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last week i finally got back to reading and cooking and movie watching. it's amazing how much time one has when she doesn't run one iota. [i had to build some absence from the treadie to see if my heart grew fonder. ... and i'd gotten tired of everything on my running mixes. ... even you, bonnie tyler.]

FOOD PROCESSING


egyptian red lentil soup: vegetarian cooking confession: until this, i'd never used lentils in anything, which basically means i'm a total carnivore. but this soup was delish -- better, actually, the second day. stay tuned for when i start eating this for every lunch for a month straight. so easy, filling and delish.


cuban ropa vieja: this required 2 pounds of chuck steak, which is about 2 pounds more of steak than our frying pan has seen over the course of two years. chuck likened the slab to the thickness of a dictionary.

i invented a song called "meat party! meat party!" while it roasted in the crock pot.

so i took this hunk of meat and turned it into ropa vieja, which means "old clothes." which is funny, because as it cooked, it made my old clothes smell like ropa vieja.

good stuff. my yearly allowance of red meat wrapped in a tortilla. i'll make this again ... after i get the fur out of my teeth.


pomegranate-pineapple granita: this is like ice cream with this written on the label: >1 g fat.

mix unsweetened pomegranate juice, pineapple chunks, maple syrup and cinnamon in the food processor, freeze in ice cub trays, mush ice cubes up into snowy consistency, stuff into your face, love it. then eat something very salty for medicinal reasons.


HOW ABOUT A MOVIE?
"lost coast": hulu.com is showing indie flicks that scored at SXSW, including this story about two dudes who used to hook up in high school. one is now straight -- and a little homophobic; the other is gay and can't take more than four steps without playfully wrestling his friends to the floor. they are looking for fun on halloween night, but they seem to be the least-fun people on the planet. everyone gets a little moody remembering the romance of yesteryear. oh. and there is a dead body.

worst. movie. ever. lost coast? you give indie flicks a bad name.

Run, Fatboy, Run 2007: i have a new favorite actor. his name is dylan moran and he's got messy hair, i bet he smells like feet with undertones of booze and cigarettes, and he's hilarious. i liked him in the british sitcom "black books"; and now i know it's not a fluke because he turned something directed by ross-from-friends into pure hilarity. great, great, great movie.

i would very much like it if dylan moran would get ahold of eliza dushku and meet us for dinner some night.

HOW ABOUT A MOVIE AT A THEATER?
"taken" 2008: we only went to this in the theater because slumdog had started already and one of us doesn't subscribe to the 7-minute rule, which is: as long as you're at the theater within seven minutes of the start-time, you should still go to the movie. trailers always take up at least seven minutes. but, noooo. that doesn't matter to one of us.

[granted, this is how i missed the unfortunate zipper scene when i saw "there's something about mary" in the theater.]

god. "taken" was intense. i was audibly concerned for the well-being of liam neeson's daughter. but, he had some sort of CIA super powers and never lost or blinked wrong. he also had some of the hokiest lines i've ever heard uttered in a movie.

the most memorable thing about this movie: we were both dying of thirst so i ran out to get a coke and a water, and somehow got tricked into spending 7 dollars on liquids -- one liquid which turned out to be a pepsi. wanna feel old? bitch to your boyfriend about concession stand prices at a movie theater.

i felt like andy freakin' rooney.

BOOKIES
The Sky Below by stacey d'erasmo: Sometimes you end up sitting next to a stranger, who has your undivided attention for a few hours. She starts telling you a story in a low storyteller voice, using pretty phraseology and vivid imagery, and just went you’re kind of lulled into a word coma, she says something funny. You have to go back and rewind the line in your head, hear it again, laugh, and then continue listening.

Then all of a sudden, the storyteller goes a little loco. And you’re like “I was with you up until the point where the protagonist starts feeling for feathers growing out of his neck. And by the way: What the hell is he doing in Mexico?” She just looks at you, and keeps going. Puts the protagonist in a tree, wearing wings. Kills a little girl with bad teeth. He hatches an egg. And you feel a little misled because this was a good story. You trusted this storyteller to stay honest. But this deviation has you second-guessing everything she said, all those words you liked, two hours ago.

full review here.

for those playing along at home, i'm reading Lowboy: A Novel right now and i'm madly in love with it.