May 222013
 

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Spring has been here in Columbus for weeks now, and I honestly can’t remember a more beautiful one!

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When flowers start blooming in my neighborhood, I tend to bring a little touch of floral into my house.  Not too much, because I’m not a huge flower person, but I do have my favorites…like tulips and dogwoods.

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Just a little touch on my mantel makes me smile.

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And since the chalkboards throughout my house are always changing, of course I try to go seasonal with them

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Something I do every spring without fail is watch Steel Magnolias, so I did that this past Sunday afternoon.  The movie begins at Easter, and ends at Easter so it’s always has a springy feel to me.  One of my favorite parts of this movie is the opening scene.  As the character Annelle walks down the road looking for Truvy’s beauty shop, the music is beautiful and I love the slice of Americana we get to see, setting the scene for what kind of small Louisiana town this is.  We see gorgeous old houses, a baseball team running across the street, and a little girl on her front porch swing.  I am always completely reeled in within minutes.

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For anyone who MIGHT never have seen Steel Magnolias, it’s about a group of southern women in a small town, who gather at the local beauty shop and share their lives.  Through the ups and downs of life (and there are some doozies!) we see their friendships thrive.  As one of the ultimate girl power movies, the whole point of the title is that women are beautiful like magnolias, but are made of steel and are able to handle what life throws at them.  I can’t say much more without giving away the plot.  You will walk away from this movie and want to text your friends to meet for coffee. =)

steel3Courtesy of TriStar Pictures

The all-star cast includes Dolly Parton, Julia Roberts, Shirley MacLaine, Sally Field, Daryl Hannah, and Olympia Dukakis.   The absolute BEST thing about Steel Magnolias is that it just might be one of the most quotable movies of all time.  I will leave you with just a handful of them (wink)…

steel2Courtesy of TriStar Pictures

 Truvy: “Time marches on and sooner or later you realize it’s marchin’ across your face.”

M’Lynn: Drum would never, ever point a gun at a lady.
Ouiser: Oh! He’s a real gentleman! I bet he takes the dishes out of the sink before he pees in it!

Clairee: Ouiser could never stay mad at me; she worships the quicksand I walk on.

Truvy: Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion.

Clairee: Well, you know what they say: if you don’t have anything nice to say about anybody, come sit by me!

M’Lynn: I find it amusing. Men are supposed to be made out of steel or something. I just sat there. I just held Shelby’s hand. There was no noise, no tremble, just peace. Oh, God. I realize as a woman how lucky I am. I was there when that wonderful creature drifted into my life and I was there when she drifted out. It was the most precious moment of my life.

Ouiser: I do not see plays, because I can nap at home for free. And I don’t see movies ’cause they’re trash, and they got nothin’ but naked people in ‘em! And I don’t read books, ’cause if they’re any good, they’re gonna make ‘em into a miniseries.

Truvy: When it comes to pain and suffering, she’s right up there with Elizabeth Taylor.

Annelle: Miss Truvy, I promise that my personal tragedy will not interfere with my ability to do good hair.

Clairee: Oh Ousier, you know I love ya more than my luggage.

Ouiser: You are too twisted for color TV!

Clairee: The only thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize.

Truvy: Smile! It increases your face value.

Clairee: Ouiser, I’d recognize this penmanship anywhere. You have the handwritin’ of a serial killer.

Truvy: Oh, Sammy’s so confused he don’t know whether to scratch his watch or wind his butt.

Clairee: Ouiser, you sound almost chipper. What happened today – you run over a small child or something?

Clairee: M’Lynn, you just missed the chance of a lifetime! Half o’ Chiquapin Parish’d give their eye teeth to take a whack at Ouiser!

Clairee: Shelby, you scared us. That wasn’t a nice thing to do to your mama. Never say that to a woman who’s marinating 50 pounds of crab claws.

Truvy: Oh sweetheart don’t. Please don’t cry or I will too. I have a strict policy that nobody cries alone in my presence.

 

I have a Film & Food Pairing idea for this movie, but I’ll save it for another time because a tribute needs to stand on it’s own.  Enjoy your long Memorial Day weekend and Happy Spring!

 Posted by on May 22, 2013 Film Tagged with: , ,  1 Response »
May 152013
 

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I don’t know about where you live, but here in Columbus we have had the most beautiful spring I can ever remember experiencing!  It’s been the perfect combination of rain (to make everything green) and sunshiny days at perfect temps.  I’ve been especially thankful for it because last spring we went from 0 to 90 degrees waaaaay too early.  Memorial Day was unbearably hot.  I’m hoping this year’s Memorial Day cookout is a lot more pleasant weather-wise, and so far it’s looking good.  This lovely weather makes me want to make light and airy foods.

Last month I posted a recipe for Rainy Day Sunshine Dip.  That one was made with fresh lemon juice and zest.  I actually experimented with two dip recipes that day, and this Pink Lemonade Dip is the second one.

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PINK LEMONADE DIP
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
7 oz. marshmallow crème
6 tsp. pink lemonade mix (my favorite is Country Time)

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This dip could not be easier.  Simply mix the cream cheese and marshmallow crème together first.  Then add the lemonade mix.  Keep refrigerated.

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Serve with graham crackers or any kind of fruit.

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Both of these delicious dips would be a great addition to your Memorial Day menu.  Hop on over here to get the other recipe.  Happy Spring everyone!

 Posted by on May 15, 2013 Food Tagged with: , , , , , ,  2 Responses »
May 112013
 

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The fashion, the music, the dancing, the post-war enthusiasm…it all takes center stage in The Great Gatsby.

LIBRARY IMAGE OF THE GREAT GATSBYCourtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

I have not been in a theatre that packed out since the final Harry Potter movie.  We attempted a 7:00 show, but with only 7 tickets left, we knew our seats would be horrible so we opted for the 7:30 show, which also quickly sold out.  This is my favorite kind of movie to go to…one where the people who are there aren’t just trying to kill time or had nothing better to do.  They’re there because they are excited to see it.

THE GREAT GATSBYCourtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

We sat in the very top row, and at one point I looked down across the theatre, and everyone was riveted.  There were no whisperers and no glowing cell phone screens.  And that makes me happy happy happy! (Shout out to Phil Robertson…any Duck Dynasty fans out there?)

THE GREAT GATSBYCourtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

So, the movie…I’ve been excited for two years waiting for it, but at the same time, I went in feeling reserved excitement because it’s a Baz Luhrmann film.  He does all kinds of wacky things and I haven’t been very impressed with him up to this point.  But let me go on record saying he was a perfect fit for an over-the-top version of The Great Gatsby.

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If you had a normal American education, then you read the book in high school and know the story.  I did not have a normal education so I just read it a few years ago.  Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) is a shy, honest fella who moves next door to the famous Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio), known throughout New York for throwing extravagant parties.  Nick’s cousin, Daisy (Carey Mulligan), lives across the bay with her husband Tom, a philandering, but very rich, loser.  As it turns out, Gatsby and Daisy have some history and it doesn’t take long for Nick to get swept up in the unfortunate events that take place that summer.  The parts were cast perfectly and that’s all I have to say about that.

gatsby17Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Speaking of the book, I appreciated that the oculist billboard was a deep blue, which I assume was a nod to the famous book cover above.

gatsby9Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

There was so much to love.  The cinematography was brilliant.  So much zooming in and out for dramatic effect.  And there were many interesting camera angles like in the photo above.   And  I adore the lighting in the Times Square photo below, exaggerated to show the glitz and glamour of the Roaring Twenties.  This Zeigfeld Follies ad made me smile, thinking about so many old musicals I’ve seen.

gatsby5Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

The way they showed the proximity of Long Island to New York, and the roads they had to travel between the two, was interesting, with a lot of lighting and shading to show different parts of the city.  But the thing I enjoyed the most was the way he showed Daisy’s house and Gatsby’s house off across the bay from each other.  He showed this over and over, but it was necessary to show that Gatsby moved there for a reason.  It was beautifully done.

gatsby14Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

One thing I was a little worried about was the soundtrack.  It was no secret that the music was mostly contemporary with artists including Jay Z, Florence and the Machine, Lana Del Ray, Will.I.Am, Fergie, and more.  I normally don’t enjoy a period film with contemporary music, but in this movie it was a little gaudy at times, but mostly seamless.  Even the hip hop somehow blended in easily, and normally I would hate it.  At one of Gatsby’s huge blowout soirees, the music went back and forth between hip hop and snippets of jazz from the actual era.  It totally worked and it was genius!  The photo above reminds me of a musical montage in Singin in the Rain, which was also set in the 20′s.

gatsby3Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

There were a few moments in the movie that seemed almost cartoonish and in those moments I definitely groaned.  In the photo above, he turns around and announces in a proud voice, “I’m Gatsby.”  Very laughable.  The entire movie was extremely exaggerated, but I read an article that explained that the filmmakers felt it had to be exaggerated and elevated to correctly portray just how opulent and over the top these people’s lives were back then.  If they had money, they flaunted it.  And my friends and I were discussing that it makes sense because when you think about it, F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby, and he was one of those ex-patriots in the 20′s who lived in Paris basically creating art and living raucous, almost bohemian lifestyles.

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And speaking of money, the director did a great job of showing the difference between the two worlds taking up space on Long Island, one being old money (above) and the other being new money (below).

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My friend asked me what food I’d pair with this, and I told her it might sound dorky, but honestly, this movie doesn’t need a food pairing.  This movie IS the food.  It was so decadent and rich.  So much for the eyes to take in.  So much beauty, along with the heartache and the obvious fact that the characters in this famous story make one bad decision after another.

gatsby4Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

So if you want to contribute to huge opening weekend success, go see The Great Gatsby.  There’s nothing out there quite like it and you won’t be sorry for seeing something this gorgeous on the big screen.

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And after you’ve seen it, come back and tell me what you think, Old Sport.

 Posted by on May 11, 2013 Film Tagged with:  2 Responses »
May 072013
 

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I got my computer back!  After a major hack, and taking the time to get my hard drive wiped clean (big shout out to our friend Rob for his help!), then taking more time to reload programs, fonts, and other toys that make online life more fun, Movie Bites is back too!

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My computer froze up two days before The Big Wedding opened, so I never got to publish this post.  I had planned to go see it and then do the film and food pairing, but neither happened because of crazy old life getting in the way.

wedding2Courtesy of Two Ton Films

A couple of my friends saw it and enjoyed it, but I still haven’t made it there, and frankly, this weekend, The Great Gatsby is first priority.

wedding5Courtesy of Two Ton Films

Still, with this many big names in the cast, including of course, the always fabulous Diane Keaton, it’s on my list, and hopefully I’ll make it there soon.  Have any of you out there in blog land seen it yet?

wedding3Courtesy of Two Ton Films

I paired the world’s easiest, but oh-so-delicious, truffles with The Big Wedding.  The last wedding I went to featured many different truffles for dessert.  It was creative and so yummy!  So when a wedding movie came up, my mind went right to truffles.

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If you’re having a girls night out, it would be so easy to transport a little batch of Oreo Truffles into the theatre to share with your pals.  My friend Michaela brought these to my Christmas party last year and the recipe was so easy I didn’t even have to write it down.

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OREO TRUFFLES
1 package oreos
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
Baking chocolate for coating

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In a food processor, pulse oreos in batches until ground pretty fine.  Don’t you just love your food processor?  We, along with my husbands other siblings, gave one to my mother-in-law for Christmas and the look on her face when she grated a block of cheese in just seconds was priceless.

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Mix the oreos into cream cheese, then form into balls.

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Refrigerate the naked truffles for a little while so they’ll be easier to handle while coating with chocolate.

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Melt your chocolate and coat each truffle.  Immediately sprinkle with any embellishments you’re using before the chocolate dries.

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I love these gold and silver sugar sprinkles by Wilton.  They’re pretty, and wedding-ish, and they give some added texture to your truffle.

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Store them in your fridge.  I would love to hear what your favorite truffles are!

 

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Apr 262013
 

Hey friends, I have some explaining to do!  I committed to myself and to you readers that I’d be here at least twice a week, if not, more, to bring you fun posts about film and food.  Well, the past two weeks have been a bit of a struggle.  First of all, the events in Boston took the wind out of my sails for a bit.  Having family right there at the marathon, I was relieved they were fine, but then completely riveted by the events following marathon day.  I could not tear myself away from the news for the entire week (a bad habit I have during national crises).  I had zero desire to work on any fun projects and went on an unplanned hiatus.  I appreciate your understanding that life happens sometimes, and things are beyond our control.

This week I was back in business and ready to jump back in.  I had baked up some delish goodies, photographed them and was working on editing those photos, when BAM!  My computer got hacked!  Yup, screen frozen, and some creeper was actually able to look right through my computer camera and take pictures of my living room.  CAN YOU SAY SCARY???!!!!!  I was petrified and immediately powered down.  Sometimes it’s easy to forget how susceptible we are to online scams.  This scared me so bad that I was ready to walk away from the internet forever.  No more blogging, no more social media, no more online shopping, etc.  But a good night’s sleep was all I needed to come to my senses.  Life online is a reality in 2013.  I refuse to live in fear.  So here I am…with a piece of duct tape forever covering my laptop camera… ;)

The bad news is that our good friend is still working on fixing that laptop (and still laughing, I’m sure, at how scared I got) so I don’t have access to my photos yet.  I was planning to see The Big Wedding, which opened today, and pair a fun recipe with it, but again, real life steps in, and I was not able to get to the theatre today.  Maybe next week that post will come your way.

So as I am using a borrowed computer to get this post out to you, I appreciate your understanding that I won’t be posting on Movie Bites until I get my laptop back (hopefully next week).  Thanks for listening friends and happy weekend!

 Posted by on April 26, 2013 Uncategorized No Responses »
Apr 242013
 

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I recently finished reading The Host by Stephanie Meyer.  When it was first published I heard through the grapevine that it wasn’t very good.  I heard this over and over so I never even attempted to read it.

host2Courtesy of Chockstone Pictures

Now that I did, I’ve come to the conclusion that it was released too close to the height of Twilight mania.  The fact that it was the same author set up certain expectations, and when it didn’t live up to those, people cast it aside.  Now, however, Twilight fandom is mostly a thing of the past.  There are still the uber fans out there hanging on, but for the most part, people are over it.  It was fun while it lasted, but most have moved on to bigger better YA stories (ahem, The Hunger Games).  That being said, I enjoyed The Host…surprisingly so.

host4Courtesy of Chockstone Pictures

Normally sci-fi is not my genre.  I do however love a dystopian story and sometimes the two are interchangeable, like in this case.  An alien life force known as souls have taken over Earth and invaded the bodies of every human.  I assumed we were to hate these aliens, but that’s not necessarily the case.  The author does a terrific job of explaining why they took over earth and even gave us a sympathetic heroine, in the first person storytelling by one of these souls.

host5Courtesy of Chockstone Pictures

But that doesn’t mean it should have happened and it doesn’t mean the human spirit isn’t strong.  They fight back.  There are pockets of human resistance hiding and surviving.  Melanie is one of these and she meets and falls in love with Jared.  When Melanie is captured and taken over by an alien soul, is Melanie truly gone?  Or is she continuing to resist from inside her own body?  So much so that she somehow convinces the soul inside her to go looking for Jared and other loved ones.  Don’t worry I’m not giving anything away…this is all in the trailers, and really just the start of the story.

host6Courtesy of Chockstone Pictures

This book is huge, but I flew through it because I was so anxious to know how it all turned out.  I got so attached to these characters that I broke my own rule.  Normally when I read a book, I won’t see the movie until months later because otherwise, it’s too disappointing.  After some time has passed, a lot of the book details go blurry and the movie and all it leaves out is much easier to accept and enjoy.  But I missed Melanie, Jared, Wanda, and Ian so much that I went to see The Host two days after I finished the book.

host3Courtesy of Chockstone Pictures

People asked me if it was any good and my honest answer is, for those who read the book, yes this movie is great (and I will be paying much more attention to whatever Max Irons does in the future because I loved him in this).  But if you haven’t read it, I’d almost say don’t bother.  It’s a pretty crazy story and without all the detail the book provides, the movie may come off as a little rediculous, very slow, and even confusing.

I thoroughly enjoyed it though, was so happy to spend an afternoon with the characters I was sad to say goodbye to, and realized that given the right storyline, sci-fi is fun once in a while.

 Posted by on April 24, 2013 Books, Film Tagged with: , ,  3 Responses »
Apr 152013
 

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A few weeks ago Mark was at basketball practice and Jake was at a sleepover, so Rory and I had a Saturday morning to ourselves.  We woke up and decided to pop Singin In the Rain in over my coffee and her cereal.

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When it was over, Rory got her Easy Bake Oven stuff out to make something yummy.  A few minutes later she came to get me and ask if I would take picture of her supplies, like I do for some blog recipes. :)   I told her I’d do better than that and take photos of the whole process.  So that’s what I did and she was REALLY psyched about it.

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Keep in mind that she does this all by herself.  When she’s cooking in the real kitchen, she needs a lot of help, but with the Easy Bake Oven, she’s on her own.

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Since my kids were little, I’ve had a bad habit of giving them toys that were too old for them because I was always excited about pushing them to the next step.

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But with this one, the box says 8 years old, and I waited until she was 8 years old, for once.

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And boy did it pay off because she does the entire process on her own…

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…and she loves every bit of it.

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Nice chocolatey fingernails, huh?

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These should be called Whoopie Pie Poppers because they are TINY.

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This was all her idea, food styling and all.

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Rory likes to stay in her jammies as long as possible on Saturdays.  Her mom may or may not have had some influence there. ;)

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She is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside!

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Thanks for indulging us!  Rory is so excited to have her dessert featured on Movie Bites.

Apr 122013
 

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After some schedule shuffling and rushing to get there, I managed to get out to see 42, which just opened today.  And what better snack to take with me than Cracker Jacks?!  If you’re watching a baseball movie, buying some peanuts and crackerjacks is a no-brainer.

42cCourtesy of Legendary Pictures

I expected to love it but that didn’t turn out to be the case.  Remember the Titans this movie is not.  I am a sucker for a good sports movie…Rudy, Hoosiers, and a few others.  I thought this might rank up there with some favorites, but unfortunately, if fell short.  The couple of things that reeled me into going is 1) I’m very much appreciate a good civil rights story, and 2) I love period films.  Set in post-World War II America, this is based on the true story of Jackie Robinson, the first African-American professional baseball player.

42eCourtesy of Legendary Pictures

The main problem I had was that the first hour felt completely forced.   There was no character or plot development.  We were thrown right in and not able to figure out who our hero was.  Normally a story builds momentum as it goes.  This movie started okay with some narration, but very soon had crescendoing music as Harrison Ford and various others made bold proclamations about changing the game of baseball etc. etc.  It seemed so cheesy.  Sometimes you have to let the story tell itself, and unfortunately, it wasn’t allowed to.

42fCourtesy of Legendary Pictures

Thank goodness the second half managed to redeem itself.  I got involved and felt attached once Jackie was part of the Dodgers.  I was rooting for him in his struggle to be part of the team, and I was cheering inside as first one, then another and another of his teammates got on board and did the right thing.

42gCourtesy of Legendary Pictures

This is kind of silly but so typical of me…my favorite thing in the entire movie was the fabulously vintage typewriter that this Philadelphia sports writer had with him at every game.  I adore these old typewriters and I WILL buy one at some point in my life.

42dCourtesy of Legendary Pictures

42 ended really well, as long as you can hang in there for a bit.  It’s a story that needed to be seen on screen, and now when I see the number 42 it will hold a significance for me that it previously did not.  I suppose if that’s the case, then the movie did it’s job.

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 Posted by on April 12, 2013 Film, Film & Food, Food Tagged with: , , , ,  No Responses »
Apr 122013
 

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The results are in for the Movie Bites Pride and Prejudice Giveaway.  Congrats to Tristan and Kallan!!!  Check your inboxes friends, because if I don’t hear from you by noon tomorrow (Saturday, April 13), I will choose another winner.

As much as I love giving things to my friends, I’m a little excited to report that the two winners are not people I personally know.  So thank you for being here, readers!   I hope you’ll continue to visit Movie Bites for fun film and food combos, a lot of movie talk, and more giveaways in the future.

I’ll be back later today with another Film & Food Pairing for your weekend!  But for now, I’m off to the movies before my kiddos get out of school… :)

 Posted by on April 12, 2013 Film Tagged with: ,  No Responses »
Apr 102013
 

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Singin In the Rain premiered on April 11, 1952–61 years ago tomorrow!  I recently watched it with Rory and I’m happy to report she loved it.  How can you not?  It’s so colorful and the music is so singable!  This is another soundtrack I had on cassette back in the day.

rain4Courtesy of MGM

It’s set in the 20′s, right on the cusp of the talkies…the no-longer-silent film era.  Don Lockwood and Lina Lamont were two of the biggest silent film stars…until the talking film is introduced.  Suddenly the producers are faced with the fact that, while Don can sing and speak beautifully, Lina has the most annoying and ugly voices ever!  How can they keep their biggest money making duo together, while making the transition from silent film stars to the wave of the future?

rain3Courtesy of MGM

We’re also introduced to Kathy, a cute and perky actress trying to make it as n actress, who just so happens to have a beautiful voice.  Hijinks and a lot of singing and dancing ensue and help make this one of the most beloved musicals of all time.  If you haven’t ever seen this classic, you are missing out and must remedy the situation immediately!

rain2Courtesy of MGM

I paired Singin In the Rain with something sunny for all of you out there who’d take sun over rain (unlike myself…yes, I should live in Seattle).

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RAINY DAY SUNSHINE DIP
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
7 oz. marshmallow creme
2 T. fresh lemon juice
1 T. lemon zest

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I love my microplane.  Do you have one?

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Don’t forget to watch out for seeds.  I can see the shadow of a couple in the photo above.

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Mix together cream cheese and marshmallow.  Then add lemon juice and zest.  Refrigerate.  Serve with fruit that makes you happy.  And you’ll make your friends smile if you serve this in espresso cups. :)

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 Posted by on April 10, 2013 Film, Film & Food, Food Tagged with: , , ,  1 Response »