The Dopplergangers are in an uproar this week, and for once, I can't blame them. I actually wore a winter coat to one of my appointments this week. I didn't have to take it off until well into the afternoon when I was very close to home. This week, it's going to be 90 degrees at the beach with triple digits in the neighborhood where my hospital is located. Along with the heat and the fire danger, there will be bad air alerts. Groovy. I'm on all kinds of meds that restrict going out in sunlight. It's time to take out the big hat and paper parasol. I feel like one of Simon Molinar's offspring where sunlight is concerned. Inside won't be much fun either. I have cooking on my agenda that involves roasting tomatoes and garlic. Even with air conditioning, that will be very entertaining. Still, I have a craving for stuffed peppers. I have basil to use up in a roasted tomato sauce. And I needed to get a few dishes ahead for when the commute kicks my butt. More on that is detailed below. I'll just have to brave the heat for a while.
Foodie Fun
Those who know of my devotion (or obsession) with TV food shows may think that I am leaping upon recipes as hey are presented on the shows. Sometimes, I do. It's been fun sending photos of the dishes to the Facebook or Twitter pages of my favorite chefs. Yes, I get the most jazzed about responses from chefs on my social media outlets than the actors. But sometimes, I'm merely pointed in a direction by an episode's recipe. The stuffed peppers are a case in point. The recipe I was looking at called for bulgur wheat instead of rice. I was game to try it, because I really like bulgur wheat in tabouleh. However, Jon is not that keen on chewing wheat (despite being the carb guru that he is). He has such a thing about textures that I can't get him into risotto (even at its creamiest, he finds it too chewy). So, it's regular rice along with lamb in the pepper for this batch. This will be closer to what my mother used to make and matches my current cravings. I think I'll send the photo to the chef anyway.
This week was busy with appointments. I spent a lot of time traveling for very short visits or spent a short amount of time traveling only to wait hours for service. Each day brought a mix of joys and irritations. I know I was exhausted from a 15 minute blood test. That may be because of the two hour commute home that followed. These vast patches of time gave me the opportunity to finish my first foray into food fiction (fiction where food is a main theme). The book I happened to devour was The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister .I had no idea that there was a category for food fiction. I mean, here's a fiction that is right up my alley and I had no idea that it existed. Follow the link to Ms Bauermeister's lovely work. I won't spoil it be describing every detail here. It should unfold for the next reader as it did for me and be a source of absolute delight.
Exposure to this sumptuously written prose served as a timely reminder as to why I write some of the fiction that I write. There is even a new term for that – or it may not be new. Who knows? – anyway, it's called Romantica or Romantic Erotica. Alas, there are no wiki entries for that or food fiction yet. Where was I? Ah yes, I like to write in great loving detail about greatly detailed loving. Of late, I've been obsessing about page count and getting the plot down while I'm lucid and able that I sometimes forget to allow myself to get lost in the textures and scents and sounds involved in seduction. There are sounds to searing meats and there are wonderful scents from mushrooms browning. It's easy to remember to involve all the senses when cooking and eating. Reading food fiction reminded me that I loose all those senses when I am writing well. I'm loving the character work that is developing in all of the fiction that I am working on, but I was reminded while reading that very tasty novel to slow down even further and give the prose the texture, scents and tastes that it needs to really come alive. Sometimes I need to be reminded that the act of spinning the yarn is as enjoyable as having the book at the end. I was delightfully reminded of that through The School of Essential Ingredients. That, and I really want to cook some mushrooms. Hey, I could make some risotto with those – just for me.
My next adventures will be with Ann Mah's Kitchen Chinese and Anthony Bourdain's food related crime fiction. I'll let you know how that works out and what those books inspire.
Hawaii Five-O
Forget Mad Men as the big pop culture who-ha. The show reminds me of the Larry Tate Agency . And it's not just me. When I Googled Larry Tate for an image, I also got Ma
d Men in response to the search. Incidentally, the character Larry Tate should not be confused with the band, the Larry Tate Experience. Where was I? Oh, not fixating on Mad Men. After all, there is a remake of Hawaii Five-0 to be horrified over. Those who know me well know in what high esteem I hold this venerable police procedural – that pimp episode notwithstanding...or that disco episode. Five-O was a series of firsts. It was the first show to have profilers. It was the first to address delayed stress syndrome in soldiers. It was among the first to have ninjas. This was all while still in the 60s. It could be a gritty and dangerous and often clever show. Thus, I went into this new series with one eyebrow up to my hairline. Surprisingly, I didn't hate the pilot. It isn't really like the original. This version has something entirely different going on though it does seem to have it's own Wo Fat (Victor Hesse, played by James Marsters whom I adore but not as a Wo Fat)– one thing I thought the original could do without. Can Alex O'Loughlin take the mantle of Steve McGarrett? I'm not sure. I still think that David Caruso's Horatio Caine of CSI: Miami has been filling those shoes quite well. And even in the stylized violence of the Five-0 pilot, the entire team still didn't kill as many people as Caine did in the opening of the episode where he faced down the ill fated Mala Noche gang in Brazil. Will I keep watching? Probably. The show has an easy going style with a twisted sense of humor and an attractive cast. As long as it doesn't get too annoying, I'll go along for the ride.
Updates
The interviews from Demon Under Glass are finally getting under way. I did the first pass editing them last week. Jon is now adding some footage from the film to go with the actor's answers. We were just going to have a simple Q&A on film, but we've picked up a number of new viewers of the film who aren't as familiar with the history of the project and all of the backstories. Thus, Jon and I decided to have footage along with the actor responses. The first one may go up as early as tonight. We'll release them as they are finished. The web series are going according to schedule. We should be casting the remaining roles for Demon on the Run in a few weeks.
Stay tuned.
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