Eat It

Shoot. Only day four of NaBloPoMo and I feel like I've got nothing to say. So instead of the usual ramblings, here is my very own recipe for delicious winter-warming tomato sauce, which I created and enjoyed with some meatballs, cheap wine, and good friends on Sunday. My intent was to replicate the Spicy Hot Tomato Oil that is the hallmark of Syracuse, NY restaurant Pastabilities (pictured below). I'm still working on nailing it, but it's a pretty good imitation, in my humble opinion. The measurements are inexact to say the least, I just kind of wing it.

I haven't blogged too much about it, but cooking is a big part of my life, and a really good way to cheer up any early-onset winter blues. Here are 15 recipes from Apartment Therapy's blog The Kitchn, all designed for autumn evenings. Vegetarians be warned, they're meat-based... and look amazing.

Moxie's Spicy Hot Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:
Crushed tomatoes - 2 cans
6 cloves Garlic
2 cups Olive Oil
A Lot of Crushed Red Pepper
1/2 a chopped onion
A Bay Leaf
Dried Oregano
Cumin
Salt
Sugar
Breadcrumbs
*Sriracha sauce! Spicy!

Mince up some garlic - a lot! Put a ton of olive oil in a big pan, nice and hot, and throw in the garlic and a lot of crushed red pepper. A lot! A whole lot. Cook the garlic w/ the pepper until it's nice and browned, more brown that you normally would for cooking. You want it to be a nice medium brown toasted color. Add a 1/2 onion finely chopped and sautee for a little while.

Throw in 2 big cans of the most authentic-Italian looking crushed tomatoes you can find. Add some dried oregano, and a bay leaf. Add some cumin if you have it. Let it sit and gently simmer for a while.

Add plenty of salt, don't be shy! Also add a good amount sugar - start with two tablespoons and keep adding until the flavor starts out with a bang, before the herb flavors kick in. Add some breadcrumbs to thicken the sauce up a bit if it's too soupy.

Throw in just a little bit of Sriracha! Top it off with some fresh basil when you serve it, and your friends will think you are devastatingly fancy.

Happy NaBloPoMo!

Hey y'all, it's November, and that means it's time for NaBloPoMo, aka National Blog Posting Month! And I've already screwed up, missing a post on yesterday's big kickoff day. But one little slip-up cannot break my spirit!

So in the spirit of the throwing-spaghetti-on-the-wall that is NaBloPoMo, here are a few things that are of interest to me today:

Sad story: Brighton Beach Memoirs officially closed yesterday, and it's counterpart Broadway Bound has been cancelled. Some say a lack of "wow factor" is to blame, which seems pretty apt. As discussed last week, it seems nearly impossible for a play to succeed on Broadway without major major stars or another big splashy selling point to spread the word. If it ain't got Jude Law, it better leave people saying "well that's the best thing I've ever experienced in my life." Kinda tough.

How often do you agree with everything on a 50-item list? One Hundred Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do (NY Times)

Jaime at Surplus is also NaBloPoMo'ing, go pay her a visit, she is a delight.

And finally, this is the single best thing I've seen all day:

That's right, it's Cheyenne Jackson on 30 Rock, with waffles! More photos here.

NaBloPoMo: I did it! Well, almost.

Hey, today is the last day of November, which means NaBloPoMo is over! Wow, I can't believe how fast it went by. And a whole Broadway strike, and I still managed to have something to write about! I'm still pissed that I missed that one day when I was stuck in Pennsyltucky. I've learned a lot from blogging every day this month, but the most striking thing I've realized is that writing begets more writing - that the more you write, the easier it is to do, and the more naturally it flows. I expected this month to be really tough, but it was easy!

So here are two fun things to check out, one theater-related and one totally off-topic.


First, warm your winter-frosted heart with Bixby Elliot's list of the best of Broadway Youtube. He compiled it as a cure to the bway strike blues, but everything on there is great musical theater fun, strike or not. Highlights: Carrie the musical, Jeff Whitty doing a Katherine Hepburn rap in 1986, high school versions of Les Miz with through-the-roof production values, Lea Salonga's Miss Saigon audition, and of course, the legendary performance of Jennifer Holliday at the Tony Awards, singing THAT song.


And then there's this, the blog of a woman who rescued Charlie, a wild Coyote puppy, and is raising him and blogging the whole thing. Dooce says it better than me, "the photos alone will make your heart explode". Charlie the Coyote's mama says:

“What are you going to do when Charlie grows up?” Well, only one can answer this question, and it’s not me. It’s Charlie.

I took Charlie in because the alternative was him being drowned in a water tank. There was one clear answer at that moment in time, one clear answer of what I needed to do for him. And I know the answers will continue to come as he grows up and as we grow together....

...From the beginning, I have made the commitment to let Charlie decide his destiny; to do right by him without attaching my own desires to the outcome or interfering with human logic. You can join me in seeing what unfolds.

"This is Danny Tanner reminding *you* that disco will never die!"

Ouch - only day 5 of NaBloPoMo, and I'm hitting a day when it's tough to post. Today was a very busy Monday, including the lengthy Artios Awards (for casting) this evening, which I'll post about in the next few days. Suffice it to say, it takes several drinks to sustain a jovial tone over the course of the evening. And if you don't take advantage of the free drinks, you'll be left sober at the end of the night with nothing but a gift bag filled with a Susan Lucci dermabrasion kit and backissues of Variety.

Highlights of the evening include Bob Saget's analysis of his current role as The Drowsy Chaperone's Man In Chair - produced by Bob Boyett, who also produced a little tv show called Full House. According to Saget, both shows feature him playing characters who wear cardigan sweaters and are ambiguously gay. More later on this, and other escapades in castingland.

P.S. The title of this post is an actual quote from Full House, taken from imdb's entertaining "memorable quotes" feature.

NaBloPoMo, Yo!

Hey, y'all - today is the first day of NaBloPoMo! That stands for National Blog Posting Month, where participants are challenged to blog every day, all month long. I have to admit to some trepidation as I set out on this task, and fear I may be subjecting you to some more-zany-than-usual whimsy. You know, as opposed to my usual beautifully constructed, well-thought-out posts.

Other participants include Jaime of Surplus, and 87 people who blog about knitting.