Slumdog Millionaire

I know my blog is meant to be food focused so I apologize that I'm about to talk about a movie. However, to be fair this blog has really become a monologue of reviews for food and venues, I'm really just expanding that to now include movies.

Slumdog Millionaire = AWESOME movie
I went with some friends to a Friday night showing, the Friday after the movie won 4 Golden Globes so it was really crowded. We sat in the second row, which was hard on the eyes and I don't recommend that to anyone. However, that being said I would suffer through sitting in the front row to see the movie again. The story is so interesting. I tried to write a synopsis but decided that imdb does a better job so here is the summary from imdb: "The story of Jamal Malik, an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who is about to experience the biggest day of his life. With the whole nation watching, he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India's "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" But when the show breaks for the night, police arrest him on suspicion of cheating; how could a street kid know so much? Desperate to prove his innocence, Jamal tells the story of his life in the slum where he and his brother grew up, of their adventures together on the road, of vicious encounters with local gangs, and of Latika, the girl he loved and lost. Each chapter of his story reveals the key to the answer to one of the game show's questions. Each chapter of Jamal's increasingly layered story reveals where he learned the answers to the show's seemingly impossible quizzes. But one question remains a mystery: what is this young man with no apparent desire for riches really doing on the game show? When the new day dawns and Jamal returns to answer the final question, the Inspector and sixty million viewers are about to find out. At the heart of its storytelling lies the question of how anyone comes to know the things they know about life and love"

I'm generally a sucker for foreign films because they seem to have a bit more creativity in storyline and are more realistic than many American plots. This plot did not disappoint, and the movies score is great too. My current addiction is featured multiple times. When I first heard her I knew this movie was going to be awesome. She is up for some Grammy's this year! And Slumdog is up for best movie at the Oscar's!
Everyone go see this movie.

Cranberry Sauce Recipe

A week ago I went to an early Thanksgiving dinner with friends from church called "Friendsgiving"
It was a lot of fun and it got me started early on eating way too much in a single meal. The dinner was a potluck and the suggestion was to bring something your family traditional eats for Thanksgiving. I looked up what was eaten at the "first Thanksgiving" but all the recipes I found looked to hard or required baking which I am currently unable to do, so I made cranberry sauce. I had never had cranberry sauce before, so it was a fun and new experience.

Ingredients

* 1 cup (200 g) sugar
* 1 cup (255 mL) water
* 4 cups (1 12-oz package) fresh or frozen cranberries
* Optional Pecans, orange peel, raisins, currants, blueberries, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice.

Method

1 Wash and pick over cranberries. In a saucepan bring to a boil water and sugar, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add cranberries, return to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer for 10 minutes or until cranberries burst.

2 At this point you can add all number of optional ingredients. We typically mix in a half a cup of roughly chopped pecans with or without a few strips of orange peel. You can add a cup of raisins or currants. You can add up to a pint of fresh or frozen blueberries for added sweetness. Spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg or allspice can be added too.

3 Remove from heat. Cool completely at room temperature and then chill in refrigerator. Cranberry sauce will thicken as it cools.

Cranberry sauce base makes 2 1/4 cups.

McAlister's Deli

I seem to blog in spurts, sorry about that my one follower.
I have been to McAlister's Deli twice now so I figure it deserves a post.
The first visit was in Roswell, GA on my first day of hurrication. I ordered a pizza on a whole wheat tortilla with some sweet tea. Of course, sweet tea is a must when you are in the south. McAlister's is popular for its tea which you can buy in the gallons. I opted for a large cup of it with free re-fills! McAlister's is a nice place, you get a lot of food and servers bring it to your table for you. A meal is about $7-$11 on average, but you get enough food and drink for two servings.

I love colorful food, so I especially was fond of this pizza. I don't know if color variety is proportional to flavor but I would venture to say that there is some positive relationship between the two. It was a Mexican-inspired dish, with black beans and peppers and corn, not the typical dish you would expect to go along with sweet tea but they still made a good pair.
The second time I went to a McAlister's in Metairie, LA with some people from church.
I got a turkey and cranberry sandwich with bacon! I do love bacon, and this sandwich did not disappoint me. The bacon was delicious and I felt there was plenty to enrich every bite with its greasy and hammy goodness.

Chocolate Truffles

In mid-October I made some chocolate truffles for a women's retreat. They were really tasty! I had a hard time forming them into balls because they melt so fast in your hands. Thus, they took an odd shape, but people seemed to really enjoy them.
I found the recipe on kraft.com

6 Tbsp. butter or margarine
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup KARO® Light Corn Syrup
6 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate
2 squares BAKER'S Unsweetened Chocolate
suggested coatings: powdered sugar, finely chopped PLANTERS Walnuts, BAKER'S ANGEL FLAKE Coconut, unsweetened cocoa
48 REYNOLDS 2-1/2-inch Pastel Baking Cups


PLACE butter, cream and corn syrup in medium saucepan. Bring to boil on medium heat. Remove from heat. Add semi-sweet and unsweetened chocolates; stir until completely melted. Pour into bowl; cover.

REFRIGERATE 3 hours or until firm.

PLACE baking cups on baking sheet or tray. Shape teaspoonfuls of the chocolate mixture into 1-inch balls; roll in 1 cup of the desired coatings until evenly coated. Place 1 in each baking cup. Store in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

satsumas

At work on Thursday a customer and co-worker excitedly explained to me what a satsuma is. The customer had a green/orange citrus in hand that was a size between an orange and a clementine. She explained to me that it is satsuma season and that they are the BEST citrus fruit ever. She explained to me firmness and color of a ripe satsuma so that I would be able to buy some.
The next day Ellen and I went to the grocery store instead of running, and I decided to pick up some satsumas. They look remarkably like Clementine's, only more green and not as uniform in size. After returning home I tried the tasty fruit and discovered that it is very much like a mandarin orange. I then went home and did some research and discovered that the satsuma is the Louisiana equivalent to Florida and California mandarins. I was kind of disappointed to realize that the fruit I thought was exotic is actually just a twin to fruit I grew up with. *sigh*
They are really good, though.

Mute Math

I am gradually getting introduced to New Orleans music. I love the jazz, but I also love the more alternative and rock sounds the local musicians are playing.
Recently, the Coats' introduced me to Mute Math. Love the music! Also, the videos that the band releases on their youtube channel are very fun to watch.
For music videos I recommend Typical which can be viewed as the official video or even more amazing as a live performance.
Now, I recommend watching the video, than the live performance because you will be amazed with how they are able to recreate the video live.
For a fun vlog, check out Paper Darren.
Now their debut album came out last year so they aren't new, but I have not heard of them so I thought I would share them with y'all. I just read that the band has a song on the new Twilight soundtrack, so keep you ears open for them.

Manon Lescaut

Tonight I went to the opera, so exciting!
My friend Ellen from work informed me a couple days ago that dress rehearsals were free to attend and today at work she informed me tonight was the dress rehearsal for Manon Lescaut. All in all I was pretty stocked to be there since 1) this was my first opera experience and 2) it was in Italian with English subtitles which means I got to practice my Italian!
The performance was amazing, I can't understand how people can sing so beautifully. The story-line, however, did not excite me. Manon is this young woman who, on her way to a convent, meets a young student, des Grieux, and they fall in love after about 1 second of knowing each other. Now, I'm usually a fan of romances, but the character of Manon makes you crazy mad. Her and des Grieux run away together to Parigi (Paris) at the end of Act One. When Act Two starts up, Manon is living a life of wealth with an old man named Geronte who fancied her in Act One and had made arrangements to be with only to have her abducted by des Grieux. Turns out, the life of poverty with the young student didn't do it for Manon so she went with the wealthy option of Geronte. Yet, she still longs for des Grieux and when her brother brings him to her place she begs him to take her back. The poor sap says yes but when Geronte discover the two together he calls the police to have Manon taken away. Manon is too concerned with gathering all her precious jewels to escape and so the police have her removed. Umm...talk about greedy, clearly jewels have a bigger place in her heart than love for des Grieux. Thus ends Act Two. Well, Act Three follows with des Grieux plotting to have Manon rescued from banishment to America (Louisiana to be exact). What is this guys problem, didn't he learn from Act Two that she can't be happy in poverty with him? Well, he fails and rescuing her but does convince the Captain to let him go along on the trip to America.
Now, I think the production I saw might be the abridged version because Act Four begins with a lot of subtitles telling us about how they lived peacefully in America together until Manon's beauty got them in trouble. The Governor's son desired to steal her away from des Grieux and after a bitter fight which ends with des Grieux killing the son (well, he fears he is dead but we don't actually know if he dies) the two flee. When Act Four opens Manon and des Grieux are roaming aimlessly through the barren and uneven country starved and dehydrated. *SPOILER ALERT* Manon can carry on no longer and sings of her sad sad story. She sings, and sings, you keep thinking, "Oh this must be it, she is going to take her last breath" but then she comes back for some more. She FINALLY dies and the play ends. My friend tells me most operas have the prolonged death scene, so I am now prepared for that I suppose.
All in all, it felt great to be back at the theatre. I have been longing for some performance for my enjoyment and now feel my thirst has been quenched for a month or two.