Food: Cake or Death

Howdy,

I know I have been out of communication for a while. Well, I just finished my desktop publishing class. I am now well versed in the ways of InDesign and I know 5 times as much about Photoshop. My final project was a dessert cookbook with some of my favorites in it. And since I used my own photos for the book, the one I didn't have was my yellow cake and chocolate frosting so I made a cake for the last class.

Here is the cake recipe: (I don't share the icing recipe it is my secret weapon)

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup of milk
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1cup butter (at room temperature)
1 ½ cups sugar
4 large eggs (at room temperature)

Preheat oven 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 13-by-9-by-2-inch baking pan.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt, set aside. IN a small bowl, combine the milk and vanilla extract, set aside. Crack the eggs into a small bowl and lightly separate with a fork set aside. Using a stand mixer, beat the butter with the paddle on medium speed until creamy. Add the sugar, beating until pale and fluffy. Drizzle in the eggs, beating each addition until incorporated before continuing. Reduce the speed to medium-low and add the dry ingredients in three additions alternately with the milk mixture in two additions, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Beat just until combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans and spread it evenly. Bake until the cakes are puffed and a skewer inserted into the centers comes out clean. 20-25 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Run a table knife around the edge of the pan and invert the cake onto a platter.

This cake is also great for cupcakes or a layer cake it is completely versitile.

Books: The Twilight series thus far

At the beginning of the summer, I was determined to read the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. My friend Pam knew about my obsession with vampires and vampire fiction and she insisted that I read these books. She made a particular point of telling me that I would enjoy the main vampire character Edward.

In July I had a four day break from Graduate school to visit my parents and I took the three existing Twilight books with me. I read them start to finish in four days with about twelve hours to spare.

Twilight itself spends a lot of time on setup. Meyer spends most of the book following Bella as she discovers the rules of the vampire mythology and exploring her surroundings. In fact Meyer spends so much time on character development, relationships, and Bella's surroundings that when the final conflict comes at the end of the book it feels rushed and like it is part of a completely different story. However, despite a few shortcomings I read through Twilight breathlessly almost skipping pages in my eagerness to find out more about the characters. The ending was adequite though it left me hungry for more.

Despite the fact that it was three o clock in the morning I immediately moved onto New Moon, and I devoured this one just as voraciously. While many of my friends were less impressed with New Moon I found it compelling and even more character driven than Twilight. Jacob's character is fully introduced in the second book and the book is the better for it. I was particularly impressed with Meyer's ability to not only convey emotion but to really make the reader feel along with Bella. Many people call Bella whiney, and I agree but in this book I was crying because she was so hurt I found myself hoping along with her and feeling her anxiety. I was particularly impressed because anyone who has been young and in love (unless you married your high school sweetheart) has that kind of pain rattling around somewhere in their scarred psyche. The pain Bella is feeling in New Moon is so real it made me wimper and cry right along with Bella. My major thought for this book was that Meyer has a real talent for bringing out the inner sixteen year old girl in all of us (even men).
Again, Meyer rushes her ending and the last 100 pages offer such emotional catharsis that I had trouble holding onto the important plot points that were presented.

I had to take a breather for a day and visit the Atlanta aquarium (a fun trip I recommend the Beluga Whales). However, after two days and 8 hours of sleep I was finally ready to tackle Eclipse. This book was one of my favorites, lacking the heart wrenching angst of New Moon, Eclipse did a wonderful job of showing a love triangle, developing the relationship between Bella and Edward and expanding our knowledge of the rest of the Cullen clan. Even Jacob got more development though most of the book I was shouting at him to just get over it and stop complaining already. Also, Eclipse seemed to break Meyer out of her pattern of rushing the ending. The plot for this one was built slowly (although most readers figured out some major points before Meyer revealed them) and developed thoughtfully. Edward and Bella are even more in love and Jacob become more bitter and snipish as the book goes on. While I enjoyed Alice in the other books she is simply delightful in Eclipse. Again I found myself disagreeing with the ending but for different reasons, the ending was not rushed and the action was easier to follow and made more sense. However, the place that Meyer chose to end the book seemed a wedding and a honeymoon too short. Ending where she did seemed cut off and left the reader hanging. Not that I wasn't hanging on her every word and wanting more when I was finished with Eclipse.

Now many people argue that Bella is a bad role model. And frankly, she's no Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But, to all of those people, I ask you " Do any of you remember being a 16 year old girl?" I know I was whiney, pathetic and insecure when I was sixteen, can any of you really look back and say any different? Sixteen year old girls can really relate to this character and the concept of waiting until you are in love or married to have sex is certainly one that could use to be offered to girls more often. Bella is a pain and she whines but we all love her and relate to her anyway. (at least in the first three books, Breaking Dawn to be discussed in a later post).

I highly recommend these books to teenagers and adults alike and I also recommend them to anyone who has caught the Buffy bug and wants more vampires ( Don't worry I have other recommendations for you that will come along later, just start with these for now)

Grades:

Twilight : B+ New Moon: A- Eclipse: A-

Movies: Hellboy II The Golden Army

Before seeing this movie I endeavored to avoid spoilers, reviews, and even ratings of the movie only indulging myself in the awesome ads that my friends sent my way. So it was with high expectation and a clean slate that I walked in to see this movie on Saturday July 12th.

The movie starts off feeling like you are going to get a reprisal of the fabulous, funny cult hit that was the original Hellboy dropping you into an already established world and cast of characters makes the reader feel like they are in for another roller coaster ride of weirdness with some funny along the way. Above all else this movie was gorgeous, Guillermo Del Torro definitely has a talent for making the fantastic beautiful, haunting, and disturbing.

However, while I love Ron Pearlman and would not have missed this movie for the world and while I recommend that people see it because of the visual stimulation, I was disappointed by the plot and general writing of the movie. In a summer of spectacular new properties ( Iron Man and Wall-E) and some really promising sequels (the eagerly awaited Dark Knight), Hellboy stands out in its attempt to make something wonderful on all fronts and succeeding only on one.

There are many wonderful plot ideas presented in this movie, so many in fact that there isn't enough time to properly introduce or resolve any of them. Also, while the first movie felt like it captured the essence of the comic and translated it to the screen this one feels almost campy in its humor and relation to the comic book and often just uses the fantastical elements that make this series so intriguing as an excuse for more visual affects.

Overall while this was a beautiful movie I don't think that it stands up to the legacy of the first movie and the comic. So while I hope that there is another movie, so that the franchise can be saved, I also hope that Mr. Del Torro gets a better screenwriter and flushes out his plot better before creating his visual affects.

Grade: C+

Movies: Wall-E ... GO SEE IT

So my husband and I went on a date to see Wall-E tonight. Yes we are adults, no we don't have any children. Yes we like Disney. I have wanted to see this movie ever since I saw the silly little robot put a bra on his head in one of the trailers. When the first showing we tried to see was sold out we almost went to see Hulk or Wanted but my husband was insistent and so we bought the tickets for the later show and went home to make dinner.

Back for our second trip we found a crowded but not completely full theater and settled down to watch the movie.

I have to say I love Pixar. Not just because I love their movies but because no one else puts shorts at the beginning of their movies. The new short is called Presto. And all I have to say is whatever you do... give the bunny his carrot. I laughed out loud several times this cute short really sets the tone for the magnificent movie that it proceeds.

Wall-E was Magnificent!! It was quite possibly the cutest movie I have ever seen. Particularly for a movie where the main characters don't really speak. In fact, the first forty minutes are almost dialogue free. I thought this was going to bug me, but it didn't! The intricate array of beeps and noises that the robots in this film make are adorable and infectious I found myself wanting to squeak on my way out of the theater. It does such a good job of creating character depth with no talking that you find yourself empathizing with a cockroach! I was tearing up throughout most of this movie because it was so consistently cute and touching. Wall-E is beautiful, heartwarming, and simply adorable. I can't sing its praises highly enough. It was well worth the two visits to the theater.

I recommend this movie to everyone. If you have kids take them to see this as soon as you can. You will come out feeling great and your kids will be in love with robots forever. If you don't have kids it doesn't matter, this movie will put you in a great mood, I promise. In fact as we were leaving the theater my husband and I were talking about using it as a mood enhancer when we buy the movie.

Grade: A+++ Kittens Kittens Bunnies Hug Hug Hug (Trust me you'll understand when you see it)

Movies: Kung Fu Panda Haiku

Alright, I wasn't going to write about Kung Fu Panda because while I liked it there wasn't really much to reccomend it or say against it. So, here is my Kung Fu Panda Hiku which sums up pretty much everything you need to know about the movie:


Black Bear Makes You Smile

The Kung Fu Smells Delicious

Jakie Chan Is Monkey.



Grade: B-

Food: Fajitas

A couple of years ago when we got a grill, tired of the fare offered by local Mexican restaurants, I sought a Fajita recipe. At the time I didn't have all of the ingredients in the recipe so I made up my own and it became one of the easier weeknight meals at my household as well as a great way to feel multiple people.

Without further adieu, here's the recipe

the Juice of 1/2 of a lime

grated zest of 1 lime

4 cloves garlic (2 crushed, 2 minced)

salt and freshly ground pepper

1/4 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2-4 skinless boneless chicken breasts

1 large yellow onion halved and cut into slivers

1 red bell pepper and one yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1/4 in strips

1 tsp dried oregano

6 flour tortillas

Optional

2 jalapeno chilies seeded and cut into thin rings

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

sour cream

guacamole

1. In a small bowl whisk together lime juice, lime zest, chili powder, onion powder, crushed garlic, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Transfer the marinade to a Ziploc bag and add your chicken breasts. Swish them around a little and then refrigerate them to marinate for 1-3 hours (don't let them sit longer than this since the citrus in the marinade does bad things to chicken if left too long)

2. Once your chicken is marinated, heat up your grill and cut up your vegetables. Throw the chicken on the grill. Meanwhile, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a large frying pan over medium heat, give the olive oil a couple of minutes to heat up and then add the onions and peppers (jalapenos optional). Cook, stirring often until the onions are translucent and very tender, about 15 minutes. Add the minced garlic and the oregano and cook until fragrant about 2 minutes (you'll know, it smells wonderful). Season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside with tinfoil over the pan to keep the heat in.

3. Turn your oven onto 200 degrees and stick in your tortillas to warm up.

4. Once your chicken has cooked, cut it into thin strips and place in a serving bowl or platter. do the same with the vegetables and any accouterments you decide to add to the table.

Voila, Dinner! And so tasty too. The chicken in this recipe can also be used for a taco salad with a lime, vinaigrette dressing.

Food: Puff Pastry Improvisation

Last weekend my friend Pam and I decided that we wanted to make something different for dinner last Saturday and when we asked our friends for suggestions their only instruction was something creamy. As a result we ended up making steaks with a delicious creamy asparagus tart on the side. An interesting twist occurred when it came to dessert, as you may know, Puff pastry comes with two sheets in the box.

So, I decided to experiment with the other sheet for dessert. I stole a chocolate truffle tart filling from Gourmet and poured that into the puff pastry shell once I had stacked the sides and then after baking I covered the whole affair with fresh raspberries. The wonderfully rich almost puddinglike filling combined with the light pastry and the sweet/tart berries created an amazing dessert that had people mmming through each bite. This was really easy to make and is also really an attractive dessert you can whip up in a hurry for a small dinner party.

Chocolate Truffle and Raspberry Tart (as adapted from Gourmet)
1/2 lb fine-quality bittersweet chocolate coarsely chopped
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 sheet of puff pastry
1/4 stick of butter Melted

- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Lay out the puff pastry on a greased cookie sheet and cut 2 1/2 inch strips from each side of the pastry. Stack these strips on top of one another on each side using a pastry brush to apply melted butter underneath each strip to help them stick together.
- Bake the puff pastry for 7 minutes, remove and reduce heat to 350 degrees.
- Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler, stirring until smooth, then remove from heat and cool 5 minutes.
- Whisk together eggs, cream, sugar, salt, and vanilla in a bowl. Once it is cooled whisk chocolate mixture into egg mixture until combined well.
- Pour the chocolate mixture into the slightly baked tart shell and bake at 350 for 25 minutes, until the filling is slightly puffed but trembles slightly when the cookie sheet is shaken gently.

NOTE: This amount of filling ended up being too much. I removed about ½ to ¾ of a cup of the filling and baked it separately in a ramekin.

Movie: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Ah Indy, how we've missed you. On Friday May 23rd I went to the movies with eight other friends to take part in the Phenomenon that is the new Indiana Jones movie. Prior to seeing this movie I refused to partake in any reviews, articles, spoilers or discussion about the movie and its prospects. I wanted to go into this one with no preconceptions other than my own eagerness to enjoy this movie.

Obviously I am an Indiana Jones fan and I still get goose bumps when the scene fades from River Phoenix to Harrison Ford in the first few minutes of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Most people reading this post have probably already read the reviews and possibly have heard reports from their friends. This review is for those people and for those people who have not yet hear anything about the movie.

First a little background into the inspiration behind Indy. The movies were originally inspired by the action serials of the thirties, intrepid men seeking adventure, fighting Nazis, and treating woman as objects. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg did a really great job with the first three movies of capturing the spirit of their inspiration. However for this movie, Harrison Ford has obviously aged so they decided to take this opportunity to upgrade the motivations behind the movies.For Indy 4, they decided to advance the Indyverse by 20 years and move from the adventure serials of the thirties to the sci-fi/ area 51 content from the 50s. This motivation and intentional shift is something that should be kept in mind while watching this movie. It will change your perceptions.

Crystal Skull begins much as you would expect, right in the middle of the action,Indy has been captured by some horrible Nazis no wait, I mean Russians and the film is set in the fifties in the middle of the cold war. After the reveal of a mysterious alien object that introduces the hook of the movie in a very Indiana Jones Fashion (think the introduction of the Arc in Raiders), an overly extended action sequence ensues in which Harrison Ford shows us two things: 1. that he is still attractive and 2. that he is definitely getting a little too old for this type of thing (watch the punches, sometimes it looks like they are trying to hit the wall rather than hit Harrison) After all this, Indy ends up in a fifties era bomb site community and is saved from death and irradiation by a set of dubious circumstances (hey if you didn't suspend your disbelief before you came into this movie you were asking for it).

Onward to the college setting where Indy meets Mutt (Shia Labeouf as a motorcycle driving greaser with a comb obsession) and is told that Mutt's mother along with a mutual friend have been kidnapped and Mutt's mother Marion (Karen Allen's character from the first movie, the character has obtained a new last name thus making it so that Indy has no clue who she is until he finds her) sent Mutt to find Indy.At the top of the second hour Marion is reintroduced. Any more than this and I will be giving too much away but needless to say Indy goes to find Marion and solve the crystal skull question with many puzzles to solve, action sequences to survive, and ruins to explore along the way.

I have to say I was worried about the introduction of Shia Laboeuf but he really did a good job and managed to stand his ground pretty well with Harrison Ford and Karen Allen who obviously have a history together.

By far the highlight of this film for me was the interaction between Marion and Indiana. Karen Allen and Harrison Ford's chemistry really clicks in this movie and their scenes together are charming and fresh. Every time they were on screen together it brought a smile to my face. Karen Allen honestly made this movie for me.

Many people have criticized this movie for its alteration of the franchise and have suggested that this movie is harmful to the Indiana Jones name. I however disagree.

The ending takes some belief suspension and again I suggest you remember about the sci-fi hook and the stories that this movies is based upon. While the last hour seems sentimental and sometimes a bit over the top when taken in context of the other films and the new approach it is easy to see this movie for what it is... an Indiana Jones movie.

I give Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull a B+. It is good entertainment for both fans of the Indiana Jones franchise and people who just want to see a good movie.

Dinner: Petit Robert Bistro

Sorry I haven't been around for a while my blissful two weeks of free time have come to an end now but man was I living it up until now. No really, I have been sitting on my butt with friends and husband doing absolutely nothing for two weeks. And it has been wonderful but now I am back and ready to interact with the world, kind of.

To celebrate a friends birthday a couple of weeks ago, we went to Petit Robert Bistro in the South End of Boston. It was on a Tuesday night so our reservation that started out as six people and ended up as nine was not that big a deal and the staff handled my continuous calls to change our numbers with friendliness and grace.

Once everyone had arrived we were led to a lovely table on the quiet side of the restaurant. We had to walk through the bustling kitchen to get there but overall it was nice enough placement that I didn't mind. Of course with that many people it was pandemonium and it took over half an hour to get our drinks in order. The cocktail menu is printed on the back of the regular menu which is was a nice touch and allowed you to think about how your drinks would accompany your food.

They have some great cocktails including a selection of Kir Royale variations that made me very happy, the lemon, vodka, and champagne cocktail wasn't half bad either. If you are unsure of what to order make sure you check your friends menus as well since there were several versions of the drink menu.

The menu is not so small that you cannot find something to eat and not so extensive that you get lost. However, once we started ordering we discovered that they were out of the dish many of us were excited to try, the Lobster Mac and Cheese. Our reservation was at 8:00 so I am guessing get there much earlier if you want to try this signature delicacy. After some deliberation I decided to go with the Lobster Bisque (a decision I simply need to stop making, I have had perfect Lobster Bisque once at Commanders Palace in New Orleans and no one has ever lived up to it), and the Coq Au Van over buttery noodles.

As you may have guessed from my observation above the Lobster Bisque was sub par. The flavor was bland and uninteresting and there was almost no lobster in the dish. Part of me wants to attribute this to the recent red tide and the subsequent lobster shortage, but I wish they would just take the lobster off of the menu if this is the case because their current bisque did not impress at all.

The Coq Au Van on the other hand was wonderful. While their choice of Linguine noodles instead of a smaller shaped noodle was a little odd the flavor was wonderful. The chicken literally fell off of the bone and the wine sauce was savory with just a hint of sweetness. The sharpness of the wine sauce blended beautifully with the buttery noodles and created a smooth rich flavor.

In addition to being delicious this was a very filling dish and I probably could not have eaten as much as I did had I started with my original appetizer choice of the Mac and Cheese.

For Dessert my friend had a Lemon bar with a candle in it and I had the One Giant Profiterole! My friend Pam has claimed Profiteroles as her war cry, so when I ordered this it started people crying Profiteroles!!! around the table. This dessert was truly One Giant Profiterole complete with creamy vanilla ice cream sitting in a sea of rich dark chocolate.

I give Petit Robert a B. I recommend Petit Robert for a intimate dinner for two or for a large group.

One word of caution, we had a vegetation in our midst for this trip and while there was a mushroom risotto on the menu other than salads this was the only real vegetarian option. In other words if you have a friend who does not eat meat this might not be the place to take her.

Food: Pesto Pasta

Now, I don't normally post on things that I cook, Bake sometimes but not generally cook but I was proud of this last minute kitchen marvel so I thought I would throw up a post. I made pesto today because I had a bunch of basil that was going bad. It turns out that Pesto is not the horrible difficult monster that my mother always made it out to be.

Pesto:
2 cups Basil leaves
2 and ½ cloves of garlic crushed
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons pine nuts (lightly toasted)
The juice from ½ a lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

Blend basil, garlic, nuts, and ¼ cup of olive oil in a blender (or cuisinart miniprep plus).

Blend until smooth, add in lemon juice and the rest of the olive oil and the salt and pepper to taste.

Voila! Pesto! I was surprised at how easy it was and how well it turned out. So, since the sauce was so easy I decided to whip up a pasta dish to go with it.

The pasta was really simple, just take:

1 chicken breast
1 recipe of pesto
1 package frozen fresh fettuccini
2 cloves garlic
White cooking wine
1 T Olive oil
1 cup baby spinach leaves
The juice from ½ lemon
2 medium balls of fresh mozzarella cut into small pieces

-Cut up the chicken into small pieces.

-In a frying pan mix chicken, olive oil, and garlic.

-Sauté the chicken, when it starts to sizzle add the white cooking wine and sauté until cooked through.

-Put the chicken aside. Meanwhile, boil water for the pasta and throw it in (fresh pasta cooks really quickly so remember to watch it).

-Once you have drained the pasta, place it in a sauce pan and stir in the chicken and pesto, stir until the pasta and the chicken are coated with pesto, then throw in the spinach and the lemon juice.

-Stir until the spinach is just wilted and then serve with the fresh mozzarella spread over the top of the pasta.

Restaurant: Mistral

It's background time again. I live in Boston, for those of you who don't know, and I must say I think I have tried at least three quarters of the French restaurants in Boston. I love food, French food most of all, hence all the restaurants. This Tuesday was my two year anniversary and we decided to try something new for dinner instead of going to one of our old standbys. So off we were to Mistral in the Back Bay.

Upon entering the restaurant you are instantly hit by the homey atmosphere, candles are everywhere which give the space a nice warm glow, benches line the walls and use strategically placed pillows to separate diners who are seated next to one another but would prefer to pretend that their neighbor doesn't exist. However, in addition to homey this place can also be described as trying too hard to be hip, this is exemplified by the a little too loud techo music that was playing all night long. It just does not go with the atmosphere.

Though they promised a ten minute wait we had barely had time to peruse the cocktail menu before we were wisked away to our seats. We were seated at one of the bench seats, thankfully we only had neighbors on one side. Had we been surrounded I think our table would have been way too crowded. The cocktail menu was filled with some interesting concoctions including an overly bitter Lemon Fizz (Lemonchello, champagne and lemon juice) and a passion fruit cocktail (passion fruit puree, Bacardi rum and fresh raspberries) that was overly sweet. However, since it took them so long to get us our original cocktails they were free. The wine list is extensive and probably perfect for business people on expense accounts (there were at least four such parties while we were there) because all of the wines were very expensive (there was a bottle of champagne that I know goes for seventy dollars being sold for 100).

The menu was generally uninspired (a thought I had while pondering the menu online) and we quickly settled on the safe choices for appetizers and entrees. We started our meal by splitting the gnocci with parmesan crema, basil, pepper and tomato coulis; and some simple crab ravioli with a thyme tomato broth.

The gnocci were delicious, the sauce was light but full of flavor and the pepper gave it a nice finishing kick. The tomato was subtle and added just a hint of tartness to the sweet creaminess of the parmesan crema and the gnocci melted in your mouth. The ravioli were a little disappointing however, while the filling for the ravioli was delicious subtle crab flavor mixed with ricotta and parsley to give it a dense salty but not overly fishy flavor, coupled with the absolutely divine broth, both the thyme and the tomato were subtle and beautifully combined. The killer for this dish was the undercooked and chewy pasta; while the middle bite of each ravioli was delicious each end was filled with chewy pasta.

For our Entrees I convinced my husband to go for the Pan Roasted Halibut with Lemon, White Shrimp & Asparagus Risotto, Chive-Butter Broth, and I had my old standby... the steak or more specifically; Grilled Tenderloin of Beef with Horseradish Whipped Potatoes, Garlic Toast & Asparagus.

Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the Halibut but the presentation of the steak was so wonderful that at the time I didn't think of it. Yes that is a potato chip and yes it does have a piece of parsley baked in-between the two layers. Overall, I am sad I did not get a picture of the Halibut because it was the overall winner of the evening. It was meaty and lightly seasoned with a balance of chives, salt, and I think a little paprika. Each bite was flavorful right down to the last, the risotto was more rice with shrimp and asparagus (lacking that creamy thickness that you expect from risotto) but while it was not what was expected it was still very tasty and a nice counterpoint to the fish. The shrimp were subtle and did not overpower the dish at all.

The steak on the other hand was not as good. I need to remember not to order steak unless I am at a "real" French restaurant like La Voile on Newbury or Aquitaine. The steak was overly charred and had a strong smoky flavor, these are not bad qualities but when coupled with a weak sauce the steak just did not live up to my expectations, which was unfortunate particularly when you consider its side dish companions. The horseradish whipped potatoes were actually quite good and very refreshing, garlic whipped potatoes always seem very heavy to me and tend to overpower whatever is on the plate, however, these were light and tasty with just a hint of horseradish and not overpowering at all. While many might say that asparagus is nothing special as a side dish I say asparagus is easy to mess up, this was not the case. They were perfectly grilled with some olive oil and salt.

To finish off the evening we opted for the warm chocolate torte, with Vanilla ice cream and sauce Anglaise. Again a little background, I have tried a million chocolate desserts in this city and the best is still the molten chocolate cake that Lumiere used to make (I couldn't eat chocolate for a week because nothing compared). While this was advertised as a torte it was really a very runny molten chocolate cake, and while I did not mind this, it was definitely not what I was expecting. The cake was acceptable, not too dry not too moist, but you could taste that they had not used top tier chocolate in the filling with marred the overall experience. The ice cream was nothing to write home about and the cream Anglaise was missing.

Overall we had a good experience though for the price the food wasn't really memorable enough for us to go back any time soon. I give Mistral a C+ Drinks were so-so, price was too high, food was uninteresting but tasty, and the atmosphere clashed with itself.

A word to the wise, if you do eat here, don't order a cocktail that is off menu unless you are ready to pay for it, I had 2 Kir Royales and they were 20$ each.

Movies: Hitman

Ok, now I know I said this post would be about restaurants, food, movies, and television and thus far just movies but give me a break, I am in grad school and I just finished on Wednesday. Movies has been the only form of entertainment that I have been allowed to engage in up to this point. Two hours and then you're done and can get back to work. Well, today I broke out of my pattern, I went to lunch at Susu, which I will post about tomorrow, and then I did a whole lot of Wellesley jumping and then onward to home for dinner and a movie, that movie, Hitman.

Now no one is expecting much out of a movie made out of a video game. Though at least Doom showed us that a video game movie could be a fun Friday evening of making fun of the film and its creators ( I am a big fan of movies you can make fun of… Dark Water anyone) but this was not one of those movies. To begin the saga, two of my friends fell asleep within the first half an hour ( not a good sign) then one friend who I rely on to stay awake during movies like these so that I can poke fun at them with her, fell asleep ( warning sign number two). Throughout the movie I found myself turning to those around me, both asleep and not asleep, and asking them if it was just me or if this was truly terrible. It was truly terrible. The acting was non-existent. Timothy Olyphant, who I usually find charming and adorable, was weird and creepy with his head shaved bald and his wooden acting. I have no doubt that this was a character he was attempting to play but when I find myself comparing the movie to The Saint and XXX and finding it more than lacking, that is saying something. There was no plot to speak of and the actors were not at their best, Ukranian actress Olga Kurylenko was ineffective at using a Russian accent to the point where she actually had a French accent instead and her performance was so wooden and horrible that we kept making fun of her accent out of embarrassment for her.

I give this movie an F I couldn't find anything redeeming about it. It was so bad we couldn't even enjoy it enough to make fun of it, it ranks among the Sci-Fi Channel's made for Tv movies and I dare to say that even some of those are better than this piece of crap. Don't Netflix it, it isn't worth wasting your movie choice on.

Movie: The Forbidden Kingdom

To again give you some background about me ( I promise I will stop this after you have some choice pieces of information, or when I don't feel like doing it anymore). I am a HUGE Jackie Chan fan. I like Jet Li well enough but as far as I am concerned Jackie Chan makes everything better. Rush Hour with Chris Tucker, one of the most annoying men ever, no thank you… Oh Jackie Chan is in it, well I'll give it a try. Owen Wilson, he's not my favorite and it's a cowboy movie lets leave Shanghi Noon off of the Netflix list. Wait, Jackie Chan is in it throw that one to the top of the Que.

I am not saying the man makes great movies (Operation Condor was a real stinker) but he almost always entertains.

The trend continues in The Forbidden Kingdom. This movie opens with a sequence reminiscent to old Chinese action films, where no one is actually hitting anyone and one of the characters is clearly meant to be comical, stupid, and yet someone kick the ever-living crap out of anyone who challenges them. After that we move to a scene from what is supposed to be modern day Boston, however, the accents were clearly thought up by someone who has never really heard a Boston accent and believes that it lies somewhere between the New York accent and the land of no R's. Someone actually says the word heart like haaat (a friend and I turned to each other repeated the word and laughed out loud). However, we are no there for the modern day stuff, no, we are here for the mythical action sequences and scenes from a fantastical version of feudal China. So, in a typically contrived plot, the main character ( the kid from Zoom Michael Angarano) who looks like a cross between Jason Dohring and Shia LaBeouf but younger, is thrown into Feudal China where he has no clue what is going on. The first person to save his butt is none other than Jackie Chan, using his patented Drunken fist style of fighting. The first fight sequence is wonderful. The rest of the movie continues on in the typical quest plotline, they find a girl who fights, is pretty and plays an instrument. They also run into Jet Li. Shortly after running into Li, the major reason for watching this movie occurs… an extended fight scene between Jet Li and Jackie Chan. When you see a temple get ready to watch closely. This was a wonderfully choreographed scene and the stunt coordinator took care to make sure that despite wires, Chan and Li's fighting styles were both adequately represented in this fight. They were both fluid and graceful and Jackie even managed to get in some of his signature goofyness. You could also tell that Jackie was really enjoying having wires to work with for this fight. I mean we are talking about a man who came to America because no one does their own stunts here and was then expected to do his own stunts. The use of all of the objects in the temple along with the quiet mystical atmosphere of the secluded location makes this fight feel epic and it will keep you on the edge of your seats screaming yeah, or nice after each well placed hit. After the big fight, the movie continues predictably to a fight with the big bad and a conclusion (I won't give it away, though you could probably guess the outcome).

Mostly, any scene without Jackie Chan in it in this movie isn't really worth it, and Jet Li is creepy when he smiles. Overall I would say that this was a fantastic idea that was poorly executed and that I think I have seen about a thousand times before. For anyone who was a fan of Hong Kong action movies go see this one in the theaters (as a matinee), for everyone else, wait for Netflix and watch it on a rainy afternoon when you have nothing else to do. I give this one a C+ though I do still recommend it for Jackie Chan fans.

Movies: Iron Man

Let me give you a little information about me to start you off. I am a comic book nut. As a teenager I was introduced to X-Men, Spiderman, and Batman and I was changed for the rest of my life. Days spent combing through crates of old comics listening to the Beatles and generally acting like a teenager in an era gone by, I felt comfortable losing myself in those worlds and characters. My love affair with books had existed for a long time before comics entered my universe but there was something about being able to see the characters in action...combining Saturday morning cartoons with worlds I had built around the books I read was frankly transcendent.

Having expressed my weakness let me now mention that tonight I caught the movie Iron Man with friends.

I went into this movie with high expectations and a lot of anticipation. I know, I know X-Men 3, The Hulk, and shudder, Spiderman 3 these duds are enough to give any comic book movie lover pause. I am a strict critic of comic book movies where I have foreknowledge of the comic they are based upon. Did they get the hair right? Was the plotline accurate, or if they made the plot up, was it true to the essence of the characters? Who the heck is that supposed to be? I don't think so, she has red hair and her mutant power is peeling potatoes without a utensil. My inner monologue runs through thousands of these critiques during the first half an hour of comic book movies until I decide either to go with the flow because they have done a "good enough" job or decide that I hate the movie's creators and seethe throughout the rest of the film.

Trailers packed with versions of the heavy metal song, hype over Robert Downey Jr's performance, and the anticipation of the opening salvo of the summer movie rush had me in a bit of a state. Normally, I try not to get too excited about movies I want to see but in this case I just couldn't help myself. Feeding into this excitement was the fact that I have very little background in Iron Man. I know enough to know the basic premise and I have seen a couple of Cartoon Network type specials based on the comic, but that is as far as my knowledge base goes.

After all of that anticipation I can honestly say that Iron Man did not disappoint. The movie opens with the traditional origin story. Aside from an update to make the enemy of choice more current this was, as I understand it, spot on as an Iron Man origin story and it just got better from there. I will try to avoid spoilers but I must say that the casting of this movie was brilliant. Robert Downey Jr was fantastic, his own acerbic wit and sarcastic delivery of lines gave Tony Stark a depth and humor that was only hinted at in the original comic book. The character comes across totally full of himself and Downy Jr plays that to perfection. Gweneth Paltrow is not normally ranked among my favorite actresses, but in this movie she was the right mix of damsel in distress, competent career woman, and general love interest. her performance did what this character should do, ad value without overshadowing everyone else or annoying anyone (ahem, Lois Lane, any Lois Lane). Jeff Bridges was also brilliant in this movie, I won't say too much but his new look is shocking and it really works for the character. Given that this was basically an origin story the writers did a really good job of showing the evolution of the character. They managed to get many iterations of the suit into the movie and it was really nice that they showed the awkward stages of development. A sequence where the character is learning how to fly was particularly funny and showed the difficulties of flight instead of just making him an instant ace at flying. They also gave a justifiable reason for Iron Man's stiff takeoff and landing pose.

The plotline was fairly standard comic movie fare, it was believable enough if you ignore most of the science and it has a worthwhile ending leaving it open for possible sequels. A few things to watch out for:

1. Pay attention to the name of the prominent government agency, if you are a comic fan you will get a kick out of it.
   


2. STAY TILL THE CREDITS ARE OVER. There is a pleasant surprise at the end.

Overall this movie was well written, well acted, and well actioned. Well above Spiderman 1 or 2 and on par or above the recent Batman reboot. I give it an A. I couldn't have asked for more.

Thank you all for reading. Tomorrow The Forbidden Kingdom.

P.S. My husband and I have this habit of counting stunt men at the end of movies, a practice which is becoming easier as movies move more heavily into digital effects. However, this one ranked an even 100, which is quite reasonable for a movie of this caliber.

Hello

I have decided to take this summer to write. Not about just anything, but specifically about Movies, Books, Food (restaurant and home cooked), and Television Shows. Mainly, I plan this as an experiment, to test my ability to write reviews of things that I love and spend almost every night enjoying. So, be prepared for opinions on all of the above and even the occasional video game.
Thank you
-Me