Month: December 2015

Room

LaurenLeave a comment

Come winter, Joey and I become movie theater dwellers.  And you have no idea how happy it makes my little heart to live in a city with funky old theaters that show lesser known films.  Not that I have anything against the more popular blockbusters (because we totally see those too), but the smaller pictures are just so much more creative and interesting and I haven’t already seen 90% of the important parts in the overplayed trailer.

We kicked off our 2015 movie season with Room on Saturday night at the Mayan Theater.  I invited my sister and Wayne, partly because I wanted to soak up as much family time as possible during Thanksgiving weekend and party because I wanted to show off our Denver movie theater and the cool movies they show.  (For the record, she was less impressed with the theater than with the movie…).

Room

WHOA.  The movie was so astounding and thought-provoking.  SPOILER ALERT (though if you watch the trailer you already get the gist of the plot): It’s about a mother (Joy) and her 5-year-old son (Jack) who live in Room, aka a shed equipped with a bed, toilet, bathtub and kitchen, where they live in captivity.  It slowly unfolds that the mother was abducted at 17 and Jack is the son of she and her captor.  She’s able to shield that truth from Jack, making him believe Room is the whole world and only outer space exists outside the walls.  Eventually, Jack escapes, Joy is rescued and the two of them are returned to her parents, leaving them to deal with life in the real world.

I hate to say I enjoyed the movie because there is so much about it that’s dark and depressing and all too realistic but I thought it was so well done.  The acting, the plot, the undeniable love that Joy shows her son despite having every reason to be miserable and defeated.  Jacob Tremblay, who plays Jack, is so adorable and in case you’re thinking Brie Larson looks really familiar, she’s from 21 Jump Street, you guys!  As in, total opposite of the serious dramatic performance she puts on in Room.  The range of emotions I went through while watching this movie was just insane.  Fear, anger, sympathy, hope, and even happiness.  In other words, highly recommended and a great way to start our movie season!

Wishing you all a Happy Friday!

Thanksgiving 2015 Recipe Review

Lauren1 Comment

Hello from the other side… of November.  Okay, that was dumb but what I’m really trying to say is that IT’S DECEMBER.  As in snow-outside-my-window, office-Christmas-tree-being-put-up (right now!), me-sending-psycho-“LET’S DO ALL THE HOLIDAY THINGS!!!”-texts-to-Joey December.  I officially declare this the month of feasting, holiday get together-ing and classy boozing.  So here’s all the recipes I used for Thanksgiving to get you inspired!

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Good Old American White Rolls

For whatever reason, I can never get stuff with yeast to rise, but I turned the oven to 200° for 5 minutes, then turned it off and stuck the dough inside and these rose perfectly.  They turned out just like a classic white dinner roll should.  Oh and they were HUGE.

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(Oh my god.  I just pulled that picture from a 2010 blog post, for real.)

The Best Vegan Green Bean Casserole

I’ve made this every year for the past six years and it never disappoints.  I made it gluten free this year by subbing arrowroot powder for flour and yes, it did change the consistency/color of the sauce but I think I was the only one who noticed.  And look, I know that picture shows panko but just buy the fried onions in a can.  It’s so worth it this one time a year.

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Maple Garlic Whipped Sweet Potatoes

If you ask me, this was the best thing we made this year.  But if you ask my sister, it tasted like salami and if you ask Joey, it was too garlicky.  Psh, more leftovers for me!  P.S. Note those rolls again because: YUM.

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Pumpkin-Caramel Tart with Toasted-Hazelnut Crust

Uh serious yum.  Leave it to Bon Appétit to create an updated version of the good ol’ pumpkin pie.  I loved the subtle caramel flavor and I really loved that you could make this two days ahead.  And who knew it was that easy to make caramel sauce?  A dangerous discovery!

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New England Express

DING, DING, DING!  This was a crowd favorite!  Because A) The thyme syrup can be made ahead of time B) The rest can be mixed together in a matter of minutes and C) The rum is dangerously hard to detect.  We doubled the recipe and had no trouble drinking almost all of it.  Definite keeper.

Happy Wednesday!