I am obsessed with the Rodgers and Hammerstein songs from this film. Completely smitten and obsessed. And what breaks my little heart even more than the exquisiteness of these gems, is the fact that instead of arranging and delving into these songs, I am punching out complex chords and atonal melodies for one of my school classes. Yawn. But, in nine weeks time, I will have all the time in the world to spend with Rodgers, Hammerstein, Marni, Jane (Powell), Howard (Keel), seven brides, and seven brothers. If this last sentence is lost on you, then you best get caught up on TCM movies and musicals...Here are some clips to get you started:
It's a classic and Deborah/Marni are classy above and beyond.
The pixel quality is terrible but the audio quality is pretty good. Plus, that whole sepia tone thing adds to the feelings of nostalgia I swim in when I watch this.
I'm not sure if it's the jetlag I've been sukkeling (Afrikaans for "struggling") with this past week, but my appetite has been doing odd things. Firstly, it's not really voracious. Secondly, I have no desire to eat anything green. If you've read previous blog posts, you'll know that's very out of character for me. So, taking a cue from Jerry Seinfeld's wife, Jessica Seinfeld, I've resorted to hiding green veggies in my food.
Let me explain. Jessica has written two cookbooks entitled "Deceptively Delicious" and "Doubly Delicious." Her shtick/gimmick involves making healthy food appealing to young children by lacing one's mac & cheese, or chocolate brownies, with vegetable purees. So, in actual fact, she's not really confronting kids with the healthy food items they detest (spinach, broccoli, carrots), but she's giving them the food they already love (most of which is less healthy although homemade) without them realising they are ingesting the good stuff too. I'm sure Jamie Oliver would have a thing or two to say about this trickery-watch this clip:
However, it's not all bad. One could argue that at least the children are eating vegetables...it just makes one wonder what future habits they'll develop with regard to things they don't like, but need to eat/do/adhere to. Here's a video summary of her method:
This has all been a very lengthy way of describing the measures I've resorted to. It wasn't difficult to stock my empty fridge with green items, but it's been challenging to actually cook and eat said green items. I was. initially, optimistic and ambitious. I prepared the following bowl of vegetables to accompany a bowl of Trader Joe's Lentil soup. I was going to turn it into a blog subject all of its own entitled "You Can't Beat A Bowl of Green":
But I have had to admit defeat. All I've craved this entire day is the Whole Foods vegan banana/pecan scone that is sitting in my freezer. I don't fancy eating badly, or inducing a sugar coma, but I really don't have an appetite for anything wholesome. Step one of trying to get back on track involved getting breakfast from Energy Kitchen this morning. I pride myself on rarely eating out and cooking much more than the average New Yorker. So I have no shame in occasionally getting breakfast from this health-food institute. Energy Kitchen only steams and grills their food and, to really prove their commitment to building a healthy nation, they include the calorie count on their menus....well, at least I assume this is what the calorie inclusion means...I don't really count. Period. Calories, numbers, rhythms... I do love their egg wraps-they manage to cook egg whites that aren't scrambled but somehow form into substantial, protein-packed ribbons of goodness. They also have a special on ordering side dishes-I usually get the steam spinach and their broccoli florets.
The faux-bamboo container might be confusing, but the uniform neatness of the food, compartmentalised, is part of the fun!
After such a power-house morning meal, I was back on track. I put the scone out of my mind and pandered to my polenta lunchtime craving. I spent this past saturday with two mentors, Mrs 2nd Avenue Deli and Mr Espresso, and their adorable child-my future husband (age is but a number...even the age of ten months old). We had take-out lunch from a wonderful East Village restaurant called "Northern Spy Company" and, at Mrs 2nd Ave Deli's recommendation, I ordered their kale salad. I like the idea of kale. I like the nutritional punch of kale. I'm not sure I actually like kale itself. When raw, it's hard, cruciferous-looking leaves don't scream,"Eat me! Eat me!" Even when blanched or steamed, they do soften but still retain a hardness. It might be psychological. However, this kale salad was delicious-wispy thin strands of soft kale dotted with little cubes of sharp cheddar cheese, toasted almonds and bright smatterings of orange squash. While wolfing down this revelation, I said to Mr Espresso that I was going to make a similarly successful kale dish-he was dubious.
So, my lunch menu comprised polenta (in which tiny smithereens of kale were hidden) drenched in a tomato sauce made of sauteed leeks, maitake mushrooms, a tablespoon of leftover red/black quinoa for extra protein and a dollop of good intentions.
Kale-infused polenta.
The polenta buried underneath a mass of tomatoey, quinoa-y, leek-y, mushroomy warmth.
I'll leave you with two things. Firstly, the recipe for homemade pickled cucumbers (as green as you can get).
Pickled Israeli (Baby) Cucumbers
About 4 Israeli cucmbers
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1/4 cup oil (I used olive oil)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
(NOTE: These quantities are rough guidelines. My sister gave me a recipe for English cucumbers and I tailored it to fit the four Israeli cukes I had nestled in my fridge. So season to taste-you may prefer a more sweet/salty/sharp/peppery variety of pickles.)
1. Top and tail the cucumbers, slice down the middle and then width-ways to make little half moons.
2. . Scrape the skins with the tines of a fork (for better absorption of pickle mix).
3. Combine mustard, oill vinegar and pepper in a bowl.
4. Pour over cucumbers and stir well. Leave to stand one hour, then adjust seasoning.
5. Cover and put in fridge to develop flavours.
Can be used same day, or kept up to three days.
Last, but not least, I leave you with the namesake of this post. Cole Porter's song "From This Moment On" from the film "Kiss Me Kate" with mind boggling choreography from Bob Fosse (Bob is actually in the piece himself-v cool). Excuse the Japanese subtitles and commentary:
Post Script: This post is dedicated to my mum who let me watch films like "Oliver Twist" and "West Side Story" at the age of five even though one could argue that gang warfare and abused women aren't appropriate topics for a child. Thank gosh she thought I was ahead of the curve and mature enough for such fodder because the result was a child who really appreciates and treasures these amazing films that are being replaced by drek like High School Musical and Rent. Thank you mama.
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