The Class: O Brother, Where Art Thou?

THE CLASS:
Jailbird BBQ Chicken Wings
Pappy O'Daniel's Buttermilk Biscuits 'n' Honey Butter
Grilled Boneless Rib Eye Steak with “Gratinated” Potatoes
Sauteed Greens & Corn
Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie


First things first... Wow, what a great class. Full house. Thanks all who came and especially the staff and volunteers at Central Market for a great job in making it happen.

I'm gonna say it one more time, though I've said it in the last few posts, that if you've been following this adventure, you'll know I got myself a herniated disc at the end of February which pretty much put me out of commission for almost two months. After that, my life was pretty much focused on physical therapy and getting myself functional again. The biggest problem, and remains so, is that sitting for long periods of time is not beneficial for me (as if it ever was!). So I took a break from it all in for the sake of my health.

And as I have for the last half decade now, I hightailed it up to Montreal to get away from the Texas heat of summer. This summer, because being in Montreal affords me a lot of opportunity to walk, I decided to take a longer than usual trip. I also took on more work than I usually do which meant more sitting on my duff than I wanted, but everyone's gotta work and thankfully, so far, I haven't had any recurring issues, though I'm still not all back (in my back) yet.

Hopefully, you've been following me on either Facebook or Twitter as I've been posting some cool links, to try and keep you amused, of food and/or movie related articles, as well as some of the articles I've written over the summer. If not, here are some links to them (shameless self-promotion time) which I hope you will enjoy reading.

The Class: Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds

THE MEAL:
Alfred Hitchcock's Quiche Lorraine
Classic California Caesar Salad
Quick French Bread
Coq au Vin
North Beach Style Zabaione with fresh Berries



Happy Halloween!

Let start right off with an apology... I'm a little upset because since I planned this class, and wrote up and tried all the recipes, I've discovered that Hitchcock's daughter, Pat, wrote a biography of her mother, Alma, and in it included a bunch of recipes! Including one for a roast chicken! ACK!! Well, it's too late, baby. But the good news is that there are a lot of other Hitchcock films to write about, right?

TV Bites: Escape from New York

THE SNACK:
Isaac Hayes' "Gonna Get Some" Cornish Game Hens w/Wild Rice Stuffing



Had a rough week last week. Caught a respiratory infection from breathing too much smoke and ash in the air from the wildfires, combined with a bad allergy attack, that pretty much turned into a bronchitis. I was down for like five days. But then had to get better because it was ACLfest last weekend here in Austin. I only caught a couple of acts - Manu Chao (at an after show), Black Dub, Stevie Wonder, and Randy Newman (at a separate ACL taping). But that's all I really needed to see.

Now yesterday was the first day of this year's Fantastic Fest, so I thought it appropriate to feature one of my favorite genre films of all time. It's also part two of the September New York double bill. And boy do I love this movie. John Carpenter has sadly been relegated, I think, to being lionized by only genre film fans. And his films - statements about the times he lived in disguised as genre films - as far as I'm concerned, should be studied more seriously.

While this film was made in 1980, Carpenter first wrote the script in 1974, right after Scorsese made Mean Streets. (If I were going to make this a triple bill, the 3rd movie would be The Warriors, for sure.) So yeah, New York was a tough place in the late 70's and early 80's. A park like Union Square - which today is filled at night with people walking their dogs and playing chess - was considered utterly unsafe to enter once darkness came. That Carpenter - and audiences at that time - could believe New York City could shut down and be re-purposed as a maximum security prison - was not so much science fiction. In one interview as it was being released, when Carpenter explains that New York has been turned into such a prison in the film's future-present, the British fanzine reporter quips: "Isn't it one already?" I got to see some crazy s#!t when I was growing up, I tell you. But more on this later....

TV Bites: Footlight Parade

THE SNACK:
Joan Blondell's Chicken Chop Suey



I was reading an interview with Buck Henry and he was talking about movies, or scenes of movies, he carries in his head. Footlight Parade is one I've been carrying in my head for like 40 years now. I remember watching it on TV as a kid, and later seeing on the big screen at the Castro Theater in San Francisco whenever they showed it (at least once a year) in the late 70's & early 80's (which often led to visits afterwards to Sam Wo's for noodles). I think Joan Blondell may have been the first movie star crush I ever had. How could you not?

TV Bites: Sin Nombre

THE SNACK:
Chile Verde Chicken Tacos w/Creamy Avocado Sauce



Well I survived my month long adventure in Southeast Asia. I am actually starting to work on this during the first leg of my 28 hours total of airplanes and airports before I close the front door of my house with me inside and lay down in my own bed again.

TV Bites: Shoot the Piano Player (Tirez sur le pianiste)

THE SNACK:
Un Sandwich de Poulet, Pomme et Brie
(Roast Chicken, Apple & Brie Sandwich)



It's TV Bites time and this time around I'm doing two French movies back to back. But not just two movies directed by two great French directors. Both movies, 21 years apart, were adapted from pulp novels written by American authors. Both movies' locations are transposed to different locations. Both to different eras than when they were written. Both are done with a jazz score. Both are available in Criterion DVD editions. And both movies, I love dearly. Oh yeah, and both movies are rarely, if ever, broadcast on any American cable channel. Any guesses on the 2nd?