"Maturity..."

That's what my high school English teacher Ms. Gabay would say to us teens anytime something inappropriate came up in a book or movie, and we'd all start to giggle.

Sadly, I have never embraced maturity. I just worked a 14 hour day, and should have been in bed 45 minutes ago, but no, I'm wasting time on the internet. And thank God! Because if I HADN'T been, we never would have heard about this:

http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2009/03/25/internacional/1238011768.html

I know it's in Spanish, but really, there's no need to worry about the details of the article, just the translated headline: "Giant Penis On Roof of House" and the accompanying picture made me burst into super immature giggles. And then blog about it.

Some young whippersnapper in England did this to his poor parents, and now they're on Google Earth. Well played, young man. Well played.

Slainte!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Here's something completely unrelated to St. Patty's Day, and it's a little late to post it, but I just rewatched it and laughed just as hard as the first 8 times. My love affair with Will Forte grows. Start about 1 minute in...

http://www.hulu.com/watch/52186/saturday-night-live-update-bcs-song

Happy Song

This is just cute and fun.

Good Morning and Happy Valentine's Day!

Hello doves! I know it's a mostly Hallmarkian holiday, but what's wrong with a calendar-based nudge to focus on love? Who says it has to be romantic love only? Maybe I can be all tra-la-la about it because I have found my Sweet Baboo (currently snoring even though he's been asleep for over 10 hours. Seriously, what the French, toast? Why aren't you awake already?) I neglected to get my act together this year so I have no cookies or truffles or cards to share, but I still love you. If you're reading this, you're one of the 8 who do, and I can guarantee you that I love you very much. So! Since I didn't make you a box of cookies this year, here is a pie:


Mmmm.... This is Martha Stewart's recipe for Chocolate Cream Pie, and it is a great recipe. It doesn't take a ton of ingredients, which was particularly handy last weekend when it was raining and I didn't want to run out to the store AGAIN. I really am a fan of custards and puddings, they are quick and easy and really just involve a lot of whisking and paying attention to not burning stuff. Cream pies rule.

Martha calls for a Chocolate Pate Sucree crust, but I have made this pie twice now, once with just a regular Pillsbury readymade crust, and this time, with a nice, thick, graham cracker crust. It also calls for a caramel whipped cream topping, which is sort of advanced, but not completely difficult to do, and it makes for a yummy topping. I skipped it this time around, but highly recommend giving it a try. As you can see from the above picture, we munched it all down before remembering to snap a pic of the finished product. Yum.

Which One's Cuter?

The devastating wildfires in Australia are pretty incomprehensible. So far there aren't many "feel good" stories coming out yet--it's just horrific. But this little story, and the accompanying picture, was just too sweet and heartbreaking to ignore.

Christian Bale Needs to be Kicked in the Nuts

I actually agree with the essence of Christian Bale's argument. (Click here if you haven't heard his crazy tirade yet. Turn the volume down if you're at work) He's trying to do his job, somehow someone keeps making that difficult to do, and his frustration boils over. I completely get that. All that being said, what an ass and what a blowhard for going so completely apeshit and not being able to calm yourself down. You're not curing cancer, you're playing John Conner, and you're totally replaceable. Wow, I feel strongly about this.

Mostly, though, I just want this t-shirt.

Ribs: Why Don't I Cook These More?

Is anyone else daunted by cuts of meat? No matter how many cooking shows I've watched, I just can't keep track of what's a butt roast or whether sirloin is better than prime rib or whatever. And forget ribs. Racks and baby backs and spare ribs, I just like to eat them.

But when Saveur told me I should consider making Chinese Spare Ribs for my Super Bowl eating pleasure...who was I to argue? I'm nothing if not good at following directions, and Saveur told me to get St. Louis style spare ribs, which I figured was far too specific for the Menifee Stater Brothers...but lo and behold, it was RIGHT ON THE TAG. WOW! Meat is fun! (Ha!) I don't know what makes them St. Louis style, by the way. Maybe they are the ribs of giant cardinals?

Mr. Butcher Man cut up the big ole rack into pieces for me, which I then marinated in sauces hoisin and soy, sugar, garlic, Chinese 5-Spice powder (which 5 spices? I don't know! A Chinese mystery!), probably some other stuff, and red food coloring. Then they sat in the oven for a really long time and turned into happiness.



We burned our fingers and ate them. The ribs, not the fingers. We ate these ribs BEFORE the red velvet cupcakes, but by the end of the night, every part of our mouths had red dye on it. Mmmmmmm....deadly red dye......