Because It's Summer

Yes, because it's summer, you gotta see the summer flicks. So, I saw Fantastic 4. I think I actually liked it better than the first, although I can't say I remember the first at all. It had a very wholesome feel to it. Although there was one moment where the siblings share an unnatural hug that even made the 10-year-olds in the audience uncomfortable. Can I say one thing, tho? Jessica Alba looks horrible as a blonde with blue eyes. My Horatio Hornblower is not the same without his accent. But it was fun. And the company was good. And I'm looking forward to many movies this summer! The Silver Surfer dude was pretty cool. They could have fleshed out that part of the story more. Why he was being forced to destroy the planet, etc. Anyway, if you're into it, I'm not going to deter you from this one.

Weekend Good Eats

It was definitely one of those eating weekends. Did some grilling for me and my sweetie on Friday. I was afraid I had poisoned him as he proceeded to be sick for 2 whole days! But I am fine, so my theory is that it is just a bug of some sort. I made these kick-ass sandwiches with the remainder of the grilled veg. Put it in the hoagie roll with some fresh mozzarella, little balsamic, grill up on George Foreman. Perfect! Oh, did i mention that i made ANOTHER key lime pie? Yum, yum.

Saturday was my friend, Kim's wedding. It was a field trip to Whidbey Island. Lunched at Mike's Place. For some reason I had a hankering for a double-decker turkey club sandwich -- which they had! I was SO hungry! The fries were nice too. And it looks as if they have trivia on Sundays. My kind of place!

Sunday was my sister's birthday, so there were various cakes, pies, etc to be had. Plus dinner at Maggiano's, which is very large food.

Movies? Didn't make it to the theater, but caught Diggers on dvd. I can't super-recommend it, but ended up being pretty good. Paul Rudd is in it, and I like my Paul Rudd.

Key Lime Pie

I'm obsessed with key lime pie these days. I had some the other day at Chinooks and it was SO GOOD! So, I had to make my own. This one was a hit at father's day dinner:

Key Lime Pie

Graham Cracker Crust: 1/3 of a 1-pound box graham crackers 5 tablespoons melted unsalted butter 1/3 cup sugar

Filling: 3 egg yolks 2 teaspoons lime zest 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk 2/3 cup freshly squeezed Key lime juice, or store bought

Topping: 1 cup heavy or whipping cream chilled 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

For the graham cracker crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Break up the graham crackers; place in a food processor and process to crumbs. If you don't have a food processor, place the crackers in a large plastic bag; seal and then crush the crackers with a rolling pin. Add the melted butter and sugar and pulse or stir until combined. Press the mixture into the bottom and side of a pie pan, forming a neat border around the edge. Bake the crust until set and golden, 8 minutes. Set aside on a wire rack; leave the oven on.

For the filling: Meanwhile, in an electric mixer with the wire whisk attachment, beat the egg yolks and lime zest at high speed until very fluffy, about 5 minutes. Gradually add the condensed milk and continue to beat until thick, 3 or 4 minutes longer. Lower the mixer speed and slowly add the lime juice, mixing just until combined, no longer. Pour the mixture into the crust. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the filling has just set. Cool on a wire rack, then refrigerate. Freeze for 15 to 20 minutes before serving.

For the topping:
Whip the cream and the confectioners' sugar until nearly stiff. Cut the pie into wedges and serve very cold, topping each wedge with a large dollop of whipped cream.

For My Dad

Yesterday was Father's Day. I was a very bad daughter and did not come up with a gift -- yet. Not to worry, it's in the works. I just wasn't quite able to make it all happen for some odd reason. No, not like me at all. I decided to go for the tried and true bottle of Chivas Regal. The man does not drink anything else. Not when we go out. Not when he stay home. Not when he leaves the country.

That got me thinking. What is this drink he so favors? I decided to look it up:

Chivas Regal is a Scotch whisky blended and bottled in Paisley, Scotland. The brand was founded by the Chivas brothers, who founded the distillery. The brothers received their first Royal Warrant in 1843.

The name "Chivas" comes from Gaelic seamhas, meaning lucky, or blessed with fortune.

Chivas Regal was one of Hunter S. Thompson's favourite drinks.

Already more interesting that I expected. For dinner, we ordered the traditional Father's Day spread of Chinese food from Hong's Garden. This is a family favorite (and my dad likes his Chinese food). Consistently good. And a good value. And so lovingly located right by the old highschool in Renton. It's like going home again.

Stories of Love. From the City of Love.

Paris, je t'aime. That was the movie of the weekend. This was a collection of collection of 18 short love stories set in the city of love by 18 different directors, including Gus Van Sant, Ethan and Joel Coen, and Gerard Depardieu. Nearly every neighborhood in Paris was represented and I remembered fondly my time there. It really is the most romantic city I can think of. I highly recommend spending some time there with someone you like -- a lot.

Stories ranged from the very sweet and romantic, to oddly bizarre and surreal, to sadly (and funnily) down to earth. I'm not sure why, but my favorite was of this mid-western average American woman recounting her time in Paris in French. Her awful accent and awkward observations made it both sad and sweet at the same time. A total fish out of water tale.

Cheddar -- Is it really orange?

Have you ever wondered if cheddar cheese is naturally orange or colored as to appeal to our sense that artificiality is somehow more appealing? I mean, cheese is made from milk and milk is not orange. Irish cheddar is not orange -- it is actually the color of milk.

I have always assumed we Americans color our cheese for some odd American reason -- the brighter the better! Kids won't eat it if it's not pretty. Something like that. So, I thought it was time I ask the internet for the answer. Here's what Wikipedia has to say on the matter:

Like many cheeses, the colour of Cheddar cheese is sometimes modified by the use of food colourings. In parts of the United States and Canada, Annatto, extracted from the tropical achiote tree, is used to give Cheddar cheese a deep orange colour. The origins of this practice have been long since forgotten, but the three leading theories appear to be:

• to allow the cheese to have a consistent colour from batch to batch
• to assist the purchaser in identifying the type of cheese when it is unlabelled
• to identify the cheese's region of origin.

I feel better knowing that at least it is not an artificial color. I do like a nice Welsh or Irish cheddar tho....

Double Dose

It's been awhile since I've done the double feature matinee. I was definitely due. Today is was Ocean's 13 and Surfs Up. Ok, first Ocean. While I found it amusing, it was also quite mechanical in feel. Like there was no feeling in it at all. Everyone is having fun, but most going through the motions -- putting the plan in motion. No surprises. No nothing.

So, I actually preferred the child's movie today. I found Surf's Up to be funny, inspriring, heartwarming and bold. It spoke to my sense of silly. Never did I feel like this is just a movie for kids. Jeff Bridges brought the perfect "dude" to the legendary Big Z. There is something that I like about surfing movies. I would never get on a board myself, but there is something really fascinating about it all.

Heroes Finale -- Finally!

Peter Patrelli. My hero.

I finally watched the season finale of Heroes. I know that I am a few weeks late, but I was away, then I didn't have time, blah, blah, blah. But it was worth it! Ok, maybe it was a little bit anti-climatic since there was not big explosion NYC where all the heroes are milling about. But it worked for me. Peter came through. Hiro came through. But of course, Sylar got away. The best was a sneak preview of Chapter 2. Another thing to wait for....

On another note, I caught Pirates of the Carribbean -- and it sucked more than I even expected. I think I even fell asleep for about 15-30 min. Not sure. It's like a 3-hour movie. What a mess. Oh well. The biggest problem? The theater was full of children. Children slurping their pop and glutonously inhaling their popcorn, talking indiscriminately. Again, oh well.

Weekend Catch Up

My good friend Kelly came into town for the weekend so we had lunch on Saturday. We ended up meeting in our old neighborhood, Queen Anne, at Chinois. I had a tasty salad bowl. Perfect as it was an unseasonably warm spring day. Outdoor seating was nice!

Sunday, I saw Knocked Up, by my favorite writer/director Judd Apatow. Of course, he did my all time favorite, Freaks and Geeks. It reunited the almost everyone in the cast, plus others who Apatow often works with, including Paul Rudd. Funny stuff. My kind of humor. Now just waiting for his next project.