Because lists are great, and my memory is failing - this is my notebook.
the good, the bad, the ugly. except from that small nine-month stint sandwiched in the middle, when i got lazy.



Movies

January:
Broken English
Belle Epoque
War, Inc.
Iron Man
In The Name Of The Father
Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels
Ratatouille
The Other Boleyn Girl
La Vie en Rose
Chinatown
21
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

February:
Sabrina
Wall Street
Boogie Nights
Apollo 13
Roman Holiday
Coraline 3-D (twice)
Punch-Drunk Love

March:
Jules and Jim
Working Girl
Murphy's Romance
Tropic Thunder
Dave
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
The Illusionist
In Bruges
The Unbearable Lightness Of Being
Sliding Doors

In Between:
Notorious
The Wrestler
3:10 to Yuma
Casino Royale
Gran Torino
Goldfinger
The Professional
The Outsiders
The Cider House Rules

October:
Adventureland
Year One
Lucky Number Slevin

November:
Revolutionary Road
Watchmen
Million Dollar Baby
Taxi Driver
Sunshine Cleaning
Taken
The Thin Man
Up
The Ugly Truth
The Maiden Heist
Grey Gardens
Harold and Maude

December:
Before Sunrise
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Alice (miniseries)
Unforgiven
Sherlock Holmes


Books

The Pure and Impure by Colette
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

Cinnamon Rolls

(i just found this lost post, which is dated from April of last year.
These buns are still adorable.)


..................................


This is pretty much just going to be a picture post. It's fun, there's no yeast required (yeast - I can barely bring myself to say it, let alone cook with it), and they turned out pretty good. (Mine were miniature, since I gleefully make everything I can in cupcake tins whenever possible.) It's worth trying once or twice.


That said, this is one of the few foods I can't imagine being better simply by virtue of being homemade rather than store-bought. You really cannot beat Cinnabon - you just can't. They're so perfect in their soft, melty sweetness. I don't care if they're $5 a roll and 5000 calories.

So, here's the showcase:






And the recipe:

... is, unfortunately, proving to be impossible to move over, but it can be found here, at Leite's Culinaria. Titled "Fastest Cinnamon Buns".

Quick Fix Fried Rice

As all good Asians should know, fried rice is meant to be made with cold, day-old rice to give it the right texture. Making it with hot, freshly cooked rice is a different dish altogether (a much more delicious one).

I'm generally opposed to fried rice, but there are those desperate days when you simply cannot face another item off the McDonald's dollar menu.



For a quick fix:
2 cups of short grain rice (the sticky kind), hot or cold, new or old, definitely cooked
6-8 pieces of bacon
2 stems of scallions, finely sliced
3 eggs, beaten with a dash of milk
sesame oil
soy sauce
fish sauce

... i think it's pretty obvious where i'm going with this.

Cook the bacon over high heat til nice and crispy. Remove bacon and de-grease between paper towels. Crumble into bits.

Pour out the bacon grease, but reserve a little in the pan to cook with. Add the white part of the scallion in and cook over medium heat for 20-30 seconds. Add the eggs in and scramble until tender but not quite solid.

Add the remaining scallion and the bacon into the pan and stir appropriately. Add in cooked rice and mix thoroughly (if using old rice, it might help to add in a little bit of water to break the giant rice rocks up).

Season to taste with sesame oil, soy sauce and fish sauce. (i'd guess 1 tbsp sesame oil, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp fish sauce).

Good variants: a diced tomato, sriracha.

Sauteed Chicken Breasts with Pear, Bell Pepper, and Cilantro Salsa

(recipe from Epicurious)


Ingredients:

Salsa
2 firm but ripe Anjou or Bosc pears, peeled, cored, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup finely diced seeded red bell pepper (about 1 large pepper)
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup finely chopped seeded jalapeno chiles (about 2 medium chiles)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (about small 2 lemons)
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

Chicken
4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves, halved horizontally
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 tbsp butter, divided
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2/3 cup chicken broth
2/3 cup pear nectar
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp fresh lemon juice

Salsa

Mix all ingredients except cilantro in medium bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Let stand at room temperature 1 hour. Stir in cilantro.

Chicken

Season the chicken with a bit of salt and pepper. Place flour in wide shallow bowl. Dredge chicken in flour, shaking off excess. Place on baking sheet.

Heat butter and oil in a large skillet. Add the chicken breasts to skillet and cook on high until brown and cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to plate, and tent with foil to keep warm.

Add broth directly to skillet and bring to boil, scraping up browned bits. Stir in pear nectar, mustard, and lemon juice. Keep on high heat until sauce thickens, about 4 minutes.

Place 2 chicken breasts on each plate and top with pear sauce. Serve with salsa and a side salad of arugula.

Serves 2.