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.

Potato and Egg Tartlets

So these are good. Really, really good. I completely cheated on the recipe from seven spoons with a shortcut on the potatoes, so I bet the actual recipe is even better. I simply couldn't wait any longer for these beautiful little tarts to be in my belly.




Potato and Egg Tartlets
Inspired by seven spoons

Ingredients:
1.5 tablespoons butter
2 medium potatoes
6 large eggs
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
1.5 tablespoon minced fresh flat leaf parsley
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 medium shallot, minced
2 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tbps heavy cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 450ºF.

Slice the potatoes very thinly. As thin as you can get them. The original recipe suggests that you use a mandoline or the blade of a food processor. I have neither of these things. Therefore, I know it's at least feasible with a knife, though probably much more of a pain in the ass.


Melt the tablespoon of butter in a large pan. Saute the potato slices with salt and pepper until the potatoes are just soft enough to be pliable, and transfer off the heat. While the potatoes are cooking, combine the herbs and Parmesan cheese in a small bowl. Set the mixture aside.


Using six small tart pans or ring moulds about 4" wide, arrange the potato slices in a concentric and overlapping circle to line the pans, beginning from the outside in to the center. Most of the bottom should be filled up, but small cracks are fine since the egg will seep through just a little bit and hold the whole tart together.

In a small sauté pan, melt the remaining butter and saute the shallot and garlic over low heat until translucent, about 10 minutes. Divide the shallot mixture evenly amongst the tart pans.

Carefully crack one egg into each pan. Sprinkle the herb and cheese mixture over each, and spoon a little bit of cream on top. Season well with salt and pepper.



Place tarts on a baking sheet and put in the oven for 12-15 minutes, until the whites are cooked and just set. They'll continue to cook a little more even after they've been taken out of the oven, so this should be taken into account when considering how done you like your eggs.

Allow the eggs to sit for a minute. Use the tip of a butter knife to loosen the tart and slide out onto plates. Delicious sprinkled a little bit of Tabasco for those who like it hot. Serve up immediately with some toast and mimosas for a light and lovely brunch.