In the Kitchen: Absurdly Simply Salad Giada

/

It's summer. So. Salads.

I've been making this one for some time. I got it from Giada on FoodTV (yes, I do sometimes watch FoodTV: Giada and Ina). (Yes, I am in the "Enough With Rachael Already!!" camp.")

This is one of those simple marvels of chemistry: the pasta water "cooks" the greens ever so slightly, just enough to enhance their flavor and that of the tomatoes. This is also a recipe in which you want to use the best sun-dried tomatoes you can find. I use Mediterranean Organic in olive oil. They're pricey, but worth every penny.

I didn't have any goat cheese so I left that out. I was going to put some proscuitto on, but discovered we were out. But I did find sliced smoked ham, so I cut some thin strips of that and added it at the last minute (so it wouldn't get all wet and wonky).

I put the salad on the table along with a big bowl of cherries (because life is just a) and a bottle of white wine and hopped on the stairway to heaven.

And Speaking of Vanishing Summers . . .

/

Which I was in that previous entry: an update of sorts from my end. (Translation: am I EVER gonna get back to the blogging thing? Answer: Yes, I am.)

I am still on my self-imposed blogging hiatus. Really, it's the only way I'm going to get this book finished by December 31. (Which, again, I plan to do or die trying. I prefer the former option, thankyouverymuch.)

More specifically, I'm going to finish writing the current chapter (number five of what will likely be eight) and then spend six weeks or so polishing those five chapters so I can send to my editor so she can take a look and see that, yes, we'll be ready to publish in the fall of 2011.

And while I polish, I will also be researching the rest of the book (because, like Barack Obama, I can do more than one thing at a time.) (*1)

So: I have a full brain at the moment. I would love to be back at my manic pace of blogging, especially because I've got so many juicy tidbits (no pun intended) of historical info concerning meat in the U.S. to share. And of course a host of snarky commentary on this, that, and the other that's just dying to flow from my fingertips.

Alas, all that juiciness and snark will have to wait another month or two. So, back to work.

_________________

*1: Did I mention that I also volunteered to organize my next high school reunion? I did. Don't ask me why, 'cause I don't know. Oh. Right. Now I remember. There was alcohol involved on the evening I stepped forward with my offer.

Monday Laughs: The Beer Edition

/

In case your week is off to a bad start, today's edition of Monday Laughs (okay, so there are no previous editions, but what the heck. Gotta start traditions somewhere.)

First this: Pabst Brewing Co. has finally been sold. And the new owner has this to say about his acquistion:

"We will be vigilant in maintaining and building upon the authenticity of each of our products," Mr. Metropoulos said in prepared statement. "This authenticity has been at the heart of the company's success to date."

"Authenticity"? Are we talkin' about Pabst "Brewing" Co.? You know, the beer marketing outfit?

The second chuckle-o-rama comes from yesterday's New York Times travel section. A Boston hotel is now offering a "Brewmance" package, which the hotel is touting as a "mancation" for guys who want to get together for a little bonding-and-brews. Says the hotel's manager:

“We created this package for men who love beer.

Because, ya know, women don't love beer.

So, folks, laugh yourselves on into this last-week-of-June. Where IS the summer going?

The Real Deal On Jack McAuliffe

/

Finally! Someone (John Holl, to be precise) has taken the time/effort to get the scoop straight from Jack's mouth.

If you're just tuning in, you may not know that this is the 30th anniversary of Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., and to that end, co-founder Ken Grossman planned a series of celebrations and commemorative beers and prepared a video about the brewery and brewing history.

To my great relief and delight, he made sure that Jack was included in all of the above. Now John Holl, beer journalist extraordinaire, has weighed in with a piece about Jack over at CraftBeer.com. (Full disclosure: Holl interviewed me for the piece.)

I hope you'll take time to read it, and to hoist a beer in honor of our brewing pioneers.

Oh, and I guess a health update is in order: Jack has more-or-less recovered from the near-fatal car accident of 2009. He relocated to Texas to be closer to family, a move that seems to have agreed with him. He's in good spirits and enjoying himself. For which I for one am truly grateful.

Jack, here's to you.

"Alice In Wonderland": The Epic, The Saga

/

Last night I finally got a chance to see Tim Burton's "Alice In Wonderland." (Weirdly, it arrived at our local second-run, dollar theater on the same day it came out on dvd.) (*1)

As I've noted here before, I'm a serious Burton fan. I love his aesthetic, his sensibility, his intelligence, and the way he combines all of it in his films. (Sadly, his particular aesthetic --- his artistic point-of-view --- means that his films are often treated as kids' stuff rather than serious works of art: all those creepy creatures and ghosts and goblins and probably-haunted gothic mansions.)

So, no surprise, I loved his version of "Alice."

Cinematically it was astounding (I have to see it again, just so I can revel in all those plants and animals and uniforms.) And it had everything I love about Burton's work: the dark and eerie, the shining white of The Good. The hilarious faces of the toadies and bad guys. The adorable frogs and rabbits.

And Johnny Depp was brilliant as the Mad Hatter: he turned what could have been a heavily made-up one-dimensional caricature into a person of great humanity, sorrow, and humor.

In many scenes, by the way, Burton also pays homage to what I think is perhaps the best film ever made: the 1939 version of "The Wizard of Oz."

But as I watched, I also figured out why the critics were less than kind: he didn't play by the Alice rules. In these seemingly simple, albeit eccentric, stories, he found something larger, more universal than other filmmakers have uncovered.

Heretofore, the Alice books have been filmed as either an exercise in surrealism (the 1933 version, which, if you've never seen it, you should) or as a kid's movie complete with goofy characters; more fairy tale than anything else.

Burton, however, treated the story as an example of the great sagas/epics --- think Beowulf, the Odyssey, any of theNorse sagas, the tale of Gilgamesh.

You get the picture: In Burton's hands, Alice's journey is one of self-discovery; of challenges faced; of trial and travail. Like all the great heroes, she is presented with a challenge before she can "return home." She battles enemies, and her own doubt, in search of the reward of self-knowledge.

Was this a dark version of Alice" Sure. But how could it be otherwise when it was a tale of the fundamental human experience? (And like life itself, the darkness was laced with humor and journeys into madness.)

But I suspect the critics (and perhaps even audiences) were hoping for, I dunno, a more superficial treatment. Or at least a more conventional one. (*2)

So if you've not seen the film, I hope you will. It's a brilliant piece of art, and one of the best from an artist who rarely screws up. You gotta love someone who is so completely able to convey the vision and mystery that fills his mind.

__________

*1: I didn't go see it earlier because a) was out of town for part of time it was here; and b) I really hate going to movie theaters. So many rude people. So many cellphones ringing and blinking.

*2: Now that I've seen the film, I'm reminded (again) of the way critics responded to another brilliant film, "Far From Heaven." The film is set in the late 1950s, and was filmed in that glossy cinematic style of the '50s. As a result, critics focused on its appearance and so completely missed the powerful point the filmmaker was making: that profound social change happens one person, one act of commitment, at at time.