Movie Tuesday

Australia the Beautiful

Synopsis from netflix: From ancient, misty forests to canyons that conceal secrets from the age of dinosaurs; from pristine lakes to majestic peaks; and from sophisticated cities to some of the world's greatest wilderness areas, experience all of Australia's dramatic contrasts, dazzling wildlife and glorious landscapes. Highlights include the Great Barrier Reef, Lord Howe's Island, King's Canyon and Lake Eyre ... to name just a few.

Our view: Not the best documentary/travel promotion video I've ever seen. And I really like documentaries. I used to watch them in high school. I found it kind of boring, even though I was eating lunch while watching it. But it was very pretty. Oh, and the "highlights" are pretty much all they show. It did get me excited about going to Australia though (not that I need any more help).

Bride and Prejudice

Synopsis from netflix: Aishwarya Rai, Martin Henderson and Anupam Kher star in this joyous musical about the Bakhsi family, who's celebrating the arrival of a British-born man, Mr. Balraj, who may be perfect husband material for one the Bakhsis' four unmarried daughters -- Maya, Lucky, Jaya and, most especially, their eldest, Lalita (Rai). But Lalita refuses to marry someone handpicked for her, believing instead in true love, which just may be waiting in the wings.

Our view: Make that my view. Dh was watching basketball, and I don't think there's much I could have done to convince him to watch it. I LOVED IT. I love bollywood films, though. This one was great. All of the omissions that made Once an atypical musical are included in this one - breaking out into cheesy songs while walking down the street plus more. Rich, you would hate it. And Rory Gilmore was in it, I mean Alexis Bledel. I love Rory Gilmore. Except in Sin City. But that's another story.

Juno

Synopsis (from netflix): Facing an unplanned pregnancy, teenage Juno (Ellen Page) devises a plan to locate the proverbial perfect parents to adopt her baby. But the seemingly ideal couple Juno chooses still has some growing up to do. Now, everyone in Juno's world must do a little soul-searching. Michael Cera co-stars while Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner play the pair of affluent yuppies anxious for a child in this offbeat coming-of-age comedy, which won the 2008 Oscar for Best Original.

Our view: We really liked it. We pretty much laughed through the entire movie. At times it is irreverant (a teenager is pregnant), but very cute. I'd recommend it to people who would like Garden State.

Bourne Identity

Synopsis from netflix: A man (Matt Damon) washes up on an island in the Mediterranean Sea, suffering from gunshot wounds and amnesia. He soon realizes he's being hunted down by assassins and that he's very good at killing them before they get him … but the question of his identity perplexes him as he fights to stay alive. Franka Potente co-stars in this action thriller based on Robert Ludlum's novel.

Our view: First of all, he didn't wash up on an island... whatever netflix. Anyway, we tried to watch the second movie on tv and thought it'd be a good idea to start from the beginning. They're confusing enough as it is. We liked it, again. Though I did change into my pj's during the car chase scene. Car chases bore and annoy me.


HWotD:
'alemanaka - calendar
"ah-lee-mah-nah-kah"

I'm not a very daring baker... but

On a website I frequent, there are some things that are very popular. Tuesdays with Dorie, where a whole bunch of people make a specific recipe from Dorie Greenspan and post their results to their blogs on Fridays (ha, just kidding) make that Tuesday. Daring Bakers is a monthly event, I believe, where everyone agrees to bake one specific recipe that month and then post about it. I don't usually do those challenges. Who has that time? Who wants to eat all of that goodness? I certainly would love to eat a cheesecake or layer cake each week, but I don't think my ever-expanding-waistline would. But anyway, I just glean the results from all of the challenges.

The most recent Daring Baker challenge was Cheesecake Pops. They're all the rage these days, as evidenced by Hostess With the Mostess blogging about them today (seriously cute - go check them out!). Anyway, I chose to go Chele's (from Sugar & Spice) approach. Instead of making pops, I decided to make bonbons. And they're fabulous!

Please look at Chele's pictures.
Her bonbons are pretty.
Mine are definitely function over form.

Cheesecake Pops
(Source: “Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey” by Jill O’Connor)

Makes 30 - 40 Pops (I halved it, and it worked well)

For the cheesecake:
5 8-oz. packages cream cheese at room temperature
2 cups sugar
¼ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
5 large eggs (I used three large eggs for the half recipe)
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
¼ cup heavy cream (I used half and half)
Boiling water as needed

For the pops:
Thirty to forty 8-inch lollipop sticks

1 pound chocolate, finely chopped - you can use all one kind or half and half of dark, milk, or white (Alternately, you can use 1 pound of flavored coatings, also known as summer coating, confectionary coating or wafer chocolate - candy supply stores carry colors, as well as the three kinds of chocolate.)

2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
(Note: White chocolate is harder to use this way, but not impossible)

Assorted decorations such as chopped nuts, colored jimmies, crushed peppermints, mini chocolate chips, sanding sugars, dragees) - Optional

Directions:
Position oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Set some water to boil. In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, flour, and salt until smooth. If using a mixer, mix on low speed. Add the whole eggs and the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well (but still at low speed) after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and cream.

Grease a 10-inch cake pan (not a springform pan), and pour the batter into the cake pan. Place the pan in a larger roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with the boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake until the cheesecake is firm and slightly golden on top, 35 to 45 minutes.

Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and cool to room temperature. Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until very cold, at least 3 hours or up to overnight.

When the cheesecake is cold and very firm, scoop the cheesecake into 2-ounce balls and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Carefully insert a lollipop stick into each cheesecake ball. Freeze the cheesecake pops, uncovered, until very hard, at least 1 - 2 hours.

When the cheesecake pops are frozen and ready for dipping, prepare the chocolate. In the top of a double boiler, set over simmering water, or in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, heat half the chocolate and half the shortening, stirring often, until chocolate is melted and chocolate and shortening are combined. Stir until completely smooth. Do not heat the chocolate too much or your chocolate will lose it’s shine after it has dried. Save the rest of the chocolate and shortening for later dipping, or use another type of chocolate for variety.

Alternately, you can microwave the same amount of chocolate coating pieces on high at 30 second intervals, stirring until smooth.

Quickly dip a frozen cheesecake pop in the melted chocolate, swirling quickly to coat it completely. Shake off any excess into the melted chocolate. If you like, you can now roll the pops quickly in optional decorations. You can also drizzle them with a contrasting color of melted chocolate (dark chocolate drizzled over milk chocolate or white chocolate over dark chocolate, etc.) Place the pop on a clean parchment paper-lined baking sheet to set. Repeat with remaining pops, melting more chocolate and shortening (or confectionary chocolate pieces) as needed.

Refrigerate the pops for up to 24 hours, until ready to serve (ha! If you can last that long...)

HWotD:
'ekolu - three
"eh-koe-lou"

WW: My new XTi!!!

A flower on a tree near our back door.
I have no idea what kind of tree it is.

I got this idea from An Island Life - but for more WW participants,

visit the official WW Hub or 5 Minutes for Mom.

HWotD:
'elua - two
"eh-loo-ah"

So, that's a kind of a good thing, right?

I babysat two girls last week. One was 6, the other, 4. Their mother is expecting the third child.

I was waiting for the inevitable question, and it came about 30 minutes before I put them to bed.

"Miss Julie, are you pregnant? Our mom is pregnant."

"No. Do I look pregnant?

"No. You don't look fat. You're skinny like Hannah Montana, but with a fatter head."

Representin' the GR

DH got this shirt for his birthday as a gift from my parents. I originally saw it on Katie's blog.

Isn't it funny??

What makes it even funnier is that when DH graduated from the academy, he had to write down what his top choices were for where he would be stationed. On that same "dream sheet," he also had the chance to write down two places he would NOT like to go. He and his best friend both listed "Alaska and Michigan" as places they would NOT like to be stationed. Turns out both DH and his best friend married girls from West Michigan. Hahaha.

Thanks, Mom and Dad.

All in one - a good thing?

Well, in the case of Fourbuck's Thanksgiving-in-a-sandwich, it's certainly not a good thing. You know, those sandwiches that have turkey, cranberries, lettuce, and stuffing all crammed between two pieces of bread? That's no good. Disgusting.

And we all know that shampoo plus conditioner really doesn't work.

But I found this sunscreen when we were abroad last year, and LOVED it. It's made by RoC, and is called Minesol? Ok, but this is what I love about it - it not only is SPF 30, but it also has bronzing power. So, it's like you get doubly dark while still being good to your skin. Fabulous!
Ok, but now, where do I get it??? Any suggestions? Does anyone have any magic sunscreen they would like to recommend??


HWotD:
'ekahi - one
"eh-kah-hee"

May Day is Lei Day in Hawai'i Nei!

Oh, how I miss my ku'u home.