I was quick to become obsessed with Friday Night Lights (which shouldn't be a surprise). But then, a show of this quality deserves nothing less than obsession from its viewers. But this post isn’t about the show itself, or its cast of incredibly written and acted characters (I want to be Tami Taylor but Julie can die). This post is about Kyle Chandler and his interview with Diablo Cody in her trailer.
I don’t know which part of this interview I love the most. His confusion about this TV wife is adorable and the answers to the quiz are pretty spot on. But really, it's all brilliant and it made me love Mr Chandler even more than I thought possible. (And while I mainly saw Super 8 because of him, he’s still best when he’s Coach.)
So, if you’re a FNL fan, do yourself a favour and watch this interview. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, do yourself a favour and watch all 5 brilliant seasons of FNL and once you too have become obsessed, watch this interview.
And here’s Diablo’s interview with Jason Bateman, who I love because, well, he’s Jason Bateman.
July 9, 2011
beyoncé at glastonbury 2011
I am a very vocal lover of all things Beyoncé. Unashamedly so. When she was confirmed as the headline act at Glastonbury this year, I knew she’d rock it. And here’s the evidence showing that she did just that.
July 6, 2011
maple pecan pie and the american breakfast
Maple syrup is really tasty. I was, therefore, extremely happy to come across a pie recipe to use it in since I mainly contain my syrup use to pancakes (and oh how I love pancakes – I had my twelfth birthday party at a Pancake Parlour and my cake was the biggest pancake I had ever seen).
The recipe for Maple Pecan Pie was from the Williams-Sanoma Pie & Tart cookbook.
I made this pie for an occasion. I was having my parents over for dinner, for the first time since moving to my one-bedroom flat in 3054 over a year ago. My parents have a fondness for pecan pie (largely due to the pecan pie scene from When Harry Met Sally) so this pie was a perfect fit. I only hoped it wouldn’t be too sweet. When I saw that the recipe called for 2 cups of syrup to be reduced to around 1½ cups I knew it would be a little too much. I have found that when using American recipes, it’s best to cut back on the sugar included otherwise it’s just too sweet for my palate.
I got to work cooking the base and making the filling,which mainly consisted of syrup, pecans and brown sugar. I filled the crust shell and kept the pie on the bench until it was time to pop it into the oven (if only I had a window sill for such occasions!).
As I got the rest of the dinner ready, I started thinking about how lacking my pancakes-for-breakfast intake had been, especially when going out for brunch. I always want to order pancakes but decide it best to order an egg dish. In America, you don’t have to make such decisions. There are places you can go where both eggs and pancakes are included in the same meal. Amazing. American breakfasts are the absolute best. A few years ago, during a trip to NYC, a friend and I spent a Sunday morning walking over the Brooklyn Bridge and ended up at Bubby’s for breakfast. It was one of the best meals I’ve had. Being able to order the usual eggs and bacon with pancakes and then drizzling syrup over the whole plate is liberating. It’s not quite so accepted here. You can sometimes find French toast and bacon on a menu but I feel that we’re ready for that next step.
Back to the pie. It was a-MA-zing. I served it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. My parents insisted they take the leftovers off my hands and I grudgingly obliged.
Next stop, S’mores Pie and The Baby-Sitters Club.
The recipe for Maple Pecan Pie was from the Williams-Sanoma Pie & Tart cookbook.
I made this pie for an occasion. I was having my parents over for dinner, for the first time since moving to my one-bedroom flat in 3054 over a year ago. My parents have a fondness for pecan pie (largely due to the pecan pie scene from When Harry Met Sally) so this pie was a perfect fit. I only hoped it wouldn’t be too sweet. When I saw that the recipe called for 2 cups of syrup to be reduced to around 1½ cups I knew it would be a little too much. I have found that when using American recipes, it’s best to cut back on the sugar included otherwise it’s just too sweet for my palate.
I got to work cooking the base and making the filling,which mainly consisted of syrup, pecans and brown sugar. I filled the crust shell and kept the pie on the bench until it was time to pop it into the oven (if only I had a window sill for such occasions!).
As I got the rest of the dinner ready, I started thinking about how lacking my pancakes-for-breakfast intake had been, especially when going out for brunch. I always want to order pancakes but decide it best to order an egg dish. In America, you don’t have to make such decisions. There are places you can go where both eggs and pancakes are included in the same meal. Amazing. American breakfasts are the absolute best. A few years ago, during a trip to NYC, a friend and I spent a Sunday morning walking over the Brooklyn Bridge and ended up at Bubby’s for breakfast. It was one of the best meals I’ve had. Being able to order the usual eggs and bacon with pancakes and then drizzling syrup over the whole plate is liberating. It’s not quite so accepted here. You can sometimes find French toast and bacon on a menu but I feel that we’re ready for that next step.
Back to the pie. It was a-MA-zing. I served it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. My parents insisted they take the leftovers off my hands and I grudgingly obliged.
Next stop, S’mores Pie and The Baby-Sitters Club.
animals being dicks (my new favourite website/blog/tumblr #3)
I was recently introduced to the hilarious Animals Being Dicks. I've never laughed so hard in my life.
I think this is one of my favourites.
I think this is one of my favourites.
June 30, 2011
cherry pie and twin peaks
Cherry pie is delicious. I’ve blogged about it previously so there’s no surprise that this was going to be my first pit (pie?) stop on my pie odyssey.
When I think of cherry pie, I think of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks. I watched the TV show with my mum back when it first aired in the early 90s and considering my age at the time, I’m okay admitting that I didn't understand much. All I knew what I loved how much it freaked me out.
However, I wasn’t making the pie from Twin Peaks (mainly because at the time I didn’t realise that this recipe was available), I was making the pie from Mrs. Rowe’s Little Book of Southern Pies. I made a change to the base, using crushed chocolate-covered HobNob biscuits instead of pastry (they’re seriously the second-best biscuits in the world). So I made my pie, popped it into the oven and waited.
While the pie cooked, I let thoughts of ‘she’s dead, wrapped in plastic’ swarm through my mind. I’d actually had a run in with Lynch’s characters earlier in the year when I finally read The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer. I'd wanted to read this book since I watched the show but felt it was too taboo for me to purchase at the same bookstore where all my BSC titles and Pen Pal titles had been bought. And, man, that book freaked me out all over again. Laura Palmer was into some fucked up shit!
I have to admit, though, that it wasn’t the book, the initial film, or the TV show that freaked me out the most. That honour is reserved for the film prequel Fire Walk with Me. I watched it by myself one day after school, so yes, it was daylight outside, but I still had to stop the film halfway through and take deep breaths before finishing it. There were way too many Bob-hiding-in-the-corner-of-the-bedroom scenes to make me sleep properly for weeks after.
Anyway, after about an hour, my pie was ready and it was pretty yum. Although I dare say it would have gone better with a cup of that Joe that Agent Cooper always went on about. (Or even David Lynch's own brew.)
Next stop, Maple Pecan Pie and the American breakfast.
When I think of cherry pie, I think of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks. I watched the TV show with my mum back when it first aired in the early 90s and considering my age at the time, I’m okay admitting that I didn't understand much. All I knew what I loved how much it freaked me out.
However, I wasn’t making the pie from Twin Peaks (mainly because at the time I didn’t realise that this recipe was available), I was making the pie from Mrs. Rowe’s Little Book of Southern Pies. I made a change to the base, using crushed chocolate-covered HobNob biscuits instead of pastry (they’re seriously the second-best biscuits in the world). So I made my pie, popped it into the oven and waited.
While the pie cooked, I let thoughts of ‘she’s dead, wrapped in plastic’ swarm through my mind. I’d actually had a run in with Lynch’s characters earlier in the year when I finally read The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer. I'd wanted to read this book since I watched the show but felt it was too taboo for me to purchase at the same bookstore where all my BSC titles and Pen Pal titles had been bought. And, man, that book freaked me out all over again. Laura Palmer was into some fucked up shit!
I have to admit, though, that it wasn’t the book, the initial film, or the TV show that freaked me out the most. That honour is reserved for the film prequel Fire Walk with Me. I watched it by myself one day after school, so yes, it was daylight outside, but I still had to stop the film halfway through and take deep breaths before finishing it. There were way too many Bob-hiding-in-the-corner-of-the-bedroom scenes to make me sleep properly for weeks after.
Anyway, after about an hour, my pie was ready and it was pretty yum. Although I dare say it would have gone better with a cup of that Joe that Agent Cooper always went on about. (Or even David Lynch's own brew.)
Next stop, Maple Pecan Pie and the American breakfast.
american pie (or my obsession with american life and how it made me want to bake a pie a week)
From a young age, I (like most people) was intrigued by American pop culture. During primary school, this intrigue blew into full-scale Obsession. At one stage, I could name all 50 states and got into one of the biggest fights I’ve ever had with my parents when they wouldn’t let me buy, and proudly display, an American flag. Yeah, I know.
American tv and thoughts of one day getting to travel through those 50 states kept my Obsession healthy. In year 9, a close friend and I would spend hours mapping out the road trip we would one day take from the East to West coast. Those planning days are still fond memories for me.
But if I had to pick a starting point for my American Obsession, it was when I read my first Baby-Sitters Club book, Kristy’s Big Idea. Now, I know I’m not the first to walk down the nostalgic BSC path, many blogs have done so, so I’ll quickly move on to say that while BSC was an important part of my pre-teen years, I expanded my reading list to include any series that gave me the snap shot of American life that I so wanted to be my reality. Of course, as high school, boys, parties, BFFs and such entered my life, there was little room left for my Obsession…until now.
I’ve decided to channel my Obsession into one symbol that really sums up what that fantasy world offered. Comfort. Familiarity. Fun. Deliciousness. (Okay, not that last one). That symbol? The pie! And so begins my pie-a-week odyssey. Why not join me?
American tv and thoughts of one day getting to travel through those 50 states kept my Obsession healthy. In year 9, a close friend and I would spend hours mapping out the road trip we would one day take from the East to West coast. Those planning days are still fond memories for me.
But if I had to pick a starting point for my American Obsession, it was when I read my first Baby-Sitters Club book, Kristy’s Big Idea. Now, I know I’m not the first to walk down the nostalgic BSC path, many blogs have done so, so I’ll quickly move on to say that while BSC was an important part of my pre-teen years, I expanded my reading list to include any series that gave me the snap shot of American life that I so wanted to be my reality. Of course, as high school, boys, parties, BFFs and such entered my life, there was little room left for my Obsession…until now.
I’ve decided to channel my Obsession into one symbol that really sums up what that fantasy world offered. Comfort. Familiarity. Fun. Deliciousness. (Okay, not that last one). That symbol? The pie! And so begins my pie-a-week odyssey. Why not join me?
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