Sunday Musings

I have to admit, there is something about a nice free Sunday at the end (or beginning) of my week that just helps me prepare for the upcoming work week.  Some Sundays I do absolutely nothing other than parking my rear on the couch and relaxing by catching up on some television shows through many sources, one of them being Netflix streaming.


But today I was feeling rather ambitious.  Today was a day of grocery shopping, and getting things done around the house.  Thankfully I got my outside the house errands finished early enough so that I was home by 12:30pm, that way I could start my afternoon in the house chores.  These on this particular day consisted of: putting away groceries, adding items to our compost bin, making lunch (Steak with Shallot, Butter and Balsamic Sauce), making chicken/turkey stock, the dreaded laundry, AND prepping and roasting a chicken for dinner.  Of course dancing and singing in my kitchen while listening to music is always par for the course.  It just puts a smile on my face and makes things so much more fun!  (Throwing in some wine or a martini, well that's just an extra pleasure.)


All in all, days like this are actually days I really enjoy, even though they do tend to be laborious.  But it's the kind of labor that at the end of the day when you kick back and put your feet up, you feel that you have really accomplished something.

Lunch

I do have to say, I found the recipe for Steak with Shallot, Butter and Balsamic Sauce through the wonderful pin board Pinterest.  One thing that I have found, is that I LOVE cooking, and being crafty.  That being so, I decided to try this very simple recipe.  I think I may have used a bit too much shallot, but otherwise it was very delicious.  The recipe calls for flank steak, but as I didn't have any I just used whatever steak I purchased at my good old Price Chopper.  (They had boneless bottom sirloin steak on sale, so I bought a package that had 3 steaks in it.)  After I finished the Shallot, Butter and Balsamic Sauce, there wasn't quite enough for my taste.  So, I just put some balsamic vinegar in a pan, let it reduce down some so it was lovely and sweet, and poured it over the steak.  Totally delicious, and a treat I very rarely make at home!  So it was a good effort, and I have leftover steak for lunches this week. 

Stock

Since moving into my new apartment, I've been trying to be more frugal and use all my groceries and throw less away.  (Part of the reason why the roomie and I have started composting, and we even made our own composter.)  Since I had about 1 turkey and 2 chicken carcasses in the freezer, I figured today would be a perfect day to make chicken/turkey stock.  I figure why purchase stock in the store when it is soo easy to make at home (and cheaper!)  Especially if, like we do, you tend to roast a chicken or turkey on Sundays.  Just throw the carcasses in the freezer when you have taken all the meat off them, and as for the veggies for the stock, just keep leftover cuttings and scraps and freeze them as well!  (If you aren't already throwing them in the composter.)

Been simmering for about a half hour.

After all the bones and veggies have been taken out.

When you are finally ready to make stock, it so soo easy.  I mean, crazy easy, so easy that I never realized just how easy it really was.  You throw everything into a pot (the carcasses, veggies, some seasonings), cover it with water, bring it to a boil then once it's at a boil drop the heat so that the pot is slightly simmering, and that's it.  You just leave it slighting simmering for about 4 hours or so.  Skimming some of the foam off every once in a while.  Once the 4 hours are over, you take the bones out and strain the stock with a strainer and some cheesecloth.  If you want you can simmer the stock for a few more hours to reduce it down and pour it into ice cube trays to use for later, or freeze in small containers for use later.  Stock is not a science, it's a matter of taste!  I mean there are plenty of blogs and recipes on how to make stock, but seriously, just make it your own.  I know I do!  (You can even make stock in your slow-cooker if you don't want to watch it or want to do it overnight or while you are at work.)

Dinner

Now, it's time to talk about DINNER.  For dinner tonight I am roasting a chicken.  I got roughly an 8lb chicken.  Generally I both stuff the cavity with celery, carrots, & onions, and also put some in the bottom of the roasting pan with a little bit of water (to flavor the drippings which will later become home made gravy!)  I separate the skin a little bit from the flesh on the chicken, and massage in some unsalted butter.  Sprinkle the bird with some salt, pepper, garlic powder, sometimes some poultry seasoning, and a tiny bit of salt.  Then tie up the drums to semi-seal the cavity with some kitchen twine.  Cover loosely with some foil and pop it in the oven.  After the first half hour I remove the foil and baste (with above made stock thinned with some water, or just water if you don't have broth or stock), and continue to baste about every half hour.  (Since this bird is about 8lbs, it will cook for about 2.5 to 3 hours.)

Just taken out of the oven, before being transferred to the platter to rest.

Then once it's ready, I take it out of the roaster and let it rest for at least 20 mins, so that it will retain it's juiciness!  While it's resting I make the gravy.  I take the pan drippings, put in a small pot and bring to a simmer.  Whip up a mixture of water and cornstarch (if you have gluten free peeps always use cornstarch, don't use flour!) and add it to the pot of simmering pan drippings to thicken and make a delicious gravy.  I always taste as I go to make sure it's absolutely delicious for the people I'm feeding.  Add whatever seasonings you think it needs; salt, pepper, garlic powder, etc.  It's always a matter of personal taste!

Usually we make mashed potatoes to go with our roasts (in addition to whatever vegetable we like for the meal), but we are out and I didn't like the selection at the store today.  So instead we will have salad and roasted broccoli!  I found this recipe a few years ago, and I absolutely love it.  It's very simple, tasty, and a great way to eat broccoli if you don't like it mushy.  Plus, it includes cheese!

Once everything is ready, it's time to carve the chicken!  Each time I get much better at carving.  Which is good, because the first time I completely butchered it, it was not pretty.  Once all the meat is carved off the chicken, save the skin and bones to make another round of stock later.  It's a delicious cycle!

Review: Jane Eyre (2011)

I will warn you ahead of time that there are massive spoilers in this post...  So please if you have not read the book (then you should read it before you see the movie!!!) or have not seen this movie yet BEWARE...  I also give no mercy...  That being said, here goes with my review...



I really love Jane Eyre...  The novel is one of my favorites, even it really goes too much into religion for my personal taste...  At this point I do not remember if I read the novel first and then saw one of the movie adaptations, but I'm pretty sure I read the novel first...  I think the reason why I love the novel so much is because it touches on sensitive topics, religion, redemption, perseverance, sense of self, love, passion, etc.  I have a hard time reading most of the beginning of the novel because of all the things that happen to Jane during her formative years... To date, I have also seen 6 movie adaptations, they are listed in order of my personal preference, with the last 3 on the list actually all being tied for the worst:

1. 2006 BBC adaptation with Toby Stephens and Ruth Wilson
2. 1983 BBC adaptation with Timothy Dalton and Zelah Clarke
3. 1973 adaptation with Sorcha Cusack and Michael Jayston
4. 2011 adaptation with Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender
5. 1996 adaptation with William Hurt and Charlotte Gainsbourg
6. 1997 adaptation with Samantha Morton and Ciran Hinds

Now I have also become a mini-series convert...  I have found that even movies I LOVE, that are blockbusters or Hollywood made movies just do NOT have enough character development for my taste...  (For example, I LOVE the 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice with Keira Knightley, but prefer to watch the 1995 mini-series version with Jennifer Ehle because there is way more character development and storyline within the movie...)

To me, watching this adaptation was partially painful...  I spent a majority of the movie bringing my hand to my face, shaking my head, and pointing at the screen in a "wft" moment...  The book starts with her early life, as do most of the movie adaptations...  I do give credit where credit is due...  The 2011 version does not exactly start at the beginning, it starts in the middle and deals the majority of the movie in flashback...  While I prefer the movie to begin as the book, I do understand why it starts where it does because it helps to draw in the viewer, so it is aimed more with American audiences, because for those who have NOT read the book they will be drawn into the story, wondering why the hell she's running...  I do like this change in the beginning...

My biggest problems with this adaptation:

1. length of movie
2. character development
3. use of sexuality
4. lack of suspense
5. scene (shot) stealing
6. lack of backstory for all of the characters

Sure if you have read the novel then you can fill in the blanks yourself, but I'm thinking about those unfortunate individuals who have NOT read the novel yet (although SHAME ON YOU.)  As much as I dislike (hate) the beginning of the novel, I do admit that is is crucial to the development of Jane's character, so it is very important to be shown...  I really don't feel there was enough of Jane's backstory present to fully give the viewer a perception of her life before Thornfield Hall...  The persecution by her Aunt reed, who was a mean, hateful woman, who showed Jane no love, only resentment...  That fact barely came through in this version...

Also the relationship between Jane and Helen Burns is a very crucial part of the storyline, how Helen effected Jane's life...  Helen was the first friend Jane ever had in her life, she was the first person to really show Jane any affection or kindness (other than Bessie one of the maids in the reed household)...  She was the driving force in the shaping of Jane's character...  This version did not do the relationship justice at all, because it was so glossed over...

The movie also did not show how or why Jane left Lowood Institution for Thornfield Hall (which, I don't even remember if they mentioned the name of the estate in the movie), she just arrives at the hall in a carriage... They do however show the mistake of Jane's thinking Adele is Mrs. Fairfax's daughter, and that the estate belonged to her...  I did NOT like the focus on the nude painting on the wall as Mrs. Fairfax is showing Jane to her bedroom... Right from that moment, I knew that the focus of the movie was going to be on sex and not the emotional and spiritual connection between two characters (which is the truth and actuality of the novel)...  (I have no objection to classical nude paintings, but for this particular movie the usage is very incorrect...)

There was just way too much emphasis on sexuality in this movie, the novel barely has any inference of sexuality...  For example the bedroom scene:

• in this version Mr. Rochester has no pants, only his dressing gown, and puts his pants on while Jane is in the room
• in most versions Mr. Rochester is wearing pants while laying in bed
• in the novel Jane walks out of the room to fetch a candle while Mr. Rochester changes his soaked clothing.

Jane saved Rochester's life...  The reason why the scene is so charged is because of the passion, not the sexuality...  In the novel Rochester looks into her eyes, holds her hand, and speaks honestly with sincerity, and that is why Jane starts to fall in love with him, not because of the sexual tension and them almost kissing...  Also the whole Grace Poole / Bertha Mason mystery is barely mentioned...  Which is crazy because it is the big suspense/mystery of the novel...  To me the fact that this was left out actually made the version less Gothic than it was hyped to be...  Sure there was a little of the sinister laughter and screaming of Mason (who btw was played by WAY too young of an actor, I mean he's supposed to be about the same age as Mr. Rochester), but not enough to truly make it suspenseful...

In this version the budding relationship between Jane and Rochester seems very much based on attractive looks...  In the novel there is definite stress on the fact that neither Jane or Rochester are attractive individuals...  The biggest attraction between the two characters is the fact that their minds and intellect are similar...  Rochester falls in love with Jane because she doesn't fall all over him like most of the women he has met, and she doesn't give a wit about his money...  He is attracted to her because she is all that he has been searching for...  He acted the way he did because he wanted HER to fall in love with HIM...  That whole bit is completely lost in this version...

Also Blanche Ingram and her mother are suspicious of Jane???  Where did that come from?  Blanche did not come across as mean at all in this movie, she's not supposed to be suspicious of Jane...  She looks down on Jane because of her position in the household, not because she is suspicious of Jane and Rochester being in love...  The big undercurrent of Mr. Rochester taking liberties with his servants was a very questionable use of plot line...  His character is not like that, so I don't know why they felt the need to put that in the movie...  Mr. Rochester, though full of many faults, is an honorable man...  If he wasn't, he would not have taken in Adele, and he would not have kept Bertha in the house and taken care of her...  None of this really comes across in the movie...

There is just so much more wrong with this version:

• no explanation of why Rochester lied to Jane about being married
• the relationship reveal of St. John Rivers and his sisters to Jane is missing (they end up being cousins)
• Mrs. Fairfax being at Thornfield and speaking to Jane when Jane returns to find out what has happened to Mr. Rochester after she had fled
• Mr. Rochester not being at Ferdean, and instead was at Thornfield
• no actual resolution to the story, other than Jane and Rochester embracing (wtf was up with the beard?? also his arm wasn't withered nor was his eye scarred)

Overall the movie itself was not a bad movie, it just should have had a different title and different character names...  It just did not do the story of Jane Eyre justice...  As my friend and I stated after seeing the movie: "We came to see Jane Eyre, and that's not what we got."

Once the movie comes out on DVD, I am going to give it another try...  I will watch it again, and most likely post either new things that I missed, or if I have changed my mind about the movie... But on first impression this version gets a massive thumbs down...

Wading Through Fog and The Wisdom of Anne Shirley

I must admit that I have been remiss in my blogging as of late... It's not that I haven't thought of things to blog about... It's only that personally I've been in a sort of funk...  I hit a point where things just started to not make sense anymore, and I had no idea where I was going or what I was doing...  These things happen...  I've had to rethink my goals and the path I'm on to reach those goals...  The worst part is that I've felt stuck in a not so good situation, not one that I can immediately change, I just have to kinda ride the wave until it's all over...

To not be overly vague about the situation I shall elaborate...  I applied to graduate school and was rejected by both of the schools to which I applied... Yes, a complete bummer... But not quite as life-shattering as I thought it would be... That part I am quite ok with, because these things happen... The craptastic situation is the one class I'm taking this semester...  It is by far the WORST class I have ever taken in my field of study, and has made me seriously rethink what I want to do...

So because of this whole debacle I haven't really been the greatest with formulating thoughts into coherent statements for blogging purposes...  (Well that and I really want to blog about the new Jane Eyre movie, but it's not out in my area yet, so I have to wait...)

But today I have had an epiphany of sorts...  One that has brought to mind Anne Shirley (from the Anne of Green Gables series by L. M. Montgomery...)  I have always admired the character of Anne, and I wish that I had read the books in my youth rather than in my college years...  Although I first fell in love with Anne through the Sullivan Entertainment movie productions (which I have a rant about, and will make another blog post about at a later time...)  I think I would have a slightly different outlook on life if I had read them sooner... But that is neither here nor there..

There is a time in Anne's life where she comes to a point where she has to make a very important decision...  Matthew has passed away, and Marilla's eyesight is very bad...  If Marilla is not careful she will be blind... Now Anne is all set to go away to Redmond college to earn her BA degree...  But instead she decides to stay home, teach, and take college classes by correspondence...  Now my situation is slightly different, as there is no family ailment (thankfully!!)  But where things looked so cold, bleak, and slightly hopeless before, now I have more purpose and more drive...  "There is always a bend in the road" as Anne says, and no one's life is ever as straight and clear cut as one imagines things will be...

For me, I haven't completely given up going for my Masters Degree...  I've somewhat changed what I want the end result to be...  I know I need to take care of the things that need to be taken care of right now, and then once I get all of that mess straightened out I can work on striving towards the next level...  So it's going to take me longer than I had anticipated, but that's ok... The only NO in the equation is myself...

Jane Eyre Part 2: The Love and Deception of Mr. Rochester

I have always been interested in the character of Mr. Rochester...  Why he is the way he is, and what shaped him into the man that he is in the novel...  I know that he explains his background to Jane (after the whole wedding fiasco), but seriously I would really like to read a book written from his perspective (a-la the Jane Austen Diary Series by Amanda Grange)...  [as I am writing this I figured I would search for a book of that nature, and I have indeed found one Rochester: A Novel Inspired by Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre" by J.L. Niemann, so of course I have not read it yet... It appears to have mixed reviews, so we shall see...]


Mr. Rochester is a man who from his youth is shaped by deception...  In the hours after the botched wedding, Mr Rochester relates to Jane the story of his youth, and why he deceived Jane in the way that he did...  Not being the eldest son, and his father's desire to keep the property together, his father gave the entirety of the estate to his brother Rowland...  In an attempt to give his son some money by marriage, Edward was sent to Jamaica after he left college and was told that Bertha was very beautiful, being both tantalized by her flattery and her beauty, and being young he thought he was in love with her...  Although her family and his hid from him the madness, and he was duped to marry her, and was married before he realized what had happened...  Edward was stuck with a wife he could not love...  Her tastes were wholly different from his, and her mind was incapable of learning anything other than what she already had attained...  She was violent, crude, unreasonable, and unchaste...  Now here we learn about a part of Mr. Rochester's character that is both a redeeming feature and a curse to himself...  No matter how Bertha acted towards him, he could NOT be cruel to her...  As much as Mr. Rochester comes across as wicked and deceptive, he really does have redeeming qualities that outweigh the bad...

A terrible twist of fate happened, both his father and brother died within the 4 years after his marriage to Bertha...  He ended up inheriting the estate intact, what a blow to Mr. Rochester...  All the pain and suffering his family put him through, the deception because they wanted him to have money as well, and now it is all his anyway...  What things as this would make any human being act in a similar way that Edward does...   At this point he could not divorce Bertha, the doctors had found out that she was mad (I'm not even sure the legal grounds in today's society on this particular issue)... Thankfully his marriage had been kept a secret back in England, so he decided to return home and hide her (and his shame) away, locked up in Thornfield Hall...  Once safely hidden away at Thornfield with a proper keeper to take charge of her, Mr. Rochester then set himself about to roam the world in search of a woman whom he could love...  Being thus placed in such a situation as he was, he was bound and determined that he could and would marry for love...  If he found such a woman he would present his case history truthfully and make his proposal openly with no deceptions...  For 10 years he roamed the world in search of such a lady, he was not seeking perfection of mind or person, but mainly that which suited him best...  He was a man seeking love, what more does any person in this world seek?  To love and be loved truly is something that most individuals would die for, even in today's society...  I would have to say that love, by far is one of the strongest emotions in the world...  To an extent every one of us craves and desires to love and be loved...

Being such a man and not able to live alone, he tried mistresses in vain...  Finally after 10 years of of wandering the world, heart hardened and soul weary, he returns home to Thornfield Hall, a place he despises, hates, and finds to be the seedling of all his suffering...  On his way to Thornfield Hall, on a desolate lane his horse becomes frightened by a figure and drops him to the ground...  This is where he has his first encounter with Jane Eyre...  Despite his surliness, she insists upon helping him...  At his first touch of her shoulder, something inside himself snapped...  (Possibly one of those things where when the right person touches you, it doesn't have to be any type of particular touch, just say lightly on your arm...  Your entire body feels full of fire and warmth, something has changed...  You can sense something new, possibly love...)  He thus begins his faithful study of her character...  He wants to find out more about her, he starts off by being his stern self and would go between being cordial to completely ignoring her...  He only ignored her to see if she would seek him, which of course she did not...  In order to see if she thought of him, he resumed his notice of her and saw her come to life...

I do not agree with his use of Blanche Ingram as a pawn, or much of what he did to draw Jane in... But the fact of the matter is that he really and truly loved her deeply... So much that he was willing to risk the damnation of God and the world to have her love in return...  I can see, and almost agree with his reasoning...  Why can't a man, who is tricked into marrying a mad woman and can not divorce this woman, be allowed to find true love?  These of course are extenuating circumstances...  I don't think there is a real answer...  But these themes are present in today's society just as they were back in Charlotte Bronte's time, and I think that is why this novel has endured...

Jane Eyre Part 1: Proposal Scenes Comparison

I've been thinking about the book Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte lately...  Mostly because of all the talk/hype about the new movie adaptation that is coming out in March of this year....  I am very much on the fence about this new adaptation, I'm just not sure it can live up to the splendid performances that are in the 2006 mini-series starring Toby Stephens and Ruth Wilson...

The biggest factor for me is the pivotal scene where Jane and Rochester are outside in the garden/woods, and he is telling her that he will be married and she must be sent away...  Ruth Wilson's line delivery of "poor, obscure, plain, and little" gets me every single time, and I think it is the BEST line delivery so far...  There is soo much passion and emphasis with that simple line, and from watching the trailer I just don't think that Mia nailed it, at all...  I mean that line is pivotal, it is where she professes herself to be Rochester's equal...  Jane is a very passionate person, as is mentioned from the beginning of the book (by her aunt Reed), and again emphasized later by St. John Rivers...  Yes she is a bit reserved, but she also has a fiery spirit within her, as can be seen by her quick responses to Rochester...

Example of the proposal scenes:

I think my biggest fear is the time limit of the new movie...  I am all for watching a movie adaptation that is 3+ hours long, I have absolutely NO problem with this... In fact I would almost prefer it so that as much material can be covered as possible to remain as faithful to the book as possible...  Of course I know I'm probably of the minority in that opinion...

There is more that I want to write about, but I think it will be better left to a second post...  So until then...

My love of Jane Austen...

I must say that I never read Jane Austen as a child... I only became really interested in her writing, I am ashamed to say, after watching the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice with Keira Knightly and Matthew Macfadyen  (I had previously seen the 1995 version of Sense and Sensibility with Kate Winslet and Emma Thompson)...  Since then Jane Austen has become one of my most favorite authors...  I think the main appeal that I find in her writing, is that most of the characters in her books can be found in daily life...  I've sure had my share of John Willoughby's, George Whickam's, Henry and Mary Crawford's, and not enough Mr. Darcy's, Edward Ferrars', Henry Tillney's, and Captain Wentworth's...
Given that the novels were written in the early 1800's, it is good to see that they are still relevant in today's world...

I have read almost all of her books, and I like some better than others.  The order of books, with my most favorite at top and least favorite at bottom is as follows:
Pride and Prejudice
Sense and Sensibility
Persuasion
Mansfield Park
Northanger Abbey
Emma

I have become quite in love with her work, and I have an entire bookshelf dedicated to her books and "spin-offs"...

I have read quite a few of the "spin-offs", and there are some that are very well done, while others I wish I hadn't wasted the money on....  I really like the Diary series by Amanda Grange, which tells each story from the perspective of the males in the individual book...  Captain Wentworth, Mr. Darcy, Mr. Knightley, Edmund Bertram, and Colonel Brandon...  (I am excited to find out that she has at least 2 new books coming out in 2011, Henry Tilney's Diary and Wickham's Dairy)... The only other book of her's that I have read is Mr. Darcy, Vampire, and it definitely was NOT worth reading...   I mean, the fact that Lizzy would not have known until after the wedding that Mr. Darcy was a vampire???  Come on, she is way more astute than that!!!

The spin-off that I hated the worst of all was Mansfield Park and Mummies...  I think what completely ruined the book for me were the "scholarly footnotes and appendices" because I felt that it completely undermined the intelligence of the reader...  Most of those who would be reading these parody books have read Austen, know what the uncommon words actually mean, and don't need to be told to "not have a dirty mind" when the book is talking about being "fagged"...  The book would have been much better without those little "additions"...


Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is definitely one of my favorite spin-offs...  Although the prequel Dawn of the Dreadfuls is good, the theory presented as to why Lizzy is the way she is is not quite plausible enough for me...  The other vampire spin-off that I DID like is Vampire Darcy's Desire by Regina Jeffers...  I liked it because it stuck enough to the original story line of P&P, while at the same time being a completely different novel of it's own...

The other series of books that I have gotten into are by Stephanie Barron, Jane Austen Mysteries, these deal with Jane Austen herself and different "scrapes" she gets herself into...  So far I have read the first book in the series Jane and the Unpleasantness of Scargrave Manor...  Although the book moved a little slowly it was a rather quick read, which sometimes is a good thing...

I have also watched every Television/Movie adaptation that I can get my hands on...  The BBC has become one of my favorite networks...  I have also fallen in love with many Regency Era adaptations, and by watching these I have become more interested in reading literature from that time period...  I have read Jane Eyre, Charles Dickens (Our Mutual Friend, Little Dorrit, and Bleak House), and Elizabeth Gaskell (North and South, Wives and Daughters)...  I am not one to shy away from watching a 3 to 9 hour movie adaptation of book, in fact I say bring it on...

And here is a little something for your enjoyment:

Welcome....

This blog is a direct result of my desire to start a blog, and my friend Rachelle telling me to "JUST DO IT"...  So thank you Rachelle...  This is my blog...