Black Friday Bloat (or: Adventures in Holiday Shopping)

So yesterday, Uncle P cooked the entire Thanksgiving meal. It wasn't nearly as large a meal as in some households. It was just me and my mother for dinner. But it was certainly more food than I usually prepare for a single meal. I roasted a small turkey breast, made two kinds of dressing (my grandmother's Hungarian-style liver stuffing for me and more traditional stuffing for Mom); mashed potatoes; mashed turnips and carrots; candied sweet potatoes (which I actually tried and liked for the first time in my life); gravy and crescent rolls. Yes, there was canned cranberry sauce (my kitchen is small and I didn't have the time for anything fancier). For dessert, we had carrot cake (purchased from a day-job friend as part of a fund-raiser for her son's school) instead of the traditional pumpkin pie. Carrot cake is my personal favorite cake and this one, while a bit expensive, was exceptional. Everything turned out wonderfully, despite painfully bending back my thumbnail while attempting to open the tube of crescent rolls (which resulted in blood spoiling about half of them, but then there were only two of us, anyway). I worked off most of the calories in the clean-up, though I still have plenty of left-overs.

Of course, today was Black Friday. Unlike my sister, who left her house at 4AM in an attempt to catch some bargains, I slept in and didn't go out shopping until noon. No camping out, no stampedes, no lunatics. Well, some lunatics, but not many. My first stop was actually the grocery store to take advantage of a two-day sale on paper towels and toilet paper - practical, if nothing else. I then made stops at three other stores in search of specific items, most of which I found at reasonable prices. I came home, had a meal of reheated leftovers (which barely made a dent) and caught up on this week's DVR'd programs. Of course, most of the rest of this weekend will be spent working out the final details of my upcoming show, though I do have a lunch scheduled with some very dear friends on Sunday.

My holiday shopping is about 50% done, which is late for me. Back in the day, when I worked in retail and went to Florida every October, I was 90% finished by this time of year. And while I buy gifts for less people now than I used to, it seems to be getting harder and harder to find the "perfect" gift for some folks, especially those I've known the longest.  Oh well. I still have 27 days to finish and plenty of stores and websites left to visit. 

I hope all my American friends and readers had a wonderful Thanksgiving and I want to wish everyone a fabulous Holiday season, no matter what holiday it is you may be celebrating in the upcoming month or so. This time of year always seems to turn Uncle P into more of a sentimental old fool than he usually is. Maybe a trip to a spa is order. At least I wasn't part of something like this (via):

More, anon.

Prospero

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The Gayest Things I've Ever Posted?

Alright, some of you youngin's might not recognize the two ladies to your left (which is a terrible shame), though folks of a "certain age" (i.e. Uncle P and his friends) can tell you that not only are they both show biz legends and gay icons, but between them have slept with more gay men than most gay men do (and that's a lot of gay men).

And if you really need to be told, that's Liza Minnelli and her mother, Judy Garland. Many say that Judy's death was indirectly responsible for the raid on the Stonewall and the consequent riots, which reportedly took place while legions of gay fans had gathered to mourn their Diva's passing. That may or may not be documented somewhere, but I'm too lazy to look it up tonight. It came to me apocryphally, and so I now pass it on to you, in the same way.

Anyway, Punchy Players (via) have a very weird, but very funny commercial parody for Cream of Wheat, starring the mother/daughter superstars, both of whom are voiced by someone credited only as "Jeff." It's pretty damn gay:

Personally, I think Mario Cantone's Judy & Liza are better than Jeff's, but that weird photo animation lent it something that took the bizarre to whole new level.

Here's Mario's take:

And that took the gay up almost 3 levels... Let's see if we can't even the scales a bit.

You may have heard about this new little Internet phenomenon called Chatroullette. I would love to go on it, but you need a webcam, and I'm not going there. But people are starting to record and edit their sessions rather cleverly. I believe it is the very first music video made using Chatroulette. Gay because the music is Gaga and features a very funny guy in increasingly bizarre drag; bizarre because of the increasingly bizarre drag (and his facial hair) and hilarious because of some of the reactions, which range from horrified to hysterical to participatiorydancing. Ladies and germs (also via), I give you the Chatroulette version of Lady Gaga's "Telephone" (may be NSFW):

It's hard to know exactly what to say after watching that, isn't it?

Was I right? Are those the gayest things I've ever posted? If nothing else, they're all kind of weird (though that's not really anything new around here, now is it?). Kisses or venoms; applause or rotten tomatoes; thumbs up or down (and can I hear a sad little sigh for the end of "At the Movies" from all of you, please? The balcony is closed... ); agree, disagree or just want to share lewd limericks, then leave me a comment. I love hearing from you.

Last night I was working on both my screenplay and a critique of a play by a young friend, and time just got away from me. I really didn't have much to say, anyway (if you can you imagine such a thing). Tonight, I had a wonderful dinner at the Lambertville Station with three of my very BFFs (I've known Q, K and Dale for most of my adult life), which was what I hope will be the start of a wonderful weekend.

Of course, tomorrow also starts Phase II of The Great Plumbing Disaster of 2010: The Bathroom. The same problem that forced my kitchen renovation in January, also caused some damage to the wall in my bathroom (to save on plumbing, the builders put the bathroom and kitchen behind each other, so they shared water and waste lines in a single wall). And since it really also needed it anyway, my amazing contractor, Sam, will be replacing the tub with a shower unit; replacing the damaged wallboard behind the toilet and sink and re-tiling the floor. He's promised to have it done in three days. I'm guessing it will be Tuesday before I get to take a proper shower again. Looks like it's washcloths, baby-wipes and kitchen sink shampoos for a few days. You never learn to appreciate anything until you don't have it, I suppose. Yes, I always like to end on a cliche. It's so soothing...

Anyway...

More, anon. Read me tomorrow at the Zombie Zone.
Prospero

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Why Isn't Everyone Hungarian on St. Stephen's Day?

I'm Hungarian. And German, with a little Scotch thrown in for good measure. But I grew up knowing more about my father's Hungarian roots, simply because he was first generation and my mother's family had been here much longer. My father's parents came over in the early 1900's as children and ended up in the Hungarian neighborhood of Trenton's Chambersburg section, which was mostly Italian. I grew up eating my grandmother's Hungarian Stuffed Cabbage, Chicken Paprikash and a curious version of bruscetta that in phonetic Hungarian is called "shutney sullan-ya," which translates as "Dirty Bread." It's delicious, but so bad for you. Diced onions, tomatoes and peppers on rye bread, covered in the drippings of slab bacon which has been cooked on a stick over an open wood fire. When the bacon is cooked, that gets sliced up and put on top. I haven't had it in years, but my mouth is watering describing it for you.

Anyway, today honors Saint Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland, who supposedly drove all the snakes out of the country. Everyone is Irish on Saint Patrick's Day. We all wear green; get sloppy drunk on Guinness, Harp and Jameson; eat corned beef and cabbage and have green bagels for breakfast.

The Patron Saint of Hungary is Saint Stephen, the first Catholic King of Hungary. Saint Stephen's day is a big day of celebration in Hungary, but nowhere else. Americans don't spend the day eating goulash (a dish my grandmother hated and never made), dancing the Csardas and drinking pear brandy until they puke.

So, if I'm going to be Irish today, I'm going to do it in my own way. Via BoingBoing comes this rather amusing, silly Steampunk vid about catching a leprechaun from the League of S.T.E.A.M.:

And while this has nothing to do with Ireland or Steampunkery, I haven't talked about movies since Sunday, so... BoingBoing also recently posted this amazing trailer for the upcoming Ridley Scott-produced film Parallel Lines. Five different directors were given the same dialogue with no stage directions and asked to make a film out it. Each short is totally different in tone, style and genre. I think the whole concept is fascinating and can't wait to see it:

Oh, well. Back to being a boring old American tomorrow. Until then Saide Felte everyone.

More, anon.
Prospero

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Nom, Nom, Nom (Movie Edition)

Are there two more gorgeous people than Campbell Scott and Isabella Rossellini in their prime? This shot is from one of my favorite movies, Big Night. Of course, Big Night is a lovely, touching and appetite-inducing film about hope and family and the silence in which two brothers can say more than any spoken words could. Oh, and food. Tons and tons of food. A feast fit for a king, actually.

Brothers Primo (Tony Shaloub) and Secundo (Stanley Tucci) run a failing Italian restaurant at the Jersey Shore in the 1950's. Perfectionists, they serve their family recipes to patrons who don't always appreciate their efforts. When they hear that singer Louis Prima may be coming for a meal while in town, the two set about preparing a massive dinner party, invite all their friends and family and wait for Prima to show. The meal they prepare is one of the best ever set to celluloid, and features a timpano, a sort of pasta; meat; cheese and sauce pie, so named because of its resemblance to a drum.

Minnie Driver, Allison Janney, Ian Holm and Liev Schrieber all take part in the meal, which immediately induces the need to eat pasta and other evil carbohydrates.

I mention the timpano in particular, because it was part of our latest themed dinner party, "Food from Movies." Even now, several hours after eating, I am stuffed. We started out innocently enough, I suppose. The appetizer was cheese fondue, inspired by La fondue. Next was salad (Uncle Prospero's contribution): Warm Goat Cheese and Endive Salad with Pears and Candied Nuts, inspired by There Will Be Blood. I made some minor alterations to the rather expensive recipe I found on Epicurious and would make some adjustments if I made it again, but the end result was still a delicious and unusual salad which everyone enjoyed.

Then came the three-dish entree: Beef Bourguignon (from Julie & Julia); the timpani and sweet Mary's last-minute, "I-was-freaking-out" chicken tetrazzini (from "It's gotta be in some Italian movie," though I'm convinced it's because Mary is obsessed with this); all of which were delicious, labor-intensive and calorie-laden. And then to end things off, using a real movie recipe from Waitress, Mary made a "My Baby Was Crying and I Was Up All Night" cheesecake for dessert. Creamy, delicious and not at all too rich, it was the perfect way to end another successful gathering of most of my longest and dearest friends.

Tomorrow it's high-fiber, high-protein, low-fat all the way. In fact, I may not eat at all.

And since this post mentions one of my favorite food movies, I suppose I should mention my very favorite food movie, Tampopo.

This Japanese version of the classic Western Shane, is about a mysterious trucker who helps a widowed mother to make the ultimate ramen. Interspersed are several tales which all revolve around food, including the story of two gangland lovers who share some rather erotic eating experiences and the story of a woman who rises from her sickbed to prepare the best meal of her life before happily dropping dead. I couldn't find a dubbed or subtitled trailer, but you'll get the idea from this original Japanese version of it:

Over the next two months, you know we will all be indulging a little bit more than usual. And while I will continue to strive to be good (-27 lbs and counting), I know there will be plenty of temptations I simply won't be able to resist. And that's OK. We're all only human, aren't we?

More, anon.
Prospero

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Dinner and a Movie

So, I know I blogged once before about my college friends our occasional themed dinners. We try and have at least two or three a year, but as we all get older and wrapped up in our own dramas, it gets more and more difficult to coordinate our diverse schedules, which actually saddens all of us. We've gone from four or five dinners a year to one or two.

Our last theme was "Black and White" and we all made incredibly delicious chocolate and vanilla dishes that were rather amazing. I did dessert; a chocolate and butterscotch apple crisp with vanilla icing. We all left the table sated, bloated and exhausted.

This coming Saturday, we are eating again, and this time the theme is "Movie Food." To clarify, that means foods featured in or inspired by movies. My first instinct was a timpano from the calorie-laden film Big Night, starring Tony Shaloub and Stanley Tucci (yummy enough in and of themselves). I saw that movie with Dale (who will there on Saturday) and we immediately went out for a huge pasta dinner. But I have already made one of those (an incredibly arduous dish requiring more time than I have) and want to do something different. So I deferred that to my longest and dearest friend Janet, who will no doubt, make an amazing version of it.

So, after much brain-wracking and web-searching, I have decided to make a salad inspired by Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood: Warm Goat Cheese and Endive Salad with Pears and Walnuts. The recipe sounds incredibly delicious (I'm always happy with any salad that features cheese, fruit and nuts) and appears to be not only easy, but slightly less labor-intensive than many of the other recipes I found. I suppose I could have done milkshakes, but that seemed a bit too obvious, don't you think? I'll give my full (all puns intended) recap Saturday night.

Of course, a meal like this does nothing to help my quest to lose another 5 or pounds before my 30th (ack!) High School Reunion on the 27th (which will no doubt require a very frightening post of its own). Until then, please enjoy the trailer for There Will Be Blood:

And this rather amusing parody, There Will Be Bud:

More, anon.
Prospero

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Dinner with Friends

Not a lot to talk about tonight. I'm not at ComicCon (sigh) and haven't seen any movies lately. I'm saving "Torchwood" to watch as a marathon on Saturday, so I can't even talk about that.

But I did have a lovely reunion dinner with two friends from the production of "Love! Valour! Compassion!" in which I played Arthur 11 years ago. Good food (if you ever find yourself in Somerset, NJ, I highly recommend Sophie's Bistro for casual French dining), good wine and good company; a couple of laughs and a bit of nostalgia. Delicious!

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