Friday, January 8, 2021

Cuisine & Screen: At Home, Part 30

It's here. 2021 AND PART 30. I cannot believe that I've done 30 weeks of at home posts, and I'm grateful to all of my readers for humoring me throughout all this. Even when things get back to "normal," I think I'll still do some at home posts and reviews, because it's allowed me to hone my cooking skills and it's been a really fun hobby for me. Last month, I got away for a few days in the beautiful NC mountains, and wanted to share this stunning (and no filter!) view with you all.

CUISINE
A few of my girlfriends and I will occasionally do (socially distanced) themed dinner and movie nights. About a month ago, we watched "The Holiday" and prepared British food. One provided drinks (a Gin Blackberry Smash and Hot Toddies); one provided the entree (Shepherd's Pie); and I provided the dessert, something I've been wanting to learn how to make for a long time: Sticky Toffee Pudding. It took every utensil and tool in my kitchen to make (boiling the toffee sauce on the stove, simmering the dates in a saute pan, pureeing the dates in a food processor, baking the puddings in the oven) but it was so incredibly worth it. I would have eaten all 6 servings by myself. And the good news is that it made enough toffee sauce so that next time I can skip that step and just make the cakes! Here's the recipe I used. 

HEAVENLY

SCREEN
Prom - I am all aboard the Ryan Murphy train, and couldn't be more obsessed with Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Keegan Michael-Key and Andrew Rannells, so it pains me to say that I didn't just lose my mind over Murphy's new film, "Prom". It's a spectacular premise, even if it's a bit far-reaching, and delivers a great message. (Though I really don't know what Nicole Kidman was doing taking this role.) I don't think I've EVER given a negative review of a movie musical (though I didn't see 2019's "Cats") and I don't intend to start now, but this was a bit too long for its own good, and maybe my expectations were just entirely too high. It's a good time, not a great time. Available on Netflix.

Fruitvale Station - Michael B. Jordan can really do no wrong in my eyes. I'm a little late to the game on this film (it came out in 2013) but I watched it on New Year's Day, ironically, because the film recounts the life of a man who was shot and killed by police on New Year's Day in 2008. I don't remember a lot of press surrounding the shooting of Oscar Grant, III - I feel like the shooting of Trayvon Martin was the catalyst for the BLM movement and ample media coverage - but Oscar's is a story worth telling. And Octavia Spencer is phenomenal, as per usual, as his mother. Available on Netflix.

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