Tear to Your Eye

Is there a song that never ceases to make you cry?

Mine is "Make You Feel My Love" (written by Bob Dylan from 1997's Time Out of Mind).  I've heard versions by Adele, Billy Joel, Joan Osborne, Bryan Ferry, Garth Brooks...and it doesn't matter.  That song gets me every time.

SAG Awards

The awards ceremony was quite staid and the winners were predictable.

With that said, the winners were gracious and gave heartfelt speeches.  Colin Firth won Best Actor for The King's Speech and at this point, this man can do no wrong as far as I'm concerned.  He is charm personified and I'm happy to see him getting accolades and awards, building upon his breathtaking performance in last year's A Single Man.

Natalie Portman seems to have the momentum to take home the Oscar with yet another win for Best Actress for Black Swan.  At one point this year, I predicted that the award would go to perennial bridesmaid, Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right).  I admit that I'm much more of a Bening fan, but Portman is most likely a lock now.

Supporting Actor and Actress awards went to Christian Bale and Melissa Leo, both from The Fighter.  Bale and Leo have consistently picked up trophies for their performances this season and have consistently shown feisty and sincere gratitude at the podium.

My favorite moment of the night belonged to the TV categories when the cast of Modern Family won the award for Best Ensemble Cast in a Comedy.  I let out a hearty hooray as the cast made its way to the stage.  If you haven't checked it out, that is one gem of a show.

Best Actor, TV Drama:  Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Best Actress, TV Drama:  Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Best Actor, TV Comedy:  Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Best Actress, TV Comedy:  Betty White, Hot in Cleveland
Best Cast, TV Drama:  Boardwalk Empire
Best Cast, Motion Picture:  The King's Speech

Favorite Moments of 2010

An early morning boat ride off the Gulf coast of Florida with Mom, Pseudo Pop, the W's, and a Bloody Mary.  Oh, and dolphins too.

Celebrating Valentine's Day with G at a palm tree shrouded pool in Las Vegas.

Taking the train through upstate NY for our first visit to Montreal.  And then meeting new friends Liz and Victor while we were there.

Learning more about tea, drinking tea, shopping for tea related items, and having a tea party.

Watching the beautiful final episode of Lost and going through lots of tissues.

Starbucks moments in downtown Ann Arbor.  Just me, my iPod, and a book.

"Hey, Mom!  Feel like going to Chicago tomorrow?"  And we did.

Seeing Harry Potter 7.1 in New Orleans with friends Mark and Andrea at an adults only showing at a theater that serves food and cocktails during the film.

Visits from fab family and super friends, Venessa and Courtney.

Learning how to properly play golf and loving it.

Favorite Reads of 2010

 I read many books this year but these are the ones that have stayed with me.

longislandpress.com

tvtropes.org

elizabethstrout.com

bookeg.com

Favorite Films of 2010

So not all of these films came out this year, but I did see them in 2010.

The Ghost Writer (starring Ewan McGregor)
I was wowed while watching it and I'm still wowed just thinking about it.  In fact, I think I'm going to place it in my Netflix queue after writing this post.

Inception (starring Leonardo DiCaprio)
Mind blowing, visually stunning, superbly acted...a puzzle within a puzzle within a puzzle (courtesy of puzzlemaster/director Christopher Nolan).

Miss Marples (starring Margaret Rutherford)
I read a handful of Agatha Christie novels this year and did some research about film versions.  I discovered a series of Miss Marple films from the early sixties and was completely charmed.  Rutherford IS Miss Jane Marple and she's a delight to watch.  I wish they'd made more.
(Murder, She Said, Murder at the Gallop, Murder Most Foul, Murder Ahoy!)

The Other Guys
I loved the sendup of cop buddy movies and I loved Mark Wahlberg in a comedy.  The movie theater's sound system stopped working about 3/4 of the way into the movie.  I didn't get to see the ending, but this still made my list.

Toy Story 3
Just under the wire.  G gave me this for Christmas and we watched it this week.  It's always fun to see these characters again, it's a fantastic story, and it made me cry like a baby.  Pixar can do no wrong.

Christmas Celebration #2

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Last night we had a fabulous dinner at Eve with our dear friends, P&J.

Eve is our special occasion restaurant in town.  Right before the family craziness of Christmas, we sit down with P&J and spend a cozy, leisurely dinner together.  And Eve IS cozy with maybe thirty tables and a small bar in historic Kerrytown here in Ann Arbor.  The interior walls are brick, the tables covered in white cloth, topped with tiny white vases holding a single sprig of fresh sage.

Once we were tucked into our table, I started with a tropical bellini, sparkling wine with passion fruit puree.  Per usual, we shared a plate of "Inspired Nachos", fried won tons topped with fresh plum tomatoes, avocado, black beans cooked with chilies and bacon, and Gouda, Jack, and cheddar cheeses.  Never a disappointment.

For the entree, I had the Moroccan scallops.

"Aromatic spiced and seared day boat scallops with a fresh carrot lime puree, creme fraiche, coconut-ginger rice and vegetables of the season."

I usually take photos of my food, but between the spirited conversation and my hunger pangs, I dove right into my scallops and forgot about the Kodak moment.  Believe me when I say that my meal was one of the best I've had all year.  The scallops were silky and milky on the inside, surrounded by a spicy sear of cinnamon, cumin, and cayenne.  The rice wasn't its usual quiet side dish self, but an in-your-face coconut-ginger wake up call which paired perfectly with the intensely flavored scallops.  The carrot lime puree wasn't exactly a puree, more like a finely diced carrot relish with lime.  The freshness of the carrot and the fact that it was a cold dish worked well to balance the actual heat of the scallops as well as the heat of the spice.

A long, lingering, delicious dinner is one of my favorite things.  Best of all though was the company at the table.

What to Read?

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Quandry:

With the hustle and bustle of the holidays, my reading habit has been sadly set aside.  Most of my Christmas chores are done so now I'm ready to curl up again with a good book.  The problem is that I can't seem to find one that I want to read.

I've tried a few...Elegance of the Hedgehog, Run, So Cold the River...no, no, no.  Apparently I'm in a picky mood.

So, should I try classic adventure and finish the Narnia Chronicles?  (I've only read the first two.)
Should I try some dysfunctional family drama and read The Corrections?  (Maybe not such a good idea at Christmastime.)
Should I just choose a straight-on classic like A Tale of Two Cities?  (This one is back on my radar thanks to Oprah.)

I feel a little lost without a book in my hand.

Check This Out

Mom gave me this cool gift pack from Starbucks. Inside was this cute mug with a rubbery drinking lid. It has already become a new fave. I think every beverage I drink this Christmas will be in this cool cup. Coffee, tea, juice, wine...
Right now my bev of choice is hot chocolate. Ghirardelli double chocolate. I was always a Swiss Miss girl growing up and that continued into my frugal singlehood. G introduced me to Ghirardelli in our early dating days and I've never looked back.

Braised Red Cabbage

From today's dinner...

Christmas Celebration #1

We celebrated Christmas with my Mom and Pseudo Pop today.  G shoveled and salted the sidewalks and driveway.  "No broken hips today!"

Today's menu included roast duck (for Pseudo Pop), beef tenderloin (for the rest of us), wild rice, noodles Romanoff, and braised red cabbage.  Oh, and we started with crab cakes.  Whole Foods Market advertised fresh Dungeness crab, cleaned and cracked, between 12-4 yesterday.  We arrived at the store at 1:30 to find...no more fresh crab.  Grrrr.  G found a can of crab on sale, but I was crushed that I wasn't able to see the fishmonger cracking the crabs.  Though once I tasted a crab cake today, I forgot all about it.

After dinner?  Coffee, tea, and presents!  I'm so grateful for my family.  And for my presents.

This recipe has become a Christmas tradition at our house:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/roast-beef-tenderloin-with-mushroom-ragout-recipe/index.html

Movie Season

I keep renting DVDs from the library, but during the summertime the DVDs just sit there. Now that fall is around the corner, I feel the urge to just dive in and swim in a sea of celluloid.

G is a big fan Entourage, I'm a big fan of In Treatment, and there's a Seinfeld reunion on Curb Your Enthusiasm this season. Plus, we're both Real Time with Bill Maher junkies. However, we are not subscribers of HBO. We've been talking it over and mostly decided to order it. I think G was waiting for me to call our cable service and order it. Unfortunately, I am completely burned out by speaking with customer service (and I use that term loosely) reps and phone trees.

So Sunday I made an executive decision. As I was sitting on the couch watching Tiger try to come back for a win, I pulled up the cable service web site just to see if I could lazily click a button and order HBO that way. And it worked. Within two minutes, I had HBO.

I can't decide which I love more. Movies or technology to help me watch more of them.

Words

I've heard some words lately that I've not heard in a while. I just like the sound of them.

skedaddle

pip-squeak

besieged

So when G asked if I wanted to play Scrabble last night, I jumped at the chance. G retrieved the Scrabble board (which is probably as old as I am) and we chose our tiles. I started out by playing the word WHORT and G rolled his eyes. He challenged me right away, but WHORT was in the dictionary (the whortleberry or its fruit).

He & I were neck and neck for most of the game until he used the Q he'd been saving. Grrrr

And with a triple word score. I gave it my best but I just couldn't catch up by then. He was victorious.

Rematch, rematch!

Power of Suggestion

I've been writing a tiny bit about Julia Child in my culinary blog. I made a reference to her being a spy in the 40s/50s and now I find that my summer reading has taken a dastardly turn.

Right now I'm reading Raymond Chandler's Farewell, My Lovely. This is after reading Casino Royale (the first ever James Bond novel), The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, Get Shorty, and Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest and The Glass Key. Not to mention Agatha Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd earlier summer.

I know, not all spies, but lots of mystery and intrigue nonetheless. Time to get back to Philip Marlowe.

Spring

I've been looking forward to my first walk in the park this year.  I've had to wait.  And wait.  And wait.

Wednesday was the day.  What a relief.  I love seeing everyone else at the park after a long winter.  Everyone's pale and a bit ragged around the edges from being indoors for months on end.  Some people still haven't switched to their spring wardrobe so they're bundled up and gradually peel off layers.  Even though the thermometer told them that it was nice enough to walk outside now, the people can't truly believe it.  Then there are those who overcompensate and wear tank tops and shorts for their first outing even though sixty degrees might be the high temperature that day.

No one really smiles much as you pass them yet.  The friendly greetings and acknowledgements happen more toward June.  Right now, everyone's still a little incredulous that they're back outside soaking up sunshine.

And that's where I'm headed now.

Shopping Mojo

Mom & I spent the day shopping and I was on fire. My mission: to find some fun new jewelry, a new brown purse (to replace my 10-year old one which seems to be showing its age), and a brown winter hat.

Not only did I find exactly what I was looking for (on mega sale), I found a charcoal gray wool coat 50% off at Macy's. There was a button missing but as I tried on the coat, I found the button in the left hand pocket. At the register, I asked if I could have more of a discount on the coat due to the detached button, but the cashier said no. Then after chatting with me and Mom, the cashier said, "Well, I'll go ahead and give you another 10% off." Whoo hoo!

When we stopped at the bookstore to use a 40% coupon I had for any book, we were treated to free coffeecake and chai tea samples as we walked through the store. At the checkout, the clerk said, "Oh, looks like you have $5 in reward bucks you can use."

Lastly, we were driving down the street on our way to lunch when I scared my mom to death. "OMIGOD!" I chirped. Poor Mom. I couldn't hide my excitement as I eyed a Sonic drive-in. Sonic, my old Nashville haunt. In Michigan. Of course, I had to stop and get a cherry limeade, for old time's sake.

I told you...I was on.

Mom told me that I should've bought a lottery ticket that day.

Currently Reading...

The Book Thief

by Markus Zusak

I'm fascinated by this book.  The story's narrator is Death.  The protagonist is an orphan girl named Liesel who lives with her foster family in Nazi Germany just as WWII begins.

Liesel learns to read and write and becomes obsessed with collecting and reading stories.  In the meantime, her foster family takes in a Jewish man and hides him from the Nazis.

Has anyone else read this one?

Favorite reads of 2008

Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch series

A friend of mine recommended these books when he found out I enjoyed mysteries.  I started reading The Closers in May and proceeded to raid the library the rest of the year to read every story that centered on Detective Harry Bosch.  Set in modern day LA, Bosch is a fantastic cop who runs into villains on the street, in the bureau, and in his own heart.

The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry

by Kathleen Flinn

This was a gift from a friend and an early '08 read.  I loved reading another person's adventures in culinary school, especially since she was in Paris.  Ah, Paris.

Twilight

by Stephenie Meyer

Everyone knows about this series now.  I read the first book over the summer; couldn't put it down.  I really enjoyed the lead character, her smarts, her angst, her clumsiness, her heart.

Loving Frank

by Nancy Horan

I couldn't stop thinking about this book after I'd read it.  It's a fictional biography of sorts of the woman with whom Frank Lloyd Wright had a long-term affair.  Mamah Cheney was a woman ahead of her time and the relationship between her and Wright was scandalous, yes, but also mesmerizing.  Reader beware:  The story does not have a happy ending.

Interpreter of Maladies

by Jhumpa Lahiri

A beautiful collection of short stories by the author of The Namesake.  I'm in awe of this author.

The Life Before Her Eyes and Snow Angels

by Laura Kasischke and by Stewart O'Nan

Heartbreaking and powerful adult fiction.

The Dark Knight

You've seen it, right?

Bale continues to be the ultimate "real" Batman, dark and brooding, conflicted, a little off his rocker, yet also a very charming Bruce Wayne. Oldman conveys honor and earns respect and audience cheers for his good guy, Commissioner Gordon. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman, well, they're Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman.  Maggie Gyllenhaal and Aaron Eckhart are the new kids on the Gotham block, who lend earnest and dependable support.  Director Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins, The Prestige, Memento) creates a foreboding, moody art film which happens to have a huge special effects budget.

And then there's Heath Ledger.  He is terrifying, mesmerizing, unforgettable as The Joker.  Just ridiculously superb.

But you know what I'm taking about, right?

New Blog

I've started a new blog that focuses exclusively on my foodie adventures called Kim's Culinary Diary.

Please visit and enjoy!

Latest Single I Love

I don't listen the radio much any more, but on a roadtrip I happened to hear the new Coldplay single, Viva la Vida. I'm a sucker for the strings. I'm a sucker for the orchestral pop-ness of it all. I'm a sucker for the lyrics of pride and lament. I'm a sucker for Chris Martin's performance, especially "upon of pillars of salt and pillars of sand" and the "ohs" in the last third of the song.

This one's on repeat and played loud.