to prepare their own recipes that they can practice ahead of time for the Signature and the Showstopper, whereas the Technical Challenge is a recipe that one of the hosts has in their cookbooks, and they give them scanty instructions and they have to struggle through.  I know, it doesn't sound terrific, but it really is.  These are incredibly talented bakers, who create things that have inspired us to try to make them ourselves, and for a reality show, people are largely very kind to each other.  Do not miss this, it is sensational.  Streaming on Netflix.

The Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin (1791)

This is one of the four essential novels from China, and the most recently written.  Everywhere you go in China, people know this book.  The 1973 translation is the one to read.
At the centre of the plot is a love triangle involving Baoyu, a young aristocratic fop, and his two girl-cousins. These characters divide readers into fiercely opposing camps: some prefer the wilting, anorexic beauty of Miss Lin Daiyu, others admire the healthier, more down-to-earth charms of her rival, Xue Baochai; as for Baoyu, readers either adore him and his aesthetic ecstasies, or consider him a self-indulgent sentimentalist.
Its pages make up a veritable encyclopedia of Chinese life, from the making of tea with last year’s melted snow, to the eating of crabs, the performing of lyrical opera and the writing of classical verse in every possible metre. To offset the large cast of upper-class characters, there is also a wonderful assortment of low-life personalities, old village dames, garrulous matrons, drunken retainers, martial artists, sing-song girls and theatrical performers. It convincingly describes the corruption and other social ills that beset China’s society in the late traditional period.

Saffron Braised Chicken

This recipe, from Micahel Solomon of Zahav, calls for shredding the chicken and serving over hummus--which is very good--but you could also serve it with the chicken whole and have it with rice or cous cous.

1 tbsp. ground tumeric
1.5 tsp. ground black pepper
1.5 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp salt
4-5 chicken thighs
1 onion chopped
2 carrots sliced
3 cloves of garlic minced
1 cup dried apricots sliced
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1/2 cup tomato paste
2 cups stock
pinch of saffron

Preheat the oven to 350. Mix the dried spices in a bowl, and rub mixture all over the chicken thighs. Leave to absorb the flavors for an hour.
Sear chicken in the oil on both sides and set on plate.  Saute the onions, carrots and garlic in the pan until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, deglaze skillet with stock, and add apricots and saffron.  Add chicken back in and braise in oven, covered, for 25-40 minutes.  Then wither shred chicken or don't and serve.  Salt to taste.

Apsara

In line with Hindu mythology, Apsaras are beautiful female creatures that visit Earth from heaven to entertain both gods and kings with their enchanting dance. Legend says the beautiful beings were born from the Churning of the Ocean of Milk, also referred to as Samudra manthan in Hindi or Ko Samut Teuk Dos in Khmer. The story is depicted on a 49-metre bas-relief, carved on the walls of  Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

Believed to be the wives of Gandharvas — servants at the palace of Indra, the King of Gods — the nymphs protected the King of Gods by seducing mortals who were seen as threats with their beauty. Their powers were incredible. Mortals and divinities could not resist the celestial dancers’ charm.

A belief in the female spirit of the clouds and water was so entrenched in Khmer culture that King Jayavarman VII, who was behind the Ta Prohm and Bayon temples, is believed to have had more than 3,000 Apsara dancers in his court.

Black Sheep (2018)

Each action has an equal and opposite reaction.  In this movie Cornelius Walker reflects on his impressionable teenage years as a young black boy living in a majority white neighborhood. His parents move their family from London to Essex after a young boy, much like Cornelius, was killed. His parents did what many would do, protect their children. Yet, Cornelius’s new life in Essex becomes an indirect consequence of the young boy’s death.
He feels trapped in the town. He meets kids who yell racial slurs at him, beat him up, and shun him. Inevitably, the physical and psychological torment weighs on him. To fulfill his need to be accepted and ease the pain he slowly erases himself. However, his blackness keeps him from fulfilling that desire. Ultimately, he decides to take radical measures to fit in. He bleaches his skin, wears blue contacts, and picks up the local accent.   
Later, he realizes that he “became friends with monsters.”   The diector uses vivid imagery that is consistently powerful, intentional, and emotional. Also, Cornelius’s storytelling is seamlessly interwoven with each scene. In one scene, Cornelius is trapped in a circle of white boys yelling names at him and threatening to hurt him. The visual contrast reflects his position as an outsider, a black sheep.  A short film that leaves you thinking about the stress of survival.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffles

I was once again baking in California with my friend, and this time we made truffles.  So easy and delicious!

• 2ounces best-quality semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1⁄2cup heavy cream
• 2tablespoons butter, cut into bits
• 3⁄4cup chunky peanut butter
• 2teaspoons vanilla
• 1⁄2cup finely chopped salted peanuts, about

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large saucepan combine the chocolate, cream, butter and peanut butter and heat over moderate heat, stirring, until chocolate is completely melted.
2. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and a pinch of salt.
3. Transfer to a bowl and chill for 4 hours, or until firm.
4. Form mixture by heaping teaspoons into balls and roll lightly in peanuts.
5. Chill on a baking sheet lined with wax paper for 1 hour, or until firm.
6. Keep in an airtight container, chilled, for up to 2 weeks.

Lifeboat (2018)

This short documentary, which is nominated for an Academy Award in that category, is about the refugee crisis between North Africa and Europe, which has seen thousands of desperate people take to boats in a bid to make the treacherous journey in search of safety and a better life.  Boats crammed almost to sinking point with people, many of whom are sick from their time at sea and volunteers trying to help them with scant resources. The captains of these rescue boats aim to break this sea of humanity down into individual lives. Many of the refugees here tell tales of human trafficking, of being bought and sold and incarcerated before taking the chance to flee.
This short film puts you right there with those who do the rescuing.  It works on the emotional element of what this looks like on the ground, aiming to shift the focus of the way that those in the West perceive the problem. Castle insists that "rationality" is all well and good but that the closer you get to the reality on the ground, the more you begin to see the problems not as a single crisis but as thousands of individual people in crisis coming together.  Do not miss this.

2019 Oscar Short Animated Nominees

 The animated shorts are all really good, as always.  But like the Best Live Action shorts nominees, there is a bit of darkness that runs through them.  Late Afternoon is done by the Irish animation studio that has done a number of feature length animated films that are very good.  This deals with a woman who is moving out of her house, we presume to go into a more supervised living situation.  She is reminiscing about her life when she was young.  It has a bittersweet quality to it.

One Small Step chronicles a girl and her father.  He encourages her to dream big, and she does indeed want to go into space, to be part of something big.  The trajectory of her childhood dreams becoming a reality also has a bittersweet end to it.

Weekends is from a Pixar animator, who depicts the shuttling between his parents as a child.  This is a wordless tale of bleakness, with a father who starts off being more of a playmate than a parent, and then movies into something less interested, and the mother is not much better.

This is really hilarious.  The story is by far the funniest, and the animation is the most rudimentary.  The animals are true to their base behavior, and the whole thing devolves as the group therapy session progresses.








And last but not least, is Bao, from Pixar.  I saw this first when watching The Incredibles 2, and while it is very clever, the ending is a bit grim.

Cinnamon Rolls

We have been watching the Great British Baking Show and it continues to influence us big time. These were great!

For the dough-

• 1/4-ounce package yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/2 cup scalded milk
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 3 1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour

For the filling-

• 2 tablespoons melted butter, plus more for pan
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus more for pan
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

For the glaze-

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 to 6 tablespoons hot water

Preparation:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside. In a large bowl mix milk, sugar, melted butter, salt and egg. Add 2 cups of flour and mix until smooth. Add yeast mixture. Mix in remaining flour until dough is easy to handle. Knead dough on lightly floured surface for 5 to 10 minutes. Place in well-greased bowl, cover,  place on top of warm oven, and let rise until doubled in size, usually 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• When doubled in size, punch down dough. Roll out on a floured surface into a 15 by 9-inch rectangle. Brush melted butter all over dough. Mix sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon and sprinkle over buttered dough. Beginning at the 15-inch side, role up dough and pinch edge together to seal. Cut into 12 to 15 slices.
• Coat the bottom of baking pan with butter and sprinkle with sugar. Place cinnamon roll slices close together in the pan and let rise on top of the oven until dough is doubled, about 45 minutes. Bake for about 30 minutes or until nicely browned.
• Meanwhile, mix butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Add hot water 1 tablespoon at a time until the glaze reaches desired consistency. Spread over slightly cooled rolls.

First Reformed (2018)

This film was nominated for Best Original Screenplay, and that was it.  I have to say, Ethan Hawke's performance in this was very powerful and worthy of consideration for Best Actor.  He brilliantly plays an alcoholic Protestant minister undergoing a profound spiritual and psychological crisis, and it is a visually stunning, enrapturing film.  That said, I am not sure that I got the take home message.
The Rev. Ernst Toller (Hawke) is a troubled man. The congregation that faces him from the church’s spartan pews is minuscule. At night, alone, he drinks and begins to confess his misery to a journal. We soon learn what’s behind his agonized countenance: He was a military chaplain when he encouraged his soldier son to go to Iraq. The son was killed, Toller’s marriage collapsed and he was left cold and alone. His assignment at this church—which seems to do more business in tourist trinkets than souls—is equal parts penance and abnegation.
The world’s misery begins to intrude on his own when a congregant gets him to talk with her husband, who is an environmental activist with a solid streak of pessimism. In a long scene, the young man and Toller discuss the ways humanity is rapidly despoiling the earth and the planet’s bleak future prospects. While the pastor urges that there are still plenty of reasons for hope, it seems he may have been influenced by Michael’s words as much as the other way around.  It is a turning point for him, that God wants us to take care of his creation, and that the Christian thing to do is to fight for environmental regulation.  Which does not go over well.