tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32159285906407486112024-03-13T17:17:59.562-05:00picsandpansJainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02553591299806607498noreply@blogger.comBlogger62125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215928590640748611.post-68508070350227136142016-05-12T16:57:00.000-05:002016-05-14T10:01:01.908-05:00PICS & PANS SIXTH ANNUAL FOOD FIND EDITION<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Welcome to
the 2016 Food Find edition; a heady mix of reader’s fav’s and mine, that are
available at the very least on a regional level and/or by mail order. Ready? Okay.
Everyone smile and “Cheese!”</span></span><br />
<h2>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">CHEESE</span></span></span></h2>
<h2>
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HsAHL19m9S0/VzN4lBegZFI/AAAAAAAAAgE/PpbqPQ0uhKENoTnWAj8v4QWYSF__8r1VgCK4B/s1600/Ellie%2Boffice%252C%2Bbedroom%252C%2BPicket%2Bfence%2Bhouse%2Bfor%2Bsale%252C%2Bfood%252C%2B2-27-2%2B043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HsAHL19m9S0/VzN4lBegZFI/AAAAAAAAAgE/PpbqPQ0uhKENoTnWAj8v4QWYSF__8r1VgCK4B/s200/Ellie%2Boffice%252C%2Bbedroom%252C%2BPicket%2Bfence%2Bhouse%2Bfor%2Bsale%252C%2Bfood%252C%2B2-27-2%2B043.JPG" width="200" /></span></a></h2>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">SNOWFIELDS CHEESE</span></span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> from Wisconsin’s Saxon Creamy is a
rich, buttery, creamy cheese that nearly melts in your mouth. It is a seasonal <span style="color: #262523;">Butterkäse</span> cheese made, in the German/Austrian
tradition, where, according to their website, they use their herd’s wintertime
milk. Bev in Springfield, who, like me loves good cheese, turned me on to it. And
now I do the same for you.</span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">A</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">nother
Wisconsin cheese made out list this year, thanks to one adventurous reader, who
picked it up out of curiosity, and found it to be worth passing on</span>. </span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9uIsjgJ1drg/VzN6UCSY92I/AAAAAAAAAgU/2fILhZ1XUS8qFdzL28K-xHTSxGiOyDbhgCK4B/s1600/August%2B12%2B2015%2B-%2BLay%2527s%2BRueben%2Bchips%2B-%2BEllie%2B-%2Betc%2B011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="115" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9uIsjgJ1drg/VzN6UCSY92I/AAAAAAAAAgU/2fILhZ1XUS8qFdzL28K-xHTSxGiOyDbhgCK4B/s200/August%2B12%2B2015%2B-%2BLay%2527s%2BRueben%2Bchips%2B-%2BEllie%2B-%2Betc%2B011.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2gxmm2uOUeg/VzOANNFpAzI/AAAAAAAAAg4/Gu0_-5QXWqYgfKXHlGjh0nnaARfIu8miACK4B/s1600/Moses%2Bsleeper%2Bcheese%2Bpic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2gxmm2uOUeg/VzOANNFpAzI/AAAAAAAAAg4/Gu0_-5QXWqYgfKXHlGjh0nnaARfIu8miACK4B/s200/Moses%2Bsleeper%2Bcheese%2Bpic.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">As
described on the cheesemaker’s website, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">BELLAVITANO
ESPRESSO CHEESE</b> is "reminiscent of an aged premium Wisconsin Cheddar
balanced by a full- flavored Parmesan.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Hand-rubbed with freshly-roasted espresso, it would, I think, be an interesting addition to your next dinner party's cheese tray</span>.</span> </span></span></span>
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">David R. of Germantown, TN. notes the </span><strong><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">CELLERS MOSES SLEEPER</span></strong><span style="font-family: "verdana";"> CHEESE by Jasper Hill Farm is one of his latest and greatest 'Finds'. The brie-style round is a soft and creamy bit of heaven. Look for the azure-blue label, and be prepared to swoon.</span><span style="font-family: "arial";"> <span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></span></div>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">BACON</span></h2>
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-au9CXDH7IE0/VzNy7j2-vjI/AAAAAAAAAfQ/Q3Mym0hlcyYcYApCo25gCQMTLuViRk5agCK4B/s1600/Ellie%252C%252C%2Brain%252C%2BJackie%2527s%2Bflowers%252C%2Bfarmer%2527s%2Bmarket%2B8-22-15%2B024.JPG" imageanchor="1"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="111" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-au9CXDH7IE0/VzNy7j2-vjI/AAAAAAAAAfQ/Q3Mym0hlcyYcYApCo25gCQMTLuViRk5agCK4B/s200/Ellie%252C%252C%2Brain%252C%2BJackie%2527s%2Bflowers%252C%2Bfarmer%2527s%2Bmarket%2B8-22-15%2B024.JPG" width="200" /></span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>BENTON'S BACON</strong> is pricey; no getting around it. But it has a following, and after
hearing about it from a vendor at my local farmer’s market last summer– who, I might add, was selling
his own version while admitting that it had not reached the heights of
Benton's, I bite the bullet, took out a second mortgage, and bought a pound at a
local purveyors. </span></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Beware bacon lovers, it is smoky. <em>Reeeeeeeeeeeeeally</em> smokey.
So smoky that just touching the air-right packaging will leave your fingers
smelling as if you bathed in it. But it is good. Really good. It comes from
Knoxville, TN, where it is made in small batches. I actually called them to
find out whether they recommended frying in cast iron, or putting it in the oven. The fellow I spoke with said, "Why not try both?", and so I did. It was pretty much of a toss-up, with the pan-fried (left) slightly beating
out the oven version (right).
Buy it on line, or at your local specialty market</span>.</span></span></span></span></span> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"></span> </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<h2>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">CRACKERS and CHIPS</span></span></span></span></h2>
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hJ2NKyInJS0/VzOGc_dCPUI/AAAAAAAAAhI/1hXIQE0d5a4D8PUoC4QTqI2GmKrPQy4pACK4B/s1600/MILTON%2527S%2BCRACKERS%2B%2526%2BSPAH%2BAWARD%2B6-19%2B%2526%2B20%2B2015%2B006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="153" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hJ2NKyInJS0/VzOGc_dCPUI/AAAAAAAAAhI/1hXIQE0d5a4D8PUoC4QTqI2GmKrPQy4pACK4B/s320/MILTON%2527S%2BCRACKERS%2B%2526%2BSPAH%2BAWARD%2B6-19%2B%2526%2B20%2B2015%2B006.JPG" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><strong>MILTON’S ORIGINAL MULTI-GRAIN CRACKERS</strong> </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">are great all by their lonesome or paired with cheese or
your favorite preserves. The have a unique flavor and unlike many multi-grains
in their category, are far from dry. They don’t taste healthy, but they are,
which makes them all the more munchable. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span></span><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span></span><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">I’m also a fan of their</span><strong> </strong></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>CRISPY SEA SALT<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>CRACKERS</strong>, which take a back seat to
whatever you pair them with, but add that special bit of punch</span></span>.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SQtlwzIbpEg/VzOOx-Ll1OI/AAAAAAAAAhY/LoBGyUDEVZ8IlSH-N2iRyYNULWCIXlCEwCLcB/s1600/MOre%2Bfood%2Bfinds%2B2016%2B018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="155" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SQtlwzIbpEg/VzOOx-Ll1OI/AAAAAAAAAhY/LoBGyUDEVZ8IlSH-N2iRyYNULWCIXlCEwCLcB/s320/MOre%2Bfood%2Bfinds%2B2016%2B018.JPG" width="320" /></span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"></span><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LKN6tZdO-MA/VzOQrlif_7I/AAAAAAAAAhs/aCc4rcMXXSE03pcm2g1jOlaT0sC0iJnMACLcB/s1600/MOre%2Bfood%2Bfinds%2B2016%2B023.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LKN6tZdO-MA/VzOQrlif_7I/AAAAAAAAAhs/aCc4rcMXXSE03pcm2g1jOlaT0sC0iJnMACLcB/s200/MOre%2Bfood%2Bfinds%2B2016%2B023.JPG" width="131" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">I</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">t was another one of those happy 'accidents'. I bought a bag of what I thought were <strong>CLANCY'S</strong> regular tortilla chips at Aldi's, only to discover that they had 'a hint of lime'. Uh oh. As it turned out, <strong>CLANCY'S WHITE TORTILLA CHIPS WITH A HINT OF LIME</strong> were incredibly tasty - not overwhelming at all, especially when paired with salsa.</span> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span></span><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Another trip - this time to Kroger, and another bag, this time, <strong>KROGER'S </strong></span></span></span><strong style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">WHITE </strong></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>TORTILLA CHIPS WITH "A KICK OF LIME.</strong>" And surprise, surprise; these over-sized, crunchy chips were just as good or better, and like the Clancy's chips,a bargai</span></span>n</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Later, I would try potato chips with lime: a definite mistake. But the tortilla chips, well, that's a totally different story. Try them! I think you'll be surprised at how good they are!</span></span></span><br />
<h2>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">JAMS</span></span></h2>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Years ago a friend introduced me to red pepper jelly, which she served with a wedge of sharp cheddar cheese and Triscuits. Ive been making them around Christmas holiday ever since. But this year, shortly before the season commenced, I found a jar of <b>PRIVATE</b> </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SELECTION OREGON PEA AND PEPPER JELLY </b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">in the 'bent and dent' section of my market (no doubt a cast-off before the new stock took its place). At half its usual price, I thought it was well worth a try. With no Triscuits handy, I spread it on one of my previously mentioned <b>MINTON's </b>crackers, and was pleasantly surprised. A little sweeter, but with a kick and a hint of pear, it was a keeper.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YQr7ymNcQuY/VzTMmAc181I/AAAAAAAAAoI/6Qr-wLNsEeUccAZy0gsVONuVGrZT-R5KQCK4B/s1600/Ellie%2Boffice%252C%2Bbedroom%252C%2BPicket%2Bfence%2Bhouse%2Bfor%2Bsale%252C%2Bfood%252C%2B2-27-2%2B021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YQr7ymNcQuY/VzTMmAc181I/AAAAAAAAAoI/6Qr-wLNsEeUccAZy0gsVONuVGrZT-R5KQCK4B/s200/Ellie%2Boffice%252C%2Bbedroom%252C%2BPicket%2Bfence%2Bhouse%2Bfor%2Bsale%252C%2Bfood%252C%2B2-27-2%2B021.JPG" width="117" /></span></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qoH8HoHc_nI/VzTOMnUykRI/AAAAAAAAAoU/8VBk8ZlRDmYUvO8DWOfuNRRtnBWpGJnuACK4B/s1600/Ellie%2Boffice%252C%2Bbedroom%252C%2BPicket%2Bfence%2Bhouse%2Bfor%2Bsale%252C%2Bfood%252C%2B2-27-2%2B014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="163" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qoH8HoHc_nI/VzTOMnUykRI/AAAAAAAAAoU/8VBk8ZlRDmYUvO8DWOfuNRRtnBWpGJnuACK4B/s200/Ellie%2Boffice%252C%2Bbedroom%252C%2BPicket%2Bfence%2Bhouse%2Bfor%2Bsale%252C%2Bfood%252C%2B2-27-2%2B014.JPG" width="200" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">VEGETABLES</span></span></span></span></h2>
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Q9tehqVQETc/VzORVGl_e8I/AAAAAAAAAh0/PQP1gX_D0p0LcERDnCqG9CpLuNbAaljTwCLcB/s1600/2016%2BFoof%2BFIND%2Byellow%2Btomoato%2B%2528chicken%2Bcatcc%252C%2BEllie%252C%2BMe%2B5-9-2016%2B021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Q9tehqVQETc/VzORVGl_e8I/AAAAAAAAAh0/PQP1gX_D0p0LcERDnCqG9CpLuNbAaljTwCLcB/s200/2016%2BFoof%2BFIND%2Byellow%2Btomoato%2B%2528chicken%2Bcatcc%252C%2BEllie%252C%2BMe%2B5-9-2016%2B021.JPG" width="108" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">VISCONTI PEELED YELLOW TOMATOES</span></strong><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> were a pleasant surprise. I’d never used a canned yellow tomato before, and found them to be a vibrant alternative to the traditional red tomatoes. Imported from Italy, they’re available at Kroger, where they sit close to Visconti’s red Italian Crushed Tomatoes. But both are excellent products.</span> </span></span><br />
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mc6V0qeNARc/VzOR_RJKzWI/AAAAAAAAAh8/_iMJtAVEm64hv9I9onVoEooKtmlzDqAMQCLcB/s1600/2016%2BFoof%2BFIND%2Byellow%2Btomoato%2B%2528chicken%2Bcatcc%252C%2BEllie%252C%2BMe%2B5-9-2016%2B015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="183" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mc6V0qeNARc/VzOR_RJKzWI/AAAAAAAAAh8/_iMJtAVEm64hv9I9onVoEooKtmlzDqAMQCLcB/s200/2016%2BFoof%2BFIND%2Byellow%2Btomoato%2B%2528chicken%2Bcatcc%252C%2BEllie%252C%2BMe%2B5-9-2016%2B015.JPG" width="200" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Just last night I made actor Stanley Tucci’s chicken caccatori substituting them for the red-whole tomatoes his recipe called for. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Why
the yellow tomatoes are packed in cans, and the red in waxed cardboard containers I do not
know. As the king said in "The King and I", It is a puzzlement</span>.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--KK1ERenv9E/VzOTZlap_mI/AAAAAAAAAiI/bqCwYklRGuopLFs_TOjGqcpXgatTX93mACLcB/s1600/Ellie%252C%2BFood%2BFinds%252C%2Band%2Bneighborhood%2B4-20-2016%2B005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="115" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--KK1ERenv9E/VzOTZlap_mI/AAAAAAAAAiI/bqCwYklRGuopLFs_TOjGqcpXgatTX93mACLcB/s200/Ellie%252C%2BFood%2BFinds%252C%2Band%2Bneighborhood%2B4-20-2016%2B005.JPG" width="200" /></a></span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You’ve no
doubt seen it in the supermarket, next to the broccolini no doubt. But if you
haven’t tried it, you need to buy yourself a bunch of creamy <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">YELLOW </b></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"></b></span></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">CAULIFLOWER</b></span>. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n9jc8xv_kO8/VzOVH8ABgfI/AAAAAAAAAiY/jgRH3dWLTW0ekg68tjz9kvBcIZjP-D8agCLcB/s1600/Ellie%2Boffice%252C%2Bbedroom%252C%2BPicket%2Bfence%2Bhouse%2Bfor%2Bsale%252C%2Bfood%252C%2B2-27-2%2B044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n9jc8xv_kO8/VzOVH8ABgfI/AAAAAAAAAiY/jgRH3dWLTW0ekg68tjz9kvBcIZjP-D8agCLcB/s200/Ellie%2Boffice%252C%2Bbedroom%252C%2BPicket%2Bfence%2Bhouse%2Bfor%2Bsale%252C%2Bfood%252C%2B2-27-2%2B044.JPG" width="200" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span></span><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span></span><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So simple to make,
so delicious to eat. Steam it, boil it, drizzle it with olive oil and bake it,
sprinkle it with cheese, brush it with a bit of high-quality butter, or eat it
plain and simple. But buy it and try it! It’s not bitter like regular
cauliflower can be. And next to your favorite green vegetable, it looks like
sunshine on a plate.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 21.46px;">PICKLES</span></b>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">As with the tortilla chips, every now
and again, a mistake turns into a ‘find’. Such was the case not long ago when I
reached for a jar of VLASIC pickle spears, only to find when I got home that
they were their lower-sodium option. I immediately assumed that equaled
‘tasteless’ – but I was wrong.</span> </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-y9r3uRFCuYs/VzTidmPGcsI/AAAAAAAAAps/KPajPIVtblEd103ruERR032m-OD6YyOgQCK4B/s1600/HOT%2BFUDGE%2BSAUCE%2BFF%2B2016%2Band%2BEllei%2B072.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="161" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-y9r3uRFCuYs/VzTidmPGcsI/AAAAAAAAAps/KPajPIVtblEd103ruERR032m-OD6YyOgQCK4B/s200/HOT%2BFUDGE%2BSAUCE%2BFF%2B2016%2Band%2BEllei%2B072.JPG" width="200" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I tell you true; I could not tell the difference between these tasty spears and the originals. And with zero calories, and less sodium, </span><b style="line-height: 115%;">VLASIC REDUCED SODIUM KOSHER DILL
SPEARS </b><span style="line-height: 115%;">have become</span><b style="line-height: 115%;"> </b></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">my new spear of choice</span>.</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></span></span></span>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EFLFHxB-PB8/VzOZJ4idRrI/AAAAAAAAAis/yBoChFA1hPQrDHojabh_Po9k-IJxcqSMACLcB/s1600/MOre%2Bfood%2Bfinds%2B2016%2B014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EFLFHxB-PB8/VzOZJ4idRrI/AAAAAAAAAis/yBoChFA1hPQrDHojabh_Po9k-IJxcqSMACLcB/s200/MOre%2Bfood%2Bfinds%2B2016%2B014.JPG" width="200" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">RICE</span></span></span></span></h2>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I have to
admit that when a Colorado reader sent in this “FIND” I had my doubts. I just
didn’t see how this quick-fix rice could compare to that made-from-scratch, but
after buying and trying it, I am a believer</span>.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H7ZwGeqS5_c/VzTC6gelAoI/AAAAAAAAAm8/JSxjZW6si7owxPF3a0DGsldpXF5dz7IrQCK4B/s1600/4-16-16%2BFARMER%2527S%2BMARKET%252C%2BNEIGHBOR%2527S%2BTRENCH%252C%2BFRESH%2BMARKET%2B093.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H7ZwGeqS5_c/VzTC6gelAoI/AAAAAAAAAm8/JSxjZW6si7owxPF3a0DGsldpXF5dz7IrQCK4B/s200/4-16-16%2BFARMER%2527S%2BMARKET%252C%2BNEIGHBOR%2527S%2BTRENCH%252C%2BFRESH%2BMARKET%2B093.JPG" width="142" /></a> </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">VEETEE DINE-IN BASMATI RICE</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> comes in a small see-through cardboard container, with enough rice (9.9 ounces) to easily feed two as a side dish. Prep time is two minutes from beginning to end. And with no pots or pans to clean, and no having to make more than you need, it is the perfect choice for singles or couples. Add to that the fact that it contains no artificial flavors, colors or preservatives. Who could ask for anything more?</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Paula H could, and did - two 'mores'. The first, <strong>HINODE MEDIUM GRAIN <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">BROWN </span></strong><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">RICE, is both quick and easy to prepare<strong>. </strong></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"It's great" says Paula. "Just snip off a corner and microwave it for ninety seconds" </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">She's also a fan of <b>DELTA JASMINE RICE WITH ROASTED GARLIC</b>, which, she says, husband Clay bumps</span> up a notch by addinga little more of this or that, according to what's for dinner.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;">SAVORY SAUCES AND FLAVOR BOOSTERS</span></span></span></span></h2>
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</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Steve in California is a fan of </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">FRANKS ORIGINAL RED HOT SAUCE</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">, which is, he says, available just about everywhere. I found it at both Kroger and Fresh Market. </span><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">You'll find his better half's sweet pick under "Toppings".</span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h2KHn_nsQ5E/VzOeivxtzbI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/4YGhW3duvOgFO9prtxDNtLNKLeGRyLluwCKgB/s1600/4-16-16%2BFARMER%2527S%2BMARKET%252C%2BNEIGHBOR%2527S%2BTRENCH%252C%2BFRESH%2BMARKET%2B059.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h2KHn_nsQ5E/VzOeivxtzbI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/4YGhW3duvOgFO9prtxDNtLNKLeGRyLluwCKgB/s200/4-16-16%2BFARMER%2527S%2BMARKET%252C%2BNEIGHBOR%2527S%2BTRENCH%252C%2BFRESH%2BMARKET%2B059.JPG" width="118" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Elissa in
Melrose Park, PA sent in a rave review about <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">BETTER THAN BOUILLON </b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ORGANIC
CHICKEN BASE</b>, which she uses in place of bouillon to give her chicken soup
and gravies that something extra. The company has a slightly less expensive
chicken base as well as a seasoned turkey, vegetable and beef bases.</span> </span></span></span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><o:p><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_eiJuSp-FEM/VzOgaXQFwgI/AAAAAAAAAjY/FaTfzWZ2JyIa1oo0suRwkQA_Z-djcNJXQCKgB/s1600/Ellie%252C%2Bmore%2Bcharms%2Band%2Bmore%2Bfence%2B3-4%2B%2526%2B5%2B2016%2B022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_eiJuSp-FEM/VzOgaXQFwgI/AAAAAAAAAjY/FaTfzWZ2JyIa1oo0suRwkQA_Z-djcNJXQCKgB/s200/Ellie%252C%2Bmore%2Bcharms%2Band%2Bmore%2Bfence%2B3-4%2B%2526%2B5%2B2016%2B022.JPG" width="158" /></a></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The <b>HEMISFARE</b></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>S</b> line of pasta sauces are different
from most of your basic brands, in that their ingredients are a bit unexpected,
going far beyond the usual meat, veggie and vodka-laced varieties</span>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c6W5sXiLTe0/VzOjzE-EV1I/AAAAAAAAAj8/gBTgC6GV3o4_n2ua2jNqPD7IQsAJ3_hlgCLcB/s1600/FOOD%2BIND%2B2016%2BPasta%2Bsauce%2B%2526%2BEllie%2Bin%2Bden%2Bon%2Brose%2Bchair%2B11-14-201%2B027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c6W5sXiLTe0/VzOjzE-EV1I/AAAAAAAAAj8/gBTgC6GV3o4_n2ua2jNqPD7IQsAJ3_hlgCLcB/s200/FOOD%2BIND%2B2016%2BPasta%2Bsauce%2B%2526%2BEllie%2Bin%2Bden%2Bon%2Brose%2Bchair%2B11-14-201%2B027.JPG" width="168" /></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Their <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">SUGO
ALLA CAPRESE CHERRY TOMATO AND ACETO BALSAMICO DI MODENA IGP </b>sauce is
pictured here , and made for a wonderful meal with one of last year’s ‘Finds” –
their unbeatable tagliatelle di Campofilone pasta. It's loaded with sweet, whole Italian cherry tomatoes, and unlike any other jarred sauce I've ever tried.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">MAIN DISHES</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Geoff L. in Indianapolis recommends <b>PALERMO'S ROASTED VEGETABLE </b>AND <b>BBQ</b> <b>CHICKEN <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">FLATBREADS</span></b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> which you'll find in the freezer section of your supermarket. To see if they're available in your are visit their website (Palermospizza.com) and type in your zip code.</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://blog.palermospizza.com/our-pizza/flatbreads/roasted-vegetable-flatbread/" style="border: 0px; color: #941024; display: block; height: 200px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; text-transform: uppercase;"><span style="border: 0px currentColor; display: block; height: 200px; line-height: 19.6px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-transform: uppercase;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; height: auto;"><img alt="Roasted Vegetable Flatbread" src="http://blog.palermospizza.com/ImageGen.ashx?image=/media/18551/fb_veggie.png&width=191&height=177" style="border: 0px; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px 0px 5px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" /></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Prefer a traditional pizza crust that's gluten-free and still tastes great?</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KFOsvcbmEbg/VzS2HAPv_wI/AAAAAAAAAlI/23XEtpyuut0ix8mSaKMWgQaR0ktMlruwwCK4B/s1600/Paula%2527s%2Bpizza%2B2016%2Bff-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KFOsvcbmEbg/VzS2HAPv_wI/AAAAAAAAAlI/23XEtpyuut0ix8mSaKMWgQaR0ktMlruwwCK4B/s320/Paula%2527s%2Bpizza%2B2016%2Bff-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 21.46px;">Paula H comes to the </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 21.46px;">rescue with </span><b style="color: #141823; line-height: 21.46px;">SABATASSO'S GLUTEN FREE THIN AND CRISPY PIZZA</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 21.46px;">. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 18.39px;">Paula says it's so good you'll never know what you're</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 18.39px;"> missing.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 18.39px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 18.39px;">Are you a seafood lover? </span><span style="color: #141823; line-height: 115%;">I</span><span style="color: #141823; line-height: 115%;">f, like me, you've been disappointed in frozen dinners that featured pint-sized shrimp and less-than-stellar other shellfish, take heart. </span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><b style="line-height: 115%;">PRIVATE SELECTION</b><span style="line-height: 115%;">’s </span><b style="line-height: 115%;">NEW
ENGLAND STYLE CLAMBAKE DINNER </b></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> defies the odds. offering up a very tasty meal of clams, mussels, shrimp, along with red
potatoes, polish sausage, carrots and corn-on-the-cob that is as pretty to look at as it is
to eat</span>. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-M3D4oAQOd1M/VzTFcGMF5yI/AAAAAAAAAnQ/jJWvW-pYXP8T_IKvCdZcHt3vdPP8TiYIwCK4B/s1600/FOOD%2BFIND%2B2016%2BCLAM%2BBAKE%2BFROZEN%2BDINNER%2B013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; line-height: 19.6px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center; text-transform: uppercase;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="184" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-M3D4oAQOd1M/VzTFcGMF5yI/AAAAAAAAAnQ/jJWvW-pYXP8T_IKvCdZcHt3vdPP8TiYIwCK4B/s200/FOOD%2BFIND%2B2016%2BCLAM%2BBAKE%2BFROZEN%2BDINNER%2B013.JPG" width="200" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FhepvhUvxqM/VzTGWOWY4RI/AAAAAAAAAnc/VVx_Ycn5wwUG9XB1JhIKO1bvUSlyfTUWQCK4B/s1600/FOOD%2BFIND%2B2016%2BCLAM%2BBAKE%2BFROZEN%2BDINNER%2B006.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FhepvhUvxqM/VzTGWOWY4RI/AAAAAAAAAnc/VVx_Ycn5wwUG9XB1JhIKO1bvUSlyfTUWQCK4B/s200/FOOD%2BFIND%2B2016%2BCLAM%2BBAKE%2BFROZEN%2BDINNER%2B006.JPG" width="132" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Okay, so the corn-on-the-cob is a bit mushy,
but it’s still tasty, and the rest of the ingredients more than make up for it, including an extremely tasty “traditional herbed garlic lemon
butter flavored sauce” that really sets it off. You'll find it at Kroger.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Several
months ago the Kroger chain closed one of its smaller locations, slicing the
prices on many of their items in that store by 50-to-75%. Among the great buys, a ‘log’ of <b>BOAR'S HEAD PEPPERONI</b>.t’s
not something I generally (if ever) buy, but the price was right, and as I am a fan of their
bacon and assorted deli meats, I took a leap of faith.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iTmYk7TRcfo/VzTIqXsHZ0I/AAAAAAAAAn4/MytvxFJREk0b7N48tszDdji0PpE-3kCCgCK4B/s1600/Ellie%2B%2526%2BFood%2BFinds%2B2016%2BBoar%2527s%2Bhead%2Bpepperoni%2B%2526%2Bpasta%2B5-11-16%2B043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iTmYk7TRcfo/VzTIqXsHZ0I/AAAAAAAAAn4/MytvxFJREk0b7N48tszDdji0PpE-3kCCgCK4B/s200/Ellie%2B%2526%2BFood%2BFinds%2B2016%2BBoar%2527s%2Bhead%2Bpepperoni%2B%2526%2Bpasta%2B5-11-16%2B043.JPG" width="118" /></a><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">While I don't make pizza from scratch (which is pretty much where my relationship with pepperoni began and ended) I knew I'd find some way to incorporate the meat in my menu. And so it was that the other night I sliced a few coins-worth and sauted them in some extra virgin olive oil along with slices of fresh green and red bell pepper, Brussels sprouts, and red and Vidalia onions, seasoned with salt,pepper, oregano, basil and a clove of fresh garlic. </span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Tossed with a serving of one of my favorite "Finds" from last year (HemisFares tagletelli pasta) it was delicious</span>.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">FRUIT</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m-qmRvVetiA/VzUROiJtOgI/AAAAAAAAAsY/zyqHS6aFpmwWNDJyEViSQloy7ODvbu88gCK4B/s1600/Readers%2527%2BDigestMay%2B1936%2B030.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="175" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m-qmRvVetiA/VzUROiJtOgI/AAAAAAAAAsY/zyqHS6aFpmwWNDJyEViSQloy7ODvbu88gCK4B/s200/Readers%2527%2BDigestMay%2B1936%2B030.JPG" width="200" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">You may already be acquainted with these luscious guys, but just in case you haven't had a </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">MEDJOOL DATE</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, this 'Find' is for you. If the only dates you've had have. been boxed, cubed and sugared or processed in some other way, you have no idea what you're missing. These dates are the best of the best. Plump, moist, chewy and loaded with flavor, they are a naturally sweet treat. What's more, they're good for you! Find them at your better fruit and produce retailers</span>. </span></span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">DESSERTS AND TOPPINGS</span></span></span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Let's start with cookies. Cookies are always good, and <b>HANNAHMAX CHOCOLATE CHIPS</b> are great.</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ts4pkT_hN6A/VzTP91Yid-I/AAAAAAAAAog/Ls_dh_SSN5wSDEyDtG7-qEAqD4SrVT-hwCK4B/s1600/MOre%2Bfood%2Bfinds%2B2016%2B032.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ts4pkT_hN6A/VzTP91Yid-I/AAAAAAAAAog/Ls_dh_SSN5wSDEyDtG7-qEAqD4SrVT-hwCK4B/s200/MOre%2Bfood%2Bfinds%2B2016%2B032.JPG" width="125" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bite-sized and just 20 calories each, they have the crunch of a chip, but all the flavor of a fully-loaded cookie. The list of ingredients says it all. Among them, cane </span><span style="line-height: 21.46px;">brown sugar, enriched unbleached flower, unsalted butter, chocolate chips, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, vanilla, cane sugar and cage-free eggs, (with salt the very last ingredients in a seven-line list, and no preservatives, trans fats, GMO's or artificial flavors and colors.)</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"> <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IRZ0pIrW350/VzYliWT7VhI/AAAAAAAAAso/8MipHIjIx8ELEbRT-6gEddnVCM7bJewhwCK4B/s1600/FF%2B2016%2Bcookies%2B003.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="187" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IRZ0pIrW350/VzYliWT7VhI/AAAAAAAAAso/8MipHIjIx8ELEbRT-6gEddnVCM7bJewhwCK4B/s400/FF%2B2016%2Bcookies%2B003.JPG" width="400" /></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Find them. Buy them. Eat them. And love them.</span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Looking for something a little fancier for your next dinner party?</span> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">SWISS DELICE BRASILIA PREMIUM BISCUITS</span></span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> (the European version of our
cookies) are as tasty as they are beautiful, and they <i>are </i>beautiful; their meringues
elegantly covered in artfully painted dark and white chocolate. Somewhere between a cookie and confection,
these Swiss bites are just one in an impressive lineup of assorted biscuits,
each more beautiful than the next. Forgive my Italian dish (I was going for a European theme), and concentrate on the artistry. </span></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You’ll find these and other glorious offerings from Swiss Delice at Amazon.com or in the
international section of your supermarket.</span> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CLley9emqUw/VzTTckvt78I/AAAAAAAAApA/sBYP2XDvzzQ2oxynNT9pTD2VnkHKS6R8QCK4B/s1600/1920%2BWomen%2527s%2Bmagazine%2B002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="73" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CLley9emqUw/VzTTckvt78I/AAAAAAAAApA/sBYP2XDvzzQ2oxynNT9pTD2VnkHKS6R8QCK4B/s320/1920%2BWomen%2527s%2Bmagazine%2B002.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">There's a good reason why brownies are at the top of almost anyone who loves chocolate's hit list. When they are good they are very very good, and when they are bad they are still better than a lot of what's out there. Miss M. has this to say abut her favorite Brownie mix: </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">“My
favorite food find of the year is the <b>GHIRARDELLI
TRIPLE CHOCOLATE BROWNIE MIX</b> available only from Costco.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"> <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wpV8EgDpDPQ/VzZi0rBavWI/AAAAAAAAAs4/CsvzJBDPsr0KapAFC5d9DWqxhuV-NPQKwCK4B/s1600/MISSY%2BBROWNIE%2BMIX%2BFF%2B2016.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wpV8EgDpDPQ/VzZi0rBavWI/AAAAAAAAAs4/CsvzJBDPsr0KapAFC5d9DWqxhuV-NPQKwCK4B/s200/MISSY%2BBROWNIE%2BMIX%2BFF%2B2016.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> It is divine in
its sublime chocolate</span></span><span lang="EN" style="color: #141823; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ness. You have to buy a giant box that
contains 6 packages of mix, but it is now my favorite go-to for parties and the
ultimate indulgence. (Other varieties by the same company don't even come
close.)</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span lang="EN" style="color: #141823; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #141823; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">And while we're talking 'brownies', Ruth B passes on this "Find", found by a friend who was kind enough to pass it on to her, and through her, to you. Ruth is one smart cookie, and if she says </span></span><b style="color: #141823; line-height: 115%;">SHEILA G'S CHOCOLATE CHIP BROWNIE BRITTLE </b><span style="color: #141823; line-height: 115%;">is de-lish, I <i>know</i> it is.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ReKAxhJMqu0/VzTyB9rqQnI/AAAAAAAAArY/5hN8sAkwIFsLHCGy2IXBbQuG2_BDYqLCACK4B/s1600/4-16-16%2BFARMER%2527S%2BMARKET%252C%2BNEIGHBOR%2527S%2BTRENCH%252C%2BFRESH%2BMARKET%2B074.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ReKAxhJMqu0/VzTyB9rqQnI/AAAAAAAAArY/5hN8sAkwIFsLHCGy2IXBbQuG2_BDYqLCACK4B/s200/4-16-16%2BFARMER%2527S%2BMARKET%252C%2BNEIGHBOR%2527S%2BTRENCH%252C%2BFRESH%2BMARKET%2B074.JPG" width="152" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #141823; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"><b>ICE CREAM TOPPINGS</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #141823;"><span style="line-height: 18.39px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">L</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">ike a little hot fudge on your ice cream? Ashlyn G. suggests heading over to TRADER JOE'S, where you'll find </span></span><b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">TRADER JOE'S FUDGE SAUCE AND FONDUE.</span> </b></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vWyROTa78nA/VzTcWZpl2sI/AAAAAAAAApc/UsqPHTY2TFoTcNuaVo8wGHQFmc1P15MTwCK4B/s1600/HOT%2BFUDGE%2BSAUCE%2BFF%2B2016%2Band%2BEllei%2B082.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vWyROTa78nA/VzTcWZpl2sI/AAAAAAAAApc/UsqPHTY2TFoTcNuaVo8wGHQFmc1P15MTwCK4B/s200/HOT%2BFUDGE%2BSAUCE%2BFF%2B2016%2Band%2BEllei%2B082.JPG" width="140" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #141823;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.39px;"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #141823;"><span style="line-height: 18.39px;">Now when it comes to hot fudge, I have set a pretty high bar, having grown up in Philadelphia, where, as a child, I feasted on </span></span></span><span style="color: #141823; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.39px;">some of the best hot fudge sundaes ever at the local Hot Shoppe and Dairy Maid. Those memories were challenged when a package arrived from Ms. G, containing two jars of Trader Joe's version. As someone decades younger than I would write, OMG!</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This most unexpected and thoughtful gift won me over after the first spoonful. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I heated a little of the richly smooth fudge in a small microwaveable bowl and poured it over a scoop of <b>BREYER'S VANILLA FUDGE TWIRL</b>:one of my all-time favorite ice creams. Oh boy oh boy oh boy. Thank you, Ashlyn!</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I0-ksoflqIo/VzTWaDzMREI/AAAAAAAAApM/mOdB6yb2DMkRNHogm0dJBjHXSGe3o7ipACK4B/s1600/Trader%2BJoe%2527s%2Bhot%2Bfudge%2B%2BSauce%2BFood%2BFInd%2B2016%2B007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="175" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I0-ksoflqIo/VzTWaDzMREI/AAAAAAAAApM/mOdB6yb2DMkRNHogm0dJBjHXSGe3o7ipACK4B/s200/Trader%2BJoe%2527s%2Bhot%2Bfudge%2B%2BSauce%2BFood%2BFInd%2B2016%2B007.JPG" width="200" /></span></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I0-ksoflqIo/VzTWaDzMREI/AAAAAAAAApM/mOdB6yb2DMkRNHogm0dJBjHXSGe3o7ipACK4B/s1600/Trader%2BJoe%2527s%2Bhot%2Bfudge%2B%2BSauce%2BFood%2BFInd%2B2016%2B007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I0-ksoflqIo/VzTWaDzMREI/AAAAAAAAApM/mOdB6yb2DMkRNHogm0dJBjHXSGe3o7ipACK4B/s1600/Trader%2BJoe%2527s%2Bhot%2Bfudge%2B%2BSauce%2BFood%2BFInd%2B2016%2B007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></a><span lang="EN" style="color: #141823; line-height: 115%;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"></span></span></span></span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"></span></span></span> </span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">What? You say
you're more of a butterscotch person? While i have to admit that I lost the
source of this next "find" , I did manage to save it when it came in
just after last year's list posted.</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></h2>
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">FAT
TOAD FARM CARAMEL SAUCE<span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">is,
according to their website, a goat's milk caramel, "based on the Mexican
confection cajeta', and hand-stirred in copper kettles 'to velvety perfection'
over the course of five hours.</span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The result </span>is a sumptuous caramel sauce just
waiting to be 'drizzled over rice cream or fruit, paired with your favorite
cheese, mixed into your mourning coffee, or eaten straight out of the jar with
a spoon." For another caramel 'Find", read on!</span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></h2>
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">NUTS</span></b></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--YFJvPG0I1I/VzTkZeeJPQI/AAAAAAAAAp4/XoRJkjhl6PwgfbpAEDJq9bRhhKZfsdesQCK4B/s1600/FOOD%2BFINDS%2B2016%2BALMONDS%252C%2BEllie%2Bon%2Boffice%2Bbookcase%2B2-8-2016%2B008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--YFJvPG0I1I/VzTkZeeJPQI/AAAAAAAAAp4/XoRJkjhl6PwgfbpAEDJq9bRhhKZfsdesQCK4B/s200/FOOD%2BFINDS%2B2016%2BALMONDS%252C%2BEllie%2Bon%2Boffice%2Bbookcase%2B2-8-2016%2B008.JPG" width="185" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 27.6px;"><span style="color: windowtext;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 27.6px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I wasn't the only one who tried <b>MARCONA ALMONDS</b> this year. Ann L in Mississippi sent in her "FIND" shortly after I bought a container-full of these trendy Spanish almonds at my local Murray's Cheese Shop. They're a bit sweeter, a bit nuttier, and a bit softer than their California cousins. Known in Spain as "The Queen's almonds", they're fried in olive or sunflower oil and dusted with sea salt, then packed in that oil, making picking one up out of the container a bit messy. I have to admit that </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I was a bit put off by the oil, but our
reader adores them, and the food magazines are filled with ideas for using them</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">in various dishes</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 18.39px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>PRIVATE SELECTION HEAT AND EAT SOUTHERN STYLE SPICED </b>or<b> GLAZED PECANS</b> are just two of the flavors you can choose from in this new line of microwavable nuts. No mircowave oven? Eat 'em straight out of the bag. I won't tell</span>.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.39px;"> .<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GvdQUKfBDKg/VzTl1DvSsFI/AAAAAAAAAqM/iXXiN0FktB89L5lWGePtFrSaSN5XKg_AQCK4B/s1600/ellie%2Band%2Byellow%2Btomato%2Bsauce%2B1-7%2B%2526%2B1-8-2016%2B012.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GvdQUKfBDKg/VzTl1DvSsFI/AAAAAAAAAqM/iXXiN0FktB89L5lWGePtFrSaSN5XKg_AQCK4B/s200/ellie%2Band%2Byellow%2Btomato%2Bsauce%2B1-7%2B%2526%2B1-8-2016%2B012.JPG" width="134" /></a></span><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TXrBRL5SOrA/VzTlvOCVWbI/AAAAAAAAAqE/krdUxz62lW0NNV27cD161czUmT8GXNe7ACK4B/s1600/ellie%2Band%2Byellow%2Btomato%2Bsauce%2B1-7%2B%2526%2B1-8-2016%2B013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TXrBRL5SOrA/VzTlvOCVWbI/AAAAAAAAAqE/krdUxz62lW0NNV27cD161czUmT8GXNe7ACK4B/s200/ellie%2Band%2Byellow%2Btomato%2Bsauce%2B1-7%2B%2526%2B1-8-2016%2B013.JPG" width="200" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 18.39px;"><b>CANDY</b></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.39px;"> <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-riEYipjnvao/VzTqagrAn5I/AAAAAAAAAq0/BVVY0HViyzYZ-70ngabzOJx6lObFq_TTgCK4B/s1600/Ellie%252C%2BFood%2BFinds%252C%2Band%2Bneighborhood%2B4-20-2016%2B014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="line-height: 18.39px;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-riEYipjnvao/VzTqagrAn5I/AAAAAAAAAq0/BVVY0HViyzYZ-70ngabzOJx6lObFq_TTgCK4B/s200/Ellie%252C%2BFood%2BFinds%252C%2Band%2Bneighborhood%2B4-20-2016%2B014.JPG" width="121" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.39px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Anothe<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">r find in the form of an unusually flavored hard candy. Jackie in Barlett was drawn to these confectionery drops by the uniqueness of their natural blood orange flavor. <b>GOORGANIC HARD CANDIES</b> are both organic </span>and gluten-free and at only 20 calories a piece. are a real (you'll excuse the expression) lifesaver.</span> </span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L0gdhxo8tBA/VzTuIgrdMEI/AAAAAAAAArM/EdbbCVF-YaIDJWNHuJLXKQL-pz1AEPtKQCK4B/s1600/FOOD%2BFINDS%2B2016%2BPecans%2B%252B%2BEllie%2Bbathing%2B1-11-2016%2B010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L0gdhxo8tBA/VzTuIgrdMEI/AAAAAAAAArM/EdbbCVF-YaIDJWNHuJLXKQL-pz1AEPtKQCK4B/s200/FOOD%2BFINDS%2B2016%2BPecans%2B%252B%2BEllie%2Bbathing%2B1-11-2016%2B010.JPG" width="101" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Show me a box of candy, and chances are I'll pick out a caramel, which I pronounce "car-mul" but all of the announcers on TV refer to as "cahr-ah-mels." But whatever you call them, they are at the top of my list of favorites.</span> </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And so when several boxes of <b>PRIVATE SELECTION VANILLA CREAM SOFT CARAMELS </b></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">appeared on the shelf in the Bent and Dent section of the supermarket some months back, I couldn't help but pop one in my shopping cart.</span> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Once home, I opened up the box, and unwrapped a piece of the candy. It was so incredibly good, that I got back in the car, drove to the supermarket, and diet be damned, bought two more boxes - one of which, I gave away, the other which I kept for "later".</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1JYonwuCjSI/VzT7dq7CrKI/AAAAAAAAAro/qCbRYWjMgQ02spbY4IxS7DN9TZ7x2XVOwCK4B/s1600/CARAMELS%2BFOR%2B2016%2BFF%2B005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1JYonwuCjSI/VzT7dq7CrKI/AAAAAAAAAro/qCbRYWjMgQ02spbY4IxS7DN9TZ7x2XVOwCK4B/s200/CARAMELS%2BFOR%2B2016%2BFF%2B005.JPG" width="180" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">All too often, store brands don't match in quality or flavor to the name brands that are widely advertised or pricey small label offerings that make their candy or other food products in small batches. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But, as you've seen in this latest FOOD FIND edition, there are exceptions to that rule; and this is another of those exceptions. Oh my goodness. They were to die for. Well, maybe not die, but beg for. Yearn for. They are <em>that </em></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">good.</span></span></span></span><br />
<h2>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">BEVERAGES</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Jackie K. offers two for tea: </span><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iby9vmue1HU/VzT9lm30yCI/AAAAAAAAAr0/SCv16fw8uNQhYby9wO6t5L666bd1k4S4gCK4B/s1600/PUKKA%2BTEA%2BFF%2B2016.jpg" imageanchor="1"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iby9vmue1HU/VzT9lm30yCI/AAAAAAAAAr0/SCv16fw8uNQhYby9wO6t5L666bd1k4S4gCK4B/s200/PUKKA%2BTEA%2BFF%2B2016.jpg" width="125" /></span></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fuiwPBdUBKA/VzT9mETppBI/AAAAAAAAAr8/IE3tIO9RMPEmasKIyBrDPJbbMPrNkjnQgCK4B/s1600/PUKKA%2BREVITALIZE%2BTEA.jpg" imageanchor="1"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fuiwPBdUBKA/VzT9mETppBI/AAAAAAAAAr8/IE3tIO9RMPEmasKIyBrDPJbbMPrNkjnQgCK4B/s200/PUKKA%2BREVITALIZE%2BTEA.jpg" width="124" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> <b>PUKKA HERBALTEA</b>, to be exact.</span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The company has an extremely full line of organic herbal teas to choose from. Among Jackie's favorites: </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PUKKA LEMON, GINGER AND MANUKA HONEY TEA</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> and </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">CHI</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. Beautifully packaged, 100% organically grown, fragrant and delicious, you'll want to have a cuppa of cuppas. Find them on line, or, on occasion, at Homegoods and other retailers.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You drink milk out of a carton. You drink juice out of a carton. Heck, you even drink wine out of a carton. So why does it seem a little crazy to drink water out of a carton? My niece commented on the absurdity of it on Facebook. And I can understand why. It wasn't all that long ago that paying for water and drinking it out of a glass - then plastic bottle seemed a little nuts.</span></span> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Anyway,</span> it was only a few days after her post that I spotted a couple of cartons of water in the now famous bent and dent section of my supermarket. A bargain at just sixty-nice cents. Now, it doesn't taste particularly special: it is, after all, only water. But it's far better for the atmosphere than those other options. So, why not I say?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Well, water you waiting for? There must be at least two or three dozen "FINDS" that you can absolutely not do without. My thanks to all of the foodies who took the time to share their favorite things with others who are always looking for something new, fun and absolutely delicious. Be well. Eat well. And enjoy the ride!</span></div>
Jainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02553591299806607498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215928590640748611.post-61464772152267714442015-10-27T14:48:00.001-05:002015-10-27T14:48:56.676-05:00THE STRAIGHT STORY<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I have been
a fan of Richard Farnsworth’s work since I first saw him in 1980’s
</span><i style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Resurrection</i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">. His portrayal of Esco, owner of a funky gas station in the middle of nowhere, won
Ellen Burstyn’s admiration and mine. I loved him in </span><i style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The Grey Fox </i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">(which, for some reason, isn’t available on DVD – or even VHS), and as Red Blow―the
affable coach in </span><i style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The Natural,</i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> singing along with Wilfred Brimley in the dugout.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And so it
comes as no surprise to learn that I loved him in <i>The Straight Story</i>; one of
the few bio pics with a heart.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Richard Farnsworth
had one of those marvelously well-lined, character-driven faces that
photographers love to capture on film. He projected an image that was both
gentle and genuine, and like Sinatra, he was extremely adept at phrasing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He began his
movie career in the 1930s, working as a stunt man in a series of iconic pictures
like <i>A Day at the Races</i> and <i>Gunga Din</i>, and later, took on uncredited acting
roles in much-loved classics like <i>Gone With The Wind</i>, <i>Red River</i>, <i>The Wild One</i>, <i>The
Ten Commandments</i> and <i>Spartacus</i>. Later credits included a comedic turn as the sheriff
in <i>Blazing Saddles</i> and far more serious roles, such as that of a slave catcher in
<i>Roots</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>The Straight
Story</i> would be the last of his three hundred-plus credits, but certainly not
the least. Cast in the lead role, he starred as seventy-three-year-old Alvin
Straight, who in 1994, set out on an extraordinary six-week odyssey to visit
his ailing brother. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The fact
that this is a true tale makes it all the more remarkable. Brought to the
screen by producer Mary Sweeney, who co-wrote the script along with John Roach,
it is one of those special films that stays with you long after the credits
have rolled.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Directed by
Sweeney’s long-time partner, David Lynch, it is the story of Alvin and Lyle
Straight: two brothers who, in 1984, fought a fight fueled by anger and pride
and far too much alcohol. Things were said that were hard to retract, and even
harder to forgive, and so the brothers, who had been extremely close all their
lives, went their separate ways. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The film picks
up their story a decade later, when, after a sobering visit to the doctor, Alvin is forced to come to grips with the fact that time is no longer on his side.
Learning that Lyle has just suffered a life-threatening stroke, he is overcome with
the need to put pride aside and make peace with his brother before it’s too
late. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Far from a
wealthy man, Alvin hasn’t the wherewithal to hop on a plane and make the
240-mile trip from Laurens, Iowa to his brother’s home in Mount Zion,
Wisconsin. With aging eyes, and an unforgiving body that has him falling to the
floor more often than not, he is no longer able to drive a car, or walk without
assistance. But Alvin is determined to make the trip on his own, if not by car,
then by tractor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And so he
takes to the road on a 1966 John Deere, after a false-start on an even older tractor.
The bulk of the movie follows him over the course of six weeks, as he makes his
way down the highway at a break-neck speed of five miles an hour, the tractor pulling
a make-shift trailer filled with little more than a blanket, a couple of rusty
folding chairs, an ice chest full of beef jerky and hot dogs, a change of clothes, and a few basic
necessities. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As Indian summer
turns to fall, we watch Alvin deal with the elements, the tractor’s and his own
short comings, while touching the lives of the people he meets along the way. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I can’t
think of another actor who could have pulled this role off―not in such a
natural, truly believable way. Whether Alvin makes it to Lyle’s, and if so, if
Lyle is still alive and wiling to reconcile when Alvin gets there, is certainly
part of the story, but not at the very heart of it. For this is a character-driven
film. And over the course of some 110 minutes we will get to know the man
behind the wheel, and what has brought him to this place in time. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We’ll also
get to know his daughter Rose, (thoughtfully played by Sissy Spacek), who has
had more than her fair-share of heartbreak, and rightly worries that her father
and his tractor aren’t up to the trip. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">While, like
many true stories adapted for the screen, some names (including that of Alvin’s brother) have been
changed, characters melded, and events merged or created for a variety of
reasons, <i>The Straight Story </i>remains a purposefully small film, and is all the better
for it. Shot, in sequence, along the same highway that the real Alvin Straight traveled,
it is a simple tale, told simply and beautifully.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">To this I add a small caveat, </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Upon coming to a scene involving a distraught driver who unintentionally hit and killed a deer, I chose to fast-forward past it, even though I knew that no animals were harmed - let alone killed in the making of the film.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> That doesn’t mean
that you should do the same, or keep you from renting or buying what I believe to be an exceptional piece of movie-making.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Richard
Farnsworth would receive a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his portrayal of the seventy-three
year old traveler, and rightly so, especially when you realize that he was
battling bone cancer at the time, his inability to walk unaided, required
no acting on his part. That he believed enough in the film’s
message to take on such a demanding role, is a tribute to him and to Alvin
Straight, who passed away in 1996. According to one source, a mower much like the
one he drove to Iowa, led the funeral procession to the cemetery. Way to go, Alvin.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For Richard
Farnsworth, there came a time in 2000 when he could no longer live with the
unrelenting pain of his disease, and opted out. But if anything, this last work
is a testament to life: a heart-warming, thought-provoking, and ultimately
uplifting look at the power of love; family and the kindness of strangers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<br /></div>
Jainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02553591299806607498noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215928590640748611.post-12089231955301470492015-08-17T14:03:00.000-05:002015-08-18T16:38:30.264-05:00CROSSING DELANCEY<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last
time around, I introduced you to <i>84 Charing Cross Road</i>, a lovely
film about a bookstore.<i> Crossing Delancey</i> begins where it
left off time-wise, though the movies themselves and the characters within them
couldn't be more different.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">When
I was a teenager, my uncle treated my grandmother and me to a matinee performance
of an all-Yiddish show starring Molly Picon, an American-born actress who
carved a career out of playing Eastern-European woman. I didn’t understand a
word of that play, but no matter. I understood that it was a gift to my
grandmother; her teenage granddaughter going along for the ride, and happy to
do so.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
suppose part of the reason I am fond of <i>Crossing Delancey</i> has
to do with my relationship with my grandmother, and the Yiddish theater that
all but disappeared with her generation. I never did learn to read, speak or
understand Yiddish, save for a few well-worn words and phrases that could be
heard in so many Jewish households at the time. But I never outgrew my fondness
for the Eastern European dialect my grandmother shared with millions of other
immigrants, all of them, long gone now.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">Crossing
Delancey,</span></i><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;"> starring
Amy Irving and Peter Reigert, is one of the nearly forgotten romantic comedies
of the 1980s – a shame, because it has a lot to offer.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Irving
plays Isabelle “Izzy” Grossman; a modern Jewish single who works in a small
Manhattan bookshop; a job which is both intellectually stimulating, and enables
her to mix and mingle with visiting authors. And while we find her in the
middle of a decidedly non-romantic affair with a married man, she has put any
thoughts of a serious committed relationship on hold.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">Filmed
in 1988, shortly before the big book stores and Internet giants took over the
book business, the little shop is doing just fine, as is Izzy. But the shopgirl's grandmother (Yiddish theater veteran Reizi Bozyk) is concerned. When she
looks at Izzy she sees a young woman who lives alone, and is getting older by the
minute. And so she sets out to find her granddaughter a husband, with the
help of a local marriage broker named Hannah Mandelbaum (Sylvia Miles).</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">A
so-called "modern woman", Izzy is understandably put out by her
grandmother’s insistence that she at least meet the man the matchmaker has
chosen for her. But she does so, albeit, unwittingly.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
relationship between Izzy and her ‘bubbie’, and the way they each perceive life
and people in general, adds to the charm of this old world-versus new world
rom/com, </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">Enter
Sam Posner (Reigert): a hard-working, average-looking fellow who makes and
sells pickles in the city’s predominantly-Jewish lower east side. Despite
his charm, Izzy can’t get past the fact that he makes his living selling
pickles. When her grandmother persists in her efforts to get the two together,
Izzy replies, “Bubbie, listen to me…I don’t want a husband, and if I did, he
wouldn’t be a pickle man.”</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finding
best–selling author Anton Maes (Jeroen Krabbe) far more interesting, Izzy
pursues that relationship, while setting Sam up with one of her single friends.
It’s only when her friend shows an interest in Izzy’s cast-off, that Izzy
takes a second look, but by that time, Sam appears to have moved on.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">Crossing
Delancey</span></i><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;"> is
the personification of the old adage, “You can’t judge a book by its cover" —an
appropriate analogy for a book shop tale. While Irving received a Golden Globe
nomination for her work in the film, some know her only as the woman who in
1989 received a reported $100,000,000 divorce settlement from producer Steven
Spielberg. Look beyond the headlines and you’ll see a career that continues to
this day.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">But
Irving is only part of what makes this film worth watching. A tight script and
fine supporting cast are two more reasons to visit or revisit this pre-mega
bookstore/pre-internet piece. Reigert is well cast as a regular guy, with no
movie star looks to derail the tale. He particularly shines during a
well-written sequence involving a hat. And though you may not know Jeroen
Krabbe by name, chances are you’ll recognize the Dutch actor from one of many
roles he has played as a charming but unpleasant and/or evil character in films
like </span><i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Fugitive</span></i><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and </span><i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">The</span></i><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">Prince of Tides</span></i><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">As
for the rest of the cast, look closely and you’ll catch David Hyde Pierce in an
early role and Susan Sandler, who wrote the screen adaptation and the play on
which it is based.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">Crossing
Delancey</span></i><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;"> would
pave the way for such fan favs as <i>When Harry Met Sally</i> and <i>You’ve
Got Mail</i>, the latter addressing the aggressive onslaught of the super-sized
book store, and its effect on the industry’s independents. While its pace may
be a bit slow for those who can’t remember life before the Internet, video games,
and films loaded with fast clips and special effects, it marks a turning point,
and for that reason alone, is worth watching.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">As
for its ethnic bent, I point you a famous ad campaign that declared, ”You don’t
have to be Jewish to love Levy’s real Jewish rye”. The same can be said of <i>Crossing
Delancey.</i> Even if you didn’t grow up with a bubbie, live in New York, are
aware that Delaney Street marks the boundaries of its iconic Jewish
neighborhood, or recall a time when the only place you could buy a book or meet
an author was at small independent bookstore, if you’re old enough to vote, I believe
you’ll enjoy this <i>novel</i> approach to romance. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Jainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02553591299806607498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215928590640748611.post-33050517593651450282015-07-23T12:33:00.000-05:002015-07-27T20:18:04.724-05:0084 CHARING CROSS ROAD<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One of my favorite films might never have made it
to the screen were it not for a happy bit of happenstance. As actress Anne
Bancroft recalled in her introduction to the 1995 edition of <i>84, Charing Cross
Road</i>, “Some years ago, as I was sitting on the beach on Fire Island, a man
strolling by approached me. I didn’t know the fellow, so his exclamation―’I’ve
just read something that would be perfect for you!’―took me by surprise.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">She went on to say that he returned the following
day with a copy of Helen Hanff’s best-seller. “His enthusiasm seemed
so sincere,” she wrote, “I couldn’t help but be intrigued.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It was kismet: a case of the right people being at
the right place at the right time. Bancroft read and fell in love with the slim
volume, which is nothing more or less than a thirty-year collection of letters
between an American writer and British antiquarian bookseller. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Knowing how much Hanff’s book had come to mean to
her, Bancroft’s husband―writer/ producer/actor Mel Brooks, bought the screen
rights for her as an anniversary gift, and together they, along with an
exceptional team of movie-making pros, would create what I can only describe as
a love letter to friendship, the nearly lost art of letter writing, books, and the
people who love them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The film begins in the late 1940s, when television
was new and based in Manhattan, where script writers like Helene Hanff eked
out a living. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">When we meet her she is middle-aged single gal, living
in a walk-up studio apartment in a Manhattan brownstone. Small though it may
be, it is filled with the things that make her happy: photographs of loved
ones, rows and rows of books, a cozy chair to curl up in, and a black manual
typewriter, where we presume, she toils away reading and writing scripts for </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Ellery
Queen</i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> and other now-vintage drama series, magazine articles and letters: lots and lots
of letters. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">If she longs for a bigger place, we wouldn’t know
it. When asked by perspective neighbors how many rooms her apartment has, she replies
cheerily, “I have a work room, a sitting room, a dining room and a kitchen.” And
with that she opens the door for the big reveal. “―And her it is!” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Despite the financial uncertainty of life as a
freelance writer (and a woman freelance writer at that), Ms. Hanff appears to
be quite content, earning enough to pay the bills, buy a few small but
thoughtful gifts for friends, and ‘good clean used copies’ of books she has
read and loved for herself―if and when, she can find them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And therein lies the rub. It seems that even in 1947
Manhattan, where small independent bookshops could be found on nearly every
corner, finding the books on her wish list, is no easy task. Decades before the
Internet and mega bookstores with their latte cafes and endless inventories,
her only hope of finding these classics lies in an ad placed in the Saturday
Review of Literature by Marks and Co., a small British antiquarian bookstore
located on London’s Charing Cross Road.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">With high hopes and a modest budget, Ms. Hanff writes
the first of what will be many letters to the shop, asking if they can help
her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A dusty, throwback of a place even then, the shop
at 84 Charing Cross Road is a study in understated earnestness, with stacks of
books and prints unapologetically piled on large tables, and seemingly endless rows
of gently used books lining its floor-to-ceiling shelves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Frank Doel, answers Hanff’s letter, in a veddy
British, impersonal tone that will warm over time as he, his co-workers and family
slowly but surely become an important part of Hanff’s life, and she of theirs. Formal salutations give way to more informal
greetings, as bits and pieces of their lives are shared along with book requests
and confirmations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As the stranger on the beach predicted, Bancroft
was perfectly cast in the role of the slightly eccentric Ms. Hanff. Directed by David Jones, Produced by Mr.
Brooks, and captured on film by David West, it boasts a stellar cast, music either
written or conducted by George Fenton, and the look, feel and charm of a bygone
era of movie-making. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I love the way this 1987 film is laid out; from
the role the letters play, to the sets and bits and pieces of everyday living
that give the viewer a real sense of the times. I love the simplicity of the
dialogue and West’s cinematography: no quick cuts, no special effects, no four-letter
words or hidden agendas: proof positive that good things do indeed come in
small packages.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As previously noted, Anne Bancroft does a fine job
of capturing Hanff’s gently sarcastic wit, genuine kindness and unabashed enthusiasm
not only for British literature, but life itself. Anthony Hopkins, as Frank
Doel, similarly fits comfortably into the role of the proper but genuinely
decent British bookstore seller.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One of the joys of watching this 1987 film some
twenty-eight years after its release is in seeing well-loved and
long-established actors in small supporting roles. There’s Mercedes Ruehl as
Helene’s actress friend, Veronica, a pre-Dame Judi Dench as Frank Doel’s wife,
Nora, and a dark-haired, somewhat lighter version of Ian McNeice, cast as the
bookshop’s cataloguer. <i>Doc Martin</i> fans know him as the series’ fumbling but
good-natured plumber-turned-restaurateur, Bert Large. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One of my favorite scenes in the film features
McNeice, as he and his great aunt (played with glee by the marvelous Gwen
Nelson) enjoy a bit of tinned beef courtesy of Ms. Hanff. A holiday treat in
post-war Britain, it’s part of a ‘CARE’ package of hard-to-get food stuffs the
writer has sent to the shop’s employees. It is such small, well-written and
acted moments that make the film a joy to watch.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As for the book that started it all; no one was
more surprised at its success than Hanff herself. Published some two years
after Frank Doel’s unexpected death in 1971, it would be developed into a
small, two-person off-Broadway play before moving on to the “great white way”
and the London stage in 1981. It was only when the book was turned into a film
that the cast, sets, scenes and storyline were expanded, filling in the blanks
with bits of conversation, charming us with on-location shots of New York and
London, and taking us into the apartments, neighborhoods and cubbies of Hanff’s
beloved bookshop.'<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I was lucky enough to interview Helen Hanff a year
or so before she passed away in 1997. I was hosting a radio talk show at the
time, and had scheduled a one-hour interview with the author. Some twenty
minutes in, a visiting nurse arrived at her bedside, cutting the conversation
short. But in
the time we had, she told of how the book had impacted her life, and noted that
while the film may hint of an unfulfilled romance between the letter writers,
there was none. What there was, was a real affection for not only Mr. Doel, but
his family and the people who were the heart of the now long-gone bookshop. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Should you travel to Charing Cross Road―as I did
some years ago, you’ll find a plaque where Marks & Co once stood, its words
marking the fact that the shop truly existed, forever remembered in print, on
stage, and film thanks to the late Ms. Hanff. It is a tribute the author, that, after reading
the book and seeing the movie, people tend to head for the nearest used book
shop, where they, like Hanff, look for good clean copies of books they read and
loved, or meant to read. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I love the inscriptions on the leaves and notes
in the margins, and reading passages someone long gone has called to my
attention” Hanff wrote. A sentiment that is at the very heart of this film. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Those who seek action-packed, highly plotted movies
with twists and turns and snappy this and that may get bored by this film. But those
who love books, and have a special place in their heart for the 1940s and ‘50s,
will find that 84 Charing Cross Road speaks volumes.</span>Jainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02553591299806607498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215928590640748611.post-84721409514736075982015-05-11T20:32:00.000-05:002015-05-18T11:32:09.000-05:00THE 4TH ANNUAL FOOD FIND EDITION<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Welcome
to the 2015 Food Find edition! It’s loaded with food products
I, along with readers, friends, and family think are worth sharing; exceptional
food products that are available at least regionally, or by mail. So let’s get
started.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">BREAKFAST
BITES, BACON AND BARS</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O9LIXGePjR0/VVFDdi2uRLI/AAAAAAAAAbY/gv2NHkQItO4/s1600/sunrisebar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="291" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O9LIXGePjR0/VVFDdi2uRLI/AAAAAAAAAbY/gv2NHkQItO4/s320/sunrisebar.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-11rgC4c-ISA/VVFDQ-tRW-I/AAAAAAAAAbQ/SQ4yvD7IhA4/s1600/sunrise.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">An
email from Andi in Memphis begins, “I have three (really 4) new obsessions.”
You’ll find the others in the yogurt section of the list.” But first things
first, with a nod to breakfast fav ”<b>AUSSIE BITES</b></span> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-11rgC4c-ISA/VVFDQ-tRW-I/AAAAAAAAAbQ/SQ4yvD7IhA4/s1600/sunrise.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-11rgC4c-ISA/VVFDQ-tRW-I/AAAAAAAAAbQ/SQ4yvD7IhA4/s320/sunrise.jpg" width="320" /></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">and <b>SUNRISE ENERGY
BARS</b>. which Andi buys at Costco. She says she calls these organic
treats her ‘birdseed bars’.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> “They are
very nutrient dense and make a fantastic breakfast. There are slight
differences between the 2 – one has apricots and the other has cashews. The
trick is that they are incredibly popular and Costco usually only has one or
the other. I buy 2 containers at a time and freeze one. I keep the other one in
the fridge so that it lasts longer.” For more from Andi, head for the Yogurt
section of our list. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A<span style="font-size: large;">
Florida reader sent a general shout out to <b>BEEF BACON</b> (as opposed to the
pork). She didn’t mention a brand, but a quick check shows that OSCAR MEYER
lists it among their products. According to the Beef Bacon Corporation (which
takes credit for inventing the product), the cured beef is delicious, diet
friendly, and a great choice for people who don’t eat pork. Our reader agrees.
</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CHEESE</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SVcwulJAQrc/VVEpWdecRWI/AAAAAAAAATg/h5qbbWB4zhM/s1600/FOOD%2BFINDS%2B2015%2B%2C%2BELlie%2Bin%2Bshower%2C%2B%26%2Broses%2B%26%2B%2Bdogwood%2B%2B4-28-2015%2B043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SVcwulJAQrc/VVEpWdecRWI/AAAAAAAAATg/h5qbbWB4zhM/s320/FOOD%2BFINDS%2B2015%2B%2C%2BELlie%2Bin%2Bshower%2C%2B%26%2Broses%2B%26%2B%2Bdogwood%2B%2B4-28-2015%2B043.JPG" width="180" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">When
I was growing up, there were processed cheese, along with a handful of
cut-from-the-block standards like Cheddar, Swiss and Muenster. Today, specialty
stores, websites, clubs and supermarket counters abound, all of them filled
with all manner of cheeses from around the world. Hanging around the
Murray’s Cheese counter at my local Kroger store, a fellow who knows his cheeses
recommended <strong>MIMOLETTE</strong>, which, he said, is as round as a cantaloupe, and
as hard as a cannon ball. The color is a deep pumpkin, the taste, he says, __</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">.</span> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
Murray’s rep – who happened to be there that morning, recommended the <strong>TOMME CRAYEUSE,</strong> which, he said, people refer to as the “Tom Cruise” cheese. He
said it goes amazingly well with wine. Given the fact that he stocks hundreds
of cheeses and this was his pick, I added it to </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">our list of ‘must trys’.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A
New England reader suggests we try <strong>PAVINO</strong> cheese, which she found at
Whole Foods. I found it to be delicious.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6gsqZJajX9Y/VVE0zKXKQ3I/AAAAAAAAAX4/-F-VJfR-t88/s1600/Ellie%2CStaxx%2Bat%2BAPI%2C%2BPavino%2Bcheese%2B3-10-15%2B010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6gsqZJajX9Y/VVE0zKXKQ3I/AAAAAAAAAX4/-F-VJfR-t88/s320/Ellie%2CStaxx%2Bat%2BAPI%2C%2BPavino%2Bcheese%2B3-10-15%2B010.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">A mid south reader sent in several tasty “FINDS” – among them, <strong>CLOUMAGE CREAMY FRESH CHEESE</strong><b>. </b>According to the label you can use this spreadable, dippable
cheese in sweet and savory recipes.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FqcorgkNBbY/VVE74x19laI/AAAAAAAAAa4/MS6KQsJXJyo/s1600/YET%2BMORE%2BFOOD%2BFINDS%2B%26%2BELLIE%2B008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FqcorgkNBbY/VVE74x19laI/AAAAAAAAAa4/MS6KQsJXJyo/s320/YET%2BMORE%2BFOOD%2BFINDS%2B%26%2BELLIE%2B008.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A
last minute entry arrived by email from Andi – who had send in several finds
earlier (thanks, Andi!). </span></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Md-MixSIdlY/VVoPx78jhVI/AAAAAAAAAeg/JYCd8t75_lA/s1600/ellie%2Band%2BFood%2BFind%2B2015%2Bcheese%2B5-18-2015%2B017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="305" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Md-MixSIdlY/VVoPx78jhVI/AAAAAAAAAeg/JYCd8t75_lA/s320/ellie%2Band%2BFood%2BFind%2B2015%2Bcheese%2B5-18-2015%2B017.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">She told of her husband bringing home a wedge of <b>MURRAY’S
COTSWOLD CHEESE</b>. According to igourmet.com, this cow’s milk cheese
hails from the Cotswold region of Great Britain, where it is known as “the Pub
Cheese”. “.. .commonly served with hard-crusted bread and a strong, dark
ale,”, they say that it is“ wonderful melted on grilled chicken or chops, and
delicious atop burgers.” Writes Andi, “It was </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">so delicious … we ate the entire block. It had onions and
chives – so good!.” Murray’s has free-standing shops around the country (its
flagship store being located in New York City, as well as shops within a
growing number of Kroger, King Scoopers, QFC, Fred Meyer and Ralphs Supermarkets in Ohio, Tennessee, </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Alabama, South Carolina, Texas, Colorado, Washington,
Oregon, California, Indiana, Michigan, Alaska, Virginia, New Mexico, Illinois,
Nevada, and West Virginia</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">. Shop by mail at Murrays.com. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Pass the cheese, please.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">BUTTER, CREAM CHEESE AND HUMMUS</span></b><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R0kqrA5GsO8/VVEqvP06laI/AAAAAAAAAT4/pQFsDSikpVQ/s1600/Butter%2Bfor%2B2015%2BFood%2BFind%2BEdition%2B027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="171" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R0kqrA5GsO8/VVEqvP06laI/AAAAAAAAAT4/pQFsDSikpVQ/s320/Butter%2Bfor%2B2015%2BFood%2BFind%2BEdition%2B027.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">Over
the years, several readers have weighed in on their favorite butters, and I’ve
added a few of my own. This year’s offerings include New Zealand’s <b>ANCHOR
UNSALTED BUTTER</b>,</span> </span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Yv6rc6zI5EU/VVEyUa5-pnI/AAAAAAAAAXA/VFn_lr1scZA/s1600/FRESH%2BMARKET%2BFOOD%2BFIND%2B4-30-2015%2B010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Yv6rc6zI5EU/VVEyUa5-pnI/AAAAAAAAAXA/VFn_lr1scZA/s320/FRESH%2BMARKET%2BFOOD%2BFIND%2B4-30-2015%2B010.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">a<span style="font-size: large;">nd a nostalgic loaf <b>of MINERVA DAIRY’S</b> <b>NATURALLY
CULTURED AMISH ROLL BUTTER</b>, much like our Murfreesboro reader recalls on
his grandmother’s table. I’m a fan of their regular butter, which can also be
found at FRESH MARKET, and which I featured in the third annual edition of this
series.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LUXukg8uQjU/VVEq7f4wZ-I/AAAAAAAAAUA/cbOsYTLSWKs/s1600/YET%2BMORE%2BFOOD%2BFINDS%2B%26%2BELLIE%2B001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="185" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LUXukg8uQjU/VVEq7f4wZ-I/AAAAAAAAAUA/cbOsYTLSWKs/s320/YET%2BMORE%2BFOOD%2BFINDS%2B%26%2BELLIE%2B001.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">Is
this the year of the dueling butters? <b>FARMHOUSE KITCHENS HANDROLLED</b> <b>BUTTER</b>
is another fan favorite. I found it at Kroger. It’s a hunk a hunk a hunk of
butter– a large beautifully round roll that slices into light lemon-colored
coins. Every time I sliced off a bit of this butter, I thought what a beautiful
presentation a 1/2 coin of this butter or on a bread plate on beautifully set
table.</span> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-V-ZMtKsuA-8/VVErE1jmf-I/AAAAAAAAAUI/yQnheZqzc7U/s1600/FRESH%2BMARKET%2BFOOD%2BFIND%2B4-30-2015%2B012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="169" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-V-ZMtKsuA-8/VVErE1jmf-I/AAAAAAAAAUI/yQnheZqzc7U/s320/FRESH%2BMARKET%2BFOOD%2BFIND%2B4-30-2015%2B012.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">GINA
MARIE OLD FASHIONED CREAM CHEESE</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">. The consistency is more like cottage
cheese than cream cheese; it spreads unevenly on your bagel or bread of
choice. Don’t waste it in a recipe, this one’s for spreading.</span><b> </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oSs4HgnpR_E/VVErR2hyMgI/AAAAAAAAAUQ/UnjQKKFXtx0/s1600/Ellie%2Bon%2Bthe%2Bnewly%2Bwashed%2Bbath%2Bmat%2B5-6-15%2B003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oSs4HgnpR_E/VVErR2hyMgI/AAAAAAAAAUQ/UnjQKKFXtx0/s320/Ellie%2Bon%2Bthe%2Bnewly%2Bwashed%2Bbath%2Bmat%2B5-6-15%2B003.JPG" width="320" /></a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">Both</span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>FOUNTAIN OF HEALTH ALL NATURAL HUMMUS and/or ROASTED RED PEPPER HUMMUS</b>
are just 70 calories for two tablespoon’s-worth of hummus, enough to spread
over two or three of your favorite crackers, or pair with a few sticks of
carrot, celery or similar crudité. The texture is smooth, the flavors are mild,
and when you’re looking for something tasty and relatively healthy to tide you
over between lunch and dinner, just the right, light bite.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">JAMS,
JELLIES, PRESERVES AND SPREADS</span></b></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FbohB-MtxfM/VVFm9x35MDI/AAAAAAAAAb4/oZtIj9hl59c/s1600/HOUSE%2BOF%2BWEBSTER%2BSCAN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="234" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FbohB-MtxfM/VVFm9x35MDI/AAAAAAAAAb4/oZtIj9hl59c/s320/HOUSE%2BOF%2BWEBSTER%2BSCAN.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">George
in Hot Springs, Arkansas sends word that <b>HOUSE OF WEBSTER</b> preserves and
spreads are among his newest obsessions. He wrote to say that he’s liked
everything he’s tried, “especially </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">the
<b>ORANGE MARMALADE, RASPBERRY/BLUE BERRY/RHUBARB BLENDS</b>.” But he
says, he’s also a fan of <b>ALDI’S’ line of JAMS, AND MARMALADES,</b> noting
that “Aldi’s spreads are superior to most – the blackberry and raspberry do not
break down into a lot of liquid” like some of the other brands. You can
order House of Webster products on line at houseofwebster.com (where they sell
a staggering number of different products), at their store in Rogers, Arkansas,
and, according to their website, “at </span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">specialty grocery stores,
farm stores, gift shops, amusement parks, hardware stores, museums and
restaurants.”</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_r4FfQcEg2I/VVFnFrRU12I/AAAAAAAAAcA/UVIqEnWCspg/s1600/Sarabeth's%2Bpreserves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_r4FfQcEg2I/VVFnFrRU12I/AAAAAAAAAcA/UVIqEnWCspg/s320/Sarabeth's%2Bpreserves.jpg" width="246" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">A Melrose Park, PA reader told us
about <b>SARABETH’s ORANGE-APRICOT</b> <b>MARMALADE</b> a few editions back, I
tried it and loved it (It’s loaded with wonderful pieces of orange), along with
<b>SARABETH’S RASPBERRY KEY LIME PRESERVES</b>. The lime off-sets the sweetness
of the raspberries, to make one richly divine topping over buttered toast. I’m
also fond of their <b>MIXED BERRY</b> and <b>PLUM CHERRY </b>(which is a bit
sweater than the others) – all of them tasting better (for some reason)
chilled. You’ll find their full line of products on their website, but they’re
also available on Amazon.com and other sites, as well as at Fresh Market and
Tuesday Morning stores. Tuesday Morning’s prices are excellent, but their
availability and selection is limited, according to the season. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">HONEY</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fPuathyUmwQ/VVEr5K0EChI/AAAAAAAAAUg/bGsqtc8QbC8/s1600/FOOD%2BFINDS%2BETC%2B4-27-2015%2B029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fPuathyUmwQ/VVEr5K0EChI/AAAAAAAAAUg/bGsqtc8QbC8/s200/FOOD%2BFINDS%2BETC%2B4-27-2015%2B029.JPG" width="152" /></a></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></b> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">I am still in deep mourning over the
unavailability of my favorite Australian honey, and last year I told you about
some excellent honey from Mt. Hermon. But the latter has gotten increasingly
expensive, while the size of its jar is nearly half as tall as its former
self. <b>DOBROVA ACACIA HONEY</b> is a very decent substitute. Whole not
amazing, this German import is leaps and bounds ahead of the stuff found in
those plastic teddy-bear containers, and other supermarket brands. Now I
must admit that I do not generally like a rich, full-bodied honey, preferring
the orange-flower, lemony-colored and mildly flavored honey that doesn’t
overtake whatever you’re pairing it with. If you want something heartier,
you might check your local Farmer’s Market. Your local bee-keeper will be
happy to tell you why his or her honey, is a honey of a honey</span>.</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yUgbOhr3TRU/VVEs6L9_kbI/AAAAAAAAAUo/1uZVhoxLHuA/s1600/FOOD%2BFINDS%2B2015%2B%2C%2BELlie%2Bin%2Bshower%2C%2B%26%2Broses%2B%26%2B%2Bdogwood%2B%2B4-28-2015%2B032.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yUgbOhr3TRU/VVEs6L9_kbI/AAAAAAAAAUo/1uZVhoxLHuA/s320/FOOD%2BFINDS%2B2015%2B%2C%2BELlie%2Bin%2Bshower%2C%2B%26%2Broses%2B%26%2B%2Bdogwood%2B%2B4-28-2015%2B032.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Recently I was at a cheese tasting,
where a local cheese maker paired his goat cheese with three ingredients, two
of them highly unlikely. The first was cream cheese. Cream cheese goes with
everything. The second – less obvious choice, <b>MAMA LIL’s GOATHORN
PEPPERS IN OIL, </b>which are described as “sweet, tangy and garlicy”<span style="color: black;">, and available in olive bars and in jars.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tpukkpZTe_A/VVEtYhX8WeI/AAAAAAAAAUw/6wrZYj_6GYI/s1600/FOOD%2BFINDS%2B2015%2B%2C%2BELlie%2Bin%2Bshower%2C%2B%26%2Broses%2B%26%2B%2Bdogwood%2B%2B4-28-2015%2B037.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tpukkpZTe_A/VVEtYhX8WeI/AAAAAAAAAUw/6wrZYj_6GYI/s320/FOOD%2BFINDS%2B2015%2B%2C%2BELlie%2Bin%2Bshower%2C%2B%26%2Broses%2B%26%2B%2Bdogwood%2B%2B4-28-2015%2B037.JPG" width="291" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The third ingredient<b>, DALMATIA
FIG SPREAD</b> from Dalmatia, one of over 1,000 Croatian islands. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Don’t gag. Blended together into a
creamy spread, and topped on a mild, postage-stamp-size cracker, it was
delicious. When I asked about it, the person who was handing out samples of the
spread on tiny, thin, square crackers, handed me a recipe card, saying that the
original recipe called for using peach preserves. But I tell you true, I wouldn’t
change a thing. If you can’t find the spread or the peppers in your local
market, both of these products are available by mail on line. I’m including the
killer recipe from the card they handed out at the tasting, at the end of this
post. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">SPICES</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">A
loyal Eads, TN. reader wrote to say that she and her husband had picked up a
shaker of Avery Island Tabasco Salt last year on a trip to Louisiana, but
having finished their stash, they were distressed to find that they couldn’t
find it in their local markets. Logging on to the company’s website, she found,
much to her distress, that their country store wanted as much or more than the
product cost, to ship it. After a little on-line digging, I found a couple of
suppliers that offered free shipping, and passed the info on.</span> </span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5qY6UVztHhk/VVFnZeFEVDI/AAAAAAAAAcI/J06Dmr5hx-Q/s1600/Spicy%2Bsalt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5qY6UVztHhk/VVFnZeFEVDI/AAAAAAAAAcI/J06Dmr5hx-Q/s320/Spicy%2Bsalt.jpg" width="152" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">Produced by the
McIlhenny Company, known for its Tabasco sauce, </span><b><span style="font-size: large;">KURTONATOR SPICY SALT</span></b><span style="font-size: large;">
can be found on eBay through southernjewlelstreasures, where a five-ounce
container will cost you a cool $7.29, shipping included. Spicy salt is, says
our reader, a heady combination of two of her husband’s favorite things: sea
salt and ground red pepper. Our reader sent word that while she was at
it, she had ordered the company’s tobacco-seasoned wood chips as well, to which
I say, chip chip hooray! </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: medium; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">BREAD</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Cz3WJ2kre9s/VVEt_6Ovx9I/AAAAAAAAAVA/tQncLENm4bU/s1600/FOOD%2BFIND%2B2015%2Brye%2Bbread%2B027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Cz3WJ2kre9s/VVEt_6Ovx9I/AAAAAAAAAVA/tQncLENm4bU/s320/FOOD%2BFIND%2B2015%2Brye%2Bbread%2B027.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VorzgmvyGk4/VVEtpi8GsJI/AAAAAAAAAU4/YmKOlM5q34c/s1600/FOOD%2BFIND%2B2015%2Brye%2Bbread%2B008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="310" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VorzgmvyGk4/VVEtpi8GsJI/AAAAAAAAAU4/YmKOlM5q34c/s320/FOOD%2BFIND%2B2015%2Brye%2Bbread%2B008.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Several
of our readers wrote to suggest that we check out Fresh Market’s various
breads. I was already a fan of their <b>SEEDED RYE</b>, with the all-important
crispy crust, and deep-seeded flavor. Eaten fresh out of the bag some good
butter, or toasted and slathered with some good butter, it is as close to the
Philadelphia rye bread of my youth as I have found in these parts.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NKXsv1pJufE/VVEuR5R6bXI/AAAAAAAAAVI/myPlmCzAIb4/s1600/FRESH%2BMARKET%2BFOOD%2BFIND%2B4-30-2015%2B008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NKXsv1pJufE/VVEuR5R6bXI/AAAAAAAAAVI/myPlmCzAIb4/s320/FRESH%2BMARKET%2BFOOD%2BFIND%2B4-30-2015%2B008.JPG" width="180" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Two
different readers in neighboring cities were in love Fresh Market’s <b>AUTHENTIC
FRENCH SLICED BRIOCHE</b>, which they import from – France. A sweet,
perfect-for-making French toast - brioche, that according to the store’s
manager, has been flying off the shelves – or in this case, baskets. It also
comes unsliced and loaded with ribbons of chocolate, and is labeled <b>FRENCH
CHOCOLATE SWIRL</b>. Be still my heart.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">While
it’s tough to beat bakery-fresh bread, you can’t go wrong with this gigantic
loaf of <b>PANE TURANO ITALIAN BREAD</b>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cH0IPgx5CuI/VVEvc-0SuyI/AAAAAAAAAVg/s_6uVnvrAPI/s1600/Climbing%2Broses%2C%2BDogwood%2Bblossome%2C%2BEllle%2B%26%2BFF%2B5-7-2015%2B073.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cH0IPgx5CuI/VVEvc-0SuyI/AAAAAAAAAVg/s_6uVnvrAPI/s320/Climbing%2Broses%2C%2BDogwood%2Bblossome%2C%2BEllle%2B%26%2BFF%2B5-7-2015%2B073.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> I first saw it some years at Fresh
Market, a bit pricey, but a well worth-it occasional treat. And then, and then…
ALDI’S started carrying this beautiful 2-lpound loaf for just $3.95! I don’t
know if you can tell from the photograph, but it is huge―-</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w3ZAVf71X2Q/VVE409WtlXI/AAAAAAAAAaQ/ffAInonZ0yg/s1600/Climbing%2Broses%2C%2BDogwood%2Bblossome%2C%2BEllle%2B%26%2BFF%2B5-7-2015%2B091.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w3ZAVf71X2Q/VVE409WtlXI/AAAAAAAAAaQ/ffAInonZ0yg/s320/Climbing%2Broses%2C%2BDogwood%2Bblossome%2C%2BEllle%2B%26%2BFF%2B5-7-2015%2B091.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">double the size of
the usual loaves you see on your market’s shelves. Don’t be put off by its size
– it</span> <span style="font-size: large;">freezes easily, and produces the most wonderful toast. I generally
freeze half, in bags of 4 or 6, and then take them out as needed. Served
warm- moments after it has popped out of the toaster, and slathered in good
room-temperature butter with, perhaps a bit of your favorite jam, it is hard to
beat. </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CRACKERS,
CUPS AND CHIPS</span></b><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kO5c_3xQFTI/VVFyZV0jRCI/AAAAAAAAAc0/diuslTsk_ns/s1600/Glitino%2Bcrackers%2Bfor%2Bfood%2Bfind%2B2015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kO5c_3xQFTI/VVFyZV0jRCI/AAAAAAAAAc0/diuslTsk_ns/s320/Glitino%2Bcrackers%2Bfor%2Bfood%2Bfind%2B2015.jpg" width="204" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Paula,
from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, reccomends <b>GLUTINO ROSEMARY & OLIVE OIL CRACKERS</b>. “They’re gluten-free and they don’t taste like
cardboard!” she writes, adding that you can eat them alone, or use as you would
with any cracker.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-93v5jIyzCNw/VVEvldaJ1-I/AAAAAAAAAVo/jTMNAEWKpNM/s1600/Ellie%2B11-25-2014%2Blate%2Bafternoon%2B016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-93v5jIyzCNw/VVEvldaJ1-I/AAAAAAAAAVo/jTMNAEWKpNM/s320/Ellie%2B11-25-2014%2Blate%2Bafternoon%2B016.JPG" width="244" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Last
year, or maybe it was the year before, a Memphis reader introduced us to a
different flavor of <b>BLUE DIAMOND</b> <b>NUT THINS</b> . This year, the
company’s <b>ARTISAN FLAX SEED CRACKERS</b>, fortified with brown rice, almonds
and Flax seeds, caught another reader’s attention. Wheat and Gluten-free, they
are tasty all by their lonesome, or paired with your favorite cheese, spread,
veggie, or protein.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-v3PTy8-vT_s/VVEwKKAY88I/AAAAAAAAAV4/b7pbeBKbFaE/s1600/Ellie%2B-%2BPalisade%2B-%2Broast%2Bchicken%2B4016%2B%26%2B4-18%2B2015%2B095.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-v3PTy8-vT_s/VVEwKKAY88I/AAAAAAAAAV4/b7pbeBKbFaE/s320/Ellie%2B-%2BPalisade%2B-%2Broast%2Bchicken%2B4016%2B%26%2B4-18%2B2015%2B095.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ATHENS
MINI FILLY SHELLS </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">weren’t
designed to eat as is. Rather, they were designed to be filled with something,
sweet or savory, animal, vegetable, and everything in between. I have enjoyed
many Greek dishes and pastries over the years that feature fillo, and loved all
just about all of them. But the thing that makes these little cups particularly
attractive is that they require very little work, to make a spectacular
beginning or finish to meal or cocktail party.</span> </span></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m9oA48zYhp4/VVEwdkbU7wI/AAAAAAAAAWI/2GhF0JYW7z4/s1600/FOOD%2BFINDS%2B2015%2B%2C%2BELlie%2Bin%2Bshower%2C%2B%26%2Broses%2B%26%2B%2Bdogwood%2B%2B4-28-2015%2B014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="159" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m9oA48zYhp4/VVEwdkbU7wI/AAAAAAAAAWI/2GhF0JYW7z4/s320/FOOD%2BFINDS%2B2015%2B%2C%2BELlie%2Bin%2Bshower%2C%2B%26%2Broses%2B%26%2B%2Bdogwood%2B%2B4-28-2015%2B014.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">They come frozen, in
little trays, which are perfect for transporting the finished product to – say,
a holiday pot luck. You can thaw and use them as is, or, as I prefer, bake them
for just a few minutes, until they crisp up, and let them cool (which takes no time),
before filling. I have filled them with lemon pie filling made from
scratch, but have also saved a lot of time and effort by using teaspoons of <b>KOZYSHACK
TAPIOCA PUDDING</b> in the refrigerated section of the grocery store, and then
topped them with tiny pieces of kiwi, strawberry, blueberry and raspberry. I’ve
paid a slice of banana at the bottom and then filled them. I’ve sprinkled them
with powdered confectioner’s sugar, or served them with just the fruit. Fill
them with Nutella, apples and caramel, you just can’t go wrong. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’m
planning to bring them to a friend’s birthday party this coming weekend, filled
with tiny bits of smoked salmon (lox) and cream cheese and sprinkled with
chives. savory garlic-herb spread, bits of sundried tomatoes, and other savory
delights that need no baking or reheating. If you have access to an oven at your host's home, the
choices get even greater. They make for the perfect hor dourve, in that
they are easy to eat/neat, require no utensils, and are small enough to consume
in one or two bites. Crunchy, munchy, flaky, and light, they are my
go-to, to-go bite.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I
don’t know how I missed telling you about these wonderful vegetable chips
before, but while I’m talking Fresh Market, I’ve got to clue you in on these
beautiful bits of veggie goodness. For starters, these <b>FRESH MARKET VEGGIE
CHIPS</b> look beautiful in a serving bowl – dehydrated versions of long green
beans, slices of sweet potato and squash, all crispy and delicious, and
munchable all by themselves, or next to your favorite picnic fare. You’ll find
them in the bin section, or packaged in individual tubs and/or bags nearby.
This low-sugar, sodium and cholesterol chip mix is dairy and egg free, and
certified Kosher, It’s hard to believe that anything this good is good
for you as well. And they’re available in store or no line. Four stars. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">OLIVE
, SALAD BAR AND ANTIPASTO “FINDS”</span></b><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zmgzmc2rCY8/VVE5X8XLHdI/AAAAAAAAAaY/XEXst_jI9v0/s1600/YET%2BMORE%2BFOOD%2BFINDS%2B%26%2BELLIE%2B019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="285" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zmgzmc2rCY8/VVE5X8XLHdI/AAAAAAAAAaY/XEXst_jI9v0/s320/YET%2BMORE%2BFOOD%2BFINDS%2B%26%2BELLIE%2B019.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I
fell in love with these beautiful red <b>PEPPADEW PEPPERS</b> some years ago.
Grown domestically in New Jersey, these sweet piquant gems are native to the
Limpopo province of South Africa (Had to look that one up!)</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">They
come in both golden and red varieties, and can be found in most middle and
high-end olive bars. They add sparkle to a salad, and give it that extra
something that makes it incredible. You can also stuff them with cream cheese,
or add them to your pimento cheese, goat cheese and other recipes that call for
peppers. Bon Appetit Magazine featured them in recipes for Pimiento mac and cheese,
Roast Pork sandwiches with sweet peppers and arugula, and savory spinach feta
and Peppadew muffins</span> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RyyvtdvII_w/VVFCjoBVxjI/AAAAAAAAAbI/yXTyn0iE3Hw/s1600/FOOD%2BFINDS%2B4-28%2B%26%2B4-29-2015%2B006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RyyvtdvII_w/VVFCjoBVxjI/AAAAAAAAAbI/yXTyn0iE3Hw/s320/FOOD%2BFINDS%2B4-28%2B%26%2B4-29-2015%2B006.JPG" width="319" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I
tried with no luck to find them bottled on any number of grocery shelves, but
alas, could not. You can buy them from the farmers who grow them in New Jersey,
but you have to buy a peck of peppers (well, 12 14-ounce jars) to order by mail
(Starting price, $29.00 with free shipping), or make a visit there –farmstand
style. They are marinated, and do best in oil and vinegar dressed salads. Once
tasted, there’s no turning back. Go to peppadew10@gmail.com for more
information.</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1usi6tFJ1k8/VVE1HJZ1WwI/AAAAAAAAAYA/uNNlB72Pd_c/s1600/FOOD%2BFINDS%2B2015%2B%2C%2BELlie%2Bin%2Bshower%2C%2B%26%2Broses%2B%26%2B%2Bdogwood%2B%2B4-28-2015%2B024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1usi6tFJ1k8/VVE1HJZ1WwI/AAAAAAAAAYA/uNNlB72Pd_c/s320/FOOD%2BFINDS%2B2015%2B%2C%2BELlie%2Bin%2Bshower%2C%2B%26%2Broses%2B%26%2B%2Bdogwood%2B%2B4-28-2015%2B024.JPG" width="204" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Now
don’t confuse the Peppadew with the cherry pepper. They are two different
animals, well, peppers. As a child, I can remember our family always
having a bottle of the sweet cherry peppers in the frig, and as a teen, made my
way to the supermarket to fetch a jar, after someone spilled one in the
trolley car on my way home from school. The scent took me back to my childhood,
and I couldn’t wait to taste one again. While at the market to photograph this
next bit of deliciousness, I snapped a photo of <b>MEZZETTA’s SWEET CHERRY
PEPPERS</b>, in hopes that you’ll try them as well.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">I
don’t know how I did it, but I managed to get through several decades of my
life without knowing about giardiniera. Then, one day I was watching the Food
Network, and a very chipper Rachael Ray was making what turned out to be the
most delicious savory pie, I had tasted in years. The key to its
intoxicating flavor was giardiniera…or what I knew as pickled vegetables</span>.</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5Vy6wc4riac/VVExnwqKiwI/AAAAAAAAAW4/7DtC_pX294w/s1600/FOOD%2BFINDS%2B2015%2B%2C%2BELlie%2Bin%2Bshower%2C%2B%26%2Broses%2B%26%2B%2Bdogwood%2B%2B4-28-2015%2B018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5Vy6wc4riac/VVExnwqKiwI/AAAAAAAAAW4/7DtC_pX294w/s320/FOOD%2BFINDS%2B2015%2B%2C%2BELlie%2Bin%2Bshower%2C%2B%26%2Broses%2B%26%2B%2Bdogwood%2B%2B4-28-2015%2B018.JPG" width="281" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Since
then I have come to understand that several cities in the U.S. (New Orleans and
Chicago among them) think their giardiniera is the best. But for this
Philadelphia native, I find that the bottled <b>DELALLO MILD GIARDINIERA </b>works
well in Ms. Ray’s recipe, and as an occasional side bar to fried catfish and
other delights. Try the hot version if you dare.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Rachael
Ray’s recipe is available on the Food Network’s site, where it’s listed as
“Antipasto Pie”. It makes a great party dish, and travels well. It has a
long list of ingredients, but it’s the kind of a recipe that can be adapted to
your taste…especially when it comes to the Italian cold cuts.<b> </b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">POTATOES,
NOODLES, RICE AND OTHER STARCHES</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YFNlf49R_yw/VVEyqMPXPtI/AAAAAAAAAXI/s_t3bKz6Iso/s1600/paula%2Bh%2B2015%2Bfood%2Bfinds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YFNlf49R_yw/VVEyqMPXPtI/AAAAAAAAAXI/s_t3bKz6Iso/s320/paula%2Bh%2B2015%2Bfood%2Bfinds.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">An
Oklahoma reader sends along this photo, and word that <b>HUNGRY JACK</b> <b>ORIGINAL
DINNER STYLE HASHBROWNS</b> are as good and as easy to prepare it gets.
No peeling, slicing or dicing needed</span>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9G4L_uiiOSw/VVEyxqkoQ0I/AAAAAAAAAXQ/cbXac031nB8/s1600/food%2Bfind%2B2105%2BRICE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9G4L_uiiOSw/VVEyxqkoQ0I/AAAAAAAAAXQ/cbXac031nB8/s320/food%2Bfind%2B2105%2BRICE.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">She
is also partial to <b>HINODE JASMINE THAI HOM MALI RICE.</b> Soft, fluffy and
fragrant, “It’s like adding a dash of Thailand in every bite.” (so says
Hinode’s website.) Just go to that website and type in your zip code, to find
out where it’s available in your area. Kroger carries it in this area.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
first place I go when I enter my supermarket is the Bent & Dent
section, where bent, dented, crushed, nearly outdated, discontinued,
over-ordered and undersold products are heavily discounted, but perfect. Thanks
to that section I have been able to sample pricey or unknown products without
putting a bent or dent in my budget. Some of my favorite food favs were found
on those shelves, leading me to buy them at their regular price, later on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">HEMISFARES’
TAGLIATELLE di CAMPOFILONE ITALIAN FLAT EGG NOODLES </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">were one such
‘find’. According to the box they came in, these noodles come from the
village of Campofilone in the Marcha region of Italy, overlooking the Adriatic
Sea, and date back to the 1400’s. I took their advice and paired my first bath
with olive oil, tomatoes, fresh basil and Parmigiano Reggiano. Soooo good!
Luckily, I bought two boxes- as seen through their cellophane window, the
pre-cooked noodles looked like they were going to be something special.
Thankfully, they were.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iNHHY5wfYlE/VVEzPhO0YHI/AAAAAAAAAXg/uc61OD0ewP8/s1600/FOOD%2BFINDS%2BETC%2B4-27-2015%2B001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iNHHY5wfYlE/VVEzPhO0YHI/AAAAAAAAAXg/uc61OD0ewP8/s320/FOOD%2BFINDS%2BETC%2B4-27-2015%2B001.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">MAIN
ENTREE</span>S</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></b></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dCSCsmrYXnI/VVEzqhq4_OI/AAAAAAAAAXo/kTVu5qkrPBk/s1600/Trader%2BJoe's%2Bchicken%2BFood%2BFinds%2B2015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dCSCsmrYXnI/VVEzqhq4_OI/AAAAAAAAAXo/kTVu5qkrPBk/s320/Trader%2BJoe's%2Bchicken%2BFood%2BFinds%2B2015.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">Dena,
a loyal Trader Joe’s east coast reader sent along three of her favorite
Trader Joe’s brand products. The first, <b>TRADER JOE’S CHICKEN SERENADA</b>,
which by its name and ingredients, appears to be of Spanish original. Among
those ingredients listed on the sleeve: fire-grilled boneless skinless chicken
breast meat, sweet peppers, Pablano chilies and green onions, in a Euro-Asian
style sauce seasoned with soy, ginger, pineapple and a touch of coconut.
The two-serving portion easily feeds two, and costs about $6.99.
It’s also an appealing 290 calories per serving. As we don’t have a
Trader Joe’s in our area, I went to the Internet, where there were multiple
rave reviews, many of which touted the more than ample-sized pieces of chicken,
and enough sauce to save for another time over pasta. Dena says that it is both
delicious and trouble-free (oven or microwave oven, which takes 8 minutes plus
2 minutes cooling time. Can’t beat that combination.</span> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IeO0skPE-hg/VVE6tp2tZ3I/AAAAAAAAAas/fD9w-oxWWLo/s1600/FOOD%2BFINDS%2B20-15%2BCOD%2BFILETS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IeO0skPE-hg/VVE6tp2tZ3I/AAAAAAAAAas/fD9w-oxWWLo/s320/FOOD%2BFINDS%2B20-15%2BCOD%2BFILETS.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Dena’s
second “Find”: <b>TRADER JOE’S WILD MARINATED SOY GINGER COD FILLETS. </b>Turns
out, it too is one of the chain’s most loved products, which, according to one
article I found, was created marinated-first. Before it found a home in
cod-land, it is an intoxicating blend of Asian ingredients, </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">including soy
sauce, rice vinegar, ginger and miso paste</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">. Bake, microwave or pan-fry or gill them,
and, offers the company, serve over rice. Dena says she’s prepared them every
which way, with equally satisfying results.</span> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-whavKuMF35g/VVE1YJClSaI/AAAAAAAAAYI/DtqaneStTZs/s1600/FOOD%2BFINDS%2BTRADER%2BJOE'S%2BTURKEY%2BBREAST.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-whavKuMF35g/VVE1YJClSaI/AAAAAAAAAYI/DtqaneStTZs/s320/FOOD%2BFINDS%2BTRADER%2BJOE'S%2BTURKEY%2BBREAST.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">She’s
also fond of <b>TRADER JOE’S SLICED ROAST TURKEY BREAST</b>, which, at
just 100 calories a serving, is a healthy, versatile, tasty time-saver. “You
can serve it on salads, make sandwiches with it, or bake it,” she says. “it’s
really easy, and really delicious.”</span> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FVuuSu9Inyc/VVFokrhdTwI/AAAAAAAAAcU/VzanALa0dJw/s1600/IFFT%2BRavioli%2BMG_1689.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FVuuSu9Inyc/VVFokrhdTwI/AAAAAAAAAcU/VzanALa0dJw/s320/IFFT%2BRavioli%2BMG_1689.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">Jackie
K, a Bartlett, Tennessee reader, is high on </span><b><span style="font-size: large;"> GIOVANNI RAMA RANA
SPINACH & RICOTTA RAVIOLI</span></b><span style="font-size: large;">. She says they’re good tossed in olive
oil or Alfredo sauce, and are available in several different varieties. Not
only are they good, they’re quick, being table-ready in three minutes. ABC’s
Clinton Kelly of The Chew recently put together a clever lasagna that avoided
most of the fuss by substituting ready-made ravioli for the noodles and
filling. He layered spinach-ravioli, tomato sauce, shredded Mozzarella and lots
of Parmigiano Reggiano in a 9-by-9 baking pan, and covered and baked it in a
pre-heated 400 degree oven for forty-five minutes. He then removed the cover
and baked the lasagna for another fifteen minutes or “until bubbly and brown.”
While I don’t believe this short-cut version will produce the same results as
the longer, homemade version, I think it’s a great way to produce a satisfying
family-sized meal in little more than an hour. You'll find them at Walmart in
the front - in a refrigerated case near the fresh fruit and vegetables, and
deli. " I tend to keep mine in the freezer" she writes, and then straight
into boiling water [as needed.]."</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: medium; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">BEVERAGES</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p4nY6TCGABk/VVE1iF7w6rI/AAAAAAAAAYQ/a_JLU9uq7Cc/s1600/MamaChia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p4nY6TCGABk/VVE1iF7w6rI/AAAAAAAAAYQ/a_JLU9uq7Cc/s320/MamaChia.jpg" width="211" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The latest ‘obsession on Andi (of the breakfast bars and
Aussie-style yogurt fame) is <b>MAMA CHIA BLACKBERRY HIBISCUS DRINK</b>. “Chia
seeds are kind of strange. If you haven't had them, it’s kind of like the
squishy seeds in a tomato. I happen to like that, so I was on board with these
drinks.” Andi also notes that she buys chia seeds at Kroger, and adds
them to cranberry and grape juice for an extra bit of goodness.</span> </span></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ovCmQoB3xMc/VVE1xazht1I/AAAAAAAAAYY/agf42y9U-g8/s1600/Food%2BFinds%2B2015%2B-%2BSegrams%2Bblue%2Braspberry%2Blemonade%2B015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="302" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ovCmQoB3xMc/VVE1xazht1I/AAAAAAAAAYY/agf42y9U-g8/s320/Food%2BFinds%2B2015%2B-%2BSegrams%2Bblue%2Braspberry%2Blemonade%2B015.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
concept of frozen 1-serving alcoholic drinks has really caught on, and with
good reason. Last year’s list featured a couple of Seagram’s’ versions. This
year the choices have multiplied. All of these drinks are made with malt, but
you wouldn’t know it. I’m not a drinker, and so I was pleasantly surprised at
how much I enjoyed <b>SMIRNOFF’S RASPBERRY BLUE LEMONADE</b>. The color
is out-of-this-world gorgeous, and on a hot spring afternoon not long ago, it
was thirst-quenching delicious. You’ll find all of these one-serving pouches
either on a rack or stacked near the beer portion of your market.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yg_aH8ei82o/VVE16ARjJxI/AAAAAAAAAYg/mpaoi0TvqCo/s1600/ROSES%2B%26%2BDOGWOOD%2BBLOSSOMS%2B%26%2BFOOD%2BFIND%2B5-8-15%2B075.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yg_aH8ei82o/VVE16ARjJxI/AAAAAAAAAYg/mpaoi0TvqCo/s320/ROSES%2B%26%2BDOGWOOD%2BBLOSSOMS%2B%26%2BFOOD%2BFIND%2B5-8-15%2B075.JPG" width="180" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">They come
unrefrigerated and cost just $2.00 each. Take one or two or more home, pop it
in the freezer let it do its thing for at least 5 hours, take it out, give the
now slushy drink a 2-second massage, and pour that icy goodness into a glass.
Think of it as Kool-Aid for grown-ups, but not nearly as sweet</span>. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2Pa8vmM-1vo/VVE2C1rQXcI/AAAAAAAAAYo/yk8b0IvilVw/s1600/ROSES%2B%26%2BDOGWOOD%2BBLOSSOMS%2B%26%2BFOOD%2BFIND%2B5-8-15%2B082.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="163" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2Pa8vmM-1vo/VVE2C1rQXcI/AAAAAAAAAYo/yk8b0IvilVw/s320/ROSES%2B%26%2BDOGWOOD%2BBLOSSOMS%2B%26%2BFOOD%2BFIND%2B5-8-15%2B082.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">PERRIER
PINK GRAPEFUIT SPARKLING NAUTRAL MINERAL WATER</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, in a slim, stylish
can, is, I think, the perfect beverage to serve over ice at a dinner party in a
good crystal glass. Or you can forget the dinner party and the glass and the
ice for that matter, and drink it right out of the can. The natural grapefruit
flavor is far from overpowering; but it’s a true grapefruit flavor, rather than
some chemical tastes-like concoction. It quenches the thirst, looks a
beautiful light pinky-peach in the glass, has zero calories, and would make for
a wonderfully cool addition to a summer picnic basket.</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Mo9hoYnXHO0/VVE2Lr3pNSI/AAAAAAAAAYw/RTS3rkmW3Jo/s1600/FOOD%2BFINDS%2BETC%2B4-27-2015%2B044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="208" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Mo9hoYnXHO0/VVE2Lr3pNSI/AAAAAAAAAYw/RTS3rkmW3Jo/s320/FOOD%2BFINDS%2BETC%2B4-27-2015%2B044.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>TY-PHOO TEA</b>, is a straight-forward, satisfying tea from Great Britain.</span>
</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DxwpMXNkos0/VVE2xSBcDtI/AAAAAAAAAY4/nRTTRbIm674/s1600/FOOD%2BFINDS%2BETC%2B4-27-2015%2B035.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="280" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DxwpMXNkos0/VVE2xSBcDtI/AAAAAAAAAY4/nRTTRbIm674/s320/FOOD%2BFINDS%2BETC%2B4-27-2015%2B035.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">Along with <b>PG TIPS</b>, which I recommended in a previous edition, it is the
most versatile tea I know. Though there was a time when I shunned tea
bags, collected tea pots and strainers and ordered lose tea from far-off
places, today, I am happy to forego the ceremony in favor of a quick, easy and
equally-satisfying outcome, free of those annoyingly stray bits of tea leaves
floating in my cup</span>.</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-d1QBGZ0pD2Q/VVE24BvBqPI/AAAAAAAAAZA/4lIithf5-xc/s1600/Ellie%2Band%2Bultra-pasteurized%2Bmilk%2B2-21-2015%2B037.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-d1QBGZ0pD2Q/VVE24BvBqPI/AAAAAAAAAZA/4lIithf5-xc/s320/Ellie%2Band%2Bultra-pasteurized%2Bmilk%2B2-21-2015%2B037.JPG" width="130" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Kroger,
Walmart – and I’m quite sure other markets and dairies, has added something new
to their refrigerated milk products: <b>HOMOGINIZED, EXTRA PASTURIZED MILK</b>.
I was looking to buy a small container of whole milk for a recipe I was making,
and took one of these white-colored plastic bottles home with me. I usually
look at the ‘best used buy’ date when I’m at the store, but it wasn’t until I
got home that day that I noticed what I thought was surely a mistake. The BUB
date being a good two months away. I called the company’s customer
service line, and found that it wasn’t a mistake at all. The milk is
pasteurized in such a way that it has a super long shelf life –which is great
if you don’t drink a lot of milk. Those, white plastic bottles protest the milk
from “prolonged visible light”. This ‘extra pasteurized” milk tastes exactly
like “regular” milk, but is a real plus, if you, like me, has had to throw out
milk that has soured all too soon. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">FRUITS</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0CoNd-QCjXY/VVFpDG3DJ7I/AAAAAAAAAcc/_dShsx79jOQ/s1600/POPCORN%2BGRAPES%2B002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="207" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0CoNd-QCjXY/VVFpDG3DJ7I/AAAAAAAAAcc/_dShsx79jOQ/s320/POPCORN%2BGRAPES%2B002.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">COTTON
CANDY GRAPES</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">?
When a Philadelphia reader said that they were not to be missed, I must admit I
was a bit skeptical. She’d found them at her local co-op, taken them home, and
been happily surprised at how good they were.</span> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SjUyE9dgBZY/VVFpMWCLIFI/AAAAAAAAAck/FUf3xd8HMis/s1600/POPCORN%2BGRAPES%2B001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SjUyE9dgBZY/VVFpMWCLIFI/AAAAAAAAAck/FUf3xd8HMis/s320/POPCORN%2BGRAPES%2B001.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">I found them at Fresh Market a
week or so later. While I can’t tell you that the carnival midway favorite will
be immediately called to mind, I will tell you that they are sweet and juicy,
their pale green skin infused with a bit of pink. They apparently have a short
season, so be on the lookout for these dandy little grapes.</span> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hmD5aFdhBm4/VVE3hFAAeTI/AAAAAAAAAZY/6_VCMa1IPoo/s1600/April%2B29%2B2015%2BFood%2BFinds%2B-%2Broses%2B-%2Betc%2B010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="310" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hmD5aFdhBm4/VVE3hFAAeTI/AAAAAAAAAZY/6_VCMa1IPoo/s320/April%2B29%2B2015%2BFood%2BFinds%2B-%2Broses%2B-%2Betc%2B010.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">Florida
friends Jan and Jeff have been generously sending me holiday boxes of fresh
Florida citrus for some years now. Last season, there was something new
amongst the regular assortment. So good, and so sweet were they, that I
actually called the grower to ask what they were called. Their flesh looked
like blood oranges, which is to say, it was as pink as a Texas red grapefruit,
but there was nothing bitter about it. I was told that they called the orange
BIG REDS, but that in stores, they were generally known as <b>CARA CARA ORANGES.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">.
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j4LXECRfWrY/VVE3qOW7F2I/AAAAAAAAAZg/JUI5WGQHWWs/s1600/CU%2BCara%2BCaraoranges%2Bbag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j4LXECRfWrY/VVE3qOW7F2I/AAAAAAAAAZg/JUI5WGQHWWs/s320/CU%2BCara%2BCaraoranges%2Bbag.jpg" width="292" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I
savored each and every bite, and when the box was empty, went in search of the
noble CARA CARA. Heretofore, my favorite orange had been the sweet sweet
TEMPLE, which has a very short season – and in fact, never made it to mid south
produce bins this year. But luckily, I found <b>CARA CARA NAVEL ORANGES</b> in
bags at the FRESH MARKET, and the larger fruit in bulk. The season ran from
autumn through winter, with a few CARA CARA’s still in FM’s bins towards the
end of April. Sweet and Juicy, they are the best eating orange you’ll find
outside of the elusive Temple. And at least in my experience, the bigger the
sweeter…the boxed version carrying the biggest, best and prime examples of this
marvelous Navel.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">DRIED
FRUIT</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1YU8fRvyszU/VVE32i4bCZI/AAAAAAAAAZo/V_VZ_vB4FyU/s1600/FOOD%2BFINDS%2B2015%2B%2C%2BELlie%2Bin%2Bshower%2C%2B%26%2Broses%2B%26%2B%2Bdogwood%2B%2B4-28-2015%2B026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1YU8fRvyszU/VVE32i4bCZI/AAAAAAAAAZo/V_VZ_vB4FyU/s320/FOOD%2BFINDS%2B2015%2B%2C%2BELlie%2Bin%2Bshower%2C%2B%26%2Broses%2B%26%2B%2Bdogwood%2B%2B4-28-2015%2B026.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I
love figs , and until the winter’s chill killed it this past season, I had my
own fig tree in my side yard. I was (and still am) in mourning over its loss, but
was given a lit when I discovered these adorable, bite-sized<b> EXTREMADUA,
SPANISH FIGS</b> are tiny little bites of concentrated figgy goodness. The
skins are thinner than their larger Turkish cousins, so they’re easier to chew,
sweet, moist, and loaded with flavor. Eat them, as I do, all by their
lonesome, or pair them with cheese, or your favorite combo. They come by the
pound. I found them in the cheese section of Kroger.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">ICE CREAM AND OTHER FROZEN TREATS</span></strong></div>
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<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">GRAETER’S
HANDCRAFTED VANILLA AND MILK CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE GEL</span>ATO </span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Wjx7MrV3Y4I/VVE4AQZTr0I/AAAAAAAAAZw/45E-vwCeaNw/s1600/FRESH%2BMARKET%2BFOOD%2BFIND%2B4-30-2015%2B053.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Wjx7MrV3Y4I/VVE4AQZTr0I/AAAAAAAAAZw/45E-vwCeaNw/s320/FRESH%2BMARKET%2BFOOD%2BFIND%2B4-30-2015%2B053.JPG" width="216" /></a></span></b></div>
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I
fell in love with their ice cream years ago, so it came as no surprise that
their gelato would be delicious as well.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XVu-Kp7DZM4/VVE5w-OvhpI/AAAAAAAAAag/5Y71Vf8swJo/s1600/FOOD%2BFINDS%2B2015%2BGRAETERS%2BGELATO%2B002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XVu-Kp7DZM4/VVE5w-OvhpI/AAAAAAAAAag/5Y71Vf8swJo/s320/FOOD%2BFINDS%2B2015%2BGRAETERS%2BGELATO%2B002.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This tasty concoction is dotted with
smaller chocolate chunks than the others, each containing a bit of liquid
chocolate in the middle. Very rich, and very very good.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zfgFWbfj8_I/VVE4Qz2CctI/AAAAAAAAAZ4/JyKSApCnceE/s1600/ROSES%2B%26%2BDOGWOOD%2BBLOSSOMS%2B%26%2BFOOD%2BFIND%2B5-8-15%2B073.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="273" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zfgFWbfj8_I/VVE4Qz2CctI/AAAAAAAAAZ4/JyKSApCnceE/s320/ROSES%2B%26%2BDOGWOOD%2BBLOSSOMS%2B%26%2BFOOD%2BFIND%2B5-8-15%2B073.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></b></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Remember
Andi, who kicked things off with her “birdseed bars” ? She wrote that she had
three new obsessions, and <b>NOOSA YOGURT </b>is one of them<b>,</b> <b>NOOSA
LEMON, RASPBERRY, PINEAPPLE </b>and<b> COCONUT YOGURT </b>being among her
favorites.<b> </b>“This is hands down the best yogurt I have ever had,” she
writes. “No bite. No tang, and really smooth and creamy. It’s like a dessert.”
NOOSA’s recipe is of Australian origin, and produced in Colorado, and available
at Target, Costco, Kroger, Fresh Market and other retailers throughout the
country. Among NOOSA’s other flavor offerings: mango, blueberry,
tart cherry, honey, and strawberry rhubarb.</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iU1QInLQIIE/VVE4cK7jWFI/AAAAAAAAAaA/Dpn5RINyZxM/s1600/ROSES%2B%26%2BDOGWOOD%2BBLOSSOMS%2B%26%2BFOOD%2BFIND%2B5-8-15%2B095.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iU1QInLQIIE/VVE4cK7jWFI/AAAAAAAAAaA/Dpn5RINyZxM/s320/ROSES%2B%26%2BDOGWOOD%2BBLOSSOMS%2B%26%2BFOOD%2BFIND%2B5-8-15%2B095.JPG" width="276" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">With
the hot days of summer making an early appearance this year, I was happy come
across <b>YASSO COCONUT GREEK YOGURT BARS</b> in my supermarket’s equivalent of
its non-perishable bent and dent section. The box was a bit crushed, but the
pops inside were pristine. They’re a little larger than half of one of the old
Popsicle ice pops, and loaded with coconut. At just 80 calories, they pack a
flavor punch. Ingredients include nonfat milk, Greek Yogurt, sugar, and
coconut, among other things, and are gluten-free. But most of all, they are
really good.</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mXsWyRJxbTU/VVJ1KLweNvI/AAAAAAAAAdo/EakFxUClMjI/s1600/So%2Bdelicoius%2Bsandwich%2Bbars%2Bfor%2B2015%2Bfood%2Bfinds..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="233" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mXsWyRJxbTU/VVJ1KLweNvI/AAAAAAAAAdo/EakFxUClMjI/s320/So%2Bdelicoius%2Bsandwich%2Bbars%2Bfor%2B2015%2Bfood%2Bfinds..jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p>Two last minute "FiNDS" came in shortly after posting. The first, from Paula in Oklahoma, who had sent in an earlier "FIND" found in the cracker sections. She has fallen in love with <strong>SO DELICIOUS DAIRY FREE COCONUT MILK MINIS</strong>, which are mni versions of ice cream sandwiches. She says that while she isn't generally crazy about coconut, these little bars only hint of it, and are absolutely delicious. I logged on to the company's website, where they have a slot where you can type in your zipcode and find out what stores in your area carry SO DELICIOUS products. In my area, they're available at Kroger.</o:p></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GMDSaeJVwF0/VVJxs8OOaGI/AAAAAAAAAdc/15IHccNFZ0U/s1600/Ruth's%2Byugust%2B2015%2BFF.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="289" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GMDSaeJVwF0/VVJxs8OOaGI/AAAAAAAAAdc/15IHccNFZ0U/s320/Ruth's%2Byugust%2B2015%2BFF.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p>The second last-minute "FIND" cmoes from Ruth in Warrington, PA. She writes, " I recently found a yummy yhogurt at Whole Foods. BROWN COW GREEK YOGURT. I buy the fat-free kind, and they have a salted caramel to die for." Ruth sent a second email to say that she also likes thair almond milk, and chocolate and chocolate mint ice cream, while her husband enjoys their chocolate-covered pops. </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></b></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CAKES
AND COOKIES AND ASSORTED BITES</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When
I was growing up, the Sunshine Company made a cookie that was flat, and
came attached one to the other in three. It had raisins in it, and it was very
tasty. They stopped making it years ago, and over time I have seen catalogues
offering a British version of same, the readers have reviewed as being far
drier than the original.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">The
Vermont Country Store, where, it seems, ‘everything old is new again”, prides
itself of having the foods, clothing and household goods you remember so
fondly. Among them, <b>GARIBALDI BISCUITS</b>, where a set of packages will
cost you $17.50 plus shipping. Customers gave them a 4.5 out of 5 stars,
although some felt they were a bit drier than the Sunshine ‘biscuits’ of their
youth. They’re calling to you at vermontcountrystore.com.</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-goOk4l2sfWc/VVE4j_JfU8I/AAAAAAAAAaI/KxQeaNU0THI/s1600/YET%2BMORE%2BFOOD%2BFINDS%2B%26%2BELLIE%2B023.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="108" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-goOk4l2sfWc/VVE4j_JfU8I/AAAAAAAAAaI/KxQeaNU0THI/s320/YET%2BMORE%2BFOOD%2BFINDS%2B%26%2BELLIE%2B023.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br /></span>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I found a slightly ‘cookier’ version―<b>KHONG GUAN SULTANA</b> <b>BISCUITS</b>―
in Kroger’s International section. While they don’t have quite the same
consistency as the ones I remember, they are tasty, and at $2.29 a package,
reasonably priced. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br /></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And
that’s it for this year. I hope you’ll try some of these great, often
unexpected FINDS, and let us know if you find some more of your own. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Here’s
that recipe mentioned in the antipasto section of this post. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">MAMA
LIL’S PEPPER, GOAT CHEESE AND APRICOT PRESERVES SPREAD </span></b><br />
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</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">INGREDIENTS:
<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">8
ounces goat cheese 6 ounces, cream cheese, 1 cup Mama Lil’s Peppers, drained, 1
cup apricot preserves</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
(They substituted Dalmatia Fig Spread for the preserves at the tasting) , and salt
and pepper to taste.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">DIRECTIONS:<em> </em></span></span></span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Preheat
oven to 400 degrees. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mix goat cheese and
cream cheese together. Season with salt and pepper and transfer to a 5’ by
8-inch baking pan.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In
a small bowl mix pepper with preserves. Spread the resulting pepper jam over
the cheese and bake for about 5 minutes or until warm. Turn on the broiler and
broil until the cheese starts to brown (about 2 minutes.) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br /></span>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Serve
on a cracker. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">My apologies to those whose 'finds' got lost in the shuffle, or whose photographs didn't make the cut. all being even blurrier than some of the above. I appreciate each and every "FIND", as well the loyal DVD and Foodies who take the time to support this blog.</span><br />
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Till the next time…</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Jainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02553591299806607498noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215928590640748611.post-48419867613974879592015-04-14T15:49:00.000-05:002015-04-14T17:08:00.866-05:00My Lovely Sam-Soon <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444;">I came to this South Korean TV series by way of
NetFlix’s suggestion system. I assume they thought I’d like it, as I had ordered
more than my fair share of foreign and food-related films. Put them together,
and <em>My Lovely Sam-Soon</em>* would appear to be the perfect amalgamation. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444;">But appearances can be deceiving, as this
fruitcake of a TV series is anything but perfect. And yet, despite its flaws I
found myself wanting more, and before I knew it, I had watched all sixteen
episodes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444;">It is, at its core, less about food and more about
romance: a ‘rom/com-dramady’ that veers widely from the usual boy-meets-girl,
boy-looses-girl, boy-gets-girl formula. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444;">For starters, the lead characters (whose surnames
appear first, followed by their given name) are seriously flawed, doing and
saying things that are, at times, so infantile and thoughtless, you wonder why
anyone would put up with either of them. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444;">
</span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">On paper, Hyun Jin-Heon
(</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Hyun Bin) </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">appears to be quite a catch. He is young, good looking,
single, and at twenty-seven, the owner of Bon Appetite, one of the city’s
trendiest French restaurants. He is also heir-apparent to his family’s upscale
hotel chain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><b><span lang="EN" style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444;">But he is far from the likeable-but-slightly neurotic
male lead one would expect to see in such a series. As noted earlier, he is self-absorbed,
often rude, seriously immature, hurtful and evasive, a fellow who is adept at
juggling the hearts and lives of past and present lovers, with little conscience
or remorse. Add to that the fact that he has some serious mother issues. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444;">
</span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">But then again, so does Kim Sam-soon (Kim Sun-ah),
the other half of this quasi-romantic duo. </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">An</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> unemployed but talented pastry chef,
she is both loud and stubborn, with a fiery temper. Everything is a big deal to
Sam- soon, including the fact that she is, at nearly thirty, still single. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444;">Put these two discordant souls together, and you
don’t exactly come up with a Korean version of <em>When Harry Met Sally</em>. And yet I
found myself rooting for them almost from the first: hoping that by series’ end
they would have worked their way through the muck, and become better people and
partners in the process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444;">The series begins on Christmas Eve, in the second
floor hallway of one of Seoul’s grandest hotels. A nervous Sam-soon knocks on the door of room 221. Her worst fears are realized when Min Hyun Woo―her boyfriend of some
three years― opens the door, confirming her suspicions that he has been enjoying some
holiday cheer with someone else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444;">Distressed and humiliated, Sam-soon rushes down
the hallway, only to trip, fall, and flatten herself on the carpet. Wanting to
avoid a confrontation with the other woman, Hyun Woo suggests that they move
the conversation to the hotel lobby, where they can sit down at a table and
talk things over quietly.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444;">Any hope of reconciliation is quickly dashed when Sam-soon
is unceremoniously dumped in front of a lobby-full of guests. Seriously distraught,
she flees to what she believes to be the Ladies room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444;">Among the on-lookers, Hyun Jin-heon and his date view
the dumping from different perspectives. While she feels sorry for the girl, he
appears to find her plight—and flight rather amusing. But he is anything but
amused at his date’s reaction to his reaction, when she tosses her drink in his
face, and leaves.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444;">Fast-forward to the Men’s room, where Jin-heon and
Sam-soon meet for the first time: he to clean up after his soaking, she, to
privately cry her heart out in one of the stalls.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444;">
</span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">A day so later, Jin-huen is surprised to find Sam-soon
applying for a job as Bon Appetit’s </span><b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">pâtissier</span></b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">. The timing is right (of course it
is), and after sampling a few of her pastries, he hires her― on one condition:
that she pretend to be his fiancé for a year.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444;">The condition is, by any standards, more than a bit
far-fetched, seeing as this good looking, rich and single young man is not
without romantic options. At the very least there is a whole flock of pretty
things tripping over themselves to get his attention at the restaurant. But
Jin-heon isn’t interested in forming a real relationship, having been burned
some seven years prior. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444;">
</span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">It seems that shortly after a car crash that
spared him but killed his brother and left Jin-heon’s then-fiancé (Yoo Hee-jin</span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-themecolor: text1;">) seriously injured, she had moved to the United States without notice or explanation. He had not seen or heard from her since. </span></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444;">Which brings us back to those mother issues I
mentioned earlier. For while Jin-heon’s mom had been fond of Hee-jin, her
patience at her son’s resistance to getting seriously involved again, is
wearing thin. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444;">With more than a gentle push, she engages a
matchmaker to speed things up, but judging by his Christmas Eve dousing, the only
sparks flying from such match-ups have been dangerous when wet. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444;">Determined to get his mother off his back, Jin-heon
sees the new-hire as a way to put her off. Learning that Sam-soon’s family home
is facing foreclosure, he makes her ‘an offer she can’t refuse. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444;">A deal is struck, whereby she will pretend to be
his fiancé for a year, and in return, he will pay off the formidable mortgage. Their
contract also stipulates that the agreement will be deemed null and void if
either of them attempts to blur the line between fact and fiction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444;">And it’s off to the races, or in this case, the
restaurant, where the new patissier’s arrival and status as the boss’s girl, don’t
sit well with some of the other female staffers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444;">The plot thickens when the gone-but-not-forgotten
ex-fiancé returns from ‘the States’, along with a new friend: Dr. Henry Kim
(Daniel Henney), a handsome Korean/American doctor friend with more than a
passing interest in her welfare. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444;">Determined to pick up where she and Jin-heon left
off, Hee-jin arrives unannounced at the restaurant, only to be greeted by Jin-heon’s
newly installed faux fiancé. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444;">So many cards on the table, hearts to be won and broken,
and questions to be asked and answered. And they will be, all in good time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444;">And it is time that differentiates this series from
most sit-coms, with the writers taking their time to unfold the plot and develop
the characters and their relationship with each other, family members, friends,
ex-lovers, co-workers, pets and strangers. They, like most of us, are
multi-dimensional by nature, sometimes sad― sometimes silly, sweet with one,
salty with another, at times confident, at times<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> insecure, and capable of being both manipulative and </i>manipulated. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Like its characters, the tone of the series is a
mixture of styles and tempos, understated one minute, over the top, the next,
and not always with great success. But if you go with the flow, and give
yourself a few episodes to get into it, I believe you’ll be rewarded for your
efforts, enjoying a generous slice of Korean customs and life in the process.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444;">A Final Note:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">When watching <em>My Lovely Sam-Soon</em>, you―like me, may
wonder why Sam-soon, her family and those around her found her to be―fat. While
no skinny Minnie, she was, at least in my eyes, far from it. I gained some
insight into this observation when I happened upon an article in <em>the New York
Times</em> that spoke to the country’s interest in what they referred to as "body
reconstruction". <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444;">The piece noted that according to a recent study
by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, South Korea has the
highest rate of cosmetic surgery per capita of any country in the world. As
such, it is considered by many to be the place to go for a change of face, bra
size or tummy tuck, with medical tourism reaching at an all-time high. I can
just see the travel brochure tag lines now: “Air fare, hotel accommodations and
liposuction included.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Understanding the country’s obsession with body
image, one can see how Sam-soon’s unaltered appearance might be an issue, and
why actress Kim Sun-ah felt the need to gain fifteen pounds for the role. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444;">*<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><em>My Lovely Sam-Soon</em> was originally released as <em>My Name Is Kim Sam-Soon</em>. They are one and the same.</span></span></span></div>
Jainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02553591299806607498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215928590640748611.post-1885320991675098092015-01-25T14:57:00.001-06:002015-01-25T15:01:10.097-06:00A FACE IN THE CROWD<br />
If you only know Andy Griffith as the much-loved sheriff on <i>The Andy Griffith Show</i>, it’s time you got to see how truly versatile and accomplished an actor he really was. To see him at his best (or worst, according to how you look at it), one need only witness his star-turning performance as the glad-handing, slithering, power-hungry anti-hero in the highly charged film <i>A Face in the Crowd.</i> <br />
<br />
Adapted for the screen by Bud Schulberg from his short story <i>Your Arkansas Traveler</i> (one of several tales within his <i>Faces in the Crowd </i>collection) and produced and directed by Elia Kazan, this 1957 drama begins in a small Arkansas town, where, on a warm summer morning, Marsha Jeffries (Patricia Neal), the local radio station’s roving reporter, lugs her then state-of-the-art reel-to-reel recorder to the one-room jail house, her sights set on interviewing its current collection of vagrants, drunks and drifters for her show. <br />
<br />
Among them, Griffith’s Larry Rhodes, who has just spent the first of seven nights in the clink on drunk and disorderly charges. When the sheriff offers to release him the following morning in exchange for playing a couple of tunes on his guitar for Jeffries' show, Rhodes flashes his good ol’ boy, Cheshire cat smile, and turns on the charm. It’s Marsha who dubs him "Lonesome", though he’s far from it, but the name sticks. And though the Sarah Lawrence graduate is certainly smart enough to know better, she falls hard.<br />
<br />
The segment airs, leaving listeners and sponsors wanting more. But Lonesome is already out and about to thumb his way to nearby St. Joe. Finding him proves easy enough, and by the next morning he’s on the air dispensing advice, turning out a tune or two, recalling a highly fictionalized version of his early years in Riddle, Arkansas.<br />
<br />
Before long the whole town is tuning in, and in two scenes that surely inspired the "coat/commode" incident in Kathryn Stockett’s <i>The Help</i>, we see how much power this not-so-good-ol’-boy wields; a power that does not go unnoticed by those in the ‘biz’. <br />
<br />
You can see the drifter’s wheels turning, when a Mr. Abe Steiner comes calling. Evoking the first of several references to Will Roger’s style, the Memphis-based theatrical agent woos the local celebrity with promises of fame and fortune, all just a train ride away. <br />
<br />
Fast-forward to the fan-studded platform at the local train station, where, thanks to a little help from Mr. Steiner, Larry and Marsha (whom Rhodes describes as his ‘little Girl Friday’) board a Pullman bound for the bluff city and a sweet TV deal. <br />
<br />
The sexual tension between the two is palpable, and unfettered by any hometown morals or consequences, the here-to-fore level-headed producer gives in to the con man’s charms. Pleased that he’s broken her chilly exterior, he flashes that that irresistible smile of his and notes, with more than a little satisfaction, “Marsha:short for marshmallow. Not a cold fish.”<br />
<br />
As it turns out, Rhodes has smile and style just made for TV. Viewers are charmed by his folksy manner and Arthur Godfrey-like ad-libbed commercials that poke fun at the sponsor. Godfrey did it with Lipton’s chicken soup (“There’s plenty of noodles in there, and there’s chicken there too. You won’t find it, but it’s there.”) <br />
<br />
Lonesome’s target is Luffler’s, a local mattress store. As sales soar and ratings spike, everyone wants ‘in’, including the sponsor‘s “office boy” Joey DePalma (Anthony Franciosa), who’s not above some under-the-table hijinks as he cashes in on this cash cow (“Illegal? Honey, nothing's illegal if they don't catch you.”). That’s Rhodes kind of thinking, and in a blink, Steiner’s out and DePalma's in as Rhodes agent of choice.<br />
<br />
Only station staff writer Mel Miller (Walter Matthau in an early role) seems wary of this golden goose. But his warnings of trouble in River City are no match for the con man’s con, and in no time at all, DePalma has put together a TV deal that sends Rhodes and company to New York City, where Rhodes becomes a coast-to-coast sensation as the star of a network version of the Memphis show, sponsored by Vitajex, an over-the-counter, mostly aspirin and sugar supplement with floundering sales.<br />
<br />
Once in New York, Rhodes quickly and single-handedly revamps the ailing Vitajex’s look (“Let’s make them yellow: the color of sunshine and energy”) and ad campaign with some dubious claims that include Viagra-like benefits. Once again, Rhodes rides a wave of unprecedented popularity, his face no longer a face in the crowd, but a bona fied national personality: the go-to person for christening ships, fronting telethons and dispensing grass roots hokum to an ever-expanding and adoring audience.<br />
<br />
It doesn’t take long before Rhodes ego, greed and power take over, and his “awe, shucks” façade begins to crack, revealing the portrait behind this then modern-day Dorian Gray. <br />
<br />
To tell you more would be to rob you of some of the most interesting plot lines in the film, including one Betty Lou Fleckhum (Lee Remick in her first film role), a pretty underage drum majorette from Piggott, Arkansas. <br />
<br />
Will Rhodes receive his comeuppance? Of course he will. But it is the when and how and by- whom of it that make A Face in the Crowd one of my all-time favorite flicks. <br />
<br />
Watching Andy Griffith as he pushes his character closer and closer to the edge, is positively mesmerizing. Two pivotal scenes, one involving a “reaction” machine, the other, capturing the moment of truth, will leave you breathless.<br />
<br />
<i>A Face in the Crowd</i> is loaded with powerful performances including Patricia Neal’s, who was no second fiddle to Griffith in the acting department. You’ll also be treated to some tip-of-the-hat cameos featuring. Among others, Burl Ives, Mitch Miller and Faye Emerson, TV newsmen Mike Wallace and John Cameron Swayze, newspaper legends Walter Winchell and Earl Wilson, and my personal favorite, publisher, humorist and <i>What’s My Line</i> regular, Bennett Cerf.<br />
<br />
While <i>A Face in the Crowd </i>was Griffith’s first big-screen performance, it was far from his last. He would go on to star in a cluster of Film and Broadway productions, including No Time for Sergeants, Destry Rides Again and Onionhead. But it would be his role as televisions’ affable sheriff Andy Taylor that would make him a household name. Over the years he produced and/or starred in several other series, the most successful of which was <i>Matlock</i>, a country-lawyer-themed drama that, like <i>The Andy Griffith Show,</i> remains a television programming staple. <br />
<br />
Andy Griffith returned to the big screen in the 2007 Adrienne Shelly film, <i>Waitress</i>, and again, in 2009’s <i>Play the Game</i>, but it is this small, black and white milkshake of a film, with its sharply-drawn characters, plot and performances, that remains as viable and potent today as it was nearly sixty years ago.Jainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02553591299806607498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215928590640748611.post-761715102978480732014-10-18T15:47:00.001-05:002014-10-18T15:47:47.425-05:00FINDING VIVIAN MAIER & BILL CUNNINGHAM NEW YORK<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I love documentaries. Considering how popular the Ken Burns series is on PBS, I’m surprised that more people don’t take advantage of the wealth of product out there.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Unlike Mr. Burns’ work, most documentaries are minimally funded, and lack the manpower, production values and famous voices that are his trademark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But what these smaller films may lack in bells and whistles, they generally make up for in content: often presenting a far grittier, highly personal, thought-provoking, at times disturbing</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">―</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> at times delectable look at life.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2013’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><em>FINDING VIVIAN MAIER</em></b> is a good example of a small but highly satisfying documentary. If you didn’t catch it while it was in theaters last spring, you’ll be happy to know that it’s now available through Netflix and other venues. The film is, for want of a better explanation, a tale within a tale within a tale. It is the fascinating account of one man’s search to uncover the story behind thousands of never-before-seen, truly incredible photographs, and the woman who took them.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Had writer/producer John Maloof, who bought a box of her negatives back in 2007, not had such an inquisitive nature, ability to recognize how truly special the photographs were, and a willingness to invest years of his life and money in the project, Ms. Maier’s work would have undoubtedly died along with her. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The photographs, most of which were taken in the 1950s and 60’s, are remarkable in the simplicity of their subject matter, and the stories they tell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mesmerized by her work, Maloof wanted to know more about her. A Google search provided no clues. Museum curators and gallery owners had never heard of her. It was only when he returned to the Internet some weeks later that he found a newly posted obituary notice containing the few clues that would take him on a road less traveled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Maloof tells his tale in front of and off camera, beginning with the first in a series of circumstances that would change the course of his life, and the legacy of hers.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Vivian Maier was, by all accounts, an odd, – some would say eccentric woman with a questionable French accent: a woman who protected her anonymity as if she had something to hide. She worked as a nanny, residing in the homes of the children she cared for, often in a small attic room above the family’s living quarters. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Over the course of the film, Maloof interviews several of these now-grown children, who tell differing accounts of life under her charge. Whenever possible, he also talks with their parents, neighbors and local shop keepers</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">―</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">all of whom paint a picture of a woman who lived life well under the radar. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Eventually, his quest takes him to New York and Europe, as patterns emerge, and theories are refuted. But make no mistake, finding the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">real </i>Vivian Maier was no easy task, as by all accounts she had no friends and never spoke of relatives, or her past. Few outside the children, were even aware that she had a camera, let alone amassed such a staggering amount of undeveloped film. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">She kept these rolls and negatives, along with hundreds of old receipts, newspapers and snippets from her life in trunks and boxes stacked one upon another, upon another, upon another, from floor-to-ceiling. Maloof would eventually come to own, sort, print, and catalogue their contents, along with a curious assort of items retrieved from a storage locker literally hours before they were to be trashed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Between the footage of the faces, places and objects that were a part of Vivian’s world, Maloof fills the screen with her mostly black and white photographs, each one more extraordinary than the last. A laborer grabbing a smoke. A car full of children. An elderly woman riding an escalator. A tousle-haired child clinging to her mother’s coat. A blind man and his dog. A shoeshine boy. A dirty spoon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rows of newspaper-reading commuters on a train. A movie marque.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Newsstand. Trash can</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">―</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Each one more remarkable than the last. They are culled from a staggering number of images culled from 100,000 negatives, 700 rolls of undeveloped film, and 8mm and 16mm stock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">One of the important and never-to-be answered questions which Maloof and the people he interviews ponder is whether or not this very private woman would have wanted the attention bestowed upon both her work and her life. Opinions differ widely. Gallery owners, respected photographers and museum curators also weigh in, adding an additional layer to the story, which continues to this day. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As late as last September, former commercial photograph and attorney David Deal filed suit in a Chicago court, claiming that he had discovered Maier years before Maloof, and had located a long lost heir. The sad part of this story, aside from the fact that Maloof put so much of his heart in this project, is that the suit has put a temporary hold that could last for years, on her work being exhibited, sold, and generally enjoyed by others. The film, at least for the moment, endures. Don’t miss it. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><em>BILL CUNNINGHAM NEW YORK</em> </span></b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It would be easy to assume that these two documentaries and their subjects are slightly different versions of the other. After all, both Maier and Cunningham could be described as single, eccentric, private, and talented photographers with a unique point of view. But summaries can be deceiving, and it would be a shame if you passed over one or the other, thinking that it was more or less a rerun of the first.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For starters, you’d be hard-pressed <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">to find </i>two more different personalities. Maier was an almost invisible presence, few knew her or about her. Her self-portraits contain not the slightest hint of a smile, whereas Cunningham is a Manhattan fixture. Hundreds know him by sight, thousands by name or by his columns in the New York Times. He is an approachable man who smiles easily. It is an almost silly, mischievous, child-like smile. If they were rolls of film, Maier would be 120 black and white, while Cunningham would be full-blown Kodachrome. </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">His story, as told by documentarian Richard Pratt captures Cunningham in mid-flight, seldom still, and always after that special shot, waiting to take its place in one of his two columns in the New York Times or weekly blog.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The first column, <em>“Evening Hours”, </em>covers the runways, parties and social events of the well-connected. The second, <em>“On the Street”</em> captures the trends, first takes and unexpected, highly creative fashions on the street, at small gatherings, clubs and yet-to-be-recognized fashion houses. “The best fashion show is definitely on the street”, says Cunningham. “Always has been, always will be.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He is an equal opportunity “shooter”, which is, perhaps, why people from all walks of life seem to adore him. “He means so much to people like us” exudes a cross-dresser who has appeared in his column more than once. The same could be said by those on the far more traditional and pedigreed side of the social spectrum. Fashion, is fashion.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And so it is that Cunningham’s photographs cover the waterfront, giving the reader a unique perspective of what people in New York are wearing on any given day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The film is loaded with examples of his work; candid shots of people in motion. Unlike many runway and studio photographers, he shies away from the outrageous catwalk clothes and stagnant, all-too-perfect posed shots of the well-coiffed, dramatically lit, highly made-up, alarmingly slim models, preferring to catch a spectacular bit of unexpected inspiration wherever, whenever. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But he is most at home on the street, where he sees how people take a designer’s piece and make it their own, or better yet, mix and match read-to-wear items, combining colors, textures, belts and accessories and turning them into something “totally new and fabulous”. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A whippet of a man, Bill Cunningham zips around the city on his trusty Schwinn,(his 29<sup>th</sup>, the other 28 having been stolen over the years), camera ready to roll at a moment’s notice. During the making of the film he turned eighty. Still going strong nearly five years later, it is obvious that retiring is not on this octogenarian’s list of things to do.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The film is as much about what he does as how he does it. Press and his crew to their best to keep up with him; filming his ‘day’ from the wee hours of the morning to the wee hours of the morning. By the time the film was put to bed, they had done an admirable job of capturing his spirit, watching him work, interviewing friends and fans, asking the right questions and getting some surprising answers.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I was just interested in clothes: it’s probably a little peculiar.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">”</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The photographer is, by his own admission, a workaholic: perfectly content to work day and night, eat on the run, and do without the things most of us need or strive for. He has, he says, never had or yearned for romance, a cozy home, or the kind of friendship where secrets are shared, and confidences kept. But make no mistake; he does have friends</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">―</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">and lots of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That said, even people who have known the man for decades, admit that they know precious little about him. Ask them where he hails from, what he does in his spare time, or what his political or religious affiliations are, and they shrug their shoulders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What they <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">can</i> tell you is that back in the late forties and early fifties he was a haberdasher: his marvelous creations topping the heads of high society patrons and Hollywood’s reigning movie queens. But when the army called, he had to close down his one-man salon on the 10<sup>th</sup> floor of Carnegie Hall, and go to war.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Upon his return, he found a new career, when a fellow photographer gave him a $39 Olympus camera. “Use it like a pen,” he said: “Like you take notes.” And so he did, taking his career in an entirely new and highly satisfying direction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The few friends who have been to his Carnegie Hall hideaway describe it as a tiny place with rows of file cabinets taking up all but a sliver of a space just wide enough for a cot and narrow walkway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is little more than a holding station, a place to catch a few zzz’s, file his negatives, wash, dress and move on.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><em>"These are my filing systems, and this is my clothes closest."</em></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It is unpretentious to say the least, with no kitchen or bathroom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, there <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is</i> a bathroom, but it’s out the door and down the hall, an arrangement more like something you’d expect to see </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">in a boarding house </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">than the lodgings of a New York Times institution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And he<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> is </i>an institution: known and admired by celebrities, fashion editors, designers and the city’s elite, as well as the white and blue-collar men and women, dandies and young things who make up 95% of the city’s population.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The word “icon” comes up frequently when those in the industry talk about Cummings. A mild mannered, unpretentious fellow, he doesn’t look or act like an icon, but you don’t want to contradict Vogue’s Anna Wintour, who uncharacteristically has nothing but praise for his work, and nose for “new”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">She and others in the know speak of him in glowing terms, admitting that he often spots fashion trends months before they do. “I sometimes will look at his pages in the Times or online and just be so amazed that he and I and my team and all the rest of the world we were all sitting in the same fashions shows, but he’s seen something on the street or on the runway that completely missed all of us,” she says, adding, “And six months later, that will be a trend.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Out and about by eight a.m., the photographer is armed and ready to catch Manhattan’s workforce as they race from here to there, morning latte in hand, briefcase swinging, running shoes, flip flops, high heels or boots nipping at their cuffs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He snaps them dodging traffic, stepping out of or into cars, cabs and buses,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>jumping over puddles, and leaning against the wind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“When it rains, it’s a whole different scene, or when there’s a blizzard is the best time. Things happen; people forget about you” he says. They don’t pose or primp. And so it is that his photos catch them in midstream: emerging from the subway, cooling off on a steamy afternoon, or gossiping with friends. Click click, shutter, wiz, his camera documents what he refers to as the reality of how people dress”, head-to-toe, back and front, zooming in on their hats, coats, shoes and collars: funky and fabulous.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The job requires a good deal of patience, with Cunningham waiting and watching for the next big idea. “It’s always the hope that you’ll see some marvelous exotic bird of paradise” he says, “meaning a very elegant, stunning woman, or someone wearing something terrific.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So it’s a waiting game. And, as Bill says, “There are no short cuts.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">After a long day on the street, Bill pauses briefly to drop off the day’s “catch” at a catch-all, hole-in-the-wall combination photo/copy/ FAX/ATM and Internet emporium,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>one of the few in town that still develops film, before grabbing a sandwich and cup of coffee and heading again. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">During one such pit-stop, he lifts a couple of shirt-covered hangers from a filing cabinet’s handle and holds them up to the camera. “This is my clothes closest” he says smiling, but he’s not kidding. Like Little Orphan Annie and her red dress, Cunningham wears the same basic outfit day in and day out, save for a few accommodations to inclement or bone-chilling weather. Black tie, no tie, guest or honoree, he’s easy to spot in his trademark azure-blue cotton smock. When one wears out, he buys another on his next trip to Paris, where he first discovered the street sweepers’ uniforms years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pressed, folded and packaged in cellophane wrap, they are hardly what you would call ‘couture’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But that’s Bill: a man who films fashion, but is not encumbered by it. When his plastic poncho tears, he repairs it with masking tape. Why buy a new one he asks, when it’s going to tear after one or two wearings anyway? Why buy an expensive jacket, when his camera will no doubt rub against the material and ruin it? Why indeed?</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He is a man of modest tastes and needs, and yet he is so at ease around those to the manor born, many assume that he comes from a privileged background. Hoping to put an end to the speculation, Pratt gently asks the questions that beg answers. And Cunningham answers them, though you can see that he is a bit uncomfortable talking about himself. He would much rather get back to the business at hand. Work is his play. Fashion is his passion. There is no time for affairs of the heart. Music or hobbies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Never was. “I was just interested in clothes” he says, “It’s probably a little peculiar.” And so, while others spend their nights at home with the family, reading a good book, or perhaps, taking in a show, Bill is out on the street, winding his way through the city on his bike, chasing the trends. Depending on the night, he may be covering a gala, or taking in the ambience at a small club or café. </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Over the course of the film we meet some of his more colorful subjects. Among them</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">―a former United Nations representative</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> from Nepal, who stands by a rack of his outfits, pulling out or modeling one after another after another. “This is my alphabet suit” he says, sporting a white and black number covered in large black letters. Then, “This is my lollypop salesman suit”</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">―</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">a wildly colorful outfit patterned in endless rows of candy suckers. “When I wear this</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">―</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">” (he lifts a yellow and red Scotch plaid jacket from the rack), “people smile, and it kind of cheers them up a little bit.” And <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">you</i> smile, because you see in him and his outrageous outfits what Bill saw. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But it was Mr. Alphabet’s last turn at bat that made me laugh out loud. “This used to be my old sofa,” he says, with a nod to a rather unusual jacket. “My pants used to be my ottoman. “ It was, in my mind, at least in my mind, an homage to Carol Burnett’s famous <em>Gone with the Wind</em> sketch, where the comedian glided down<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Tara’s” famous staircase wearing a pair of long velvet curtains – still attached to their curtain rod. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sometimes truth truly is stranger than fiction.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The lollypop man and others like him make Cunningham’s day. He loves the fact that, with so many people sporting cookie-cutter looks, there are those who dare-to-be-different. It takes courage, he says, and he admires them for it. Perhaps because he is, in his own way as courageous as they are, daring to fly in the face of the very fashion he covers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Interestingly enough, no one seems to care if he shows up at their black tie gala in that cotton smock, explaining that this and other eccentricities are part of his charm. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">BILL CUNNINGHAM NEW YORK </span></i></b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">is a lovely way to spend an evening. And no doubt, while you’re watching it from your easy chair, perhaps downing a beer or glass of wine, bag of potato chips, or other munchies in hand, Bill will be combing the streets of Manhattan, armed with his trusty camera, looking for the big thing in fashion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As for his apartment, by the end of filming, Cunningham</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">―</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">along with his ninety-six year old neighbor, received word that they would have to find another place to live in order to make way for more offices. She had been there since the 1940s, he, since the early fifties. Where such news would throw most people his age, Bill took it in strike. “You can’t interrupt your life” he says, standing outside the building taking pictures of his filing cabinets being rolled down the street to his new digs. Was he looking forward to living in a more traditional space?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ummm</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">―</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">maybe not. He laughs and says, </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Who the hell wants a kitchen and a bathroom?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just more rooms to clean.”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But not to worry, according to a film footnote, Cunningham, “had his new landlord remove the kitchen cabinets and appliances to make room for his filing cabinets.”</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Some things never change. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
Jainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02553591299806607498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215928590640748611.post-17303595976765626852014-08-12T15:43:00.000-05:002014-08-12T15:43:12.642-05:00AFTER THE WEDDING
<br />
<i><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">After the Wedding</span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> is the kind of movie that evokes discussion between viewers. One
of the main questions put before us, is whether anyone has the right to use
their power to control other people’s lives, manipulating circumstances in
order to achieve a desired outcome, even with the best of intentions.</span><o:p></o:p><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">It comes to us from Denmark, but begins in India, where Jacob Petersen
( Mads Mikkelsen), an
idealistic Danish transplant in his early forties, spends his every waking hour
trying to make life a little easier for the fifty-five children in his care. As
the manager of a small orphanage, he is both teacher and father figure, taking
pains to see that the children are housed, schooled, fed and loved. </span><o:p></o:p><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">When we meet him, he is ladling rice into bowls from his pick-up
truck, and handing them out to the poor and hungry. But we soon learn
that the funds needed to continue this work and keep the orphanage’s doors
open, are nearly gone. With bankruptcy looming, the home’s director is
heartened when she receives word that a Danish billionaire named Jorgen Hansson (Rolf Lassgard) has
expressed an interest in their work, to the point of making a sizeable donation. </span><o:p></o:p><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">But Hansson's
interest comes with the stipulation that he and Petersen shake hands on the
‘deal’ in Copenhagen. While the owner of the orphanage sees this as a reasonable
request, Jacob is reluctant to bow to the wishes of what he believes to be a
fat cat dangling a bit of cheese in front of a hungry mouse. But desperate for
funds, he acquiesces. </span><o:p></o:p><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">When the children learn that he will be leaving, they worry that he
won’t return. Most distraught is a seven-year-old boy named Pramod, whom
Jacob has cared for since the child was a baby. They share a special
bond, and understanding his distress, Jacob promises to call frequently, and be
home in time to celebrate the boy’s upcoming birthday. In Jacob’s mind, it will
be a quick trip, just long enough to shake hands, secure the donation, and
return to Bombay</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">—</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">cash in hand.</span><o:p></o:p><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Arriving in Copenhagen, he is whisked away to one of CEO’s five star
hotels, where a no nonsense concierge walks him through his penthouse suite,
pointing out amenities as she goes. The spacious air-conditioned suite is
oozing with opulence, from its large bedrooms, common areas and baths, sauna,
Jacuzzi, flat screen TV, cable, frig and bar area, to its private rooftop
terrace overlooking the city. </span><o:p></o:p><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Rather than pleased or impressed, Jacob is disgusted by what he views
as a wasteful extravagance. As he notes in a deleted scene, the charge
for one night’s lodging in this “ridiculous hotel room” could feed three hundred
people in India for a week.</span><o:p></o:p><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">When Jacob finally meets the man who holds the purse strings, he finds
that things aren’t quite a settled as he had been led to believe. According to Hansson, the
orphanage is but one of three charities vying for the same endowment, and he
has yet to make up his mind which will be the lucky benefactor.</span><o:p></o:p><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Jacob tries to plead his case with an amateur video he has made of the
orphanage, but Hansson has other things on his mind, and waves it off only moments after it
has begun. “It is a big weekend for me” he says, “and I cannot make a decision
now,” explaining that his head is filled with thoughts of his daughter’s
impending nuptials. </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">He
invites Jacob to the wedding, both at the church and the reception that
follows. Realizing that this is more of a demand than a request</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">—not to mention</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> a potential
deal-breaker, Jacob attends, only to find that once again, there is far more
involved than he</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">—</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">or we</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">—</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> suspected. </span><o:p></o:p><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Jorgen it seems, has an
agenda based on a series of secrets. Over the course of the film we, along with
Jacob, Jorgen’s wife Helene (Sidse Babett Knudsen) and daughter Anna (Stine
Fischer Christensen) learn what they are, and the reasons behind what appeared
to be a last-minute, while-you-are-here and-have-nothing-else-to-do, invitation.</span><o:p></o:p><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">The twists
and turns of this film are, for the most part, totally unexpected. During the
first few moments, I thought the plot centered around the orphanage, later,
around the bride, still later, around the mother-of-the-bride, then the father-of-the-bride,
and so on and so on and so on. The truth is, <em><span>After
the Wedding</span></em> is about all of the above: a tale of good intentions,
questionable decisions, manipulation and love in all its many forms. Parental,
marital, young and old, selfish and selfless, this small Danish drama touches
on them all. </span><o:p></o:p><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">As in
life, the people in this film are as complex as the challenges they face. So
often novels and films, plays and programs wrap their story around a
single problem and simple solution. Find the glass slipper</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">—</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> live happily ever after. Do this, and you
get that. But, as co-writers Anders Thompson Jensen and director Susanne Bier
tell us, it is seldom</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">—</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> if ever</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">—</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> as simple as that. Happy endings, or some
semblance thereof, are far more likely to come about after a litany of
trade-offs. And so it is in this piece, where giving and taking, forgoing and
forgiving are all part of the mix. </span><o:p></o:p><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">When all
is said and done, you may find yourself wondering if Jacob, Jorgen, Helene
and Anna made the right decisions for the right reasons, sacrificing a bit
of their ideals, hopes and/or dreams for what they believed to be the greater
good. You may, like me, also wonder what the future holds for these
fictional but very real characters, and if there will be a happily ever after, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">after</i> the wedding. </span><o:p></o:p><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">While the
story is, in itself, enough to draw you in, a great deal of what’s good about
this film has to do with the casting. I was particularly impressed with Stine
Fischer Christensen, the young actress who plays the naively happy
bride-to-be. She is, as one interviewer put it, ‘delicate’, and Bier treats
one of her most poignant scenes just as delicately, making for one of the
most effective moments in the film. </span><o:p></o:p><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Mikkelsen’s
Jacob is a quietly, introverted: a soulful soul whose muted exterior hides a wide
range of emotions, preconceptions and reservations. He is a man who has
experienced failure more often than not, despite his good intentions. </span><o:p></o:p><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Jorgen Hansson, both
on the page and as played by Rolf Lassgard, is perhaps the most complex of the
characters, his secrets, intentions, motives and make-up revealed slowly and
carefully, frame by frame. Startled by one of his revelations, we find
that his wife Helene has a secret of her own. And the hits just keep on coming.</span><o:p></o:p><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Over the
course of the film you will find yourself asking if their actions were
triggered by jealousy, love, fear, curiosity, generosity, retribution, or all
or none of the above – a tribute to the script, actors and unencumbered
direction. And while it is impossible to show every side of a character,
be it in a documentary, novel, film or other treatment, this modest motion
picture delivers on that score more than many films with far larger names and
budgets. </span><o:p></o:p><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<em><span style="font-size: 14pt;">After
the Wedding</span></em><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> along
with the accompanying interview in the Special Features section of the
DVD, made me want to see more of Susanne Bier’s work. She has a knack for
saying more with the twist of a bottle cap than a page full of dialogue</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">—</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">an admirable talent.</span><o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">There have
been many films</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">—</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">both dramatic and
comedic</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">—</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> that have danced
around the issues presented in this film: movies that have explored romantic
entanglements, the great divide between wealth and poverty, and the use and
abuse of power, be it in government, religion, education, geography, business
or within the confines a family. Despite its size and limited resources,
this little film holds its own. </span><o:p></o:p><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">A 2006
Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Film, <em><span>After
the Wedding</span></em> is imperfect in some ways, and sheer perfection
in others, which, come to think of it, is much like its characters, and people
in general.</span><o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<span><u1:p> </u1:p></span><o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<o:p></o:p><br />
Jainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02553591299806607498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215928590640748611.post-28878222188533970772014-07-12T20:21:00.000-05:002014-07-13T09:50:01.958-05:00COMING HOME<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 18pt;">I had just
finished watching 12-count‘m 12 episodes of Showtime's <em><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif";">Ray
Donovan</span></em> (the entire first season) the night before. I don’t know
how I got started watching it</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">—</span><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 18pt;">it’s definitely not my
kind of show. But somehow it hooked and reeled me in, and I just couldn’t stop.
I wanted</span></span><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">—</span><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 18pt;">needed to watch the
entire season before season two debuted. And some of the characters were just
mesmerizing; among them, Jon Voight’s portrayal of ex-con and family patriarch,
Mickey (Mick) Donovan.</span><o:p></o:p><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 18pt;">When Saturday
came around, and I had my usual weekend chores to do, I turned on the TV
looking for something to watch while the wash was washing, the crock pot was
crocking, and I was making my way through a large box of books and papers I
hadn’t opened since I had packed it up in preparation for an upcoming move to
my new home in 1991. </span><o:p></o:p><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 18pt;">Surfing through
the endless <em><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif";">On-Demand</span></em>
options my cable service offers, I happened upon the 1978 film, <em><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif";">Coming Home</span></em>. Directed by Hal
Ashby it was a three-star vehicle for Jane Fonda, Bruce Dern and <em><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif";">Donovan</span></em>’s Jon Voight.</span><o:p></o:p><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 18pt;">I hadn’t seen
the film since it was in theaters, but with Voight’s current work fresh in my
mind, I was anxious to give it a second look, especially since enough time had
gone by to sort out the underlying anti-war theme that would define Fonda’s
life for decades. Both Fonda and Voight took home Oscars for their
performances, and rightly so. </span><o:p></o:p><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 18pt;">Voight is
mesmerizing as Vietnam Vet and paraplegic Luke Martin, whom we meet in a VA
hospital where he is frustrated by the limitations of his disability, the level
of care given to him and his fellow veterans, the memories that haunt him, and
a feeling of angst as he watches others signing up to fight a war he no longer
believes in. Fonda is also excellent as Sally Hyde; a young wife, whose husband
Bob (Bruce Dern) goes off to war, unprepared for the reality that awaits him.</span><o:p></o:p><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 18pt;">The plot is as
simple as it is complex: A husband is called to war. His wife finds comfort and
purpose in volunteering at the base hospital. Stuff happens. The husband
returns home. More stuff happens, and life, in one way or another, goes on.</span><o:p></o:p><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 18pt;">Coming Home</span></i><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 18pt;"> is hard to define, perhaps because it
is, at its core, several things. It is, most certainly, a love story, though
the depth of love within the film’s various relationships is more implied than
spoken. It is also a story of how we, as human beings, often choose to look the
other way when someone is in pain or in need, as long as it is not our someone.
And it is, without question, an anti-war platform; set in 1968: a time when our
young men were being drafted and recruited to fight in a war that had been
raging since the early 1950s in a place many of us had never heard of until we
joined the fight in earnest in 1961. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 18pt;">What <em><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif";">Coming Home</span></em> does, more than
any motion picture I have seen about soldiers returning home from war</span><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">—</span></span><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 18pt;">including the much lauded 1946 film, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Best Years of Our Lives</i> is put a face on the thousands of men
and women who return home from the battlefield in varying physical and emotional
states, often left to their own devices, to figure out and patch together a
future fraught with challenges. Vietnam vets, more than any other veterans I
can think of, had an extra burden to bear, in that many people did not welcome
them home with ticker tape parades, applaud their efforts, offer them jobs or
help them regain some sort of normalcy in their lives.</span><o:p></o:p><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 18pt;">The love scenes
between Fonda and Voight in this movie are among the most tender and moving on
film. And while it is, by anyone's description, an anti-war piece, one would
hope that all these years later, those of you who will take the time to revisit
it, will be better for it, with a renewed awareness and sense of compassion
towards those who, by war, accident, birth, violence or quirk of fate, have to
deal with more problems and challenges than any human being should have to deal
with. </span><o:p></o:p><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 18pt;">Bruce Dern’s
character is perhaps the least appealing of the group, and one can only guess
if the part was written that way, or if he was directed that way, or put his
own spin on it. Dern tends to play less than sympathetic characters, so, who
knows. He is, for me at least, the weakest link in the chain: good, but not up
to Fonda and Voight’s work. His character’s outcome (which I realize he had no
say in) was the only thing in this movie that didn’t ring true, although those
who know far more about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder than I would be better
qualified to comment on that.</span><o:p></o:p><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 18pt;">I know that the
film's subject matter might lead you to believe that it is a downer, and to be
avoided at all costs. Admittedly, it’s not a light-hearted piece or musical,
although it does boast a killer soundtrack featuring some of the era’s major
tunes and artists, among them, the Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, the Rolling
Stones, Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, and
Steppenwolf. But there are some truly lovely moments between Fonda and Voight,
and when you look at it as a reflection of our recent history, it is so worth
seeing; being just as relevant today as it was when it first came out some
thirty-three years ago.</span><o:p></o:p><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 18pt;">At the time,
Voight had already come into his own, having starred in the 1969 career-making,
award-winning film <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><em><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 18pt;">Midnight Cowboy</span></em></span><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 18pt;">, and 1972’s <em><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif";">Deliverance</span></em>. But according to
several sources, he was not director Ashby’s first choice, joining the cast
only after Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino and Sylvester Stallone had passed on the
project-most likely because of its political nature.</span><o:p></o:p><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 18pt;">Lucky for us
that Voight took on the role. Whether you are unfamiliar with his work,
remember him from his early movies or more recent fare, you owe it to yourself
to see him in this film, as well as the afore-mentioned <em><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif";">Ray Donovan</span></em>. Having won an
Emmy last year for his work in the series, he was just nominated again this
past week for this year’s work. Watch the two pieces back-to-back will give you
a good idea of his range and talent. </span><o:p></o:p><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 18pt;">Produced by
Fonda’s production company, and inspired by her friendship with a Vietnam vet
who, like Voight’s character, was a paraplegic, <em><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif";">Coming Home</span></em>, unlike most of the films I feature
here, was not a so-called "small" movie, garnering generally positive
reviews, as well as a host of nominations and awards for its cast and crew.
Knowing this, I suspect that many of you saw it when it was first released. But
if, like me, you haven’t seen it since, it may be time for a second look.</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
</div>
</div>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Jainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02553591299806607498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215928590640748611.post-72650243926398727472014-05-27T17:23:00.003-05:002014-05-28T13:29:10.157-05:002014 FOOD FIND EDITION<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Welcome
to the fourth annual Food Find Edition! This year I’ve done my best to gather
photographs of as many of the finds as possible. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Thanks to those of you who
took the time to share the names of your favorites!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><strong>BREAD</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">LA BREA BAKERY TAKE & BAKE
RUSTIC CIABATTA LOAF</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-84yX1nmGbjg/U4Tji7uPNaI/AAAAAAAAAEU/zstjSlhPOkw/s1600/LABREA+BAKERY+RUSTIC+CIABATTA+LOAF.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-84yX1nmGbjg/U4Tji7uPNaI/AAAAAAAAAEU/zstjSlhPOkw/s1600/LABREA+BAKERY+RUSTIC+CIABATTA+LOAF.jpg" height="320" width="226" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-84yX1nmGbjg/U4Tji7uPNaI/AAAAAAAAAEU/zstjSlhPOkw/s1600/LABREA+BAKERY+RUSTIC+CIABATTA+LOAF.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This a Kroger brand. Admittedly, I don’t eat it as regular bread. I make shards
out of it, baking it the night before I use it, and making the shards the
following day. This “take and bake” bread bakes in just eight minutes, and
makes one great shard. For those of you who would like to try your hand at
making these easy and delightful bites I’m including my go-to recipe at the end
of this post. Below – a batch of shards, fresh out of the oven and topped with
Provolone and hard Italian salami.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<strong><span style="font-size: large;"></span></strong><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">BUTTER</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">FERRARINI</span></strong><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-beAxlJPrk3Y/U4Xg9oTYElI/AAAAAAAAANE/IomRBlPNcWg/s1600/Butter+for+2014+ff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-beAxlJPrk3Y/U4Xg9oTYElI/AAAAAAAAANE/IomRBlPNcWg/s1600/Butter+for+2014+ff.jpg" height="113" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></strong><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I am a major butter fan. Supermarket
butter is, for the most part, a dim version of the butter I remember from my
childhood. But there are exceptions. Last year, I told you about a couple of
lightly salted butters from Mennonite country and France. This year, I want to
introduce you to Ferrarini, an Italian sweet butter that, unless you are
feeling particularly decadent, should be saved for spreading rather than
cooking. It’s also wonderful on top of steamed vegetables, but it is a major
splurge. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><strong>BARBECUE SAUCE</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><strong>LAMONT’S AUTHENTIC SOUTHERN
MARINADE AND BARBEQUE SAUCE</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Andi and Clay of Memphis are
major fans of this Mississippi-based company’s marinade and barbeque sauce.
Created over 150 years ago by Lucinda Macklin, head cook at a Holly Springs,
plantation, the recipe has been handed down through the family, from Lucinda to
daughter Aussaeibelle, then on to her daughter, Thelma, who passed it on to her
son, LaMont Burns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Burns didn’t just
make the sauce, he bottled it. According to the company’s website, this
four-generation sauce is good for grilling, dipping, and baking, and great on
just about everything<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">. Available
regionally at select stores, or by mail. For more information call
662-838-3431, or visit their website at lamontsbbq.com. </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">RUFUS TEAGUE HONEY SWEET SAUCE</span></strong><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x6oIOkFPgP4/U4TrplJHqFI/AAAAAAAAAFE/w2Q2dYlg1qM/s1600/Ribs+with+Rufus+sauce+and+Ellie+5-26-14+002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x6oIOkFPgP4/U4TrplJHqFI/AAAAAAAAAFE/w2Q2dYlg1qM/s1600/Ribs+with+Rufus+sauce+and+Ellie+5-26-14+002.JPG" height="249" width="320" /></span></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AwhEPuxomiI/U4TnwiYchwI/AAAAAAAAAEs/pF4CZ1VUk3Y/s1600/Rufus+Teague+for+Food+Finds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AwhEPuxomiI/U4TnwiYchwI/AAAAAAAAAEs/pF4CZ1VUk3Y/s1600/Rufus+Teague+for+Food+Finds.jpg" height="320" width="163" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I try
to find and sample as many of your finds as possible before I write about them.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I went looking for Andi and Clay’s
sauce, I was amazed at how many different sauces, marinades and sopping sauces
there were. Rufus Teague's </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong></strong>sauce
caught my attention. It has a great looking label, interesting copy, and a
flavor combination unlike anything I had seen before. There were, of course, a
few of the basics: tomato paste, sugar, brown sugar, honey, vinegar, molasses, salt,
water, followed by an imaginative list of ingredients, including twists. The
list included raisin paste, soy sauce, soy beans, natural smoke flavor, mustard
with mustard seed and turmeric, dried onion, concentrated orange juice,
Worcestershire sauce, anchovy paste, chili pepper powder, dried garlic, ground
celery seed, and (this is on the wrapper) “other spices you can’t<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>know about.” They say this ‘all natural,
gluten-free’ sauce is “best on beef, chicken pork and fish, and also goes well
with everything else.” I tried it on oven baked baby back ribs this last
Memorial Day weekend. Oh my oh my oh my. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">BISTO GRAVY GRANULES</b></span><br />
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</v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:formulas></v:stroke></v:shapetype></span><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">True
Confession time. I can’t find that email (and therefore the name of the person
who recommended BISTO<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"></b>Gravy
granulates, but after a quick search on the Internet I learned that they are a
British product, available in the International section of your supermarket.
From the website’s description, these granules appear to be gravy extracts―add
boiling water and you’ve got (depending upon your choice of products) beef,
turkey, and vegetarian gravy. The name Bisto, as it turns out, is an acronym
for” <strong>B</strong>rown, <strong>S</strong>eason and <strong>T</strong>hcken.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apologies
to the reader who sent in the find for not being able to credit it to you</span></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">CHEESES </span></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">CAMBRIE BLUE</span> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gQAhWN3kud8/U4TonZWWaaI/AAAAAAAAAE8/mKFrfcgCdMc/s1600/Baldridge+blue+cheese.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gQAhWN3kud8/U4TonZWWaaI/AAAAAAAAAE8/mKFrfcgCdMc/s1600/Baldridge+blue+cheese.jpg" height="208" width="320" /></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gQAhWN3kud8/U4TonZWWaaI/AAAAAAAAAE8/mKFrfcgCdMc/s1600/Baldridge+blue+cheese.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;"></span></b><br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></b><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">
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</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;">Donna and Mike B wrote to say they found a wonderful Cambria blue cheese at Sam’s. As they
supplied no brand name, I had to do a bit of sleuthing. It turns out that
Cambria is in Wisconsin, a tiny rural hamlet of some 767 people living within
1.4 square miles (according to the last census). Given the size of their
village,it’s amazing that so many noteworthy people called it home, including
(among others) actress Gena Rowlands, musician Owan Mays, and baseball’s Davy
Jones. Within the 307 households is a thriving Amish community of cheese
makers. While I can’t be sure that Donna and Mike were talking about
Salemville’s Cambria bleu cheese, the company’s products can be found at Sam’s,
Kroger’s and Target. According to their website, they make their cheese by
hand, using no machinery or electricity for that matter, and deliver it to the
factory in ‘traditional 10-gallon milk cans.” A note at the bottom of their
home page states that their cheeses are rich in calcium, contain no
preservatives or chemical additives and are “farmer certified rGBH-free (</span><span style="color: black;">A genetically engineered, artificial
hormone).<o:p></o:p></span>
</span><span style="color: black;">
</span> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-themecolor: text1;">AGOUR OSSAU<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #555555;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">One day while at my Kroger, supermarket cheese counter, I spied a small piece of cheese whose name was unfamiliar to me. The lady behind the counter said that it was Agour Ossau sheep milk cheese from the Pyrenees Mountains of France. She said that she was introduced to the cheese by a family from the Basque region that forms the border between France and Spain. A pricey cheese, they love it so much, they buy half a wheel at a time. As this remnant was in the ‘$5 or less” basket that contains small bits of this and that, I was able to sample it without breaking the bank.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It took a few bites to take in the flavor, as it was a bit different than other cheeses I’d tried. Buttery, but not like a brie. And firmer than a brie, but not as firm as say, a Swiss cheese or Gouda. The cheese lady suggested it be eaten wish summer fruits and a glass of red wine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought it was tasty all by its lonesome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I looked it up on line, one company suggested pairing it with </span>Les Folies Fromage Black Cherry or Licorice fruit spreads.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Available at Costco and your local cheese counter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And three Dutch "Finds"...</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>PRIMA DONNA<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3yC_gGyI9Ac/U4UEsUvcroI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/5cAao7kEzZs/s1600/PRIMA+DONNA+CHEESE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3yC_gGyI9Ac/U4UEsUvcroI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/5cAao7kEzZs/s1600/PRIMA+DONNA+CHEESE.jpg" height="320" width="270" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">This
award-winning cheese took home the “Best European Cheese” award this year at
the Global Cheese awards, having won a<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>bronze medal (kind of like the Cheese Olympics) last year in the World
Cheese awards sponsored by the guild of fine foods in Birmingham, England.
Pretty good any way you slice it, when you consider that nearly 3,000 cheeses
were competing. I first tasted this nutty, slightly crumbly cheese during a
sampling at Kroger, and have been a fan ever since. What does it taste like?
Hmmm. Well, If you married Gouda and Parmesan (more Gouda, less Parm) you’d have
some idea. But it’s like describing vanilla. You have to see for yourself. Oh
by the way, it’s lactose and gluten-free.</span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">VINCENT<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gci8jDm0ihc/U4T1jIR_tMI/AAAAAAAAAGs/PcapaEYK1K4/s1600/Vincent+cheese.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gci8jDm0ihc/U4T1jIR_tMI/AAAAAAAAAGs/PcapaEYK1K4/s1600/Vincent+cheese.jpg" height="262" width="320" /></span></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">This
is another Gouda – and one of my all-time favorites. It’s a cow-milk Gouda that
has been aged at least five months. Named after the famous Dutch painter,
Vincent Van Gough, it is, ear-resistible (Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.)</span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">ROBUSTO <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I
have only seen Robusto at Whole
Foods. Knowing what a fan I am of Dutch cheeses, my all-knowing cheese guru
sliced off a bit of this wonderful Gouda for me to try. It was delicious. I’ve
never seen it anywhere else, but if you have a Whole Foods in your area, and
enjoy a good Gouda, I recommend it highly. I’ve seen it described as having
hints of both Parmesan and Cheddar. Add it to your cheese board.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">And just for fun...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">S<span class="uficommentbody"><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; mso-ansi-language: EN;">COTT’S OF WISCONSIN CHOCOLATE CHEESE FUDGE</span></span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">
WITH WALNUTS</span> </span></span></strong><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--JUDNCMaOqY/U4TtpuU_lAI/AAAAAAAAAFU/5VuYM_cLxLg/s1600/013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--JUDNCMaOqY/U4TtpuU_lAI/AAAAAAAAAFU/5VuYM_cLxLg/s1600/013.JPG" height="211" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I
kid you not. Though this faux fudge looks and tastes like the real thing, it’s
actually made of cheddar cheese and such seemingly incompatible ingredients are
paprika and turmeric extract. A seasonal item, I found it at Kroger about a
month before Easter, where it was available through the first weeks of May. I
bought a few packages and had fun giving to friends to try before telling them
what it really was, and then giving them a package to take home to the delight
of their children and grandchildren. A fun conversation-starter at parties and
such, it may not be the best fudge you’ve ever eaten, but it is far from the
worst. Everyone I know said it was good to the last bite. A fellow shopper said
she was planning on serving it to friends along with fresh strawberries at a
baby shower – a berry good idea, indeed!</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">SPREADS<o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">SPECULOOS COOKIE BUTTER<o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">An
east coast reader loves this ooey gooey butter, and she’s not alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently a lot of Trader Joe’s customers
are spreading it on their pancakes and waffles, favorite bread and using it as
an ice cream topping. When I looked it up on the Internet I found that it is
the supermarket’s second most popular product! If you, like me, don’t have a
Trader Joe’s in your area, you’ll find it on Amazon.com, where it described as a
spreadable treat as ‘reminiscent of gingerbread and made with crushed biscuits’.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">FROZEN ENTREES<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">LEAN CUISINE CHICKEN
PECAN</span></b><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3UkS4zWHYj4/U4Yg0poD-XI/AAAAAAAAAN8/BUHoIeRLcnc/s1600/clean+cuisine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3UkS4zWHYj4/U4Yg0poD-XI/AAAAAAAAAN8/BUHoIeRLcnc/s1600/clean+cuisine.jpg" height="243" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Lean
Cuisine products have made our list before, with a Chicago reader giving their
Chicken Pecan entree shout out. I’d like to add their Artichoke Ravioli to my
list of ‘Faves’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><strong>HONESTLY</strong> <strong>GOOD POMEGRANATE CHICKEN </strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><strong></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><strong></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><strong></strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><strong></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><strong><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dBnXGyw1-ug/U4YhKWmoHjI/AAAAAAAAAOI/pvqZYRNiuPM/s1600/FOOD+FINDS+2014+and+roses+and+dogwood+blooms+after+rain+5-13-14+022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dBnXGyw1-ug/U4YhKWmoHjI/AAAAAAAAAOI/pvqZYRNiuPM/s1600/FOOD+FINDS+2014+and+roses+and+dogwood+blooms+after+rain+5-13-14+022.JPG" height="236" width="320" /></a></div>
</strong></span><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span></b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">’m
also impressed with Lean Cuisine’s Honestly Good entrees, which cost a little
more, but are generous in size, low in calories, and high on flavor and
imagination. This one is my personal favorite. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> VEGETABLES </span></b></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">POMADORA SAN MARZANO
TOMATOES</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Mb0YryoUM4I/U4UerwO5vOI/AAAAAAAAAM0/8Rwuc4vuF48/s1600/San+Marzano+tomatoes+for+Food+Finds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Mb0YryoUM4I/U4UerwO5vOI/AAAAAAAAAM0/8Rwuc4vuF48/s1600/San+Marzano+tomatoes+for+Food+Finds.jpg" height="320" width="230" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Watch
any of the various TV chef’s shows, or read a food magazine or two, and you
will soon realize that San Marzano canned tomatoes are their tomato of choice,
and with good reason. Stacked up against other brands you’ll find these Italian
plum tomatoes to be far more flavorful, and has far fewer seeds. Domestic
brands are fine for everyday cooking, but when I invest in all sorts of
ingredients for special dishes, it just makes sense to grab a can or two of San
Marzanos. They’re available in most supermarkets. This particular brand can be
found at Fresh Market.</span><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span></b><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">TUSCAN GARDEN ALL
NATURAL ARTICHOKE SALAD<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span></a><br /></div>
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jXxnZlfaao8/U4UGdF-z2LI/AAAAAAAAAKU/2f1FBS0_Rd8/s1600/FOOD+FIND+2014+Marinated+antipasto+photo+good+shot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jXxnZlfaao8/U4UGdF-z2LI/AAAAAAAAAKU/2f1FBS0_Rd8/s1600/FOOD+FIND+2014+Marinated+antipasto+photo+good+shot.jpg" height="320" width="187" /></span></a><br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I
discovered this wonderful and inexpensive antipasto salad at Aldi’s last
Thanksgiving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Beautiful to look at,
extremely flavorful, it’s chilled and straight out of the jar, as an accent in
a fresh salad, or set on top of a shard (see “Breads”) or cracker (my favorite
combination). I generally pour the chilled contents into a clear bowl for a
pretty presentation, and set it beside the shards, with a pint-sized fork, and
allow party-goers to pick and choose the combinations that please them. Aldi’s
also sells Tuscan Garden artichoke hearts, same thing, minus the rest of the
medley.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I’m a
big fan of Tuscan Garden All Natural Artichoke salad and quartered artichoke
hearts. I use various bits of the salad on my shards (see “bread”), and both to
punch up a salad. So good, and inexpensive. Both are available at Aldi’s.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">BABY YUKON GOLD POTATOES<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></b><br />
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BUDymo3XY0I/U4UG-LDbMtI/AAAAAAAAAKc/-SSz1liY6MI/s1600/BABY+GOLD+POTATOES.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BUDymo3XY0I/U4UG-LDbMtI/AAAAAAAAAKc/-SSz1liY6MI/s1600/BABY+GOLD+POTATOES.jpg" height="221" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">You’ve
probably had, tried and enjoyed regular Yukon gold potatoes, but if you haven’t
tried the pint-sized version, you’re in for a treat. Great roasted along with
your favorite oven-roasted cut of beef or chicken, they’re insanely good sliced
in half, laid out in a single layer (sliced side up) on a cookie sheet, brushed
with or better yet dipped in a shallow bowl of extra virgin olive oil, lightly dusted
with kosher salt and a bit of pepper, and baked in a 400-degree oven for 45
minutes to an hour, turning once, until crispy on the outside, soft on the
inside, and, what else but, golden.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">VINEGAR</span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">POMPEIAN WINE VINEGAR</b> </span></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KPCPeHIlGV0/U4XjaFVruNI/AAAAAAAAANQ/_JXoIEUh-ic/s1600/pOMPEIAN+POMEGRANATE+VINEGAR+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KPCPeHIlGV0/U4XjaFVruNI/AAAAAAAAANQ/_JXoIEUh-ic/s1600/pOMPEIAN+POMEGRANATE+VINEGAR+copy.jpg" height="320" width="157" /></span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">It was one of those happy
mistakes. I thought I was buying Pompeian’s regular red wine vinegar, (which
sat next to it on the shelf). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rather
than take it back to the store, I decided to give this newfangled vinegar a
try. It’s been my vinegar of choice for most of my dinner salads ever since.
It’s not that you can taste the pomegranate – it’s just that it adds that
something extra that makes everything taste better. I add a splash of it to
some version of the following mix (Lettuce, tomato, cucumber, celery, carrots,
olives, radishes, red onion, marinated artichokes, baby red, yellow or orange
peppers, pepperoncini or sweet </span><span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>piquanté </span><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">peppadew marinated peppers</span><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Peppadew.jpg"><span style="color: #0000cc; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-no-proof: yes; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"></span></a></span><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">, hearts of palm, green or <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>red onions, drizzle a bit of extra virgin
olive oil over the whole thing,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>mix
lightly, sprinkle with a shake each of garlic powder, celery salt, salt,
pepper, basil, oregano and dill, and toss again. Soooo good.</span></span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">
<strong>SPI</strong></span><strong>CES</strong></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">MORTON & BASSETT COURSE GROUND BLACK PEPPER<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></strong></div>
<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span></strong><br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NBVF8qYZDlk/U4UHWTyrB-I/AAAAAAAAAKk/RpDamrRA2bw/s1600/Ellie+and+Food+Find+photos+week+of+4-14-14+096.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NBVF8qYZDlk/U4UHWTyrB-I/AAAAAAAAAKk/RpDamrRA2bw/s1600/Ellie+and+Food+Find+photos+week+of+4-14-14+096.JPG" height="320" width="190" /></span></a><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I
know, I know, freshly ground pepper is the pepper of choice. All of the chefs
swear by it, and when have you ever been a restaurant, where the waiter comes
to the table and asks if you’d like a little pepper on your whatever, and then
sprinkles it on? So you have to trust me on this. Morton & Bassett’s
bottled course ground black pepper is the phenomenal. I came across it, as I do
so many of my favorite things, on my supermarket’s “Bent and Dent” shelf, where
overstocked, almost out of date, bent, dented, torn or discontinued items are
laid to rest. I’ve been buying it ever since – which is a splurge. It recently
went on sale, and I bought two jars as well as two other of the company’s line
of seasonings and spices. I haven’t tried them yet, so I’ll have to report back
next year, but when it comes to pepper that zings – this fragrant pepper far
exceeds McCormick’s, Spice Island’s, and other brands’ course ground black
pepper that I’ve tried over the years.<span style="color: #333333; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">LE SAUNIER DE CAMARGUE FLEUR DE
SEL</b> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pWrzM2iNsMk/U4XrWXO3nVI/AAAAAAAAANs/60AdFBqED68/s1600/Fleur+de+Salt+for+Food+Finds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pWrzM2iNsMk/U4XrWXO3nVI/AAAAAAAAANs/60AdFBqED68/s1600/Fleur+de+Salt+for+Food+Finds.jpg" height="320" width="295" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pWrzM2iNsMk/U4XrWXO3nVI/AAAAAAAAANs/60AdFBqED68/s1600/Fleur+de+Salt+for+Food+Finds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Some years ago the Cooking Channel ran a Canadian-produced series called <em>French Food at Home. </em>It's star, a pert young woman by </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">the name of Laura Colder, was a big fan of this sea salt, much as California chef Michael Chiarello uses Gray salt to season just about everything. Over the years I looked for Fleur de
Sel, but it never turned up in my local market or at Penzey’s spice emporium. Then, one magical day, I came across it in
a Philadelphia co-op, its charming packaging called to me. Back home, I took it
out for a test drive, and quickly found that it was not designed to be table
salt. Hand-raked and harvested in France, it is far more complex; which is to
say that you only need a bit of this sea salt to get your point across. But oh,
what a lovely point!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">YEAST<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">PLATINUM</b> </span><br />
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9T8GAlQTuCU/U4UIV2NvRyI/AAAAAAAAAK4/Gs9ZKrU7iTA/s1600/Ellie+and+Food+Find+photos+week+of+4-14-14+076.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9T8GAlQTuCU/U4UIV2NvRyI/AAAAAAAAAK4/Gs9ZKrU7iTA/s1600/Ellie+and+Food+Find+photos+week+of+4-14-14+076.JPG" height="143" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I never heard of Platinum yeast until someone
raved about it on her baking blog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
was easy enough to find at my local market, and produced the most delicious
cinnamon buns!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">MEATS<o:p></o:p></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<strong>SPECIALLY PINOT GRIGIO AND CHIANTI RED WINE SALAMI<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong></span></span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></strong><br />
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DrspTwG32wI/U4UJEVaN0XI/AAAAAAAAALA/VBwntS-BlZU/s1600/food+finds+and+cHALLAH+011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DrspTwG32wI/U4UJEVaN0XI/AAAAAAAAALA/VBwntS-BlZU/s1600/food+finds+and+cHALLAH+011.JPG" height="320" width="177" /></span></a><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DrspTwG32wI/U4UJEVaN0XI/AAAAAAAAALA/VBwntS-BlZU/s1600/food+finds+and+cHALLAH+011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span></a><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DrspTwG32wI/U4UJEVaN0XI/AAAAAAAAALA/VBwntS-BlZU/s1600/food+finds+and+cHALLAH+011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<br />
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</span></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Prior
to finding these two salamis at Aldi’s, I was buying a far pricier Italian
salami at my local supermarket. It was wrapped in paper, and preserved in a
cloth wrap of sorts, but the actual salami was only slightly better than the
Aldi’s brand. Great sliced as a noon-day snack or before-dinner hors dourvres,
both the pinot grigio and chianti red wine versions are wonderful on the shards
I mentioned in the bread section, topped with a bit of cheese and a marinated
artichoke heart it is to die for. It also makes for a great sandwich when
partnered with a bit of good mustard and fresh bread.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">WRIGHT NATURALLY HICKORY
SMOKED BACON<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WOvyIo1WZR0/U4UJ65kSqNI/AAAAAAAAALU/ME-v_tGMI-c/s1600/wrigjt+bacon+cu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WOvyIo1WZR0/U4UJ65kSqNI/AAAAAAAAALU/ME-v_tGMI-c/s1600/wrigjt+bacon+cu.jpg" height="254" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Wright Bacon is a household word in many Southern households.
Thickly sliced, it is the perfect accompaniment to fresh eggs and strong
coffee, tucked into a sandwich or baked with a bit of real maple syrup and
served as an hors d’oeurvre. It’ll cost you, but every now and again it goes on
sale, and freezes well. So stock up, and enjoy!<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">CORKY’S PORK TENDERLOIN<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZkXfqFqhE4s/U4ULqrRt9QI/AAAAAAAAALc/qhDZJuEozwE/s1600/Corky's+pork+tenderloin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZkXfqFqhE4s/U4ULqrRt9QI/AAAAAAAAALc/qhDZJuEozwE/s1600/Corky's+pork+tenderloin.jpg" height="247" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Corky’s
Barbecue Restaurants are known throughout the mid-south for their succulent
barbecue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their frozen products (and
mail-order packs) have been gracing the area’s markets for years. But recently
they ventured into the fresh pork category.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I happened to be in the market the morning they marked down packages of
near due-date, pre-seasoned pork tenderloin (complete with packets of Corky’s
famous barbecue sauce). The markdown price was so reasonable I bought three
packages, gave one to a friend, put one in the freezer and slow-cooked the
third that very day. Both methods produced equally tasty results. With enough
leftovers for at least three meals, I looked for a recipe that would use the
leftovers in a tasty and freezer-friendly way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I will share the resulting recipe, which I found on the Internet and
tweaked, at the end of this post.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">JIMMY DEAN DELIGHTS FULLYCOOKED
APPLEWOOD SMOKE CHICKEN SAUSAGE PATTIES</span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Thanks
to Mike in Memphis for this find. At just 120 calories per serving (2 patties),
these sizable patties make for ‘a quick, satisfying treat,” with a ‘good smoky
flavor.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the price? “…about $5.49
for a package of 8.”<span style="color: #333333; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <span lang="EN">Also available in Maple and
Brown Sugar. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">FISH</b> <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">DUCKTRAP SIGNATURE STYLE
KENDALL BROOK SMOKED ATLANTIC SALMON</b></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QVFuI61_FDY/U4XlngioE0I/AAAAAAAAANc/LC9bAAtF-Nk/s1600/smoked+atlantic+salmon+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QVFuI61_FDY/U4XlngioE0I/AAAAAAAAANc/LC9bAAtF-Nk/s1600/smoked+atlantic+salmon+1.jpg" height="320" width="271" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Growing
up in Philadelphia, I took my lox for granted. Every Jewish-style deli sliced
the salmon from the fish to order. No frozen slices lined up on wax paper, and
certainly no pre-packaged stuff. Today there are still stores that cut-to-order
(certain Fareway and Whole Foods markets), but packaging techniques have
changed, and Ducktrap’s Kendall Brook smoked salmon as as close (or better)than
its hand-sliced cousin. Made from fresh salmon, trimmed by hand with the brown
meat and fat removed, it comes in traditional (my favorite), or with fresh
black pepper and garlic.Serve
it on a fresh bagel with real cream cheese (none of that whipped stuff), a bit
of red onion, and maybe a slice of cucumber or tomato, and you are instantly
transported to a far better place., or go gourmet, with a lemon wedge and
capers, incorporated into a dip, spread, or bilinis, frittatas, scrambled or
deviled eggs, An added plus: This salmon freezes well, so if you catch a sale,
buy one for now, and a second, for later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">BEVERAGES <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">CANADA DRY 10</b></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aTyMSEFdhIY/U4Tv2JECAqI/AAAAAAAAAFo/NPcMUxaeDrA/s1600/FOOD+FINDS+2014+and+roses+and+dogwood+blooms+after+rain+5-13-14+016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aTyMSEFdhIY/U4Tv2JECAqI/AAAAAAAAAFo/NPcMUxaeDrA/s1600/FOOD+FINDS+2014+and+roses+and+dogwood+blooms+after+rain+5-13-14+016.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></a><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I love
Ginger Ale, but over the years I had yet to find a diet version that tasted like
the real thing. Enter Canada Dry 10 – ten little calories, big ginger ale
taste. They say that sales of carbonated beverages in general are going down,
which<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>may have been the impetus for
Canada Dry to work harder at perfecting a diet version. I’ve tried a few of
their other ‘10’ drinks, but this one is far and away the winner in my frig. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">GOYA ESPRESSO COFFEE</span></b></span><br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QLd1OLd0PFU/U4TwWG2lF0I/AAAAAAAAAFw/jcWtsWV6LK8/s1600/CAFE+GOYA+ESPRESSO.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QLd1OLd0PFU/U4TwWG2lF0I/AAAAAAAAAFw/jcWtsWV6LK8/s1600/CAFE+GOYA+ESPRESSO.jpg" height="320" width="214" /></span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">I
found this "Find" on a shelf in the Bent and Dent section. I’m not much of an
espresso drinker, but the price was right, and I’m up for trying just about
anything in the coffee family (although I have to say that a similar find in
the same section – one of my favorite brand’s seasonal blends, was cough cough,
awful). Café Goya turned out to be, as expected, a bit too dark for my pallet.
I decided to mix it with an equal scoop of Duncan Donuts Decaf, which I’d been
drinking at night. The resulting combo produced a near-perfect cup of rich,
smooth and deep-bodied cup of coffee. I’ve been blending the two ever since.</span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">HILAND’S ORIGINAL ALMOND MILK</span></b> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">An Oklahoma reader sent along two
totally different beverage “Finds”. With them, this note: “I have been having
tummy trouble for a long time and recently gave up milk to see if that helped
.The problem is, I have a bowl of cereal almost every morning and I don't enjoy
it without milk. My doctor last week mentioned that I should try Almond milk. I
recently attempted Coconut milk and that was an epic fail, (big yuck) so I
hesitated. But Hiland's original almond milk is very good. In fact, after a
week, I can't tell the difference between it, and my skim I had been drinking.
I am not buying the one that is low calorie because if I give up milk, I'm not
ready to give up taste. So mine has 60 calories per 8 oz. (I don't use that
much over the cereal.)”<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">ALAMOS WINES </span></span></span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Her second sip tip came in the form of this
Argentinian wine. “They have a good Cab and a Merlot that we like. Very
inexpensive, particularly if you go ahead and buy a case and get a 10%
discount. We served it to friends and when they heard how affordable, they are
buying it as well.” Their website notes that Wine Spectator and Wine &
Spirits magazines are also quite fond of their Malbec, which comes in at somewhere
between eighteen and twenty dollars.<o:p></o:p></span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;">SEAGRAM’S ESCAPES
FROZEN FLAVORS POUCHES – SANGRIA <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wWKh3zro0E0/U4UOgDSFdQI/AAAAAAAAAL8/2ejLpWHT7Pk/s1600/FOOD+FIND+2014+Marinated+antipasto+photo+015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wWKh3zro0E0/U4UOgDSFdQI/AAAAAAAAAL8/2ejLpWHT7Pk/s1600/FOOD+FIND+2014+Marinated+antipasto+photo+015.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></span></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-themecolor: text1;"></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-themecolor: text1;"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-themecolor: text1;"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-themecolor: text1;">I had seen the
Seagram’s pouches, along with other brands, for a while, and finally let my curiosity
get the best of me. I don’t drink much alcohol, not sure why, I just don’t. But
the whole idea of it intrigued me, There </span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-themecolor: text1;">were flavors ranging from frozen
strawberry daiquiri to Frozen Margarita, </span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">Piña</span><b><span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"> </span></b><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-themecolor: text1;">colada, I chose Sangria, because I have enjoyed the
fruity wine coolers over the years, and at just under two dollars, it was an
affordable taste test. The drinks have 5% alcohol, and so for the first time in
3,000 years I was carded at the checkout counter! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All you do is put the pouch in the freezer for
six-to-eight hours, take out, tear it open and drink straight from the pouch,
or pour into a glass with a straw (my option). It was very tasty – sweet, but
not too sweet, (the flavors of red wine, apple and peach mixing and mingling) and
all 5% of that alcohol (beer) got to me (or was it brain freeze?). Pop a few in
the freezer, and when friends come calling, and you’ve got a ready-made cool
way to beat the heat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
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</span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">DESSERTS</b></span></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">CAKES</span></span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ENTENMANN’S CAKES</b></span></span></div>
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-U7xJlfqU520/U4T0Dl4KxeI/AAAAAAAAAGY/1eJE1GD-K-w/s1600/Entenmann's+cinnamon+swirl+buns.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-U7xJlfqU520/U4T0Dl4KxeI/AAAAAAAAAGY/1eJE1GD-K-w/s1600/Entenmann's+cinnamon+swirl+buns.jpg" height="186" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
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<br /></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Back
in LA, Howard longs for Entenmann’s cakes―with no exception: No cheese, please.
That leaves a full line of baked goods: buns and puffs, donuts and crumb cakes,
Danish, Twists, Lite Bites and loafs, muffins and cookies, chocolate, banana,
carrot and lemon cakes, the list goes on and on. Chances are at least some of
them are available at a supermarket near you.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><strong>COOKIES</strong></span><br />
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COOKIE</b></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4tBB_7Dt2jU/U4TxVXpuXJI/AAAAAAAAAGA/GotmcIjvJlo/s1600/Ellie+and+Food+Find+salami+020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4tBB_7Dt2jU/U4TxVXpuXJI/AAAAAAAAAGA/GotmcIjvJlo/s1600/Ellie+and+Food+Find+salami+020.JPG" height="320" width="208" /></span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">While
I ask for "Finds" that are available on at least a regional level, Andi and Clay
were so enthusiastic about these preservative-free, melt-in-your-mouth
made-with-100% real butter-butter cookies that their Find begged to be an
exception to the rule. This mom and pop bakery bakes their cookies in small
batches with real butter, “No Crisco allowed” says owner Maurice Hill. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bakery is named after his seven year old niece,
who lost her life to Leukemia in 1997. Maurice and with Pamela say it’s their
way of keeping the little girl’s memory alive. Live in Memphis? Stop by their
bakery, where they bake more than a dozen different types of cookies, including
their prize butter cookies, which are available at area Kroger stores. For more
information, head for their</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">website.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BR-UCyOHvnM/U4TziDI6wgI/AAAAAAAAAGQ/-O1vuufWHYY/s1600/LAUNDRY+ROOM+CLOSET+&+ELLIE+AND+ME+045.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BR-UCyOHvnM/U4TziDI6wgI/AAAAAAAAAGQ/-O1vuufWHYY/s1600/LAUNDRY+ROOM+CLOSET+&+ELLIE+AND+ME+045.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">TRADER JOE’S TRIPLE GINGER
SNAPS<o:p></o:p></b> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Never if my wildest dreams would I have thought
that ginger snaps would be the Number One grocery chain’s number one best
seller – but it’s true. A Florida reader raved about their gingery goodness,
but it wasn’t until I went on their website that I found out how many people
agree with her. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">NUTS and other SNACKS</b></span></span><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">NUTCRACKER SALTED MIXED NUTS</span></b></div>
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n-OyRYabkQ8/U4UNJeRl9FI/AAAAAAAAALw/V38HFNN0G_Y/s1600/NUTCRACKER+MIXED+NUTS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n-OyRYabkQ8/U4UNJeRl9FI/AAAAAAAAALw/V38HFNN0G_Y/s1600/NUTCRACKER+MIXED+NUTS.jpg" height="256" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">The
price of nuts went nuts this past year; bad news for those of us who love them.
Aldi’s is known for having a great selection of moderately priced, high quality
unsalted nuts, but they also sell an eight-ounce tin of salted mixed nuts that
comes in at the bargain-basement price of just $2.29 a tin. Unlike other
bargain brands, these nuts are a good size, crunchy, salty and absolutely habit
forming.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">NICE! HIKER’S MIX<o:p></o:p></b> </span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0EaTkLhoT2I/U4T3_NhROeI/AAAAAAAAAHU/izgRj7fD0SQ/s1600/NICE+HIKER'S+TRAIL+MIX.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0EaTkLhoT2I/U4T3_NhROeI/AAAAAAAAAHU/izgRj7fD0SQ/s1600/NICE+HIKER'S+TRAIL+MIX.jpg" height="282" width="320" /></span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Walgreen’s
Nice line<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>covers the gamut, from
soup to nuts and beyond. Their Hiker’s mix is a tasty blend of raisins and a
variety of nuts, without the extra sweetness of those delicious but calorie-laden chocolate-coated candies.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">FOOD SHOULD TASTE GOOD BLUE
CORN TORTILLA CHIPS <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Jackie
K says she found these multi grain, all natural chips at Wal-Mart on the popcorn
aisle. While the company recommends pairing them with red pepper hummus, guacamole
and bruschetta, Jackie says they’re delicious by themselves. “They have some
interesting ingredients” she says, among them “blue corn, brown rice, flax,
sesame and sunflower seeds, and quinoa. They’re also certified kosher, vegan and
gluten-free. No artificial anything. “They have 140 calories per serving, so
you can’t go crazy, but they’re very tasty!” The company </span><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
CANDY<br />
GRAPEFRUIT GUMMY SLICES<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YB4BmXH0WU4/U4T0sa6FzRI/AAAAAAAAAGg/UbUfj0UBfN8/s1600/GRAPEFRUIT+GUMMIE'S+-+good+shot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YB4BmXH0WU4/U4T0sa6FzRI/AAAAAAAAAGg/UbUfj0UBfN8/s1600/GRAPEFRUIT+GUMMIE'S+-+good+shot.jpg" height="293" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Love
grapefruit? You’ll get hooked on these gummy-like grapefruit slices. Lightly
dusted in sugar, they’re not too sweet. not too chewy, and much too delicious
to resist. Available at Fresh Market. </span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">CHOCOLATE<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">KREMA NUT COMPANY’S CHOCOLATE
COVERED ALMONDS, CARAMELS, AND CASHEWS</b></span></span></div>
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Last
Christmas my friend Missy gifted me with a generous assortment of chocolate
covered almonds and caramels highlighted by an enviable supply of large, salty
cashew nuts from Krema Nut Company. She said that while she’s not generally a
sweet eater, she found herself drawn to them at a family dinner. She’s been a
fan ever since; and thanks to her generosity, I am as well. </span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">CHOCEUR RAISIN & NUT
BAR<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5cJ9QtQA0ks/U4UCHmlODVI/AAAAAAAAAJg/n83QnNGX2ak/s1600/FOOD+FINDS+Choceur+raisin+and+nut+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5cJ9QtQA0ks/U4UCHmlODVI/AAAAAAAAAJg/n83QnNGX2ak/s1600/FOOD+FINDS+Choceur+raisin+and+nut+1.jpg" height="134" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0_zAzBIteGk/U4UBpveN5NI/AAAAAAAAAJY/lJvLudhokEo/s1600/Food+Finds+choceur+raisn+&+nut+005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0_zAzBIteGk/U4UBpveN5NI/AAAAAAAAAJY/lJvLudhokEo/s1600/Food+Finds+choceur+raisn+&+nut+005.JPG" height="166" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Last
year I introduced you to Choceur’s Milk and Cream chocolate bars. This year,
two more outstanding varieties from this outstanding chocolatier. The first,
Choceur’s raisin and nut bar, where hazelnuts and raisins abound. I broke off a
bit to show you how densely populated they really are. You won’t find a better
chocolate at any price, let alone $1.99 for 7.05 ounces.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">CHOCEUR WHITE CHOCOLATE<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E8KQmAvYBEM/U4T2ZtxrUsI/AAAAAAAAAG4/2IV8-s67BVo/s1600/CHOCEUR+WHITE+CHOCOLATE+OPEN+BOX.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E8KQmAvYBEM/U4T2ZtxrUsI/AAAAAAAAAG4/2IV8-s67BVo/s1600/CHOCEUR+WHITE+CHOCOLATE+OPEN+BOX.jpg" height="115" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Also
on my ‘You've gotta try’ this list – Choceur’s white chocolate. Break off a ‘brick’ or two
or three and you have a creamy, intensely rich experience. Again, at $1.99,
It’s both affordable and indulgent.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">And
that’s it for this year. Thanks again to those who sent in your favorites. And
a special thanks to all of you who are so faithful to this this blog. Now, as
promised, is my recipe for those shards (See “BREAD”.) Inspired by a flat bread
recipe from the More From Ace Bakery cookbook, these crispy bites look
beautiful in a breadbasket, popping out of a tall-glass, or laid across a
serving tray, and topped with everything from cheese to prosciutto, the Tuscan
Garden salad mentioned earlier, or a your favorite spread. Replace the salt
with freshly grated Parmesan, and you’ve got another great bunch of crunch.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Now here's that recipe I promised you - Enjoy!</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> SHARDS<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Preheat
oven to 400 degrees. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Slice
off both sides of the crust, leaving only the top and bottom crust. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Carefully
slice 1/8-to ¼ inch thick slices, lengthwise through a down the side of the
bread.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Brush
with olive oil and lightly sprinkle with either salt or Parmesan cheese.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Bake
just below the broiling position (second rack) in the oven for between ten and
fifteen minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Top
with antipasto-type marinated vegetables (see <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">TUSCAN GARDEN ARTICHOKE SALAD</b> under “VEGETABLES”), thin slices
Italian cold cuts, a favorite cheese, or eat them all by their lonesome. When I take them to a party I generally bring along the Artichoke Salad in a pretty see-through serving bowl and place it, along with a fork, next to the shards. People can then assemble them as they wish.</span></div>
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Once
made, stored in a Ziploc bag, these tasty treats will stay nice and crispy for
days. – if they hang around that long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6NPOyfpyeoQ/U4URKhzAHEI/AAAAAAAAAMk/tKqvjVfuo_I/s1600/shards+with+salami+and+swiss.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6NPOyfpyeoQ/U4URKhzAHEI/AAAAAAAAAMk/tKqvjVfuo_I/s1600/shards+with+salami+and+swiss.jpg" height="283" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">The other
day</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">
a friend sent me an article about Glenn Campbell, the seventy-eight-year-old
Grammy</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">-</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">winning
country artist who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2011. The piece noted
that Campbell had been admitted to an Alzheimer’s care facility earlier in the
week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">As it happened, I had just finished
revisiting <em>Away From Her</em>, a 2009 film that dealt with the disease. I generally
shy away from movies laced with inevitable sadness, but ever since I saw <em>Dr.
Zhivago</em> I’ve been a Julie Christie fan, and Christie’s character</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">—</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Fiona Andersson</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">—</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> was at the very heart of the story.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">I suppose the thing that impressed me
the most about this film was the way that everyone involved treated the material,
delivering a stunningly real, quietly moving portrait of a couple facing the
ups and ultimate downs of this heart-wrenching disease. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><em>I think I may be
beginning to disappear.</em></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">The film follows Fiona
and Grant―her college professor husband </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">(Gordon Pinsent),</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> over a three-year period, as they deal with the slow
but steady progression of Fiona’s illness. Along the way we learn that their marriage
was </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">nearly
derailed some twenty-years before when Grant strayed into the arms of one of
his students. Saved by a move across country to a rustic lakeside retreat, they
have, over the years, fallen into an easy rhythm that belies any hint of
residual anger</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> on Fiona’s part.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Writer/director Sarah Pollen moves back and forth
between the past and present, a device that could easily be confusing, but in
her capable hands, allows us to follow along, often learning the whys and
wherefores in flashbacks and voiceovers. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Most of the action in the first half of the film
takes place in the <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Andersson’s cozy
southwest Ontario kitchen, where, on a January night in 2003, we watch as Grant
finishes washing and drying the dishes, handing them off to Fiona, who puts
them away as she has done thousands of times before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is only when she places a frying pan in
the freezer that we realize that something is amiss.</span> <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Over the next year we witness small but steady
hints of things to come. A dinner with friends begins well, but ends poorly, when
Fiona struggles with words that rolled off her tongue only months before.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><strong><em>Would anyone like some more...some more...ween?</em> (She pauses, and tries again) <em>Wane?</em></strong></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">By the time summer settles in there have been
some accommodations. Post-it notes are everywhere, stuck to kitchen cabinet cabinets
and drawers (“cutlery, dishtowels, knives”) in ready anticipation. It is a step
Grant finds counterproductive. It is, for him, too much, too soon.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><em>If I look
away, I forget what yellow looks like.<o:p></o:p></em></span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">By November Fiona is getting lost along familiar trails
and byways, and realizes that―as she says―she is slowly disappearing. But while
she appears to accept her fate, reading up on the subject and sorting through
brochures filled with various long-term care options, Grant isn’t having any of
it. And so there is some irony in the fact it is Fiona who, two years after the
frying pan episode, finds the words her husband does not want to hear. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<em><strong><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">We are at that stage, Grant</span></strong><strong><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">.</span></strong><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are at that stage.</span></b></em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Later, as Grant uneasily prepares to check-out a nearby
long-term facility called Meadowlake, Fiona does her best to set his mind at
ease. “You’re not making this decision alone,” she tells him with a calm
resolve. “I’ve already made up my mind.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">As such homes go, Meadowlake is one of the best: a
high-end, brand-new campus with large, tastefully appointed private rooms,
a variety of dining and game room areas, and a scenic view. If you have to be
institutionalized, this is about as good as it gets. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">But, after a tour of the building's first floor accommodations,
reality sets in when the home’s supervisor takes Grant to the extended care
wing: a lock-down area where end-stage patients listlessly live out their days.
The thought of Fiona living among― let alone<em> being</em> <em>one </em>of these vacant-eyed,
residents is more than he can bare.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">The following morning he expresses his concerns
to Fiona, who is put off by the fact that her husband didn’t finalize plans for
her admission while he was there. “I don’t think I like the place,” says he, in
a last ditch effort to stave off the inevitable.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">“</span></b><strong><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">I don’t think we should
be looking for something we like here Grant” she replies, adding, “I don’t
think we’ll ever find that. I think all we can aspire to in this situation is a
little bit of grace</span></strong><strong><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">.” </span></strong><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">As they make their way from Meadowlake’s parking
lot to the main building, we realize that though Fiona has lost much of her
memory and sense of time, some things best forgotten, remain clearly sketched
in her mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><em>There are things that I wish would go away but
won’t. Things we don’t talk about</em>.</span></strong><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">She is, of course, referring to Grant’s
infidelity, and a conversation that should have taken place years before is now
reduced to the time it takes to walk from their car to the Admission’s office.
Later, Grant will wonder if his wife has feigned her memory loss in order to
punish him for past sins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Such thoughts, rational or not, are explored
throughout the film, as are a whole raft of concerns that go into m</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">aking some of
life’s toughest decisions. And while it is clearly Grant and Fiona’s story, the
lives of other residents and caregivers mix and mingle with theirs, creating a rich
tapestry of circumstances and emotions. For as Grant explains after being found
in an uncomfortable situation, “It’s complicated.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">How he and those around him react to a series
of unexpected, sometimes hopeful, often unsettling twists and turns makes for a
thought-provoking film. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><em>They get these attachments.</em></span></strong><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Attachments? What do you mean, "attachments?" Well,
rather than going into one of the novie's major plot lines, I will refer you to an
article in the November 13, 2007 edition of<em> USA Today</em>, where it was reported
that then newly-retired United States Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor
was</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">—</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">according to her oldest son</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">—</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">dealing
with a similar situation, one that is, apparently, more
common than you might think. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Adapted from <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><em>The
Bear Came Over the Mountain</em></span> (a short story by Alice Monro), Sarah Polley‘s
screenplay received an Oscar nomination, as did Christie for her beautifully understated
performance. But nominations aside, Pinsent also brought a real humanity to his role, while Olympia
Dukakis added a much-needed counterpoint, as the wife of another Meadowlake resident.
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">While I can’t say that you’ll enjoy this film, or
find it entertaining, I <em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">can</span></em> say that you will appreciate the
way it thoughtfully explores not only the hearts and minds of those who leave, but
those who are left behind. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">And for those who are dealing with or have dealt
with such things, there is some comfort in seeing things through Fiona’s eyes. “Sometimes
there’s something delicious in oblivion” she says, offering a bit of solace and peace.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Jainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02553591299806607498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215928590640748611.post-15936642534310306352014-02-03T14:33:00.000-06:002014-04-02T16:35:01.320-05:00KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span></o:p><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #454e55; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Black humor is tough to
pull off, and over the years, there have been far more misses than hits. Kind
Hearts and Coronets is an oldie but goodie about a badie, done with such style
and good humor, you’ll forget that the lead character is a<span style="color: black;">—</span> dare I say, serial killer.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><span style="color: #454e55; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
<span style="color: #454e55; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The screen adaptation of
the 1907 novel <i>The Autobiography of a Criminal</i> borrowed its name from Tennyson’s
<i>Lady Clara Vere de Vere</i>, specifically the verse that reads, "<i>Kind
hearts are more than coronets, and simple faith than Norman Blood."</i> It
is, to my mind, an odd choice, in that it requires some pondering to understand
why it was chosen. Having pondered, I believe it speaks to the great and unfair
divide between the haves and have-nots, and, in this case, perceived right
above might.</span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #454e55; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And then again, maybe
not.<o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #454e55; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Thankfully, the title is
the only thing about this Edwardian tale that requires the viewer to do
anything more than sit back and enjoy the show. And what a show it is! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #454e55; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Our story begins in a
prison cell, where, on the night before he is to be hanged, Louis Mazzini, the
tenth Duke of Chalfont, is finishing up his memoirs; meticulously detailing the
way he went about systematically murdering eight members of the
aristocratically—endowed D’Ascoyne <u>family </u>in order to avenge perceived
wrongs and inherit a title he sees as his birthright. It is a tale of revenge,
unrequited love and ambition: a Molotov cocktail with a Hitchcockian ending
that is well worth the wait. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #454e55; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Released in 1949, and
digitally restored in 2011, this British import is clever, engaging and
artfully played by both Dennis Price, as the ambitious perpetrator and his late
father, and the amazing Sir Alec Guiness, who takes on the roles of all eight doomed
D’Ascoynes.</span> </div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #454e55; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The film’s back story is
key to its high-brow title. It seems that years before, Louis’ mother—a woman
of high pedigree, married beneath her, a decision that led her haughty D’Ascoynes
family to disown her. It was a happy but short-lived union, that came to an end
when the new father died of a heart attack moments after seeing his son for
the first time. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #454e55; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But life goes on. Years
pass, and young Louis is now a young man. Anxious to give her son a leg up in
the world, the widow Mazzini writes to her banker cousin Ascoine D’Ascoynes, asking if
he might find a place for her son in his organization. Not surprisingly, her letter
goes unanswered, leaving Louis to take on a menial job as a draper’s assistant.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #454e55; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Things come to a head
when his mother’s dying wish to be interred in the family vault is denied and the
love of his life</span><span style="color: #454e55; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">—</span><span style="color: #454e55; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> the beautiful but class-conscious Silbella (Valerie Hobson)
rebuffs him, that Louis sets out on a calculating path of revenge from which
there is no return.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #454e55; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And so it is literally
onward and upward, as the young man methodically and creatively eliminates
every member of the D’Ascoynes family standing between him and dukedom.</span> </div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #454e55; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">While it may seem
ludicrous to say that a film about a serial killer is fun, in this case, it is
absolutely true. Step by step, job by job, and heir by heir Price’s
vindictively charming villain takes us through the murder and mayhem that
ultimately led his undoing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #454e55; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I adore this little movie;
black and white and dead all over, it is extremely entertaining, and I predict
that, like the ill-fated D’Ascoynes, you too will get a bang, kick, shot and
charge out of the would-be-duke’s high flying, earth shaking, wave-making,
belly-aching antics. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Love your humor dark? I suggest you finish off the night with a visit to
youtube.com, where you can catch Elaine Stritch’s killer rendition of
Rogers and Hart's <em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";">To
Keep My Love Alive</span></em>. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"></span> </div>
<div style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><em>Kind Hearts and Coronets</em> and <em>To Keep My Love Alive</em>: two insanely entertaining bits of merriment that are<span style="color: #454e55;">—forgive me one last pun</span><span style="color: #454e55;">—</span> to die for. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div style="line-height: 115%;">
<em> </em>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
</span> </span><br />Jainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02553591299806607498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215928590640748611.post-12958266217508773172013-12-08T19:22:00.000-06:002013-12-09T09:52:43.777-06:00LILI<span style="font-family: "Century","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;"></span><span style="font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;"><o:p>
</o:p></span><br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">With Christmas on the horizon, I thought
I’d offer up a film that makes the season bright. While not a holiday movie per
say, it’s easy on the eyes, and a joy to watch.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">I was just a small child when I first saw <i>Lili</i>,
a warm and cozy film starring a very young and lovely French ballerina named
Leslie Caron. With a dancer’s body and pixie-like look, she had many of the
same physical qualities American audiences had grown to love in Audrey Hepburn.
<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">Caron had made <i>An American in Paris</i>,
and would go on to make several more films in the next few years, the most
notable of which was M-G-M's <i>GiGi</i>. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<o:p> </o:p><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">Adopted for the screen by Helen Deutsch (<i>National
Velvet</i>, <i>I’ll Cry Tomorrow</i></span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">) from a short story by Paul Gallico, and filmed
in </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">glorious <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Technicolor</i></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">—</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">a major selling point in 1953, <i>Lili </i>was
and still is a beautiful statement in simplicity: with a modest pastel pallet,
simplistic Golden Book-like sets and costumes, and a plot to match.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">It’s</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;"> </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">the story of a French teenager whose father has passed away, leaving
her with no living relatives. What she <i>does</i> have, is the name and
address of his old and trusted friend: a baker who had assured him that he
would take Lili in, should the need arise.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">But when her father dies, Lili’s letters
to his friend go unanswered. Not knowing what else to do, she packs a small
suitcase and sets out to find him, only to discover that he too has passed
away.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">Alone in a strange town, and with no money
to keep her going, Lili enters a dry goods store, where the shopkeeper offers
her a job as a salesgirl in exchange for bed and board. Alas, his intentions
quickly prove to be more than a bit dishonorable, and when Lili rebukes his
advances, he sends her on her way. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">It is here that opportunity knocks, or at
least walks in the door in the form of a dashing magician named Marc
(Jean-Pierre Aumont), or as he refers to himself, "Marcus the Magnificent”.
Part of a traveling carnival, Marc has come for a bit of wine and a few handkerchiefs,
but seeing Lili’s plight, intervenes long enough for her to retrieve her
belongings and make her get-away.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">Rejoining circus pals Jacquot (Kurt
Kasznar) and his partner Paul (Mel Ferrer) outside the shop, Marc heads back to
the midway, only to find that Lili has been following them through the streets
of town and onto the carnival's midway like a puppy dog. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">In a world of over-produced sets and
scenarios, the glitz, crowds and noise of a real carnival would take away from
the sweet simplicity of the story. But in this 1953 production, there is no
attempt at realism. The colors are soft and inviting, the sets are devoid of
clutter, and the characters and plot are clearly drawn. </span><o:p></o:p><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">And so, with nothing to get in the way of
the story, we quickly learn that Marc has a roving eye, and more than a working
relationship with his assistant, Rosalie (a young and curvaceous Zsa Zsa Gabor,
seen here at the peak of her beauty). But he also has a conscience, and
understands that Lili is a very young and innocent sixteen, dangerously under-age,
and more than a bit vulnerable. Displaying unusual valor and
restraint, he trades a kiss on the cheek for a promise to help her secure some
type of employment within the confines of the circus. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">The result: a job as a waitress in the
midway's cabaret, where Marc and Rosalie perform on stage to a packed crowd of
winers and diners. Inept at her job and mesmerized by Marc's slight of hand,
she forgets to wait tables, however poorly, and is once again relieved of her
job, and sent on her way.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">Later that evening, long after the
carnival has shut down for the night, a despondent Lili is alone with her
thoughts. Setting aside her suitcase, purse and her father’s treasured time
piece, she begins to climb a nearby high wire ladder towards what we must
assume will be a swift and irreversible solution to her problems. </span><o:p></o:p><br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;"></span><br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">Not far away, Fererr’s puppeteer takes it
all in, and in an uncharacteristically compassionate gesture, calls upon his
puppets to lure her down from the ladder and over to their small stage. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">Lili is immediately drawn to the puppets.
Naive for her years</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">—</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">even by 1953
standards, she talks to them as if they were living breathing confidants,
effortlessly conversing with the foxy Renaldo, an egocentric ballerina named Marguerite,
Golo the shy giant, and a red-headed boy named Carrot Top.</span><br />
</span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;"><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
It is a sweet, child-like exchange, where Lili is drawn into the conversation,
finding a life-line in the most unexpected of places. In no time at all, they
are talking, confiding and singing the film’s theme song (also written by
Deutsch) as a growing crowd of circus folk looks on. Those of you who are old
enough to remember this film, will no doubt recall the lyrics to this cheerful
ditty, and find yourself singing along with Lili and her friends… <o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">“The song of love is a sad song, </span></i></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">Hi -Lili, Hi-Lili, Hi-low…”<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">Behind the curtain, the embittered World
War II vet speaks for the puppets, his fingers enabling them to bow, dance and
play patty-cake with the young girl. But make no mistake; the puppeteer is
nothing like the puppets he manipulates, a war wound having ended his once
lauded career as a dancer. The Paul we meet beyond the puppet stage is, in his
own words, “self-absorbed and disenchanted”, with little time or tolerance for
anyone, including Jacquot and the new arrival. His only interest in her is (at
least at first) purely professional. Lili is good for business. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">“We’re going to change the act and play it
for adults.” he tells her. “You’ll go walking by, wearing that dress. Hair just
as it is. The puppets will stop you and speak to you. After that you’ll just
answer whatever the puppets happen to say</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">—</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">the way you did tonight.” <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">And so it is that Lili’s life takes a turn
for the better, with a real job, a new home, a warm bed, and a passel of
not-quite human but very dear friends. In time, she will also find love.</span><o:p></o:p><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">As you might expect, the new act is an
instant crowd-pleaser, with Lili talking, singing and sharing confidences with
the puppets, just as she did instinctively on that first night. She will grow
up quickly here, as she follows her heart, and dusts off another.</span><br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;"></span><o:p></o:p><br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">Though, at first glance, <i>Lili</i> may
appear to be a children’s film, there are some decidedly adult themes coursing
through it. While extremely tame compared to today’s R-rated films, it still
deals with adult subjects, which you may deem to be inappropriate for younger
audiences. I’ll leave it up to you to decide whether it is age-appropriate for
your family. </span><o:p></o:p><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">Aside from the plot, you might also want to take into account the fact that its pace is
far slower and less frenetic than the films of today – too slow perhaps, for a
generation raised on and accustomed to current crash-and-burn, mile-a-minute
editing. Then again, maybe</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">(</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">hopefully</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">) </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">not. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">In <i>The Cutting Edge</i>, a documentary
about film editing, Stephen Spielberg and Martin Scorsese</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">—</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">two of the most lauded directors of our
time</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">—</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">mourn the loss of
the indulgent take, and yet they understand that people who have grown up
watching music videos and computer games have the ability to grasp a situation
far quicker than their parents and grandparents ever could, or can. Watching a
stagnant screen where the actors do all of the work, bores them. Which begs the question: Is Lili old hat or old gold? </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">To use a well-worn phrase, it’s all in the eye of the beholder.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">If you are of an old-school frame of mind,
or willing to take a trip back in time, I urge you to return to the
if-not-thrilling days of yesteryear, than at least the simpler ones, where the
music was sweet, the words discernible, the heroines chaste and the plot easy
to follow.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">Not quite a musical in the 1950s-<i>Oklahoma</i>/<i>South
Pacific</i>/<i>Seven Brides for Seven Brothers </i>sense, where the actors
break out in song at every turn, <i>Lili</i> is never-the-less <i>musical</i>.
Though a brief dream-like dance sequence designed to showcase Ms. Caron’s way
with ballet appears a bit dated to say the least, its catchy title tune and
‘noteworthy’score, including a wonderfully whimsical piece laid under Marc’s
magic act, more than make up for it. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">Warmly received by audiences and critics
alike, the film advanced several careers. Bronislau Kaper would take home an
Oscar for Best Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, with nominations
going out to Caron and Deutsch, director Charles Walters, cinematographer
Robert Planck, Art Directors Cedric Gibbons and Paul Groessee, and set
decorators Edwin B. Willis and Arthur Krams. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">I think it’s safe to say that a film like <i>Lili</i>
would never be green-lighted today. So simple is its dialogue, and so slight
its plot, it wouldn’t stand a chance against the multi-billion dollar
blockbusters and off-beat Indie films that have taken over your local
cinemaplex. How lucky for us that it is available on DVD, where its talented
cast, clever Walton and O’Rourke’s puppets, Bronislaw Kaper’s Oscar-winning
score, and the movie’s picture-perfect costumes and sets continue to delight
ladies and gentleman and children of all ages. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">A final note: Both Deustsch and <i>Lili</i>
would find their way to Broadway in 1961. A full-fledged musical, the newly-dubbed <i>Carnival!</i> starred Anna Maria Alberaghetti as the winsome waif.
Though producer David Merrick would eventually replace Deutsch with theater
veteran Michael Stewart (<i>Bye Bye Birdie</i>), she still managed to garner
two Tony nominations for her part in the resulting libretto.</span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">
<u1:p></u1:p></span></span>Jainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02553591299806607498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215928590640748611.post-83827524362451635332013-11-23T22:19:00.001-06:002013-11-24T18:51:34.808-06:00THE MAGDALENE SISTERS <span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 4;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Philomena</span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">—</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">the latest Judi Dench </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">vehicle</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">—</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> made its U.S. debut this week. As I understand
it, the story revolves around an elderly Irish Catholic woman’s search to find
the child she was forced to give up for adoption some fifty years earlier,
while being incarcerated in one of a handful of convents that served as asylums
for “fallen women”. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 4;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Similar
prisons</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">—</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">known
as the Magdalene Laundries</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">—</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">
existed throughout the U.K. over a period of more than fifty years. As they
fell under the auspices of the Catholic Church, these institutions were exempt
from the country’s court system, and accompanying rules and regulations. With
no legal recourse, or chance to refute the charges against them, the condemned
girls (by some estimates, as many as 30,000 of them) would spend the better
part of their lives in these hell-holes, for ‘crimes’ that ranged from being
too pretty to having a child out of wedlock. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 4;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I
was totally unaware that such places existed until I happened upon Scottish
writer/ director Peter Mullan’s 2002 film, <i>The Magdalene Sisters</i>.
Ironically, I was just about to post this review when news of the Dench<span style="background: yellow;"></span> piece reached our shores. Timing– as
they say – is everything, and so – just in time for Dame Dench’s <i>Philomena</i>,
comes my take on two other not-to-be-missed films that center around the
‘laundries’.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 4;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Based
on real-life documented cases, places and events, Mullan’s movie takes place in
Ireland in 1964. Over the course of the next 119 minutes, we will follow four
teenage girls, as their lives change literally, inexplicably and horrifically
overnight. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 4;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As
the film opens, we find ourselves at a family wedding reception at a local
restaurant or hall in County Dublin, Ireland.It’s a loud and joyous affair,
where one has to raise his voice far above the music and chatter to be heard. As
the wedding guests partake in the merriment, a young school girl by the name of
Margaret (Anne-Marie Duff) is lured to an upstairs room by a cousin, under the
pretext of being told a secret. Once alone, he throws her to the floor and
rapes her, while as the music below plays on.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 4;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Shortly
thereafter, he returns to the party as if nothing has happened, but she is
understandably distraught, and confides in a friend, who, with all good
intentions, tells her father, who tells her to tell Margaret's father, who,
after hearing the news, runs not to Margaret, but to the parish priest. As they talk in hushed tones behind closed doors, </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Margaret sits alone, frightened and unconsoled. </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> Moments later, we see the boy hurridly led out
of the buidling by his father. </span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 4;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The
following morning, shortly before sunrise, Margaret is harshly</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> awakened by her father. Barging into the bedroom she shares with a younger sister, he stands before his daughter with a cold cold heart. </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">"You - get up.
Get up!" he commands. "Get dressed. Hurry up. I want you downstairs!"</span></span><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 4;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Not
long after this, the parish priest arrives, whisking her away to the Magdalene
Laundries, as her younger brother watches despairingly from an upstairs window.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 4;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Cut
to the girl's dormitory of a Catholic orphanage, where a group of young girls
fuss over who gets to brush an older girl's hair. Her name is Bernadette (Nora
Jane Noone), <span style="background: yellow;"></span>and she is a young and
pretty thing in her mid-teens, full of life, despite the cards she has been
dealt. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 4;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The following day, as she stands in the institution's school yard, the
nuns observe her innocently flirting with some school boys perched on an upper
level behind an iron fence. That night, the younger girls return to their
dormatory, only to find Bernadette's bed stripped, aand all traces of her gone.
Deemed too pretty and flirty for her own good, she too has been banished to the
Magdalene Laundries in order to save her soul. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 4;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We
meet Rose (Dorothy Duffy) in a maternity ward, just hours after she has given
birth (out of wedlock) to a baby boy. Her mother sits stoically beside her bed,
refusing to acknowledge either the baby or his mother. Outside her door, and unbeknnownst to Rose, her father is finalizing
arrangements that will result in the relinquishing of her </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">child and her freedom</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">. Before nightfall,
she will join the other girls as they are herded down the convent’s endless hallways,
up the stairs, and ultimately into the office of the Mother Superior.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 4;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">As we soon learn, Sister Bridget (Geraldine McEwan) </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">runs the asylum (their word, not mine) as if it was a forced
labor camp. “Our philosophy is a simple one” she tells them in a flat, but
eerily sinister tone, “Through the powers of prayer, the fallen may find their
way back to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.” She goes on to explain that
like Mary Magdalene </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">—</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> the
convent’s patron saint and “a sinner of the worst kind”, they too will find
their way as she did, by “denying herself all pleasure of the flesh, including
food and sleep, working beyond endurance…”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 4;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This
so-called philosophy allows the nuns to subject the girls to whatever manner of
abuse they wish, all in the name of redemption. Like hundreds of girls before
them, Margaret, Rose and Bernadette will be treated as slaves, their hair, along with any
outside communication– cut off, personal possessions confiscated, and free time
abolished. Condemned to a life of indefinite servitude, they will live out
their days there unless claimed by the very relatives who shunned them. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 4;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">While
there are scenes outside the convent’s walls – most notably in the first
moments of the film, it is the institution and its daily routine that serves as
a backdrop to the girls’ individual story lines. In an endless string of nameless days,
they rise early and work late, hand-washing, scrubbing and ironing the
sisters’, priests’ and inmates’ laundry until their hands bleed, and their
bodies ache. Far from compassionate, the nuns seem to relish humiliating,
harassing and berating their charges, as they strip away any hope or sense of
self. Adding to the misery are the decidedly unholy demands of visiting
priests, as the sisters turn a blind eye.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 4;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Over
the course of the movie we are introduced to some of the other inmates, including the long-suffering and </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">emotionally-damaged Crispina (Eileen Walsh). Like Rose, she too gave birth to a child she will never know –
a child who is being raised by Crispina’s compassionate sister, Rebecca. As convent rules forbid any contact
with the outside world, Crispina has
never had the chance to hold her child – or even see him, save for a few
bitter-sweet clandestine moments when Rebecca and the boy stand in the shadows
of the laundry’s back gate. Only then, if and when the nuns are preoccupied,
can they stand close enough to give Crispina a clear but long-distance view of
her son as she hangs the convent’s laundry out to dry. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Walsh’s performance as
the tragically- doomed long-time resident, is
both heart-wrenching and Oscar-worthy. McEwan as Sister Bridget, turns in an equally powerful performance, but then, all of
the actors more than hold their own.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 4;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">What
makes Mullan's film all the more powerful is the fact that the real-life laundries
and the abuse they fostered, went on </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">—</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">not for days or months, but decades. Even more
astounding, the last of these institutions didn’t close its doors until 1996 –
less than twenty years ago! It’s hard to believe that at a time when the
women’s rights movement was surging ahead in many areas of the world, this kind
of inhumane treatment still existed – not in a third world, primitive
civilization –but the United Kingdom. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Rent
or buy the DVD, and you’ll find a documentary in the Special Features section
called <i>Sex in a Cold Climate</i>. The perfect companion piece; it introduces
you to some of the women on whom Mullan’s film is based, along with other
well-documented accounts of what went on inside the Magdalene
Laundries. Together they paint a picture of one of the darkest hours in Irish-
Catholic history.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 4;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">While
both of these films are hard to watch, they are important in the same way that
<em>Schindler’s List</em> and other films that deal with people who have been imprisoned
and/or mentally and physically abused for all the wrong reasons is important.
With Judi Dench’s <i>Philomena</i> eliciting rave reviews from the world’s
toughest critics, you might wonder if you really "need" to see </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">these older and smaller films. </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I suppose that on some level it’s like asking yourself if you need to see more
than one movie about the Civil War, or the Great Depression. The fact is, each one of these films has a
different tale to tell; presented in a different way, by a different
writer, director, cast and crew. </span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 4;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A
final note: While none of these films should be taken as an indictment of the
Catholic Church as a whole, or the thousands of nuns and other clergy who have
selflessly devoted their lives to doing God’s work, the laundries are a
part of our overall history, and as Edmund Burke,</span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> George Santayana,</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
Virgil and others have noted in one form or another, “Those who don't know
history are doomed to repeat it.” For that reason alone, I urge you to see at
least one of them.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Jainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02553591299806607498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215928590640748611.post-87350552693440937052013-10-04T21:08:00.001-05:002013-10-06T13:51:15.353-05:00TRULY MADLY DEEPLY<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
year was 1989. Shooting schedule in place, writer/director Anthony Minghella (<i>The
English Patient</i>, <i>The Talented Mr. Ripley</i>) gathered his actors and
production people together, and set out to make what he thought of as a
romantic comedy. But when the camera rolled (they still rolled in those days),
he realized very quickly, that he had written something far more complex, a
film that asks you to suspend reality and immerse yourself in finely layered
tale of romance and grief, passion and compassion, tom foolery and
self-discovery. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In
the first scenes of this 1990 British import, we meet Nina (Juliet Stevenson),
a young British woman who, some time in the not-so-recent past, lost the love of her life, when he (Jamie) died during what should have been a routine expoloratory procedure associated with a sore throat. One minute he was a thriving, passionate musician,
lover and companion; the next, he was gone. Forever gone. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
absurdity and finality of his death has rendered Nina nearly immobile, though
she somehow manages to do what she has to do at the language agency where she works,
barely interacting with coworkers and clients, neighbors, family, friends and
would-be suitors, who worry that she will never get back on track. Nina, it
seems, worries as well, knowing in her heart that it’s time to move on, while
lacking the emotional wherewith all to do so.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By
her own admission she is mad at the world, jealous of anyone who is loved, in love, or, as she puts it, "wasting love", envious of happy families, and yearning for a child of her own, while
remembering and grieving for life as it was, and all that went with it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">She
tells her therapist that she still feels Jamie's presence; the sound of his
cello accompanying her as she plays the piano, his voice strong and clear,
reminding her</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">to
lock the back door, wait for a traffic light to turn green or answer the phone.
While these things bring her some comfort, they ultimately offer little relief.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And
then, one day, while playing a classical piece on the piano in her dimly-lit living room, something
magical happens. Kudos to cinematographer Remi Adefarasin (<i>The English
Patient</i>, <i>Sliding Doors</i>), as he guides us through
the great reveal, slowly panning from Nina’s fingers as they make their across the
keys, pulling out just enough to see a shadowed figure playing a shadowed </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">cello just behind her, until we, like Nina, realize that what she
is hearing and feeling and seeing is not just wishful thinking or a figment of
her imagination, but Jamie, </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">—</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">in the flesh, playing the cello that only moments before had
been sitting idly in the corner of the room. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">While the how or why of his return are never fully explored, it appears that he was given the chance to return to earth
and Nina’s apartment, looking not like a ghost or see-thorugh illusion, but the living
breathing cellist he was pre-op. And yet we know that he is what he is, and not
what he was.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Their
reunion is a wonderfully crafted mixture of awe and passion: a joyful
celebration of everything they were, and are and hope to be. They talk and love
and dance and sing. They are silly and happy, and, in wonderful exchange of
words, truly, madly and <i>deeply </i>in love. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Of
course, there is a catch. Jamie is, after all, dead. While family and friends
are delighted at the overnight change in Nina’s demeanor, she cannot reveal the
reason behind her sudden transformation; lest they believe her to be
delusional. He too must avoid being seen, his world confined to her small
apartment, and wherever he was before his return. </span></div>
<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">BE
CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">At
first, it seems but a small price to pay, but as time passes, the realization
of the so-called reality of their situation begins to take its toll. Bored, and
with limited options to keep himself occupied while Nina is away, Jamie (a young and rakish Alan Rickman) starts
rearranging things in the apartment</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">—</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">small things at first, but for Nina, even these minor
changes are unsettling. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
real trouble – and opportunity for humor</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">—</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> comes when, tired of being on his own for hours on end,
Jamie invites some friends in from the other side to watch a few videos, share
a couple of brews and make themselves comfortable</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">—</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> a little too comfortable, for his increasingly exasperated
Nina Add to this the unavoidable need to keep the place more than a wee bit
warm so that Jamie and his cold-or-no-blooded friends won’t (you’ll excuse the expression) freeze
to death. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And
there is the more serious question of fertility, and life beyond her two-room
apartment. Nina wants, needs, and longs to be a mother. Jamie, in his present
state, cannot father a child; though at times he acts like one. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Finally,
there is the hint of what <i>could</i> be, if she is willing and able to let go
of the past, when she meets Mark (Michael Maloney) a living, breathing
all-around good guy who appears on the horizon at</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">—</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">depending on how you look at it, just the right</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">—</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">or wrong</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">—</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How
all of this unfolds makes for one hour and forty-five minutes of great cinema,
during which Nina learns a lot about herself, including where she is, what she
wants, and whether her memories of what was, the reality of what is, is enough
to override the possibilities before her. </span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">HBO
is currently running a documentary called <i>First Cousin Once Removed</i>. The
film follows poet Edward Honig’s life as he and his family deal with the
slowly-escalating ravages of Alzheimer’s disease. Yet, even as his memory
fails, there are moments of great clarity and wisdom. “The past is not what
happened", he tells his young cinematographer cousin, “it’s what you <i>remember</i>
happened.” </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Nina
could relate. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Her
memories of Jamie and the way they interacted were skewed by time, loss and
longing. And while she appeared to be stuck, the truth of the matter was, a
part of her was moving on. Slowly, perhaps, but moving just the same. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Unlike
other films I have recommended, <i>Truly Madly Deeply</i> is not available
through Netflix, and, as the DVDs are no longer being produced, getting a hold
of a copy may take some doing. Hopefully, our search will be short and sweet.
Check out your local library’s collection of DVDs, second-hand DVD sites and
stores, or, if you feel comfortable doing so, ask to borrow a copy from a
friend. Getting a hold of this gem of a film may seem a like a lot of trouble,
but I wouldn’t recommend it if I didn’t believe it to be well worth the effort.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A
final note: Minghella passed away in 2008. Over his career he wrote, directed
and/or produced many memorable movies, posthumously receiving an Academy Award nomination
for his work as co-producer of <i>The Reader</i>—<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span>another outstanding film.
One his last projects, the pilot for the HBO series <em>The No. 1 Ladies’
Detective Agency,</em> led to a happily inventive, though all too short</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">run.<em> Based</em> </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">on Andrew
McCall Smith’s novels, it, and the episodes that followed, are well worth
watching. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If
you can’t find<i>Truly, Madly Deeply</i>, or even if you can, I hope you’ll
check out these and other Minghella films. They, like the man himself, deserve
to be remembered.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
Jainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02553591299806607498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215928590640748611.post-67186675283020180482013-08-02T20:32:00.001-05:002013-08-05T13:13:14.865-05:00MICMACS<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> <span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The summer drought is over. If you’ve
been yearning for a truly original, totally different, indelibly charming film,
wait no more. <em><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">MicMacs</span></em> is here.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Actually it’s been here since its U. S.
release in 2010. The fact that it received so little attention by the press is
beyond me.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Filmed in Paris and Morocco, this
delightfully French film was conceived and created by Guillaume <span style="background: white;">Laurant</span> and Jean-Pierre Jeunet. If Jeunet’s
name sounds familiar, it is no doubt because he brought us <em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Amelie</span></em>,
another ice cream scoop of a film.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">While the story lines are a world
apart, the two movies do have a few things in common. You’ll recognize Jeunet’s
signature golden color palate, </span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">the </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">unusually-framed
shots, and a decidedly minimalist approach to dialogue. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Like Woody Allen, Jeunet tends to draw
from a similar troupe of versatile actors and locations. As a result, Amelie
fans will recognize several of that film’s cast members – and backdrops in this
one. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">When his star (a Jeunet
regular) opted out just weeks before filming, the writer/director called up
Dany Boon, who you may remember from <em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Joueux Noel</span></em>, a Christmas cordial, and
former picsandpans2 ‘pic’. Though Boon’s name goes above the title, this is
very much an ensemble piece, with all of the characters participating in the
film’s micmacs or shenanigans.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Juenet is playful director—the <em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">‘Where’s
Waldo’</span></em> of the cinema set, placing posters for <em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">MicMacs</span></em>
(the very movie you are watching) throughout the film. They are offered up in
the same spirit as the late Al Hirshfeld’s “Nina’s”, giving the viewer one more
way to relax and enjoy the show.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Juenet’s career roots are firmly
planted in the world of animation, influencing the way he approaches every
aspect of the film, from the sets to the actions and reactions of the cast. And
while <em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">MicMacs</span></em> is far from what I would call slapstick, there are
scenes that will no doubt remind viewers of a certain age of those classic
cartoons, where characters were whacked, whirled and twirled like tops, with only
a few well-drawn stars circling around their heads to show for it. You’ll also
be treated to a few bits and pieces of that old and stylized animation,
including one sequence reminiscent of the opening of the much-loved PBS <em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Mystery
</span></em>series. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Ever the jokester, Juenet tosses in
two-to-three second bits of merriment for his fans, as when a microphone meant
to spy on one man, is dropped down the chimney of another, picking up a
conversation pulled directly from the soundtrack of Juenet’s 1991 film, <em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Delicatessen</span></em>.
<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Of course, you don’t have to have seen
any of Juenet’s prior films to enjoy this one. It is a visual delight; with the
camera drawing you right into the action—as seen through a wicker box, metal
gates, over-sized keyhole, far-reaching binoculars and any number of windows.
You’ll squeeze through gates and pipes, tunnels and funnels, and get a
bird’s-eye and bug’s-eye view, as cinematographer Teats Nagata’s camera pans,
scans and lands on whatever—wherever, and whenever and you least expect it. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">At its heart, <em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">MicMacs</span></em>
is the story of right over might, a fairy tale for adults in which a group of
unlikely comrades use their uncommon talents to serve justice upon two
heartless villains, by turning the men against each other. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">It begins on a decidedly unfunny note,
when, in April of 1979, a French soldier is killed during a failed attempt to
defuse a landmine in the Western Sahara desert. Unable to cope, his grieving
widow is carried off to the hospital, leaving his son’s fate in the hands of a
hell-hole of an institution, where life appears to be unbearable. Whether he
escapes or is spirited away is unclear, and unimportant to the storyline. What
is important is that unlike his father, Bazil survives to tell the tale.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">We find him some thirty years later,
clerking at a small neighborhood video store, where he wiles away the hours
watching videos on the store’s ancient TV. One night, while watching <em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The
Big Sleep</span></em> (the title, a witty precursor of what‘s to come) a stray
bullet from a drive-by shooting comes crashing through the store’s plate-glass
window. Racing out the door and onto the sidewalk to see where it came from,
our boy is shot in the head by a second bullet.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Miraculously, he survives—mind intact,
though the bullet remains precariously lodged inside his head, conjuring up the
occasional fantasy the can dissipate with an “<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I-should- have-had-a-V8</span></em>”—like
pop to his head. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">After a brief recuperation period, the
young man leaves the hospital, only to find that his landlord has rented his
apartment to someone else, and his boss has hired a young lovely in his place. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Back on the street, he is hailed by the
store’s new-hire, who hands him a bullet casing she found in close proximity to
where he was shot. Sprawled across the casing is the name of the company that
manufactured the life-altering bullet. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Hell-bent on revenge, but clueless as
to where the arms dealers are located, our hero sets such thoughts aside,
spending the next two months just trying to survive. By night, he sleeps under
the stars, a cardboard box his only blanket. By day, he mime's for coins in a
town square, more annoying it seems, than entertaining. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">And then, one day, a good-hearted
street vendor named Slammer (Jean-Pierre Marielle) takes the starving artist aside.
“Follow me,” he says, “I know a family who’ll adopt you.” With no place to go
and nowhere else to turn, the young man follows the old con home. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">“Home” in this case turns out to be a
cavern-like boarding house/ workshop, carved out of a pile of rubble alongside
the railroad tracks. To the outside world it appears to be nothing more than a
Tire <span style="background: white;">Larigot</span>, or tire graveyard, but to
the seven people who live and work there, it is a place to hang their hats,
rest their heads, and feed both body and soul.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">They are a decidedly odd but delightful
bunch, who, like Disney’s seven dwarfs, have nick names that reflect their
individual persona, skill or talent. There’s </span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Buster (</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominique_Pinon" title="Dominique Pinon"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Dominique Pinon</span></a></span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">), a human cannon ball, whose attempts to break various
world records have resulted in his being bumped, bruised and <em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">busted</span></em>-up,
</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">a contortionist they call Elastic Girl</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> <span lang="EN">(</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_Ferrier" title="Julie Ferrier"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="color: black;">Julie <span style="background: white;">Ferrier</span></span></span></a></span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">), and a pint-sized artist named Tiny
Pete (Michel <span style="background: white;">Crémadès).<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Also seated at the
family dinner table: Calculator (Marie-Julie Baip), a woman with the uncanny
ability to measure and add up all manner of things in her head</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">, Remington (Omar Sy), who speaks in <span style="background: white;">clichés and does the note-taking for the group </span>(his nickname
referring to either Frederic Remington, whose western art was seen by some as <span style="background: white;">clichéd, or more probably, the Remington typewriter), </span>and
our friend ‘Slammer’, whose death sentence was commuted after the guillotine
that was to kill him became fortuitously stuck during what was to be his
beheading. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Presiding over her adopted family is
the ever-chipper Mama Chow (Yolande Moreau), head of the household and resident
cook. It is Mama Chow who ultimately decides who will be welcomed into the
fold, and Bazil is welcomed. “Here we salvage gear, sort it and fix it” she
says, adding, “Everyone pitches in.” <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">They are an ingenious
bunch,—particularly Tiny Pete, who fashions Rube Goldberg-like contraptions and
animatronic figures out of scrap iron, which, along with the family’s other
repaired and reconfigured items are presumably sold or put to good use within
the compound. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The following day Bazil joins two of
the men as they go about their scavenging. After tossing the last of the day’s
bounty in the "family" flatbed, he follows behind them in a
make-shift car. When several items fall off the truck, he stops to pick them
up, only to find himself standing between the headquarters of the two companies
that built and sold the ammunition that killed his dad, and forever changed his
own life. A quick check in and around the two buildings, and he has all the
information he needs to seek his revenge. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">When the others learn of his plot and
what prompted it, they want ‘in’, not only for Bazil’s sake, but, as Mama Chow
says, for ‘all of the mothers who lost kids because of the mines.” <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
</span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Their target: the companies’ heartless
and decidedly warped CEOs. Their plan is a simple one: rather than inflecting
punishment on the men themselves, they will pit one against the other, and, as
Remington would say, let the chips fall as they may. This is where things get
interesting, as each member of the troupe uses his or her special talents to
irk, anger and egg the greedy and boastful warmongers on. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">To tell you more would spoil the fun,
and what fun it is! </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">As is true with so many things in life,
the music in this film, makes it that much richer. The soundtrack is made up of
two decidedly different writing styles: a mix and match of Max Steiner’s<span style="background: white;"> iconic orchestrations </span>and first time film
composer Raphael Beau’s modestly charming musical </span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">cues. Add to that a beautifully
conceived script, fanciful sets, ingenious direction, exquisite cinematography,
</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">brilliant editing, </span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">a pitch-perfect ensemble
cast, and sculptor Gilbert Peyre’s incredible <span style="background: white;">moving
</span>sculptures, and you have one hour-and–forty four minutes of pure
cinematic magic.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">That said, if </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">you are put off by subtitles, hated <em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Amelie</span></em>
or Juenet’s other films, or are a stickler for the possible and probable, this
Bud is definitely <em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">not</span></em> for you. If, however, you love to
be surprised and delighted at every preposterous twist and turn, I believe you
will adore this marvelously inventive bit of tomfoolery. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">A final note: <em><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">MicMacs</span></em><span style="background: white;"> is the
kind of film the begs to be watched more than once: first for the story, then
for Jeunet’s commentary, and again for the sheer fun of it— catching all of well-placed
posters, pranks and hijinks that Jeunet </span>built into every frame. Movie
buffs will recognize subtle tributes to Keaton, Chaplin, and silent films in
general, along with nods to <em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The Big Sleep</span></em>, <em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Rear
Window</span></em>, <em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Citizen Kane</span></em>, and TV’s <em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Mission
Impossible</span></em>. In addition to the film itself, the DVD includes a
“Making of” video that gives the viewer some idea of what it took to create
this small but complex film.</span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span> </div>
Jainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02553591299806607498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215928590640748611.post-86018355638272304932013-07-21T13:50:00.000-05:002013-07-21T13:55:26.798-05:00PHYLLIS AND HAROLD<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Many
years ago, I found myself seated next to an elderly woman at a wedding
reception. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our table was in the back of
the room, and as the evening wore on our tablemates pulled out their chairs, set
down their napkins and went about the business of table-hopping. We were, for
all intents and purposes, alone.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Across
a sea of white-linen table cloths I could see the newlyweds and their
twenty-something friends dancing on the modest dance floor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The music was loud and intense—so loud that my
friend could have confessed to being an ax murderer, and no would have been the
wiser.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Looking
straight ahead, this widow of some years reflected on her own marriage, which, she
said, had been a mismatch of souls: she, the intellect, he, the tradesman. She
wondered aloud what her life would have been like had she married someone else:
someone who shared her thirst for knowledge and enjoyed talking about
literature, the arts and other cultural endeavors. There was something in her
voice—in her eyes and words that told me that this was not the first time such
thoughts had traversed her mind, nor would it be the last.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">I was
reminded of her and others I have known with similar regrets, as I watched
<em>Phyllis and Harold</em>, a very personal documentary by writer/director and
daughter, Cindy Kleine. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">A week
or so after watching the film I was still toying with the idea of recommending
it to you, my main reservation being that it was not a movie that would appeal
to everyone. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And yet I was quite sure
that just about everyone would find something in it to ponder, if not identify
with. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">I was
still mulling when I read a something written by a woman whose mother, like Kleine’s,
had been<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>totally self-absorbed: a mother
who pitted her daughter against her father, had her do her dirty work, and
shared things better kept to herself. Her words were could have been Cindy Kleine’s
words, so similar was her description of her mother to that of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Phyllis Kleine. It was then that I came to the
conclusion that Kleine’s story wasn’t perhaps as unique as I had thought. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">At
first glance—even second glance, Phyllis and Harold Kleine appeared to be an average
middle-class couple. He was a dentist. She was a homemaker. They were native
New Yorkers, and Jewish, but not overtly so. They had two children—daughters
Cindy and Ricky, and lived in their suburban Long Island ranch-style home for some
fifty years. Phyllis, the Pearl Mesta of her generation, appeared to be a happy
–if not ecstatically-so housewife. She certainly looked the part. But looks can
be deceiving.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">After
years of wondering why her mismatched parents not only married, but stayed
married for close to sixty-five years, Cindy Kleine decided to find out. Camera
in hand, and often without a crew she interviewed her parents separately and
together over a period of twelve years. With a daughter’s mindset, and
writer/director’s sensibility, she mixed and matched confessions,
contemplations, observations, conversations and consternations, molding them
into a film that is both unsettling and thought-provoking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">The
final product is a compilation of those interviews, punctuated by music of a
particular era, some surprisingly beautiful black and white 8 millimeter home
movies, and candids culled from her father’s collection of more than 4,000
slides. While most of the footage is of Phyllis and/or Harold, every now and
again Cindy and Ricky step in front of the camera to offer their memories,
thoughts and observations or move the story along.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">That
story begins at a college dance in 1939, where, Phyllis recalls, an
over-zealous Harold held her so tightly when they danced that she couldn’t
breathe. “I think in a sense, that’s the way he’s been ever since-” she says,
noting that the tighter he held her, the more she tried to pull away. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">So why
did she marry him? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">“I
think it was time for me to get out of the house,” she says. “It’s like playing
Musical Chairs. I don’t know if you’ve ever played that game or not, but you
walk around in circles and when the music stops, you sit down on a chair
because it’s time.” And I think that’s why I got married.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">For
Harold’s part, it appears that Phyllis basically filled the bill. “She was
beautiful, outgoing, and Jewish” he recalls, adding that his parents would have
disowned him had he married outside his faith. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">But
what of love? When the writer/director discovers a packet of letters written
during their courtship, she asks her parents to read a few of them out loud
before the camera.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Phyllis,
who we later learn was quite the romantic, reads from a letter she wrote to her
then fiancé while he was in the army. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">“Honestly,
getting that letter felt much better than taking off alligator pumps after
walking in them all day”, she reads, looking up at the camera, and rolling her
eyes. Like Phyllis, Harold can’t believe he they engaged in such folderol. Shaking
his head after reading something close to endearing that he had penned, he
bewilderingly asks, “Did I really write this shit?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">And so
we begin. What follows is a “he said/she said” account of their marriage. So intimate
and candid are Phyllis’ recollections that one has to wonder why she would have
agreed to have them served up for all to see. And yet, the more we learn about
Phyllis, the more we can see how this self-centered woman would have reveled in
the thought of being immortalized on film.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Far
from June Cleaver or other TV moms of the day, Phyllis Kleine spent the bulk of
her girls’ formative years out and about. “Even when she was there, she seemed
to be somewhere else” says Ricky, describing a mother who was disinterested and
unimpressed with her children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">“People
would say, “Look at that cute baby” she recalls, “and she had this standard
line; she’d say, “Cute now, but wait until they start to be five or six or
seven. Wait until they get to be teenagers. They don’t stay cute for long.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">That
apathy appears to have remained intact for the rest of her life. In a telling
moment, Cindy reveals that not once in the twelve years she spent interviewing
her parents for the film, did her mother mention her children. Not
once. And
not because she <em>thought</em> to mention them and changed her mind. At least not in
my mind. I believe that she did not mention them, because she didn’t <em>think</em> to
mention them. And Harold? Harold, it appears was a necessary inconvenience— the
price she had to pay for a well-heeled life. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">What
is most interesting here is that Harold appears to be oblivious to his wife’s
feelings. Whether he failed to see or chose to ignore her discontent, is
unclear, although it’s hard to believe that he wasn’t aware – at least on some
level, that something was wrong. He does say that as they grew older, she
became more vocal, criticizing him for everything from the clothes he wore to
the time he spent in his easy chair. But when asked about their first years
together, Harold recalls, “It was a wonderful time in my life: the golden
years,” while Phyllis reveals that she spent those “golden<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>years” in total agony—in love with one man,
while married to another. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Over
the course of the film we learn more about the back story that dominated her
life and that of her daughters, long after the affair was over. “We were like
foot soldiers in my mother’s own private war” remembers Cindy. “The weapon:
secrets. ‘Don’t tell Daddy. He’ll be mad. He’ll be angry. He’ll punish you.
He’ll punish me. He’ll have a heart attack.’”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">According
to ‘the girls’ the keeping of secrets was easy enough, as ‘daddy’ wasn’t home
much, and when he was, he, like Phyllis, wasn’t engaged. He was, they explain,
a father who took photographs of his children, rather than with them. Cindy
reveals that in searching through that sea of slides, she had trouble finding
images of the two girls smiling. Click.
Flash. Whurrr. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Four thousand photographs
of unhappy children, and a wife who wanted to be somewhere else with someone
else.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">So
is Harold the helpless victim in this story? Not if we are to believe Phyllis.
For while the Harold we see on-camera appears to be an even-tempered fellow who
spends the bulk of his time dozing in his recliner, his wife wants us to know
that for most of their married life <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>he was
a workaholic who drank too much, grouped too many, and went around angry all
the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Ozzie
and Harriet, not.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">The
truth is probably somewhere in between. The Harold interviews paint a picture
of a man who loved his wife, was proud of his accomplishments, and unaware of
his shortcomings. Cindy tells us that his most revealing interview had to be
scraped, because the camera failed to record his voice. She fills us in,
revealing that during that elusive interview her father eluded to having a few
dalliances of his own. No shock there. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><em>Phyllis
and Harold</em> is a fascinating look inside a marriage and affair over a period of nearly
seven decades. An accompanying commentary track offers further insights into
their minds and motives, for it is there that Cindy Kleine and her producer
husband Andre Gregory (of My Dinner with Andre fame) deliver an interesting
narrative, filling in the gaps, and sharing their thoughts on this
not-so-average couple. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">Cindy
Kleine intentionally waited to release Phyllis and Harold until her father had
passed away, so that any secrets—and there were many—would remain secret while
he was still alive. As a result, we see how the widow Kleine handled his
passing, a mixture of distress, reconciliation and self-abortion. When the
funeral director asks Mrs. Kleine what her husband wished to have done
with his cremains, she responds, “I’d like half of my ashes to be buried at
sea, and the rest to be buried in the family plot”, at which point daughter Cindy steps in to remind her mother that the funeral director was asking about her father's cremains.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">As it
turned out, Phyllis too would pass away before the film was put to bed,
bringing their story both behind and in front of the camera to a natural conclusion. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">I
don’t know if this modest documentary, which could just have easily been called
<em>The Good, the Bad and the Indifferent</em> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>will answer any questions for anyone whose
own life in any way mirrors the Kleine's, but at the very least, it is a
fascinating look at one long— if not loving—marriage.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Jainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02553591299806607498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215928590640748611.post-63732517728256088422013-06-03T17:24:00.002-05:002013-06-16T15:07:54.876-05:00THE THIRD ANNUAL FOOD FIND EDITION<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; mso-themecolor: text1;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Welcome to
the third annual <strong>FOOD FIND</strong> edition. This year’s list is jam-packed with all kinds of new and
exciting products, along with some well-loved favorites our readers felt were worthy of a second
look. I've included a bunch of my own "<em>FINDS</em>" as well. So let's get started</span>!</span><br />
</div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; mso-themecolor: text1;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BREAKFAST:</span></b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-E6m-8sTxmUY/UbNXjpqizyI/AAAAAAAAADg/LV2VGOTOnN8/s1600/Farmer's+Market+6-8-2013+012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-E6m-8sTxmUY/UbNXjpqizyI/AAAAAAAAADg/LV2VGOTOnN8/s320/Farmer's+Market+6-8-2013+012.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-E6m-8sTxmUY/UbNXjpqizyI/AAAAAAAAADg/LV2VGOTOnN8/s1600/Farmer's+Market+6-8-2013+012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></b> </div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Last summer, as I made my way around the various tables at one of the city's larger farmers markets, I found myself marveling at a beautiful display of <strong>DUCK EGGS</strong>. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Yb7sE4sxd-k/UbNYBoSOeMI/AAAAAAAAADs/tIAaDRUkjq0/s1600/Farmer%2527s+Market+6-8-2013+014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Yb7sE4sxd-k/UbNYBoSOeMI/AAAAAAAAADs/tIAaDRUkjq0/s320/Farmer%2527s+Market+6-8-2013+014.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A good bit larger than the average extra large chicken egg, they called to me. Before I knew it, I had purchased a carton of six, and was on my way to making a four-star breakfast.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The next morning, I cracked open an egg and fried it up in a bit of butter. The first thing I noticed was how large the yolk was, and how golden, and the white of the egg was far glossier than a chicken egg's, and more gelatinous. As a result, it took a bit longer to cook than a chicken egg. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So incredibly beautiful was the finished product, with its snow-white rim, and perfectly formed golden dome, that it looked for all the world like an artist's rendering. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Setting it down on a freshly toasted and buttered English muffin, I eased my fork into the yoke, causing all of its golden goodness to spill over and into the muffin's nooks and crannies and onto the plate. Happily, it was every bit as rich and delicious as it looked, and a wonderful way to start the day.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Reading up on these glorious eggs, I found that many European bakeries use them to intensify the flavor of their sponge cakes. But as the average sponge cake would have used up my entire stash, I chose instead to enjoy them one-by-one, fried sunny-side, over-easy or scrambled. The next time you're in the market for something new and delicious take my advice, and go for the gold!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span> </div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><strong>CEREAL:</strong></span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></strong><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Oh how I love the Bent and Dent section of the supermarket,
where, on any given day, you’ll find a wide range of products you didn’t know
existed, or weren’t ready to spend full- price for without sampling them first.</span>
</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WyEAZwkE-6w/Ua-yTKwD-GI/AAAAAAAAACw/V0lCRZyjD7o/s1600/still+more+photos+for+2013+food+blog+009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WyEAZwkE-6w/Ua-yTKwD-GI/AAAAAAAAACw/V0lCRZyjD7o/s320/still+more+photos+for+2013+food+blog+009.JPG" width="260" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It wasn’t too long ago that such a <em>FIND</em> presented itself at
my local market in the form of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">FOOD FOR
LIFE’s</b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">EZEKIEL 4.9 GOLDEN FLAX
CEREAL</b>. This crunchy, tasty Grape Nut-like grind serves up healthful servings
of sodium, potassium and dietary fiber, with no cholesterol, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>trans fat or sugar. Punched up with a bit of
cold milk and a scoopful of in-season blueberries or strawberries it is a
filling, and fulfilling way to start the day.</span> </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
<strong>BEVERAGES:</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">COFFEE</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">:<o:p></o:p></span>
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Longtime
readers may recall my recommending Duncan Donuts’ Turbo coffee: a wonderful,
but pricey blend. Surely, I thought, there had to be something comparable at a
more affordable price. And there was.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5tKXAuozYaA/Ub4aYm7hQyI/AAAAAAAAAD4/UBwGsmft3SM/s1600/3-26-2013+coffee+for+blog+30.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5tKXAuozYaA/Ub4aYm7hQyI/AAAAAAAAAD4/UBwGsmft3SM/s320/3-26-2013+coffee+for+blog+30.JPG" width="189" /></a></div>
<br />
</div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">SPECIALLY SELECTED REGULAR ROASTED GROUND
COFFEE</b> is every bit
as good as the high-priced spread, while costing about 40% less. I happen to like
the medium blend, but Aldi’s also sells a milder version. Ground from100%
Arabica premium beans, this German import is incredibly smooth and satisfyingly
rich, with not a hint of bitterness. Having ground my coffee beans for years, I
was nearly put-off by this vacuum-sealed brick, but thankfully, I gave it a
try. It’s been my go-to blend ever since, and a major bargain at just $4.99 for
close to a pound-and-a-half of coffee. <o:p></o:p>
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">MOXIE <o:p></o:p></b></span>
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</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While this
old-timey soft drink is apparently a New England favorite (it recently gained
the distinction of being Maine’s official soft drink), this recommendation came
from one of our southern readers, with a note that said simple, “Only the kind
with sugar, no diet.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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What does
<strong>MOXIE</strong> taste like? Well, Wikipedia describes its flavor as “unique” and “not as
sweet as most modern soft drinks.” They go on to note that it is “described by
some as ‘bitter’”. Hmmm. Flavored with gentian root extract (I never heard of
it either), it was "reputed to possess medicinal properties” at one time. An
acquired taste, MOXIE has won over generations of fans, including this native
Mississippi reader. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">FLAVOR ENHANCERS:<o:p></o:p></b> </span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eGbQwD_OmNQ/Ua-kEXGLjgI/AAAAAAAAABQ/UC3uCnzCXe8/s1600/food+blog+photos+2013+011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="154" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eGbQwD_OmNQ/Ua-kEXGLjgI/AAAAAAAAABQ/UC3uCnzCXe8/s320/food+blog+photos+2013+011.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Another Bent
and Dent <em>FIND</em>, <strong>KNORR HOMESTYLE VEGETABLE STOCK</strong> is a real winner.<strong> </strong>KNORR's tiny tubs are loaded with flavor, and made for those of us
who enjoy making soups and stews from scratch. Each package contains four small
plastic containers resembling the jelly or butter packs you get at your local fast
food stop. One small tub can make a subtle but noticeable difference in the
end product, adding body to homemade soups, stews and gravies. KNORR suggests
adding it to rice, mashed potatoes and pasta dishes. So go ahead, indulge― it
is low in fat and cholesterol-free, and contains no MSG, or cholesterol. I’ve
used both the vegetable and beef varieties to enhance my slow cooker beef stew
and stove-top vegetable soups with excellent results.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">A Melrose Park, PA reader found this
next <em>FIND</em> on a recent South American vacation. After asking the inn’s chef what
spices were used in a particularly delicious dish, he gifted her with several
packets of <strong>SAZÓN GOYA CON CILANTRO YACHIOTO WITH CORIANDER & ANNATTO</strong></span>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Back on home ground, she subsequently
found the product at her local A&P. After receiving her email, I checked
out the spice section of my neighborhood market, and found it there as well.
Use this flavorful addition to enhance the flavor and color of meats, stews
soups, poultry, pasta, rice, beans and veggies—particularly those with a South
American flair. </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">CHEESE:</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">From
Germantown, TN. comes a rave review for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ISIGNY
STE M</b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Angsana New";">È</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">RE</b> (Sainte-M<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">è</span>re) is one of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">KIRKLAND’S SIGNATURE FRENCH BRIES</b>, produced by a small cooperative
in Normandy. Packaged in a wooden round box, you’ll find it at Costco. </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A Dutch reader recommends <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">OLD AMSTERDAM</b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">PREMIUM AGED GOUDA CHEESE</b>. “It is so
tasty” he enthuses. “Some cheeses are so mild – this one is stronger and so
delicious. I remember buying it at the airport in Holland. I never saw it again
until I saw at Sam’s.” After receiving his note, I happened upon a featured display
of the cheese at my local Kroger store. Pass the cheese, please. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">TOASTS AND CRACKERS:</span></b><br />
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A toast to a Sarasota reader for sharing two of her favorite crackers with us. The
first, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">WASA SOURDOUGH CRISPBREAD</b> by
Barilla America, the second, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">RYVITA DARK
RYE CRISPBREAD</b>. Each of these good-sized crackers serve up 2 grams of fiber and 35
calories. <span style="color: #013056;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #013056;"></span><o:p></o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-themecolor: text1;">A Murfreesboro, TN. reader, sticks with the standards,
having a special place in his heart for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">NABISCO
CHICKEN IN A BISKIT CRACKERS</b>. introduced in 1964, these buttery biscuits
are </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">flavored with dehydrated cooked chicken – which makes sense, given their
name. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Like Coca Cola and other international brands, Nabisco tweaks their crackers' formulas to suit each country's particular palate. As a result, the CHICKEN IN A BISKIT crackers you get in Australia, for example, may not taste exactly as they do here. In fact, Wikipedia notes that "an independent chemistry lab detected "no protein from any meat species" in the Aussie version." <span lang="EN" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-themecolor: text1;">Looking for a more exotic option? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Try <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ASTURI
BRUSCHETTINI SNACK SIZE ITALIAN BLACK AND GREEN OLIVES</b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">BRUSCHETTA TOASTS.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>Imported
from Italy, they contain no preservatives or artificial flavors. These
stamp-sized bites are crisp and dry with a real olive flavor, making them the
perfect complement to savory spreads and toppings like Italian Dry Salami. Other
Bruschettini varieties include Cracked black pepper, Rosemary and Olive Oil,
Garlic and Parsley, and Classico Virgin Olive Oil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Our reader found them at T.J. MAXX.</span></span></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BUTTER:
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">MINERVA DAIRY MENNONITE BUTTER</b> has been around since 1894, and
with good reason. It’s butter the way your remember butter from your childhood
days: fresh and— well, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">buttery</i>, with
4% butter fat. You’ll find it at Fresh Market and other specialty food stores. Read
all about it at minervadairy.com. Take my word for it; a little pat can make a
big difference.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<o:p></o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8doMDfcBnmo/Ua-kYIVxUoI/AAAAAAAAABY/ObVwrmS7n2A/s1600/butter+photo++for+blog+004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8doMDfcBnmo/Ua-kYIVxUoI/AAAAAAAAABY/ObVwrmS7n2A/s320/butter+photo++for+blog+004.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">BEURRE GRAND CRU COW’S MILK BUTTER</b> is a true <em>FIND</em>. I’ve tried them
all, and while Minerva’s Mennonite butter is a daily treat, this imported
French butter from a century-old dairy in Poitou-Charentes, France is, to my
mind, the best commercial butter out there. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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What makes
it so special? Well, according to their website, their butter is “produced in
barrel-shaped drums, where the cream is matured for 24 hours to allow the full
development of flavor, and then washed with clear water to obtain a very pure,
raw and perfumed butter.” All I know is that it is insanely good, while more
than a bit pricey. It too is available at Fresh Market and other specialty
stores.</span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-themecolor: text1;">MARMALADE:<o:p></o:p></span></b></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cu6X9enhM5c/Ua-uZeMz27I/AAAAAAAAACY/ETOJY9xOzZQ/s1600/more+food+blog+photos+2013+006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cu6X9enhM5c/Ua-uZeMz27I/AAAAAAAAACY/ETOJY9xOzZQ/s320/more+food+blog+photos+2013+006.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>SMUCKER’S
ORCHARD’S FINEST PACIFIC GROVE ORANGE MARMALADE MEDLEY</strong><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-themecolor: text1;">
puts the rest of the Smucker’s line to shame. While at 50 calories per
tablespoon it’s not exactly a low-cal alternative, it is a good bit less sugary
than the original blend, while having a far more natural and intense orange
flavor. A tasty combination of Navel, Mandarin and Blood orange juices and
peels, it is absolutely wonderful on a toasted, buttered English muffin, and the
perfect counterpoint to a full-bodied cup of coffee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">SOUPS:<o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-themecolor: text1;">I never thought I'd be recommending a prepackaged soup, but then again, Campbell’s new line of microwavable soups, known as <strong>CAMPBELL'S GO SOUPS</strong> are a far cry from the canned soups they are known for. </span>They are both unusual and unusually good, averaging between 10 and 220 calories a serving. <span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-themecolor: text1;"> </span></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ilJfg8Kf8_8/Ua-koT8aVJI/AAAAAAAAABg/ri9r_CnkR_0/s1600/food+blog+photos+2013+006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ilJfg8Kf8_8/Ua-koT8aVJI/AAAAAAAAABg/ri9r_CnkR_0/s320/food+blog+photos+2013+006.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-themecolor: text1;">P</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-themecolor: text1;">ackaged in plastic pouches bearing photographs of
well-scrubbed faces of young men and women, the soups heat up in 2- to- 2 ½
minutes, and offer the adventurous eater highly seasoned<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>versions of classics, as well as those that
are completely new-to most American pantries. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Among my favorites<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">: CAMPBELL’S GO SOUP GOLDEN LENTIL WITH
MADRAS CURR</b>Y. A vibrant blend of coconut milk and tomatoes, lentils and
tomato juice, potatoes, poblano chilies, cilantro, garlic puree and madras
curry seasonings, soy sauce, turmeric and other spices, it is a treat to the
taste buds.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4ls-ntoWoMY/Ua-k9FbikiI/AAAAAAAAABo/8w-d91qQ7Wk/s1600/GO+SOUP+PHOTO+2013+in+bowl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="294" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4ls-ntoWoMY/Ua-k9FbikiI/AAAAAAAAABo/8w-d91qQ7Wk/s320/GO+SOUP+PHOTO+2013+in+bowl.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’m also a major fan of their <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">CREAMY
RED PEPPER WITH SMOKY GOUDA</b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">GO SOUP</b>.
Oh boy oh boy oh boy – if you are a flavor craver, go for the GO soups. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-themecolor: text1;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">SALAD DRESSING:<o:p></o:p></b></span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-themecolor: text1;"></span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-themecolor: text1;">CARDINI’S
ALL NATURAL ORIGINAL CAESAR DRESSING</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-themecolor: text1;"> is as close to the real deal as you can get without starting from scratch. And no wonder, it was Cardini who created
the original dressing in his restaurant years ago. Two tablespoons will add 160
calories to your salad, but it really only takes one to get your attention.
Among some (but not all) of the ingredients: soybean and olive oil, egg yolk,
lemon juice concentrate, white wine and distilled vinegars, mustard seed,
Parmesan cheese, garlic, onion, molasses, sugar and anchovies. MSG and
preservative-free, it is a notch above the average bottled blend.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-themecolor: text1;">MEAT:</span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p></o:p></span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-themecolor: text1;">Tired of the same old same old? A Florida reader<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>suggests you try <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">GREAT RANGE BISON BURGERS</b>. Just season with a bit of</span><span style="color: black;"> Worcestershire sauce
and pop them in the broiler for seven minutes or so per side, and you’ve got one delicious burger.
</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">“I always look
forward to them" she writes, "and never get tired of them”. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-themecolor: text1;">Naturally
lean, bison— or buffalo (the terms are interchangeable according to GREAT RANGE)
has less fat and calories and more protein and iron than beef, chicken and even
some fish. Raised naturally without the use of hormones and antibiotics, they
are a tasty treat.</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-themecolor: text1;">You’ll find them in the freezer section of
your local market. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span> </div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">SEAFOOD:</span></b><br />
<strong></strong><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">DOCKSIDE
CLASSICS</b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">PREMIUM CRAB CAKES</b> are
absolutely delicious. Loaded with real crab meat, these incredibly tasty cakes come four-to-a-package. Fresh, not frozen, they are about as easy to prepare as you can get. Just turn the oven up to 400 degrees, and bake (not fry) them for a short sixteen minutes. Up until I tried these tasty cakes, I'd always
eaten my crab cakes cold But these delicious rounds are wonderful right out of
the oven—in fact, I like them better that way. </span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">DOCKSIDE packs a two-ounce container of cocktail sauce in with the crab cakes. Far superior than "America's favorite" bottled cocktail sauce, it is the perfect complement to these tasty cakes. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">These American-made crab cakes </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">make for an appetizing appetizer, although at just 150 calories per cake, you
can enjoy two of them along with a fresh salad, for a deliciously light lunch.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Looking for a fast and fabulous meal?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A seaside reader suggests you pick up a can
or two of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">COLE’S FARM-RAISED SMOKED
RAINBOW TROUT.</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“They’re great right
out of the can” she writes. “Just remove
the skin–which literally takes a second or two...They're good any time of day", adding, "and a great thing to keep on hand. Should the electricity go out, you have a meal.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Finding this particular product may take some doing, as it is noticeably absent from the company’s website. Ever resourceful, our reader found
a supplier on Amazon.com.</span> </span><br />
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</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">FROZEN DIET DINNERS:<o:p></o:p></span></span></b><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Last year frozen entrees turned the corner with the introduction
of LEAN CUISINE’S innovative line of microwavable pouch entrees. They also bumped up their boxed line-up,
adding some very tasty dinners, along with their highly promoted (but in my
opinion, underwhelming) Salad Additions line. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Picking up the gauntlet, ATKINS recently joined the list of
reduced-calorie frozen entree contenders, with a hearty group of slightly pricier
meals. They may not look as artful as Lean Cuisine’s , but they
generally offer larger portions that are both filling and satisfying. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Among my favorites: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ATKINS
CHICKEN & BROCCOLI ALFREDO</b>. The sauce is rich and relatively thick, and
actually tastes like it’s made with real Parmesan and Romano cheese</span>—<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">which it is).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The chicken pieces are tender, tasty and
generous in size, as are the still kelly-green broccoli florets. Served with a
simple salad and oil and vinegar dressing, it makes for a tasty and satisfying
meal, and is a great option for those counting both calories and carbs.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Among ATKINS’ other offerings: Roast Turkey Tenders with
Herb Pan Gravy, Beef Merlot, Crustless Chicken Pot Pie and Meatloaf with
Portobello Mushroom Gravy. There are some interesting breakfast entrees as
well, including <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Farmhouse-Style Sausage
Scramble</span></span><span style="color: #534640;"> and</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-themecolor: text1;"> Tex-Mex Scramble.</span><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Belly up to the breakfast bar, and give
them a try. I expect a full report.</span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">VEGGIES: </span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">A Memphis reader and Mississippi native is high on<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> TALK O’ TEXAS CRISP PICKLED OKRA. </b>Based
in San Angelo, Texas, the family-owned company’s first major order was to
Neiman Marcus some sixty-three years ago. While our reader didn’t specify, Talk
O’ Texas offers both hot and mild versions. If you can’t find them at your
local grocery store, you can order a jar or two or three directly from the company
by calling their toll-free hot line (</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">1-800-749-6572).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While our
reader apparently likes them straight from the jar, the company’s website
features fans’ recipes for everything from warm pickled okra gumbo dip to tacos
and tartar sauce.</span> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">TRADER JOE’S CREAMY POLENTA WITH SPINACH
AND CARROTS</b>:<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">We have a lot of Trader Joe’s fans among our readers, and
this year’s TJ FIND comes from the Gulf Coast. At 200 calories per serving, fooducate.com
gives it a B+. Their readers echoed our reader’s feelings, with comments like
“Super good!”, “Great for two”, “Just tried it this week. Yummy!”, “Very good.
Wonderful side dish!” and “So good and healthy!”<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">ICE CREAM, SORBETS AND TOPPINGS:<o:p></o:p></span></b> </span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">CIAO BELLA<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">has appeared on our list before in the
form of one of their ice cream offerings <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">CIAO BELLA BLACKBERRY CABERNET SORBET</b>,
which tastes</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> a bit like a frozen version of Welch’s grape juice. Deep purple in
color, it is a heady contradiction of dense and lite, and the perfect warm
weather treat. At just 110 calories for ½ a cup, it </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">is a far lighter choice than CIAO BELLA ice creams, which tend
to weigh in at more than double the calories. And yes, the list of ingredients
includes honest-to-goodness blackberry puree and a wine cabernet reduction.
Cheers!</span> </span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">A Tennessee couple following the Weight Watcher’s diet,
clued us in to the joys of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">WEIGHT WATCHERS COOKIES AND CREAM </b>and<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> DARK CHOCOLATE DULCHE DE LECHE ICE CREAM
BARS</b> (both just 120 calories per bar, with less than 5 grams of fat).
“They’re yummy: seriously dark and chocolaty” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>they write, adding that they’re also fans of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">WEIGHT WATCHERS</b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">STRAWBERRY SMOOTHIE BARS</b>, which, at just 60 calories, are a bit
slimmer, but then again, so are they!<o:p></o:p></span>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;"><strong>FELIX LINGONBERRIES</strong> top one reader's list of toppings. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;">Delicious hot or cold, and straight out of the jar. this Danish is as versatile as it is delicious. “I like it on pancakes” she writes, but goes on to say that it’s also terrific on French toast, over brie, a bowl of ice cream or cereal, adding that “it would be great on a croissant.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mais oui.</span></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">COOKIES: <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Recently, a super-sized version of a Kroger Supermarket
opened in Memphis. The widely expanded store includes a large and intriguing International
section. Two Memphis readers, unknown to and independent of each other, sent in
similar FINDS from the British section</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Reader #1 finds <strong>McVITES DIGESTIVE PLAIN CHOCOLATE COOKIES</strong> downright irresistible. After passing on her <em>FIND</em>, she couldn't get them out of her mind, and headed for her local market for a 'fix.' Upon returning, she shot me an email that said it all: "Dark choc. Yum!!"</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TNd-UOG4Veo/Ua-liL_hh2I/AAAAAAAAAB4/ftRviCwoHzQ/s1600/May+14th+&+15th+2013+017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="204" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TNd-UOG4Veo/Ua-liL_hh2I/AAAAAAAAAB4/ftRviCwoHzQ/s320/May+14th+&+15th+2013+017.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Reader
#2 is a fan of <strong>McVITES</strong> as well, but prefers their<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> HOBNOBS </b>and<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> FRUIT SHORTCAKE
COOKIES.</b> The Hob Nobs are covered in dark chocolate, while the Shortcake
cookies, he says, are light and crispy, similar to Newton’s new fruit cookies.</span> <o:p></o:p></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PE-jX4ZDk2M/Ua-lsxN5VjI/AAAAAAAAACA/DfZz4D15K58/s1600/May+14th+&+15th+2013+018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PE-jX4ZDk2M/Ua-lsxN5VjI/AAAAAAAAACA/DfZz4D15K58/s320/May+14th+&+15th+2013+018.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">SNACKS:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have been a die-hard fan of Paul Newman’s Medium Salsa for years. A moderately-priced, high quality product, it’s one of those delicious but happily low-cal foods that, when paired with a stalk of celery or chip, can take the bite out of hunger.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;">As I eat a good bit of it, I found myself looking for a less expensive, but equally tasty alternative to my brand of choice. After trying numerous versions of various brands, I found the answer, in, of all things, a store brand.</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bVYijggtAbI/Ua-uGt55A8I/AAAAAAAAACQ/Io-lflHJsRk/s1600/more+food+blog+photos+2013+011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bVYijggtAbI/Ua-uGt55A8I/AAAAAAAAACQ/Io-lflHJsRk/s320/more+food+blog+photos+2013+011.JPG" width="257" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>KROGER THICK AND CHUNKY MEDIUM SALSA</strong> is everything a salsa should be: chunky, flavorful and light, it has only 7 calories a teaspoon. Most prepackaged salsas add an intense amount of cilantro to the mix—an herb I tolerate in small portions. I tell you this because both the Newman and Kroger varieties contain little if any cilantro. If you can’t live without it, you might want to pass this FIND by, but it would be your loss</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;">Like
potato chips, once you’ve started eating Walmart’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">GREAT VALUE TRAIL MIX</b>, it’s hard to stop. The reader who sent in
this FIND was looking for something else, and unable to find it, decided to
take a chance on the store’s house brand</span>—<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;">which, it turns out, was loaded with
nuts, raisins and M&M’s. Sometimes you find something special when you least expect it!</span></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;">KIND ALMOND & APRICOT BARS </span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;">are the go-to snack for another reader.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A healthy but satisfying alternative to
the all-American candy bar, these crunchable, munchable bars are “filled with apricots and
nuts.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;">SNACK FACTORY GARLIC PARMESAN PRETZEL CRISPS</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;"> are, according to one reader, flat
like a chip, but with a definite pretzel bent. His wife adds, “They’re baked,
and lighter and crispier than regular pretzels, but still fairly salty.” At
just over ten calories per chip, you can eat a pretty good-sized handful
without feeling guilty. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’ll find them
at, among other places, Walmart and Garden Ridge.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">While rechecking the spelling of my coffee <em>FIND</em> on the Internet, I came across a page loaded with comments from foodies who adored another Aldi's import: <strong>CHOCEUR MILK CREME BARS</strong>. These European chocolates are heavenly, to say the least. Priced at just $1.99 for 7.05 ounces (11 individually wrapped bars), they are far superior to the higher priced chocolates found in specialty stores. The 'creme' isn't cream, but "intensely rich" white chocolate, tucked inside a milk chocolate coating. Dipped into a hot cup of coffee, these rich and chocolately bars are astoundingly good!</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-303QQflk1M8/UbHyLATgDRI/AAAAAAAAADI/zcqmiUfgKIk/s1600/choceur+photo+for+blog+002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-303QQflk1M8/UbHyLATgDRI/AAAAAAAAADI/zcqmiUfgKIk/s320/choceur+photo+for+blog+002.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;">P. S. If you're a fan of hazelnuts and raisins you'll want to try the <strong>CHOCEUR FRUIT & NUT BAR</strong> as well. It comes in one large block of chocolate that you can break off into smaller blocks, and is loaded with whole hazelnuts. Truth be told, all of their chocolates, be they dark, light, white, nutty, crispy and/or fruity, are totally delicious.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;">Looking
for something to stave off hunger without packing on the pounds? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A Mid-South foodie points to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">DAVID ALL NATURAL PUMPKIN SEEDS </b>from
<strong>CONAGRA</strong> <strong>FOODS. </strong>These all-natural,
fresh-roasted nuts are incredibly edible, right down to and including their
shells. Once on DAVID’s website, I was dazzled by a dizzying display of their products,
including an amazing variety of sunflower seeds. Just as chips and pretzels
have gone from straight to sassy, sunflower seeds, it seems have blossomed into
</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-themecolor: text1;">Bar-B-Q, Ranch, Buffalo-style Ranch, Nacho Cheese, Dill Pickle, Jalapeno
Hot salsa, Hot &Spicy and Reduced Sodium versions. It boggles the mind. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Our last <em>FIND </em>comes from a North Carolina reader, who casts
her vote for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">350 CHEESE STRAWS</b>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you’re from the South, you know all about
cheese straws. If not, I can only tell you that they look a cross between a golden-colored
French fry and a similarly-sized accordion, and, at their best, are cheddar cheesy, light and
crispy. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Produced in Beaufort,
North Carolina, they're hand-baked in small batches, and available in selected shops in both North Carolina and Georgia. The rest of us
can order them on-line at 350cheesestraw.com. Packed in an eye-catching tin,
they are perfect for both giving— and getting!<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And so ends <strong>THE THIRD ANNUAL</strong> <strong>FOOD FIND</strong> <strong>EDITION.</strong> Thanks to all of you who shared your <em>FINDS</em> with us. Next time around, I’ll be introducing you to <em><strong>PHYLLIS & HAROLD</strong></em>: a documentary that tries to uncover the reason one couple met, married and stayed married for nearly sixty years. This fascinating film was written and directed by the couple’s daughter: cinematographer Cindy Kleine and co-produced with her director/producer husband, Andre Gregory, best known for his on-screen turn as a cinematic version of himself in <strong><em>MY DINNER WITH ANDRE. </em></strong></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; mso-themecolor: text1;">Till the next time...</span></span></div>
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Jainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02553591299806607498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215928590640748611.post-56604127997895691202013-04-01T16:50:00.000-05:002013-04-02T11:20:23.715-05:00THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">Ever had one of those nights when you’re sound
asleep and then you’re not? You toss, you turn, you punch and fluff your pillow.
You pull the bed covers up. You kick the bed covers off. You lay there eyes
closed. You lay there eyes opened. You turn on the light, and check the clock. It's two a. m. and sleep is a distant dream.</span></div>
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What to do, what to do? Well, I don’t know what
<em>you</em> do, but I generally turn on the TV, find
something that isn’t too scary or intellectually stimulating and watch it until my eyes close and I can get back to the business of sleeping—hopefully,
in a matter of minutes. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I had one of those nights recently, and after what
seemed like an eternity of tossing, turning, punching, fluffing and surfing, I
landed on the Turner Classic Movie channel, where <em>The Buddy Holly Story</em> was
twenty minutes or so into its hour-and-a-half run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you are under the age of fifty, there’s a good
chance you never heard of Buddy Holly, or know little-to-nothing about his
music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can only tell you that he was
an original. He didn’t have the looks to be a heart throb like Elvis Presley or
other teen idols of the day, but his voice was unique. He was also one
of the first rock artists to write, arrange, sing and produce his own material.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">His career was brief, as was his life. He was just
twenty-two when he died in a plane crash along with Ritchie Valens, J.
P. Richardson (a. k. a. "the Big Bopper") and their eighteen-year-old pilot. Singer/songwriter Don McClean would later refer to it as “The day the music died” in 1971’s
<em>American Pie.</em> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">Considering the fact that Holly’s time in the spotlight
was brief—a mere two years from start to finish, he left behind an impressive
list of songs that have turned into classics. His story of an American dream
gone wrong, sounds like something straight out of Hollywood. Small wonder that over
the years several of the country's biggest studios have attempted to bring more than six Holly-related film projects to the screen. Three made it as far as the production stage.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The film I saw on that sleepless night not so long ago was the last of the three, and the only one to make it into the theaters.
The first― <em>A Three-Sided Coin</em>, was written by Jerry Allison, Holly’s bass
player. He was part of the singer’s back-up group; a trio of boyhood pals known
as “the Crickets". Interestingly enough, Gary Busey was chosen to play Allison
in that film. But, without script approval from Holly’s widow, it never saw
the light of day. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The second project, which was green-lighted
by 20<span style="font-size: small;"><sup>th</sup> Century Fox despite the fact that they had yet to procure
the rights to the story, was forced to shut
down production just two weeks into filming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">Why all of these false starts? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, according to most sources, Holly’s widow
felt that her husband’s story would be best told by a small, independent
company, where Holly the <em>man</em> wouldn’t be overshadowed by the star chosen to
portray him.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">She got her wish when producers Fred Bauer and Ed Cohen, along
with director Steve Rash came calling. The trio had produced several well-received
music-related productions, and were keen on the Holly project. Their interest, expertise and promise to cast an
unknown in the title role won the widow over. Hands were shaken, contracts
were signed, and the process of finding that great unknown began.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">But finding someone
who could not only act but talk, sing, play the guitar and perform like Holly was to say the least, a bit daunting, and the producers realized that there was a good chance they were going to have to go with an actor who could lip-sync to Holly's tracks. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">And then came Joyce Selznick, who, as casting director for one of the earlier Holly flicks, had seen, heard and championed a fellow named Gary Busey for the title role. Selznick turned them on to the native Texan, and wit</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">h rights
secured, money procured,and actor lured, success was―hopefully, assured, and the Buddy
Holly Story was on its way. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Now, if you’re under the age of <em>forty,</em> there’s a
good chance you only know </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Gary Busey as that lovable but crazy gray-haired guy on TV’s <em>Celebrity Apprentice</em>, this despite the fact that he has appeared in any number of films through the years, including <em>Lethal Weapon</em> and the Streisand/ Kristofferson version of <em>A Star Is Born</em>, and has appeared as himself in various episodes of <em>Two and a Half Men</em>, HBO’s <em>Entourage</em> and <em>Celebrity ReHab with Doctor Drew</em>. </span></span></div>
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I think the last thing I saw him in on the <em>big</em> screen was in 1992’s <em>The Firm</em>, where he played a burnt out PI who met his Maker while his secretary/girlfriend (Holly Hunter) hu<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ddled </i>under his desk where she had been – well, that’s a story for another day.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><em>The Firm</em> aside, my most vivid memory of Gar</span>y Busey
dates back to his public stance against wearing a helmet while riding a
motorcycle, despite the fact that the lack of one had nearly cost him his life.
Over the years various health professionals have speculated that the brain
damage the actor suffered when his bike hit the asphalt in 1988, caused damage
that basically took away his filter mechanism, causing him to “speak and act
impulsively.” </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">While Busey’s antics on Mr. Trump’s reality show may make for
good television, it is, at least in my opinion, a waste of the man’s considerable
talent. I</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">’d forgotten just how talented he was, until that
sleepless night in my not-so-distant past. Even in my sleep-deprived state, I
was mesmerized by his performance. When I finally turned the TV off at― gasp―4:00 a.m., I made a mental note to add the film to my NetFlix queue, and watch
it again when I wasn’t half way between groggy and slumberland.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I would not be disappointed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Given the constraints of the film’s meager budget and Mrs. Holly’s wishes, the film’s cast was made up of
less-than-familiar faces.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today, more than two decades after its
release, viewers may recognize a few actors, but in 1979, even Gary Busey was a
virtual unknown. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">Busey fit comfortably into Holly’s shoes. Like
Holly, he hailed from Texas, no need to affect an accent. What's more, he was a working musician, singing and playing
guitar with the Leon Russell band under the name Teddy Jack Eddie. With some
minor acting credits to his credit, and an infectious enthusiasm and energy, the
actor/singer/musician was, as they say on TV’s talent competitions, 'the whole
package', albeit a bit chunkier. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But not for long. By the time filming began,
Busey had dropped thirty pounds from his one-hundred-and-seventy pound frame to
more closely resemble the wafer-thin musician. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">Gary Busey was thirty-three when he took on the role that
called for him to portray Holly from his nineteenth to twenty-second year, but, unlike Kevin Spacey, who
appeared far too old to play Bobby Darin in 2005’s <em>Beyond the Sea</em>, I never even
thought to question the age disparity. For me at least, he <em>was</em> Buddy Holly. The
words he spoke didn’t sound like something he’d memorized; he owned them, his
performance completely natural an unaffected. In short, he looked like Holly, talked like Holly, sang like
Holly, and moved like Holly. It really is an incredible performance. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And the music is incredible. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Outside of some guitar overdubs by Busey’s friend,
</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Jerry Zaremba, what you see on film is what you get. Aided by
Don Stroud as the Cricket’s drummer, and Charlie Martin Smith on stand-up bass,
</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Busey
shows us why Holly’s music deserves to be remembered. You’ll be dancing in your seat to songs <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>like <em>That’ll Be the Day</em>,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><em>It’s So Easy</em>, <em>Heartbeat</em>, <em>Peggy Sue</em>, <em>Every
Day</em>, <em>Words of Love</em>, <em>Maybe Baby</em>, <em>Will Not Fade Away</em>, <em>Oh Boy!,</em> <em>It Doesn't Matter Anymore</em>, and <em>True Love Ways</em>
―Holly’s only ballad. Based on the spiritual <em>I Will Get By</em>, it is quite
something. I could not get it out of my mind for days. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">Considering the fact that the entire film was made
for somewhere around two million dollars (a minuscule budget, even in 1967), the
producers got a lot of bang for their buck. Yes, they used the
same concert venue for all of the various theater shots, altering its appearance with a change of curtains, lighting, and camera angles, and yes, the
majority of sets are modest. Then again, so was Holly’s life. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"><o:p>What's more important is the quality of the musical sequences, be they in a studio or performance setting. A lot has been made of the fact that the sound track in 2012's <em>Les Miserables</em> was recorded on camera rather than having the actors lip-sinc to prerecorded tracks, as is the norm in movie musicals. But as good as it is, is was not the first.</o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">As we learn on the Holly DVD’s commentary track,
Busey and his fellow musicians sang and played on camera, giving these
sequences an energy and realistic turn that sets them apart from other films in
that genre. Budget and time restrictions made them feel even more spontaneous,
as a tight three-day schedule for all of the concert sequences often precluded
rehearsing the numbers before they were filmed. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As a result, they are a far more realistic. Lyrics are flubbed, and unscripted moments are caught on
film, as when Busey’s mic chord gets tangled in a piece of equipment during one of the concert
sequences. Like any seasoned musician, he keeps on going, making it through
without falling down or stressing out.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">That’s not to say that the movie doesn’t have its
flaws. There are more than a few over-the-top moments, the worst of which takes
place early-on, when a DJ goes a little crazy, playing Holly’s first record for
hours on end. The resulting mayhem, as portrayed on screen, has everyone from
the station manager to a couple of over-zealous policeman breaking down the studio
door to stop him. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If such an event actually did take place (and I have my doubts)
it was no doubt resolved with a turn of a key, as opposed to brute force. Farther
into the film, shots of an all-black audience in Harlem’s legendary Apollo Theater
feel staged. But <em>on</em>-stage, where it counts, the action, music, and electricity
are real. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">Some of the characters and situations are not. As
with most bio pics, a good many liberties were taken in presenting Holly’s
story. In this case, previous contractual agreements prevented the producers
from using the Cricket’s real names. Time
lines were rearranged, three Crickets morphed into two, and other characters
were omitted, created or melded together in order to move the plot forward. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Understandably, some of those who knew Holly were
more than a bit put out by these changes, but compared to, say, <em>Night and Day</em>,
the 1946 film about Cole Porter that totally misrepresented his private life, <em>The Buddy Holly Story</em> is a fair representation of the singer's final
years, and is—despite the knowledge that things will end badly, a joy to
watch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">You’ll also find the DVD’s commentary track to be
a treasure trove of information. Recorded in 1998, a full twenty years after
the film’s release, it features Busey and director Steve Rash chatting about everything
from the singer to his family and music, to the way the production came together. </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Armed with all of this insightful information,</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> you will no doubt want to go back and watch the film yet again.</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><em>The Buddy Holly
Story</em> won two Oscars, one for Best Adapted Score, the other, for Best Sound (a
triumph given the technology available to them in 1967). But while Busey was
nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role, he lost the award to Jon Voight for his work
in <em>Coming Home</em>. That said, he was in good company; other nominees in that
category included Robert DeNiro (<em>The Deer Hunter</em>), Warren Beaty (<em>Heaven Can
Wait</em>) and Sir Lawrence Olivier (<em>The Boys from Brazil</em>). </span><span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">Though we know how the story ends, this is not a
sad film. The last frames are spent on stage, where, after wowing the crowd with his music, a buoyant
Holly waves ‘good-bye’ before heading off to catch his flight, leaving the viewer with a real sense of what a talent he was, and what a gifted actor Gary Busey
<em>is</em>. With any luck he will find his way to another great role, and thrill us all, all over again.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></span>Jainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02553591299806607498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215928590640748611.post-46946395823688016652013-03-03T12:24:00.000-06:002013-03-03T12:52:34.494-06:00 SIAO YU<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Remember
<em>Hill Street Blues</em>? It was a big hit back in the 1980s</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">—</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> a cop show with an ensemble cast headed by Daniel J.
Travanti. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After the
show went off the air in 1987 we heard little from Travanti, though he appeared
in a number of made-for-cable films, and a couple of short-lived series. It
wasn’t until 2002 that he had the chance to take on what I would consider to be
the role of a lifetime, this time, on the big screen.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Though <em>Saio
Yu</em> takes its name from its young female heroine, it is</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">—</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">at least in my opinion, Travanti’s picture. As Mario Moretti,
an over-the-hill writer who hasn’t actually written anything since a nonfiction
expose on the poultry industry some thirty years prior, Travanti is at his
best.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I am a fan
of understated acting, believing that</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">—</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">with very few exceptions, less<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">—</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"></span> as
they say, is more. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Travanti’s <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>demeanor tells us far more about his character
than the words he is dealt on the scripted page: a script handsomely crafted by
Sylvia Change, who also directed the film, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Geling Yang<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>and Ang Lee, the much –lauded filmmaker who was recently up for a Best
Director Oscar for his work on <em>Life of Pi.</em><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">At its
heart, this Taiwanese drama is a story of coping, hoping and living life
between the lines. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It revolves around a
twenty-four year old illegal immigrant named Siao Yu (Rene Liu), who came to
America from Mainland China as a tourist and never went home. It was all part
of a master plan engineered by the young girl’s boyfriend Gang Wei (Chung Hua
Tou), who is in the country on a student visa, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and his mother. The plan, if fulfilled, would
almost certainly offer the couple a chance at a better life as citizens of
these United States. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">While Gang
Wei’s status is at least temporarily legal, Saio Yu’s is not. As one of a dozens
of young Asian women working in a sweat shop on Manhattan’s lower east side, she
appears to be but a stitch away from discovery and deportation. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gang Wei is understandably nervous, and anxious
to put the plan into action, even if it means standing by as his girlfriend
marries someone else. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not just any someone,
mind you, but an <em>American</em> someone.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Are you still
with me? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You see, if
Saio Yu can marry an American, and theirs is deemed to be a proper marriage, she
will, as the wife of an American, get a Green card. With that card in hand she
can then divorce the American, marry Gang Wei, and ride off into the sunset. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>At least that’s the plan.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The trick,
of course, is to find an American who is willing to go along with the charade,
while making it appear to the ever-vigilant authorities that theirs is, in
fact, a ‘real’ marriage. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Where to
turn, where to turn? Match.com? Hardly. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Of course,
just about anything – even a male-order bridegroom, can be had if you have
enough green. A buddy down at the docks where Gang Wei works introduces him to
a guy who knows a guy who has arranged five such hitches without a glitch. The price? A paltry ten
thousand dollars–a bargain!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Which brings
us to Mario, who, it seems, has a bit of a gambling problem. As the film opens
he’s in big trouble, with a $9,000 marker he has no way of repaying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One not-so-subtle warning punch- in-the-stomach
later, Mario’s got the message: pay up, or you’re going down. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Which brings
us back to our couple, and the ever-so-helpful matchmaker. Turns out he’s the
same guy Mario is into for the nine grand, which makes for some interesting
negotiations.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When the
deal is done, the couple has handed over their life-savings. In return, they
get their American bride groom, who hands over his portion of the transaction
to the big boss, erasing his gambling debt and allowing him to live <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>another day. And the extra thousand? Call it
postage and handling or better yet, a finder’s fee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Match made.
Debt paid. Life saved. All is well. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>Hell-o</em>
Dolly!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ten thousand-under-the-table-dollars
later, Siao Yu meets the man of her schemes. Some forty years her senior, Mario
appears to be far older than his years, drinking, smoking and gambling his way into oblivion. Burnt-out, washed up and over the hill, it would appear that he is but a cough away
from the coffin. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After a
brief ceremony, a wedding photo is taken to mark the occasion. It is a gesture
intended to document the marriage rather than preserve the memory. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course the immigration authorities have
seen it all before, and know that such unholy unions are all too common. It
doesn’t take them long to get on the case, showing up at Mario’s apartment all
hours of the day and night to see if the couple is really<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">—</span>a couple. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It soon becomes apparent that if they’re going
to get away with this sham of a marriage, they’re going to need a lot more than
a photograph and marriage license.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">And so it is
that, with great reluctance,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Saio Yu moves
into her new husband’s cramped apartment: a move that does not sit well with Gang
Wei<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">—</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"></span>or Mario for that matter, who didn’t sign up for a roommate.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Before long,
one glitch begets another, and another, and another, as more people, problems
and personalities come into play. How these characters cope, evolve, and
resolve their problems makes for an interesting hour-and forty-four minutes-worth
of bitter-sweet moments and unexpected revelations laced with a modicum of
humor. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Adapted from Yang's novel, <em>Saio Yu</em> is less about plot than it is about relationships: a story of opportunities lost, and chances taken.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A tale of love and jealousy, worry and
wonder, friendship and deception, intervention and contemplation. Its
characters are as well-drawn as its story is compelling.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">If I have one
complaint or issue with the film, it is in its resolution. Not quite pat, but
not quite perfect. Then again, few things are.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Jainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02553591299806607498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215928590640748611.post-27842426256481936722013-01-16T12:17:00.000-06:002013-02-08T16:19:23.107-06:00BEST FRIENDS<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">The year was 1982.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shoulder
pads and leg warmers were in, mutton chops were out, and the computer was Time
Magazine’s <em>Man of the Year</em>, even though most of us were still pounding things
out on our electric typewriters. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">At forty-six, and a full ten years after his centerfold in
<em>Playgirl</em> magazine, Burt Reynolds was still fit enough to take it all off –
again, in the old-school romantic comedy, <em>Best Friends</em>.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">Goldie Hawn, his thirty-seven year-old co-star, brought her
own star-power to the project, thanks to a highly successful turn as the producer
and star of 1980’s <em>Private Benjamin</em>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">Though neither Hawn nor Reynolds was young by Hollywood
standards, they had yet to turn to injectables and cosmetic surgeries—a good
thing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And while <em>Best Friends</em> wouldn’t
garner any awards, or pump up their careers in any discernible way, it was, and
remains a highly watchable film. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">At its best, it is simply terrific. There are at least three
scenes within its 116 minute frame that are truly unforgettable. The first
takes place in a wedding chapel. No more than four minutes long, it is a
classic. The other two scenes, featuring the divinely talented Jessica Tandy,
are equally as good if not more so, and not to be missed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For these three scenes alone, this film is
worth watching.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">Burt and Goldie play </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">Richard
Babson and Paula McCullen, a couple of screenwriters who work and live
together. They are a winsome twosome, much like Barry
Levinson and Valerie Curtin―the film’s cowriters, on whom the film is loosely
based. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">Richard and Paula
are the ideal Hollywood couple. Great looking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Crazy about each other. Sexual. Smart―a team in every way. As writing partners,
they make a pretty good living turning out saleable but ultimately forgettable screen
plays for a sleaze of a producer named Larry Weisman. Ron Silver slivers into
the part, bringing this goofy, slimy, jerk of a bad boy to life. No one does sleaze
like Silver. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">As we meet Paula and Richard, they are in the midst of
writing yet another screen play for Weisman’s studio. It’s going slowly, but
undeterred, the couple takes some time out to shower and deflower. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">While it is never stated, we understand that this is a
long-standing relationship, and while Paula is of the “if it ‘ain’t broke, don’t
fix it” school of thought, and content to leave things as they are, Richard, who
is nine years her senior, yearns for something more. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">Eventually, a still-wary Paula sets her marriage reservations
aside, and makes a couple of others: booking two tickets on an Amtrak train headed
east, where they will meet the parents for the first time. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">But before they shuffle off to Buffalo, where Paula’s
parents await, the couple makes a pit stop at a no-frills wedding chapel, where
Richard Libertini in an inspired bit of casting, marries them in a quick but unforgettable
exchanging of vows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">Then it’s on to the station, and a cross-country train ride
that rivals 1981’s <em>Continental Divide</em>. Not many people travel across country by
train these days, but, like making love on the sand (think Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr) or sleeping
under a star-lit sky (i.e. Jane Fonda and Robert Redford), there is something
wildly romantic (if not realistically comfortable) about the idea of lovers
bedding down in a small but cozy cabin for two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> But as we soon see, it is as challenging as it is romantic. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">There is, on one-hand, the heavenly combination of starry skies
and wind-swept snow falling just outside their cabin's window as the train<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>rocks along, while on the other hand, there
are the two foot-by-five foot bunk beds that would test the ardor and dexterity
of even the most enthusiastic of lovers. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">Just watching Richard and Paula trying to
fit into the same lower bunk, is hilariously sweet. Concessions to the
limitations of the cabin, even more so. What can I say? It’s a great ride.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">But all good things must come to an end, and before we know
it, we’re in snowy, frigidly-cold Buffalo, New York, where Paula’s elderly
parents (Jessica Tandy and Bernard Hughes) are ready and waiting at the
station. Tandy is dandy as Paula’s eccentric mother: her comedic timing never
better, especially in those two truly unforgettable scenes I mentioned earlier.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">The first takes place in Paula’s teenage bedroom, where
Richard finds himself all alone by the telephone – or more to the point, the
frigidly-open window.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paula, it seems, will be
sleeping in another bedroom, as in this household, she will always be a virginal
sweet sixteen. Here, all beds are twin beds, and never the twins shall meet. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">As Richard prepares for bed, Paula’s mom stops by to tuck
him in for the night. Pulling the bed covers up just below her son-in-law’s nose,
she tucks him tightly, throws open the sash, kisses him on the forehead, turns
out the light and closes the door behind her. Beautifully written and executed, it is cold gold: a true bit of
window silliness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">But as good as it is, another Tandy scene, is even better. Set
in the master bathroom, it involves a mother-daughter heart-to-heart: a comedic
tour de force tinged with the bitter-sweet realities of a long-standing
marriage and joys and foibles of growing old together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">Leg two of the trip finds the newlyweds in the senior
Babson’s Virginia condo, where Richard’s sister (Veronica Cartwright) has come
home to roost after her recent divorce. More caricatures than characters, Richard's side of the family―including his parents (Audra Lindley and Keenan Wynn) are both overdrawn and overacted. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">To be fair, I should tell you that I am not a fan of broad
comedy, and what I may think of as too broad, may not be broad enough for your
taste. I also admit that some of the situations in this section of the
film may strike a familiar chord, as most of us have found ourselves in situations
where we needed some sort of help to get through the day. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">The traumatized couple eventually makes their way back to L.A., where, despite the fact that they are barely talking to each other, they must finish a script that is, by this point, long overdue. Can they pull it off? Will the marriage survive? Was Paula right after all? </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">Should they have remained best
friends, or―to steal a more current title, <em>Friends with Benefits</em>? It’s a
romantic comedy. What do you think?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">Before you press the ‘Happily ever after button” remember
that the film was loosely based on the real-life relationship of its writers,
who, sad to say, divorced in 1981— roughly the same time as the movie was
being filmed. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">Whether Levinson and Curtin wrote the script before they separated,
I do not know. But at least on the screen, their sense of humor and respect for
each other remained intact to the apparently not-so-bitter end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As for Paula and Richard’s relationship, well,
that’s another story. Let’s just say that outside of <em>Roman Holiday</em>, I am hard-pressed to
think of one romantic comedy where the couple didn’t live happily ever after―together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">The music, which is very much of the time, is similar to
other film scores of the period.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Masterfully
penned by Marilyn and Alan Bergman and Michel Legrand, its theme song (“How Do
You Keep the Music Playing?”), garnered an Academy Award Nomination, and was
subsequently recorded by everyone from Frank Sinatra to</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A9line_Dion" title="Céline Dion"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum; mso-themecolor: text1; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Céline Dion</span></a><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum; mso-themecolor: text1;">.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum; mso-themecolor: text1;"> <br />
<br />
For director Norman Jewison, who had put his thumb print on a couple of Doris
Day flicks some years earlier, <em>Best Friends</em> was another jewel in his romantic
comedy crown. But it wasn’t until 1987’s <em>Moonstruck</em>, that he really hit his stride
in that genre. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum; mso-themecolor: text1;">Barry Levinson would also
go on to write and/or direct a series of highly successful films, including <em>The
Natural</em>, <em>Avalon</em>, <em>Rain Man</em>, <em>Diner</em>, <em>Good Morning Viet Nam</em>, <em>And Justice for All</em>, and the uncredited scripting of 1982’s <em>Tootsie</em>. That’s a lot of great movie
making, and he’s still going strong.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum; mso-themecolor: text1;">If any of the above films are
on your “hit” list, I think you’ll enjoy this underrated, overlooked and
generally forgotten film. Better yet, make it a double feature, tacking on Neil
Simon’s <em>Chapter Two</em>. Like <em>Best Friends</em>, it too is based on the writer’s
real-life marriage. Like Levinson and Curtin, Simon and his wife Marsha Mason ―
who played a celluloid version of herself in the film, would also part, though they
would remain together for another five years before calling it a wrap. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum; mso-themecolor: text1;">But hey, this is Hollywood, and
while the song has ended for these real-life couples, the melody lingers on in
the form of these two hopefully romantic movies. Despite it's flaws, <em>Best Friends</em> delivers some of the silver screens’ most memorable comedic
moments. Like a newlywed's first roast, it is surprisingly tasty and
ultimately satisfying, despite the fact that it may be slightly overdone.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Jainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02553591299806607498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215928590640748611.post-71621315242509106342012-12-13T21:06:00.000-06:002012-12-18T18:32:17.322-06:00GLORIOUS 39<span style="font-size: large;">Last year at just about this time, I introduced you to a film called <i>Joyeux Noel</i>. Based on fact, it revolved around a 1941 World War I Christmas truce, as seen through the eyes of French, German and Scottish soldiers.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">One year later, I find myself writing about another wartime film, 2009’s <i>Glorious 39</i>. I was drawn to this British import by its extraordinary cast of personal favorites, including Julie Christie – <i>Dr. Zhivago’s </i>“Laura”, Hugh Bonneville of <i>Downton Abbey </i>fame, and Bill Nighy, who first came to my attention as the woozy over-the-hill rocker in <i>Love Actually</i>. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Writer/director Stephen Poliakoff wrote <i>Glorious 39 </i>with Nighy in mind, having worked with him twice before. But it is Romala Garai, who is the star of the piece, as she is in nearly every frame. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Far from a perfect movie, the film is still worth watching for any number of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that it looks into the whys and wherefores of the appeasement movement, a subject that is often sidelined by other WWII films.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Promoted by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in the late nineteen thirties, appeasement was championed by those who believed that by making certain concessions, or as historian Paul Kennedy put it, "satisfying grievances through rational negotiation and compromise”, Great Britain could avoid war with Nazi Germany. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Many of those who were directly involved in the movement had served in World War I - the memory of the horrors of war, still fresh in their collective minds. The thought of another war following so closely on its heels was unthinkable, and to be avoided at all costs. Those words – “at all costs” – found so-called “good” people doing very bad things for what they believed to be the greater good. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Judging them and their motives now, with the benefit of hindsight, gives the viewer a decided advantage. But at the time, they believed that there was no way Great Britain could outfight Germany. For them, (particularly those on the top financial and social tiers of society), appeasement was a viable alternative to almost certain defeat, and the demise of a lifestyle to which they had become accustomed. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Apparently historians are still debating the issue, but for me at least, this film, fictional though it may be, sheds some light on the times, temperament and transgressions of the people within the movement. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Taking its title from what has been described as the picture-perfect summer of 1939, <i>Glorious 39</i> begins on a stunningly beautiful afternoon in mid-August. We are in the low lands of Norfolk, some 100 miles east London. Here,on the grounds of a grand country estate, where everything is as it has been for decades,seemingly undisturbed by the dark, foreboding under-current of the approaching ‘storm'. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">We watch as a small cluster of young people play some sort of harmless war game amidst the stones and sheds that dot the property. And then, in one digi-second, we are transported to 2009, where, on a tony London street, a young boy by the name of Michael Walton (Toby Regbo) calls on Walter and Oliver Page, his two elderly cousins. It is the first time the brothers have seen the boy since he was a toddler, and they are obviously and humorously unraveled by his visit. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Michael explains that he has sought them out in order to solve a family mystery involving his great aunt, Anne Keyes (Romola Garai), a beautiful young actress who disappeared during the first days of World War II. The brothers, it seems, are the only surviving members of the family who are old enough to have been there when she disappeared. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Decidedly uncomfortable with the idea of revisiting those fateful days, Walter is hesitant. “It’s not always a good place to go, Michael – the past” he warns, but back we go, to Norfolk, and the great estate, where the youngsters we saw earlier, slightly older now in their late teens and early twenties, are showing some friends around the grounds of the Keyes family’s country estate. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">We hear Walter’s voice over their laughter and mindless chatter, as he recalls the summer of thirty-nine. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">WALTER: <i>“It was the most glorious summer most people could remember for a very long time. The year before it seemed that the war with Germany had been averted a policy of appeasing Hitler and reasoning with him really had worked. And even now, it seemed it might still work.” </i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">And now we are there. The sky is blue. The sun is warm. The view is to die for. In the center of the grounds we see a large tent dressed, ready and waiting in quiet anticipation. It is one of those willowy-romantic affairs that speaks of a privileged lifestyle. Inside its billowy walls, a formal table covered in crisp white linen is set with crystal stemware and fine china, as staff, family and invited guests await the arrival of Sir Alexander Keyes (Bill Nighy), the family patriarch. It is Sir Alexander’s birthday, and no expense has been spared, no napkin, plate or goblet left unturned for what will certainly be a night to remember. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">We learn that Sir Alexander, a well-respected member of the House of Commons, has, over time, chosen to take a back seat in the political hierarchy for health reasons that are never explored. And yet we are told, he still wields considerable influence. Charming, noble - writer of books and giver of speeches, he is, by all accounts a man to be admired. A family man who loves and is loved by his wife and children. His eldest, Michael’s great aunt Anne, was adopted by Alexander and his wife Maud some twenty years before, believing that they were incapable of having children of their own. To their great surprise, a few months after Anne’s arrival, Maud became pregnant with a son they would name Ralph (Eddie Rayme), and later, a daughter named Celia (Juno Temple). </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Now in her late teens, Celia looks up to her twenty-something older sister, whom she views as living a wildly romantic life both on and off the screen. Brother Ralph, who has followed his father into government service, is extremely fond of Anne as well, although there is an inescapable competitiveness his part. Yet and still, this is a loving, family, where Anne is treated as an equal. There are even times when it would appear that she holds a special place in her father’s heart. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">As portrayed by Bill Nighy, Sir Alexander outwardly views the times with quiet reserve. While he is obviously against the war, he is far from its most vocal critic. Having fought and been wounded in WWI, his memories of the war are still fresh, and he tells Anne that he is fearful of what a second war – following so closely on the heels of the first, could mean to his country, his family, and life as they know it. Brother Ralph and sister Celia have similar leanings. Mother Maud says little, preferring to concentrate on the health of the estate’s garden. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Alexander’s sister, Elizabeth (Julie Christie), is a much stronger presence: a woman who enjoys the life afforded her by her station. Flighty and self-consumed, she is both a party-giver and goer, appearing to see the war as more of a nuisance than anything else. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">While the Keyes family grounds the story, friends, lovers and colleagues drive it forward, establishing motives and revealing consequences. When Anne stumbles upon some potentially damaging recorded material on the grounds of the estate, the war becomes far more personal, as she is catapulted into the quiet fury of the times. Suddenly people she cares about are dying all around her, silenced by their own hand, or murdered for their political beliefs. It doesn’t take long for her to realize that no one is safe, and everyone is suspect. And while her family goes to extraordinary lengths to keep her free from harm, she cannot help by see her place and status within their ranks change, as her roots are questioned, and ties, unbound. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">One can see how, in the light of impending war, the line between right and might can become blurred, and even those with no political connections, must figure out who to trust and who to fear. What to believe and what to question. What to do, and what not to do when everything you thought to be true, isn’t.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">In Poliakoff’s ’s world, wolves gad about in sheep’s clothing, with few obvious villains aside from the menacing Joseph Balcombe (Jeremy Northham), a decidedly evil government operative who arrives with Alexander in time for the birthday dinner.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Beyond the high drama, and the answer―if there is one― to young Michael's question as to what became of his great aunt, there is the undeniable reality of how quickly things can change in time of war. Rules go out the window. Identities are challenged. Families are uprooted. Homes are abandoned. Animals are euthanized. Hearts are broken. Lives are shattered, and time is suspended. The only certainty―uncertainty. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Days after watching this motion picture, knowing what I know about Hitler, and the horror of the Holocaust, I find myself wondering what the world would be like today, had the misguided efforts of the appeasement movement gone unchecked. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Talk about scary stuff.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Glorious 39</i> is an unsettling and uneven movie: a bit too slow, too long and too wordy. Those of you who are fans of the quick cut and short scene will no doubt grow impatient with its deliberate pace. Billed as a thriller, it never set my heart racing. There were no great reveals. No red herrings. No amazing plot twists or Hitchcockian moments. I tell you this as I believe that you will realize early-on who has done what to whom. Yet, despite its girth, pace and probability, this thoughtful, handsomely cast film offers a unique perspective on one of history’s defining moments. For that reason alone, I believe that it is well worth your time and (im)patience. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Why now? Why not? This is, after all, a time when we sing of peace on earth and good will toward men. A time to reflect on our many blessings, not the least of which is the freedom we enjoy and the brave men and women who are putting their lives on the line to protect all that we hold dear. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">There are a lot of wonderful, uplifting Christmas films out there. You’ll find many of them listed in previous posts. My favorite, <i>Christmas in Connecticut</i>, is a delightful bit of whimsy that the whole family can enjoy. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">So what will it be? <i>Glorious 39</i> or <i>Christmas in Connecticut</i>? They are about as different as different can be. Watch one, or both, when and where you like. As we used to say when I was a little girl, "It's a free country, and you can do as you please."</span>Jainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02553591299806607498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215928590640748611.post-19053767377615747222012-09-28T16:22:00.000-05:002012-09-28T16:28:37.021-05:00THE NATURALREVISITING ONE OF ROBERT REDFORD'S BEST <br />
<br />
Yesterday, as I was preparing for my day, I saw a segment on NBC's <i>Today Show </i>about a 31-year-old former ball player named Adam Greenberg. I’m not a sports buff, but Adam’s story caught my attention. Back in 2005, on his very first day in the majors, the Chicago Cubs’ outfielder was hit in the back of his head by a 92-mph fastball, literally ending his career. To hear Greenberg tell it, it was much like the opening lines of <i>A Tale of Two Cities</i> going from the best of times to the worst of times in one, life-altering moment. <br />
<br />
Filmmaker Matt Liston couldn’t get Adam’s story out of his mind, and though he literally didn’t know Adam from Adam, he set out to help the ballplayer get one official major league at-bat. Undeterred by the Cub’s dismissal of the idea, Liston posted an on-line petition asking for support, with the hope of getting one of the majors to give Adam a chance. At the time of this writing, over 25,000 people had signed on.<br />
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In the seven years between that ill-fated day and Thursday’s interview, a determined Adam Greenberg was hard at work, getting his body in shape, while knowing that at thirty-one, his chances of getting a second chance at bat were slim.<br />
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The morning show’s segment began with an explanatory video followed by a brief interview with host, Matt Lauer. Moments before the segment was set to end, there was, as they say, the great reveal, by remote broadcast, David Samson, General Manager of the Marlins (the very team the Cubs were playing on what was to be his first and last game) stepped up to the virtual plate. In a mighty mix of good will and great PR, Samson offered Goldberg a one-day contract. Both Goldberg and Liston were understandably overwhelmed.<br />
<br />
While Greenberg’s story reminded Liston of Terrance Mann (James Earl Jones’ cantankerous recluse in 1989’s <i>Field of Dreams</i>, I was reminded of Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford), the central character in <i>The Natural</i>, the film that breathed new life to an aging and discarded genre. Like Hobbs, Greenberg's story is about baseball, a thirty-something rookie, and a chance at a second chance. Any similarity ends there.<br />
<br />
Now, I don’t usually write about big pictures, and this film, with its four-star company and equal number of Academy Award nominations, certainly falls into that category. But it’s a picture worth seeing again, especially since a few years back a DVD Anniversary Edition provided us with the Director’s cut, featuring twenty minutes of never-before-seen footage and a totally reworked first act. <br />
<br />
By tightening some sequences and expanding others, the production team was able to add only six minutes to the film's total running time, while producing a piece that, we are told, a great deal closer to the original intent of the script. Director Barry Levinson offers it as an alternative rather than a substitute for the original. With more time to establish why Hobbs is the way he is, it is a darker, more intimate view of the ballplayer’s life and mindset. <br />
<br />
Based on the 1952 novel by Bernard Malamud, <i>The Natural</i> begins somewhere in the Midwest. It’s 1923, and, spotted by Sam Simpson, and older but wiser scout/agent, the 19-year-old minor league player is given the opportunity to try out for the Chicago Cubs. And so it is that Hobbs leaves his boyhood home and sweetheart (Iris Gaines - a fetchingly warm, Glenn Close)behind, promising to bring her to Chicago as soon as he is able. <br />
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Fresh from an eight-game streak of no hitters, the young ballplayer’s confidence is shaken when, shortly after boarding the train to Chicago, he is introduced to Max Mercy (Robert Duvall), a hard-nosed syndicated sportswriter/cartoonist and his Babe-Ruth-like pal, known to baseball fans as “The Whammer.” Mercy obviously enjoys his relationship with the idol, a bigheaded bully who likes nothing better than to belittle anyone who might possibly threaten his standing. Moments after the obligatory handshake, The mean-spirited duo set about undermining Roy's confidence, raising doubts in his mind as to his readiness for the majors.<br />
<br />
A short time later the train makes a 30-minute water stop, where a carnival is in progress. While the Whammer parades his batting skills before a captive crowd, Hobbs seeks out one of the carnival's games of skill, hurling balls at bottles with an uncanny rate of accuracy. When one ball fails to connect, The Whammer and his pal show no mercy, taunting the player with a series of cruel and demeaning barbs. Having had enough, Simpson lays his money down and places his bet: Hobbs vs. the Whammer: three throws/three strikes. <br />
<br />
The far-from-humble icon is both unfazed by the challenge. "You old boozer," he retorts, "your brain must be full of mush. This sh-t-kicker couldn't strike me out with 100 pitches." <br />
<br />
But strike him out he does: a feat that does not go unnoticed by Mercy, who, while shrugging it off as pure luck, is impressed enough to draw a quick sketch of the match, underscored by the words, "Three balls - three strikes". His relationship with Whammer in jeopardy should he print it, there is little doubt that the cartoon will ever make the morning paper. <br />
<br />
Back on the train, a mysterious woman in black by the name of Harriet Bird (Barbara Hershey) takes Hobbs’ win seriously. Making her way to his seat, she turns on the charm, showering him with compliments. Flattered, his confidence boosted by the day's triumph, Hobbs confides, “Someday I’ll break every record in the book. I know I got it in me.”<br />
<br />
“What do you hope to accomplish?” she prods.<br />
<br />
“When I walk down the street, people will say, ‘There goes Roy Hobbs, the best there ever was.'"<br />
<br />
“Is that all?” she asks.<br />
<br />
“Well,” he replies, quizzically, "what else is there?”<br />
<br />
It is the answer to that question that drives the story and turns the tide, as, in short order, a life-altering event insures that Hobbs never makes it to first base.<br />
<br />
When he resurfaces some sixteen years later, seemingly out of nowhere, any connection to his triumph by the train has been all but forgotten. He is a man with no past, and a very imposing present, almost single-handedly digging the flailing New York Knights out of last place. Hell bent on finding out who this mystery man is, Mercy (whose is vaguely aware that he’s seen the ball payer before) pokes and prods and pokes some more. But Hobbs isn’t talking.<br />
<br />
What Mercy finds, and how it impacts the thirty-six year old rookie and baseball in general, are just two of the components in this darkly shaded, finely tuned tale. <br />
<br />
<i>The Natural</i> is of the few films of substance that has something for just about everyone. Funny, romantic, serious and sensuous, troubled and triumphant, it is a story about a boy and his bat, a man and his woman, a player and his dream, and the uplifting and underbelly sides of the great American pastime. <br />
<br />
Some of the generations’ most formidable actors serve up first-rate performances, with Redford, Close and Duvall leading the way. They are backed up by one of the best supporting casts ever assembled in one film, including Wilford Brimley and one of my all-time favorite character actors, the late Richard Farnsworth. The chemistry between the two men is palpable, and makes for some of the film’s most natural and amusing exchanges. Kim Bassinger, as a woman with split alliances and motivations, won a Golden Globe for her role as femme fatalle, Memo Paris. Like a heavy-hitter at the top of his game, this wildly talented ensemble knocks it out of the park.<br />
<br />
Some years ago I was wandering through an open-air, Nashville flea market when I came upon a booth filled with movie memorabilia. Among the offerings, a series of waist-up, life-size, particle board-backed, black and white photographs of men in vintage clothing, posed as if they were seated in a baseball stadium. There must have been twenty-to-thirty different groups of two, all of which were used to fill out large expanses of empty seats in sequences calling for a backdrop of people-filled bleachers. <br />
<br />
A thick elastic band on the backside of each photo enabled the film’s crew to attach the boards to large sections of umanned seats, supplementing the six thousand extras that moved about the rows, booing, cheering and going wild with excitement on cue. Choosing one of the more colorful duos, I dubbed them “Vinny and Guido”. On the ride home, I felt safe and sound, my rear-view mirror filled with what appeared to be two men of dubious character guarding me from any and all intruders. <br />
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Such ingenuity on the part of the production team made for a smartly propped and dressed, divinely photographed film, with a soft focus and color palate reminiscent of Edward Hopper's work punctuating the dusty railroad stations and Chicago neighborhoods of that era. So perfectly designed is the lighting and cinematography, that nearly every frame is a work of art. Lovers, silhouetted against a summer moon, Redford waiting for a train, the lovely Iris, seated behind an ice cream parlor window. A baseball thrown from a train at sunset, each and every one of them, exquisite.<br />
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While music can often upstage or overwhelm a film, Randy Newman’s score is pitch-perfect: a complex mix of humor and wall-to-wall, bigger-than-life, Americana that makes you want to raise a barn, stand up and cheer, or drive along a wide expanse of lush country road, as I have, to the sound of this big, bold, sumptuous score.<br />
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Amazingly enough, <i>The Natural</i> was only Newman’s second film, and he was more than a bit nervous about pulling it off. Once filming began the entire project was put on fast-forward, with everyone racing to complete the feature by the studio's mandatory release date. As a result, while the film was being edited in one room, the music to whatever sequence had been completed last, was being written in the next. So thin were the walls, that the director could hear the piano, as Newman went about his work. <br />
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In one of the DVD's featurettes, the director recalls the day he heard the movie's haunting theme for the very first time.<br />
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“I’m hearing this fiddling on the piano, and all of a sudden I hear [he sings] ‘Da da da da, da da da. Da da da da, da da da’, and I think, 'I wonder if that’s going to be the main theme?' You can imagine how thrilling that is: to be hearing through the wall the moment of the birth of a piece of theme.” <br />
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Newman concedes that in a very real way, necessity was the mother of invention, as, had he not been forced to write to the edited footage, the ‘heroic horns’ that are so identifiable, would have never come to mind, as they were, he says, against his natural inclination. <br />
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Such tidbits make the Anniversary DVD a treasure trove of information. Aside from the all-new, high-definition digital transfer, the Director's Cut is enhanced by a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, and comes complete with a diverse collection of featurettes that address everything from the differences between Malamud’s much-loved novel and the film, to how it came to be written, cast, produced, scored. The hours it took to film and edit the picture's key baseball sequences, particularly the final game, which called for over six hundred separate shots and edits. <br />
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You’ll also learn which events, characters and quotes were drawn from real life, and share a laugh with the director, as he tells of an opening day visit to a local movie theater, where he was met by a group of disgruntled ticket holders, who wanted their money back. The whys and wherefores of it all make for hours of interesting viewing. Fascinating stuff, all. <br />
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Much of the credit for the on-going popularity of this film goes to Barry Levinson, who job it was to take the script from conception to completion. The fact that Redford saw in Levinson the ability to carry it off, despite the fact that he had only one small, though highly successful film (<i>Diner</i>), is to his credit. And carry it off, he did. <br />
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Close to fifty movies later, Barry Levinson’s filmography is filled with instant classics like <i>Rain Man</i>, <i>Avalon</i>, <i>Good Morning</i>, <i>Viet Nam</i>, <i>High Anxiety</i>, and <i>Wag the Dog</i>, But it was <i>The Natural</i> that paved the way for other great baseball movies, including <i>Field of Dreams</i>, <i>Bull Durham</i>, <i>A League of Their Own</i>, <i>Eight Men Out</i>, <i>The Rookie</i>, and more recently, 2011’s <i>Moneyball</i> and <i>Trouble with the Curve</i>, which is currently showing at your local movieplex. <br />
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Suffice to say, <i>The Natural</i> was a natural: a wonderful tale, told well. It, like Roy Hobbs and Adam Greenberg, deserves another turn at bat.<br />
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A final note: Adam Greenberg signed the afore-mentioned one-day contract yesterday. Unless you hear differently, he'll be in the batter’s box next Tuesday (October 2nd), when the Marlins go head-to-head with the New York Mets. <br />
Jainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02553591299806607498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215928590640748611.post-67345672962108963162012-07-21T10:28:00.000-05:002012-07-21T10:29:28.723-05:00QUEEN TO PLAYAt first glance, <i>Queen To Play</i> appears to be a simple tale of a woman who finds her passion in the game of Chess. But don’t be fooled. It is one of those small, but eloquent films that the French are so rightly famous for. Its cast of characters is small, its dialogue, sparse, and its settings, unremarkable, save for a few wistfully idyllic bicycle rides through the Corsican countryside, a far off ocean view or two, and a balcony setting that is, by its very nature, romantic.<br />
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At its core, this 2009 film is about one woman’s search for meaning in her life― to feel as if she has something to offer, and to have that something be acknowledged, as much by herself, as by others. And while it is far from the traditional boy-meets-girl kind of love story, it is very much about love: the love between a husband and wife, mother and daughter, and teacher and student. It is also about learning to love one’s self, and the love one feels for some<i>thing</i> rather than some<i>one</i>, be it art, music, sports, literature, science, history, or in this case, Chess. <br />
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As the film opens, Hélène (our heroine) is getting ready to leave for work. Pleasant but plain looking, her hair in a bun, her face devoid of make-up save for a bit of lipstick, she is a face in the crowd. <br />
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As portrayed by Sandrine Bonnaire, Hélène is a woman who observes life, rather than living it. She watches as a female co-worker steals a kiss from her lover, then listens as the young woman reveals her plans to leave the island in search of something more. It is during this brief but telling conversation that we learn that once upon a time Hélène had much the same plans and dreams, leaving her home, friends and family in exchange for the promise of a better life. <br />
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But as we see, that promise has gone unfulfilled. Easing into middle age, her life has been far from easy. As a chambermaid at a small but elegant island retreat, she works where others play. Her day involves a series of mundane routines: the washing and ironing of the hotel’s linens, the making of beds, replacing of towels, and removing of room service trays, stains, crumbs, personal items and other left-behinds, so that each room is in pristine condition by check-in. <br />
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At quitting time she does not quit, taking the bus to her second job as housekeeper for the somewhat eccentric and reclusive Dr. Kröger (Kevin Kline), a sixty-something American expatriate who is hard pressed to remember her name, even though she has, it appears, been in his service for some time. <br />
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If Hélène is unfulfilled at work, she receives little-to-no validation at home. Her husband Ange (Francis Renaud), is a good looking but inattentive partner, who thinks nothing of spending a night or two each week playing backgammon with his friend Jacky, while being all but oblivious to his wife’s needs and desires. When he confides that work is slow and getting slower, she asks how they will manage if he is laid off. “We’ll see” he says, shifting the onus onto her shoulders. “Did you ask your Yankee for a raise?” <br />
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She hasn’t, but does—haltingly, and Kröger is quick to pick up on her insecurities.<br />
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Hélène: I wanted to ask –<br />
Kröger: Yes?<br />
Hélène: It’s about my—<br />
Kröger: —about your..? <br />
Hélène: Salary. My husband thinks—<br />
Kröger: Does he think for you? <br />
Hélène: No, I think so too.<br />
Kröger: Yes - - ?<br />
Hélène: You could give me a raise: Ten euros.<br />
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But clearly, she has, over time, put Ange’s thoughts, desires, and wishes before her own. <br />
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In the end, “the Yankee” comes through, though it is doubtful that the extra money will offset the couple’s financial woes. Unlike their teenage daughter (Alexandra Gentil), who is ashamed of their social status, they accept the fact that they are members of the working poor, and destined to stay that way. <br />
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And then one day, the chambermaid enters an American couple’s room to straighten up, only to find that the guests are still in residence. Startled, she turns to leave, but the couple, flirtatiously playing a game of Chess on the balcony, encourages her to stay. <br />
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From her place by their unmade bed, Hélène finds herself transfixed, as the two engage in what might be termed intellectual foreplay over a Chessboard. She (Jennifer Beals), in her negligee, he, (Dominic Gould), divinely handsome in his linen-white shirt and slacks, do a delicate “dance” that is as intimate as if they were physically making love. <br />
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Later, the woman asks the voyeur, “Do you play?”— a question of Chess, with underlying undertones. Hélène responds with a quiet, almost bashful, “No”, but her fascination with the game, its pieces, process, power and sensuality is instantaneous. Soon, she will find herself, as she finds herself consumed by it. <br />
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But to play Chess, one has to have a Chessboard and pieces, and money is tight. Realizing that this is not the time to buy something for herself, let alone something frivolous, she, like the man who buys his wife a big-screen TV for their anniversary so that he can watch the Super Bowl, buys her husband an electronic Chess set for his birthday. His displeasure is obvious.<br />
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Ange: What’s this? <br />
Hélène: An electronic Chess set.<br />
Ange: So, I see. What’s it for? <br />
Helene: Playing Chess, I’d say. <br />
Ange: But I can’t play. <br />
Hélène: You can learn. It’s a change from Backgammon.<br />
Ange: Who am I supposed to play with?<br />
Hélène: I don’t know—with me (pregnant pause), or on your own—It's a game you can play on your own.<br />
Ange: On my own?<br />
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Bewildered, disappointed and annoyed, Ange sets the game aside, with a barely audible "thank you", and the telling, “I hope it didn’t cost too much.” <br />
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But whatever the cost, Hélène is hooked, and as soon as the birthday boy has fallen asleep, she rises from their bed, reclaims the set, and submerges herself in the rule book, examining the pieces and finding her way around the Chessboard. <br />
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Within days, fascination has turned into obsession, though it soon becomes apparent that if she is to progress, she will need both a partner and teacher. With her husband both unwilling and unable to fill the bill, she sets out to find someone who can. <br />
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She finds that someone in Kröger. His initial reluctance is soothed by her offer to forgo her wages in exchange for a daily game of Chess. Soon, any reservations he may have had are replaced by the realization that Hélène has a real gift for the game: a gift that goes well beyond his own level of play. Mentor and cheerleader, the doctor encourages her to enter a local competition: a step that will cause her to reach higher, dig deeper, and potentially change the course of her life. <br />
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But change seldom comes without consequence. Her work suffers, and she seems distracted at home, no longer willing to put everything and everyone else first. And as is so often the case, those who initially cheer her on begin to feel threatened as her role in their lives begins to change. Some reactions are subtle, others more overt. And though, after a few initial missteps Ange tries to be supportive, it’s clear that he is uncomfortable with his wife’s newly found confidence. Even Hélène is torn, wondering if the prize was worth the price. “I liked it better before I didn’t question everything.”<br />
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Her angst is apparent when discussing <i>Martin Eden</i> (Jack London’s semi-autobiographical novel) with her daughter, Lisa. Though the circumstances are very different, the similarities between the hero’s life and her own are palpable, and in talking about him, Hélène is really talking about herself. “Have you read it?” She asks.<br />
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Lisa: It made me cry. Beautiful—The sailor who became a writer. <br />
Hélène: You mean the writer who should have stayed a sailor. <br />
Lisa: Why do you say that?<br />
Hélène: Because he was unhappy. Because he realizes it wasn’t worth the effort, and he doesn’t belong anywhere. <br />
Lisa: Yes, but he did it. If he’s an outsider, it’s because he's better than those he tried to impress. impress. <br />
Hélène: Why be better if you don’t do anything with it? <br />
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And there’s the rub. <br />
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As Hélène and her family begin to sort it all out, the reclusive doctor is doing some sorting of his own. His secrets, fears, failing health, longings and ambitions make up a bittersweet subplot that is skillfully unraveled by the ever-fascinating Kline.<br />
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But it is Hélène’s relationships that are front and center here, and ultimately, the film is not as much about Chess, or class, as it is about love, passion and self worth. I tend to disagree with writer/director Caroline Bottaro’s feeling that the film would have worked just as well had Hélène’s obsession been with Backgammon or Bridge, as I find the queen’s power in the game, as spelled out by daughter Lisa (“She [the queen] can do anything, go anywhere she likes. She’s stronger than the king.”) an interesting counterpoint to the way Hélène interacts with, and is viewed by her family, friends, employer and co-workers. <br />
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In an interview following the release of the film, Bonnaire points out that it isn’t so much the game that initially arouses the chambermaid’s interest, as it is the intimacy - how deeply the American couple appears to love each other– savoring every moment, “falling all over the chess board.” It is an intimacy Hélène yearns for, one―to her astonishment―that remains in tact, even when the woman wins the game.<br />
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Originally titled <i>Jouyese</i>,(the feminine form of “player”), and based on Bertina Henrich’s novel <i>La Joueuse d’échecs</i>, <i>Queen To Play </i>is a study in understatement, save for a few flashes of overt symbolism and telepathy. The dialogue is simple, the scenes, short, and the acting, low-key, belying the fact that it took eighteen drafts and five years to get it to the screen. <br />
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That simplicity, if you'll pardon the cliché, speaks volumes, for while this is a film about finding your passion, pursuing your dreams and changing your destiny despite your origin, education, or surroundings, it is not <i>Rocky</i> or <i>Breaking Away</i>. This to say that Hélène’s triumphs are not underscored by pulsating trumpets, an over synthesized sound track or the roaring of crowds, and yet, you will find much to cheer about in this small, well put and played film about every day people whose lives while not shaken, are stirred. <br />Jainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02553591299806607498noreply@blogger.com0