Bond, Butterfly, An Apron and a Meme

OK, so this was a bit of a big weekend for me. I didn't cook a damn thing. And dinner tonight, although fairly tasty wasn't anything terribly exciting and so there's no food being posted today. Instead I'm going to let you know what happened this past weekend and fill you in on my ideas about Thanksgiving. And yeah this one's a little long, so you may want to go get a snack or something.

First this weekend I went and saw Madame Butterfly at the Michigan Opera Theatre with my best friend T. I'd like to say we had a lovely time and really enjoyed ourselves. Butterfly is actually one of my favorite operas and although this is the first time I've seen it live, I have seen it on PBS. Really PBS is a great place to catch an opera. The singing was absolutely beautiful as the Michigan Opera Theatre usually has a good show. The scenery was another story. The entire opera was set in the house that Pinkerton buys for himself and his Geisha bride Butterfly (Cio Cio San). This house is supposed to be up on a high hill that faces the ocean. The problem was there was a walkway set high up on this hill for the actors to get to the house. From our fairly cheap balcony seats, it was difficult to see what action was actually going on on that walkway. Mostly we could only see mid-calf and below of actors on that walkway. Memo to opera scenery group: Test out what the balcony people can see when designing a set. The other problem was that people continued to be sat for the first 15 minutes of the opera. While I understand that unforeseen circumstances happen, I just don't get how people can feel justified crawling over me to get to their seats because they just couldn't get to the opera anywhere near when it actually started. And this happened a LOT on Friday. My friend and I got climbed over and missed a bit. The people in front of us got climbed over and we missed a bit. And two rows in front of them got climbed over too. Then the guy behind us started opening bags of potato chips (we know because he littered the opera house floor with them). My friend T. and I came away really discouraged with how inconsiderate some people are.

OK, so sorry about the rant. Then we went and saw the new James Bond movie and all I can say is Daniel Craig is freakin' HOT. Like sizzling hot. Before I was uninterested in him as James Bond and now I'm regretting not actually having watched Casino Royale. Oh yeah, and if I had watched Casino Royale I might have a better idea about the plot of this one. I really liked the pissed off, butt kicking Latino woman too. And I thought the villain (Mr. Greene) was nice and sniveling. The naked girl drenched in oil was slightly reminiscent of the gold girl in Goldfinger, but overall there really wasn't enough sex. It's a Bond movie for crying out loud. There's supposed to be loads of sexy scenes. Have I mentioned Daniel Craig is dreamy? He's bumped Matthew McConaughey for the top spot in my head.

Also at my mom's this weekend I made a pretty fun apron.

Here's a lovely photo of my mom modeling it. She's trying to look domestic. Even though she doesn't cook, somehow we always get photos of her in the kitchen. You'll have to check Mom's blog for a photo of me. She does wash dishes. Unfortunately, my stepdad (who does the cooking) had to have surgery today. He came out of it just fine, but now he's got to deal with my mom and her ubiquitous stir frying until he's fully recuperated. They do have a plan for Thanksgiving though. They've ordered it from Bob Evans.

And finally, Amanda has tagged me for a Thanksgiving Meme. I'm not sure who has time to do it with all the cooking coming up, so I'm not tagging anyone specifically, but instead I tag people generally. If you'd like to do it, go ahead!

1.) Which do you like better, hosting Thanksgiving at home or going elsewhere?

Um I used to like hosting Thanksgiving in my home, but given the number of people I'd have to invite if I hosted, I'm now preferring to go elsewhere.

2.) Do you buy a fresh or frozen turkey? Organic? Free Range?

I buy whatever is cheapest and not injected with anything. Which most often is frozen. However I just learned last week that most of those frozen turkeys come from somewhere around here so I may find a fresh one next year.

3.) Do you make stuffing or dressing? What kind?

I make this Betty Crocker stuffing. And I love it.

4.) Sweet potato or pumpkin pie?

Neither. I don't like pie. I did make a pumpkin mousse one year. Pumpkin ice cream is good too.

5.) Are leftovers a blessing or a curse?

Blessing. Definitely.

6.) What side dishes are a must in your family?

Salad. I just don't understand big family meals without a salad. I'm just weird that way.

7.) What do you wish you had that might make Thanksgiving easier?

A Viking 6 burner stove. Or a turkey baster.

8.) If/When you go to someone else's house for the holiday, do you bring a dish? If so what is it?

Um. Salad. And wine.

9.) What do you wish one of your guests would bring to your house?

Booze. There's always room for more booze. Or pie. Other people seem to like pie and I'm pretty bad at making it.

10.) What do you wish one of your guests would NOT bring to your house?

Olives. I hate them. They give me the heeby jeebies.

11.) Do you stick with a particular menu from year to year, or do you mix it up?

I go with how I'm feeling. There's no hard and fast rules except that one about having to have salad.

12.) Is Thanksgiving a religious or secular holiday in your home?

I think it's both. We celebrate family (secular) and we definitely thank God for our blessings.

13) Share one Thanksgiving tradition.

I have no Thanksgiving traditions. Unless you count thanking God for my blessings.

14.) Share one Thanksgiving memory.

When I lived in Chicago, I didn't go home for Thanksgiving because I was on a budget that didn't afford trips home. So I would cook Thanksgiving dinner for any of my friends who also couldn't make it home. One year, my friend Scott, my friend Amy, and I had Thanksgiving. There was far too much food to all fit on the table and we pulled up a coffee table and filled that full of food too. We ate and drank wine and laughed ourselves silly for hours. It was the Thanksgiving that taught me that friends can be a family too.

15.) Name 5 things your are thankful for.

-my very sweet and oh so sexy husband who I love very much.

-that my stepdad is going to be just fine.

-that my baby sister Super G. is a math teacher and that she helps me with my homework all the time.

-my very supportive family.

-that I have everything I really need.

Shameful

So I happen to be very bad at some stuff. Like I've now been tagged twice for the same meme. And I just haven't gotten around to doing it. And the lovely Bellini Valli has given me an award and I haven't acknowledged it. Shoot. I completely forgot about it even. Shameful.

So let's start with the award. The lovely Bellini Valli over at More Than Burnt Toast gave me the I Love You This Much award. I love her too. Valli makes me want to be a Canadian. She makes delicious food and uses fresh local ingredients. I love that. And the photos on her blog are beautiful. Stunning really. I've updated my list of yummy blogs over there on the sidelines so you can see there are TONS of blogs worthy of this award, but for now I'll pass it on to a few that I really admire:

Speedbump Kitchen, who's food looks delicious and show us all that living with allergies doesn't mean that you have to live a life of deprivation.

Cheap But Not Easy, who has daily tips about living frugally, which is important right now with our economy whether anyone labels it a recession or not.

Straight From the Farm, who quit her business job to work on a farm and follow her dream and develops recipes for all kinds of produce.

Tartlette, because her photos are truly food porn and even though I'm afraid to try most of her recipes, I love looking at them and I'm very excited that she's writing and developing a cookbook.

and finally Super G's Potpourri, because she's my sister and I strong armed her into joining the Daring Bakers and I convinced her that she was going to die of Yuck when she was 6 and she doesn't hate me for it.

And on to the Meme...

Both April over at Abby Sweets and Speedbump Kitchen have tagged me for the Six Random things meme. They're both lovely people and you should totally go check them out. I'm not going to pass it on to anyone, because I figure meme's are like those emails with the cute pictures of kittens and inspirational sayings about how much God loves us that some people forward to every person in their address book. I never know who really wants to receive them. SO if you'd like to play along, play. If not, that's OK too. So here are my random things....

1) The Brain is lactose intolerant, so on nights like tonight when he's golfing and I'm alone for dinner, I frequently have something silly like cheese. Yep, I'm having cheese for dinner tonight. Goat Brie, and Saint Andre.

2) Although I spend all morning frying donuts, I don't like to eat them. I much prefer to come home and have a bowl of Cheerios. Which I sometimes pronounce Cheerio-e-oooooos.

3) I like to sing, I mean really really sing in the car. With the windows up. I can get my groove thing on to pretty much anything from Kenny Chesney to Verdi. And sometimes, if it something peppy like Gloria Estevan, I tend to seat dance too.

4) My hiking boots are bright pink.

5) When I was a little girl my career aspiration in life was to be a scantily clad alien on Star Trek and make out with Captain Kirk. (I outgrew that one).

6) I think bald men are incredibly sexy.

So there. Now you know everything there is to know.

A Memoir of only 6 words?

Both the lovely Cakelaw and Amanda at Mrs. W's Kitchen have tagged me for the six word memoir. And the rules are as follows:

1. Write your own 6 word memoir.

2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration.

3. Link to the person who tagged you.

4. Tag 5 more blogs with links.

5. Leave a comment on the tagged blogs letting them know they're tagged.

Actually, Amanda tagged me a while ago, and I've been in the middle of reading various huge books from the library, Jane Eyre and The Cider House Rules to name a few, so limiting me to 6 words was something to think about. For example, after finishing Jane Eyre I had to make myself stop thinking things like "Once injured, I was wont to forget the pain of recovery and focus lightheartedly on the joys of skipping again if only I could bend my leg and sway like the bulrushes." OK so I have no real idea of how bulrushes sway other than what I've seen on PBS, but the truth of the matter is that Charlotte Bronte is really wordy.

As an aside, I just checked out Wuthering Heights, Portrait of a Lady, and The Scarlett Letter from the library, so be warned that posts next week may get super wordy. It's not that I'm fascinated with the reading list of the average parochial high school, it's that I never actually read the books I was supposed to read in high school. See, I somehow learned if I paid attention to class discussions, I would know enough for the tests. Well, that and many many of the Shakespeare books are on video (DVD now, it was video back when I was young). Thus the only book I read in high school was King Lear and that was only because the video was far more confusing than reading Shakespeare.

See what I mean about 6 words being difficult for me?

I decided to go with 6 unchanging things about myself. Things that will be the same now as 10 years from now.

Re-injured

Re-repaired (yeah that's the screw they took OUT)

Hopeful

Happy

Married

And on the last note, tomorrow is our one year anniversary, so don't hold your breath for a post.

And I tag:

Molly at Batter Splattered

Mary at The Sour Dough

Kitt at The Kittalog

Deborah at Taste and Tell

and

Miss. Von Schtoop at Calamity Shazaam in the Kitchen

Because they are all really cool fun blogs and I like them.

Five Things about ME!

The lovely Pixie over at You Say Tomato, I Say Tomato has tagged me with the meme of five facts. She's a lovely British girl and she has a really cool blog. Go check her out. I'll be here when you get back.

So what do I do now that I've been tagged? Well. There are rules. Whew! I do so very much better when there are rules!

These are the rules: 1. Link to your tagger and post these rules. 2. Share 5 facts about yourself. 3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post and their names (linking to them). 4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

OK so here goes....

1) Although I have finished 4 sprint triathlons, 2 5k runs, at least 2 metric century bicycle rides (that's 62 miles each), and have won my age group in several 5k race walks, I am ridiculously clumsy and have broken my nose, sprained both my ankles (twice each), broken both my wrists, broken an arm, sprained a knee, stretched my ACL, tore my ACL, tore my MCL, and ripped my meniscus (aka knee cartiledge). The final ACL, MCL, and meniscus I did at the same time. It's called the unhappy triad. Pretty spectacular. I have also given myself a concussion and chipped a tooth. Interestingly enough I also took 7 years of ballet. I don't think it made me any more gracefull.

2) I sleep with a bear. I won't show a picture because Bear annoys my husband. Because Bear has been sleeping with me for 20 years and he's a little less than photogenic.

3) I have 3 brothers, 2 sisters, 3 stepbrothers, and a stepsister. And I'm close with all but one of them. Actually they are a bunch of fun.

4) When I was far younger I would play the piano and cluck along with the music like an operatic chicken. Sometimes I would pretend to be an opera singing chicken just for the heck of it. How about that as a good use of 10 years of piano lessons?

5) I worked for 6 years in energy marketing (think Enron although I never worked there). I now work in my husbands law firm. I'm glad to be at the law firm even though it's substantially less money.

There. Now don't you feel like you really know some bizarre and interesting facts about me? Well at least you know now some previously undisclosed facts about me. Well unless you knew them anyway, in which case, sorry for the boring post.

SO now it's my turn to tag 5 people. I hope you play along, but if you don't our loss I guess.

You're it!

Valli at More Than Burnt Toast

Courtney at Coco Cooks

Deborah at Taste and Tell

Mrs. White at Pretty to Think So

and Zylo at Mostly Adventurous Eating