Odds and Ends

When I put together the Things to Watch on Netflix, I had on my list (but somehow neglected to write about)...

1.) Departures

The winner of 2009's Best Foreign Film, it only played at one film festival.  That was enough, though, to get it onto the Oscar ballots.  

Like the best of films, it's both funny and tragic.  Like Cameron Crowe's Elizabethtown, it explores death and burial, this time within the context of Japanese culture.  When he is let go from the orchestra - after purchasing a very expensive cello, musician Daigo returns to his hometown where he answers a job ad to make ends meet.  The job is to be an assistant to the town's nakanshi, who prepares the dead for burial (there's a sequence involving the filming of an instructional DVD that's completely hilarious).  Social taboos regarding the handling of the dead, however, threaten Daigo's marriage even as he finds in the nakanshi, Ikuei, the father figure he never had.

2.) We're headed to Nashville this weekend! It's out little Danny's Birthday / Valentine's getaway; we're excited.  It'll only be a short trip, but it'll be fun to get out of town.  The biggest piece of the itinerary is a trip to the REI store in Brentwood; Danny's North Face jacket, after 13 years of honorable service, is going to be ...upgraded.

Not quite replaced.  Just upgraded.  And there aren't a lot of REI stores in the area.

Go figure.

3.) I'll admit, we skipped the Super Bowl.  Neither of us were much interested in the game, and with this newfangled thing they call the "internet," commercial watching has never been easier.  Our favorite?  It is (not surprisingly, the Audi Ad.

I love it all - the Kenny G, the Russian Wolfhounds (gorgeous dogs, actually - I totally want one), the spleen complaint...it's just glorious.

BUT, you've got to see the BMW commercial too.  Watch it!  The Spartanburg factory?  That's where we were last summer.  Remember the Big Giant Robots I kept going on about?  THOSE ARE THE ROBOTS!!!



THE ROBOTS!!!!

4.) The one downside to missing the Super Bowl was that I missed the advertising blitzkrieg revealing the Glee episode afterwards.

I was probably the only American with a TV who didn't know.  But hey, there's hulu.  And it was a good episode.  The season's struggled with consistency; the writing at times just not as sharp and perfect as we know it can be.  This episode?  Sue's taking raccoon hormones?  Of course she is.  And now I totally want to watch 13 Going on 30, if only for the Thriller sequence.  And Katie Couric at the end?  Wow.  So great.

5.) Danny's birthday chocolate is, like, 18 inches away from me, and that's too close.

6.) There's a geeky guy with dark, curly hair in The Social Network in one of the Harvard scenes, and I've totally seen him in something, but for the life of me (and even with the help of imdb.com) I can't figure out where I've seen him.  If you have insight, share please.

7.) Naptime approacheth.

8.) I think I'm going to make the Pecan Pie Muffins again soon...

Epiphany-inducing recipes

We'll start with the soup:

Divine Butternut Squash & Apple Soup:

4 c. less sodium chicken broth

1 onion, roughly chopped,

1 large Granny Smith Apple, peeled, cored, and chopped

2 stalks hearts of celery, or 1 1/2 regular stalk (whatever), ends removed, also chopped

1 1/4 (or so) unfiltered apple juice ( used "Simply Apple")

1 3-4lb butternut squash

1/2 c. half 'n half (I use fat free)

cream to taste (I probably used about 1/2 cup)

dash of nutmeg

dash of curry powder

Hazelnuts for garnish

1. Roast the squash: Heat oven to 400 degrees. With a heavy-duty knife, cut the squash down the middle, splitting it open. Scoop out the seeds. Cut each half in half, place flesh-side down on a baking sheet, allow to roast for 35-45 minutes, or until the flesh pierces easily with a fork. Remove from oven, allow to cool enough to handle. Remove and discard outer peel, chop squash, set aside.

2. While waiting for the squash to finish roasting, chop the appropriate ingredients and place the first five into a large soup pot. Bring to a boil, then cover and allow to simmer until veggies are fairly soft.

3. Add squash when it's ready, if any of it is still a bit firm, let it cook for a bit with the other veggies & fruit. Turn the heat down, ladle in small batches into a blender. Puree until smooth, place pureed amount into a separate bowl (if you have one of the large glass Pampered Chef bowls with a spout and handle, use it!). Use a rubber spatula to get the last of the chunky veggies into the blender; return all of the pureed soup to the pot.

(Obviously, if you have an immersion blender, this is all a different story)

4. Taste. Add half n' half and cream to taste. Add nutmeg and curry powder, and really whatever you want at this point. If you're making anything else, keep the soup pot on a burner set to low, covered, stirring occasionally.

Fancy Tip:

Serve with a small drizzle of cream over the surface. Top with crushed, toasted hazelnuts.

Note: I was very, very pleased with this, having mostly made it up. The tartness of the apple cuts the musky sweetness of the squash. I was worried that the celery might overpower the apple, but it didn't, just added the right amount of acidity. If you want to avoid the calories, you *could* skip the cream altogether, I suppose, but then life wouldn't be nearly as fun.

Mousse for Two:

Just over 3/4 c. heavy cream

4 ounces good quality chocolate (I use Ghiradelli)

1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Add vanilla to cream. Whip the cream until stiff peaks form. Set aside a small amount of cream; cover and fridge.

2. On a cutting board, chop the chocolate. I don't have a double boiler, so I place the chocolate in a Pyrex measuring cup and microwave in 20 second intervals, stirring in between. Set aside the cutting board for later. Allow the chocolate to cool until about room temperature.

3. Fold the chocolate into the whipped cream, using a rubber spatula to make sure you get all of the chocolate in there. Fold until chocolate is well incorporated. Spoon mousse into servingware. I used teacups, which looked very cute. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Fancy tip: Before serving, top with reserved whipped cream. Use a knife to scrape chocolate dust off the cutting board over the tops of the mousses as a garnish. A pirouette cookie placed in the teacup would be a nice addition...might try that in the future.

Note: These are very rich. I got about a half-inch into my teacup before putting it back into the fridge. You could easily get three, maybe four servings out of this recipe without looking stingy; I halved it from the original. Would be very cute and very easy for a dinner party.

More book updates to come later...