Scorpio

My horoscope today was spot on. This should be my horoscope every day because it's so accurate.

You'd rather work to live than live to work. That's why you might make an executive decision to put off minor responsibilities in favor of some much-needed leisure.

The problem is that my definition of "minor responsibilities" may not match work's definition. Or my husband's. Sigh.

My Favorite Simple Roast Chicken

My Favorite Simple Roast Chicken is the name of the recipe, and it's an appropriate one. For years for me, to roast a whole chicken meant stuffing and hours in the oven. Not with this recipe. It's absurdly easy and fast. I was skeptical when I first read the recipe: one hour at 450 degrees. Seriously? A caveat: That's true if you can find the 2-3 pound chicken called for in the recipe. I haven't been able to. The smallest organic chicken I find in the grocery story is usually around 4.5 pounds. So I adjust the recipe a bit. Here are the ingredients:

• One 2- to 3-pound farm-raised chicken
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons minced thyme (optional)

• Unsalted butter
• Dijon mustard

I don't use the thyme, butter, or mustard. What you do is rinse and pat dry the bird, truss it, and salt and pepper it inside and out. The recipe says to "rain the salt over the bird so that it has a nice uniform coating that will result in a crisp, salty, flavorful skin (about 1 tablespoon). When it's cooked, you should still be able to make out the salt baked onto the crisp skin." Yes. But, if you place thick sliced potatoes on the bottom of the pan to catch the drippings (which I recommend), they will be very salty. You have to be judicious in your salting, but don't skimp. That's it. Salt and pepper. I know it sounds bland yet salty, but it's not.  The short roasting time and high heat keep the chicken oh-so-moist.

I put the chicken on a rack, but I would try it without and lay it right in the roasting pan. Using a rack, only one side gets that pretty roasted skin. The other is pasty and looks unappetizing, necessitating flipping the chicken and putting in back in the oven for another 20-30 minutes. I *think* that putting it right into the pan (as the recipe implies) prevents this problem, but you'd want to use parchment on the bottom of the pan to prevent sticking. You don't want butter or oil because the idea is to prevent any type of steam. A four to five pound chicken requires the additional cooking time, so either way - rack and flip or no - you're looking at 90 minutes. 

I make this as an everyday meal and serve with potatoes (from the bottom of the roasting pan) , a vegetable side, and a salad. I like a nice, not too creamy Chardonnay with it. It's a satisfying, delicious meal.

Here we go, Steelers, here we go!

The Song is You, Arthur Phillips

Music is the soundtrack to our lives. It's a cliché. We know that. But for many of us, it's very true. The right song can take you to a place and time you thought you'd forgotten and uncover memories long buried. It's certainly true for the protagonist in Arthur Phillips' The Song is You:  "Julian Donahue's generation were the pioneers of portable headphone music, and he began carrying with him everywhere the soundtrack to his days when he was fifteen." Julian, separated from his wife, becomes enamored of a talented young singer named Cait O'Dwyer after happening into a bar where she is singing one night. Cait is on the cusp of stardom while Julian has accepted where he is in life. He remembers the ambition of his youth but somewhere along the way he lost the desire to pursue it. Phillips slowly reveals the heart-breaking details leading to the breakdown of Julian's marriage. We learn about the relationship with his brother and their divergent memories of their father (where Julian gets his deep love of music).  All the while watching as Julian and Cait communicate (will they ever meet in person or won't they?), inching closer to each other, sharing bits and pieces of themselves and their lives with each other.

You don't need to share Julian's taste in music to understand the effect it has on him. The experience and wisdom won in life sometimes come at a heavy price, as Julian has painfully learned. Cait's youth, determination, and bright future full of possibility are a striking contrast to Julian's fractured marriage, deep pain, and successful mediocrity, and we understand their attraction to each other. Julian is entranced by the possibility he sees in her, and Cait needs Julian's wisdom and insight. Can they sense the futility in their desire? Perhaps, but it doesn't change the attraction. Add Julian's father, brother, and wife to the mix and the result is a funny, poignant story about possibility, chance, and consequence. This book is good. It's a well-told, engaging story that's a pleasure to read and satisfying, too.

Belgian Buttermilk Waffles with Glazed Bananas

Not my picture. We were too hungry to think of anything else but eating.

It's a snow day. School's out and the power is back on, so I hot meal sounded appetizing. We haven't had waffles for ages (trying to be more organized, I stored my waffle make some place very logical and then forgot where until just recently), so today seemed like the perfect time. After fighting with my husband over how to make waffles (he is the regular breakfast chef since I am not in any way, shape, or form a morning person), I headed to Epicurious to find a waffle recipe. I searched for "waffles," filtered results by "Quick & Easy," and then sorted by top rated. The winner, with 101 reviews:  Belgian Buttermilk Waffles with Glazed Bananas. I didn't have the buttermilk required for the batter, so I created a substitute by adding one tablespoon of lemon juice to a cup of milk and let that sit for about five minutes. Other than that change, I followed the recipe. The batter was super easy to prepare and consisted mostly of ingredients I always have on hand - flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, butter, eggs - and was ready in just a few minutes. I'm suspicious of anything but syrup on my waffles/ pancakes, but I made the glaze since it, too, was so easy to prepare (butter, bananas, maple syrup). The waffles were really good - light and tasty. We will definitely be making them again. I'm anxious to try them with real buttermilk next time. I thought the glaze was okay. My teen wouldn't even try it - he's a pancake/waffle purist, too. My husband, who has a sweet tooth, liked the glaze a little more but probably not enough that we would make it again.

Bulgur Tabouli

My quest for high cuisine continues. (That's joke.) Today's recipe comes from the back of a box of Arrowhead Mills Organic Bulgur Wheat. I bought the box because it's wheat and it's healthy, right? Beyond that, I know not of Bulgur wheat. Luckily, the recipe is easy enough:

1 cup Bulgur Wheat

1 1/2 cups boiling water

1 1/2 tsp Sea Salt

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup Olive Oil

Dash of garlic powder

2 tomatoes, diced

3 cups chopped fresh parsley

4 green onions, chopped with tops

Pour boiling water over bulgur wheat and salt.  Cover bulgur wheat for 30 minutes and let sit. Stir next three ingredients into bulgur and chill for 2-3 hours. Add tomatoes, parsley, and green onions and gently toss before serving on a bed of lettuce.

Optional additions are: chopped mint; fresh sliced mushrooms; diced green peppers; sliced radishes; bean sprouts; and/or sliced hard-cooked eggs.

I've never served it on a bed of lettuce, preferring to eat it straight up. Also, I add what whatever I have leftover in my produce drawer, be it green peppers, cukes, whatever. This is so easy to make. It takes some time to prepare, but the active time is minimal. It's delicious and nutritious and tastes just as good after a few days in the refrigerator as it does on the first day.

Now, if only someone would tell me what I'm supposed to do with wheat germ.

Eat Pray Love

I feel like I'm repeating myself. Good book, disappointing movie.  In the book Eat Pray Love, author Liz Gilbert is honest and open about the collapse of her marriage, the depression that followed, and her attempt to find balance and meaning again in her life. Who hasn't read the book? It was passed from friend to friend to sister to mother and on and on after it came out. For good reason, too. Gilbert's voice in the memoir is fresh, funny, and vibrant. She is candid about her shortcomings, her failings, and her successes. Desperate to heal herself, she heads to Italy to find pleasure, India to find devotion, and Bali to find balance. (Oh, that we were all able to get a nice big book advance to create our own travel therapy!) Italy, India and Bali seemed to be magical places made just for spiritual and emotional restoration. I cheered Liz on her journey and wished her well.

The first problem of the movie is the difficulty in conveying to the audience Liz's emotional breakdown. In the book, you felt sorry for Liz and sympathized with what she was going through. In the film, this is done with a whole lot of voice-over. When Julia Roberts is on the bathroom floor crying at the start of the film, I felt nothing. Was that God speaking to her? I'm not sure, the moment passed by so quickly. Besides, God is just a stepping stone on the way to a better Liz. Whereas in the book you felt sadly sorry, in the film Liz's decision to leave her marriage seems selfish and shallow and her decisions impulsive and arbitrary. I had no sympathy for her and felt no reason to root for her as a character. What I felt mostly was apathetic about the whole thing.

One of the strengths of the book was Gilbert's ability to communicate the real changes she was experiencing externally and internally. By the time she arrived in India, the reader knew she was beginning her transformation and becoming stronger. In the movie, there is no evidence of change in Julia Roberts. She has the same simper and wilt when she arrives in Italy that she has in Bali. I don't think Julia Roberts is well-cast as Liz Gilbert, and I don't think Julia Roberts comes close to making herself believable in the role. She was nothing but Julia Roberts. There is no visible change in Julia/Liz until she falls in love in Bali and is ready to - wait for it - open her heart to love! BLECH! Sure, opening your heart to love is a great thing but certainly Liz's journey is about so much more than finding the right man. Rather, it's about finding the right way to live so she can be open to love. I was thoroughly disgusted at the end and glad it was over. It was long, too (harumph), and you feel every minute of it.

Was there anything I liked? Javier Bardem is handsome. Yes, I liked that. Also, Richard Jenkins as Richard from Texas has an affecting but brief scene as he discloses the mistakes he made in life. Sadly, the focus quickly returns to Julia/Liz and the emotion disappears as quickly as it comes.