Sunday was a big cooking day! My friend, Brian, came over before his big trip to Paris next month and the three of us cooked dinner together and watched a movie. I made deviled eggs as an appetizer and was surprised to learn that neither Matthew or Brian had tried them before, but they both ended up liking them! Deviled eggs are insanely easy to make, too; I have no idea why people don't make them for every holiday or get-together. All it takes are some hard-boiled eggs, mustard, vinegar, mayonnaise, and paprika. Couldn't ask for a simpler recipe. My only issue is with peeling the shells off the eggs and scooping the yolks out without tearing the whites. I guess that perfect presentation requires a little bit of practice. I also baked a ton of these chocolate revel bars, which are comprised of a layer of oat-filled cookie, then a layer of melted chocolate and pecans followed by a thinner layer of the same oat cookie mixture. The recipe made a ton of the bars, and they're really thick! I set aside a huge portion of it to give to another friend for her birthday, and so far everyone has said that they liked them! Normally, baked goods don't last long in mine and Matthew's apartment, but the bars so thick and rich that the leftovers stuck around for a couple days.
Of course, we cannot forget about the actual dinner, which was spinach manicotti. This was an excellent meal! It used three different kinds of cheese - ricotta, swiss, and parmesan, and the spinach-cheese mixture was nearly bursting out of the manicotti shells by the time it was done baking! The recipe also called for this thick and flavorful white sauce that we poured over the noodles before baking, and with the melted swiss cheese, garlic powder and green onions I couldn't have imagined a better sauce for the noodles. For a meatless pasta, it was incredibly filling for just two noodles with the sauce, but I'll definitely be making more of this in the future! We didn't have any leftovers and it was a ton of fun working together to finish making the meal.
Cooking: 25/75 completed
For our dinner entertainment we picked out Angels and Demons (2009), directed by Ron Howard and written by David Koepp and Akiva Goldsman. I've already seen The DaVinci Code, and when comparing the two I realized that I liked the conspiracy story from DaVinci Code more than the one in Angels and Demons, but as a movie Angels and Demons was far superior. This "sequel" (though its book was written before The DaVinci Code) has a lot more action, a stronger plot, and more intriguing characters. I started to have my suspicions about how the plot was going to progress, and was right about the intentions of the assassin, but it took me a little while to realize how the film was going to end. Even so, I was a bit saddened by the ending due to my fondness of Ewan McGregor (who doesn't love him after watching Moulin Rouge?). It was nice seeing him in a darker role, though, so I give him props for that. I also enjoyed Tom Hanks' performance. His hair still looked ridiculous, but I doubt that he had much of a say in his costume and makeup. The last thing I want to mention is that the film does a good job at being neutral concerning the science vs religion theme. The film provides positives and negatives to fully embracing either side and if anything, I think that it advocates trying to find a way of weaving them together.
Rating: 3.5/5
Movies: 19/100 viewed
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