Ten Years a Blogger

I started blogging in the winter of 2009.  My plans were very modest.  I had been contemplating writing more often and regularly, which blogging is and was an effective way to accomplish that goal.  Two of my children had left home and another was on the way, so it was a way to communicate with them in a way that was passive and non-demanding.  The tipping point came when my father-in-law, nearing the end of his life secondary to a terminal illness, wanted to get to know his extended family better.  So I put it out there, things that I would say publicly about my thoughts, experiences, and dreams, things that I love, things I make, places I go, all of it was fair game.
Looking back, it has been a medium that is well suited to me.  When I was diagnosed with cancer in 2015, this was a place where I could describe what that was like for me.  I have shared highs and lows over the decade, and very much look forward to keeping it up in the decade ahead, so long as I am able.

The Hustle (2019)

This is a con comedy that is diversionary but nothing more.  And you might have hoped for more.
It is light and slight and utterly forgettable as soon as it’s over. It is the kind of movie you watch on an airplane—perhaps on the way to someplace luxurious and relaxing like the South of France, the film’s setting—while falling in and out of naps.
It’s not terrible. It’s not anything, really, except an excuse for Anne Hathaway to swan about in a series of clingy dresses and fake accents and Rebel Wilson to pratfall and deadpan her way from one outlandish scheme to the next. Each actress seems totally committed to the silliness and physicality of her role. Unfortunately, they also seem to be acting in separate movies from each other and never find the chemistry or groove necessary to make this kind of material truly sing.

Alison Roman's Lucky Biscuits

My husband has been on a quest to make biscuits that I love, and with this recipe, he hit the jackpot.  Everyone around the table agreed, these are keepers!

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 and 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 2 sticks butter cut into 1 inch pieces and 3 tbsp for topping
• 1 3/4 cups buttermilk
• 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• flaky sea salt
• 1/4 tsp Old Bay seasoning
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line baking sheet with parchment paper
2. Mix flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and baking soda in a large mixing bowl
3. Use your hands to mash the butter into the flour mixture
4. Add buttermilk and cheese and continue to mix everything together with your hands until everything comes together into a little kneaded dough ball
5. Lightly flour a work surface and knead the dough another couple of times
6. Pat the dough into a rectangle about 12 by 6 inches wide and cut it into 8 equal biscuits
7. Place the biscuits on the baking sheet and brush with additional buttermilk and then sprinkle with flaky sea salt
8. Bake for 25 minutes, flipping the biscuits halfway through
9. With a few minutes left on the oven timer, melt 3 tbsp of butter and mix it with 1/4 tsp of Old Bay seasoning and 1/2 tsp garlic powder
10. Remove the biscuits from the oven, brushing each with the Old Bay garlic butter and let cool slightly before enjoying!

Toy Story 4 (2019)

This is the best possible fourth installment in a series, and after the very first Toy Story, which was wildly innovative when it was released.  The toys now all belong to Bonnie, whose playtime rituals that don't always include Woody. Secondarily, the song is officially aimed at a new character, Forky, a plastic spork with popsicle-stick feet and pipe cleaner arms, created by Bonnie with material  supplied by Woody during orientation day at kindergarten. Typical of  the series, inanimate objects don't merely have personalities but existential crises, and this is no exception.  There is a missing toy that has to be found and rescued, there are barriers to being successful in the quest, and some hilarious sequences where toys intervene in the human world momentarily.  The thing that is new is the world beyond being a toy for a child, but to have a life beyond their role in a child’s life.  It is refreshing, thought provoking, laugh out loud fun.  Spoiler alert--Bo Peep is the star of the show.

 

Romaine with Garlicky Lemon and Pistachio Dressing

Another great dish from Alison Roman's new cookbook, Nothing Fancy.  This is an amazing recipe in a way I wouldn't have thought possible.  Do not be put off by the whole lemon chopped up--it is delicious!  Pictured is a double recipe.

• 2 lemons
• 1/2 cup raw pistachios, almonds, or walnuts, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely grated
• 1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large head of romaine or iceberg, quartered
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley, tender leaves and stems, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh chopped chives
• 1/4 cup fresh dill, coarsely chopped
• Flaky sea salt

Finely chop one of the lemons, taking care to avoid and remove all seeds. Zest and juice the remaining lemon; set aside. 
Toast the pistachios in a small skillet over medium heat until they’re just starting to smell toasty but before they turn brown, 2–3 minutes. Remove from the heat and place in a medium bowl; let cool. 
Add the lemon zest, chopped lemon, garlic, and olive oil to the pistachios and season with salt and pepper.  
Scatter the romaine onto a large serving platter or shallow bowl. Drizzle with the lemon juice and a bit of olive oil until all the bits get some love; season with salt and pepper. 
Spoon the pistachio mixture over, followed by the herbs and flaky salt.

Family of Origin by CJ Hauser

This is a book that illustrates the cascading effect of trauma across generations in families.
Estranged half-siblings 35-year-old Elsa—a discouraged second-grade teacher in Minnesota—and 29-year-old Nolan—a social media manager for the San Francisco Giants—travel to Leap’s Island, a private island off the Gulf Coast, to investigate the drowning death of their father, Ian Grey.
The reason that they are estranged is because Elsa initiated an inappropriate relationship with Nolan when he was 13 and she was much older.  Prior to this, Elsa took the brunt of the blame, which she certainly played a part in, but her parents set her up to fail, and fail she did, in a spectacular manner.
The eccentric inhabitants of the island are a perfect back drop for the siblings to try to move forward from their abruption.  The islanders jealously guard their research on the island’s unique duck species, hoping to be the first to prove the theory. Elsa is convinced Ian committed suicide, but Nolan hopes conversations with the researchers will prove her wrong.  At the end they take a step forward into their future.  Very good read.

Klaus (2019)

This is a surprisingly great Santa Claus origin story that shouldn't be missed this holiday season.
Jesper (Jason Schwartzman), the spoiled descendant of a politically powerful family. We first meet him as he's lounging at the Postal Academy in a vaguely defined European country, figuring he can slack off until he gets passed through and pushed into the world, where he'll coast on family money and connections. Instead, as a last-ditch effort to make him care about, well, anything, the academy assigns Jesper to the remote island town of Smeerensburg, which hasn't sent or received mail in years, plus is in the midst of a clannish civil war wherein citizens destroy each other's property in wild, ridiculous ways that seem to ensure his failure. But wait! Just as all seems lost, Jesper meets a burly, bearded craftsman (J.K. Simmons) in a remote stretch of woods, and the origin story begins. Klaus is a quiet, frighteningly strong-looking hulk—initially presented as a monster, his face obscured or hidden— but he's a gentle soul and a gifted artist. Even though you can see where his story is going to end up (with the establishment of a toy factory and the acceptance of a mission), it's still pleasurable to watch him and Jesper build a bond that connects both of them to a world that they'd both held at arm's length, though for different reasons.

The Knight Before Christmas (2019)

This is firmly planted in the realm of Christmas movies, which are generally somewhat saccharin with an ending that is easily identifiable from the get go.

The movie opens following  Sir Cole Christopher Frederick Lyons (Josh Whitehouse), a 14th-century knight who is preparing to take part in an epic tournament. Through an array of circumstances that almost feel too specific to spoil, Sir Cole (yes, his name sounds more and more like "circle" as the film goes on) is magically sent to the present day. While there, he literally runs into Brooke (Vanessa Hudgens), a science teacher who is incredibly empathetic to those around her, but wrestles with whether or not to open her heart to romance again. With just days until Christmas, Brooke and Cole form a closer relationship, as he attempts to fulfill the "quest" that sent him to the present to begin with.  The whole thing is pretty predictable, with a sister who wants the romance to work out, a niece who has reason to worship the knight, and a good heartedness that is essential for all holiday movies.  So if you are looking for something new, this Netflix production may fit the bill.

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk

Let's start by saying that there is a lot going on in this book, and I am not sure that I entirely unraveled the full meaning.  It does not leave anyone wondering why she won the Nobel Prize.
The novel is almost impossible to categorize. It is, in effect, a murder mystery: in the bleak Polish midwinter, men in an isolated village are being murdered, and it is left to Janina Duszejko, a kind of eastern European Miss Marple, to identify the murderer. But a mere whodunit would hardly satisfy a novelist who said “just writing a book to know who is the killer is wasting paper and time”, and so it is also a primer on the politics of vegetarianism, a dark feminist comedy, an existentialist fable and a paean to William Blake.  She is complex character, an engineer and teacher who is now retired, someone who is chronically sick and deeply troubled by the world around her.  And she is surrounded by neighbors who keep turning up murdered.
Though the book functions perfectly as noir crime – moving towards a denouement that, for sleight of hand and shock, should draw admiration from the most seasoned Christie devotee – its chief preoccupation is with unanswerable questions of free will versus determinism, and with existential unease. What, it asks, does it mean to be human, and what is it to be an animal, and what objective distinctions can be made between the two?

Indian Spiced Root Vegetables with a Lime-Cilantro Butter

Yet another great recipe from Diane Henry's new book From the Oven to the Table.  You can use whatever root vegetables that you have on hand.

3 medium-small cooked beets, halved
6 long, thin carrots, halved (or 3 large carrots, quartered, if you can’t find thin)
One 2¼-pound cauliflower, broken into florets with the leaves
3 parsnips, halved lengthwise
3 garlic cloves, finely grated
5 tablespoons peanut oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
¾ teaspoon ground turmeric
Plain yogurt and chutney, to serve
Cilantro-Lime Butter
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 red Fresno chili—halved, seeded and finely chopped, or ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Finely grated zest of 1 lime, plus a squeeze of lime juice
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Gather a very large roasting pan or a half sheet pan with a lip around the edge (18 by 13 inches) or use a couple of smaller pans. Put the pan or pans in the oven to heat up.
Source: https://pressfrom.info/us/lifestyle/food-and-drink/-337223-roasted-indian-spiced-vegetables-with-lime-cilantro-butter.html

⅔ pound small waxy potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
3 medium-small cooked beets, halved
6 long, thin carrots, halved (or 3 large carrots, quartered, if you can’t find thin)
3 parsnips, halved lengthwise
3 garlic cloves, finely grated
5 tablespoons olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons coriander
¾ teaspoon ground turmeric
Plain yogurt and chutney, to serve

Cilantro-Lime Butter

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 red Fresno chili—halved, seeded and finely chopped, or ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Finely grated zest of 1 lime, plus a squeeze of lime juice

Toss the vegetables with olive oil, cumin, tumeric, coriander, salt and pepper, and lay out in a largely single layer baking sheet.
Roast the vegetables until soft, usually about 30 minutes at 425 degrees.
To serve, dot the vegetables with the Cilantro Lime butter, and serve.

3 medium-small cooked beets, halved
6 long, thin carrots, halved (or 3 large carrots, quartered, if you can’t find thin)
One 2¼-pound cauliflower, broken into florets with the leaves
3 parsnips, halved lengthwise
3 garlic cloves, finely grated
5 tablespoons peanut oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
¾ teaspoon ground turmeric
Plain yogurt and chutney, to serve
Cilantro-Lime Butter
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 red Fresno chili—halved, seeded and finely chopped, or ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Finely grated zest of 1 lime, plus a squeeze of lime juice
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Gather a very large roasting pan or a half sheet pan with a lip around the edge (18 by 13 inches) or use a couple of smaller pans. Put the pan or pans in the oven to heat up.
Source: https://pressfrom.info/us/lifestyle/food-and-drink/-337223-roasted-indian-spiced-vegetables-with-lime-cilantro-butter.html

3 medium-small cooked beets, halved
6 long, thin carrots, halved (or 3 large carrots, quartered, if you can’t find thin)
One 2¼-pound cauliflower, broken into florets with the leaves
3 parsnips, halved lengthwise
3 garlic cloves, finely grated
5 tablespoons peanut oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
¾ teaspoon ground turmeric
Plain yogurt and chutney, to serve
Cilantro-Lime Butter
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 red Fresno chili—halved, seeded and finely chopped, or ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Finely grated zest of 1 lime, plus a squeeze of lime juice
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Gather a very large roasting pan or a half sheet pan with a lip around the edge (18 by 13 inches) or use a couple of smaller pans. Put the pan or pans in the oven to heat up.
Source: https://pressfrom.info/us/lifestyle/food-and-drink/-337223-roasted-indian-spiced-vegetables-with-lime-cilantro-butter.html

3 medium-small cooked beets, halved
6 long, thin carrots, halved (or 3 large carrots, quartered, if you can’t find thin)
One 2¼-pound cauliflower, broken into florets with the leaves
3 parsnips, halved lengthwise
3 garlic cloves, finely grated
5 tablespoons peanut oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
¾ teaspoon ground turmeric
Plain yogurt and chutney, to serve
Cilantro-Lime Butter
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 red Fresno chili—halved, seeded and finely chopped, or ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Finely grated zest of 1 lime, plus a squeeze of lime juice
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Gather a very large roasting pan or a half sheet pan with a lip around the edge (18 by 13 inches) or use a couple of smaller pans. Put the pan or pans in the oven to heat up.
Source: https://pressfrom.info/us/lifestyle/food-and-drink/-337223-roasted-indian-spiced-vegetables-with-lime-cilantro-butter.html