Dinner Tonight

This is what I am making for dinner: Easy Baked Chicken Parmesan. The one difference from the recipe is my chicken breasts aren’t halved. Which makes me wonder how much longer I should cook them for? The other difference is my breadcrumbs aren’t seasoned so I just seasoned them myself (Pepper, Italian Seasoning, Salt). I am hoping it comes out okay!

Snow tomorrow

Snowed in. In fact it was a state of emergency and no cars were allowed out on Saturday. Just fine by me. I watched RetroTV: Run for You Life, McMillan and Wife, The Bold Ones, Buck Rogers, Battlestar Gallactica, and Wolfman Mac’s Chiller Drive-in: Horror of Party Beach. I made pizza for lunch and pasta with hot Italian sausage for dinner. It was a fun day.

It’s supposed to snow another foot tomorrow. This global warming is just too much! 🙂

Beware of Beet Soup & Avatar

I went home today and had a taste of the fantastic beet soup. It was horrific! Well, I guess it would be great if you like beets but I really dislike beets so it wasn’t something I enjoyed eating. I should have realized that sooner.

This evening I experienced Avatar. “Experienced” seems to be a better word than “saw” or “watched.” I had no real interest in seeing it but Pookie told me it was amazing and so I guess my curiosity got piqued. Plus Lisa and Mom asked me to go and I can’t say no to those two crazies. With the 3D glasses pinched to my nose I nestled into the seat ready for… something. As the 3D previews played, a feeling of excitement rushed over me. This should be incredible! The technology is unbelievable and it’s clear these people can do whatever they want! They can let their imaginations run wild! I became excited by the sheer possibilities!

And then I watched what was essentially a remake of the battle of Endor.

Visually, the movie was amazing but story-wise I found it boring. I miss the good old days when the bad guys were Russian. The whole USB tail made me laugh. And I kept waiting for a drum circle.

Regardless of my feelings, I realize that this movie is ushering in a whole new cinematic experience. I just hope there’s enough creativity out there to do something good with it.

Borshch: Beetroot Soup

My mom made this and everyone loved it! Said it spoke to their souls. Will have to try it.

Recipe: (Ukraine)
Serves: 6

Ingredients

3 medium/2 large fresh beetroots (beets), about 1 pound, 2 ounces, peeled and cut into small dice
2 medium waxy, red-skinned potatoes, about 11 ounces, peeled and cut into small dice
1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped
2 celery sticks (stalk), ideally from the heart with leaves, chopped
4 cups water
Sea salt and fresh black pepper
4 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, about 9 ounces, chopped
1 green pepper, cored & chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 cups tomato juice
7 ounces shredded Savoy cabbage (about ¼ head)
1 14-ounce can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon soft brown sugar
Sour cream or crème fraîche, to serve
Instructions

To make: Place the beets, potatoes, carrot and celery in a large saucepan with the water and add plenty of salt and pepper. Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer and cook until the vegetables are tender.

Meanwhile, heat a frying pan over medium heat and add the butter. When butter has melted, add onion and green pepper and cook until soft. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Add to the soup pan with the tomato juice and return to a simmer. Add cabbage and red kidney beans and cook until cabbage is barely tender, about 5 minutes. Add vinegar and sugar. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve each bowl hot, with a dollop of sour cream.

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