cooking for adoption

This isn't just any ole' cookbook...

ALL proceeds from the sales go to the adoption of two boys from Uganda.

Read more and/or purchase one here.

Think birthday, baby shower, and Christmas presents!

:: vintage pop

Or I could have titled this one "Of Soda and Culture" :)

Last night at the gym, I saw a special on the history and marketing brilliance of the Coca-Cola industry.

So, I thought I would share one of their vintage commercials:

I think this could be considered "Classic American Art" in the film medium, don't you?

About the actual documentary:

It can be purchased here.

There's another NBC showing on October 3, as you can see here.

Or, (surprise!) you can watch it here whenever you please.

fabric samples and funny friday

I ordered samples of all of these fabrics yesterday:

Lots of projects are in my head, including curtains, pillows, and maybe even attempting to sew a slipcover for a chair and ottoman this summer.

Any thoughts on these fabrics?

Now, for the funnies:

I took this photo on my last trip to Greenville, SC. I was tired and grumpy from unsuccessful househunting and being badgered by Realtors, so I decided to stop by Starbuck's for a bottle of water and some chocolate covered espresso beans. I sat outside in the sun and noticed this on the table where I was sitting:

Speaking of smoking, did you hear that a study has shown that smoking lowers the risk of Parkinson's disease? Of course, they weren't saying people should smoke, but they do hope to discover why cigarettes lower the PD risk and put that information to beneficial use. Article here.

Be back Tuesday with a report on the wedding shower!

for me, it's certainly the commercials

Husband is a big football fan, and (as you probably know by now) I like witty advertisements, so Super Bowl Sunday is the bees knees in our book.

However, we spent the first three quarters at a party, where we saw most of the game but everyone talked and re-filled appetizer plates and wine glasses during the commercials. Ah me, as Julia Child would say. Or, carry on, as Kurt Vonnegut might say.

Since we came home for the 4th quarter, I did see a few. Of those, this was my favorite:

And Husband managed to catch this preview early on in the game, and he is counting down the days till this comes to theaters in May:

Any favorite Super Bowl commercials?

water music revealed... and a few other tidbits

(1)

Husband's Dog-loo was still standing as of yesterday afternoon.

It's turned to a structure of solid ice. We now see why this was considered a formidable-enough structure for Eskimos' dwellings.

(2)

I found the MOST AMAZING website. Very helpful indeed.

You can search most personal and household care products and find not only customer reviews BUT ALSO environmental and health ratings. It will tell you what, if any, harmful ingredients lurk in your favorite products. For example, I discovered that my daytime moisturizer (which doubles as my "makeup") contains a cancer-causing agent-- oh and and I am really struggling. I love my moisturizer and it's taken me years to find one that I love. So now I am trying to decide if I should risk developing cancer or launch my search for the perfect moisturizer yet again. It's a toss-up, I tell ya.

I also discovered that my environmentally safe dish detergent is not altogether environmentally safe, due to the fact that the company who manufactures it is terrible at water and energy conservation. Good to know. So, the search continues in that department as well.

It's a good site to search your products' ratings, for whichever fields concern you most.

(3)

Do you have any subscriptions to magazines that actually require you to sit down and read informative, in-depth articles rather than merely flip through and admire lovely photos and tab tasty recipes?

We do. We like to subscribe to one of those kind per year. This year, it's the Smithsonian. It seems they show up in our mailbox before we're half-way through the previous issue. It's a rat race to keep up.

In catching up on my December Smithsonian reading, I read an article about Handel's music and learned that, "He wrote The Water Music [...] for George I, to be performed for the monarch as His Majesty's barge navigated through a London canal on a summer evening."

Like this or this:

"Ah-ha!" thought I when reading this and considering how I've always wondered at that lovely title: The Water Music. That explains it!

Alice in... Trouble???

One of my favorite tales of all time is The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland.

If you only know Disney's version, consider it your current obligation to some of the greatest children's literature of all time to read the original tale. Lewis Carroll is wacky and ephemeral and beautiful and grotesque and full of values all in one.

Disney's Alice touched nicely on all these elements, and it's certainly eye candy to any viewer, young or old. But, for me, it failed to engage as many senses and inspired fewer brain bursts of a vivid Wonderland than Carroll's mere pen and ink.

(Well, Carroll may have utilized a little more than pen and ink, if you know what I mean, but we won't speak ill of the hobbies and pursuits of the dead on this blog,

which is one of many reasons I haven't mentioned ole' Michael J.)

Now, Tim Burton has me nervous. On one hand, I do see the artistic significance of a Tim Burton Alice and I realize that two visions of Alice are better than one, since that will keep us grounded in the mystery and ultimate unknown of Alice and her Wonderland (because I always thought it was more hers than that mean old Queen's or hurrisome, paranoid old White Rabbit's). Plus, two interpretations will not allow Disney the hegemony of the visual Alice.

But my concern is that Tim Burton, being Tim Burton and all, will only be able to pull from the grotesque and eerie of Carrollism.

I give you Exhibit A:

In the film, sweet Anne Hathaway's character looks, as first glance, like Gwen Stefanie (and no offense to Gwen, but I cannot picture her in Carroll's Wonderland). And not only Gwen, but Gwen dressed up on Halloween as C.S. Lewis's Ice Queen from The Chronicles of Narnia.

Plus, in visually overstimulating films such as Disney's and Burton's, it's easy to miss the witty remarks that are laced throughout the original text. Go here to read some.

My latest theory is that Tim Burton is somehow from the same bloodline as Roald Dahl: a bloodline of dark genius that's somehow been channeled into an urge to create childhood fantasia. I appreciate them both. But they both leave me feeling a slight pessimistic dishevel.

Well, the film is coming in 2010, whether I am okay with it or not.

SO:

What do you think Burton will do for the visual Alice?

Will he help or hinder or have no effect on the Alice of heirloom Carrollism?

Or, do you think Burton will more closely connect with Carroll's Alice?

That's certainly a possibility. Maybe Carroll would be so happy with the film he'd share his "pen and ink" paraphernalia with Burton for creating such a perfect interpretation of his Masterpiece. Maybe I'm just being overly sentimental... maybe I should let it be modernized... and Burtonized... oh dear.

Feels like Christmas...

In the Caribbean!

Fresh Peas from our garden. My husband grows them to eat fresh, straight from the pod, as an appetizer. Isn't that poetic? Old fashioned? I love it.

Refresh:

Ahhhh, the (2nd) best time of year to celebrate green and red! Tomatoes at their best, basil that seems to be on steroids, cucumbers bursting with cool, sweet peas, nutty arugula.... as good as a Christmas feast (the other time of year to celebrate green and red).

On Saturday, our Basil garden was getting out of hand, and the Tomato in our fridge had reached a rare peak in perfect.

Bruschetta:

Several Fresh Basil Leaves, Finely chopped

1 Large Tomato, diced

Garlic Powder, to taste

Modena Balsamic Vinegar, about 2-3 T

Fresh Mozzarella to spread on toast

Whole Wheat bread, sliced and toasted

I got this idea from Fly Through My Window. A cucumber recipe was posted there on Saturday, but I didn't have all the ingredients in my fridge. So it led me to this:

Cucumber Spread:

Low-fat Cream Cheese (about 4 oz.)

Smart Balance Mayo (use 1 part mayo to 3 parts CrCh)

Garlic Powder, to taste

Fresh Lemon Juice from 1/2 lemon

Feta Cheese Crumbles

all mixed together

When we finished our 2-course lunch, Husband said, "I feel like I could take over the world!"

But we took a peacful nap instead.

In the News:

If you're headed to Amsterdam for any particular reason, the Anne Fank Museum is putting Anne's diary on permanent public display. Read about it in the NY Times here.