Let's Use Fresh Green Beans!

I had never cooked with "real" green beans before... you know, the ones that don't come in a can.  So I decided now was the time to go fresh! For dinner, JP and I dined on Curried Beans and Potatoes served with Chicken.

What you need:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic- I used 2tsp of garlic that JP buys in the jar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric- I didn't have it. It's about 2.50 for a little container but it'll last you a long time!
• 1/8-1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper- I used crushed red pepper because it is what we had and it worked fine.
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
• 3 medium red potatoes
• 4 cups green beans- I just grabbed 4 handfuls while I was at the store and used them all.  I have very small hands so maybe for someone with big hands use 3 handfuls

 What you do:
Heat olive oil over medium heat in large skillet and add garlic.  Let garlic simmer on medium heat for about 1 minute.
Add turmeric, red pepper, pepper, and potatoes.  Mix together and let simmer for about 1 minute.
Add green beans.  Add a small amount of water (I used 1/4 cup) and let steam.  After steaming for a few minutes turn on low heat. You don't want to the beans to get too soft.

While the beans are cooking, I started the chicken.  I didn't really know what spices would go well with turmeric so I decided to use curry powder.  The curry powder bottle had a recipe for chicken on it so I just used all the spices that recipe used.


Also, I used two chicken breasts since there are two of use but you could definitely use more.

Place chicken in medium skillet on medium-high heat. Add 1/2 cup water or so. 
Lightly season chicken with curry powder, garlic salt, and paprika. (I probably used 1/4 tsp. or less of each)
Cook until no longer raw inside!

 We both really liked it!  Overall it was a pretty cheap meal as well.

How did that not come up?

This makes me laugh!  Probably because it is so true.  It happens to us all the time, and not just with relationship related stuff.

Recently this conversation happened:
JP: I talked to my brother.  He has a job interview.
Me: Oh, that's great! When is it?
JP: I don't know.
Me: Where is it?
JP: I don't know.
Me: How do you not know those things but know he has an interview? You didn't ask?

Lawrence of Arabia.

AFI Ranking: 7th
Release Date: 1962

We went from watching one really long film (Gone with the Wind, 224 minutes) to another really long film, Lawrence of Arabia, 216 minutes.  We ended up watching Lawrence in one night.  We went on a walk at internmission.

I probably would never watch this movie again, but I am glad I saw it once.  It was set during World War I and based on the life of T.E. Lawrence.

This film gave me a new respect for camels and the desert.  At one point in time the camels went 20 something days without water, and the desert, oh it just was SO hot.

Interesting facts about the movie (from good ol' wikipedia):

• T. E. Lawrence (the real Lawrence of Arabia) was 5'5" while Peter O'Toole who played Lawrence in the film was 6'2"
• The desert scenes were shot in Jordan and Morocco.
• The film production was frequently delayed because filming started with an incomplete script.
• Jordan, and other Arab countries, banned the film because they thought the Arab cultural was portrayed as disrespectful.  Egypt was the only Arab country to give the film wide release.
• Peter O'Toole found that the camel saddle was very uncomfortable.  He added a piece of foam to the saddle to make it more comfortable.  The idea spread to the natives, who to this day frequently add foam to their saddles.

Girls Day of Fun

This Saturday my Mom came down to Birmingham for a fun girls day.

We ate here:

...which is located in SoHo.  We enjoyed our lunch.  I really liked the hummus/feta cheese dip.

We walked from lunch to here:

I want all of my furniture to come from here.

Then we made the short drive to here:

... where we used the Groupon I got my Mom for her birthday to obtain 4 yummy cupcakes.  Then we walked around the cute Homewood neighborhood.

Then we started shopping.  We went to Home Goods followed by Pottery Barn, Gap, Anthropologie, Francesca's, and Ann Taylor Loft.

I got this:

A have a small obsession with dresses and skirts with pockets.

And this:

...which I got for much less than the original price.

We had a wonderful, fun time, but we missed her:

Frankly My Dear.... Gone with the Wind

AFI Ranking: 6th
Release Date: 1939

Gone with the Wind was definitely my favorite movie so far.  It is my Mom's favorite movie actually.  JP and I both remember seeing parts of the film when we were children, but we had never seen the whole thing and didn't know anything really about it.

Don't let the length of this film detract your from watching.  The 224 minute are well worth it.  Because of the length, it is on 2 discs.  We watched the first disc, which ends with intermission, one night and the second disc the next night.

All of the characters are very well developed in the film, which is one reason I think I liked the movie so much.  I got really into the story because the characters seemed so real to me.

I really think my Mom looks a little like Scarlett O'Hara.  Maybe it is just the hair?

This was my second film to watch that starred Clark Gable.  It was this second encounter with good ol' Clark that made me decide he is probably my favorite actor.

Mammy is the one character I really remember from when I saw the movie as a child.  Hattie McDaniel won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mammy.  She was the first African American to win an Academy Award of any kind. 

Probably one of my favorite scenes involves Prissy.  I remember this scene from when I was a child too.  Prissy states, "I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' babies."

Gone with the Wind has many famous quotes, the last one of the film probably the most famous.  Actually it is number one on AFI's top 100 movie quotes.  It was quite controversial at the time. Now-a-days it would be quite tame!

Ps. I know these are not in-depth review of the movie but 1) I'm not good at that and 2) I don't really want to give any of the plot away.  I guess I am more interested about the history of the film and the actors/actresses and learning who they were as people.  I've actually been researching each of these actors/actresses and it is very interesting!  For example, Clark Gable had 5 wifes throughout his life.  His youngest child was actually born 4 months after he died at the age of 37.  And, Vivien Leigh (Scarlett) was actually born in India-her dad was a British Officer in the Indian Calvary.

We now know someone who lives in Kansas City...

A few weekends ago, JP and I went to Lake Wedowee for a farewell weekend with JP's good friend Sean who just moved to Kansas City, MO to start a new job.  JP and Sean were roommates their freshman year at Samford and lived together again JP's junior year, the year we met.  JP and Sean also were both on the track team as well as accounting majors.

Sean was one of JP's groomsmen...

We had a lot of fun at the lake! We are excited that Sean got a great job opportunity, but I know JP will miss having him in Birmingham.

Casablanca

 AFI Ranking: 3rd
Release Year: 1942

One of the things that I like about watching Classic movies is I realize that I have heard the famous lines from them before, but now I actually get the context of the line.  Casablanca is a great example of this.  "Here's looking at you kid" and "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship" are both quotes I had heard before, but now I know the story behind each of these.

Same thing with these actors such as Clark Gable and, in this case, Humphrey Bogart.  I have always heard of this guys but never actually seen them in action.

Although I wouldn't say that Casablanca has been my favorite of the AFI films we have watched, I definitely enjoyed watching it more than the film that beat it out for number one, Citizen Kane (Although Citizen Kane is likely number one for it's technique and not plot).  According to Roger Ebert, Casablanca is "probably on more lists of the greatest films of all time than any other single title, including Citizen Kane" because of its wider appeal; while Citizen Kane is "greater", Casablanca is more loved

Casablanca was actually released the year after Citizen Kane.  In fact, it was rushed into release to take advantage of the publicity from the Allied invasion of North Africa a few weeks later.

Interesting facts about Casablanca (from good ol' wikipedia.)

• No one involved in the production of the film expected it to be anything great.
• This was the first time Humphrey Bogart played a romantic lead (he had been typed cast as a gangster early in his career).
• Ingrid Bergman (who plays the leading lady) was actually 2 inches taller than Bogart.  As a result, during their scenes together, Bogart, rumor has it, stood on blocks or sat on cushions during their scenes.
• The famous line "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship", which is the last line of the film, was actually written after the final script and Bogart had to come in the studio a month after filming had completed to dub it.
• One rumor is that Ronald Reagan was actually the original actor chosen for Bogart's lead role.

Happy Father's Day!

JP and I have both been blessed with super cool Dads who have both been very good to us!

Citizen Kane

AFI Ranking: 1st
Release Year: 1941

Citizen Kane is often considered the greatest film of all time.  Of course, because of this, there is much debate on whether or not it should hold this title. 

JP and I watched it with his family when we were at Hilton Head.  JP and I both felt as far as the plot goes it was somewhat anticlimatic at the end and overall somewhat boring. However, as I've read about it, I've discovered that apparently the film did a lot for the film industry.  It's flashbacks, its uses of symbolism, its camera moves, its cuts, its deep focus, its structure, its sets, its sound track are a vitrual catalogue of superb examples of what you can do in a film.  Everything that matters in cinema since 1940 has been influenced by Kane.(source)

At least now we know the significance of the word Rosebud.  I always wondered where the people who made SimCity got that word as a secret secret passcode.

It Happened One Night

AFI Ranking: 46th (3rd ranked romantic comedy)
Year Released: 1934

I'm pretty sure I had never seen a movie starring Clark Gable (if I had, I don't remember).  It Happened One Night was a fun movie to be introduced to him.  I loved this movie and definitely recommend it!

One of the most famous scenes:

Ellie attempts to get a car to stop so they can hitch a ride...

Interesting facts:

• After completing the film, Claudette Colbert, the leading lady, stated, "I just finished the worst picture in the world."
• At one point, Clark Gable takes off his shirt to get ready for bed.  When he does, he does not have an undershirt on.  An urban legend claims that, as a result, sales of men's undershirts declined noticeably.
• In Sex and the City 2, Carrie and Mr. Big watch It Happened One Night on a flat-screen TV in a hotel. Later in an attempt to get a taxi, Carrie uses her leg as a way to flag down a taxi.

Psycho

Ranked: 14th
Released:  1960

The first movie we watched on the list was Alfred Hitchock's Psycho.  Of course I was familiar with the infamous shower scene, but I had never actually seen the movie.  Overall, I really liked the movie, and it kept my attention (I have a tendency to get bored in some movies).  Of course, it wasn't nearly as scary now as I'm sure it was when it came out.  Also, I sort of knew the twist at the end, but I can't imagine how shocked those who watched it when it first came out were.

I really enjoy reading what Wikipedia has to say about the classic movies we have been watching.  Some random, interesting things I learned about Psycho from good ol' Wikipedia:

• Alfred Hitchcock actually makes a cameo in this film (as in most of his films.)  You don't have to wait long for it as it happens seven minutes into the film.  He can be seen through a window, wearing a Stetson hat, standing outside Marion Crane's office.  Honestly, I didn't pick up on this.
  
• There are a number of references to birds. Marion's last name is Crane and she is from Phoenix. Norman's hobby is stuffing birds, and he comments that Marion eats like a bird. In British slang, a young woman is called a "bird."
  
• Psycho is actually based on a book that is based on a true case.
  
• The book Pyscho is based on has the protagonist Mary Crane being from Dallas, TX (my fav city).  The movie, however, has the protagonist being from Phoenix, AZ (JP's home town).  However, at the time there was a lady named Mary Crane living in Phoenix so they renamed the protagonist Marion Crane for the movie.
  
• There were several controversies surrounding the movie (mostly the shower scene) but one of the most humorous one to me involves a toilet.  Marion is shown flushing a toilet with its contents of torn up paper fully visible.  Up until that time, in film and television, a toilet flushing was never heard and definitely not seen.

The Classics

JP and I recently decided to watch films from the American Film Institute's 100 Years... 100 Movies list.  The original movie list was released in 1998 and an updated list in 2007.  We are using the 2007 list.  According to Wikipedia, every ten years a new list will be released "to mark changing cultural perspectives"  We are using Netflix to complete this task, and currently have added many to our Queue.  Although there are a lot of films we are familiar with and some we have even seen, there are many that we are unfamiliar with.  As we have gone through the list there are a few that we have decided we have absolutely no desire to see... such as the 3 hour silent film Birth of a Nation... so we aren't sure we will complete the entire list but we will come close.

I plan on doing a post on each of the movies we watch from the list... so watch out for them!

Define: Frolic

According to Webster's Dictionary, the verb frolic means: to play and run about happily.  To JP the verb frolic apparently means...

 

While we were at the beach, JP's brother Michael wanted to do a photo shoot of us on the beach.  When Michael told us to frolic on the beach, well, you saw what he got. These pictures make me laugh every time I look at them.

We did get a few fun shots, but not many due to JP being so very silly.  I told Michael it's just good practice for a non-cooperative groom.

Hilton Head

A few weeks ago JP and I went with his family to Hilton Head.  I had never been, and I loved it.  I definitely want to go back!  Actually, JP and I have decided that one day we will live there.  Hey, you never know!

We took two cars.  JP chauffeured Matt, Michael, and me.  With eight people there was tons of stuff so Michael and I rode in the back with his huge camera bag in between.  The ride actually went by pretty quickly... 

... because we saw some interesting things.  We saw...

 ...a barbeque grill on the road, and yes, it was actually smoking as it traveled down the road.

Michael got quite excited about this fake NASCAR car, which we saw right after we saw a random man run across the off ramp with a watermelon.

We also stopped at the funniest gas station ever...

Once we got there we enjoyed a relaxing week on the beach.  I didn't take any pictures, sadly.  Michael and I enjoyed riding all over the island on bikes that we rented.  We saw alligators, tricked security guards, and had the funniest experience ever with a water fountain.  I had never ridden my bike on the beach before so that was fun.

We enjoyed going out to dinner.  Our favorite was the Sea Shack.  JP really liked Harold's Diner.  Harold's is a very unique restaurant.  If you ask the man taking your order that you don't think you can eat the whole platter because he will respond "It's America puddin', you don't have to."  Also don't enter if you are a Yankees fan!  Finally, don't ask the guy who seems to be in charge if he is Harold, because he is not.  I was informed that Harold, in fact, died 16 years ago.

We had a lot of fun playing games both on the beach and around the kitchen table.

So, overall it was such a fun trip.  When I go back (because I will), I will definitely eat at the Sea Shack again, rent bikes, and I will try and take at least one picture!