Watching:
Before Midnight
I'm probably going to have a heart attack and die when I see this since Before Sunrise and Before Sunset are the best movies I've ever seen in my life. I heard this one is the best of the trio, which is easy to believe as the second one was better than the first. I love these movies so much I want to claim them, I want to say they are MINE! Ha! It's still in theatre, maybe I will actually go to the movies for this one.
Behind the Candelabra
My Girlfriends are raving about this, so I'm going to watch it tonight. The costumes look spectacular!
Eating:
Summer BBQ! Back in LA and def gonna be making ribs this week.
Here is a recipe from NPR
For the ribs and spice paste
4 racks true baby back ribs (each 3/4 to 1 pound), or 2 racks American baby back ribs (each 2 to 2 1/2 pounds)
6 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 piece (2 inches) fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon coarse salt (kosher or sea)
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon Asian fish sauce or more soy sauce
For the dipping sauce
4 teaspoons coarse salt (kosher or sea)
4 teaspoons white pepper 4 juicy limes, cut in half
Advance preparation
1 to 4 hours for marinating the ribs
1. Prepare the ribs and spice paste: If necessary, remove the thin, papery membrane from the back of each rack of ribs (see photo number 1, page 235) — some stores sell baby backs with the membrane removed. If you are using the larger racks of ribs, cut each rack in half. Place the ribs in a nonreactive baking dish just large enough to hold them in a single layer.
2. Place the garlic, ginger, sugar, 1 tablespoon of salt, and the black pepper in a mortar and pound to a paste with a pestle. If you do not have a mortar and pestle, puree these ingredients in a food processor. Work in the honey, soy sauce, and fish sauce. Spread the spice paste over the baby back ribs on both sides. Let the ribs marinate in the refrigerator, covered, for 1 to 4 hours; the longer the ribs marinate, the richer the flavor will be.
3. Prepare the ingredients for the dipping sauce: Place 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of white pepper in neat mounds side by side in each of 4 tiny bowls for the dipping sauce. Place 2 lime halves next to each bowl.
4. Set up the grill for direct grilling and preheat it to medium.
5. When ready to cook, brush and oil the grill grate. Place the ribs, bone side down, on the hot grate and grill until golden brown and cooked through, 8 to 12 minutes per side, a little longer for full-size ribs. Watch for flare-ups. Should they occur, move the ribs to another section of the grill. When the ribs are done, the meat will have shrunk back from the ends of the bones by about 1/4 inch.
6. Transfer the racks of ribs to a cutting board and cut them into individual ribs, then arrange them on a platter or plates for serving. Just before eating, instruct your guests to squeeze 1 to 2 tablespoons of lime juice into their bowls of salt and white pepper and stir them with chopsticks until mixed. Dip the ribs in the sauce before eating.
The Scoop:
Where: Siem Reap, Cambodia
What: Baby back ribs spiced with garlic and ginger and served with lime dipping sauce
How: Direct grilling
Just the facts: There once was a time when baby back ribs really were "baby." They came from Denmark, and the racks were so tender and small (three quarters to one pound), you could grill them directly, like pork chops. This is the sort of baby backs you find in Cambodia. You can also grill full-size American baby backs this way, but cut each rack in half before grilling.
Excerpted from Planet Barbecue!: 309 Recipes, 60 Countries by Steven Raichlen. Copyright 2010. Reprinted by permission of Workman Publishing Company.
Reading:
Going to start reading the Greengage Summer this week, reccomended by Sophie Dahl. I just finished "The Hillside Stranglers" Which was extremely dark but very interesting... need something light and a break from that intense book. Th Greengage sounds so beautiful and great. I cant wait!
"The faded elegance of Les Oeillets, with its bullet-scarred staircase and serene garden bounded by high walls; Eliot, the charming Englishman who became the children's guardian while their mother lay ill in hospital; sophisticated Mademoiselle Zizi, hotel patronne, and Eliot's devoted lover; 16 year old Joss, the oldest Grey girl, suddenly, achingly beautiful. And the Marne river flowing silent and slow beyond them all . . .
They would merge together in a gold-green summer of discovery, until the fruit rotted on the trees and cold seeped into their bones . . .
"The Greengage Summer" is Rumer Godden's tense, evocative portrait of love and deceit in the Champagne country of the Marne - which became a memorable film starring Kenneth More and Susannah York. In the preface, Rumer Godden explains how it came to be written.
'An exciting tale, this novel has both charm and atmosphere, and Miss Godden recaptures with an easy unsentimental naturalness the unfocused vision of adolescence' "Evening Standard"
It was also turned into a movie, here are some pictures:
Wearing:
Ripped up jeans and collared shirts!
